I really enjoyed my dinner at Boa Nova. I should have taken pictures. I am not much of a cameraman though and forgot to take it. Of course I had my cell phone, but didn't use that either. When we got to the restaurant at 6:00 p.m. it was totally deserted. We were told we could help ourselves to the buffet and when we were ready we had to turn a card over (which they had given us) and the Gaucho would bring meats. We started off with some cabbage soup which I enjoyed but it needed a little salt for my taste. My friend tried the potato and collards soup which she enjoyed too. Incredibly she had never eaten collards, I will have to remedy that for her fairly soon. I then had some shrimp and mussels served with rice and a spoonful of black beans which turned out to be spicy. My friend went to the salad bar which looked very good. We both held off a bit because of the meats.
Having turned our little card over, a young man came with a skewer of
chorizo (Portuguese or Spanish sausage; if you have never eaten it, it has a taste all its own). Because of her lap band surgery my friend didn't have any, but I did and it was good. Once that was eaten we got some peppered steak which was really good and cooked medium (actually I thought it was quite rare) however, they offered to cook it more should we desire, but neither of us did. Because of the lap band surgery my friend was unsure how much she could eat so asked about the lamb. They kindly brought that next. It was good and pink and flavoured with Rosemary. After that we got chicken wrapped in bacon, another type of steak, a chicken drumstick, some pork, another type of beef which had a special name - I'm a good reporter, I can't remember what they called it. It was all delicious and we could have gone on eating as long as we wished. They don't give you a lot of anything but keep coming back. Each person is given a small pair of tongs so you can grasp the meat as it is being sliced. Being a pig, I had seconds of several things.
Once we were stuffed to the gills with meat, they brought round barbecued pineapple. When I first saw it I thought the skin was still on. Turned out that they put patterns in the flesh, then sugar the pineapple before they barbecue it. Absolutely delicious. I had three slices of that, all told. The picture looks similar except in our case it was brought to us on a skewer.
I understand there are a lot of these Brazilian type restaurants around, I thoroughly enjoyed it, so if there is one near you, I recommend it. One thing I very much liked is that we were not rushed as one is in some restaurants, it was a very leisurely meal. Oh and there were several full tables with large parties, when we left.
Earlier in the day, yesterday, I had three of the worst games I have bowled
in years - no real explanation. What was annoying was that one of the three games was "beat your average" for which one wins a couple of bucks at the end of the year. Couldn't get near my average, however, Matt went way over his. Then we went and did some final shopping for Wednesday. We are so dumb the pair of us. We called in at the liquor store close to the bowling alley for a particular wine I thought they might stock as it is such a big store. We got it and left to go shopping in a different area. Once we were well away, I remembered we needed a large bottle of wine for our party on Wednesday so we had to go to another liquor store. How stupid can you get? No, don't answer that.
Anyway, I have to go make a chocolate cake. Its the one I posted a day or two ago "Tony's Mother's Chocolate Cake", for the Celiacs I have been meeting lately, that too is gluten free as well as the Turkish Orange Cake.
Here is a Soup I got from Sankofa.
African Tomato-Avocado-Buttermilk Soup
3 lb Tomatoes, peeled and seeded
2 Tbs Tomato paste
1 cup Buttermilk
1 Tbs Olive oil
1 Avocado, mashed to a puree
Juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbs Finely minced fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot pepper sauce
Garnish: 1 Cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced, sour cream, plain yogurt, or creme fraiche
1 Purée tomatoes in a food processor or food mill, then press through a sieve to remove seeds. In a large mixing bowl, beat the pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, buttermilk, and oil. Toss pureed avocado with 1 tablespoon lemon juice to hold the color. Add the avocado, remaining lemon juice, and parsley to the tomato mixture; stir to mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and a generous number of drops of hot pepper sauce. Refrigerate several hours before serving.
2 At serving time, taste soup for seasonings. Ladle into individual bowls and have guests garnish their portions with cucumber and sour cream. Pass hot pepper sauce around to add more piquancy.
