Eating the Americas - More of South America

Over the last week we continued eating foods from South America, and found a couple recipes we really liked. I thought we had finished our sampling of Argentinian foods, and then realized I had completely forgotten that we had a sweet bread recipe to try. I found the recipe in the book Eat Your Way Around the World, and the only information given was that it was a sweet bread that tasted similar to pound cake. Even the recipe was pretty general. I baked it in a small rectangle casserole, and we ate it with Cincinnati-style chili, since I didn't have cornbread! It turned out to be a very good stand-in. It's also delicious eaten on its own, warm and slathered with butter. For breakfast, I warmed mine up a little and drizzled it with honey and sprinkled on some cinnamon. Any way we tried it, this simple bread was a winner! (Recipe is at the bottom of the post.)

Budin (sweet bread)

Most countries in South and Central America have some version of an empanada on the menu. The meat empanadas I made are very like those popular in Argentina and other parts of South America, and the recipe was based on one from Global Table Adventure.  When you look at my picture, you'll see they are a little sloppy looking - that's because I do not know how to properly 'repulgue' the edges like any decent cook from any country in South America could probably do in her sleep. But these tasted so good that I will practice my technique next time I make them. They will be back on our family's table, I'm sure. Everyone loved them. (Recipe at Global Table Adventure)

Meat empanadas

We also had Leche Asada one evening, based on a Bolivian recipe found at Global Table Adventure. Leche Asada is baked milk custard, and has a very mild flavor. It's best with cinnamon or nutmeg sprinkled on top. I liked it, but the kids thought it a bit on the boring side.

And we moved on to the country of Brazil. Brazil is a huge producer of coffee, so it's no surprise that they have a favorite coffee beverage - Iced Brazilian Mocha-Cola. (found on Global Table Adventure) We all like coffee, and we all like Coca-cola, and we all like chocolate, so I figured this would be a slam-dunk. To my surprise, it didn't get rave reviews from everyone. I liked it, and one of the boys was quite fond of it. It uses very strong coffee, so my guess is that made with less coffee and more chocolate milk, it would be very well-received by everyone in the family.  Basically, it is coffee, cola, and chocolate milk mixed together and topped with whipped cream or ice cream, so it's kind of like a mocha cola float. Mmmmmm....

Iced Brazilian Mocha-Cola

Budin (sweet bread from Argentina)

2 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup sugar

1 cup cream

2 eggs

2 tsp vanilla

Preheat oven to 350*F. Combine dry ingredients, then stir in cream, eggs, and vanilla. Pour into a greased baking dish (probably an 8x8 or 9x9 pan). Bake for 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean.

This post is linked at Try a New Recipe Tuesday, hosted by Lisa at Home to 4 Kiddos.

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