A few weeks ago I answered a call for bloggers who wanted to participate in a competition – create a recipe that is based on the Flavour Forecast trends.
I thought it was a great idea, until the brief arrived and I realised that there was not one of the five categories we could choose from that was in my comfort zone! Nothing like an opportunity for growth, eh?
So, the UK’s leading herbs and spices brand McCormick is celebrating its 125th anniversary this year and have shared with us their Flavour Forecast – a new, annual prediction of what ‘flavours’ will be most popular in the cooking world. In 2014, global flavour leader McCormick, parent company of leading herbs and spices brand Schwartz, is celebrating its 125th anniversary. The yearlong celebration kicks off with the launch of the 125th Anniversary Edition of the Flavour Forecast and the Flavour of Together programme, with the goal of connecting people around the world as they share 1.25 million stories about the special role food and flavour plays in our lives through. Here are their five predictions for this year:
1. Chillies Obsession: Food lovers everywhere are seeking out their next big chilli thrill.
2. Modern Masala: Indian food is finally having its moment, breaking free of its traditional confines with modern interpretations.
3. Clever Compact Cooking: Proving that big flavours can come from small spaces, cooks in urban kitchens are making the most of what’s available.
4. Mexican World Tour: Mexican flavours are making their way around the globe, with people everywhere discovering new aspects of this bright, casual cuisine.
5. Charmed by Brazil: The world’s attraction to Brazilian cuisine is heating up, thanks to its seductive mix of global and native influences.
Now, as a family, we don’t really eat spicy food or beans, so that cuts out 1 and 4, and we’re not huge on curries either, so there goes number 2. I am a proud Thermomix Owner, so 3 is easy, but probably not what they were after – which leaves 5. Charmed by Brazil. I have one Brazilian friend, Yuri from Urbanvox, and I turned to him for advice.
He told me about Coxinha – a Brazilian street food, normally served as a street food and on the go. It’s essentially a chicken salad, fried. I decided to add some Brazilian sauces to the mix and create a dish that combines the street food classic, with what I’d imagine ordering in a pub lunch. The results were delicious. Here they are:
Regular readers will know that I love creating food from scratch. Of course, I could go and buy some mayonnaise and add garlic to it, but I love watching oil turn into rich, white, fluffy, additive free mayo. And I love the flavour too. The same goes for all the elements of this recipe.
The ingredient list on this dish looks really long, but if you have a supply of herbs and spices in the cupboard, you’re half way there. There will also be sauces left over, that can be used in other dishes later: think Vinaigrette omelet, hot sauce on anything, and mayo on… almost anything too. Extras won’t go to waste.
Then there’s the incredibly gorgeous hot sauce. The beauty of this sauce is that you can make it as hot or not as you like. We didn’t want it very spicy, so used just a few chilli seeds. We’re wooses like that. You can use different alcohols in this, but that will affect the flavour.
But in the end, you end up with a very delicious ‘juice’ sauce, that even as a non-chilli lover, I enjoyed. I think a sauce should be thicker, but this has a different consistency and provides a variant on the plate.
The next sauce was a Brazilian Vinaigrette – a super easy sauce that is a brilliant addition to this meal. It’s not sauce like we might think of, but more like a salsa, and delicious.
Just looking at this picture makes my mouth water. I might chop it all a bit finer next time, just to make it a little more ‘saucy’, but flavour wise, my husband thought it was the highlight of the meal.
Finally, some Garlic Mayonnaise – a classic with fried goods anywhere, it seems, and so very easy to make at home. I’ve been making it for years, even before I bought a Thermomix!
I just love watching oil turn into mayonnaise, and there’s no bought version like it.
- Coxinha Ingredients
- 600g chicken breasts
- 5 cups of chicken broth/stock
- 1 carrot
- 2 onions, peeled and halved
- 2 bay leaves
- 2 tablespoons butter
- 2 cloves garlic
- Juice of 1 lime
- 1 cup cream cheese
- 3 cups of flour
- 2 teaspoons oil
- 2 eggs
- 3 cups of very fine bread crumbs
- Vegetable oil for frying
- Salt and pepper to taste
- Brazilian Vinaigrette Ingredients
- 1 green bell pepper
- 1 red bell pepper
- 1/2 onion
- 4 medium tomatoes
- 1/4 cup white wine vinegar
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- Brazilian (Almost)Hot Sauce Ingredients
- 1/3 cup white wine vinegar
- 1/3 cup water
- 1/3 cup cachaça (or other liqueur)
- 2 cloves
- 1 tsp whole coriander seeds
- 1 tsp black peppercorns
- 1 bay leaf
- 1 tsp oregano
- sprig fresh basil leaves
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- 1/2 tablespoon garlic, finely chopped
- 3 tablespoons onion, finely chopped
- 1 – 3 small hot chilli peppers,
- Garlic Mayonnaise Ingredients
- 2 garlic cloves, finely chopped or garlic powder or granules
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 egg yolks
- 315 ml vegetable oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons wholegrain mustard
- In a food processor, blend bread and set aside 3 cups for later. Excess breadcrumbs freeze well.
