Simple herb butter to make your life easier

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Hibiscus syrup

Here’s a recipe to make your own Hibiscus Syrup which can be used as a beverage concentrate, pancake or ice cream topping, or as a flavour base in savoury dishes. Stay tuned for a glorious cocktail recipe to go with it. Enjoy!

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Oven baked Brazilian Kibbeh

We love easy-to-prepare meals that are simply delicious, and this kibbeh recipe is a perfect example of that. Kibbeh are a Middle Eastern dish that resemble plump croquettes with pointy ends. They're deep fried and traditionally made with bulgur wheat, minced lamb, and spices. Almost everything fried is tasty in our opinion, but sadly not always that healthy. At home, the oven is the healthier alternative to deep frying. Middle Eastern immigrants brought the kibbeh to Brazilians in the late 19th Century. The snack immediately became a popular street food staple, and it can now be found in a variety of corner bars and bakeries. However, the recipe has been tweaked to suit local tastes, such as the replacing of beef for lamb, in keeping with their well-known carnivorous inclinations. One popular Brazilian Kibbeh recipe uses minced meat and bulgur wheat. We tested this recipe for the traditional croquette shaped kibbeh in the oven, and it worked really well, crispy enough on the outside and completely moist inside.  This is the base recipe; you can always add spices and customise it to your own personal taste.

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Wild Mushroom, Chestnut and Parma Ham Pappardelle

Here it is a recipe by @clodagh_mckenna’s that shows one of her favourite ways to use @parmahamuk – crisping it up and using the fattiness left in the pan to enhance the flavour. [caption id="attachment_7223" align="alignnone" width="853"] Crisping Parma ham up.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7224" align="alignnone" width="1280"] Adding double cream.[/caption] [caption id="attachment_7225" align="alignnone" width="853"] Halved cooked chestnuts.[/caption]      

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Fried plantain

If you ask any Brazilian “what goes well with Banana Frita?” you’ll most likely hear the answer “ABSOLUTELY EVERYTHING!”. We can guarantee that they are absolutely correct. Banana Frita is a beautiful side dish made with plantain (do not confuse it with regular sweet bananas????). It goes great with beef, pork and even fish! The recipe is very easy but requires a little patience and care. Vegetable oil or sunflower oil or groundnut oil Salted or unsalted butter (to your salt preference) Salt (optional) 1. Slice the plantain in diagonal circles. 2. In a skillet, add about half a spoonful of butter and the oil of your choice. Adapt your measurements according to the diameter of your pan, the most important thing is to make sure that the whole base of the pan is covered in a thin layer of oil. 3. Turn up the heat to medium to high heat (but not high enough to burn the oil) 4. Using one slice of plantain, check if your oil is ready. Lay it down in the pan and see if it sizzles. If it does you are ready! 5. Lay your plantain slices face down in the pan making sure not to let them overlap and reserve your leftover uncooked slices for the next batch to make next. 6. Turn the heat to medium low and let the plantain cook slowly. Turn them over one by one when they are a nice brownish colour and cook the next side. 7. Put your plantain on some paper towel and start on the next batch. When you are finished, salt your plantain to your preference and lather with butter.

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Winter endive salad

Clodagh McKenna's tasty Winter Endive Salad with Warm Spiced Poached Pears, Parma Ham, Walnuts and Blue Cheese is perfect for those days where greens do not feel so appealing.

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Meatloaf by Georgia O’Keeffe

We recently talked about our new discovery, lovage, which is an aromatic deeply flavoured herb and is just one of the many exciting ingredients we found in the amazing book "A Painter's Kitchen - Recipes from the Kitchen of Georgia O'Keeffe". So, today, we would like to share with you one of the recipes we’ve enjoyed using this herb and which is taken from that book. Simply entitled Meatloaf, this is a classic in many culinary traditions around the world, but it’s more commonly related to American, German, Scandinavian and Belgian cuisines. Basically, all you need is minced meat, a few ingredients and a bit of love to shape the mixture into a beautiful loaf. Meatloaf is a budget-friendly recipe because the minced meat can be made from a cheap beef cut or indeed from any other meat you have available - for example, venison or pork or lamb will work just as well. O’Keeffe’s tweak is to add some lovage, which gives the meatloaf an incredible aroma and a sweet flavour. We just wanted to share her original recipe with you but we've added our little adaptations. We really hope you enjoy our cultural heritage in between the lines. [caption id="attachment_7212" align="alignnone" width="2560"] Easy to make and aromatic.[/caption]

