Tivemos um grande momento! That’s Portuguese for “We Had a Great Time!”

Rioja with our meal

Our Brazilian Churrascaria was delicious! Everyone really did a fantastic job preparing cuisine that many of our group had never even eaten, much less cooked. It was definitely a filling meal – a meat laden, filling meal – but, we made it through and sampled some great treats including a few “keeper” recipes that would be terrific to try again on the patio in the summertime.



To start the night off we enjoyed the Lemongrass Caipirinhas my husband prepared. These were perky and refreshing, also light before so much food. I’ve posted the recipe for these below in case you’d like to give them a try. For more information on caipirinhas in general you can refer back to my posting on February 16^th.

Brazilian beers to sample

Many of us drank these mixed cocktails, but others (including my husband the beer aficionado) brought Brazilian beers with them to give a whirl. The most commonly available one in our area is Xingu; a “black beer” that the bottle describes as “Light and dark, smooth as silk”. After tasting, I would verify this description. What looks to be a dark, heavy, stout beer is in fact dark only in color. Its taste was smooth and silky and it was light on the palate as well as the belly, leaving plenty of room for our meat extravaganza!

Brazilian shrimp soup

The Brazilian shrimp soup was absolutely delicious; smooth and velvety and stocked full of shrimp flavor. Highlights of the meat assortment, for me, were definitely the seared flank steak with frizzled onions and the beef tenderloin which was prepared with an accompanying salsa that was bright and zesty without being overpowering to the delicate taste of this cut of beef. Others at the table commented that they loved the lamb, which was prepared two ways, one smoked, the other braised.

The side accompaniments included my rice with peppers and linguica as well as collard greens (my “Best Dish of the Night” for this Dinner Club) and rich cheese rolls. For dessert, we all truly devoured the Brigadeiros (chocolate balls) – some of us with more red wine; some with coffee.

My FULL plate! The collard
greens were bright on the
plate and delicious!

There were dishes in this Dinner Club that I was happy to try, as well as those that were so good I’ll definitely make them again. There were a few that I would put my own spin on and see how I feel about my experimentation. That’s why I love our Dinner Club – exposure! I’ve included plenty of food pictures so you can get a visual of what all we enjoyed. In my next post I’ll tell you more about the outcome of the three recipes I prepared as well as more on our “Best Dish”!

Fresh salsa to accompany
our beef tenderloin

Chocolate brigadeiros
for dessert!

LEMONGRASS CAIPIRINHAS
Found at: www.foodista.com
From the blog: “Ceramic Canvas”
Permalink to the recipe: http://ceramiccanvas.com/2009/06/lemongrass-caipirinhas-cocktails

Our finished caipirinha

I prefer to make this in one big batch for parties. But you could easily make this on a glass-by-glass basis – 1 oz each of lemongrass syrup and cachaça, plus splash of club soda and crushed ice.
I recommend that before you mix the entire batch, that you test out the proportions with one serving to make sure that the sweetness of the drink is to your taste. If need to, you can adjust the balance.

1 cup lemongrass, cut into 1″ dices
3 cups water
2 cups sugar
2 cups cachaça
9 limes, cut into eights

In a medium sized, heavy bottom sauce pan over medium-high heat, bring the lemongrass and 3 sups of water to a boil. Lower heat and simmer, uncovered for 10 minutes. Remove from heat, cover with a tight lid and let lemongrass steep for 30 minutes.

Strain liquid and discard the lemongrass. You should have about 2 cups of liquid. Pour lemongrass back into sauce pan and pour in sugar. Heat liquid enough to completely dissolve the sugar. Set syrup aside until it is room temperature. Transfer to a bowl and refrigerate.

Blend cold lemongrass syrup and cachaça in one pitcher.

To serve, place 4 pieces of a quartered lime in the bottom of the glass. Using a muddle or the back of a wooden spoon crush the limes to release their juice. Pour in about ½ cup of the syrup/cachaça mix. Add finely crushed ice. And top off drink with club soda (to taste, in order to adjust the sweetness of the drink).

