Brazilian Chicken Shepherd’s Pie (Escondidinho de Frango)

This dish is a nice and very popular variation of the “Escondidinho de Carne Seca” or if you will Jerk Beef Shepherd’s Pie, from Brazil’s Northeast region. A true casserole that can be made from leftovers, whatever you have on your fridge! It’s also a nice dish to say: (es-con-dee-deen-yo) that’s really funny to say!

Originally, this dish was made from Carne-Seca (dried meat) with mashed cassava and cheese on top. If this is not your first dish, you can probably tell that this recipe follows the same concept of a cottage pie, that many people know as the shepherd’s pie.

Just like the shepherd’s pie, the Brazilian version “escondidinho” can have a large number of variations with different fillings and so on. Just the list the main combinations that you can find in Brazil, you can easily find an “Escondido” made of chicken, jerk beef, shrimp, ground beef, or codfish, etc.

Keep in mind that this dish was designed by the poor, to be something that everybody could do and afford to eat.

Preparation: 45 minutes
Cooking time: 40 minutes
Total time: 1 hour 25 minutes
Quantity: 8 servings
463 calories per serving
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Ingredients:

Fritters

• 2 x 400g tins black-eyed peas
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 green chili, deseeded
• 1 small red onion, diced
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp mild chili powder
• 1 tsp baking powder
• palm oil and/or vegetable oil, for frying

Filling

• 1 small red onion, thinly sliced
• 2 slices of bacon
• 250g of chicken
• 1 tbsp chopped ginger
• 2 garlic cloves
• 1 red chili, deseeded and roughly chopped
• 150g pack small raw prawn
• 1 tbsp palm or vegetable oil
• 2 plum tomatoes, deseeded and diced
• 1 tbsp chopped coriander
• juice 1 lime
• hot pepper sauce, to serve

How to prepare:

1. Let’s start preparing the mashed cassava: peel it first, then, place peeled cassava in a pot with cold water and then put it on high water for 20 mins.
2. Remove it from the pot, reserve it, and drain it. Put it on a board and while the cassava is warm, then remove its fiber. Place the cassava again into the pot, pour warm water on top, and mash it nicely. Stir in the butter, heavy cream, salt, and pepper to taste.
3. Preheat the oven at 350 Fahrenheit. Butter a nice baking dish and place it aside.
4. Preparing the chicken nicely for your Escondidinho: In a medium to large oven, cook the diced bacon (medium/high heat) for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally (you may want to use a wooden spoon for that).
5. Remove the bacon from the pan, place it into a bowl, and put it aside. In the same pan of the bacon, sweat the onion on the remaining bacon fat (medium heat) for 3 minutes, stirring. Add the garlic and let cook for one min.
6. Add the shredded chicken, sauté over medium heat for 2 mins, stirring as needed. Now its flavor time: let’s add greens and sauté for 1 min. Add wine until it almost evaporates, you should also stir in tomato sauce, the reserved cooked bacon. Let it all cook for approx 4 mins.
7. Remove from heat, and then stir in the cooked corn, and cilantro.
8. To assemble your “Escondidinho”: Pour your chicken mixture into the baking dish. Layer mashed cassava on top of the chicken. Sprinkle shredded cheese on top, distributing it uniformly. Cover it tight with aluminum foil. Bake it for about 40 mins. Serve your Brazilian dish “Escondidinho de Frango” while still warm by itself or with a fresh salad or steamed vegetables. Enjoy your meal in a nice company!!!

Escondido notes:

As we have seen above this is a popular Brazilian dish that can be made in many different ways, this is just one of the ways you can a delicious Escondidinho and feel a taste of Brazil on your table with family.

Alright, that was our list of tasty Brazilian Food that you can do at home on all skill levels, you don’t need to have any previous experience in the kitchen to prepare these Brazilian meals, and you can trust us when we say these are delicious, you are going to love the Brazilian food!

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