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Feijão Esquisitinho | Strange Beans

Find specialty products here: https://brasileiroonline.co.uk

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Moqueca de Banana da Terra

(plantain and coconut milk stew) Recipe from Brazilian Food book, by Thiago Castanho

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Farofa (toasted cassava flour)

Farofa is a must-have Brazilian side dish! It pairs wonderfully with many dishes, like rice and beans, stews, barbecue and especially plantain Moqueca!

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Creamy Wasabi Sauce

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Salmão Fresco Marinado

Salmão Fresco Marinado is incredibly easy to make and all you'll need is salmon, sugar and salt! Try pairing it with our creamy wasabi sauce on top of crackers or bread.

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Galinhada (Brazilian Chicken Rice)

Galinhada is a great meal to make for one, something that during lockdown so many of us who live alone are having to do on the regular. It is easy to start feeling uninspired during these difficult times, but we hope that this recipe will warm your belly and provide a little comfort. The beauty of making Galinhada is that you can freeze the leftover rice in portions and enjoy it with vegetables and meats throughout the month (excellent for the single-life).

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Fish Moqueca

As with most fun things, the Covid-19 Pandemic managed to cancel this year’s festivities. Carnival has it all, five whole days of music, costumes, parades and delicious street food! One thing that never changes each Carnival is the heaps of mouth-watering food on sale, and our all-time favourite meal to indulge in at Carnival is Moqueca (pronounced Mow-key-ka), which is a hearty and warming fish stew that became symbol of the festivities and one of most popular dishes in the country. So, join us in learning a little about the history of the dish, don your own carnival mask and make moqueca with us! Serve with rice and Pirão for the true Brazilian experience. Other ways: You can use other varieties of seafood, such as prawn and squid, but be mindful about their cooking processes. Prawns and squids cook quickly. Prawns: Fry the prawns quickly with salt, pepper, lime in palm oil and reserve. Add them right at the end. Squid: Add the raw squid when your dish is ready. Cook for 2-5 minutes, until it changes colour. Be careful to not overcook. Fresh chicken or smoked chicken: Season the chicken with lime, garlic, salt and pepper. Heat the palm oil, fry the chicken, then add garlic and onion, and so on. Vegetarian: In Brazil, a typical vegetarian version replaces the meat with palm hearts. Vegan: A vegan version can be done using plantain.

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Smoked Chicken Moqueca

This is a very special take on traditional Brazilian Moqueca (which is more frequently made with seafood). The version was passed onto us from event planner and interior designer Karim Schneider and uses smoked chicken… the results burst with sophistication and flavour! Karim has had an incredible career and is responsible for some of Brazil’s most famous museum receptions. She is an avid traveller and has lived in London and Paris and her recipes always cross cultures in the most fantastic ways. Our top tip: after removing the meat from your chicken, use the bones to make chicken stock (homemade stock equals life!). You can use the stock to make Pirão (cassava flour porridge which is the traditional Brazilian pairing with Moqueca).

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Yogurt dip

Whenever we are having a bit of a health kick, we reach for this yogurt dip. It’s a perfect nutritious snack and goes well with pretty much everything – carrots, cucumber, celery, even on top of everyday plain bread … If you want to make a lower-calorie version just switch to a low-fat alternative. We prefer to always use fresh herbs in this recipe, but feel free to get creative, dry can work too ????! And... if your on the hunt for a new yogurt brand... @northiamdairyltd natural yogurt makes the dip taste even better! If you don't get around to finishing all your dip at the end of the week, try our zero-waste trick: Turn it into a marvellous salad dressing by adding olive oil and a squeeze of lime juice ❌????️.

