Paraguay: Bori Bori

Paraguayan Flags

Today we wrapped up our exploration of Paraguay with Bori Bori (Paraguayan Dumpling Soup). Paraguayan recipes seem to be heavy on the dairy which is a challenge with 3/4 of our family dairy free. Paraguay also has wonderful sounding cornbread-corn pudding type concoctions but once again they looked difficult to make dairy-free so we skipped them. The kids really enjoyed shaping the dumplings and throwing them in the soup.











Bori Bori - Paraguayan Dumpling Soup

I really need to put down my cell phone and break out a real camera.

Parmesan Dumplings
1/3 cup white or yellow cornmeal
1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese (I used 2 tablespoons of flax meal to add some fat and stickiness)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Pinch of freshly ground black pepper
1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 tbsp minced scallions, white portion only
1 tbsp canola oil

Beef Soup
2 tbsp canola oil or bacon fat
1 lb boneless beef shank (I used a cheap beef steak that was on sale)
Salt as needed
Freshly ground black pepper as needed
8 cups Chicken Broth, plus as needed
1-1/2 cups minced onion (I used 1 medium red onion)
3/4 cup small-dice carrot
3/4 cup small-dice celery
2 tsp minced garlic
1 bay leaf
1 whole clove (I didn't have any whole cloves so I used a tiny sprinkle of ground cloves)
2 or 3 crushed saffron threads (optional) - I had them so I included them
3 tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese (omitted)

Taking the job of beating eggs for the dumplings very seriously.

1. Make the dumplings: Combine the cornmeal, Parmesan, flour, baking powder, salt, pepper, egg, scallions, and oil in a mixing bowl. Cover the batter and let it rest at least 45 minutes and up to 3 hours before shaping and cooking the dumplings (see step 6).

1. Heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Season the beef shank with salt and pepper and add it to the hot oil. Sear the beef on all sides, turning as necessary, until browned, 7 to 8 minutes.

3. Add the chicken broth and simmer over low heat until the beef is tender, 45 to 50 minutes. Remove the beef to a plate and let cool. Strain the broth through a fine sieve and reserve.

4. Return the soup pot to medium-high heat. Add the remaining oil and heat over medium-high heat. Add the onion, carrot, celery, and garlic and sauté, stirring frequently, until the onion is tender and translucent, 8 to 10 minutes.

5. Add the strained broth to the soup pot along with additional chicken broth, if needed, to make 8 cups. Bring the broth to a simmer and add the bay leaf, clove, and saffron threads, if using. Simmer until the vegetables are tender, about 30 minutes. Remove the bay leaf and clove and discard.

6. Trim the cooled beef and cut it into medium dice. Return the beef to the soup. To form the dumplings, pinch off small pieces of dough (about 1 teaspoon) and roll them into balls. Add the dumplings to the soup and simmer until the dumplings are cooked through, 20 to 25 minutes. Stir in the parsley, and season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve immediately in warmed soup bowls sprinkled with Parmesan cheese.

First taste. He liked the dumplings and then was done with it.

Yum?  He ate some but wasn't a fan of the onions.

Come up next... POLAND!

Paraguay

We watched a video of Paraguay - listening to the language and observing the images. We checked out a library book about Paraguay and practiced using the index to find facts to begin to fill out our country summary sheet.

We read through a variety of websites, looking for information about food and culture. We decided to try a Paraguayan version of the South American food empanadas and a dumpling soup called Bori Bori. The Bori Bori will hopefully make it to our table later this week. Here is our cheater version of Paraguayan empanadas.

Paraguayan Empanadas

note: Traditional Paraguayan beef empanadas usually include chopped hard boiled egg but for allergy reasons we limit our egg consumption. There were also many wonderful looking empanada dough recipes but dairy-free dough is really tricky so we made our empanadas with store bought pie crust (again for allergy reasons).

Ingredients:
1/2 pound ground beef
3 tablespoons minced red onion
1 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon paprika
2 tablespoons chopped parsley
greens of one green onion
1 pkg store bought piece crust (enough for 2 crusts)
flour to dust work surface

Method:
preheat oven to 350
brown beef with red onion
drain excess fat
add cumin, paprika, parsley, green onion and salt & pepper to taste
let meat mix cool
flour work surface and use a cookie/biscuit cutter to cut circles approximately 3-4 inches in diameter, rolling excess dough together to get as many circles as possible
scoop about 1.5 tablespoons meat on to circle
fol in half, wet one edge and crimp with fork
lightly oil cookie sheet, place empanadas on cookie sheet and brush lightly with oil
bake until slightly golden brown, approximately 25 minutes


Kids - loved them
The Dad - thought they were ok but "bland"
Mom - I wasn't a huge fan of the pie dough - it was a little sweet which was disconcerting