Butter Cookies

Butter cookies

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups of white flour 

• 1/2 teaspoon of salt

• 280g melted butter

1 1/4 cup of granulated sugar
2 egg yolks
• 1/4 teaspoon of almond extract
1 teaspoon of vanilla extract

In a bowl, mix the flour and the salt and keep it aside. In another bowl, mix the butter and the sugar with a hand mixer. Add the egg yolks, the almond and vanilla extracts and mix a bit more. Little by little add the flour mixed with the salt. The dough will look like wet sand, but when you press it with your hands, it will become firm.

Cover a flat surface with plastic wrap and pour your dough over it. Cover it with more plastic wrap and open your cookie dough with a rolling pin until you obtain a square with about half a centimetre high. Remove the top plastic wrap and cut your cookies any way you want. I cut mine in squares and made some grooves in the top with a fork. Carefully put your cookies in a baking sheet, covered with foil or parchment paper and bake them in the oven at 190˚C/375˚F for 10 to 12 minutes or until the edges become golden. Let them cool down before removing from the baking sheet because they are still very soft when out of the oven. Keep them in a cookie box or jar and serve with coffee or tea in late afternoon.

Salgadinhos - Brazilian appetizers

This appetizer is the one thing every Brazilian likes to eat on parties, celebrations, cocktails, gatherings, funerals or just as a quick snack. It doesn't matter what region in Brazil you come from or your social status, everyone is the same when it comes to eating salgadinhos.

Ingredients for the chicken broth:

• 1 kg of chicken breast
• 1/2 cup of fresh green onions
• 1/2 cup of fresh coriander 
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 onion
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1 tablespoon of thyme
• 1 tablespoon of parsley
• 1/2 tablespoon of paprika 
• 1/2 teaspoon of Cayenne pepper
• Black pepper to taste 
• 1.2 L boiling water

Ingredients to season the chicken:

• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 small onion
• 1 teaspoon if Cayenne pepper
• 1 tablespoon of salt
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 tablespoon of paprika
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil
• 1kg of shredded chicken breasts

Ingredients for the dough:

• 1 tablespoon of salt
• 1 small onion
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1/4 cup parsley
• 1/2 cup green onion
• 1 L milk
• 250g of butter
• 4 cubes of vegetable stock
• 1 L of chicken broth
• 1.8 kg white all purpose flour

Ingredients for breading

• 6 eggs
• 400 g bread crumbs

Preparation of the chicken broth

All of these are to prepare a broth at the same time you will cook the chicken, so cut all vegetables in big chunks to cook along with the chicken.  Put a saucepan in medium heat and carefully arrange the onions, coriander and green onions at the bottom. Over this bed of herbs, put the chicken breasts covered with the rest of the seasonings. Last, pour the boiling water until everything is covered. When the water starts boiling again, lower the heat to medium/low, cover the pan and cook it for 30 minutes. After this, the chicken will be cooked. So remove the chicken breasts out of the broth an let it cool down a little. Meanwhile pass the broth thought an iron sieve and put it aside for later use. When the chicken cools down, shred it using your favourite technique. With two forks pulling fibers in opposing directions or with your hands until the fibers are well separated and in very small sizes.

Preparation of the chicken

In a mini food processor mix the onion with the garlic until you form a thick mix. Heat the olive oil in a sauce pan under medium heat and fry the onion/garlic mix for about 1 min. Add the shredded chicken and mix well. Add the rest of the spices and seasoning and mix again for 1 min to incorporate all flavours to the chicken. Turn off the heat and let it cool down. Meanwhile you can prepare the dough.

Preparation of the dough

In the mini food processor, mix the garlic, onion, green onions and parsley until obtaining a homogenous paste. In a very large saucepan, melt the butter and fry the paste for around 2 minutes under medium heat. Add the chicken broth and the milk and mix well. One by one, add the vegetable stock cubes and dissolve them with the spoon. Add the salt and stir constantly until it starts boiling. At this stage add the flour quickly while mixing with a robust spoon to incorporate everything and cook the flour. When the flour is cooked you will notice that the dough will not stick to the bottom of the pan anymore. Turn off the heat and pour the dough over a clean and heat-resistant surface. After it cools down a little bit, mix the dough with your hands until all the small bits of uncooked flour get incorporated and your dough becomes smooth. Divide it into 4 pieces and cover with plastic wrap to avoid drying. 