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Fried Morel Mushrooms

Morel mushrooms are ???? but here in London they cost a pretty penny! £90 per kg to be exact! But… that doesn’t stop our editor pulling out her purse whenever she’s shopping at Borough Market though! She told us that in America after a night of partying as a teenager, having a trek into the woods to forage for morels and was the perfect hangover cure. All the kids would come back with baskets full and stuff their faces until their bellies were full and headaches gone. There are plenty of fancy ways to cook morels, you can fry them in wine and herbs, sometimes cream, but our editor Oceana prefers them simple and straight forward. She fry’s them in a light batter just like her childhood best friend’s mum showed her back in the states:

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Christiano’s Bacalhoada – Salt Cod

With Easter arriving this weekend, we are getting ready to celebrate spring, which means eating Salt Cod! The practice of salting and drying cod has been around for 500 years and is said to have been discovered by the Vikings, who used the method to preserve fish on long sea voyages. Salt Cod can be found all over the globe: from Norway, Africa to South America! In Portugal, you’ll find Salt Cod on pretty much every restaurant menu as an appetiser or a main dish, and during Easter, it's even more popular! According to Catholic traditions, meats such as beef, pork and lamb are forbidden during Lent so more people turn to eating fish as an alternative. An all-time Portuguese and Brazilian favourite Easter Salt Cod recipe is Bacalhoada - scrumptious cod roasted with plenty of veg! Scroll down to make it with us!

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Cavolo nero crispy seaweed

Riverford Organic Farmers veg-hacks has done it again! We tried out their cavolo nero seaweed recipe, and WOW, we are sold!It is wonderfully crispy, salty and the sesame seed oil is ????????????. The best thing is you don't need to feel any guilt snacking on it, because it's healthy too! If you haven't already subscribed to Riverford's youtube channel yet, DO! We are still making their slow cook courgette pasta sauce on the regular and their raw garlic courgette salad is an absolute favourite (especially in this heat!). Thanks for the inspiration @riverford ????

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Slow cooked courgette sauce

We’ve been enjoying watching Riverford Organic Farmers YouTube veg hacks and decided to test out their slow cooked courgette pasta sauce! Honestly, we wouldn’t have thought of slow cooking courgettes ourselves – we usually, fry, roast, steam or eat them raw. Slow cooking was delicious! The dish is made with just a handful of ingredients: courgettes, garlic, lemon, oil and salt (we threw in a handful of tomatoes from the farmers market for a little colour and sweetness at the end). It was very easy to prepare and only takes a half an hour. We will definitely be adding courgette sauce to our weekly menu! As says in the video, the longer you cook courgette, the stronger the flavour! Go check out Riverfords veg hacks, they are excellent????!

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Turnip and Peanut Butter Slaw

It can be easy to forget about how nice nut butter can be in a salad dressing, so, when we opened up our Farmdrop delivery this week and found a Turnip and Peanut Butter Slaw recipe, we jumped at the opportunity to reacquaint ourselves with all things nutty. The important thing to keep in mind when you are mixing a dressing is that everyones taste is different, measurements can be taken with a pinch of salt and it can take a little experimenting to find the right ratio. This recipe calls for peanut butter, sesame oil and lemon, but we've tried adding a little tahini and a small dash of toasted sesame and sesame seeds. This slaw by Farmdrop has been a huge hit with us, and having a big bowl of it in the fridge has been perfect for hassle free work lunches????.

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Celebrating Swedish Jansson’s Festelse

After watching Nigella Lawson's Cook, Eat, Repeat Christmas Special (which celebrates Scandinavian cooking), Daniela went back to her old photos and revisited a Christmas memory she has with her Danish family while living abroad. She says: "Having Christmas away from home was very emotional for me and I missed being in Brazil for the holidays, but thankfully the Danish are, in my opinion, the most non-Latin Latin people ever… their traditions make you feel warm and loved, and very full ????! We sat around the table, chatting, cooking, telling stories, laughing and tasting the most delicious food with my Uncle’s partner’s father, Poul, a sweet elegant gentleman who has a spectacular moustache and his wife Tanja who is a force of nature, beautiful and has amazing cooking skills. Poul made us his version of Jansson’s Frestelse the night before Christmas, it’s delicious and the perfect winter meal."