International Travel Via Food: See the World Now!

Traveling has given me access to some amazing food. There is nothing like a simple street taco when you are in Mazatlan, Mexico, or the also simple - yet bursting with flavor - Croque Monsieur sandwich when you are huddled in a hole-in-the-wall bistro deep in the streets of Paris! In New York City, my husband and I sample every type of ethnic restaurant we can get our hands on while there. There was a fantastic South African restaurant and wine bar we dined at in the Hell’s Kitchen area on our last visit called “Braai” (www.braainyc.com).  We enjoyed such a unique and memorable meal together that night!

I adore authentic ethnic cuisine of all kinds; Mexican, Japanese, Italian, you name it. Several of these ethnic restaurants can be found in our local area. Most of them are really top notch. But Brazilian food? Not readily available to those of us in many mid-sized cities in the Midwest. This is part of the reason we seek them out for our Dinner Club; the desire to sample the flavors of the world right here at home.

Our group has been together for five years now. We’ve traveled an entire planet of cuisine together; and yet, there’s so much more territory to cover! We’ve nibbled tapas in Spain, sipped mojitos in Cuba; we’ve savored blini from Russia, falafel from Africa and the best crepes this side of Paris! Where else can you span the globe from Tuscany, to Taiwan, to Texas while spending so little cash and having all of your best friends right there with you to experience it?

This blog was designed to be a place for me to write. It’s a place to post photos and memorable recipes for our group of friends to re-visit. It’s also becoming (a bit) more widely known. At last check, after only a few months up and running, “Let’s Do Dinner Club” has had a few thousand page hits. In the “web world” this doesn’t count as much; however, in my heart it counts quite a bit! I’d write the blog audience or not. It’s a passion of mine; writing and food, food and writing. Separately… together, any which way I can have them. I love to cook. I love to read. I love to write. So thank you for reading!

Back to my point now: this blog was begun for the aforementioned reasons and for the sake of those in our Dinner Club group, but for anyone else out there who may become inspired to set their table with a bit more thought, to purchase a cook book or print a recipe to experiment with a cuisine they’ve never before prepared…. This is for you. Take the reins now and travel the world through food. (If you can afford to REALLY go to Tuscany, Taiwan and Texas all in one year, then more power to you, and can you invite me along?)

Taste the flavors of the world. Have experiences with friends that will be the memories of a lifetime. Next stop for our travels is Brazil this Saturday night! You can count on me to let you know how the trip was, of course!

Incidentally, a friend of my husbands, who is from Brazil himself, pointed out yet another authentic Brazilian side item that he says they commonly enjoy with their steak. It's called "farofa". Although our menu is set for tomorrow already, I found quite a bit of information online about this dish. This summer I'd like to try preparing farofa myself along with the homemade linguica I've promised to try and some grilled steaks. I've attached just one video link below for you to follow for more information on this traditional dish of Brazil!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2f5_WUElWx0

Enjoy and see you next week!

Brazilian Linguica Two (Maybe Three!) Different Ways

If you read my last blog post you know that I, thankfully, did not have to hand-prepare my own authentic Brazilian linguica sausage; although, I swear I will attempt it sometime and inform on how it turns out! So then, I bought the sausage and that’s it? What? Microwave it and bring it to Dinner Club this weekend since my assignment for the night was “sausage”? Hmmm. I think not!



My linguica sausage from Stoysich
House of Sausage, Omaha, NE.



As I’ve mentioned before, we keep our Dinner Club “assignments” simple; each couple only brings one – two if it’s really easy – element of the meal. With six couples involved this makes a great spread every time with less effort and expense on each individual couple. For this Brazilian Churrascaria, we have four of the six couples providing our churrasca-style meats. We’ll be enjoying a Brazilian Flank Steak, a Chicken with Citrus and Tomato, Marinated Lamb and finally, my authentic linguica sausage!

