Brazilian Chicken Stew

Inspiration:
In honor of our favorite reality TV show, The Amazing Race, I am going to attempt a new recipe inspired by the country/countries visited each week. This week, the race begins in California, and they head to Brazil.

I found this recipe for Brazilian Chicken Stew from Food & Wine, which incorporated tomatoes, onions, garlic, and cilantro from our CSA.


Ingredients:

• 1/3 cup peeled and thinly sliced ginger (3 ounces)
• 4 garlic cloves, chopped
• 2 jalapeños, seeded and chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/4 cup vegetable oil
• 3 medium onions, coarsely chopped
• 2 cups drained canned plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped, juices reserved
• 1/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk
• 1/2 cup dry-roasted peanuts, finely chopped
• 1/4 cup shredded unsweetened coconut, plus more for garnish
• 1/4 cup chopped cilantro, plus more for garnish
• 3 cups chicken stock or canned low-sodium broth
• Salt and freshly ground pepper
• 2 pounds skinless, boneless chicken thighs, cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
• Steamed rice and lemon wedges, for serving

Instructions:

1. In a food processor, pulse the ginger with the garlic, jalapeños, lemon juice and paprika until finely chopped. Add the water and process to a paste.
2. In a large saucepan, heat 2 tablespoons of the oil until shimmering. Add the onions and cook over moderate heat until softened, about 8 minutes. Add the ginger paste and cook until it begins to brown, about 3 minutes. Add half of the tomatoes along with the coconut milk, peanuts, 1/4 cup of the shredded coconut and 2 tablespoons of the cilantro and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes.
3. Scrape the sauce into a food processor or blender and puree. Return the sauce to the saucepan. Add the stock and the remaining tomatoes and 2 tablespoons of cilantro and bring to a boil. Season with salt and pepper and simmer over moderate heat until reduced to 5 cups, about 20 minutes. Keep warm.
4. Meanwhile, in a large nonstick skillet, heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil until shimmering. Season the chicken with salt and pepper and sauté over moderately high heat until golden and cooked through, about 10 minutes.
5. Add the chicken; season with salt and pepper. Spoon into bowls and garnish with coconut and cilantro. Serve with steamed rice and lemon wedges.

My Notes:
Ideally, we'd have started off with a caipirinha, but alas, we cannot purchase alcohol on Sundays in Minnesota (!), and I didn't plan ahead.

I have to laugh at the "fast" description Food & Wine gives this recipe. I would not describe it as fast, and I wouldn't suggest it to a beginner cook. However, if you have a food processor and some time, this recipe is worth it. The flavors remind us more of Thai food (probably the chili/garlic/ginger combination) than anything I'd expect from South America. It's delicious!


Photography Note:
I am experimenting with taking passable photos in incandescent light as we head into Minnesota darkness for the next few months. I have the best luck when adjusting the "white balance" on my dSLR to incandescent, +2 or +3, and using a tripod. If you have additional suggestions, please share!


Tim's Rating: 9/10
Liz's Rating: 9/10


Next week on The Amazing Race: Brazil (again!)

Tips for Taking Food Photos

One of my readers (insomniac) suggested a post on how to take photos of food.

I am no expert, but here are my thoughts:

1. You need natural light. This is the most important element of a good photo. Lots of natural light. It's very obvious to me which blog photos have been taken in natural light and which have been taken with incandescent light or flash photography. I don't know how our Minnesota winters will affect my blog photos, but I am not looking forward to days with only ~7 hours of natural light!
   
   
2. Use good dishes and a good background. I love my dishes and am glad that they're white. When I registered for them five years ago, I wasn't planning on using them for a cooking blog, but it's worked out well. Plain dishes are better than patterned or brightly-colored dishes for most photo purposes. Backgrounds also matter. Remove anything distracting from the background.
   
   
3. You need a good camera. You don't need a dSLR, but in my experience it's much easier to take a good photo with a dSLR than with a point-and-shoot. However, other bloggers (like WeezerMonkey) can take excellent photos with point-and-shoot or even iphone cameras.
   
   I shoot blog photos with a Nikon D40, a gift from my Mom and Dad (oops, I mean Santa!). I just use the 18-55mm kit lens, which is actually a pretty nice lens. I also have a 55-200mm VR lens and a macro lens, but for most purposes the kit lens works best. I rarely use flash.
   
   
4. Take a lot of photos. I usually take 10-30 photos of each dish and am happy with 1-2 of them. It doesn't take long to delete photos you don't like (less than one minute).
   
   Try all different angles. The food can look very different depending on which part of it is facing you. For example, take a photo of a slice of pizza with the crust facing you, one at 45 degrees, one at 90 degrees, one at 135 degrees, and one with the crust away from you.
   
   Try photographing from the top of the food item. Get down low and take a photo with the food at eye-level. Pay attention to which part of the plate is hit by your (preferably natural) light. Remember, it's digital photography! You can delete any photos you don't like!
   
   As you can tell from my blog, I like food photos that show a glimpse of my dishes. Try taking or cropping photos that keep a varying amount of the dish in the frame, and see what you like.
   
   
5. Practice, practice, practice!!

I hope these tips are helpful.

If you'd like to check out food blogs with fantastic photography, visit my two favorites:
Northwest Noshings
The Way the Cookie Crumbles