tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39912444583146288402024-02-07T05:20:39.624-08:00What's in Liz's Pocket?As some of you may already know, my dream is to one day open up my very own cross cultural empanada cafe. After spending a year living in Buenos Aires, I fell in love with the delicious pockets of dough stuffed with mouthwatering sweet and savory fillings. I have decided to start working towards fulfilling that dream by making a new empanada every week. I will also be highlighting some of the other great side dishes I hope to one day serve at my cafe. Enjoy!Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.comBlogger17125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-41011935172382673422010-04-03T11:25:00.000-07:002010-04-03T11:25:06.801-07:00There is nothing worse than an empty empanada!The most important thing I learned during my recent trip to Argentina was that there is nothing worse than an empty empanada. Teresita, my guide along the culinary tour told the group this important bit of information while teaching us how to make empanadas.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>I have already written about my various experiences in Buenos Aires, but now, as promised here are a few pictures from my trip.<br />
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The Recoleta Cemetery:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8SxXwLAtlSI1D8sVeuDTUx1PK2FoafYu_BrYinSz0aenmAKbaipd_Y9xszcJrFh8DTC6hVc0ObL9kk0P079ZDAbme398KRD9AQynjpMhvRLujYLr5gwZAVDs08T3PCb2YsxsXlO2tuop/s1600/IMG_1094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjc8SxXwLAtlSI1D8sVeuDTUx1PK2FoafYu_BrYinSz0aenmAKbaipd_Y9xszcJrFh8DTC6hVc0ObL9kk0P079ZDAbme398KRD9AQynjpMhvRLujYLr5gwZAVDs08T3PCb2YsxsXlO2tuop/s320/IMG_1094.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWvpE6LIxd-jpSUcER15zLL4qeEfTtEt9PpKqF16Jh1nsWuvF5p_vBuhk-fvTMSFz8y1Nsc253eUVVuRmojZTIuJQ0VJrd6CDOVvVN_6I_NyW_fTH0-EPD9rYShn3Ax3dLP3wjcgYrgXj/s1600/IMG_1096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgWvpE6LIxd-jpSUcER15zLL4qeEfTtEt9PpKqF16Jh1nsWuvF5p_vBuhk-fvTMSFz8y1Nsc253eUVVuRmojZTIuJQ0VJrd6CDOVvVN_6I_NyW_fTH0-EPD9rYShn3Ax3dLP3wjcgYrgXj/s320/IMG_1096.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><break></break></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Empanadas from la Morada, Bereber and El Almacen de Pizza:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQIU9hw_eG1aX2JX8SJRrVEBwaN1o8NglIA4hJa9cpORvmumBBXPVUKToPEXjlHVCb42y-8khWNwD_SiqiDt_vA3swZ9QnL9JS-U7XZHHXFX6KqCa85I7NG-9qfqEabKvzfyj80y71Ifs/s1600/IMG_1106.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAQIU9hw_eG1aX2JX8SJRrVEBwaN1o8NglIA4hJa9cpORvmumBBXPVUKToPEXjlHVCb42y-8khWNwD_SiqiDt_vA3swZ9QnL9JS-U7XZHHXFX6KqCa85I7NG-9qfqEabKvzfyj80y71Ifs/s320/IMG_1106.JPG" /></a></div><br />
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The culinary tour in Adrogue with Teresita:<br />
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Hanging out with the Westridge Group:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjREl8WKhkiqQFWRYItquZycf9NQRtBcJPEQKs04X8ZKLpJABwfttKUj6rYi0Vc_IzuXtM5nrtZXvwKMCermT9ZfOwvk6Srszj7AkL8feDbacfYD70opb-Ed-sx05lpgKVc3UPibdjii4Y/s1600/IMG_1304.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjREl8WKhkiqQFWRYItquZycf9NQRtBcJPEQKs04X8ZKLpJABwfttKUj6rYi0Vc_IzuXtM5nrtZXvwKMCermT9ZfOwvk6Srszj7AkL8feDbacfYD70opb-Ed-sx05lpgKVc3UPibdjii4Y/s320/IMG_1304.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjE6BqVl62362BSx5pBLsjRKTTJe0qIuqZ5S57SLVpmZJMGwsOFGDqiriL1RFsMemyTYBP0jJvCgVR3Fe9O-I_V6vvoNfanV0mZSptGV_YDjWIBwvjCFZprkwFWExgIsQO_h1F7tjzyK9/s1600/IMG_1305.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiUjE6BqVl62362BSx5pBLsjRKTTJe0qIuqZ5S57SLVpmZJMGwsOFGDqiriL1RFsMemyTYBP0jJvCgVR3Fe9O-I_V6vvoNfanV0mZSptGV_YDjWIBwvjCFZprkwFWExgIsQO_h1F7tjzyK9/s320/IMG_1305.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><break></break></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Delta Unplugged River Tour in Tigre:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ZRQ8OqgWPtzFEt0_1lpMFkC-AK75L_R7yGwq2sNK10KaPtPI028nlHWTromzDkVQDh5n2isTJO3dnaQsztGTLVUDFTd_Wt-L2FISLIdn4Rtcx57nUfcSPuaBbYPqyThtkBeKMM49Qr2t/s1600/IMG_1321.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4ZRQ8OqgWPtzFEt0_1lpMFkC-AK75L_R7yGwq2sNK10KaPtPI028nlHWTromzDkVQDh5n2isTJO3dnaQsztGTLVUDFTd_Wt-L2FISLIdn4Rtcx57nUfcSPuaBbYPqyThtkBeKMM49Qr2t/s320/IMG_1321.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheGui3EkVqIV1hhuVnwxKGKDdjkFvwOhOq7YHNwktOGGQE-6Bhz3TvUUX5pK9_OdtL4fvoEVwWsJ4RSa9V_QQq67nuMhRFt279ipeKU3gbruuEWyC34OsPHZQzd05SWD05T28l43DGauGD/s1600/IMG_1370.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheGui3EkVqIV1hhuVnwxKGKDdjkFvwOhOq7YHNwktOGGQE-6Bhz3TvUUX5pK9_OdtL4fvoEVwWsJ4RSa9V_QQq67nuMhRFt279ipeKU3gbruuEWyC34OsPHZQzd05SWD05T28l43DGauGD/s320/IMG_1370.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGO321aGQs8oCQuPyp5j3HgCvpKbvP3tgfdwUcUvj3QdwVEauXIBmLCwp2R2uEZk2ZagwfMvdjWkGuqgf7-BQm1q__MVAGlARzSeScieNuAnf5hfwfnlK5k-y7R4iI80e5GP_SnRAGkve/s1600/IMG_1372.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgXGO321aGQs8oCQuPyp5j3HgCvpKbvP3tgfdwUcUvj3QdwVEauXIBmLCwp2R2uEZk2ZagwfMvdjWkGuqgf7-BQm1q__MVAGlARzSeScieNuAnf5hfwfnlK5k-y7R4iI80e5GP_SnRAGkve/s320/IMG_1372.