5-7-2014: We've landed in South America! Yeah! I've been eagerly awaiting some scrumptious food from this part of our world. Plus, my friend and food enthusiast, Gistete, is from Brazil, Gavin's pick this week. I immediately messaged her and said, Gisete, Gavin picked Brazil! Recipe suggestions, please! Her suggestion was feijoada, calling it a staple and iconic dish of Brazil. As she described it, it's like a stew made with beans and different kinds of meat cooked together, and eaten with a side of rice and collard greens. I found a recipe
http://www.saveur.com/article/Recipes/Beans-Pork-Rice-Collards
and got the approval on it from Gistete. She did let me know that the meats did not need to be smoked (and that she prefers that they are not). She said the vinaigrette is not necessary, but does give a nice balance to the meal. She also said they rarely make the garlic version of the rice -usually just plain. This all sounded good to a busy mom like me! I was excited to be able to find the Portuguese sausage at our regular grocery store, too. I happened to have a ham hock frozen from Christmas (thanks to my mom who recommended I save it and picked all the bits off!!) So, in all, I made the feijoada, the rice and the collards. It was all so delicious!! FYI though, the sausage is spicy! The boys enjoyed the meat and each tried ONE bean! I could tell they didn't mind them, but couldn't convince them to eat more! Rory tried one bit of collards and thought they were gross! Well, I'll admit, I use to think collards were gross as a kid, too (I'm from the south!), but love them now!! My husband loved all of it, too, collards included, and actually ate leftovers, which is virtually unheard of from him! Woopie! This was a somewhat labor intensive dish - lots of ingredients - but definitely worth it. Here's how it turned out:
4-29-2014: "O beautiful for spacious skies, for amber waves of grain, for purple mountains majesties. Above the fruited plain! America! America! God shed his grace on thee!" Tonight was Gavin's pick and, surprise, it was the United States of America! Well, the first words out of everyone's mouth that we mentioned this pick to was "hamburgers and hotdogs"! That was my first thought, too, and that's what we made. Not much to explain on this one - pure Americana! Rory also wanted peanut butter and jelly! Americana kid staple - I'm sure we fully cover that one, as he eats it almost daily :) My husband cooked this night, as I was still at work. His parents joined us, as well, and his dad (grandpa or "Gps") captured this night's photo:
Only a hamburger in this picture (and a little bit of Mexico with the beer and tortilla chips!) However, we did have hotdogs, too, and french fries (hmmm, it was a multi-cultural kind of night!) It was a beautiful day, so my husband grilled, too, which is also very much a staple event in American culture - we eagerly wait for summer to grill, or the brave, like my hubby, will even brave the rain and snow to grill! It was fun to celebrate our own country! No recipe to share, but basically the hotdogs were store bought, served on buns, and can pretty much be topped with anything you want, but the traditional condiments are usually mustard only, ketchup only, or mustard and ketchup. Also, many enjoy pickle relish and/or onions on their hotdog. I prefer mustard and relish myself. We bought frozen hamburger patties, but they could be rolled and patted from fresh ground beef. I like to use super lean ground beef. Also, served on a bun, a hamburger bun, often topped with cheddar cheese, and condiment of your choice. The traditional condiments are mayonnaise, ketchup and mustard. Many also add pickle slices. However, hamburgers in the USA are served in many, many different ways and is definitely an "art" to be creative with in our cuisine (swiss cheese and mushrooms, blue cheese filled, you name it!). God bless America! It was a good night!