- Place the chicken breasts in a large pot – we use a wok.
- Cover them with the chicken broth or stock, adding water if necessary to make sure the chicken breasts are covered by the liquid.
- Add the carrot and one of the onions as well as the bay leaves.
- Bring liquid to a gentle simmer, and cook for 15-20 minutes.
- Set chicken aside to cool, and strain the broth, which you’ll use later. Set it aside to cool.
- Roughly chop the peppers, onion (set aside three teaspoons of onion for later) and tomatoes, and add the white wine vinegar and olive oil. Mix well and set aside.
- Return to the chicken – finely chop the second onion and garlic. Sauté the onion and garlic in 2 tablespoons of butter.
- Shred the chicken into very small pieces – I use my Thermomix for this, a food processor will do.
- Stir cream cheese and lime juice into the shredded chicken, and add the hot onions and garlic to the chicken mixture.
- Measure 3 cups chicken broth. If you have less than three cups, add more stock to bring it to three cups.
- Add 3 cups flour, oil, salt and pepper and stir together until smooth.
- This next step is really important – without it you have a very wet dough… trust me: Set the saucepan over medium flame and cook, stirring constantly, until the batter forms a smooth mass and pulls away from the sides of the pan.
- Chill the chicken and dough for at least an hour.(At this point you could leave it for another day too.)
- Put the white wine vinegar, water, cachaça, cloves, coriander seeds, peppercorns, bay leaf, oregano and basil and salt in a large pan and bring to a boil over medium-high heat. Let it boil for two minutes. Remove from heat, cover the pan and reserve.
- In another pan, heat the olive oil, and gently fry the garlic and onion, without letting it burn. Add the chilli peppers as you’re using them. Add the vinegar mix pouring through a sieve to remove the herbs and spices.
- Cover the pan and cook over low heat until the chillis are soft and tender. Remove from heat and reserve.
- Combine the salt and egg yolks in a food processor until well combined. You can use a whisk too. Add the lemon juice and mustard.
- Keep the food processor running, and very slowly add the oil, a few drops at a time initially and as the mixture becomes a thick mayonnaise, you can add it a bit faster. Cover and set aside.
- By now the chicken should be cool enough for the final phase.
- Flour your hands well, and break off a golf-ball sized piece of dough. Flatten it in your hand, into a rough round.
- Place a tablespoon of the filling into the middle of the dough and wrap the sides up to encase the filling. Shape the dough into a drumstick shape if you can, but I found it easier to do during the next step. (My Brazilian friend later told me to brush some milk around the edges to make it seal.)
- Take a coxinha and dip it in the beaten egg and let the excess drip off. Then roll it in the breadcrumbs and set it on a baking sheet. Repeat with the remaining coxinhas. Refrigerate for an hour.
- Meanwhile, finish off the hot sauce.
- Pour the reserved hot sauce liquid into a food processor or a blender. Blend until completely smooth. Remove the cover and let the sauce rest.
- Deep fry the coxinhas in batches at 365°F/180C until golden brown, make sure to keep an eye on it so that it doesn’t burn, 3 to 4 minutes.
- Serve hot with the three dipping sauces.
Schwartz is looking for your own flavour stories. The company has pledged to donate $1 to United Way Worldwide and it’s UK partner Focus on Food, for every story shared on the Schwartz website, Facebook page or other social channels.
I was sent a £50 grocery voucher, and a hamper of Shwartz herbs and spices to participate in this competition.
You don’t need a Thermomix for this recipe, but any high powered blender will make it a quick and easy recipe to make. A regular blender or food processor will do the job too, but you may need to do it parts. I think a big part of this recipe is having it smooth.
There’s a pretty varied number of ideas, recipes and versions of yoghurt (yogurt in the US) available on t’internet, which can sometimes be really both intimidating and off-putting. I’ve tried a number, and have finally found one I return to again and again. You can find this on the Thermomix Forums too, but read on for more information and options. (See the bottom of this post for non-Thermomix recipes)
Considering how often I make soup these days, you’d be forgiven for thinking that I actually enjoy it! I’m not really a lover of soup, but with two children, a job and a home to run, it’s certainly an easy to prepare food, and easy to eat.
