Pumpkin shrimp chowder (camarao na moranga)

I first ate this delicious dish on a cold winter night in the mountains outside of Rio. (Amazingly, Brazil can have cold winter nights, especially in the mountainous regions.) I tried this recipe from Ofélia at home with some friends and it turned out rather well. Very satisfying on a winter night and a beautiful sight to behold in the centre of the dinner table.

Ingredients (serves four):

• 1 small pumpkin
• salt and pepper
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/2 kg of shrimps
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 big onion, chopped
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1/2 cup of chopped coriander
• 1 tbsp maizena
• 1 cup of milk
• 2 tbsp of ketchup
• 1 cup of chopped canned tomatoes
• 200g of cheese spread

Wash the pumpkin, making sure no earth or other dirt remains. Cut off the top and keep apart. Clean the pumpkin on the inside, clearing away the seeds. Season the pumpkin with salt, pepper and crushed garlic.

Marinate the shrimp in salt and lemon juice. Glaze the chopped onion in the butter, add the shrimp and the coriander. Season with pepper. Lower the heat and let simmer for 10 minutes.

Dissolve the maizena in the milk and add to the shrimp, stirring until the sauce thickens. Add the ketchup and the canned tomatoes, stirring well. Take of the stove and let cool slightly.

Put the cheese spread on the bottom of the pumpkin, and fill up with the shrimp mixture. Close the pumpkin and put in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for approximately 50-60 minutes, or until the pumpkin flesh is soft.

Serve with white rice, mixed with a bit of coconut milk for a creamy and exotic touch.

Pastel de forno (cheese pasties)

In Brazil, these cheese pasties are typically served as appetizers at parties or as a snack with a cold beer. I took this particular recipe from a fantastic Brazilian cookbook, Ofélia: O Sabor do Brasil.

Ingredients (for about 12 pasties):

• grated cheese
• oregano
• pinch of salt
• 1,5 cups of flour (self-raising)
• 50g of butter at room temperature
• 1/4 cup of cream
• 1/4 cup of milk
• 1 egg

Dust the flour into a bowl and add the butter and a pinch of salt. Stir with a fork, gradually adding the cream and the milk. Dust a clean surface with flour and unroll the dough until 1-2mm thin. Cut out rectangles of approximately 3-4 cm by 6-8 cm. Beat the egg and paint the sides of the rectangles with egg. Season the grated cheese with oregano and salt, and add small heaps of cheese to the rectangles. Close the rectangles and press the sides together with a fork. Coat them with the leftover egg. Bake in a pre-heated oven at 180°C for approximately 10-15 minutes, until the top is golden brown.

Brigadeiros

This is a Brazilian recipe for toffee-like, chocolate-y sweets. They are typically served at parties, and made in large quantities together with other sweets to decorate vast tables filled with all sorts of delicious treats.

Ingredients:

• 2 tins of condensed milk
• 4 tbsp of dark cocoa powder
• chocolate sprinkles (or sugar, or chopped nuts, or whatever... but I like it with chocolate sprinkles)

On moderate fire and using a wooden spoon, stir the condensed milk and the cocoa powder for approximately 20-30 minutes, until a thick, fudgy mass remains. The fudge should more or less let go of the bottom of the pot when stirred with the spoon.

Let the fudge cool. Butter your hand so the fudge won't stick to your fingers. Using a teaspoon, take small amounts of fudge and roll them into balls approximately 1,5-2 cm across. Roll the balls through the chocolate sprinkles. To top it off, put each 'brigadeiro' into a small paper holder. Enjoy!

Sachertorte

I first made this scrumptious Viennese delicacy with two girlfriends on a dreary November afternoon after a sleepover party. It takes a few hours to prepare, but it makes for a great afternoon activity and the result is oh-so-worth it. We took the recipe from a cookbook with chocolate recipes, and tweaked the original recipe here and there.

Ingredients:

for the cake

• 140g soft butter
• 70g sugar
• 6 eggs
• 140g dark chocolate
• 70g sugar (yes, again, this is no typo)
• a pinch of salt
• 140g flour

for the syrup

• 100g sugar
• 1dl water
• a few drops of vanilla extract (or vanilla pod)
• a teaspoon of amaretto (or two tbsp of rum, like the original recipe said)

for de icing

• 200g raspberry jam
• 200g dark chocolate
• 1 tbsp butter

Beat the butter and sugar to a creamy mass. Separate the yolks from the egg whites and add the yolks, one by one, to the butter and sugar. Melt the chocolate au bain marie (read: put it in the microwave on moderate power for 3-4 mins) and spoon it through carefully.

In another bowl, beat the egg whites with a pinch of salt and the sugar until stiff and carefully spoon 1/3 through the chocolate dough. Dust the flour and spoon it in carefully together with the rest of the egg whites.

Butter a tin and add the dough. Bake on a pre-heated oven at 180°C for approximately 45 mins. Leave the cake to cool outside of the oven.

For the syrup, boil the sugar, water and the vanilla essence for a few minutes. Let is cool and add a teaspoon of amaretto.

Peel off the upper crust of the cake (this part is hard and the fluffy cake underneath will absorb the syrup much better). Cut the cake in half horizontally and coat with a royal layer of raspberry jam. Put the upper half of the cake back on the lower half, and soak the top of the upper half with the syrup. Then add a layer of raspberry jam. Melt the chocolate for the icing and add a tablespoon of butter (to keep the chocolate soft and shiny). Coat the entire cake with the chocolate icing. Optionally, decorate the cake with whole walnuts, or something else to your liking.