Yes, I plan to bring some of said sausage “unadulterated” – so to speak! We’re thinking a simple smoking and roasting of it so that everyone can have a bite of it and see what they think. However, in researching recipes online for more creative uses for this particular sausage I’ve come up with a few amazing-sounding things to prepare (see below for links to the recipes I’m preparing). Thankfully, our group is always willing to give a try!

Our meal will consist of the above-mentioned meats, sides like collard greens and bread, as well as a soup starter and dessert. My linguica recipes should pair nicely along with all of these items, as well as incorporating some elements into our meal that weren’t specifically planned, but will likely be most welcome; seafood and grains. The first recipe is for “Rice with Brazilian Sausage, Red Peppers and Chickpeas”; the second is “Steamed Clams with Linguica”.

Our Dinner Club group consists of both seafood lovers and those who will “try it out”, but aren’t normally in the “love” category. This recipe for steamed clams is a great way to offer a seafood element without forcing it on everyone, as there will be plenty of meats and a couple of other applications of the sausage they can choose instead. With fresh little neck clams, cilantro, some white wine and, of course, the linguica, it should be terrific! I’ll keep you posted, of course.

The rice recipe offers another carbohydrate on the plate along with our cheese rolls and incorporates the linguica nicely as part of side dish to the other meat elements on the plate. This one utilizes tomato, onion, paprika, more wine and chickpeas with the sausage. I won’t be preparing mass quantities of either dish since we’ll have plenty of food on the table, but I love the idea of incorporating my “assigned” element into a few different items to taste!

I’ll be letting you know afterward what we thought of everything, along with posting pictures, so keep reading. I’ll also post what you simply must try at home for your own friends or dinner group. Only the best of the best will do!

Rice with Brazilian Sausage, Red Peppers and Chickpeas

Found at: www.foodista.com

From the Blog: “Chop Onions, Boil Water: World Food at Home”

Permalink to follow for the blogger’s recipe: http://www.choponionsboilwater.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=127:rice-with-brazilian-sausage&catid=57:brazilian&Itemid=29

Steamed Clams with Linguica

Found at: www.cookeatshare.com

Recipe by: A Couple in the Kitchen, www.acoupleinthekitchen.blogspot.com

Locating Specialty Ingredients: Focus on Flavor for the Effect of Authenticity!

Our Dinner Club does quite a few ethnic-focused meals each season. How do we reconcile this with the fact that we don’t live in the hub of ethnicity here in Omaha, Nebraska? First –ingenuity. Second – a focus on the flavor of our meals as much as (or more than) authenticity. Dinner Club is about the fun of being together. It’s about trying new things and enjoying a delicious meal. Authenticity is great, but a deliciously good time is greater!

You’re getting my drift… the flavors of the world…., but how to make them at home when you possibly have limited access to the necessary ingredients?

As I mentioned first; ingenuity. Really look at what is around and available to you in your own local area. We may not be Chicago or New York, but we do have some terrific Asian and Latino markets in town. As in the case of our Brazilian Churrascaria Dinner Club, I’m in need of “linguica”. It’s a traditional Brazilian and Portuguese sausage that will be one of the meat entrée items for our meal. Turns out, when searching the internet for resources right here in town, we have a source for this worldly item.

I’d heard of the Stoysich House of Sausage (http://www.stoysich.com/) plenty before, since my husband’s German and Polish ancestry – and therefore upbringing – included the many types of sausage those cuisines hold dear. But I’d never considered that our “home town” sausage purveyor would have the Brazilian linguica I’m seeking. Well, they do!

Had they not, there are plenty of places online to order specialty ingredients if you’re willing to pay the high price of shipping! Better yet, do as one friend of mine did, and call a friend or relative who lives where your ingredients ARE readily available and have them send them to you. Saves you on some cost and some hassle, plus it’s a fun connection with folks you don’t get to see often; however, since I have no friends or relatives in Brazil…., well, you know.

