Chili Sem Carne

For those of you who loved our first recipe, Chili Con Carne, here is an invention by Urso Branco, me. It is Chili Sem Carne or Chili without Meat. Vegetarians will love this!



Have you ever started to make your favourite dish and then realized you had not bought the major ingredient? Just imagine you were going to make Chili Con Carne and you had no carne and the stores were all closed.

What do you do? Abandon the recipe? NO! Just make the same recipe but without the carne.

The creating is done exactly the same as our recipe for Chili Con Carne . . just leave out the carne.

In this recipe you can add whatever vegetable you like.

Cut up the onions in small pieces and put them in the pan.



Peel and chop the tomatoes and put in the pan with the onions.



For extra flavour, add a chopped green pepper.



Mix them all in the pan.



Add the Club House chili dust or substitute your own mix of spices.




Add kidney beans or beans of your choice.



Add Black Pepper, or Chili Pepper to taste.



Cook for 1 hour to blend all the tastes.


Hints for serving Chili Sem Carne!

You can boil potatoes with or without the skins and pour the Chili Sem Carne over them,



Put a bowl of Pasta on the table with the Chili SEm Carne served in a bowl.



Pour the Chili Sem Carne over the Pasta.



You can use mashed potatoes instead of whole potatoes.



If you have lots of liquid you can use toast to sop up the liquid or pour Chili Sem Carne over the toast.




You can do the same with plain white or brown bread and cover it with Chili Sem Carne.

Whichever serving method you use it will be absolutely delicious. I have eaten Chili Sem Carne using all these serving styles.

Of course you serve Chili Con Carne exactly the same ways!

Enjoy!!!



Photos by Urso Branco

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Abacaxi! Abacaxi! Abacaxi!

This is not a Canadian Brasilian Recipe but it is so delicious I had to show it to you.

A vendor drives around town with a truckload of Abacaxi (Pineapple) for sale at R$2 each.

He has a ten minute recorded message that talks non stop about his Abacaxi! Abacaxi! Abacaxi! Doce! Doce! Doce! Sweet! Sweet! Sweet! Pineapple.

We see him about once a month and always buy five to appease my sweet tooth. These ones are still a little green but they will be perfect in a couple days or so.




One guy drives the truck while two guys run the street giving samples to people.




This guy was too shy to show his face but he will gladly let you have a free sample.




The truck is loaded with 1000 abacaxi.




We bought five and brought them home.




This is how a Canadian prepares abacaxi. He lets his Brasilian wife do the work!!!

First she cuts off the top.




Then she cuts off the bottom!




Then she slices off the sides!




The delicious treasure is exposed!




Almost done!




She discards the outer peel and slices the inside lengthways.




She cuts all the sides and leaves the hard core. I like to eat the hard core so there is no waste.




She cuts the abacaxi into smaller pieces and puts them in her serving pan!



As a final step . . .The Canadian EATS THEM. Mmmmmmmmmmmmm!




Photos by Urso Branco

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Redneck Scrambled Eggs

This fabulous recipe was invented by two people on two different continents.

Urso Branco invented it in Canada and Judy invented it in Brasil around the same time. So this is really a Canadian/Brasilian recipe.

I have deferred to Judy in giving it its name. Judy called it Redneck Scrambled Eggs because when she and her kids lived on a farm here in Brasil they had a variation of this dish often.

It is Scrambled Eggs here just because I couldn't be bothered making it into an omelet. The marvelous part of this simple and nutritious meal is you can, as my mother used to say, put in everything except the kitchen sink.

So let's start.


Take as many eggs as you wish and break them into a bowl.





Take the cheese of your choice. It is best with Canadian Cheddar.





Slice the cheese and then cut it into small pieces. I suppose you could even use shredded cheese.





Open a bottle, carton or can of fresh milk. It can be whole, partly skimmed or skimmed.





Pour as much milk as you have egg into the bowl and add the cheese.





Stir vigourously!





Open a can or box of mixed vegetables. If you prefer to bother cut up fresh vegetables.





Pour off the water then add everything to a greased or oiled frypan. Cook stirring frequently to break it all up for scrambled eggs. If you prefer an omelet just don't break it. Cook and fold in two then turn over when browned.

Sprinkle the mix with black pepper and paprika (or whatever spices you like).





Here is the finished dish ready to serve hot from the pan.





Of course any scrambled egg or omelet just MUST have ketchup (no mattter how it is spelled).





Now here is something special we discovered here in Brasil. Canned vegetables are being phased out to avoid waste preoblems in favour of cartons which are biodegradeable.

Either way, here in Brasil, there is ALWAYS one black pea in the can or box. Why? I guess it is to see who is the lucky one to get the special, rare pea. They must have one person in the factory whose job it is to puit one and only one black pea in each container.



So there you have a simple and quick recipe for breakfast or lunch. You can even have it for supper.

