Empanadas!

Empanadas!

Saturday, August 29, 2009

The 1st of many empanadas to come!

So, today I decided to make the first batch of empanadas for my empanada blog adventures.  I was inspired by a pizza I made with my friend John last week.  After taking my scooter to get serviced, I told John I would take him to lunch as a thank you for his help.  He informed me that he had some wonderful pizza dough from Trader Joe's at his place, and recommended we just stop at Whole Foods and pick up some stuff to make our own pie.  We ended up making a delightful pizza with heirloom tomatoes, balsamic caramelized onions, portobello mushrooms, boursin cheese and a little shredded, aged Gruyere cheese.  The pizza was out of this world.

So, today after selling my scooter, I decided to stop at Whole Foods (aka Whole Paycheck) on my way home.  I knew I wanted to make an empanada very similar to the pizza from last week.  So I picked up the ingredients for the dough (eggs, milk, white wine and unsalted butter), some vidalia onions to caramelize, cherry tomatoes, boursin cheese, fresh lemon thyme, crimini mushrooms, and some aged Gruyere.  I also picked up some beautiful flowers, just to add a little life and beauty to the apartment!

When I got home, I started out by prepping the dough.  The dough I made today was a recipe I learned when working in the kitchen of a small bar in southern Spain.  As many of you know, I did a home-stay in highschool in a small olive farming town in Andalucia, and have been lucky enough to go back a number of times to visit.  The family I stay with owns a bar in town, and whenever I  stay with them, I get to help out in the kitchen making and serving tapas and lunch to the customers.   Not only do I enjoy learning about all of the food they make, but am able to share some of my recipes with them.  Last summer when I was there I decided to make empanadas for them.  Up until then I usually had just purchased pre-made frozen empanada dough already cut in circles.  Unfortunately, Spanish supermarkets did not have such a product in the frozen aisle.  They taught me how to make a dough that they use a lot  for pie like dishes.  It is very simple.  You beat 3 egg yolks and one whole egg, then you mix in 1/4 cup milk, and then 1/2 cup wine.  In another bowl blend 3 1/2 cups of flour with 2 teaspoons of salt, and then cut in 6 tablespoons of unsalted butter.  Mix the flower and butter until the butter is in small pea size pieces.  Then pour in the egg mixture and blend until you have one big ball of dough.  Let it sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes and you are good to go!


Once I had the dough ready and waiting for me in the fridge, I started with the onions.  I caramelized 3 vidalia onions in some unsalted butter and olive oil (the combination allows for them to cook at a higher temperature).  I sprinkled in a little Lawry's seasoned salt and seasoned pepper (2 staple seasoning in my kitchen).  As they were caramelizing away, I started to prep the mushrooms.  I roughly chopped them into pea size pieces.  In another saute pan I took 4 tablespoons unsalted butter and some fresh lemon thyme, and started making my butter for the mushrooms.  By this time my onions were getting soft and delicious, so I added a little balsamic vinegar.  I have a hard time leaving balsamic out of my dishes, I just love the flavor!

Once the butter in the other saute pan was all melted, and the kitchen had a dreamy smell of onions, balsamic, butter and thyme, I added the chopped mushrooms to the thyme butter.  I tossed them around to make sure they were all evenly coated with the butter.  It is really crazy how mushrooms are just lie little sponges for butter and oil.  The onions were just about done so I took them off the heat.  I cooked the mushrooms on medium heat for just a few minutes, nobody like a soggy mushroom!

While the mushrooms and onions were cooling I chopped up the cherry tomatoes.  I used an entire box from Whole Foods.  Once those were done, I mixed the onions, mushrooms and tomatoes together.  Then I crumbled in my boursin cheese, and grated in about 1/2 cup of Gruyere.  I folded everything together.  The filling was ready, the dough was set, it was now time to put them together!

I like to make little empanadas so I tend to cook them at a high heat, about 400 degrees.   I took out baseball size pieces of the dough from the fridge and rolled it out so that it was very thin. I have these handy dandy empanada cutting tools so I use those to cut my circles, but you can use anything to cut them (i.e. a glass and a knife). I placed about a tablespoon of filling in the middle of each empanada and then used some whisked eggs around the edge to glue the edges together.  Once the empanada is closed I press a fork around the edge to really seal it all up.  I sometimes get over excited and put too much filling in them, which makes them open up and ooze out.  They still taste delicious, they just don't look as good when they open up, so be careful.