The second note on seeking ingredients is this: If you can’t locate the actual, authentic, straight-from-the-country-of-choice item, don’t sweat it! The fact that you’re attempting to reenact the meal on your own is courageous and bold in itself! Do the best you can. Read up on what the flavor essence of the dish should be and don’t be scared to throw in a little extra something of your own to make it as close to the real deal as you can. Turns out I didn’t have to make my own sausage by hand, even though I do own attachments for my Kitchenaid to go there if I must! You can follow this link for just one recipe on how to make your own linguica sausage: (If you dare! Maybe sometime soon I will too - my husband would love this process and the opportunity to smoke the sausage on the patio out back this summer!)

Homemade Linguica

Whether you make every ingredient on your own from scratch, or you order some things you require and prepare it thereafter; make the end result delicious and it will be fun. Make it as authentic as you can and you’ll feel proud of your efforts and satisfied with the outcome! And remember, “you eat first with your eyes”. So read up a little about the country or cuisine of the night and set the mood with table décor or music that whisks you away! More later this week on my “linguica” recipes!

The Word of the Month! - “Caipirinha” !!

Repeat after me; “Caipirinha”. It’s Brazil’s national cocktail and it’s on the docket for our Dinner Club “Brazilian Churrascaria” coming up in a little over a week! Can you tell that I’m excited about this one? Trying new things is always a blast for me – for us – as a group, and this is no exception. A drink I’ve never had? I’m sure there are many of them, but this one is truly different – keep reading!

It starts with a type of liquor that I’m assuming most of you don’t keep on hand in the home liquor cabinet (because I'm sure I don't): Cachaça (according to a few Google searches, it's pronounced ‘ka-shah- sa’). Cachaça is made from fermented sugar cane and “while both rum and cachaça are made from sugarcane-derived products, most rum is made from molasses. Specifically with cachaça, the alcohol results from the fermentation of sugarcane juice that is afterwards distilled.” (1)


The Caipirinha is a basic drink made from Cachaça, sugar and lime. “The word "caipirinha" is the diminutive version of the word "caipira", which refers to someone from the countryside, being an almost exact equivalent of the American English hillbilly.” (1) I think I speak for our entire Dinner Club group in saying that, hillbilly drink or not, we intend to give it the credit it is due as the most prominent cocktail of Brazil!


“Cachaça, like rum, has two varieties: unaged (white) and aged (gold). White cachaça is usually bottled immediately after distillation and tends to be cheaper…It is often used to prepare caipirinha and other beverages in which cachaça is an ingredient. Dark cachaça, usually seen as the "premium" variety, is aged in wood barrels and is meant to be drunk straight (it is usually aged for up to 3 years though some "ultra premium" cachaças have been aged for up to 15 years). Its flavor is influenced by the type of wood the barrel is made from.” (1)

Besides the Caipirinha, the many different kinds of "batida's" or "smoothies" made with rum or cachaça sound fantastic too! By the way, "batidas" can also be made without the alchohol for a smoothie without the kick! Here's a quick list just from Google searching "Brazilian cocktails" that comes up for inspiration on recipes to try:

• Tangerine-Ginger Caipirinhas, Kumquat Caipirinha and the Mango Rum Batida found at: www.epicurious.com
• Lemongrass or Mango Caipirinha's found at: www.foodista.com
• The recipe for "Batida de Coco" can be found at: www.supercocktails.com, www.maria-brazil.org and www.suite101.com

I don't know which one's our group will show up with, but I guarantee I'm anxious to give them a a try! Below are a few more recipes for Caipirinha’s; a couple variations on the basic and one that is a fun adaptation of the original. Wait until summer and have the national drink of Brazil on your patio; or do as we’re doing and MAKE a reason to try something new. Invite some friends over, look back at this blog and host a Brazilian party all your own!


(1) Denotes quoted directly from http://www.wikipedia.org/

Caipirinha

Found at: http://www.chow.com/

INGREDIENTS

• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar
• 4 Key limes, halved and seeded, or 2 small, juicy limes, quartered
• 2 ounces cachaça

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Sprinkle the sugar over the limes, and muddle them in the mixing glass part of a Boston shaker until the sugar is dissolved and the lime juice is released. Pour an old-fashioned glassful of cracked ice into the mixing glass, add the cachaça, and shake to incorporate. Return all the contents to the old-fashioned glass.