To make the small chicken raindrop, take an amount of dough and roll it against your table to form a cylinder. Cut the cylinder in even pieces, with around 1.5 cm. Each piece will be one raindrop. Press it against your hands and put an amount of the chicken in the middle of the disc. Close the edges of the disc and make sure there is no hole exposing the filling. 

To make cheese balls, take a square of your favourite cheese and press against your ball of dough. Take all the air out by closing your fist tightly and make a ball shape with your hands.

This dough can be used with any filling you can think of, so use your creativity and have fun creating you favourite type of salgadinhos.

Breading the appetizers

Beat the eggs in a bowl for 2-3 minutes until all the whites are mixed with the yolks. Pour the bread crumbs in another bowl. Sink the appetizers in the egg mix first and then on the bread crumbs covering all their surface. Put them aside for either frying or freezing them. 

When it’s time to fry, heat the oil in medium/high heat before deep frying your appetizers. Carefully put them in a pan and fry until they are golden. Absorb the excess oil with paper towel and serve them.

They are so good you cannot believe it. A Brazilian party without them is no party. It involves a lot of hard work to make them but I will tell you it’s worth it. 

Serving: It is variable depending on the size you will make them. This recipe resulted in 150 chicken raindrops plus 100 cheese balls. I would say this is enough for a party of 25, where this is not the main food being served.

Brazilian style meat pie

Hello,

The recipe today is really easy and fairly quick to prepare. I called it Brazilian Style Meat Pie because I have never seen it in a non-Brazilian house before, however it can be found with many different names, such as quick meat pie, blender meat pie, lazy pie and so on. This recipe is very popular in Brazilian homes, normally with slight variations. The one I am showing you here I've learnt from my grandmother-in-law with some small changes I made.

Ingredients for the meat

- 700 g ground meat of your preference (I am using beef)

- 1 onion

- 2 tomatoes

- 2 table spoons of olive oil

- 1 table spoon of Worcestershire sauce

- 1/4 tea spoon of Cayenne pepper

- Salt and black pepper to taste

Ingredients for the batter

- 2 cups of white all-purpose flour

- 3/4 cup of canola oil

- 1 1/2 cup of milk

- 2 eggs

- 3 table spoons of ground Parmesan cheese

- 1 table spoon of baking powder

- 1 tea spoon of salt

Meat preparation

Coarsely dice the onion and tomatoes and reserve them separately. In a saucepan, heat the olive oil in medium/high heat and fry the onion for 3 minutes until it becomes semi-transparent. Add the meat and mix well until it is no-longer pink. Then add the tomatoes and the rest of the spices. Mix well and close the lid to cook in medium/low heat for 20 minutes. At the end, taste the meat and adjust the seasoning again if necessary.

Batter preparation

Add all the liquid ingredients to a blender and mix well. Add the dry ingredients in two halves in order to optimize the mixing. You can add a little bit more of milk if the batter is too dry. When all the ingredients are well incorporated you are ready to assemble the pie.

Pie preparation

Add half of the mix to a greased and floured serving dish. Make sure to spread it well at the bottom of the dish. Then add the meat as a second layer. Again, make sure the meat is evenly spread. Pour the second half of the mixture over the meat covering any empty spaces. You can use a spatula to take any remaining batter from the blender and spread it over the meat. Finally, add some ground parmesan cheese over the whole pie and bake it in a pre-heated oven at 190˚C/375˚F for 30 minutes, or until surface is golden brown. When the pie is ready remove it from the oven and let it cool down a little before serving so that it will remain firm.

Serve it with salad and vegetables.

Makes 10 generous servings.