After I filled up my baking sheet lined with parchment paper, I brushed all the empanadas with a little egg wash and slipped them into the oven.  After about 17 minutes they were golden brown and smelled like heaven!  Now I just need to find people to come over and eat them.....anyone interested?

This recipe is definitely a keeper and I will be making it again.   It was fairly easy to make.  It is obvious though that this empanada escapade is going to take a lot of time each week, mainly becuase of how long it takes to roll out the dough.  While I think they taste better when I make my own dough, I may go buy some pre-made dough next time.  This experiment is all about testing fillings, maybe later on I can take on the challenge of testing different dough recipes.

Until the next empanada!

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Gazpacho fiesta was a success!

After slaving away in the kitchen Sunday afternoon, I now know it was all worth it.  A few friends were here to enjoy the gazpacho with an array of different toppings last night.  Watching their faces as they slurped down my chilled soup concoction, made me remember again why I love cooking and entertaining so much. My vat of Gazpacho is now down to two mid sized Tupperware.  Just enough for a couple of delightful summer lunches!  Here are a couple of pics.  It was yummier than it might appear (it looks a bit unappealing in the photo I know!).


Monday, August 24, 2009

Haven't made an empanada yet....but I did make some great Gazpacho!

I know, I know....Its a blog about empandas and the first thing I am writing about is chilled soup.  Well, I decided to set up this blog before I got my butt in gear to make my first set of empanadas.  I did however make a wonderful summer gazpacho yesterday.  One thing you will learn about me as this blog goes on, is that one of the reasons I love cooking so much, is that you can make anything and everything your own.  I try not to follow recipes and just go with the flow!

After spending the summer in NC for an internship, I am now back in DC and so thrilled to be able to use my kitchen again. This time last year I was living it up in southern EspaƱa on vacation.  One of my favorite summer dishes, which I think I had at least once a day, was Gazpacho.  There is something wonderfully refreshing about this chilled soup.  By the end of my three weeks there I was drinking it like juice!  Anyway, it has been very very hot here in DC, and unfortunately I only have limited access to a pool.  So I thought, what better way to cool off than with a bowl of fresh Gazpacho? 

Lucky for me, I live just a few minutes away from a fabulous Whole Foods.  I set off to my favorite store in the city sans marketing list.  There is really something liberating about going to the market knowing the recipe you want to make, but not having a list.  I started by making my first loop around the produce sections to check out what was available.  I then found myself with some major decisions to make.  What type of tomatoes to I buy????  With so many wonderful options surrounding me, I thought, why choose?  I ended up buying four types of tomatoes. Next I made my way over to the peppers.  I knew I was going to get some traditional red bell peppers, but when I saw them, I decided I just had to roast them.  I picked up a couple of red peppers, and then to bring in some more fresh pepper taste I picked up a couple of yellow peppers. I then grabbed the most refreshing ingredient of all, cucumbers.  Lastly, I grabbed my flavor bursting ingredients, cilantro, onion, garlic, and parsley.  Before I hit the counter I grabbed a french baguette (the secret to thickening the soup).

I purchased all of my wonderful groceries, got on my bike and headed home.  Because this was sort of a last minute decision, I had to toast my baguette rather than using stale bread.  I cut off the crust, which I set aside to make croutons as garnish, and toasted the bread for just a few minutes with some Spanish olive oil I had brought back last year.  I then roughly chopped all of the produce purchased and mixed them all in a large bowl.  After soaking the toasted bread in a little bit of water and tomato juice, I mixed the bread pieces in with the veggies.  Because I was making so much gazpacho, I had to blend all of the ingredients in batches.   Once I ran everything through the blender a few times, I had a nice thick, well textured soup.  It wasn't done yet..... I still had to add the seasonings!  After adding in a little more olive oil, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, salt, pepper, cumin, paprika and a touch of cayenne, the Gazpacho was done!

I let my vat of soup sit in the fridge overnight.  When I woke up this morning I felt like a kid on Christmas morning excited to open my stocking.  I quickly jumped out of bed and made my way to the fridge.  Tasted my masterpiece, and have to say it was just that.  I have had a hard time controlling myself today and not consuming all that I have made.  I managed to make it through most of the day and am now eagerly awaiting the arrival of some friends so we can all enjoy the Gazpacho together.  right now I am just trying to think of what I can garnish it with.  I am thinking avocado, greek yogurt, croutons and perhaps if I'm feeling sassy, a little grilled shrimp.

Next time, I promise a new empanada recipe.....