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The best mistaken granola

Happy New Year Cooking New Stories family????! Is it time to go back to our healthy routine yet? Maybe not quite yet, but we have an inspiring (and yummy) idea for when you are ready to detox from all that Christmas pudding and New Year's bubbly. Originally this recipe was for a pistachio bar, but there was no honey on hand that the recipe called for so it was used agave as replacement which ended up not holding the bar together. But low and behold it made the most delicious granola! We love it when mistakes turn into perfection❤️! If you don’t have some of the ingredients, use what you do have, maybe you’ll make your own happy mistake????.

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Fio de ovos Portuguese delicacy

My grandmother’s home had jars and jars of Fio de Ovos stored in the freezer. Very often on a hot afternoon I would open a jar, pour the beautiful yellow threads and syrup into a small bowl and delicately eat thread by thread savouring every last bit. Translated, Fio de Ovos is called Angel Hair and it is a typical Portuguese sweet. Like many other Portuguese treats, its invention is credited to 14th and 15th century monks. It is also rumoured to have been developed due to the surplus of egg yolks since egg whites were used for starching clothes. The sweet has travelled the world and Japan and Thailand even have their own names and versions of this special dish. In Brazil, Fio de Ovos are used for decorating cakes or to follow savoury dishes (like ham). The recipe calls for 36 eggs, which, sounds like a lot of eggs, but trust us it will make enough to last you a year – if you have the willpower to restrain yourself!

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Christmas cookie ornament

Every Christmas we add more of these ‘cookie’ decorations to our Christmas tree. All you need is flour, salt and water, it’s as easy as that! This year we decided to get a little extra creative and tried our hand at making donuts, because honestly, what is better than donuts????! Dried and stored properly, salt dough ornaments can last for years and years! There are two key things to longevity of salt dough ornaments – that they are properly dried to begin with and that they are stored well. Wrap them in tissue paper or newspapers and store them in a cool, dry place after you take down the tree.  [caption id="attachment_6785" align="alignnone" width="1200"] Christmas stars[/caption]

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Richard Galli’s famous lobster omelette

We have a very special treat for you! Executive Chef @gallichef has been kind enough to share with us @thegoring's coveted Lobster Omelette recipe! Top-quality shellfish stock is key for the dish. Ask a fishmonger for part cooked lobster and ask them to remove the meat for you. 1 lobster is enough for four people. You can substitute the lobster meat for fresh picked white crab meat if you prefer.

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Helio’s Babka with Goiabada

This is an inspired classical Brazilian dessert, with fresh white cheese and goiabada (guava paste), called Romeo and Juliet. Helio used cream cheese instead of fresh white cheese.

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Tropical fine beans and mango salad

The Fine Beans and Mango Salad by Chef Simon Lau Cederholm is fenomenal! Simon is well-known for his particular love and respect of Brazilian ingredients and culinary culture. His restaurant Aquavit has been awarded three stars from Guia Brazil 2013 (a Michelin equivalent) and is one of only six Brazilian restaurants to have been awarded that honor in 2013. Simon’s unique cuisine merges his Russian and Danish roots, while staying true to Brazilian styles. His food is sublime! This delicate and crisp salad has nostalgic undertones for Cooking New Stories Founder Daniela Paiva, because Simon also happens to be her uncle in law. This salad is one of his contribution to her grandmother’s recipe book, which all family members contribute towards as a way of celebrating their shared passion for food and family. This recipe does not have measure because it depends on your crowd. Just make sure to make a quantity that is suitable for eating right away. The salad loses a bit of its colour and freshness if you need to store it in the fridge.

