Heeeyho Readers! I'm hungry!!!!
You see, my biggest problem with #food posts is that I always remember to register the process after eating {Do'h}. For example, the epic tuna fish pasta that's waiting for ever for a grand debut in the blog. Believe me, it's not your regular lazy backpacker's tuna fish pasta. That, however, is subject for a future post.
Yesterday was my turn in the kitchen at home, so I decided to go for my all time favorite: Brazilian Jardineira. It's a rather simple and versatile dish, really. A jardineira might combine several veggies; the way I know it only uses potatoes and carrots combined with meat and seasoning. Quick to make, nutritious, healthy — perfect!
Brazilian Jardineira
The secret here is to use any soft meat. I used coxão mole (pt-br); name in English is topside (maybe?!). All the rest should be pretty common anywhere in the world.
- 400g of meat
- 4 medium potatoes
- 2 carrots
- 1 onion
- 1 garlic clove
- hot paprika
- 1 spoon of tomato sauce
- Adobo seasoning
- 1 spoon of coconut oil
First thing is to peel and cut the carrots and potatoes into cubes. I like to slice the carrots and then cut the slices in half. Whatever suits you better. {lazy me}.
Those go into a pan with water and a bit of salt 'till they cook. Meanwhile, we can move on and cut the meat. Mom says there's no need to pre-cook the veggies, that you can add them afterwards to cook with the meat. Both ways work, really. I prefer to pre-cook.
Not a big fan of using salt, but it should be fine considering most will go away after rinsing the water. Now take a look at this beautiful piece of topside (coxão mole). Living in shouthern Brazil has its perks, hah!
It's almost a sin to cut this beautiful beef into cubes, but... that's what I'm doing. Little cubes. The rest is all about seasoning. I used to use olive oil for frying, but the prices for olive oil have skyrocketed over here; coconut oil is the way, a table spoon.
Fry the onions and garlic 'till that super sexy onion smell wakes everyone up. Throw the meat cubes and let it cook. Below you can see the seasonings I used: salt, hot paprika, adobo, and tomato sauce. I guess everyone has a unique way of seasoning stuff, so this is just an example.
Bada-bim, bada-bum!
Be careful with the peper.
I like to add tomato sauce when the meat is nearly done. Makes no difference.
By this time, the veggies should be ready. It's best to put the veggies under low heat while preparing the meat. Our oven is a beast, so even the low heat tends to cook things overly fast.
Let the meat cook well; add water if necessary. And wait. And try not to die as that awesome smell fills the room.
Boom!
Done. Meat is ready and soft. Seasoning tastes perfect. Now we can rinse the veggies and mix them with the meat. Here's where mom differs: she adds raw veggies to the meat, adds more water to let them cook all together. She says that's a better way to add more flavor to the potatoes -- makes sense!
That's it for the Brazilian Jardineira!
It goes absolutely well with rice and beans and fried eggs.
Because it's only my brother and I, and we're feeling lazy, we decided to go solo jardineira.
Don't forget the Parmesan cheese!
Parmesan cheese on top adds another layer of top-notch flavor.
As you can see, the Brazilian Jardineira is incredibly simple. Believe me, I've cooked this dish all over the world. I'm yet to find a nationality that doesn't like it.
Is there a version of Brazilian Jardineira in your country? How's it called?
Let me know in the comments. Enjoy!
Peace.
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~Love ya all,
Disclaimer: The author of this post is a convict broke backpacker, who has travelled more than 10.000 km hitchhiking and more than 5.000 km cycling. Following him may cause severe problems of wanderlust and inquietud. You've been warned.
