Pirao Recipes

MUQUECA WITH PIRAO

Steps:

• Prepare the stock and coconut milk a day or two ahead.
• Coat a large nonreactive (such as glass or enamel) saute pan with a half cup of the olive oil and place over medium-high heat.
• Saute the garlic in the oil just until golden, about four or five minutes. Add the onions and cook just until wilted, stirring frequently, about five or six minutes more.
• Add the tomatoes, parsley and seasonings. Heat thoroughly and add one cup of fish stock and four cups prepared coconut milk. Bring to a boil, reduce the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Cool and reserve. (This can be prepared a day ahead.)
• Salt and pepper the shrimp and refrigerate.
• Cut the fish fillets, checking for stray bones, into one-and-a-half-inch cubes, salt and pepper the cubes and refrigerate.
• Over medium heat, bring eight cups of fish stock to a simmer.
• Add the fish heads and trimmings to the stock, simmer for 15 minutes, strain and reserve the heads and keep the stock warm.
• Heat the remaining olive oil in a nonreactive saute pan over medium-high heat. Add the shrimp and saute briefly, until they are pink. Remove and reserve the shrimp.
• Add the fish cubes and saute them until they are golden but not thoroughly cooked. Remove and reserve with the shrimp.
• Deglaze the pan with a half cup of the warm fish stock and add the reserved coconut-fish stock mixture and bring to a simmer and keep warm over very low heat.
• To make the pirao, pick away the cheeks and excess meat from the heads and trimmings. Combine one cup of the fish meat with about a quarter cup of fish stock and puree in a food processor or electric blender.
• In a medium-sized heat-proof bowl, add the manioc flour and whisk in the heated stock a little at a time until it is the consistency of farina.
• Whisk in the fish puree, one tablespoon of dende oil and one teaspoon of pimente oil, or to taste.
• Cover and keep warm over a pan of simmering water while you finish cooking the fish.
• Raise the heat and bring the coconut-fish mixture to a simmer. Add the shrimp, cubed fish and their juices and bring to a simmer. Add the remaining two tablespoons of dende and one teaspoon of pimente oil. Transfer to a heated soup tureen or wide shallow soup plates and accompany with the pirao, slaw and boiled rice. Usually the shrimp are served in their shells and the shells eaten. If they are to be peeled - then they should be peeled just before reheating in the coconut-fish stock mixture.

PIRãO

Steps:

• Assemble your ingredients together.
• In a saucepot over high heat, bring the broth to a rapid boil.
• Reduce the heat to medium-high. Whisk in the tomato sauce until completely incorporated.
• Vigorously stir or whisk in the manioc flour a little at a time until all the flour has been incorporated and the consistency is that of soft-serve ice cream or wet polenta.
• Season to taste with salt and pepper.
• Serve the pirão right away with your fish, meat, or vegetable stew.

PIRAO

Steps:

• Bring liquid to a boil in a saucepan. Sprinkle in 1 cup of farinha, stirring constantly over medium heat until it has the consistency of cooked cereal. Add more farinha as needed to reach desired thickness.

PIRAO (MANIOC POLENTA)

Steps:

• Bring the fish broth to a rapid boil, and stir in a little salt and pepper. Add the tomato paste, and stir to incorporate thoroughly. Sprinkle in the manioc flour, a little at a time, stirring vigorously and continuously until all the flour has been incorporated and the mixture has the consistency of soft ice cream. Serve immediately; like polenta, pirao gets stiffer the longer it sits.

CHEF JOHN'S PITA BREAD

Steps:

