Empanadas Round Two

The recipes you will find out there for empanadas are endless. I had a craving for pastys which are a larger version of empanadas. They contain meat and potatoes. I made two different kinds of empanadas: one with ground beef, Serrano peppers, potato and onion. The second had platanos, ground beef, onions, and queso fresco. The addition of carbonated water (I used my Soda Stream) gives the batter lightness.

The Dough (makes 20-25 small ones)

3 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1 stick butter cut into slices
2/3 to one cup carbonated water
2-3 cups Canola oil for frying
a wok

The Filling

2lbs ground beef divided
1 onion divided and diced
1 Serrano pepper diced
1 tsp Cumin
1/4 tsp salt
1 large potato diced
1 tsp. minced garlic

Sweet filling
1 ripe blackened platanos diced
1/2 onion
1 lb ground beef
1 tsp. Cumin

In a food processor make the dough by adding the flour, butter, salt, and baking powder. Gradually add the water until the dough combines. Let set covered for 30 minutes while you make the filling.

Brown the ground beef and add all of the ingredients until browned. Let cool. For the sweet filling add the platanos at the last minute.

Roll the dough out on a floured surface to 1/4 inch thickness. Turn the dough around and roll out until uniform thickness is achieved. Cut out with a small pie form. Stretch dough to cover the form Add one tablespoon of filling. Close the form and crimp.  Egg wash may be used to seal the edges. Use a fork to crimp the edges if not fully closed. Poke a few holes in the sweet ones so you can tell them apart. Fry in the rippling oil for 5-7 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on paper towels. These can be refridgerated and heated later in the microwave for a minute.

Better Fried Sunny Side Up Eggs

I watch a lot of food porn and came across this trick for better set whites on my sunny side up eggs. Normally you wait for the whites to stop being runny forever and then the bottom is burnt to a crisp. This simple way will save your eggs and give you the perfect runny sunny side up eggs.

1. Crack the eggs into a egg pan with some butter.

2) Cover with a lid for one minute. Remove the lid and then place it back on for another minute.

Here's how they look when you remove the lid.

Break into it and you have the prefect sunny side up egg. Cook a minute longer if you want it more set. 

Crock Pot Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

I made these for dinner tonight but they would be awesome at a party or on football Sunday...Buffalo Chicken Meatballs. The recipe came to my inbox I think via tablespoon. Here is how I made them:

 Buffalo Chicken Meatballs

1 lb ground chicken
1 cup seasoned Panko bread crumbs
1 egg
2 scallions chopped
salt
pepper
onion powder (1 tsp)
1 1/2 cup Franks hot sauce
1/2 cup blue cheese dressing

Heat oven to 400 degrees and line a cookie sheet with tin foil. Mix the chicken, spices, green onion, and bread crumbs with the egg. Roll into 20 or so meatballs. Try to make them all the same size.

Bake for 5 minutes in the oven so they firm up and place in a crock pot. Cover with the buffalo sauce
and cook on high for 2-3 hours or on low for 5-6 hours.

Place the blue cheese dressing in a bag and cut off the edge. Apply the sauce over the meatballs. Enjoy!

Disney Cruise Line's Apple Strudel

In 2011 my family and I cruised on the inaugural year of the Disney Dream. We had a rainy day on one of our sea days and they offered the "Anyone Can Cook" series featuring this Apple Strudel recipe. I have been making it ever since. Today was the lucky day! We visited Awe's Apple Orchard earlier in the week and were saddened to learn the picking season was over. I did bring home some Honey Crisp and other apples for this strudel and Taffy Apple Salad which I plan on making this week. Any tart apple like Granny Smith or Gala also work well here.

The recipe was pretty detailed so I will condense it here for you.

Apple Strudel

2 lbs. tart apples thinly sliced (about 6 apples cored and peeled)
1/4 cup raisins
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter melted
1 1/2 cups graham crackers crumbs
1/2 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (optional)
cinnamon sugar (1/4 cup sugar with 1 tsp. cinnamon)

Strudel Dough

1 1/3 cup flour
1 TBSP unsalted butter softened
1/8 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
1 egg (I omitted the egg and it still turned out)
1/3 cup to 1/2 cup water


The recipe calls for you to let the apples set with the sugar, golden raisins, and cinnamon over night but I let mine set only for the 2 hours I was making the dough. In a food processor or a mixer with a dough attachment, mix all of the dough ingredients for 5 minutes. Place the dough in a
bowl that has been rubbed with olive oil. Let the dough rest for 2-3 hours covered.

Remove the dough after the two hours and preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Use your hands to stretch out the dough. Use a clean table to stretch the dough to measure 2 feet wide by 3 feet long. The dough may rip in some areas but it's ok. Just patch and keep stretching. Melt the butter and spread on the stretched out dough. Sprinkle on the graham cracker crumbs, This helps absorb the juice from the apples. Place the apples on the lip of the short end being sure to leave room so you can roll. I didn't use a clean
dish towel but this is helpful to roll. Roll the dough until you get to the opposite end and place seam side down on a baking sheet. Make into a horseshoe or it won't fit. Rub the outside with the remaining butter and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar. Let rest for 1 hour before baking. Bake at 400 degrees for 30 minutes. Let set for 30 minutes (It's very hot!) Serve with vanilla ice cream.

