Below you'll find a list of all posts that have been categorized as “Recipes”
Brazilian rice is one of the staples of a Brazilian dinner and the holidays are no different. Brazilians most often make use of long grain rice, and the shelled pumpkin seeds give it the holiday zest that it needs while the kale (as well as the rice) is sautéed in garlic to add a touch of flavor. A touch of hot sauce adds zest to this side dish.
Latin America is well known for it’s spicy, hot, flavorful foods. However let it be known that their cuisine does not acquire its famous flavor without a little help from a friend, namely the hot sauce, known in this case as Molho Apimentado. Malagueta peppers rank hot on the list of peppers and this sauce, as most hot sauces, can be used like the American version of gravy, on any dish be it turkey, rice, kale or stuffing. The hot sauce brings the different flavors of the meal together with one cohesive taste and many textures to give Latin American food lovers the taste they’ve been waiting for.
When the aroma of this dish rises up from the cooking fire, it tantalizes the nostrils. For the best results, use a mortar and pestle to combine the ingredients but if you lack such simple tools, use a blender. We thank our friend Richard Sterling for this Cambodian recipe, gathered on one of his extensive Southeast Asian trips.
1 pound beef, cut into thin slices and threaded onto skewers
For the Marinade:
2 red serrano or jalapeño chiles, stems removed
1/4 cup lemon grass, sliced thin
6 Kaffir lime leaves or the peel of 1 lime
4 cloves garlic
1 slice or teaspoon galangal or substitute ginger
½ cup oyster sauce
2 tablespoons sugar
1 pinch salt
½ cup water
Mash or blend the chiles, lemon grass, lime leaves, garlic, and galangal together. Combine the mixture with the remaining marinade ingredients. Place the mixture in a saucepan, bring to a boil, and boil for 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let cool. Taste for sweetness–it should be present but not dominant.
In a shallow glass dish, marinate the beef on the skewers in the refrigerator for at least one hour.
Grill the skewers over hot coals, keeping the beef at least four inches from the heat, lest the sugar burn, until desired doneness.
Serving suggestion: Before cooking, stick a chunk of fresh pineapple on the end of each skewer.
Serve with a salad and steamed rice.
This is our version of a Korean rib dish. If these ribs were going to be smoked, we would not boil them first, but since they tend to be fatty, we do boil these before grilling. Serve the ribs with fried rice, stir-fried vegetables and cucumber slices sprinkled with hot ground red chile.
3 pounds beef ribs
3 tablespoons hoisin sauce
3 tablespoons chopped green onion, including the greens
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons orange juice
2 tablespoons Asian chilli sauce with ginger
2 tablespoons chopped ginger
1 tablespoon crushed chile piquin or other small, red chiles
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1 tablespoon orange zest
2 cloves garlic, minced
Cut the ribs into individual pieces. Place in a pot, cover with water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 30 minutes. Remove and drain.
Combine all the remaining ingredients and allow to sit at room temperature while the ribs are simmering.
Grill the ribs over a medium heat for about ten minutes without basting. Move the ribs away from direct flames and cook about ten minutes longer, basting consistently with the sauce until crisp.
Pork is a preferred meat in China and Southeast Asia, so it is not surprising to find it combined with chiles and traditional Asian seasonings. The marinade is also excellent with chicken and fish. Serve the grilled pork steaks with jasmine rice, sweet and sour vegetables, and a green papaya salad.
Thai Ginger Marinade:
2 tablespoons rice wine vinegar or dry sherry
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
2 tablespoons minced ginger
1 tablespoon vegetable oil, peanut preferred
6 small prik kee nu Thai chiles, stems removed, minced or substitute 3 serrano or jalapeño chiles
1 clove garlic, minced
1 teaspoon Asian fish sauce
For the Pork:
4 pork steaks
Place all the ingredients, except the pork, in a blender or food processor and puree until smooth. Transfer to a bowl and let sit for an hour to blend the flavors. Cover the pork steaks completely with the marinade and let sit in a glass bowl for 3 hours, covered, in the refrigerator.
Bring the steaks to room temperature and grill over a medium fire for 10 to fifteen minutes, turning often, until the internal temperature reaches 160 degrees F., which is medium. Cut open to test for doneness if you prefer. You can use any leftover marinade as a basting sauce, but be sure to simmer it in a saucepan for 20 minutes first.
