Samba Food – The taste of Brazil

Taste of the World Cup

Its been a busy few months, hence its been a while since my last post.

 

Since the world cup is now in full swing why not really get in to to the SAMBA swing and try Brazil’s National Dish Feijoada.  There are a number of varieties of Feijoada each region having their own specific take on this classic piece of Brazilian gastronomy. The dish is essentially a stew of beans with beef and pork, and its name derives from the Portuguese word feijão, meaning ‘beans’.

I found this recipe on-line  http://southamericanfood.about.com/od/maincourses/r/feijoada.htm  it sounds delicious, the only down side it takes 15 hours in cooking and preparation time 😦

Or you could try something a little easier, takes hours less time in cooking but is equally delicious.  

Camarão na Moranga (Shrimp in Pumpkin) is a creamy seafood stew served at coastal restaurants throughout Brazil, and traces back to the 1940s in São Paulo. Gloriously presented in a pumpkin, it’s a conversation piece that will impress your dinner guests both for its flavor and decorative flair.  This recipie I found at the Latin Kitchen…

http://thelatinkitchen.com/recipe/camarao-na-moranga-shrimp-pumpkin

 

For all your catering needs contact Paul @ www.5adaycatering.co.uk

 

The Great British Cake Off.

Over the next few weeks my friends and I have decided to test each others baking skills, all keen bakers and all thinking they are better than the other, what better way to settle the argument.   Starting from tomorrow we will be taking it in turns baking a cake, tasting and marking them. I’m up first|!!!!

There’s nothing that I like more than a bit of friendly competition.  So what to bake? what will win? something traditional? or something a bit more modern?  In my opinion there is nothing better than a fresh and soft Victoria Sponge with a layer of fruity strawberry conserve and a fluffy butter cream, and to add a bit of a twist I cover mine with a white chocolate icing.

This is so easy to make, all you need is equal measures of flour butter and caster sugar – to make two 9 inch sandwich tins you will need 400g self raising flour, 4oog soft butter, 400g caster sugar, 5 eggs & vanilla to taste.

Cream your sugar and butter together, add your eggs one at a time and mix thoroughly, fold in your flour. Add two teaspoons of vanilla essence.  Split the mixture into the tins evenly.  Bake at 180 degrees for 20/25 mins.

For the filling – cream 150 g soft butter, mix in 250g icing sugar and add two table spoons of hot water.  Once the cakes have cooled, spread one half of your cake with the butter cream and the other half with your strawberry conserve.

Melt 300g good quality white chocolate – poor over the cake and let it work its way out to the sides, sprinkle with hundreds and thousands – leave to cool.

To order a buffet or cake from 5 aday catering please visit our website @ http://bit.ly/117HnsR