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Banana Compote

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I grew up with this "compote". When bananas where really cheap at the market, my mom would buy a ton of them, cook it, and conserve it in jars, so it was always available. In Brazil, we eat it with a creamy cheese called "requeijão", but a cream cheese will do just fine. Once you add the spices in, the house smells so good, you'll want to do it over and over again. INGREDIENTS: 12 large bananas, ripe (over ripe works great as well) 4 cups water 4 cup sugar 4 stick cinnamon 5 cloves, whole Juice from 1 lime PREPARATION: In a heavy saucepan (high heat), dissolve sugar well in water. Peel and cut bananas in rounds, about 1.2 inch, and add to the pan. When it starts boiling, add the lime juice (it will make it a beautifull purle-red color) and the cinnamon and cloves. Reduce heat to lowest. During the first 10, 15 minutes, it will form a "foam" on top, that will make the compote more cristaline if you remove it once...
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The Real Brazilian Flan (Pudim, or Caramel Flan)

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My friend David loves flan. Sometimes, he even dreams about it. David used to own this large company, so every Christmas they used to have a potluck dinner, and trying to make "the boss" happy, all latin women in the company would bring their own secret recipe family flan. David tells me he never tasted any flan there that compared to the one below. This is the real thing, the one that used to come in the cans of condensed milk 30 years ago. AH! Flan should NEVER be eaten with fruit. The only thing you can eat flan with is caramel sauce. Brazilian Milk Pudim (flan) Ingredients: A. Caramel sauce: 1 1⁄2 cups of sugar 2 cups of water B. Flan: 1 can of sweetened condensed milk (the best one is "La Lechera " from Nestle. I buy it at the Norwalk stop and Shop or any Hispanic market. If you can't find it, Magnolia is second best) 1 can of milk of full milk (use the can from the condensed milk to measure the milk) 3-4 eggs (de...
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Meat and Chicken Fondue, Brazilian style sauces

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When I moved to the US, I was surprised by the number of people who thought Fondue had to be cheese, and cheese only. I do not know why, but we love meat fondue in Rio. You have to turn your air conditioner at the highest setting, or wait for the 2 days a year where the temperature reaches 65F to eat it, but we even have "medieval" style restaurants (with cold stone walls and a killer air conditioning system) so we can enjoy it. When a couple gets married in Brazil, you can be sure they will get about 10 fondue sets, go figure. If I have less than 15 people for Christmas Eve dinner, I always have a fondue—Brazilian traditional Christmas food is very similar to Thanksgiving, and I just had turkey 3.5 weeks ago.   I set up a very colorful table, with 1 fondue set per 3/4 people (the picture here was for the leftovers the following day, just our own family and to meet my daughter's new "boyfriend").  I always forget to take pictures at my own parties, ARGH. ...
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