Review of "Let's Dish" North African Chicken Stew in the Crock Pot

Let's face it, we are all busy with work. I also have school and two kids on my plate. This stew is a great budget extender and a good way to use those fall veggies coming into season. It was 50 fricken degrees here in Wisconsin yesterday and I had this ready waiting from me. This recipe is also great because you can make it sweet with the addition of sweet potatoes or squash. The only downside was I had to drain my crock pot of liquid a few times. This recipe calls for a 6 qt crock pot, but I used a smaller one and halved the recipe.

North African Stew

6 chicken thighs or 3 boneless chicken breasts
2 carrots cut into chunks
1 eggplant cubed
2 zucchini (I used a small squash) diced
1 onion diced
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can tomato sauce
1 can garbanzos or beans of your choice
1 cup raisins
1 cup almonds
2 tsp salt
2 tsp coriander or chopped cilantro fresh
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp cinnamon
16 oz chicken broth
couscous for serving

It's as simple as fitting all of the ingredients into the crock pot. I did drain the diced tomatoes of the liquid and I added white beans instead of the garbanzo. You may have to drain the liquid out. Also you can presoak the eggplant in some milk to get rid of the bitter taste. If using chicken thighs, you will need to cook for eight hours on high. I ended up doing 3 hours on high and the rest on low. Remove the chicken and shred. Discard skin.  By the time I got home at 6, the chicken was fall apart. Serve with couscous or over rice.

Chicken Enchiladas with Tomatillo Salsa and Cilantro Chicken Flavored Rice

I have wonderful neighbors that bring me the best produce! This week it was tomatillos. My youngest requested I make tomatillo salsa and my oldest requested enchiladas. Here is the marriage of both. The tomatillo salsa is really easy to make. On a sheet pan, I added 2 quartered onions, one pepper (not sure what type of pepper mine was but it was hot!) or jalapeno seeded and ribs removed, 1 lbs tomatillos (husks removed), 3 cloves garlic, 1 tsp salt,  and about 2 TBSP of oil. Roast in a 325 degree oven turning once for 25 minutes or until the tomatillos become soft. Let cool and add to a food processor with 1 bunch of cilantro. You may need to add 1/4 cup water. Blend until smooth and set aside.

Enchiladas

Tip: warm the tortillas first for 45 seconds in the microwave in a tortilla warmer or between two paper towels to prevent cracking.

2 boneless skinless chicken breasts diced
1  8oz. softened reduced fat cream cheese
1 cup shredded cheddar divided
12 corn tortillas
2 TBSP oil

Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. Brown the chicken breasts and add the softened cream cheese and 1/3 of the tomatillo salsa. Add another third of the salsa to the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish. On the tortilla place two TBSP. of the chicken mixture and a pinch of cheese. Roll and place seam side down. I fit a few sideways.
After you are done rolling all of the enchiladas, top with the rest of the salsa. Spread out with a spoon and make sure all surfaces of the tortillas are covered. Cover with the remaining cheese and bake for 25 minutes. Serve with Cilantro rice.

Cilantro Rice

1 1/2 cups long grain rice
2 1/2 cups water
1 handful of cilantro leaves
1 TBSP chicken bouillon

Bring the rice, cilantro leaves, chicken bouillion and water to a boil. Reduce heat to low and cover. Cook for 15 minutes. Move pot  from the heat and let sit 5 minutes. Remove the cilantro from the top of the rice and add butter if you wish. Serve with the enchiladas.

Marinara Sauce and Eggplant Parm

I got home after a long day at work and wanted to make Eggplant Parm. Earlier in the day I had soaked the slices of eggplant in milk to take out the bitterness. I however didn't check my pantry. I was not only out of bread crumbs but marinara sauce as well. I did have two cans of stewed tomatoes and a loaf of bakery multi-grain bread.

I sliced the bread and cut it into cubes and coated them with some oil. I toasted them in a hot 350 degree oven for about 25 minutes and flipped once. When they were crunchy I pulsed them a few times in my food processor. I was a bit rushed and should have pulsed them a few more times. I am in need of a new food processor. The shoot broke off so I have to place my hand over the opening. Bread crumbs were flying out of the top and sides. To the bread crumbs I added 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese.  It was really quite comical! I then followed the three step breading process or flour, egg, bread crumbs for the eggplant. Once coated, I fried them in some olive oil on the stove top and drained them on paper towels.

The marinara was really easy to make too. In my cleaned out food processor, I pulsed two cloves of garlic, 1/2 onion, and a handful of parsley, 1 tsp. salt, and one tsp. Oregano. To that I added two small cans of stewed tomatoes and one small can of tomato paste. One of the stewed tomatoes was drained of liquid. I then pulsed until it was a the consistency I wanted which was a bit chunky. Again I had a bit of a mess.  I removed the sauce to  a pan and reduced it on low for 25 minutes. I added it to the bottom of a Pyrex 9x13. I added a layer of eggplant followed by a layer of sauce and another layer of sauce. Then I topped off with about a cup of cheddar cheese and baked for 25 minutes.

This is one of our favorites in my house! For a more detailed recipe, search it at the top of my page.