Found this at my friend Augusto’s Facebook feed:
“Money doesn’t buy happiness.
But it buys coxinhas, have you seen anyone uhnappy while eating a coxinha? It’s impossible to be unhappy with a coxinha.”
Of course I had to ask Augusto for a recipe. Augusto, in turn, asked his friend, chef Ripp Cozzella (a chef!) for advice. Ripp kindly replied,
A cozinha autêntica não tem muita frescura,
Coloca-se em uma panela óleo (pode ser azeite), alho esmagado (algumas pessoas colocam cebola ralada) e caldo de galinha.
Quando levanta fervura, faz como a Patê a Choux e coloca de uma vez a farinha.
Mexe até soltar do fundo. Espera amornar e molda.
Passa pela farinha de rosca fina.
O recheio é o frango desfiado ou picado temperado a gosto.
Which Augusto beautifully translated,
He said that authentic cuisine is not and needs not be fussy or complicated.
The dough is simple: you sauté crushed garlic (some people used grated onions) in oil (it can be olive, or plain vegetable oil) and add chicken stock. When it boils, you proceed like in a pâte a choux, dumping the wheat flour all at once. You stir until it comes off the bottom of the pan, then wait until its just warm. You can then mold the coxinhas then. The filling is simply shredded checken (breasts or even thigh meat), sauteed with regular seasoning (salt, pepper, parsley, garlic, onions).
I’m heading to the supermarket this weekend to get the ingredients.
Warmest thanks to Augusto and chef Ripp.
Bon appetit!
Ed Driscoll, posting at 