Buffalo Rising Online

Nov 12th 2007, 12:19pm By Christa Glennie Seychew

Buffalo Rising and Slow Food Buffalo have partnered to bring you Sunday Suppers, a regular feature that will provide readers with the opportunity to prepare a simple meal highlighting regional ingredients that is perfect in size and appeal for casual entertaining at home.

Slow Food Buffalo is the local chapter of the international Slow Food movement, an organization that espouses the belief that the benefits of preparing meals from fresh, local ingredients and sharing them with family and friends is a way to invigorate the local economy, retain cultural food traditions, and bring people “back to the table” in a way that is no longer part of our daily lives.

Each month a chef from one of Buffalo’s many fine restaurants will offer his or her take on a delicious meal easy enough for even the least skilled of cooks. This month we’re pleased to have CIA graduate and Executive Chef Louis Zanghi of Mode Urban Bistro and the brand new Bel Cibo restaurant treating us to a Brazilian dish that he makes at home often. He’s made some subtle changes to this classic recipe for Sunday Suppers, making the ingredients accessible and streamlining the process. We purchased most of our groceries at the Lexington Co-op, though the pumpkin came from the Clinton-Bailey Farmers Market.

Zanghi was kind enough to invite BR into the (as of then) unfinished kitchen at Bel Cibo, demonstrating for us the recipe chosen for this month's Sunday Suppers. The slideshow which accompanies this article consists of photos and audio taken during that process.

“This recipe does seem like a combination of a lot of things that don’t necessarily go together, but it really does. The Brazilians know what they’re doing,” Zanghi told BR with a smile, as he prepared this meal before our video cameras. And he’s right, this dish was remarkably delicious, the animated accolades provided by the staff’s trepidatious tasters were proof enough.

We hope that you will take this opportunity to invite family, friends and neighbors over for a simple supper. Set aside your desire to use the good china, fill the house with fresh flowers and make a Baked Alaska. That’s not what Sunday Suppers is about. No appetizers or linens, napkin rings or dessert forks; just simple, clean, honest food (and maybe a bottle of wine or two!)

As Sandy Starks of Slow Food Buffalo said, “With Buffalo being the City of Good Neighbors, Sunday Suppers is the perfect way to share the simple pleasures of the table through good food, good drink and just plain being together."

Moqueca de Camarão serves 8 - 10
From Executive Chef Louis Zanghi of Mode Urban Bistro & Bel Cibo

2 lbs shrimp, peeled and deveined (26 – 30 count) • ¼ cup olive oil • 2 cups onion, minced • 8 oz coconut milk • 4 oz cream of coconut • 12 oz hearts of palm, large dice • 2 tbsp lemon juice • 4 tbsp cilantro, chopped • 1 tbsp salt • 1 tsp pepper • 12 oz can chopped tomatoes, drained • 11/2 cups water • salt & pepper to taste • 1 medium pumpkin • 8 oz cream cheese • jasmine rice, pre-cooked • 1/4 cup butter • 1/4 cup flour

Heat oven to 350°
This stew is finished in the oven in a hollowed out pumpkin. The pumpkin requires par-baking, the simple instructions below.
Prepare a simple roux by combining the butter and flour until they form a thick, smooth paste.
In a bowl combine shrimp, lemon juice, salt, cilantro and pepper,set to the side. Heat a large pot or dutch oven over medium heat. Add oil, tomatoes and onion, simmering until onion begins to soften. Add roux and stir until it melts completely. Add coconut milk, coconut cream, water and shrimp mixture. Bring the contents of the pot to a simmer, until shrimp just begins to turn pink. Adjust seasonings to taste. Place the pre-roasted pumpkin on a baking sheet. Add the soup. Float large hunks of cream cheese on the top and bake for approximately 45 minutes.

Pumpkin “Bowl”

Heat oven to 400°
Remove the top third of the pumpkin. Hollow it out, discarding the seeds and pulp. Pour 1 cup of water inside the cavity, place on a baking sheet, cover the opening with foil and bake until soft, approximately 1 hour.
To serve, place rice in a bowl, scoop soup out of pumpkin, making sure to scrape up some of the roasted pumpkin as you go. Ladel over the rice and serve.


Bel Cibo
929 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo 14222
716.883.1841

Mode Urban Bistro
520 Elmwood Avenue, Buffalo 14222
716.885.1500