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Ballontine of chicken breast byMasterChef semi-finalist Robert Austin

This recipe is loosely based around my final creation on MasterChef. It was a dish that really didn’t work, it had too many elements and the flavours failed to balance.This version is far more simple and uses readily available supermarket ingredients. I think it’s actually a far better dish than the original! The cassoulet recipe will make a larger quantity than you need for this recipe. However, it’s fantastic with crusty bread, freezes well, great with other meats (particularly pork belly) or just with roasted vegetables. Please feel free to half the recipe.The serving size will depend on the size of your chicken breasts. Medium chicken breasts will serve 2 or 3 people, Large chicken breasts will serve 4 or even 5 people. If you have extra stuffing mix left you can make additional ballontines with boned chicken legs or just the thighs. Cassoulet ingredient (method below). 2 x 400g cans of butter beans (drained), 3 medium onions, 3 medium sized carrots, 400g passata (or 400g can of chopped tomatoes blended), 225g chorizo sausage ring (not sliced), 4 cloves of garlic, 500 ml chicken stock, 1 level teaspoon dried thyme, 2 level teaspoon smoked paprika (picante), 2 level teaspoon cumin powder, 2 bay leaves, chilli flakes (optional), salt to taste.

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A perfect mid-week miso pasta by Luiz Hara

This simple and delicate brown butter miso pasta is the perfect mid-week lunch! You can use brown or white miso, both work very well, but personally white is our favourite. If you haven't read The Japanese Larder by Luiz Hara (aka The London Foodie) yet, you must! All his dishes are perfection!  

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A simple peach syrup dessert with pistachios

This simple dessert came about from designing a 'kitsch' themed dinner party a few years back. It is a little nod to 80's Brazil, when peach slices were all the rage. ???????? We've been making it ever since – it is lovely, light and crunchy ! A word of warning though, keep both eyes on the butter and don't let it burn or it will ruin the pistachio.

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Delicious strawberry vinaigrette

We love this unusual strawberry vinaigrette! It works so well as an accompaniment to grilled meat – think juicy barbecued chicken, sausages and especially prawns! ????❤️ If you can get your hands on some good local fresh strawberries, you can take it to a whole new level! This recipe is from @panelinha_ritalobo, an amazing food platform created by the Brazilian Chef and TV presenter @ritalobo. Her recipes work every time, and they are tailored to be easy going and designed for anyone who wants to cook, no matter how experienced they are. Check out the website Panelinha.

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Simple herb butter to make your life easier

Our herb garden has been thriving so much that we are running out of ways to use everything up during the week????! Rather than letting our plants wilt, we’ve been filling our freezer with as much herb butter as will fit. The different combinations are endless, and once your butter is in the freezer it will last up to two months! Parsley and chive butter is great on baked potatoes, sage on seafood and tarragon is always good to have on hand for when you are roasting lamb or chicken.

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Brazilian pequi, we dare you to try them!

“Pequi” or Caryocar Brasiliense is a fruit that is common in the central Brazilian Cerrado. It has a blackish purple shell that yields around 3 or 4 yellow edible mesocarp that have a very distinct taste and cheesy smell. Anthony Bourdain describes the pequi as “tasting sweaty, or like a barnyard”. You will either love it or hate it!This unusual fruit is tricky to eat: between the mesocarp and the seed are very fine spines that can really hurt your mouth, so you must scrape the outside of the fruit before consuming. It’s popularly eaten with rice and chicken and in Brazil you can find it sold fresh by street vendors and also preserved in jars, oils, mixed with chillies for hot sauces and as a liquor. We challenged @glassofbubbly, @finelocation and @oliverwalkey to pair Arroz Com Pequi with fizz. The course was paired with @barth_sekt and @wingut_fb_schoenleber. Let’s be honest: @finelocation described the pequi smell as wet socks! [caption id="attachment_5393" align="alignnone" width="711"] Glass of Bubbly pairing recommendation for the full meal.[/caption] A word of advice: avoid the preserved ones and go for the frozen ones, which you can find on specialty Brazilian stores. Photos Glass of Bubblyhttps://glassofbubbly.com