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTdO45jaUUE9YY2JS21z3LSOCnwYD_CNHFE_ReHoy3tk4BNOyik069VLKtsY57nXvP8x7QXImzDOcyUn4AhLbf-WXXBEC0RTdp0tztGmTUEAgUvFAbehH7fVbG1Nfwrf9svSU_6ynZb3K/s1600/IMG_1376.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjTdO45jaUUE9YY2JS21z3LSOCnwYD_CNHFE_ReHoy3tk4BNOyik069VLKtsY57nXvP8x7QXImzDOcyUn4AhLbf-WXXBEC0RTdp0tztGmTUEAgUvFAbehH7fVbG1Nfwrf9svSU_6ynZb3K/s320/IMG_1376.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqWTDHsQ8olgKw8OadZ1nW3FCS1Nu6wQFL-hOjl7t9wf7fBfxLI2e7563SQtSizFo-xSoLtj2b6IXCcI05G28JdtM7rHAzWsU6bze7pInkm6eGjSjGsHFBsZlD_6aR8pGyVJi31kZLP2I/s1600/IMG_1386.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTqWTDHsQ8olgKw8OadZ1nW3FCS1Nu6wQFL-hOjl7t9wf7fBfxLI2e7563SQtSizFo-xSoLtj2b6IXCcI05G28JdtM7rHAzWsU6bze7pInkm6eGjSjGsHFBsZlD_6aR8pGyVJi31kZLP2I/s320/IMG_1386.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><break></break></div><div style="text-align: left;">Empanadas at home with the fam from Tatu:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrfxmjUHZ-MDZfgzMUDE_Ze1q191LkCLWt-2ODJSqQuJTzntxjB-OVXFo4qtir58_c4KfOG2lVui8QxmQ_uzNtxinuS1ACBZav63MVOtpq1J4vfFERvsvz6eNJBkUcQyrAv60Aq-lrR1fZ/s1600/IMG_1407.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrfxmjUHZ-MDZfgzMUDE_Ze1q191LkCLWt-2ODJSqQuJTzntxjB-OVXFo4qtir58_c4KfOG2lVui8QxmQ_uzNtxinuS1ACBZav63MVOtpq1J4vfFERvsvz6eNJBkUcQyrAv60Aq-lrR1fZ/s320/IMG_1407.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><break></break></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Trip to Mar de las Pampas and home made empanadas:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6nw-xl-aziftuuQnELA8jq_sZom1w3c2I6xiS7LG0oRzCKW1X5MXyIWBnEk0puJa8xJkYbT5c9ONGiyQMduk6-IqmawEh1QYGr7qnEn0DjPtlEeFHWxP9nAcyrd0kPVVNsa1tQ8GOMve/s1600/IMG_1429.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiX6nw-xl-aziftuuQnELA8jq_sZom1w3c2I6xiS7LG0oRzCKW1X5MXyIWBnEk0puJa8xJkYbT5c9ONGiyQMduk6-IqmawEh1QYGr7qnEn0DjPtlEeFHWxP9nAcyrd0kPVVNsa1tQ8GOMve/s320/IMG_1429.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZeUR9pGqFWEGczY-rs6AR8vgm6vsrdSekitiXqiSIJGF_skjOtsBwAnouXGJUU5qRbF_LUstqRnBQl4cYOeRfbq4WJeu-DMa3E4Bui6g0sD8A6WhxVxkqAHs1wiK1u4AFNUJlOZ9FIZ-L/s1600/IMG_1453.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZeUR9pGqFWEGczY-rs6AR8vgm6vsrdSekitiXqiSIJGF_skjOtsBwAnouXGJUU5qRbF_LUstqRnBQl4cYOeRfbq4WJeu-DMa3E4Bui6g0sD8A6WhxVxkqAHs1wiK1u4AFNUJlOZ9FIZ-L/s320/IMG_1453.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Z8hDdcFMYsAaiFmwkun3jT8iYku32E3Rt5eX0z7X-6-hhFhiXXz7YBkoj4Ui5BksECMo7YcpiHIpmTr90mTiNXawl2tAjnWGqJ_Wk_5kBVvtk95YMsl0bgOf3kYfclWwxUY6UwrgpWjw/s1600/IMG_1459.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Z8hDdcFMYsAaiFmwkun3jT8iYku32E3Rt5eX0z7X-6-hhFhiXXz7YBkoj4Ui5BksECMo7YcpiHIpmTr90mTiNXawl2tAjnWGqJ_Wk_5kBVvtk95YMsl0bgOf3kYfclWwxUY6UwrgpWjw/s320/IMG_1459.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyCTkzOAezF4zQveschBNNuj7rpzT2NdTSUX1pPwqbw-oDaRwdaMn41vpheEegq0Krs9cnUKZnsVCcFZ-i29S_rbLnlNavYo20bf4ZZ8A_oiCXohCwjW3lgXKTRKcmN8tzmYqyHiV7i7s/s1600/IMG_1467.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEixyCTkzOAezF4zQveschBNNuj7rpzT2NdTSUX1pPwqbw-oDaRwdaMn41vpheEegq0Krs9cnUKZnsVCcFZ-i29S_rbLnlNavYo20bf4ZZ8A_oiCXohCwjW3lgXKTRKcmN8tzmYqyHiV7i7s/s320/IMG_1467.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9RqLBIi7a-gJixkVufqDMn1HsOKDAe7_ANtTYU2LccAj38f37AKqC1hgeo8JfEulajABA-XL6e-0PiLFB1nmZC2YRKgzOjWUs3W8KWxw9VYZSuuYilHMieB0I4mB9mLEoIjESXecmc4f9/s1600/IMG_1471.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9RqLBIi7a-gJixkVufqDMn1HsOKDAe7_ANtTYU2LccAj38f37AKqC1hgeo8JfEulajABA-XL6e-0PiLFB1nmZC2YRKgzOjWUs3W8KWxw9VYZSuuYilHMieB0I4mB9mLEoIjESXecmc4f9/s320/IMG_1471.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii5yBzOBSlugFz00GehwDafjQ0FJTonutyhexL51_lzIN8rux4D8Qnti4gMSV4oEqCL2WQe0pnWVm2t7FRcf8bR7Jq36pwdBsPVVcUfLr5oZUnD1VlJrlLrvNIMkBLv16ORhqEt9LWe844/s1600/IMG_1470.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEii5yBzOBSlugFz00GehwDafjQ0FJTonutyhexL51_lzIN8rux4D8Qnti4gMSV4oEqCL2WQe0pnWVm2t7FRcf8bR7Jq36pwdBsPVVcUfLr5oZUnD1VlJrlLrvNIMkBLv16ORhqEt9LWe844/s320/IMG_1470.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQpvpeh5YF0Uv6yw-fw6C8yPCHz8h4H3afyxfRT1D_5CxMrAPs3E6TvtQPBbJ3NU7qcIUp5lcxkLU5zEdSWXLdtstkMa5kFBzcIL-Yqa6YcOIF8erRx-woK79TWtas2MkyjDMrhQ4kG7i/s1600/IMG_1422.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgCQpvpeh5YF0Uv6yw-fw6C8yPCHz8h4H3afyxfRT1D_5CxMrAPs3E6TvtQPBbJ3NU7qcIUp5lcxkLU5zEdSWXLdtstkMa5kFBzcIL-Yqa6YcOIF8erRx-woK79TWtas2MkyjDMrhQ4kG7i/s320/IMG_1422.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><break></break></div><div style="text-align: left;">Empanadas from la Peña del Colorado:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzYFkzhhbb6jvzMRSd3A1b4sxBa_TuYSUeVSNssnDTs7ftPD7efPseltcTj6XOWCF93Ao_Yc3d8YethxCNpTeEpCSlFtJacFcnJPwNTYixqqRHFH8dDiK0tz8Spm-CpIh1xb9JP9_4Lwg/s1600/IMG_1501.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxzYFkzhhbb6jvzMRSd3A1b4sxBa_TuYSUeVSNssnDTs7ftPD7efPseltcTj6XOWCF93Ao_Yc3d8YethxCNpTeEpCSlFtJacFcnJPwNTYixqqRHFH8dDiK0tz8Spm-CpIh1xb9JP9_4Lwg/s320/IMG_1501.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99DDcQksOGvtJQX92kr_Y9hyphenhyphenxs2NLjcthV6JpGLRWay7s1Z7OkTV_Xy-U27mCOICzg7xqa1hiiMQ2WWsUeOLcUNjH3YtBvi7HmlXeFCNXgcwkE3XROhrU3AuK2SLSSeM7QyiaBqBjgLk1/s1600/IMG_1502.