Brazilian Food Flavor Base: Garlic Paste

Lucky me, I made a new friend and she is from Brazil.  How fortunate I am to find a friend who loves learning about nutrition and experimenting with different fruits and vegetables.  Who wants to learn about cooking and gets excited about it.

I am learning about Brazilian food, and now, I am going to pass along some new knowledge to you. Lucky you!

"B" has graciously shared her recipes with me and let me share them on the blog.  Yeah!

Let's start today with a really basic item that she uses in practically all her cooking.  It lays a flavor base to grow on.  I have a little jar of it myself and it is nearly gone because, WOW, it's awesome.  I am sure going to make more because I love to use it.

This bowl of collard greens started off in the frying pan with some of the garlic paste.  It was so delicious.

Garlic Paste (Tempero Caseiro)
Recipe adapted from a Taste of Brazil.  A very fabulous blog.  Since my friend doesn't really have a recipe per say, she just kind of puts it together by heart, she found a recipe that comes pretty close to explaining what she does.

1 large onion or three small
4 garlic cloves
1 tbsp olive oil
3 tsp salt
fresh or dried herbs, her favorite is fresh parsley


Peel and chop the onion into quarters. Peel the garlic cloves. Place all ingredients into a small food processor and blend until you have a fine paste. You could also use a mortar and pestle. If you want a more chunky paste, blend less. Pour the paste into an airtight container and store in the fridge for up to one week. 

She adds that she makes hers and it lasts more than one week.  I have had mine now for about a month and am still using it.  There is a large salt content in it so I am sure that helps.  I recommend Kosher salt or sea salt (no iodine).

*****UPDATE******
My friend was over and I was making her paste and she told me what to add as I was doing it.  She had originally given me the recipe above as a guideline.  That would work for one dish but if you want the paste like she makes, that lasts in your fridge, the following is the way to go.

A large head of garlic
a small onion about a 1/2 cup
1/3 cup minced parsley
1/2 cup to 3/4 cup Kosher salt
1 tablespoon olive oil

Process in a food processor.  Store in a glass jar in the refrigerator.  Use sparingly- lots of flavor but very salty.

THAI MANGO SALAD

I am sure this is not entirely authentic but so delicious, nevertheless. I did not put in the usual mung bean sprouts.  Couldn't find them. These flavors are amazing.  To the average American, putting fish sauce in with mangoes is not necessarily appealing.  If you have never tried Thai, it's worth taking that taste risk. Something about the way the lime, cilantro and fish sauce play together that makes it absolutely appealing.  You will find this combination in other Asian dishes as well.

I totally will make this again but add in mung bean sprouts, carrots and maybe even lettuce.

THAI MANGO SALAD

1/2 cup coarsely chopped cashews
2 firm mangoes , sliced thinly
1 sweet red pepper, thinly slice
1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions
2 tablespoons coarsely chopped fresh mint

2 tablespoons basil, Thai basil if you have it

2 tablespoons cilantro, chopped

Dressing:
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon grated lime rind
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 tablespoon fish sauce
1 tablespoon soy sauce
2 teaspoons granulated sugar, grated palm sugar, even better
1 teaspoon minced hot pepper
1/4 teaspoon each salt and pepper
Toss the mangoes, red pepper, green onions, mint, basil and cilantro.  In a separate bowl whisk together the  dressing ingredients.  Stir into the mango mixture.  Sprinkle cashews over top. Serve with lime wedges.

One of my very dear friends shared with me 9 big, beautiful cloves of garlic from her garden.  I dutifully planted them in the Fall of last year.  I was rewarded with scapes in the Spring that I blitzed in the food processor with oil and froze.  (By the way, they lose their pungency after they have been frozen, which is a good thing for me because they are very strong) I was also rewarded these 8, huge garlic bulbs.  My biggest and best cloves will go to planting so that I can increase my garlic yield next year!  Yeah.  Garlic is one of the most expensive things at the market.  I have tried planting it before but for the last couple years when I went to look for it in the Fall to plant, I could not find any. They were bought out.  A few years before that I gave garlic a try with organic garlic from the store. I don't know if they were the right variety for our climate but I got very small heads. It was supremely disappointing.  This year though, EUREKA!  Thanks to my good friend, J.