Found a new show on Netflix called Easy-Bake Battle: The Home Cooking Competition. The contestants are non-pro cooks challenged with prepping a meal where taste and speed are judging criteria.

I stopped after listening to the challenge requirements, a late-night snack that's fried, cheesy, and is accompanied by a sauce, and tried coming up with something off myself. It took a bit but I decided on coxinha; a Brazilian croquette-like dish that I've never made but I have had many times. I had to look up a sauce (I've only had coxinha on its own) but came across a garlic mayo made with lime instead of lemon.

I unfortunately also had to look up how to make coxinha, but thanks to this Youtube short I learned a little hack: shredding chicken with a stand-up mixer!! Having just shredded uncooled chicken this past weekend with my bare appendages, this was a game-changer. I also coped with not using catipury (a Brazilian cheese) and substituting it with something less "authentic" like cream cheese or moz. I'll leave the actual execution of the dish to a future post, maybe as a part deux.

The contestant who won the challenge made fried potato balls with a ranch sauce, which I'm kinda feeling good about since it wasn't too far off from my idea. The other contestants made fried dumplings with unconventional fillings, I assume because the wrappers are typically bought pre-made and are faster to prepare than hand-made dumplings/ravioli. Cheesy dumplings (or dumplings in a chessy sauce) sounds a bit gross but being a purist will only hinder my growth as a cook, so I watch with an open mind.

The judges mentioned the dish should have some personal story behind it, so here's mine. Growing up my mom and I shared a house with a Brazilian mom-and-son. The mom Sonia would prepare what was eeeaasily the best home-cooking I experienced in my yoot. Pastel (i.e. empanadas), cheese balls (pao de queijo), rice and beans (feijoada), guarana (soda), and of course coxinha made regular appearances on the dining table. And if some kid can talk about my food with the same nostalgia and reverence I do Sonia's, there aren't many accomplishments that could top that.