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg99DDcQksOGvtJQX92kr_Y9hyphenhyphenxs2NLjcthV6JpGLRWay7s1Z7OkTV_Xy-U27mCOICzg7xqa1hiiMQ2WWsUeOLcUNjH3YtBvi7HmlXeFCNXgcwkE3XROhrU3AuK2SLSSeM7QyiaBqBjgLk1/s320/IMG_1502.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><break></break></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Enjoying my daily dose of ice cream at Freddo, although I prefer Perssico and Volta....:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMLicfpLMLiQCoRhodrhrrFuJDPFrs_p869EIda-XSYtcic7o925FAyjE_oczwIm8WkRwCneIxqjCHqQx87W2QZoo9l6UZX_aXv9P3ei5GBKhx-i1htvrVtIGXlUt3B1BMBGGSZDLrlUdE/s1600/IMG_1499.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgMLicfpLMLiQCoRhodrhrrFuJDPFrs_p869EIda-XSYtcic7o925FAyjE_oczwIm8WkRwCneIxqjCHqQx87W2QZoo9l6UZX_aXv9P3ei5GBKhx-i1htvrVtIGXlUt3B1BMBGGSZDLrlUdE/s320/IMG_1499.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><break></break></div><div style="text-align: left;">Hope you enjoyed the photos! Until my next empanada adventure....</div><br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div>Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-1999793970357313312010-03-31T15:30:00.000-07:002010-03-31T15:30:31.141-07:00My Stomach will forever remain in Argentina....I can't believe that my trip is coming to an end. After almost three weeks of adventures in Argentina, I am headed back to Washington, DC tomorrow. It seems like I just got here, but as I think back to everything that I have done, it is clear I have accomplished a lot and consumed a hefty amount of empanadas!<br />
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Although I will not be able to post pictures until I return to the states on Friday am, here are some highlights of my trip since my last post:<br />
<ul><li>Reconnecting with an old friend from my study abroad program and being able to meet all of her wonderful friends here. My good friend Maria moved back to Argentina after finishing college and has been working here ever since. During a wonderful meal at one of my favorite restaurants, Bereber, Maria told me all about her life here. She helped start a wonderful website, YoQueVos.com.ar, which sends out daily e-mails highlighting interesting restaurant, shops, and designers from around the city. It is such a treat to check out all of the hidden gems they have found in this massive metropolis of a city. While enjoying a wonderful chicken tagine filled with pungent olives and cured lemons accompanied by my favorite Viognier from the Escorihuela Gascon vineyard in Mendoza we reminisced about our wonderful study abroad days. </li>
<li>Attending the opening of the Cuban art exhibit with Maria and a few of her friends at the MALBA museum. I had gone to the MALBA museum early on during my visit to Buenos Aires as it houses some wonderful modern art from Latin America. I had read about the Cuban exhibit on their website, and was disappointed when I arrived on my own to find that it had not opened yet. You can imagine how delighted I was when Maria invited me to the opening. After seeing the exhibit, and enjoying a couple of free glasses of Malbec we headed over to a casual dinner at a pizza place nearby called El Almacen de Pizzas. Of course, I had to order one of their empanadas before diving into a big pizza pie. I decided to order the BBQ Chicken pocket per the recommendation of one of Maria's friends. It reminded me of a a BBQ chicken pizza in an empanada, although their was no cheese, ha. It was a sweet BBQ sauce coating wonderfully cooked shredded chicken with glistening white onions weaved in throughout. After the empanada we all shared some Italian style thin crust pizza. It was a wonderful meal, and is always great to share a meal and wine with new friends.</li>
<li>Meeting up with the Westridge interim trip group here in Buenos Aires. For those of you who dont know about my alma mater, Westridge School for Girls in Pasadena, each Spring the school offers what is called interim week. It is a week where students sign up for projects that teach them interesting new things that go beyond the normal classroom education. There is always a trip or two as options, and this year they brought 21 girls down for a 10 day trip to Argentina. Lucky for me, my old adviser and good friend Bonnie Martinez was one of the leaders. I decided to join in on a number of different activities with the group, mostly the meals! There were so many wonderful meals with the group, but some of the most memorable were definitely at El obrero in La Boca, where we had fresh Ravioli filled with cheese and squash in a home made tomato sauce. We enjoyed home made spinach pasta with fresh pesto at Desnivel. The pasta was to die for, and I could not help myself but finish the whole bowl. What made things even worse was that the waiters brought out some of the best chimichurri I have ever had in my life, so in addition to carbo loading up on some of the best pasta I have ever had, I downed multiple rolls doused in the restaurants perfectly balanced chimichurri. The last memorable meal with the group was on the 29th, national ñoqui day in Argentina , at a local family restaurant in San Telmo. At my table, most of us elected to order the home made ñoqui filled with cheese in a caprese sauce. As the plate was placed in front of me I was delved in. Expecting the heavier ñoqui I am used to having in the states, I was delighted when they were more like little cheese filled clouds. Each ñoqui was so delicate and so perfect. The caprese sauce was like a wonderful blend of fresh tomato sauce, fresh basil and melted mozzarella atop the massive plate of ñoqui clouds. There were other great memories with the group, to many to account here. I am so happy our paths crossed during my trip here.</li>
