Dinner in Brazil

There are some days where you think that perhaps God got you somehow mixed up with Job. We'll be OK, but geesh. You do know that not everything around here is bloggable, and that I only share a fraction of our lives, right? I would hate for anyone to think less of themselves or their families because they don't understand they are reading a very edited version of our days. Everyone's life has mess in it, our included.

Even with the mess, there are still little people to teach and love, laundry to do, food to make. You know, life. Which doesn't stop and pause whether we want it to or not. Which is why on this Job-like day, we still had our meal from Brazil.

Along with the Brazilian music in the background, here is what we had.

Pao de Queijo (cheese rolls), and

Sopa de feijao (black bean soup).

Not only was this dinner pretty economical, but nearly every single person, took a bite and exclaimed, "This is good!" Those of are some of my favorite words. 

Now, because I know some people will ask, I can give you one recipe, because it is hardly a recipe, and the other, you will have to either Google it, or check out the book, The Cooking of Brazil by Matthew Lorcricchio. I will tell you that you need tapioca flour or starch to make them. The easiest place to find this is in a grocery store with a good Asian section. It looks like this. It will probably be right next to the sticky rice flour and regular rice flour... and the banh xeo mix, if you are so lucky.

So on to the soup.

I didn't follow the recipe exactly, because I already had frozen black beans in the freezer. This means I didn't cook the beans as the recipe said, but added things afterwards. Essentially, get yourself some cooked black beans. You can either cook them yourself, or open a can. Heat the beans on the stove in some chicken stock. It's a 1:1 ratio, so one cup of beans to one cup of stock. In the meantime, hard-boil some eggs and cook some bacon. These are going to be used as toppings for the soup. Set them aside when they are done, but don't get rid of the bacon fat, because you are going to saute a chopped onion and some chopped garlic in it. Once they are pretty well cooked, add them to your soup pot, along with some salt and pepper. If you have an immersion blender, pause for a moment of thanks, and then use it to puree the beans and onions. If you don't have one, put it on your Christmas list, and go through the fuss and bother of using a blender. Either way, puree the soup. Keep it warm until you are ready to serve. Set the chopped eggs and crumbled bacon on the table for people to garnish their soup with. (You're also supposed to add cilantro. We don't do cilantro here, because I am the one responsible for the grocery shopping, and I cannot stand the stuff. About half of my children agree with me. My cilantro-loving family members have to be content with begging it at restaurants and other people's houses.)

Enjoy!