Baked Panela Cheese

This baked cheese can be served alone or with bread and crackers. It is tasty and easy, and makes a great appetizer dish.

Ingredients:

1~1 ½ lb Panela Cheese
3~4 garlic cloves, minced
½ teaspoon oregano
1 tablespoon olive oil

Method:

Slice the cheese, about 1 inch thick.

Place the slices of cheese in a baking dish, top with the minced garlic and sprinkle with the oregano and top it with olive oil.

Bake in preheated oven at 375F for approximately 20~25 minutes or until the garlic turn slightly golden brown.

Serve hot.

Panela cheese or queso panela is used in many Mexican foods. When fresh has a similar texture of mozzarella, but once cooked carries a very different texture, since does not melt like mozzarella cheese by holding its shape.

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Mochi Cheese Balls (Asian Style)

This is a version of the traditional Brazilian pao de queijo using glutinous flour. The texture is softer and lighter as compared to the the recipe using solely tapioca flour.

I posted a while ago, the recipe for “pao de queijo“, which uses tapioca flour as a base for this cheese bread. After researching different versions of these savory cheese bread/balls, I decided to make some change to add an Asian flavor to it. Instead of solely using tapioca flour, I added glutinous rice flour, known as mochi flour. Well, the consistency of this bread is slightly softer and slightly less chewy. If you like mochi you will enjoy this version. This version of cheese balls can be stored at the freezer the same way as the previous one. Whenever you want to enjoy a tasty snack or complement a meal, just pop the frozen cheese balls in a pre-heated oven for about 25 ~ 30 minutes at 300F and voila…you have a yummie and tasty cheese bread.

Ingredients:

1 ½ cup tapioca flour
1 ½ cup glutinous rice flour
4 eggs
1 cup water
½ cup vegetable oil
1 ½ teaspoon salt
1 cup Parmesan cheese

Method:

In a small pan add water, oil and salt, bring to boil and carefully add to the tapioca and glutinous rice flour.

Mix gently until you can manage with your hands (be careful it is very hot).

Alternatively add the eggs and the Parmesan cheese until a dough is formed. The trick is to add Parmesan cheese to form a big ball of dough.

Make small balls (freeze at this point if you desire), bake for 20 to 25 minutes at 300F.

Serve warm.

Makes approximately 50 to 60 cheese balls.

If you enjoy this recipe you might want to try the Brazilian version or the Asian version with chives and bacon.

Did you know that glutinous rice is also called sticky rice, sweet rice? In spite of the being called “glutinous” does not contain gluten. Rice contains two types of starch: amylose and amylopectin. Glutinous rice contains high amounts of amylopectin and negligible amounts of amylose, therefore is very sticky.

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Esfihas

Growing up in Brazil, we were so exposed to Middle Eastern food and Esfiha was something that you could literally find in almost every corner.

Ingredients:

Dough
¾ cup of water
2 cups bread flour
1½ tablespoon sugar
1½ tablespoon dry milk
½ teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon butter
1 teaspoon yeast

Filling

1 lb of lean ground beef
2 large tomato cut in small pieces
1 large onion chopped
½ bunch Italian parsley
2 tablespoon olive oil
¼ teaspoon ground all spice
Sal and pepper to taste

Method:

Dough

I use my mini bakery Zojirushi for the dough, or follow the instructions of your bread machine.In my bread machine.

Place the water first at the bottom of the bucket and add the dry ingredients. Choose the dough setting, when the cycle is complete, gently remove the dough from the bucket and knead until all the bubbles are removed.

Filling
Mix all the ingredients and let it set for a few minute.

Assembly

Knead the dough to remove the air bubbles, after removing the air bubbles from the dough make a roll and cut into 12 equal pieces.

Open the dough (approximately 4 in diameter), place approximately 3 tablespoon of the meat filling in the middle of the dough and close it by making a triangle (see the pictures).

Place the esfihas in a flour surface and let it rest for 30 minutes.

Bake in a hot oven, 400F for 20 minutes.

Did you know that esfiha is also called sfiha in Arabic? It means meat with dough. In Brazil, esfiha is very popular due to the presence of a large Arab population.

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Shrimp Wrapped in Bacon

This is a great for appetizer, it is simple and have a great presentation…your guests will love it! I do not add salt in the shrimp since the bacon is usually salty. It is a great combination of flavors.

Ingredients:

16 medium to large size shrimps, cleaned.
2 tablespoon green onion finely chopped
¼ teaspoon paprika
8 bacon strips cut in half

Preparation:

In a bowl combine all the ingredients except for the bacon. Wrap shrimp with the bacon and use a toothpick to secure. Heat a fry pan and gently add the shrimps. Let it brown one side then gently flip to the other side until both sides are brown. Serve it hot or warm.

Did you know that bacon bits can be made from soy? Bacon bits can be made from small pieces of bacon or from textures vegetable protein (also known as soy meat) with artificial flavor to mimic bacon.