<li>Returning to Marks Deli for some fresh salads in Palermo Soho. This place is has a number of wonderful fresh dishes, but more than anything it brings back so many memories from my study abroad days. After a day of shopping in the Palermo Soho area I decided to pop in for a lite lunch, a nice change of pace from the pasta, meat, empanada and ice cream diet I have become accustom to over the last few weeks. As I starred up at the menu on the big chalkboard I knew immediately that I would be ordering a fresh lemonade mixed with fresh mint leaves, a drink almost impossible to find in this city. I then decided on a salad with fresh greens, smoked salmon, goat cheese, cherry tomatoes, avocado and a citrus vinaigrette. As I sat and watched the Buenos Aires elite wander by with their many shopping bags I enjoyed my fresh food.</li>
<li>Eating ice cream almost every day since I arrived here. Ask anyone who has traveled to Buenos Aires and has tried the ice cream, and they will assure you that the ice cream here is the best in the world, beating out Italy's world renowned gelato. There are a few places that are well known, and I have tried every single one of them. Each one has similar flavors, a variety of dulce de leche flavors, banana split (banana ice cream with chocolate chips and dulce de leche swirled throughout), marscapone and chocolates of all kinds. Up until yesterday I was sure that Persicco was the best, but after venturing into Volta my mind was made up, Volta takes the cake. Serving ice cream here is like an art form, and each size cone or cup comes with two flavors, so deciding on flavors is much easier when you know you are going to get two. Although I usually get banana split without even thinking about it, I decided to try the Cafe Caramel, coffee ice cream with dulce de leche, and the coco, coconut ice cream with dulce de leche. I didnt want it to end. Creamy ice cream with the perfect amount of dulce de leche swirled in each flavor. After enjoying my cone filled with heaven I decided that would be my last ice cream here in Argentina on this trip. I want to remember those flavors as long as possible.</li>
<li>Taking a trip to Mar de las Pampas with my host family. Last weekend we took a four hour drive out to a small beach town called Mar de las Pampas. We had rented a small cabin of a friend of Luciana and Alejandro's just a couple of blocks off the beach. It was such a beautiful place. The sandy roads weave through forest until you get to the beach. Through the tiny little roads the forest is filled with little mod cabins, they looked straight out of the 60s. The trip was not just great because of the scenery, but also because of the food. The first night we were there, we went to a small restaurant called La Casa del Mar. The meal started off with an appetizer of gambos al ajillo, big shrimp cooked in olive oil with garlic and herbs. The bowl of shrimp came out piping hot, and with a smell I could die for. There is nothing better than perfectly cooked garlic! After the shrimp came the meal. I ordered brochette of salmon. Two massive skewers came out filled with chunks of bright pink salmon, grilled shrimp, onions, peppers and squash drizzled with an herb cream sauce. Although everything was cooked to perfection and full of bright flavors, I could not make it through both skewers, I accepted defeat..... One of the other days we were there we took full advantage of the barbecue in the back yard of the cabin. Alejandro took control as our Asador and grilled up some chorizo for chori-pan (chorizo on bread), morcilla (blood sausage), short ribs and another cut that I cannot remember at the moment. As sides he grilled some whole russet potatoes and whole onions. There is not much more to say but it was a true Argentine grill, and it is hard to beat that! The other meal highlight was making empanadas for the family. I finally was able to show off my skills. Per usual I did not make the dough, but I did purchase a different type than usually, and was very pleased with the results. I made my traditional Argentine beef (without the raisins, because they are not fans of sweet and savory), and my spinach empanadas with home made bechamel. Although we had some issues getting the oven turned on, once the problem was resolved, we enjoyed my fresh baked pockets and I received the seal of approval from the critics I was most worried about, my Argentine friends. It was an all around wonderful weekend.</li>
