Ellie cooked with  Noah Sheetz, Nicole Cagan and Rebecca Joyner of www.chefsconsortium.com at the Local Harvest Festival October 2 at Albany’s Washington Park Lake House. The event was sponsored by Honest Weight Food Co-op. Thank you for letting me share my family recipes with you.

Please read more here http://www.chefsconsortium.com/brazilian-feijoada-recipe-using-local-ingredients.html

Brazilian Pumpkin Compote

in Pressure Cooker

• 10 cups of pumpkin cut into small cubes (I use butternut squash)
• 3 cups of sugar
• 7-8 whole cloves
•  2 sticks of cinnamon
• shredded fresh coconut to serve or coconut milk or fresh whipping cream

Cut pumpkin into 1-inch cubes. Place the pumpkin pieces in a pressure cooker  with the sugar, cloves, cinnamon (no water) . (Follow instructions about attaching the lid, reducing steam pressure, and opening the pot when cooking is completed)

Turn the pot on high until pressure starts. Time 4 minutes and turn it off. Remove pot from heat and do not open the cooker until the next day (or 8 hours). Open the pot, refrigerate pumpkin and serve with fresh coconut.

Stove top

In a large saucepan, mix 2 cups of water with 3 cups of sugar and cook on high heat for 8 to 10 minutes, without stirring, to make a light syrup, light syrup candy thermometer 212 degrees F.
Add butternut squash cut into cubes with 2 sticks of cinnamon and 8 whole cloves and cinnamon. Simmer on low heat with the lid on until the squash is cooked, tender, but still holds its shape. Check every 5 minutes, stirring gently if necessary.
Let cool and refrigerate. Serve with coconut or farmer’s cheese.

Brazilian Brigadeiro “Chocoalte Truffles”

1 (14 ounce) can sweetened condensed milk
½ stick sweet butter
¼ cup milk
5 tablespoons cocoa
chocolate sprinkles, chopped nuts, coconut shavings, colored vermicelli to roll
tip: you can also use this recipe to spread over cakes. It makes a rich and delicious topping!
In a small saucepan, melt the butter. Add the condensed milk, the ordinary milk, and the cocoa. heat, stir vigorously the ingredients.
Cook the mixture until it thickens enough to show the pan bottom during stirring (it will be firm enough to stay together and not spread) Pour into a greased dish and let cool to room temperature (or chill a few minutes in the fridge) Grease your hands with butter and take small amounts of candy and form into 1 1/2 inch balls.
Roll the balls in chocolate sprinkles to decorate.
(If the balls don’t hold their shape, cook an additional 5 minutes until it thickens up more.)