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Mari’s dairy free pesto

My earliest memories in the kitchen are from when I was around 7 years old. This passion that evolved throughout my life took me to develop easy going, heartfelt recipes for my family and for clients. One of them is this fantastic pesto with spinach, cashew nuts and pistachio. Before going to work, my mother would leave me a special task for lunch. Chopped garlic and measured rice, oil and water were waiting for me to finish the rice in a typical Brazilian style as a side for our family meal. I also will never forget the cheese that my grandparents made at home standing on a cupboard outside of the house to be cured. The smell was incredible. They were self-sustainable, growing vegetables, herbs and farming. Coming from an Italian background, all the family got together on Sundays. Children were responsible on the making of the capeletti (a type of pasta), which was the first course. I grow herbs and vegetables in my garden. I make sure that my children know the difference in smell and tastes by asking them to pick it up while I'm cooking. There are a lot of people who simply do not know the distinction between a herb and a vegetable. I am what I call a free flow cooker. I don't follow recipes and I don't measure things. I go by instinct. My cooking is simple, but well-seasoned, fresh and warm. When preparing a meal, one is sharing a personal story. A dish can bring back memories and also create new ones about people and places. Food makes memories! I felt challenged to make a pesto without cheese because I was working for a woman who couldn't eat dairy. I came up with this flavourful recipe with spinach, cashews nuts and pistachio.

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Katy’s oatmeal fried chicken

We had a chance to talk to Katy O’Donovan a while ago, an inspiring home-cook who was a contestant on this year’s Masterchef  about what she has been getting up to in her kitchen during lockdown! Fritters are currently Katy’s go-to-choice of comfort food and she has been kind enough to send some of her recipes our way. Plain white flour can be hard to come by during lockdown, and this recipe is great for mixing and matching flours! If you are out of regular flour, substitute for rice, coconut or gluten free flour, and if you are coating your chicken or vegetables and don’t have breadcrumbs on hand, bash up cornflakes or blitz oats! [caption id="attachment_5497" align="alignnone" width="759"] Katy O'Donovan, Masterchef contestant.[/caption]

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Torta Caprese by Daniela Paiva’s mother

This sumptuous Torta Caprese (Chocolate and Almond Flourless Cake) is originally from the island of Capri, in the region of Naples, in Italy. The recipe is a key cake in my family. It come very handy when there is no time and you need something delicious and rich. Chocolate lovers very often go crazy, I have to warn you. The other day I was asked to make a cake for a client’s wife. It was her birthday and her husband wanted to surprise her in these challenging times for special celebrations. I’m not a chocolate lover myself, so I searched for help from one of the biggest chocolate lover I know: my mum, who is very picky about her chocolate and her desserts. She sent me the photo of the recipe of this Torta Caprese, which is a Chocolate and Almond Flourless Cake, handwritten. How can one not smile with a message like this? [caption id="attachment_5385" align="aligncenter" width="1020"] The cake in the oven.[/caption]

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Incredibly addictive Parmesan Brigadeiros

I’m Nat. I was born in Brazil, but grew up in the UK and New Zealand and these are Parmesan Brigadeiros. I moved back here (London) in 2014 to train at Leiths School of Food to become a chef. I now work as a cookery at the asian cookery school called School of Wok. My godmother is Brazilian and she teaches me lots of Brazilian dishes and about heritage and culture. I was adopted to English parents so I need to learn. There are a few flavours there, banana, pistachio, traditional and parmesan. It’s meant to be the colours of the Brazilian flag. They were part of a celebration for Brazilian carnival that we held here in London. The sweet and salty combo from the Parmesan Brigadeiro is so good! The parmesan melts in whilst hot and then you chill it and form your balls. Follow me on Instagram @natmcooks. [caption id="attachment_5358" align="aligncenter" width="800"] On the left, traditional chocolate brigadeiros. On the right, the ones that will blow up your mind.[/caption]