<li>Taking a delta tour with DeltaUnplugged. When I was looking up cooking classes I had not only come across the culinary tour I took earlier on in my trip, but also found out about this tour of the delta in Tigre, just outside of Buenos Aires. I woke up bright and early on a Wednesday morning to catch the train to Tigre so I could be there by 9am to catch my water taxi. After arriving to Tigre I caught my water taxi. As we weaved through the rivers for about 45 minutes I started to get very excited for the day ahead. Finally the boat driver yelled at "lo del suizo!" and I knew I had arrived. The boat pulled over to the dock and we were greeted by Ralph and Ana, our hosts for the day. The guests for the day were myself, two couples from the US and one couple from England who were here on their honey moon. After Ana gave us a brief history of their house and the island we all sat down for breakfast. Ralph, a former chef on large boats had made us three types of fresh baked bread served with home made marmalade and dulce de leche. My favorite bread was one that they described as a German braided egg bread, which I quickly deducted was a traditional challah..... After breakfast we all boarded their small sail boat for our 5 hour tour of the rivers. As we weaved around through the willow covered and papyrus lined channels we sipped grapefruit water. Ana continued to educate us on the area, watching carefully for local birds. Halfway through our ride we anchored ourselves in the shade, and Ralph and Ana prepared our lunch. For being on such a small boat, they put on an amazing spread. We had beef empanadas, squash quiche made with squash from their garden, cheeses, a wonderful avocado and corn salad, a crudité platter, a large sort of latke like potato dish and ralph coked up some chicken and steak on a travel grill he brought along board. It was an amazing lunch in the willow shade accompanied by a Malbec, no surprise there.... When we returned to their house Ana immediately handed each of us a bowl of ice cream. Ralph had made strawberry ice cream and ginger wasabi ice cream. The two flavors complimented each other so well and I really didnt want it to end. I hope to find ginger wasabi ice cream at home, or at least try to make it myself. Before heading back to the big city we sat and had mate with Ralph and Ana as they showed us their wedding pictures and old pictures of the house they bought back in 2002. It was another amazing day, full of new adventures, great food and new friends.</li>
<li>The last meal here in BsAs was one of the best yet. I met up with Coby, one of the tour guides from the Westridge trip at La Peña del Colorado in Palermo. It is a small quaint restaurant with murals on the walls and simple wooden tables throughout. I had heard great things about the empandas, so of course had to order some. After we put in our order, I chose the cheese and onion, choclo (corn) and carne picante, the music started. Apparently they have live music every night. We were lucky enough to see a guitarist from Mendoza who played Spanish inspired songs. The highlight was when a young women went up and sang a couple of songs with him. The music was elevated by the pockets provided by the restaurant. The cheese and onion was gooey and melted in your mouth, the carne was traditional and had a nice bite, but the highlight was the choclo. Inside the light dough was a mixture of fresh corn, creamed corn and the essence of nutmeg. The nutmeg really brought the whole pocket together. After the empanadas I enjoyed a bowl of humita topped with butternut squash and goat cheese. The Humita was much like the choclo empanada. A perfect bend of fresh and creamed corn. The softness of the squash complimented the humita quite well, and the goat cheese just brought it all together. Between the perfect traditional food and the live music, I could not have asked for a better meal.</li>
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I am not sure what my last night here has in store, but I assure you I will report on the goings on along with posting pictures of all of the experiences described here in my empanada blog. If you are lucky, maybe some recipes will follow as well. See you back in the states! <br />
<ul></ul>Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-9948532789608798132010-03-23T09:15:00.000-07:002010-03-23T09:18:43.902-07:00Back to the Home landAs many of you know, I have returned to the land that sparked my love and interest in the wonderful world of empanadas. I just finished my MBA and have a couple of months off before I start working, so I decided to take a trip down to the Southern Hemisphere to visit the family I lived with during my year abroad and to learn more about the art of empanadas. I apologize in advance that this post will not include pictures, but I neglected to bring my camera cord with me to Buenos Aires, and will not be uploading the pics until I return on April 1.<br />
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So, since I have been here a little over a week now and it has been quite a while since I last posted, I thought I would give all of you eager followers an update on the goings on of my empanada adventure. My hiatus over the past couple of months is due in large part to me finishing up my MBA and playing a large role in the GW Business School Follies production. That is all over now, and I am down in BsAs concentrating on what I can put in my next pocket.<br />