• Place yeast into the work bowl of a stand mixer and add 1 cup warm water and 1 cup flour. Whisk together and let stand 15 to 20 minutes for mixture to rise and make a loose sponge. Mixture will bubble and foam.
• Pour 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil and salt into sponge; add 1 3/4 cup flour. Mix at low speed, using a dough hook attachment, until dough is soft, supple, and slightly sticky. If dough sticks to the sides of the bowl, add up to 1/4 cup more flour, a little at a time.
• Knead dough with machine on low speed until slightly springy and still soft, 5 to 6 minutes. Turn dough out onto a floured work surface and form into a ball.
• Wipe inside of bowl with 1/4 teaspoon olive oil. Turn dough around in bowl to cover with a thin film of oil; cover bowl with foil and let sit until dough has doubled in size, about 2 hours.
• Remove dough from bowl and place onto a floured work surface. Lightly pat into a flat shape about 1 inch thick. Use a knife to cut dough into 8 pieces.
• Form each piece into a small round ball with a smooth top, pulling dough from the sides and tucking the ends underneath the bottom.
• Cover dough balls with lightly oiled plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.
• Sprinkle a small amount of flour on a work surface and top of a dough ball; gently pat dough ball flat with your fingers, forming a flat, round bread about 1/4 inch thick. Let dough round rest for 5 minutes. Repeat with remaining dough balls.
• Brush a cast-iron skillet with remaining 3/4 teaspoon olive oil and place over medium-high heat. Lay pita bread into hot skillet and cook until bread begins to puff up and bottom has brown spots and blisters, about 3 minutes. Flip, cook 2 more minutes, and flip back onto original side to cook for about 30 more seconds. Pita bread will begin to puff up and fill with hot air. Stack cooked breads on a plate; when cool enough to handle, break breads in half and open the pocket inside for stuffing.

HOMEMADE PITA BREAD

Steps:

• Make sponge: Put 1 cup lukewarm water in a large mixing bowl. Add yeast and sugar. Stir to dissolve. Add the whole-wheat flour and 1/4 cup all-purpose flour and whisk together. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place, uncovered, until mixture is frothy and bubbling, about 15 minutes.
• Add salt, olive oil and nearly all remaining all-purpose flour (reserve 1/2 cup). With a wooden spoon or a pair of chopsticks, stir until mixture forms a shaggy mass. Dust with a little reserved flour, then knead in bowl for 1 minute, incorporating any stray bits of dry dough.
• Turn dough onto work surface. Knead lightly for 2 minutes, until smooth. Cover and let rest 10 minutes, then knead again for 2 minutes. Try not to add too much reserved flour; the dough should be soft and a bit moist. (At this point, dough may refrigerated in a large zippered plastic bag for several hours or overnight. Bring dough back to room temperature, knead into a ball and proceed with recipe.)
• Clean the mixing bowl and put dough back in it. Cover bowl tightly with plastic wrap, then cover with a towel. Put bowl in a warm (not hot) place. Leave until dough has doubled in size, about 1 hour.
• Heat oven to 475 degrees. On bottom shelf of oven, place a heavy-duty baking sheet, large cast-iron pan or ceramic baking tile. Punch down dough and divide into 8 pieces of equal size. Form each piece into a little ball. Place dough balls on work surface, cover with a damp towel and leave for 10 minutes.
• Remove 1 ball (keeping others covered) and press into a flat diskc with rolling pin. Roll to a 6-inch circle, then to an 8-inch diameter, about 1/8 inch thick, dusting with flour if necessary. (The dough will shrink a bit while baking.)
• Carefully lift the dough circle and place quickly on hot baking sheet. After 2 minutes the dough should be nicely puffed. Turn over with tongs or spatula and bake 1 minute more. The pita should be pale, with only a few brown speckles. Transfer warm pita to a napkin-lined basket and cover so bread stays soft. Repeat with the rest of the dough balls.

MOQUECA COM PIRAO (BRAZILIAN SHRIMP STEW)

Steps:

• Saute onions, garlic and tomatoes in oil, in a clay pan if possible (http://static.panoramio.com/photos/original/15240632.jpg). When onions are golden-about 15 minutes-add deveined and cleaned shrimp, and wait until it gets "red"-about 15 more minutes. About 5 minutes after you added the shrimp, add coconut milk and paprika. Before serving, mix in cilantro and chives.
• Pirao: 700ml water; 1 onion, chopped; 2 garlic cloves, mashed with salt; pepper & salt to taste; reserved shrimp shells; dash of colorau *; 1 cup manioc flour. In a pan with lid, boil all the ingredients for about 15 minutes. Drain. Put liquid back in pan; when it boils turn to a simmer. SLOWLY add manioc flour, stirring constantly (as for polenta). It is ready when it starts thickening. (It doesn't harden, but turns kinda gooey.).
• * We actually use "colorau" (made mainly from "urucum" seeds); instead of paprika, a better substitute in my view is annatto seeds (http://www.overmundo.com.br/overblog/nosso-colorau-o-urucum). Saute annatto seeds in the dende oil, being VERY careful not to bun them; remove seeds and use the oil.