Caldo Verde - A Portuguese Soup - Grow Your Own #24

When I first had Caldo Verde, a classic Portuguese "green soup," a friend who had just returned from Portugal fixed it for me the way she was taught there. During a visit, she started telling me about Portugal and the foods she had tried there and to make things short, she went to my kitchen and started cooking for me!!!

I would love to visit Portugal one day... Especially because my mom's maiden name is Portuguese but we never found out any information on relatives because she lost her father when she was very young.

For this recipe you just need potatoes, sausage (chourico), onions, olive oil and kale. It is such an easy recipe, that sometimes I make Caldo Verde from leftover mashed potato and use my slow cooker.

Caldo Verde is so soothing... it means comfort food to me!

This is my contribution to Grow Your Own #24 event that Andrea's Recipes is hosting this month. If you make a dish with ingredients from your own garden or was given something someone grew or raised you can post about it!

I used kale from my mother-in-law's garden that I picked myself.

Caldo Verde
2 pounds (1 kg) potato, peeled, and cubed
8 cups water or chicken broth
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil (and more for drizzling)
1 tablespoon oil
1 medium onion, diced
2 cloves garlic
8 oz (250 g) Portuguese sausage/chorizo, sliced on the diagonal (Italian smoked sausage works great)
1 pound (500 g) kale, stems removed, leaves thinly sliced or shredded
Coarsely ground black pepper
1 teaspoon salt

Directions:
1) Heat the 2 tablespoons of olive oil and oil in a deep pot over medium heat. Sauté the onion until it softens, about 6 minutes, add garlic and stir until it releases its fragrance. Add the water, potatoes and salt. Simmer about 15 minutes or until potatoes are very tender.

2) Using an immersion blender or your blender, puree the soup. Add the sliced sausage and pepper and boil for about 5 minutes. Taste for salt and pepper. Add kale and boil another 3 minutes. Pour the soup into soup bowls, serve warm with a drizzle of olive oil on top.

• In Portugual Caldo Verde is usually served with a Portuguese cornbread called broa. Here in Brazil we use Italian bread.
  

• Sometimes I fry the sliced sausage until they are crispy and then add to the soup. It seems to boost the flavor of this hearty and satisfying soup.

Kale

I want to thank my good blogging friend at Tangled Noodle who passed me an award! She loves Brazilian food and thanks to Foodbuzz we became friends and... we even have plans to meet here!

Check all the great recipes for this edition of Grow Your Own visiting the roundup that Andrea posted on her blog.

Annatto... Flower, seeds and a food coloring

Anatto or achiotte, (bixa orellana L.) is a plant is grown mostly in South America and Brazil is the main producer and exporter. Known here as urucum or colorau the seeds are used as a natural red food coloring in the food industry, comestics (lipsticks) and also in the Brazilian cuisine. The color result is similar to paprika, although it does not alter the flavor of the food. Also, Brazilian indians and other Latin-American indians use the seeds to make body paint.

The most common way to make annatto powder is to heat the seeds in oil, then transfer the seeds to a mortar, add fine cornmeal and grind them with the pestle. Pour through a fine mesh to separate seed skins from powder and you are ready to go.

Ginger Ribs with Red Rice

My mother-in-law introduced me to red rice some 15 years ago... At the time, I came back home with 2 pounds of red rice and tried it different ways, using different ingredients like chicken shrimp, codfish, sausage and even sweet potato. This whole grain rice (sativa L specie) was carried to Brazil from Portugal, back in the XVI century. Some people call it Camargue rice, if grown in France. Even though it has been in our country for many years, just now it is gaining popularity with Slow Food.

This is my entry for The Royal Foodie Joust that has whole grain, citrus and ginger as the main ingredients.

For every cup rice, use 4 cups water. Soak the rice at least 2 hours before cooking.

Ingredients for the rice
2 cups red rice
1 teaspoon salt
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
8 cups water

Heat a large pan and sauté garlic and onion. Add rice, salt water and cook for about 45 minutes in low heat. After 30 minutes add the cooked ribs.

Ingredients for the ribs
2 pounds pork baby back ribs
Juice of 1 lime
1 tablespoon salt
1 large onion, chopped
1 tablespoon garlic, chopped
1 teaspoon ginger powder
2 tablespoons olive oil
Pepper to taste

1) Marinate baby ribs for 2 hours in lime juice, salt, pepper, onion, olive oil, garlic and ginger powder.

2) In a large pan or pressure cooker, add the meat without the marinade and brown lightly, adding a little more oil if necessary. Add the marinade, cover and cook in low heat for one hour or until meat is tender. Add water as needed, then allow water to dry at the end.