Variations:
Caipirissima: Use rum in place of the cachaça.
Caipirosca: Use vodka in place of the cachaça.


Caipirinha II
Found at: http://www.epicurious.com/
Gourmet | August 1999
**Makes 8 Caipirinhas.

Ingredients:

15 limes
1/2 cup superfine sugar
1 1/2 cups cachaça

Garnish: lime wedges and/or sugarcane sticks

Preparation:

Squeeze enough juice from limes to measure 2 cups. In a pitcher, stir together lime juice and sugar until sugar is dissolved. Add ice cubes and cachaça, stirring until combined well. Serve drinks garnished with lime wedges and/or sugarcane.

Passion-Fruit Caipirinha
Found at: http://www.epicurious.com/
Gourmet | June 2005
This traditional Brazilian drink gets an extra dose of tropical flavor from passion-fruit juice.

Yield: Serves 1

Ingredients:

1/4 fresh lime, cut into 4 pieces
2 teaspoons superfine granulated sugar
3 oz (6 tablespoons) pure passion-fruit juice (preferably Looza brand)
1 1/2 oz (3 tablespoons) cachaça

Preparation:

Add lime wedges and sugar to an 8-ounce short glass and muddle by pounding and pressing with a wooden spoon until sugar is dissolved. Fill glass with ice and add passion-fruit juice and cachaça, then stir well.

Cachaca

Organizing Meals of an Uncommon Format: How Our Dinner Club Plans it All.

When planning out our Dinner Club menus for the season, we try to keep it even; even workload, even expense involved and so on. No one couple is required to foot the bill for the main entrée more than once per season. Everyone gets a chance to be the salad, or some other quick and easier to prepare menu item. We rotate the workload so that it feels like very little work at all; but what about when a meal, such as our Brazilian Churrascaria menu, doesn’t call for the typical soup, salad, entrée, etc. format?

We’ve done many uncommon menu formats over the years, including our recent fondue night, which we’ve also previously done as the food to coincide with a murder mystery dinner. Tailgating food during a football game, tapas; these are just a few of the menus that we’ve had to organize and still keep the work and expense evenly distributed.

For our tapas night back in November of 2007, our host and hostess prepared a gorgeous seafood paella as our main dish. They also put out a spread of nibbles for when we arrived including a Serrano ham and melon tapas. For the other surrounding tapas elements, each couple brought one hot and one cold tapas item; yet another couple provided one tapas and a tres leches cake for our dessert!

What a memorable meal! Flamenquines (look it up – it’s amazing), glazed baby back ribs, assorted Spanish cheeses and olives, sherried mushroom empanadas… Yum! We had sangria along with all of our “little plates” and everyone was able to enjoy because we spread the work out among all the members of the group. We just broke from our usual soup, salad, etc.

For our Churrasca-style meal in a couple of weeks, we’ve done much the same thing. As I described in a previous blog post, a Brazilian steakhouse would offer several types of meat entrees to choose from; therefore we’ve done the same. We have four couples providing meat; flank steak, chicken, lamb and a Brazilian “linguica” sausage. One couple is responsible for a soup starter and the bread, and the final couple will provide side dish and dessert. Perfect!

I’ve included the “Brazilian Collard Greens” recipe below that one couple is preparing as a side to accompany our selection of meats and the cheese rolls. It’s so simple in both ingredients and preparation, but promises a bright flavor and color on our plates! We’ll see and I’ll let you know! That’s part of the fun here; just picking something that sounds terrific and seeing how we feel. I’ve found over the years that there are many, many things we make that I keep in my recipe file and prepare again. See you next week!

Brazilian Collard Greens
Found at: http://www.epicurious.com/
Gourmet | September 2007

By Melissa Roberts and Maggie Ruggiero

Collards are normally associated with long, slow cooking, but cutting them into thin strips reduces cooking time dramatically. The result is a bright, lively flavor that will make you realize these greens are more versatile than most people think.