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I arrived in BsAs Friday March 12, three and a half years since I left the city after a year of studying abroad here. My host "dad" picked me up from the airport and took me back to the apartment, where they had fresh empanadas waiting for me. They know that I am very interested in empanadas, so it was very thoughtful of them to welcome me with these delightful little pockets of magic. They had ordered a variety of empanadas from a local empanaderia called La Pasceña. When I was living here we ordered from there quite often. They make a very interesting, dense dough, and very traditional delicious fillings. Each flavor empanada comes in a different shape and when you order them they come with a key that helps you identify which empanada is which flavor. I immediatly picked up a carne picante empanada to see if anything had changed since I left. As I remembered, there is very little spicy food to be had in Buenos Aires, and a carne picante empanada solely signified a carne empanada with a few extra spices in it. You can imagine how surprised I was when I had to ask for a glass of water because of the heat packed into the carne picante empanada. The Argentines had learned something over the past three and a half years, and I was pretty excited about it.<br />
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After finishing my spicy pocket I moved onto an empanada de verduras, or spinach empanada. I have blogged before about my own spinach empanadas, but these were a but different. They definitely dont use as much onion as I do, nor do they add in as much nutmeg. I am not going to lie, I prefer the flavors I add into mine, however, the dough La Pasceña uses really complemented the lightness of their spinach filling. I must learn the recipe!<br />
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Although I was really filling up, and jetlag was setting in, I decided to try one more pocket. They suggested I try one that was filled with mozzarella cheese and a sort of tomato mixture, almost like a pico de gallo, sans spice of course. It was quite delightful. Packed with many italian flavors, sort of like a cheesy bruschetta pocket if you will. I will definitely be replicating this one upon my return to springtime in DC, as I know it will be a great addition to the many dinner parties I plan on having this Spring.<br />
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The next day I woke up in Sunny BsAs excited to take on the day. Well, I did sleep in until about 11, but when I woke up, I was excited about being there! After washing the jetlag off of me, I spent a few hours playing barbie and princess with Olivia, my host parents', Luciana and Alejandro, 3 year old daughter. When I left Buenos Airres, Luciana and Alejandro were a newlywed couple. Upon my return they are now parents to an adorable 3 year old girl, Olivia, and 4 month old boy, Jeronimo. After a few hours of playing with Olivia, we all ate lunch. Luciana fixed a delicious bowl of polenta with tomato sauce and Parmesan cheese. A dish I never make at home, but was simple and delicious! That afternoon, they all headed out to their country house and I stayed behind as a friend was coming into town. <br />
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That evening, at about 8 I headed over to el centro to meet Marie Campbell at her hotel as I had made dinner reservations at a new restaurant in town. Per the suggestion of a wonderful food writer I had met on my flight over here, I made us a reservation at Standard in Palermo Hollywood. Marie, her friend and I all headed over from their hotel to Palermo. We were a bit early so we decided to sit at the bar and have a cocktail before dinner. The restaurant is quite small, but very clean and simple. The walls are light wood paneled and the tables are set with simple white table cloths. As we sat at the small 5 person bar we perused the wonderful cocktail menu. I was set on this passion fruit vodka concoction and Marie and her friend both ordered some sort of caipirinha. Each drink was bursting with flavor, and went down like juice!<br />
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After lifting our spirits a bit we headed over to our table. Our waiter immediately brought us some empanaditas. They were stuffed with a wonderful gooey cheese, tomato and some spice I had never heard of, but really got your tongue going if you know what I mean. As we savored the little mini pockets we eyed the menu, discussing eagerly what dish each of us was going to order. Marie selected the 12 hour cooked ribs, her friend selected a seafood risotto dish and I was set on lamb with a mustard sauce. The waiter looked surprised as we placed our orders, but we didnt make much of it. Then, as our food came out, we realized why our camarero was so in awe of our menu selections. No one had informed us that the dishes were served family style and were intended to be shared. Each one of our dishes could have served 4 people easy. We did as best we could, but packed up most fo our meals in a doggy bag for me to bring back to the family's apartment.<br />
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Despite our gigantic entrees we could not forgo dessert. Since we all had such heavy dishes, we picked a lighter dessert, a dessert our waiter suggested. It was called something like a tropical island. It was like a light meringue with a delicious tropical caramel sauce all over it. There definitely was not any left to take home in a doggy bag....<br />