Variations:

Add anything you find in the fridge or cupboards such as Vegetables, Chicken, Pork, Beef, Mortadella Bologna or Sausage. Anything goes if you like it. I don't think jello is a good idea though. Maybe fruit would be nice.





Photos by Urso Branco

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Cheese Omelet

Here is another simple meal for breakfast or lunch. For that matter, for anytime. However, neither my Mother nor my Grandmother invented it. If you go to Google and type Cheese Omelet you will find lots of different recipes with lots of different stuff added to them.

It is the weekend and time for another simple and delicious meal.




All we need is eggs, cheese and milk plus some pepper and paprika to taste. I never cook with salt because of my heart condition. But add it if you wish.





I like a three egg omelet so I broke three eggs in the bowl.





Add some milk (about 1/4 cup). The milk makes the omelet bigger and fluffy. Just don't add too much milk because it will fill the pan. Stir until well mixed.




I prefer to use Cheddar Cheese. It is firmer and has a terrific taste, particularly, in an omelet. Cut the cheese into small pieces. You can use your own choice of cheese.





Lightly oil the fry pan or use a cooking spray so the eggs don't stick to the pan. Pour in the mixture of eggs and milk.





Add some paprika and black pepper to taste.





Once the omelet has cooked a bit and is no longer runny, sprinkle the cheese all over the omelet.





Once everything is firm fold the omelet in half. In this case I folded too soon and it didn't look pretty. But that doesn't matter. Notice how it is golden brown.





With a large omelet it helps to cut it in half before turning it over. Cook each side until golden brown.





This omelet was not pretty at all. Here it is fallen to pieces. But, don't worry it will still taste lovely.




Here is a two egg cheese omelet. It is easier to handle and looks pretty!




I cut it in half before turning it over.





Now that is more like it. This one looks pretty!





You can eat it alone or with sausage as shown here or with bacon, ham or any meat you choose. Notice I love ketchup so I put a big spoon full on the omelet.


This omelet tastes fantastic because of the Cheddar Cheese. Of course you can use the basic eggs and milk recipe and add anything you like, such as green pepper and ham for a Spanish Omelet.

Like the French Toast in the previous post, this is quick, simple and delicious.



Photos by Urso Branco

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French Toast

According to Wikipedia

French toast (often known as eggy bread in most of the UK - the exception being Scotland, pain perdu in French, pain doré in French-speaking parts of Canada) is a popular breakfast food in North America and Europe.

French toast is made with bread and eggs; some common additions are milk, water, or orange juice to thin the eggs, sugar, and spices such as allspice, nutmeg and cinnamon. Vanilla may also be added to the egg mixture. In restaurants throughout Canada and the United States, the bread is usually thick white bread made especially for use in French toast; when made at home, regular sliced bread is often used. Although often served as a sweetly spiced dish in the United States, others prefer a savory version, seasoned with salt and pepper instead, or even topped with a melted slice of cheese.

The Truth about French Toast!

My Grandmother invented it back in 1795 when she came to Canada.

She needed a fast nutritious meal for her husband and kids one day after a hard morning working in the fields. so she dreamed up Genuine 100% Canadian French Toast. Back in those days they gave the meals foreign names to make them seem better. But Grandma knew better. She just made the best meals.



First you gather the tools and ingredients. All you need is bread, milk, eggs and cinnamon.





You lightly oil the frying pan, or use cooking spray such as Pam. Then put three eggs in a bowl. That is enough for one person. Since I was alone today that is all I used.





Add milk.





Stir vigourously to thoroughly mix the milk and eggs.





Sprinkle in cinnamon to taste. Or add whatever spice you like or even leave it out.





Preheat the frying pan to medium. Then drop a slice of bread into the bowl and soak thouroughly with the egg and milk mixture.





Turn the slice over and soak the other side.





Put the soaked bread slices in the frying pan and cook for about one minute to a minute and a half.





Turn the slices and cook the other side for about another minute to a minute and a half.





See how they are golden brown now.





On the table I show three possible toppings. The first, on the right , is Genuine Canadian Pure Maple Syrup. This is pure heaven. In the middle there is a jar of Jabuticaba Jam. See the previous post about making the jam. On the left is Brasilian Honey made by Flavio Carvalho. See our Blog Mel do Brasil for more about the honey made here in Águas da Prata.




Now we are ready to eat.





I chose Maple Syrup first. I don't think it is available in Brasil. We brought this treasured bottle all the way from Canada.





The next slice was covered in honey. What a fabulous treat it is too.





The third and fourth slice were covered in Jabuticaba Jam. Very delicious!!!





There was enough egg and milk mix left for two more slices. The excess mix is just poured on top.





Notice these slices look rich in egg and milk mix.





These last two slices were covered in Jabuticaba Jam.


So there you have it. A very simple dish that only took about ten minutes to make. If you have more people dining just add more eggs and milk.

French Toast makes a lovely breakfast or lunch. It also goes great with sausages or bacon.

I hope you enjoy making and eating this simple Canadian meal.



Photos by Urso Branco

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