Yield: Makes 4 servings
Active Time: 20 Min
Total Time: 20 min

Ingredients:

1 1/4 pound collard greens, stems and center ribs discarded and leaves halved lengthwise
3 garlic cloves
1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation:
Stack half of collard leaves and roll into a cigar shape. Cut crosswise into very thin strips (1/16 inch wide). Repeat with remainder.

Mince and mash garlic to a paste with 3/4 teaspoon salt. Heat oil in a 12-inch heavy skillet over medium heat until it shimmers, then cook garlic, stirring, 30 seconds. Add collards with 1/4 teaspoon pepper and cook, tossing, until just tender and bright green, 3 to 4 minutes.

Collard Greens

Our Brazilian Steakhouse: After All That Meat…. Something Sweet!

Our Brazilian Churrascaria Dinner Club will feature several types of meat entrees, just as a true steakhouse of this type would. However, besides following traditional format for our Churrasca-style dishes, we’ve incorporated some other Brazilian menu items that will delight and dazzle before and after the “meat portion” of the meal!

As a starter for the evening, we’re having a Brazilian Shrimp Soup. I’ll be looking forward to this treat, as I’m a huge seafood lover and I think it’ll be fantastic to incorporate this element in our meal; seafood is so primary to Brazil’s gastronomy historically and currently. This coastal, South American country really has the best of both worlds when it comes to their cuisine with both deep inland and coastal regions.

Along with our meat choices we’re having collard greens – according to our research as a group, a side dish very familiar in this country – as well as a traditional Brazilian cheese bread. It’s more of a roll, really, and sounds great as a starch to balance out our menu well.

For dessert we’ll be enjoying Chocolate Brigadeiros (traditional Brazilian “chocolate balls”). Interesting, right? But they sound great; I’ve included the recipe here below. Try it out and see what you think! It would go with so many meals, whether you want to do the all-out churrascaria with friends, or just grill some fish or flank steak! Or go ahead and make them as a sweet treat for your family. They’re the Brazilian equivalent of a cookie or brownie snack here in the states. I’ll let you know what our Dinner Club thinks of them once we’ve had a chance to sample!

Chocolate Brigadeiros
Found at: http://www.epicurious.com/
Epicurious | June 2010

by Leticia Moreinos Schwartz
The Brazilian Kitchen

Brigadeiro de Chocolate

Chewy, fudgy, addictive. These little chocolate fudge balls are as common and as loved in Brazil as cookies and brownies are in the United States. Traditionally, brigadeiros are a simple mixture of condensed milk, sweetened cocoa powder, and butter, cooked to a fudge state, then formed into little balls and rolled in chocolate sprinkles. I find this to be much too sweet, so I made a few changes to the original recipe, adding real chocolate, real cocoa powder, heavy cream, and corn syrup. Chocolate sprinkles are usually made with vegetable fat, so unless I know the sprinkle is made with real chocolate like the ones from Guittard or Cocoa Barry, I prefer to use cocoa powder, or grated chocolate, for rolling and the result is amazing. This is a perfect dessert to give as a gift for any occasion. Children will love it and so will adults.

Yield: Makes about 45 brigadeiros

Ingredients:

2 (14-ounce) cans sweetened condensed milk
4 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons heavy cream
2 teaspoons light corn syrup
3 ounces semisweet chocolate, chopped
2 teaspoons unsweetened cocoa powder
1 cup chocolate sprinkles, preferably Guittard

Preparation:

1 In a medium heavy-bottomed saucepan, place the condensed milk, butter, heavy cream, and corn syrup and bring to a boil over medium heat.

