PARAGUAY ROJHAIJHU

MILANESA

2 lb beef (round steak, loin, etc.)
Salt and pepper to taste
garlic (optional)
2 eggs
1/4 parsley
1/2 C milk
flour
fine bread crumbs
oil for frying
Cut the meat in thin slices and pound each side. Season. Beat the eggs and add the milk and parsley. Dip the meat first in the flour, then the egg mixture, and then the bread crumbs.
Heat enough oil in a frying pan to cover the meat.
Fry until brown, turn and brown the other side. (Only about 10 minutes are needed for thinly cut meat).
Remove and keep hot while frying the remaining pieces.

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SO'O KU'I

3 Tbsp. oil
1 garlic clove
1 onion
3/4 cup water
1 tsp. salt
2 cups cooked ground beef
1 dash cumin
1 1/2 cups rice

Heat oil, brown the garlic and onion. Cook until onion softens. Add water.
Bring to boil and add rice. Let boil for 15 minutes. Mix in meat and cumin. Allow to cook few minutes more. Bake a pastry shell for 7-8 minutes. Add mixture in it.

Optional:
Add a hard-boiled egg to mixture.

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SO'O YO-SOPY (BEEF SOUP)

2 pounds ground lean serloin or round steak
2 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 medium onions, finely chopped
1 green bell pepper, seeded and finely chopped or 1 or 2 gresh hot peppers,seeded and chopped
4 medium tomatoes, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup rice or vermicelli
salt grated Parmesan cheese

Have the butcher grind the meat twice, then mash it in a mortar to make sure it is completely pulverized or use a food processer. Set the meat aside together with any juices.

Heat the oil in a skillet and saute the onions and pepper until the onions are softened. Add the tomatoes and cook until the mixture is thick and well blended, about 5 minutes longer. Cool the mixture slightly. Put the beef and its juices into a saucepan.

Stir in the sauteed onions, pepper, and tomatoes, known as the sofrito, and 8 cups cold water. Mix well. Bring to a boil over moderate heat, stirring with a wooden spoon. Add the rice or noodles and simmer, still stirring, until tender, about 15 minutes. At this point, season to taste with salt. If salt is added earlier the meat and the liquid, which shood be completely blended, may seperate.

Superstition has it that if anyone who does not enjoy cooking is present in the kitchen they may cause the So'O-Yosopy to seperate and spoil the dish!

Served with a baked sweet potato or a thick slice of broiled yucca (cassava), or both, and Sopa Paraguaya, Paraguayan Corn Bread despite its misleading name. Sprinkle, if liked, with grated cheese.

Serves 6

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BORI-BORI

Servings : 7

Time to prepare : 4 hrs.

Ingredient list:

2 lbs chuck or beef shank
1 tsp coarsely ground black pepper
2 tbs olive oil
4 ozs bacon, chopped
1 large onion, unpeeled, cut into quarters
1 head garlic, unpeeled, cut in 1/2 horizontally
3 stalks celery, with leafy tops, washed and cut in half
1 medium carrot, washed and cut in half
1 bay leaf
7 cloves
1 tbs coarse salt

DUMPLINGS:

1 cup white or yellow cornmeal
1 cup grated Parmesan
2 tsp coarse salt
1 small onion, peeled and minced (about 1/2 cup)
1/4 cup clarified butter
1 egg
1 egg yolk
2 tbs Italian parsley, chopped
grated Parmesan

Instructions:

1. Wipe the meat with a damp cloth and cut into 2-inch cubes. Sprinkle with black pepper.

2. In a large saucepan or sauté pan, heat olive oil and bacon over medium heat. Sauté until bacon has released most of its fat, about 1 minute. Add the meat cubes and brown on all sides, about 8 to 10 minutes. Add onion, garlic, celery, carrot, bay leaf, cloves, 1 tbs salt, 3.5 quarts water and bring to boil. Lower heat, cover,let simmer for 1.5 hrs or until meat is tender.

3. Remove pot from the heat; remove meat and set aside. Strain stock through a fine sieve, pressing to extract all the juices from the vegetables; discard the vegetables. Let stock sit for a few minutes. Degrease thoroughly, then pour stock through a strainer lined with several layers of cheesecloth. Discard cheesecloth and measure stock, should have 10 cups. If not, add enough water to make 10 cups. Set aside.

4. Meanwhile, in a bowl, combine cornmeal, Parmesan, 2 tsp salt and mix well. Add minced onion and butter and, with fingers or fork, incorporate all the ingredients well. Make a well in the center and place egg and egg yolk in it. Mix with fork until eggs have been thoroughly absorbed.
With your hands, knead all the ingredients right in the bowl for a minute or so, until you have a smooth and compact dough.
Tightly cover dough with a piece of plastic wrap and let rest at room temperature undisturbed, for about 30 mins or more.

5. Divide dough into 30 equal portions (each 1 scant tablespoonful), and, with the palms of your hands, gently roll each portion into a small dumpling.

6. In large saucepan, bring 3 qts water to a boil. Lower heat to a gentle simmer, drop dumplings into water, let cook for 15 mins. Remove them from water with slotted spoon and set aside.

7. In large pot or sauté pan, bring reserved 10 cups of broth to a boil, adding saffron, if desired. Lower heat and add meat; cook for 15 mins and correct the seasoning with salt to taste. Gently place dumplings into the broth and continue simmering 15 mins more. Serve soup at once sprinkled with chopped parsley.

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Link to:
Antonia Barker from whom many of those recipes are

© Sibelle 1999