RecipeMuncher

Weekends are when I have more time to cook and bake: that is wonderful and one of the many reasons why I love Saturdays and Sundays so much, but even I want quick meals sometimes, and these stuffed tomatoes are the perfect answer for that: the assembling is super quick and they don’t need much time in the oven. If you can’t find goat cheese easily I believe that these would be equally

I don’t bake blondies very often, but so far the recipes I’ve made turned out delicious – Martha’s gingerbread blondies I made back in 2010 were just irresistible. When I saw Dan Lepard’s banana blondies I had to make them: not only because a blondie made of banana made me curious but also because I’d be able to use up some of my banana overload; oh, and before I forget to mention, there’s

I’ve probably written about this already here but there it goes: I usually fear (a little) watching again now the movies I loved as my much younger self – there’s always the risk of deception, the “what the heck was I thinking?” feeling. Luckily this hasn’t happened often and the movies I’ve seen lately have permanently cemented their place in my heart. One example is “The Crying Game”: I

Ok, I’ll admit it: this is not a very romantic salad – all that raw garlic and onion (not to mention the gorgonzola!) won’t do your breath any good. But it is so simple – I put it together in a matter of moments – fresh and delicious, and it comes from such an amazing book, that I had to share it with you – even if, in the end, you make it for a solitary lunch/dinner (or some “me time”, as I

I love almonds – they’re my favorite nut. But for far too long I avoided recipes that called for almond paste because I’ve never seen the ingredient around here. Then it suddenly hit me: if I made eggnog from scratch for a pound cake recipe, why not almond paste? I do not know why it took my brain so long to come to that conclusion.
The homemade almond paste – recipe from this gorgeous book

As much as I love cooking and baking I understand it’s not everyone’s cup of tea – so you can imagine how happy I felt when I noticed that my sister loved cooking and baking, too – I swear I never pushed her towards it: it all began with her passion for brownies and cookies.
After tasting some of these cookies she told me they were delicious and she needed the recipe “asap”; she also told

Not one to be afraid of massive amounts of ingredients – I have made this cake, after all – I must confess that I almost gave up baking the cake on the photo. Almost. Reading the recipe with a calculator on hand I shrieked at the idea of using nearly 400g of butter, 500g of sugar and – my goodness – over 700g of flour in one single cake; a recipe that would pretty much empty my entire pantry. :

One of my all time favorite songs is New Order’s “Bizarre Love Triangle”; my reaction to Frente!’s version for the song was sort of like “Stop! Stop! You’re ruining a classic!” – as much as I hate to admit it I can be pretty conservative sometimes. If you’re going to revamp with a classic, do it right, ok? Go ask Fine Young Cannibals for advice or something.
Unlike Frente!, Flo Braker has

I’ve been meaning to make these rocky road bars forever: when I saw so many delicious ingredients combined I knew the candy would be great. And it really was (not to mention how ridiculously easy this recipe is).
I have the same feeling about “Carnage”: so many great actors directed by Polanski. It has got to be good. Too bad I’ll have to wait a while to find out.

White chocolate,

I am completely biased when it comes to lemon/lime things – and you all know that – but these gelatins are so delicious I beg you to try them!
It’s like eating solid lemonade – and if I can’t convince you of how good lemonade can be Mr. Ford is perfect for the job.

Fresh lemon gelatin
from Luscious Lemon Desserts

3 ¼ cups (780ml) water
1 cup (200g) caster (superfine) sugar
¼ cup finely

My financiers did not look exactly like RLB’s, but they made me feel really proud: layering all those plum slices was not a quick thing, let me tell you that.

I wish they looked more like flowers, therefore more beautiful, but I’ll be nice to myself this time: the three weeks from hell at work are over and I’ve survived. Do not know how, but I did. I deserve some kindness, even if it comes

For some people, retail therapy means lots of clothes, shoes, DVDs… To me, it means ingredients for my recipes.
After buying this beautiful book, I went crazy and started buying lots of different types of flour: buckwheat, barley, rye… Time went by and I haven’t baked with them as I should have. Not good, Patricia. Not good.

