Chicken Little...

Jake and I went to the evening service at the Baptist church that we teach at on Wednesday evenings.  Every church worships differently, and this one is a praying church.  Before the service started, we were told to join hands with one another in little circles and pray.  We had a chance to see some of our students there in a different context, where we are the students (of Portuguese, that is!) and they are the teachers.

There is a man who attends our intermediate class with his two daughters, and Jake and I have gotten to know them really well.  It turns out that the Lopes' family have three birthdays within 6 weeks, and mine happened in there somewhere as well, so we've been able to celebrate all these birthdays with them.

They invited us to come back to their place after church for 'shrimp'.  That was all we knew.  I like shrimp, it was 9:30pm, we thought, hey, it'll be some light appetizers.  This sounds like fun.

When we arrived at their house, we had to wait for the pastor and his wife to get there, then we started with some fancy cheeses, salami, and wine. (Wine! you say.  Yes, it's acceptable for most Christians in Brazil to drink wine, but not beer or other alcoholic beverages.)

By this time it was 10:30, but I noticed big plates and forks sitting on a side table.  Next thing I know, there is rice, and salad, and a shrimp sauce, and chicken, and we're eating all this delicious food so late at night!  It was delectable, my friends.  I can't begin to tell you how amazing it was.  The chicken was cooked to perfection, and seemed to melt in my mouth with all the creaminess.  The shrimp was placed in a cooked pumpkin, and so when you scooped it onto your rice, a little bit of pumpkin would come with it.  My, how I should have taken a picture, but I was so enamoured by the fantasy of it all.

Ice cream was the dessert that followed, and then more talking and sharing and getting to know this family a little bit better.  This is probably the sixth or seventh time we've shared a meal with them, and each time I feel even more blessed and humbled by their generosity and grace in our lives.

Valeria (wife and mom) wanted my pumpkin pie recipe, and although I have yet to pass it along to her, she gave me the recipe for the amazing chicken dish that so enthralled me.  We still have leftovers in the fridge which both Jake and I are ecstatic to eat for lunch today!

Chicken a la Valeria

Ingredients:

1 can of coconut milk

1 cup of cream

1 cup of some sort of melty cheese 

[Softer than cream cheese]

(Here they use Requeijao, which could be a type of Cheese Whiz...

I'll have to perfect it in Canada, or you let me know what you find)

Flour or onion soup mix

1 TBSP mustard (optional)

1-2 lbs chicken breast

Directions:

1. Filet the chicken breasts so that they're in smaller pieces

2. Dip them into the flour or onion soup mix (This helps to thicken the sauce) 

and lay them in a glass pyrex dish 

3. Mix together coconut milk, cream, cheese, and mustard if you choose,

then pour over top of chicken

4. Bake at 350F for 40-50 min (I'm a little dicey on this part-

just keep an eye on the chicken.  You could cover the top in foil 

for the first part, then take it off for the last 10 minutes or so)

The picture doesn't do it justice!

Voila, you have delicious and tender chicken!

Bon Appetit!

Love,

Ashleigh