Brigadeiros: easy sweets

Brigadeiros

from The Vegeterranean: Italian Vegetarian Cooking, Malu Simões & Alberto Musacchio, Simon & Schuster, 2008.

This was such an easy sweet to make. All I needed was sweetened condensed milk, butter and cocoa powder—and sprinkles of some sort (I used chocolate) to roll them in. It only took a short boil on the stove and it was ready. Waited for the mixture to cool and then rolled them in the sprinkles. So easy.

They turned out to be melt-in-the-mouth chocolate sweets though a little too sweet for my taste. Sweet-tooths would love them.

I ended up stirring mine into cups of black coffee and found I had a wonderful drink somewhat like the sweet coffee drinks you get in some Asian countries.

Taste: ✔✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔✔

A Double Soup and a Simple Spaghetti

Parmentier (Potato and Leek Soup)

Zucca (Pumpkin Soup)

from The Vegeterranean: Italian Vegetarian Cooking, Malu Simões & Alberto Musacchio, Simon & Schuster, 2008

Cooking two different soups for one dish seemed a little over the top but when the two were poured into the one dish the result was a visual delight. 

I managed holding a saucepan in each hand pouring the two soups at the same time into the plate to make a reasonably straight line down the middle of the plate where they met. But my partner, much more creative, took a spoon and turned it into a yin and yang design.

The two soups went together well taste wise. The pumpkin was slightly sweet while the savoury parmentier complimented the other with its overlaying flavour of the green olives cooked in it. Of the two the parmentier was my favourite.

I had cooked plenty of soup so on the night after we had just the pumpkin and on the night following that the potato and leek.

Taste: ✔✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔

A Satisfying Pasta Supper

from The Country Cookbook: seasonal jottings and recipes, Belinda Jeffery, Lantern, 2010

Pasta is one my favourites meals so this easy recipe appealed. It does have anchovies in it, but I left them out. I did however make two sauces, one without for me and one with anchovies for my partner.

The ingredients were simple: parsley, chillies, capers and breadcrumbs plus parmesan. It was all very straightforward though I do think I did something wrong in the last stage as I tried to separate things and add the anchovy to one. I suspect that the fish flavoured one had more of some elements than my plain one did.

It all went down well nevertheless.

Taste: ✔✔

Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔✔

Spinach and Ricotta Roll

Still continuing with my cooking binge. So far, though the process has been pleasing resulting in a lot of good things to eat, nothing has stood out yet as something that I would want to add to my repeat list. Until this spinach and ricotta roll. This one I would go back to at another time.

Rullo di Spinaci e Ricotta
from The Vegeterranean: Italian Vegetarian Cooking, Malu Simões & Albert Musacchio, Simon & Schuster, 2008.

I hesitated before taking this recipe up. The idea of rolling a filling in pastry was a little daunting. However, once begun this was a buzz to make.

The filling was easily and quickly done. The pastry that seemed as though it was not going to come together did so easily. And then it had to be thrown forcefully onto the bench top 20 times. I enjoyed doing this so much that it received a few more than the nominated number of times.

This turned out to be a truly tasty dish. The spinach flavour came through strongly and the seasoning was just right. One worth repeating.


Taste: ✔✔✔✔
Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔








Broad Beans with Creamy Basil Sauce
Carrots and Dill
from Sarah Brown’s Vegetarian Cookery, Hutchinson Australia, 1989

Prepared these vegetable dishes to accompany the spinach and ricotta roll.

The beans with a white sauce with mustard and basil was pleasant. I didn’t peel the beans as I actually like them with the tough skins on.

The carrots were not so good. Cooked with onions in a Vegemite flavoured water they lacked something.


Taste: ✔✔
Ease of cooking: ✔✔✔









As some of these books may be out of print if anyone would like a particular recipe, email me (alfcooksvegetarian@ozemail.com.au) and I’ll send an abbreviated version. Of couse, the whole book would be better; it’s loaded with other goodies.