The fusion of cuisines!

Hello to all,

As the post from this Wednesday felt a bit philosophical, and a bit sad to me, i decide to do another post this one being a recipe, and the recipe i choose to share this time is Shrimp/Prawns Stroganoff.

The tittle fusion cuisine, refers to using original techniques from the origin of the dish, using new elements present on the country the "old-new" recipe is being done, or so combining both to come up with a third one.

Originally Stroganoff is a Russian recipe created in 1861, and it was beef cubes browned on a frying pan, finalized by bouillon(broth) and mustard with a little touch of sour cream. with the fall of the Russian empire the dish gained a lot of popularity around the globe, and as it went around "suffered" variations from its original recipes. One of the countries that came to be a largely known Stroganoff eating country is my very own BRAZIL.

Therefore the recipe presented to thee on this blog is Brazilian! 

Now in Brazil we have some variations to the dish such as chicken and prawns, chicken being the most affordable one has definitely the top rank of most popular, but i decided to do the prawns/shrimp recipe over here.

For 3-4 people u'll need:

600gr of prawns or shrimp 

400gr of  heavy whipping cream

1 onion and a couple of garlic cloves chopped fine

150 gr of tomato paste(or ketchup if u like the sweetness) 

100gr of cream cheese

dash of Worcestershire sauce

juice of one lemon

half bunch of Italian parsley chopped

1 tbs of brandy

olive oil

salt & pepper

Now if u bought them prawns "dirty"(which means with the shelf), 1 kg makes for around 500-600 gr of prawns itself, and u can prepare some broth to add on flavor to the dish, and also save the broth to make other dishes later on, u can freeze the broth in ice cubes, to make it easier to use it later. To make the broth start by peeling them and once peeled, fry the shelves on olive oil with a little bit of the onions and salt, add water and let it reach boil, then bring the broth to a simmer for another 10 min or so.

Season the prawns with lemon juice, salt and pepper, fry them on a very hot pot with olive oil, onions and garlic for a couple of minutes, add the brandy and let the alcohol evaporate for another minute,the brandy will add up to the flavor of the dish, and if it catches on fire, don't worry but keep your face away from the pot when adding that (u don't want to loose your eyebrows right?! hehe).

After that add the heavy cream, a ladle of prawns broth (if u made some, if not just a bit of water will do), the Worcestershire sauce and the tomato paste or ketchup (in Brazil is more common to just use ketchup, particularly i like the ketchup cuz it brings out a bit of sweetness to the dish), let it cook on simmering fire for a few minutes to reduce it a bit, and finalize it with the cream cheese and chopped parsley, saving a bit of the parsley for the decoration of the dish. U don't have to wait much just stir to incorporate and dissolve the cream cheese well. Check for salt and pepper, add some if needed, and dig in.

In Brazil we serve it with plain white rice, or potatoes either fried, roasted or rosti, if u find big potatoes my opinion is for u to roast them whole with skin and all, once soft, cut a "lid" on them and scrape a bit of the inside to make room for the Stroganoff, place a bit of butter mixed with some chives inside the potato and pour the prawns with the sauce inside, eat it out of it... uhhhhh delish hehe!   

We've come to the end of this recipe, remember to enjoy it, while u do it, put on some music and have some wine, it will enhance the experience, at least that's what i can say for myself!

cheers everybody!

The beauty of variety!

Well so now with the recipe i decided to go with something very, very simple. So i was at work the other day making a chicken sandwich with avocado and sweet chilly sauce (which BTW is a beautiful combination) and i told my colleagues that in Brazil we eat Avocado with lemon and sugar, or that we blend it with milk and sugar for a creamy morning smoothie. Of course i was aware that in here they were not used to mix avocado and sugar on the same dish and it's basically a cultural thing. For the people of NZ as for a lot of people around the world Avocado, even though is a fruit, goes well for salads or like guacamole, which is typically Mexican but known around the entire globe nowadays. Getting to Mexico and trying avocado with salt and seasoned like salad was the first time for me, and it brought a whole different possibilities on those terms.

The recipe for what is in the pic above is as i said, very simple, get yourself a avocado, cut in half, scoop the "meat" out in a plate, squeeze some fresh lemon juice on top spread some sugar to your taste and vous-a-la, it goes beautiful as a sweet dish as much as it goes well as a salad.

I felt that it was important to address something simple like this for i think that the variety of ways and things to taste, see, listen, makes us interesting from one to another, and is definitely important to keep your mind open for trying things like this avocado, i for one have tried everything regarding food that anyone has offered me so far, and trying a traditional dish on the countries i passed by was necessary to complete my experience while being there!

cheers 

One thing   

The Italian side!

So as promised here it is my first "every Tuesday" post (for now).

This will be the third recipe i'm posting here a very easy and delish pasta sauce, one of my favorites:

"Penne ai quattro formaggi"

Pasta is something great, for all the different kinds there is plus all the various combinations of sauce and cooking techniques, there's just so much to do with!

