Saturday  was a rainy grayish day. I hate it when the weather is like that. I just want to be somewhere where you can’t see the face of it. So we thought it would be a good idea to go to a museum. And turns out MOMA had the Van Gogh exhibition I really wanted to see. But apparently we were not alone with that thought in mind. MOMA looked like an asylum, so crowded I started to hyperventilate. I don’t deal very well with crowds. So we got inside from one door and left through the other. I don’t know about you but I think you need some peace and quiet to appreciate art. So since there was no Van Gogh we started walking back to our hood, and my sweet husband agreed with me that fifth avenue was a better route. BIG MISTAKE!

Frustrated, I was in need of some encouragements and they were in the form of Banana Republic goods. The store was also really crowded but, Hey! They had a 30% discount on everything. After some needed “cheer up” we went home, and decided to cook a popular dish from North of Brazil. We tried this dish at a friend of ours and really liked it. My version can’t be compared with the original. To start with I skipped some ingredients, and you can’t top experience. In the end was the dish a hit?… Nah! It was ok! But I’ll keep on trying. Maybe next time I’ll follow the recipe instead of trying to put my on spin.

Moqueca de Camarao
(shrimp stew, Bahian style)

• Plan ahead, the shrimp needs to marinate for 30 minutes.
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 2 clove garlic, minced
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 1 pound fresh shrimp, shelled and deveined
• 1 teaspoon fresh cilantro, chopped
• 2 tablespoons tomato paste
• Black pepper to taste
• 1 cup thin coconut milk
• ½ cup thick coconut milk
• 2 to 3 tablespoons Dende oil*

Make a marinade with lemon, onion, garlic and salt. Marinate the shrimp for 30 minutes. Put mixture into a saucepan and add cilantro, tomato paste and black pepper to taste. Add thin coconut milk and cook over low heat until the shrimp are cooked. Add the thick coconut milk and Dende oil. Continue cooking for another 5 minutes.

Serve with rice.

*Dende oil is a palm oil high in saturated fat. It is available in specialty food stores.

Trackback URI | Comments RSS