Buckwheat flour begging to be used + Bill Granger’s recipe +

I swear I’m not trying to get a job as an oatmeal poster girl, and I’d already decided on which oatmeal cookies were my favorite, but tell me: would you resist making a recipe with such great reputation?
These cookies are so delicious I regretted halving the recipe. Mr. Clinton’s taste in cookies is far superior to his taste in… Never mind.

President Clinton’s oatmeal cookies
from

My sister made me watch the awful “Season of the Witch” – I have to say that putting up with Nicolas Cage for 1 ½ hours is huge proof of my love for her. When the movie was over and Dominic Sena’s name appeared on the screen it all made sense to me – a bad director could not deliver a good movie.
On the other hand, I always expect great recipes from Nigella – and this bread pudding is no

I have been using my cookbooks a lot more lately and there’s one person to be “blamed” for that: my baking buddy, the lovely Susan. Putting my cookbooks to good use was one of my New Year’s resolutions and I’m glad it’s one I’ve been able to keep.

This cake has become one of my favorites: it’s already filled when you remove it from the oven and the rum smell is just wonderful; the batter

Since you are not tired of my banana recipes, here comes another one, with a special help from good friends coconut and chocolate.
Quick to put together and delicious, these muffins are perfect for the rainy day/couch/TV combo – but I can assure you they taste great on a summer day, too.
Banana, chocolate and coconut muffins
slightly adapted from here

2 cups (280g) all purpose flour
2

Something I’d never imagined possible has happened to me – and twice so far: I cried reading cookbooks.

Reading about Barbara Lynch’s childhood years brought tears to my eyes; I became a huge fan of hers even before trying her recipes. But it all started with John Barricelli’s beautiful book: a couple of lines about him growing up without his parents and I was crying like a baby – maybe

The lovely Sabrina is the one responsible for my preparing this dessert – she commented on one of my posts one day, asking for a lemon crème brûlée. That’s when I realized that I’d tried orange, but not lemon yet. Shame on me.
These little pots of heaven were devoured in no time (I halved the recipe below)– the addition of raspberries made them extra special.

Lemon raspberry crème brûlée

You may think that I’m on a passion fruit kick, but what really happened is that I got carried away, bought a load of passion fruit and therefore had to use them all.
These truffles are soft, delicious, and the zing of the passion fruit perfectly balances the sweetness of the white chocolate. You can follow Candace’s recipe and dip the truffles in melted chocolate, but I wasn’t bold enough

It’s been a tough week – I know that hating our job is not a healthy or positive feeling, but that’s how I feel; my patience has been tested so many times in the past 5 days I feel like a hero.
What comforts me is that in a couple of hours I’ll be home, on my couch, with a cookbook on my lap, choosing something to bake tomorrow – I guess I’ll use this amazing book again.

Fig galettes

I’m baking with Susan again – and I almost had to call for help to stop eating this cake.
I kept lying to myself saying that “this is practically only egg whites” after eating each slice of cake, then Susan wrote me the same thing in an email. You see, it’s not only my fault.
I made some passion fruit curd to serve the cake with, but now I have an eye on Suz’s version with raspberry

My first ice cream sandwiches – I could not believe how moreish these are.
Even thought I thought the cookies overpowered the sorbet flavor a little – I would go for vanilla cookies with this sorbet next time – these sandwiches were pretty good.
Speaking of moreish, I’m hoping Natalie Portman gets the Oscar this year: not only because her performance on “Black Swan” is absolutely

I’m not one of those people who think that one has to love everything about their country just because they were born there – no, definitely not my style. There are lots and lots of things about Brazil I’m not fond of, lots of things that need to change.

That said, I have to be honest with you: Nigella’s Venetian carrot cake is good, but our Brazilian carrot cake wins by a landslide.

Sometimes when I’m going through my cookbooks I say things out loud: things like “I am so making this”, or “I’ll make this next weekend”, and so on; just so you know it, the hubby doesn’t find it weird.
A couple of weeks ago I was “talking” to my books again when I said I was going to make a banana cake. “Another one?” Joao asked. I smiled back at him and said nothing, but thought “hey, don