My absolute favorite side biscuits are my Jiminick‘s. I’ve linked to those a number of times, they really deserve their own post (maybe it’s coming?). I was fixin to try something new this time, gotta keep experimenting. I stumbled across the “Pao de Queijo” – or Brazilian Cheese Bread. It was similar to the Jiminick in that it involves bread and cheese, but with tapioca flour. Never used it before, so I thought.. why not?
The one thing I read over and over during my research — Eat these the same day. They aren’t nearly as good the next day. Absolutely true. It must be the tapioca flour. I had to microwave the final result for a full minute to get them to loosen up the next day. The day of? Very pleasant. Next day? Rock hard. Short post here, not much to it – but thought I’d share!
(This post will be going up as we’re on the way to Smokefest 2021. If you recall last year’s Smokefest, I knocked out a killer Beef Tenderloin. One of my favorite cooks to date. This year will be my attempt at the brisket – spoiler alert for those attending tomorrow. I had a good test run last weekend, lots of room for improvement. Can’t wait to share it with you when we get back!)
Anyway – Pao de Quiejo!
The Prep Table
Our oven is still out of commission, so I’ve been using the smokers like crazy. I mean, I always use them anyway – but this time I absolutely HAVE to. But since the gas elements of the stove top were still operational, I could at least get some of this going inside. Pretty easy prep for this one – get two bowls on the ready – one large and one small.
Large bowl will be your workhorse – so get the tapioca flour and salt mixed up and have it on the ready. Grab that 10oz round of queso fresco and crumble it up into the smaller bowl. Dump a cup of fresh grated parmesan cheese in there too. Crack two eggs in there and combine it up. It’s a cheese bread – get crazy with it.
Now that your cheese blend and your flour blend are ready for some love, fire up your Whole milk (1 Cup) and some Vegetable oil (1/4 Cup) in a small saucepan. Bring it up to a simmer and get ready to play. Everything is prepped – let’s go!
The Process
Once that milk is simmering, dump it into the flour bowl. Piece together that wooden spoon that Mom smacked you with and give it a good mix. Keep on combining until it’s – and I hesitate to say it – “good enough”. You won’t get a complete, smooth blend – but you’ll know it’s as combined as it’s going to get. Now let it relax there until you’re able to handle it manually. You can let it get cool to the touch – but the cheese addition will help it drop temp as well.
Go ahead and fire up your RecTeq pellet smoker to 350 while you’re waiting.
When you’re good to use your paws, throw the eggy cheese into bowl #1 and really mix it up. You’ll get a perfectly moist dough ball that sticks together – even if you see some white tapioca specks. If you’ve made breads, dough, biscuits before – you know that feel and when it’s ready.
I decided to use a mini muffin tin, but I’ve seen recipes that say just use a cookie sheet. To each their own – I love the pop-able muffins, so I went with it. Coated it up with your favorite non-stick and ripped off a small piece of dough. Roll it up into a small ball, maybe halfway/three-quarters way up the cup. You’ll see some of mine got a little crazy:
Let them relax in that RecTeq for about 30 minutes or so.
The Result
At about the 25 minute mark, I was looking at something like this:
My un-familiar-ness with using tapioca flour – I saw that bright white peeking through and thought maybe they could use another 5 minutes. I rolled them over, left ’em for another 5 minutes – totaling that 30. They were definitely done before I rolled the rolls, but I wanted to make sure.
I let them cool for about 30 seconds and burned my mouth. I was excited to get into these and they didn’t disappoint. They had a great cheesy flavor and great texture. I feel like they were missing a little something. These were definitely savory, so I think a nice herby, garlicky addition would’ve really brought them home. My Jiminicks have that vanilla addition which set them apart, but these could’ve used a little umph. All in all, they were a great side biscuit, and one that I’ll make again.
Thanks for checking this mini-post out. I told you I wanted to focus on some sides for a little bit – and I’ll be with y’all for awhile, so I’ll get back to making some killer meats. If you’re reading this, MrsForensicBBQ and I will have been camping for a few days, and then heading over for another great weekend with some friends. I love packing up the RecTeq Trailblazer to travel – knowing I have the smoker on the go! If anyone wants to sponsor a Jackery, happy to listen!
Recipe
Pão de Queijo
Ingredients
- 1 Lb Tapioca Flour
- 2 Tsp Kosher salt
- 10 oz Queso Fresco crumbled
- 1 Cup Parmesan Cheese grated
- 1 Cup Milk I used whole
- 1/4 Cup Vegetable Oil
- 2 Eggs
Instructions
- Fire up that pellet smoker for 350 degrees. I used my "competition blend" wood – we're going hot so you won't be sticking any harsh wood flavor on there.
In the Kitchen
- Prep your bowls:
- Bowl one: Mix the tapioca flour and salt.
- Bowl two: Add the cheese (parmesan and queso fresco) and eggs and combine. We'll get to these in a second.
- On medium-high heat on the stove, bring the milk and oil to a simmer. Once it hits that simmer, dump the pot into bowl #1.
- Put a good mix on bowl #1 with a wooden spoon. Everything I've read – it'll look messy, but that's apparently part of the allure. Once it's good and mixed – let it get to room temperature or so – cool to the touch.
- Once cool, take that eggy-cheese bowl and dump it into the bowl #1. Use your gloved hands and form it into a nice doughy ball.
On the Smoker (or Oven)
- I greased up a mini-muffin tin and tore a small bit of the dough, rolled it up into a ball, and dropped it into the muffin tin. I had a few left over and threw them in the freezer for later.
- Put it in the smoker for about a half hour and you're good to go! Mine started to get 'done' around the 25 minute mark, so I flipped 'em upside down and finished them off for the last 5-10 minutes.
- Eat while warm! And a lot of them, like I said – not nearly as good tomorrow!
Pingback: The Jiminick Biscuit – ForensicBBQ: Swinery and Binary