3) Add the cooked rice to the meat, cook it for another 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Brazilian carrot cake

Our children's favorite cake. This is a simple carrot cake I make and I think every mother here knows how to make it, as it is a very popular and traditional recipe in Brazil. Since I was not a big fan of carrot cakes, even though I like carrots, I started to add cinnamon to give it a twist. Very different from the carrot cakes you probably know, this one does not have nuts and fruits, and it is topped with chocolate icing!

This recipe also makes great cupcakes and I add chocolate chips on top before taking them to the oven!
Brazilian carrot cake
3 small raw carrots, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup canola oil
3 eggs
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 cups flour
1 1/2 tablespoons baking powder
1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon (optional)

Grease and flour a 12-inch (30 cm) round pan. Preheat oven to 380°F (190°C).

1) Place carrots, eggs, and oil into a blender and puree.

2) In a bowl, add flour, baking powder, cinnamon and sugar. Pour the carrot mixture and mix until well blended. Pour the batter into the prepared baking dish and bake at 380°F (190°C) for 30 minutes.

Chocolate glaze
(mom's recipe)

4 tablespoons milk or water
2 tablespoons butter
4 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cocoa

In a small sauce pan, cook all ingredients at low heat until it thickens, stirring constantly. Spread over cake immediately.

Rice with black-eyed peas - Grow your own #10

Rice and beans... another staple food here in Brazil. Every time we visit the family farm, which is in another state, the lady who works and lives there gives me black-eyed-peas that her family grows. She taught me how to make this dish called "baiao-de-dois" that is popular in the Northeast part of Brazil. This is the simplified version as you will hardly find the type of clarified butter (bottle butter) they use to cook this and the coalho cheese (a type of curd cheese).

This is my entry for this month's Grow Your Own event. If you grow or raise anything in your garden or if you received something as a gift that the giver has personally grown or raised you can participate too.

Ingredients:
1 cup black-eyed peas, cooked
2 cups of rice
4 cups water
1 cup frying cheese, cubed
1/2 cup italian smoked sausage or chorizo, sliced (I omit this sometimes)
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 tablespoon chopped onions
cilantro leaves
Salt and pepper to taste

Directions:
1) Heat oil in a large pan. Add onions, garlic and sausage and sautée until tender. Add rice and fry it stirring it frequently. Add cooked beans, water, salt and pepper and cook for about 15 minutes until most of the water gets absorbed.

2) Add the cubed cheese and the cilantro. Turn off stove and let stand for about 5 minutes before serving.

Black-eyed Peas - Feijão-Verde

Cow peas or Black-eyed peas - not the band... make wonderful salads, stews, and fillings. These beans were a gift from farmworkers and can be eaten green or dried. They are staple in North and Northeast regions in Brazil but can be easily cultivated anywhere.

Romeo and Juliet - a sweet pizza for my Valentine

It's Valentine's Day in many countries, but here... What are you making for your sweetie, neighbor or friend?

Here's a sweet pizza I made, with guava paste and cheese, a common combination found in many latin countries and known here as "Romeo and Juliet." The name might have come from the famous play by Shakespeare, but the idea is that "cheese and guava paste" make an irresistible and perfect combination.

Also, Portuguese has two genders for nouns, so Cheese is masculine and Guava is feminine. A language peculiarity that makes Portuguese a beautifil language but very confusing for English speakers who have a hard time trying to figure out the gender of things.

My contribution to "A heart for your Valentine" event. If you would like to participate, please find the instructions here.

To make the Romeo and Juliet pizza:
1 recipe for personal pizza
1 can guava paste cut into cubes
cream cheese, white cheese or mozzarela

Cover the pre-baked pizza with the cheese and the guava paste and bake in preheated oven until cheese and guava paste melt.

Guava and guava paste

Eating Global: Brazilian Fusion Cuisine

Take a seat, grab a cup of coffee or tea, and watch this video on Gourmet website featuring the Brazilian fusion cuisine. I found it very interesting, as they went out to the streets to get a glimpse of many dishes like Brazilian Fish and Shrimp Stew (moqueca, pictured above), pastel (fried pastry), sushis, and sweet pizza among others. Due to the mingling of several cultures, the food in Brazil is clearly a combination of several cuisines that create unique dishes using local ingredients, mostly with European techniques.

Or, if like me, you like food movies... Try "Woman on top" (2000, rating R) with Penelope Cruz, who plays a young Brazilian chef that creates wonderful recipes and leaves for America, where she becomes a star as the host of a TV cooking show, Passion Foods Live.

Speaking of movies... What's the best food movie you have ever seen?