2 When the mixture starts to bubble, add the chocolate and the cocoa powder. Whisk well, making sure there are no pockets of cocoa powder. Reduce the heat to low and cook, whisking constantly, until it is the consistency of a dense fudgy batter, 8 to 10 minutes. You want the mixture to bubble toward the end, so it's important to use low heat or the sides of the pan will burn the fudge. If you undercook it, the brigadeiro will be too soft; if you overcook it, it will be too chewy. It is done when you swirl the pan and the mixture slides as one soft piece, leaving a thick burnt residue on the bottom.
3 Slide the mixture into a bowl (without scraping the bottom) and let cool at room temperature. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and chill in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours.
4 Scoop the mixture by the teaspoonful and, using your hands, roll each into a little ball about 3/4 inch in diameter (about the size of a chocolate truffle).
5 Place the sprinkles in a bowl. Roll 4 to 6 brigadeiros at a time through the sprinkles, making sure they cover the entire surface. Store in an airtight plastic container for 2 days or up to 1 month in the refrigerator.

Source Information
Recipes from The Brazilian Kitchen by Leticia Moreinos Schwartz (Kyle Books; 2010)

Next Stop Brazil!

Ever been to a Brazilian Churrascaria? My first (and only, I think) experience with this unique form of dining was - of all unusual places - in Bentonville Arkansas. There is a fantastic little churrascaria there called Brioso Brazil. My husband and I had never had churrasca before and we adored it!

If you are not a meat eater – beware! Churrasca-style food is ALL about meat! Fortunately, for the Midwesterners in our Dinner Club, basically everyone is keen on meat in general. Here’s a bit of background on the type of cuisine I’m referring to, in case you’re lost at this point.

According to my friend www.wikipedia.org, a churrascaria is a Brazilian steakhouse. “Churrasca is the cooking style, which translates roughly from Portuguese as “barbecue”. Distinctly a South American style rotisserie, it owes its origins to the fireside roasts of the gaúchos of southern Brazil traditionally from the Pampa region, centuries ago.” ⁽¹⁾

“In modern restaurants rodízio service is typically offered. Passadores (meat waiters) come to your table with knives and a skewer, on which are speared various kinds of meat, be it beef, pork, filet mignon, lamb, chicken, duck, ham (and pineapple), sausage, fish, or any other sort of local cut of meat. A common cut of beef top sirloin cap is known as picanha. In most parts of Brazil, the churrasco is roasted with charcoal. In the south of Brazil, however, mostly close to the borders of Argentina and Uruguay, embers of wood are also used.” ⁽¹⁾

According to another online source, www.copacabana.info, “Churrascarias are remarkable restaurants where you pay a sum to eat as much and for as long as you want! You typically pay…to enter the churrascaria and get showed a table by a waiter. Once at the table, usually there is some sort of sign with either a green “go” or a red “stop”, indicating if you are full or not. While the sign is a green “go”, waiters come around with meat on skewers offering different kinds of barbeque.” ⁽²⁾

This “go” or “stop” signage is exactly as our experience was at Brioso Brazil. You simply indulge until you can’t possibly want any more; a more upscale – and more artful – form of the all-you-can-eat concept!

Again, according to www.copacabana.info, “…in the southern part of Rio de Janeiro, the Copacabana district, there are several churrascarias to enjoy. Some also have entertainment with samba dancing while eating.” ⁽²⁾ Sounds amazing to me! A trip to Brazil is definitely on my list, however, for the time being I will settle for our February “Brazilian Churrascaria” Dinner Club! (See below for our menu for this month)

We, as always, plan to be as authentic as we can with the food. Several couples will be providing meat entrée (churrasca) options – although the aforementioned “rodízio service” will likely be absent as I’m not sure any one of the twelve of us will be volunteering to work as a “Passadore” for the night! We are having traditional Brazilian side dishes and dessert, as well as sampling the national drink of Brazil, the caipirinha! More blog posts later on the cocktails and recipes for this Dinner Club – stay tuned for some interesting new things to try out yourself!

(1) Denotes quoted directly from www.wikipedia.org

(2) Denotes quoted directly from www.copacabana.info

Our “Best Dish” of the Disco Dinner Club: Fondue Bourguignonne!

I loved everything we had for our last Dinner Club! What can be more divine than dipping crusty cubes of bread into rich, wine-infused, melted cheese? Although, I enjoyed every part of our meal – and the evening as a whole – my “best dish” for this one has to go to our host and hostess for their effort on a true Fondue Bourguignonne!