La cucina Italiana is one of my main bases as a Chef, in part for my backgrounds, but i truly believe that all  cooks and chefs have an Italian side within. Both French and Italian cuisine are so vastly known, used and eaten world wide that most of us have some of that on us.

As for the Pasta my choice on the picture was Penne, but you can choose anything you like or even make your own pasta. Fresh pasta is very easily made and making your own can be very rewarding if the result is really good; to make your own you need:

-1 egg for every 100gr of flour and a pinch of salt

Basically u shape your flour like a volcano and in the middle put your egg(s), whisk them lightly and start mixing all of it together until u get a ball of pasta dough. If u want u can chop (very fine, no chunks) some fresh herbs like basil, parsley, rosemary and so on to add to the mix for flavor, or even other veggies or leafs, very common are, spinach (to make it look green) and tomato ( to make it look orange red ish), on the case of tomato u should use the tomato purée and perhaps add some flour until you get a dry dough!

Sauce Quattro formaggi:

-

• 5 tablespoons butter
• 4 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 4 cups milk
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
• 50 gr of blue cheese
• 80gr of Parmesan
• 50gr of Gruyère 
• 50gr cheddar

   This sauce starts with a simple Bechamel which is simply put as a neutral white sauce. 

   Start off by heating the milk almost to boil and melting the butter on a pan with medium to low heat u can even add some finely chopped onions for flavor, but cook them only till they're transparent, or melt the butter without letting it color. Once the butter is melted mix the flour in,  and when all's mixed add little by little the  hot milk stirring well until it gets smooth, it should still be a bit runny if it's not add a bit more milk and grate the nutmeg on top of it. One by one put in the Cheeses always stirring, this is a thick sauce and the cheeses tend to go to the bottom of the pan and when not stirred they'll burn down there, also you should know that the choice of cheeses above is my personal selection, i would suggest for you to stick to the blue cheese and the Parmesan cuz they're the most characteristic of this sauce, but i reckon the others u can choose your own.

The final result should be a nice slightly thick sauce full in flavor, try it and if you feel as though u need a bit more seasoning then correct with salt, if you're asking why would i say this only at the end, then the reason is, when dealing with cheeses always correct the salt at the end, after all some cheeses already have a high concentration of it!

I hope this was easy enough for ya, if u try this the go ahead and tell how did that go!

cheers, c ya next Tuesday!

A bio of who writes to thee!

I’m a person very related to arts in general, since early days I love to draw, in my teenage years I developed an interest for photography and music, my family has always had passion for food and kitchen in a non-professional way, therefore when I came up to the decision of joining a culinary arts school, I was more than supported by almost everyone and the ones that found mine an odd choice where convinced not long after I started my journey in the cuisine.

   Once I had my finished my studies I knew that I wanted to travel around searching and experimenting different gastronomical backgrounds. As a Chef throughout my travels I've been able to do that on all 34 countries I passed by, which has opened my mind regarding cooking. To me cooking is more than a job, being a Chef goes beyond the "glamour", the success for me lies on experimenting different flavors, aromas, textures, combining  beautiful dishes such to come up with a one of a kind experience to the ones that are there to try, them being friends, family or clients .

   During my experience with Carnival I wanted to learn more about mixology and wines, for I think the compliment of a drink/beverage on a dish makes up for a complete  gastronomical experience, that is much more to constitute something memorable on one’s life.

That would be a succinct Bio of who writes to thee !

 Haven't been drawing lately For I've been a bit nervous with all the wait on my work visa, I really CAN'T wait to start to work back again, the thing is working sucks when u have to do it everyday, but it also sucks doing nothing everyday huh?!

cheers brothers & sisters!  

Beautiful earthy flavors!

Photo & dish by Felipe Barros

Risottos are definitely something that a lot of people are afraid to do, and some others don't really know that they are making a mistake, but for any of you that would like to learn how to cook one well then I'll try my best to explain this to ya.

Back in College and when I started my first professional experience at a contemporary food restaurant Garcia & Rodrigues back in Rio de Janeiro, I had to learn from the very start what to do in a kitchen, of course I started with the simple "mis-en-place"(French term for the pre-Preparation of the menu items) things, but after a while one of the great experienced cooks that was there thought carefully how to prepare good risottos, and once I got the hang of it, it became part of my responsibilities to do those ones.

Mushroom Risotto

- 1 large onion finely chopped

- Approx. one litre of chicken or meat stock

- Two white wine glasses (dry grapes like chardonnay are best)

- 400 gr of risotto rice (arborio)  

- 90 gr of butter

- 120 gr of freshly grated Parmesan cheese (if too expensive buy at least the long grated ones, not the fine)

- sea salt and ground pepper

- 2 cloves of garlic finely chopped

- mix of mushrooms around 6 or 8 Portobellos, 10 white buttons and 10 swiss brown (these ones are easy to find and not so expensive) all nicely sliced 

- a Pinch of finely chopped parsley and chives

   With mild heat cook the onions with a bit of butter without coloring them, add up the rice and and crank it up on the heat, stir in the wine and let the heat evaporate a bit of the alcohol, feel the beautiful aroma of the wine spreading around you, the rice will pick up on the wine flavors and aromas.