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The next day the three of us met up at the antique fair in San Telmo. This is most definitely my favorite outdoors market in BsAs. We wandered around the booths for a couple of hours and then went and had a light lunch on the terrace of one of the restaurants in the plaza. After lunch we did a little more shopping and then said our goodbyes as they had to get ready to go back to the states.<br />
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Moving into the rest of the week, I have had some great experiences I would like to highlight. Most of my time has been spent wandering around, getting reacquainted with the city and seeing all that there is to see. One of my main objectives here of course is to research empanadas. After doing some research I decided to venture over to a place called La Morada in recoleta. I had been there once during my year here and remember that they had some of the best pockets in town. I walked into the small little empanada shop, filled with only 5 or six tables. It was later in the afternoon, so there were only a few people sitting inside, but calls continued to stream in for orders the entire time I was there. After looking over the simple paper menu I elected to try three types, carne suave (very traditional), choclo (corn), and mozzarella, panceta and dried plum. I was most excited about the last one, as it is very unique and seemed to be the perfect mix of sweet and savory. As they arrived at my table I immediately noticed the difference between these pockets and those I had on my first day here. They were definitely baked, but the dough appeared to be dry. When I bake them at home, I usually put an egg wash on them, but they clearly did not put anything on the dough before putting them in the oven. Although the dough appeared dry, it was cooked to perfection, Each bite of all three types of pockets was absolutely divine, a little pocket from above. The best of all three, as expected was the sweet and savory one. The panceta and dried plum came together in the oozing mozzarella to create a symphony of flavors. I will definitely be trying this one at home, and if you are ever in BsAs, go to La Morada for a wonderful empanada experience.<br />
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Later on in the week, I decided to sign up for a culinary tour. After researching cooking classes in BsAs, this tour managed to pop up on about every search, so I figured I would give it a go. It is called Teresita's culinary tour, and takes place about an hour outside of the city in a town called Adrogue. I had never been to, nor heard of this town, but the reviews of this tour seemed very positive and the website is very well done, so I figured I would give it a go. I headed over to el centro to catch the bus by the Obelesik at about 9:30 am. I arrived in Adrogue about an hour later and walked over through tree covered streets to Teresita's house. I arrived to her cottage where she and her husband greeted me. They asked me to wait out back as they finished preparing things. I headed through her kitchen into the back yard, which was a magical garden filled with orchids and birds. I felt like I was in Alice in Wonderland. I chatted with a nice French woman who was coming along at the tour as we waited for the others. Slowly but surely all of the other participants arrived, a couple from Sweden, a mother and son from England, and three couples from the states.<br />
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Once we had all arrived we headed over to the outdoor market, which apparently takes place every Friday. Teresita explained every vegetable and fruit we saw, what it is, what its used for, where it comes from. She also explained the different meats and fish that were at the market. Everything looked wonderfully fresh and it was hard to resist buying up everything. In the end I had controlled myself and only purchased a small packet of home made pizza spices and a chimichurri spice mix from an old Bolivian woman.<br />
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After the market we walked into the town bakery. Controlling myself in the outdoor market was nothing compared to the will power exerted in the bakery. Fresh baked goods of all sorts filled the store. very display case and counter was filled with an airy wonderful baked concoction. Teresita showed us all of the very traditional pastries in the shop and talked about when they are usually eaten (I could have eaten them all day everyday!). We then watched a man make traditional miga sandwiches. These are very simple snack sandwiches, which are made out of a ginormous piece of white bread (without the crust) some mayo, a layer of ham, another layer of bread, a layer of cheese and then topped with another piece of bread. They then take a large wooden block to press it down and cut it into squares. I guess these are their twist on tea sandwiches. <br />
