Pao de Queijo (Brazilian cheese bread)

After my husband and I went to Tucanos (a Brazilian grill) we kept craving their cheese puff rolls. So we found this recipe to try, and it's pretty close. Evidently, to be really authentic to Brazil, you'd have to use Queijo Minas, but it's not available in the US. But Parmesan is pretty good, too. Some people say to use half Parmesan and half Mozzarella, but I haven't tried so I don't know. Do what you want! Also, you can find manioc flour (aka manioc starch, or tapioca starch/flour) in any Mexican or Asian food market, or probably also in the specialty food section of your grocery store, though it's probably cheaper at an Asian or Mexican market.


3 cups sweet manioc starch or sour manioc starch
1 cup milk
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon salt
1 1/2 cups grated parmesan cheese
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Bring the milk, salt, and oil to a boil. Remove from heat. Slowly add manioc starch, stirring constantly until thoroughly mixed. Add the cheese and eggs. Knead until smooth.

Form into balls approximately 2-inches in diameter and place on a greased baking sheet. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese. Bake until golden brown (15-20 minutes).

Eat while hot.

P.S. Manioc flour is NOT like wheat flour. These rolls will not be light and fluffy, but have more of a rubbery, cheesy texture. It's delicious. Trust me.

Cottage Cheese Pancakes

These are some of my favorite pancakes. They're much more filling than regular pancakes, and a nice change from the norm.

The original recipe calls for 6 tablespoons of butter, but I usually just use a splash of vegetable oil or just leave it out altogether. I don't think it's necessary considering the cheese, especially when I'm just gonna smother it all in sugary syrup and fruity jam anyway.

1 cup cottage cheese
pinch of salt
6 tablespoon melted margarine (or cooking oil)
4 eggs
½ cup flour

In a bowl combine all ingredients well. Cook on a hot griddle. Sere with butter and syrup.

Makes about 12 small pancakes.

Also, the other day, I was lazy but wanted some of these, so I just added 1/2 cup cottage cheese to a my pancake mix, and it cooked up nicely. Not as good, of course, but good enough.

White Pizza Dip

1 envelope Herb & Garlic Lipton Soup Mix
2 C sour cream
1 C ricotta cheese
1 C shredded mozzarella cheese
1/4 c chopped pepperoni (optional)
other pizza toppings also optional
1 loaf Italian bread sliced or cut into squares

1. Preheat oven to 350. In shallow 1 qt. casserole, combine soup mex, sour cream, ricotta cheese, 3/4 c mozzarella cheese and pepperoni.
2. Sprinkle with remaining 1/4 c mozzarella cheese.
3. Bake - uncovered 30 minutes or until heated through. Serve with bread.
Makes 3 cups

Cottage Cheesecake

This light cheesecake has a fraction of the calories but all the flavor of a cheesecake made from cream cheese. If you're really sensitive to textures, then you might think it a teensy bit grainy, but it wasn't enough to bother me one bit. I even ate it for breakfast this morning! :) I used 2% cottage cheese, but I read that there was no difference between that and 1% (I woulda used it but couldn't find it).

Graham cracker pie crust
2 cups cottage cheese
2 eggs
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/3 cup white sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

Blend cottage cheese until smooth. For a denser cake, allow cheese to drain in cheesecloth or coffee filter for a couple hours, then continue.
In a blender, combine cottage cheese, milk, eggs, flour, lemon juice, vanilla, sugar and salt. Blend until smooth. Pour into prepared crust.
Bake in the preheated oven for 60 minutes, or until filling is firm. Allow to cool completely.