Servings: 8
I really enjoyed my dinner at Boa Nova. I should have taken pictures. I am not much of a cameraman though and forgot to take it. Of course I had my cell phone, but didn't use that either. When we got to the restaurant at 6:00 p.m. it was totally deserted. We were told we could help ourselves to the buffet and when we were ready we had to turn a card over (which they had given us) and the Gaucho would bring meats. We started off with some cabbage soup which I enjoyed but it needed a little salt for my taste. My friend tried the potato and collards soup which she enjoyed too. Incredibly she had never eaten collards, I will have to remedy that for her fairly soon. I then had some shrimp and mussels served with rice and a spoonful of black beans which turned out to be spicy. My friend went to the salad bar which looked very good. We both held off a bit because of the meats.
Having turned our little card over, a young man came with a skewer of 
chorizo (Portuguese or Spanish sausage; if you have never eaten it, it has a taste all its own). Because of her lap band surgery my friend didn't have any, but I did and it was good. Once that was eaten we got some peppered steak which was really good and cooked medium (actually I thought it was quite rare) however, they offered to cook it more should we desire, but neither of us did. Because of the lap band surgery my friend was unsure how much she could eat so asked about the lamb. They kindly brought that next. It was good and pink and flavoured with Rosemary. After that we got chicken wrapped in bacon, another type of steak, a chicken drumstick, some pork, another type of beef which had a special name - I'm a good reporter, I can't remember what they called it. It was all delicious and we could have gone on eating as long as we wished. They don't give you a lot of anything but keep coming back. Each person is given a small pair of tongs so you can grasp the meat as it is being sliced. Being a pig, I had seconds of several things.
Once we were stuffed to the gills with meat, they brought round barbecued pineapple. When I first saw it I thought the skin was still on. Turned out that they put patterns in the flesh, then sugar the pineapple before they barbecue it. Absolutely delicious. I had three slices of that, all told. The picture looks similar except in our case it was brought to us on a skewer.
I understand there are a lot of these Brazilian type restaurants around, I thoroughly enjoyed it, so if there is one near you, I recommend it. One thing I very much liked is that we were not rushed as one is in some restaurants, it was a very leisurely meal. Oh and there were several full tables with large parties, when we left.
Earlier in the day, yesterday, I had three of the worst games I have bowled 
in years - no real explanation. What was annoying was that one of the three games was "beat your average" for which one wins a couple of bucks at the end of the year. Couldn't get near my average, however, Matt went way over his. Then we went and did some final shopping for Wednesday. We are so dumb the pair of us. We called in at the liquor store close to the bowling alley for a particular wine I thought they might stock as it is such a big store. We got it and left to go shopping in a different area. Once we were well away, I remembered we needed a large bottle of wine for our party on Wednesday so we had to go to another liquor store. How stupid can you get? No, don't answer that.
Anyway, I have to go make a chocolate cake. Its the one I posted a day or two ago "Tony's Mother's Chocolate Cake", for the Celiacs I have been meeting lately, that too is gluten free as well as the Turkish Orange Cake.
Here is a Soup I got from Sankofa.
African Tomato-Avocado-Buttermilk Soup
3 lb Tomatoes, peeled and seeded 
2 Tbs Tomato paste
1 cup Buttermilk
1 Tbs Olive oil
1 Avocado, mashed to a puree
Juice of 1 lemon
2 Tbs Finely minced fresh parsley
Salt and pepper to taste
Hot pepper sauce
Garnish: 1 Cucumber, peeled, seeded, and diced, sour cream, plain yogurt, or creme fraiche
1 Purée tomatoes in a food processor or food mill, then press through a sieve to remove seeds. In a large mixing bowl, beat the pureed tomatoes, tomato paste, buttermilk, and oil. Toss pureed avocado with 1 tablespoon lemon juice to hold the color. Add the avocado, remaining lemon juice, and parsley to the tomato mixture; stir to mix well. Season to taste with salt and pepper, and a generous number of drops of hot pepper sauce. Refrigerate several hours before serving.
2 At serving time, taste soup for seasonings. Ladle into individual bowls and have guests garnish their portions with cucumber and sour cream. Pass hot pepper sauce around to add more piquancy.
Servings: 8
I'm not sure I've ever eaten collards either, Jo. Isn't it some kind of spinach? Maybe we call it something else here in Oz.
ReplyDeleteNo, not spinach, more like what is known as Spring Greens in the UK. I love 'em, Matt puts up with them. They are eaten a lot in the American south where they are cooked to a mush with pork hocks and are full of fat. Not healthy.
ReplyDelete