Our whole group at the table, cooking
our "Fondue Bourguignonne"!

First, a bit of background on this possibly lesser-known type of fondue since we’re all fairly familiar with the type of cheese fondue I referred to above…

According to www.wikipedia.org; the word fondue itself is the feminine of the French verb “fondre” (to melt). “The earliest known recipe for a dish resembling the modern cheese fondue comes from a 1699 book published in Zurich, under the name ‘Käss mit Wein zu kochen’ 'to cook cheese with wine'. It calls for grated or cut-up cheese to be melted with wine, and for bread to be dipped in it.” ⁽¹⁾

Sizzling fondue at the table

Besides cheese fondue there is “Fondue Chinoise”; a common French name for the “Chinese hot pot” where meat and vegetables are cooked in a shared pot of broth. ⁽¹⁾  Also, the type of fondue we enjoyed as our main entrée for our Dinner Club, the “Fondue Bourguignonne”, which consists of a fondue pot filled with hot oil into which diners dip pieces of meat to cook them. Various sauces are provided on the side. This dish is first attested in the mid-1950s. ⁽¹⁾ Finally, and even lesser known, the “Fondue Bressane”: Small cubes of chicken breast are dipped in cream, then fine bread crumbs and at last deep fried in oil as with Bourguignonne. ⁽¹⁾

Most recipes for Fondue Bourguignonne call for a high-quality cut of beef, like the beef tenderloin our host and hostess provided. They also supplied cuts of fresh venison, which was delightful! We enjoyed three sauces to accompany our Bourguignonne: mustard, horseradish and curry. I enjoyed all of them, with the curry being my favorite!

Perfectly cooked beef
and dipping sauces to
choose from!

I think our group agrees that it’s always the most enjoyable to “branch out” and try new things. Also, to research a bit to be as true to a dish as we possibly can within budget and time constraints. This was true of our fondue-focused evening! I also thought that this fondue tidbit from Wikipedia was interesting:  “A tradition says that if a man loses his bread in the pot, he buys drinks all around, and if a woman does, she must kiss her neighbors.” ⁽¹⁾

Below is just one recipe for Fondue Bourguignonne. Although I haven’t prepared this one myself, it sounded interesting and delicious! This one attends to the “keeping with tradition” component, as I mentioned, by providng the beef, but also provides a twist by adding a pork meatball option to cook in the hot oil. I plan to give it a try with my family or some friends. Give it a try yourself!

Stay tuned later this week for the announcement of our menu for our February Dinner Club and thanks for reading!

Fondue Bourguignonne

Recipe courtesy of Emeril Lagasse
Found at: www.foodnetwork.com

Ingredients

• 4 cups vegetable oil, or mix of vegetable and olive oils
• 8 ounces beef tenderloin, cut into small cubes or strips
• 8 ounces chicken breast, boneless and skinless, cut into small cubes or strips
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 3/4 cup ground pork
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
• 1 teaspoon minced shallots
• 1 egg yolk
• 1 teaspoon mustard
• 4 small red-skinned potatoes, quartered and cooked until tender
• 1/2 cup each of 3 sauces (such as Aioli, barbecue sauce, Bearnaise and/or horseradish cream)

Directions

Heat oil in a fondue pot or 2-quart saucepan until very hot (375 degrees). While oil is heating, cut beef and chicken, toss with olive oil, and season with salt and pepper. Combine pork with garlic, shallots, egg yolk and mustard and form into tiny meat balls. Decoratively arrange meats, meatballs and potatoes on a large platter, or on 4 individual plates. Arrange sauces in individual dipping bowls or plates. Place fondue pot of oil in center of table over a small candle or sterno, and adjust flame so that it bubbles but does not sputter when meat is added. Spear meat, meatball or potato on long forks, place in pot and cook 20 to 30 seconds until crispy. Remove meat from fork before eating -- fork will be burning hot. You can use wooden skewers instead of long forks for cooking, if you wish.


(1) Denotes quoted directly from http://www.wikipedia.org/


Fondue