Brazilian Stuffing

My husband and I loved a Brazilian restaurant that closed down in Peabody a few years back. Everything there was amazing and we were completely devastated. None of the other Brazilian rodizios we have tried since have been able to hold a candle to it. I absolutely loved the stuffing that they served!

I'm not a big fan of beans at all. I'm not sure how it is that I totally love this dish! My recipe is purely trial and error until I achieved a similar taste. I have no idea if it's culturally authentic, so please don't hold that against me. 

2 eggs, beaten

1 medium white onion, minced

1 package chorizo, sliced

1 bunch fresh cilantro

1 can kidney beans

Seasoned breadcrumbs

1/2 cup beef or chicken broth

1 Tsp butter spread

In a skillet, melt butter. Add onions and saute until they begin to caramelize (10 minutes). Turn the heat up to high and add the beaten eggs. Quickly and constantly stir the eggs with a spatula until cooked. Add the broth. Bring to a boil. Once boiling, add the sausage. The sausage I use is pre-cooked so I'm just warming it up. 

Drain and rinse the kidney beans. Remove skillet from heat and add the beans. Mix well. Chop the cilantro into small pieces and add to skillet. Stirring constantly, begin to add the breadcrumbs. I usually end up using about 2 cups in total. You want to soak up all the liquid, coat all the items, but not have dry breadcrumbs in excess inside your pan. Knowing the consistency you want isn't necessarily the easiest thing. It's really just trial and error. 

I've had stuffing at other Brazilian BBQs that have been different. Some are much drier versions using much more breadcrumbs. Some have vegetables mixed in such as carrots, corn, peas, of green beans. The recipe above is my favorite take on it. Feel free to add items to your liking. 

Banana & Egg Flourless Pancakes

This is another recipe that I came across again and again, trending on Pinterest and it caught my attention. Who wouldn't want to try flourless diet pancakes? Well, as usual, I tweaked the recipes I found and came up with my own winning combination because I really didn't think that there was much pancake in the original "pancakes". I also like flavor, which I thought they lacked, even with adding some maple syrup.

 

2 bananas

3 eggs

1 Tbsp flour (if you want it gluten-free then don't use it, but I find that this tiny bit went a long way!)

1 Tsp cinnamon

1/2 Tsp vanilla extract

1 packet of sweetener (Splenda)

 

Recipe Adapted from Blogilates



Mash the bananas well using a blender or mixer and add eggs, whisking them. Slowly sprinkle in flour and add in the spices. I used a batter dispenser to form my pancakes and cooked them on a non-stick pan with a spray from my Misto. The batter is pretty runny! I did manage to cook two silver-dollar pancakes at once in a large pan, but I wouldn't go much more than that. They cook fast, about a minute or two only on each side.

Banana and egg are still the predominant flavors in these, not pancakes. In the future, I would forgo the maple syrup route and have them with butter, a small amount of peanut butter, some caramel, or a bananas foster topping that I make sometimes (will share at some point). All in all, it was a different thing to try but I wasn't totally sold on them. Give me my flour I suppose...



Greek Egg Salad

 

There's really not something totally Greek about this! If you've ever been to a Greek Easter celebration, then you've experienced the cracking of the eggs. After the traditional part is done, most people don't eat them since they've already been stuffed with so much food already. So, what do you do with a large hoard of hard boiled eggs? You mike egg salad...kinda pink egg salad...Greek egg salad. Okay, so not much makes it Greek other than the fact that you can see the eggs were very red. I threw in some Tzatziki since I use a predominantly yogurt base anyways...I guess now its Greek-er!

1 1/2 dozen hard boiled eggs (Greek ones will be red)

2 Tbsp mayonnaise

2 Tbsp Miracle Whip

1 Tbsp Tzatziki

1/2 cup plain Greek yogurt

mixed up salt (to taste)

Peel your eggs. This can be a job in itself depending on how broken they got. I find  that putting them in the microwave for 30 seconds will make your life a bit easier for peeling. I thought of trying the Pinterest "baking soda trick" when boiling them but I'm too afraid it will mess with the egg dying. 

Once the eggs are all peeled, cut them in half the long way and then into bite sized pieces!

Someone at my Greek Easter celebration apparently got a truly lucky egg indeed! 2 yolks! Pretty rare!

 

(Did I ever mention how much I love my glass cook top as a cutting board?)

In a large mixing bowl, combine the yogurt, Miracle Whip, mayo, and Tzatziki. Add in the eggs and mix well. Add the salt to taste. If you have any large chunks, you can use a knife to cut them up and mix them a little better by just slicing randomly through the mixture. 

Shrimp Casserole

If you have never checked out the Bumble Bee website for recipes, you totally should. Their tuna, salmon, and shrimp are great things to keep in your pantry on hand for those times when you have nothing defrosted for dinner.

 

I didn't use their baby shrimp for this recipe though. I found these salad shrimp at Stop & Shop in the freezer section for only $1! That's pretty unheard of especially for that store. Just defrost them the night before, or grab a can of Bumble Bee for this recipe.

 

This is great for a brunch or a dinner and it's the perfect size for two.

 

1 pouch of baby shrimp

3 slices of bread, cut into pieces

3 slices cheddar cheese

3 eggs, beaten, cut into pieces

1/2 Tsp mustard

1/4 Tsp salt

1 cup milk

1/4 cup butter or margarine, melted

1/2 Tsp minced onion

1/4 Tsp garlic powder

1/8 Tsp lemon pepper

pepper, to taste
              

Recipe Adapted from Bumble Bee

Spray a baking dish with non-stick spray. Lay out bread, then cover with cheese, then shrimp. Repeat layers a second time. Pour melted butter or margarine evenly over the top. In a small bowl, beat the eggs and mix with remaining ingredients, beating well. Make sure to beat just before pouring, and then pour mixture into the baking dish. Bake in a 350 degree oven for an hour, until a toothpick comes out fairly clean.