Pão de Queijo---Brazilian Cheese Bread

When I saw this post, over on Our Best Bites, I can't even describe the joy that consumed me.  You have to understand, I lived in Brazil for a year and a half, and have been missing it ever since.  I miss the people, the places, and the food.  There is something to be said about cooking food from scratch, and I experienced homemade goodness every day while living in Brazil.  One of my favorite things were these cute little cheese bread rolls called Pão de Queijo.  You have to make these for yourself to appreciate the bready cheesy goodness.  They kind of fill with air, and have a denser, cheesy squishy part.  The texture

I had quite the experience making these though.  I am now turned off of non-stick bakeware.  I don't want to gross anyone out, but check it out.

When I checked my little rolls, they looked perfect.

Then I removed them from the pan.  Bummer.  Lesson learned.

I made another batch in my regular cupcake pan (took a few more minute to bake), and they were wonderful.

Oh, and these are GLUTEN FREE!

Quick Brazilian Cheese Rolls {Pao de Queijo} – Gluten Free!
Recipe by Our Best Bites

1 large egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup canola oil
1 cup tapioca flour (sometimes labeled tapioca starch) no substitutions
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/4 C grated cheddar cheese* (preferably medium or sharp)
1/4 C grated Parmesan cheese
*you can play around with the cheese.  OBB's Sara has used Monterey Jack, low-moisture mozarella, swiss, and even gruyere in place of the cheddar.




Optional:  extra cheese to sprinkle on top and any herbs/flavorings you’d like to add.  Try rosemary and or garlic powder, my favorites!
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place egg, milk, oil, tapioca flour, and salt in blender and blend until smooth.  Add cheeses and pulse 2 times.  Immediately pour batter into a mini muffin tin (if your muffin tin isn’t non-stick, spray lightly with non-stick spray first), filling each well about 3/4 full, or just slightly less.  If desired (and I recommend), sprinkle a bit of parmesan cheese on top and/or a tiny sprinkle of kosher salt.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until puffed and golden.  Remove from oven and cool for a few minutes before removing rolls from pan.  Serve warm. {Que Gostoso!}  These actually don’t re-heat well so I recommend making and eating fresh.
Yield: anywhere from 16-24 rolls, depending on how full you fill your muffin pan. I fill  mine pretty full (a good 3/4 full) and I generally get about 16-18.

No-Knead 100% Whole Wheat Bread

I was exploring recipe websites a week ago looking for knew things to try. I have always wanted to make bread from scratch, but (1) we don't have a bread machine and (2) I do not own an amazing Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer (any help for me? PW...pleeeeease?)
Then I found this recipe. No-Knead?! Serious!



No-Knead 100% Whole Wheat Bread
by King Arthur Flour

1 C. Lukewarm water
1/4 C. Orange Juice
1/4 C. melted butter or vegetable oil
3 T. molasses, maple syrup, dark corn syrup, or brown sugar corn syrup
2 tsp. instant yeast
1/4 C. Baker's special dry milk, or nonfat dry milk
1 1/4 tsp. salt
3 C. Whole Wheat flour (King Arthur white whole wheat flour preferred)

Grease an 8.5 x 4.5 loaf pan with a lot of spray or butter because this stuff is sticky! (the pan MUST be 8.5 x 4.5 or it won't come out right, so measure your pan if you aren't sure).

Mix all ingredients in a large bowl for about 3 minutes on high. The dough will get sticky and un-workable.

Transfer dough to loaf pan and cover tightly with greased plastic wrap.

Preheat oven to 350 and allow bread to rise for an hour.
After an hour, the dough should be higher than the rim of the pan. Time to bake!

Cover with foil (tented) and bake for 40-45 minutes. Remove the foil after the first 20 minutes. You will know the bread is ready when you put in an instant read thermometer and it read 190-195. The top will be golden brown. You can butter in to keep the bread moist. Wait a few minutes, then cool on a rack. Wait to cut until it is cool.

Sare's Notes:
1. I didn't have any molasses, dark corn syrup, or brown sugar corn syrup. I used brown sugar and it worked fine (I'd like to try the recommendations though).
2. I used fresh orange juice with pulp and it worked.
3. I didn't use the thermometer because when the timer went off, we had to leave somewhere anyway. I inspected the bread, and it was fine.
4. I would much rather make this in a stand mixer because as I was mixing, my hand mixer started to smell funny because it was working too hard. If you use a hand mixer, just don't use it for too long.

Pizza Night

I love pizza. I think I could eat pizza every night if I had to. Pizza is so great because you can add whatever you want to top it off. In Brazil, they have dessert pizza. Oooooh. Someday, I will make one of these special pizzas for my family (Prestigio--melted chocolate with coconut flakes, or maybe chocolate, strawberries, with sweetened condensed milk drizzled on top, with a scoop of ice cream).

One of my New Year's Resolutions has been to create more traditions. I remember a book I had to read in college talked about family folklore and traditions and how much of what we deem as traditions are centered around food. I personally have no problem with that. I love food.

A few months ago, I decided on a tradition to begin: Pizza Night. Friday night. Home made pizza night. It is easy, delicious, and doesn't come in a greasy box.



The Crust
adapted from this recipe by Cindy Clawson

This makes two crusts, and I did them in two different bowls.

5 c. flour
2 tsp. sugar
2 tsp. salt
2 T. yeast
2 c. warm water
2 T. oil

Preheat the oven to 450 with a pizza stone inside the oven.

Mix the first 4 ingredients together in a large bowl or stand mixer. Combine the water with the oil, then add to the dry ingredients until combined. (At this point, I just rushed through and did my own thing). Add a little more flour to the bowl, just a sprinkle, and knead it into the dough ball for about 3 minutes. Split the dough in half. Place each half in a buttered bowl, turning once so the butter is on all of it. Cover each bowl with a clean towel or cloth napkin to rise at least 20 minutes.

With one bowl, punch down the dough, then remove it from the bowl. Remove the pizza stone from the oven, spray with nonstick spray, or sprinkle cornmeal (I need to start doing that). Place the dough in the middle, and roll it out so it almost covers the stone (about 1 inch from the edge).

Fork the crust all over, then add some sauce (don't drown your pizza. Treat the sauce like a glaze, you don't need much), fresh mozzarella cheese (the kind that comes in a ball in water...slice it up, grating doesn't work), and one or two other toppings, and top it all off with some chopped-up fresh basil. We also like to add caramelized onions.

Bake for 15-20 minutes at 450. (then repeat with second dough ball while everyone is eating the first). FYI--the second dough with be much thicker because it had more time to rise. If you don't want it to do this, then half the recipe and do one dough at a time.




Sarah's Simple Sauce

6 roma tomatoes
1/2 c. Chicken broth
1 T. Oregano
2 cloves Garlic, minced
dash of salt

Heat all ingredients in a small sauce pan until boiling. Boil for 2 minutes, then smash the tomatoes a little with a fork. Cook on low for about 20 minutes. With a stick blender, completely puree the sauce. Allow sauce to cool and thicken before using. Spread on pizza crust.

Caramelized Onions

swirl of extra virgin olive oil (swirl it in the pan once or twice)
2 Red Onions, chopped into skinny slices
2 T. molasses
3/4 c. packed brown sugar
dash of salt

Chop the onions into thin slices, and place in a pan with the olive oil on medium heat. Drizzle molasses over top, then forget about it for about 5 minutes. Sprinkle brown sugar on top, and mix together. Forget about it for another 5-10 minutes. Stir and turn down heat to med-low or low. Add a dash or two of salt, and let it sit for another 10 minutes or until you are ready to use it. Add as much as you want to the pizza.