"I had just recently arrived in Rio (I continued) and was living in literal poverty. I was spending most of my time away from the boarding house, not knowing where or how to earn some money, when I saw the following advertisement in the Journal of Commerce: 'Wanted: A teacher of Javanese. References, etc.' Now I said to myself, there's a job without many competitors; If I knew half a dozen words, I'd offer myself."
Book: Oxford Anthology of the Brazilian Short Story
Recipes: The Brazilian Kitchen by Leticia Moreinos Shwartz
Linguade e Pimentoes com Molho De Coco e Gengibre
Sole with Coconut Ginger Sauce
For the peppers:
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 cup each chopped red, yellow, and green bell pepper
1/2 cup finely chopped shallots
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1 tbsp fresh chopped thyme
For the sauce:
1 tbsp olive oil
1/3 cup of finely chopped shallots
2 cloves garlic, pressed
1/4 cup fresh shredded ginger
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup coconut milk
1 1/2 cups fish stock
Salt and pepper to taste
For the sole:
4 fillets of sole, skinless, about 6 oz each
1 cup flour
2 tbsp butter
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Add peppers and 1/2 cup of shallots and saute until soft, about 3 minutes. Add the garlic and cook another minute. Remove from heat and add salt, pepper, and thyme; keep warm.
Heat the remaining olive oil and shallots in a pan over medium heat until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add the ginger and garlic and continue stirring for another 2 minutes. Pour in the white wine and reduce by 80%. Add the fish stock and bring to a boil. Add the coconut milk and stir well, cook over low heat until the sauce thickens enough to coat the back of a spoon. Pass the sauce through a mesh sieve and discard the solids. Salt and pepper to taste and keep warm.
Pat the fillets of sole dry with a paper towel, season with salt and pepper on both sides, then dredge the fillets in the flour. Heat butter over medium heat and swirl to cover the whole pan. Gently lay the fish in the skillet and avoid moving them so that a golden crust forms. Cook until the fillets are golden brown, about 2 minutes on each side.
Spread a thin layer of the warm peppers over each fillet, then spoon sauce onto the plate around the fillets.
We served ours with steamed broccoli and roasted potatoes with garlic. It was delicious. To use up the pepper mixture, I added more than a "thin" layer, which was fine by me, but I noticed that Jay scraped a hefty amount of his off to the side. It did overwhelm the dish a bit, I must admit. The sauce was wonderful.
About the book and the blogging:
This story sort of tickled my fancy because it's about a pseudo-teacher who learns a few things in Javanese and passes himself off as a language instructor to his wealthy benefactor. He and his student work their way through an old family heirloom book and I honestly can't even remember what the book was about. He does such a good job faking his Javanese skills, that he becomes a sort of councilman and I don't remember how that ends either. The truth is, these short stories didn't really grab my full attention. Which leads me into my next paragraph about why it's been so long since I've cooked or written anything.
After I got back from my vacation this summer, I think I was just a little tired of cooking. And I didn't want to read any more Brazilian stories. Short stories are great, when you want a quick fix, but I found myself caught up in a Young Adult series recommended by a student (Cirque du Freak - It was pretty good.). I didn't have a lot of motivation to even begin to write about this last recipe, even though it was such a good one. It nagged at me though, and a few weeks ago, I decided that maybe it was just time to give up on the Brazilian literature and move on. My next adventure will be in Japanese food, and I've already got a handful of recipes waiting to be written about. I also have an extra special treat for my first book, a Manga that was loaned to me by a student.
Look for a new line-up in the days the come, and thanks for staying loyal even when I wasn't keep up with my side of things.
yay! welcome back and on to the sushi!
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