  After a little while start adding up the stock ladle by ladle(don't over do it, u need some moist on your rice but not for it to become a soup) seasoning a bit at this part, turn the heat down a bit and slowly cook stirring the rice every now and then ,this should take around 15 to 20 minutes, this type of rice is not the usual kind and risottos are not meant to be grain by grain loose and separate, in fact the final result should be creamy.

    While you cook the rice heat up a pan and with a knob of butter cook the mushrooms with the garlic, u'll notice that it may seem like a lot of mushrooms and for that I prefer to divide into small bunches so i can get them nicely grilled and get the garlic flavor going on them. Season to taste and for the last part spread part of the parsley and chives on top for a finishing touch.

    Try your rice ,it should be cooked well but still firm on the inside, as the Italians say "al dente", if it's cooked, correct the salt and pepper, put in the mix of mushrooms, finish with a good piece of butter and Parmesan stirring to dissolve .

Your risotto is ready serve as it is or if u need a sort of protein grilled lamb chops go perfect with it, marinate for a couple of hours the lamb chops with some red wine and herbs like rosemary, thyme and sage. Once u have them grilled deglaze the pan with the red wine correct the salt and a pinch of sugar, finish it with some butter for a great quick sauce for your lamb chops!  

  As i said it may seem like a lot of work but it's not really that much this recipe above serves 4-6 people and u can gather your friends on a lovely Sunday and cook them this i guarantee everybody (that likes mushrooms) will love it, the only thing left for me to say is no matter how hard it is always cook with your heart into it, and enjoy what you're doing, when i cook things like this at home i like to have a nice wine with some mixed nuts as an appetizer, and that my friends keeps me happy through all my journey in the kitchen!

cheers to all!!

A sweet way to start your day!!!

OK folks so here we go for the first recipe i'm posting here, in case it's you first time here my name is Felipe and I'm an arts man, graduated in gastronomy(Chef); i love to draw, mostly comic book and manga (japanese comics) style, I play some guitar and I'm amateur photographer, therefore with this blog I intend to write down  recipes I cook, drawings I do, photos I shoot and interesting facts with links to videos regarding my experiences of life, and that's why I titled the blog "Art of Living", hope u like it!

The Photo above was taken by me, and the dish itself was done by a good friend Chef Juliene & myself.

These are american style pancakes with Greek yogurt infused with honey, and a French style wild berries "coulis". A delicious option for a special breakfast, rather balanced in sweetness with a slightly sour finish,

if you prefer a more sweet option you can whisk up some "Creme fraiche" and make you own whipped cream as sweet as you like.

Pancakes

-135 gr plain flour

-1/2 tbs of baking powder

-pinch of salt

-2 tbs of sugar

-130 ml of milk

-1 large egg lightly whisked 

-2 tbs melted butter

  Sift the dry items into a bowl, whisk the milk together with the egg and 

the melted butter(make sure the butter is not hot), mix them up until u get 

a smooth batter (add a little vanilla syrup, or some chopped nuts if you like). 

Heat up your pan and use a little bit of butter or oil so your pancakes won't 

stick to it, just a little tip, once u put the batter on the pan pay attention  

for the bubbles that will come on top, as soon as they appear

flip them over wait another minute and a 1/2 or so and that's it.

Mild fire/heat u don't want to use high heat cuz them you burn the batter

without cooking it!

Coulis  

-5 or 6 Strawberries

-A handful of raspberries( or any berries you like)

-2 tbs of sugar or honey

-a squeeze of lemon juice

   In a pan slightly heated, drop all of the above, stir up so it won't boil,

until it gets mildly thick, try it and add sugar or honey if you prefer sweeter.

Again mild heat if it boils too much a lot of the flavor gets lost in the air and u 

need this flavor, believe me!

For the Yogurt, whisk up some natural unsweetened yogurt with honey to your taste, mount the pancakes put 

everything else on top as much as you like and indulge yourself into it, when u do it let me know how was it, 

leave a comment  !

Cheers folks!

  

A great weekend has passed went through a day tour to the south on a very small "beach"city, while there got on a "Cruise" on a extinct volcanic crater, it was an immense thing, when the Captain said on the speaker "the MOUNTAINS around us used to be the mouth of the volcano", I couldn't believe my eyes, they say this volcano has been extinct for millions of years, therefore i can't help but wonder around imagining the dinosaurs around it and how big everything was back then, isn't it awesome to think that the nature and all forms of life have been able to adapt themselves around each other since the beginning of times, and how much destruction the "giant" insects of those times would cause nowadays! I would love to be able to travel in time, and for that i let my mind wonder around whenever i can...

Lately i have been getting back in touch with my artistic side, just finished last night a drawing i did of myself, and for that i'll start now posting drawings as well, this one i entitled: Me drawing myself!

cheerio!