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From the baker we headed to the butcher. Teresita went over every cut of meat in the store. They had everything, and the meat looked soooooo good! The butcher brought out a half a cow and we got to see where everything is cut from. Some people might be grossed out by all of this...but to tell you the truth, it just made me hungry! We ended our walking tour at a Delicatessen, where we saw traditional Argentina food already prepared and ready to take home. I was happy that this was the last stop before heading back to Teresita's because my mouth was definitely starting to water at the site and smell of all of the wonderful prepared dishes.<br />
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After the tour we went back to Teresita's to prepare some traditional empanadas and enjoy a traditional lunch with some wonderful Argentine wine. Because this was a tour covering many different types of food, and because Teresita teaches a separate empanada class, she had made the meat filling in advance. What Teresita taught us was to make the dough and how to fill the empanadas. I was very excited as I make filling all the time, but rarely make my own dough, and I was very interested in learning how to roll the outside of the dough to close the empanadas since I always just seal them up with a fork. I volunteered to mix the dough, and everyone was fine with that since they all knew about my passion for empanadas. The recipe was quite simple, flour, saltwater and the key ingredient, lard. You just mix those things together and kneed a ball of dough. Then you make mini golf size balls and roll them out into super thin circles.<br />
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As Teresita showed us how to fill and close the empanadas she taught us something very important, "There is nothing worse than an empty empanada." I could not have put it better myself. I was surprised how easy it was to roll the edges of the dough to shut them, and they look so beautiful. Once we were finished filling all of the dough, Teresita lined them up on a pan to put them in the oven. Much like the pockets at La Morada, she did not put any sort of wash on them. She explained that it is very traditional to have dry dough. She also told us that it is important to have the oven at a high temperature and keep the empanadas in the oven for as little time as possible (about 10 minutes).<br />
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While the empanadas baked up we all headed out back to the beautiful table set up in the garden. The sommelier poured us sparkling wine from the Patagonia region as we had our first appetizer, a silver fish marinated in white wine and vinegar on home made crostinis. After finishing the light yet vibrant crostinis and a couple of glasses of sparkling wine, we moved onto the first course. Teresita brought out a tray of piping hot empanadas that had just come out of the oven. As she served us our own little pocket creations, the sommelier poured us a lovely floral Torrontes from Salta. The empanadas were to die for. The filling was perfectly seasoned, and the dough was nice and thin yet held the whole thing together. Once we gobbled up the empandas we were served little pots of humita, a corn and pepper mixture with gooey cheese on the bottom. This was accompanied by a second glass of the Torrontes. Although we were all well on our way to full, we were then served the main course, tournedo (a cut of meat) in a Malbec reduction, with stuffed squash and crispy fried Yucca. This was paired with a Malbec from Mendoza. The meat was cooked to perfection and the squash was filled with a wonderful cheese and vegetable mixture that complemented the steak quite well. We could barely put anything else in us, but there was still dessert and a dessert wine to be had. For dessert we had a a roasted peach with cardamom and vanilla ice cream, served with a sweet Torrontes wine. I could not have been happier. The dessert was a perfect way to end the day.<br />
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The tour was extremely informative and so much fun. I had some great food and made some wonderful new friends. There are more stories to be told about my trip, but I will update you on those later. Now it is time to go create some new memories out in this wonderful city and find some new tasty empanadas to try! Hasta luego!Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-43661810679728561472009-12-14T18:59:00.000-08:002009-12-14T18:59:14.052-08:00Long time no pocketAs I was preparing my brussel sprouts to roast for dinner last night, and then today as I was lounging on my couch re-watching <i>Julie & Julia</i>, I was reminded of my poor empanada blog project and how I have completely neglected it over the past month. Much has happened over the past month that has prevented me from working on this wonderful food journey, threw a big Halloween party fundraiser, participated in the capstone case competition of the MBA program, applied and have been accepted to a Marketing class and consulting project in Dubai, prepared a Thanksgiving dinner for 18 and have taken a few finals. Despite my busy schedule, I have in fact made some empanadas over the past month, I just have not written about them!<br />
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Now, lets see if I can remember everything I have cooked over this past month. Maybe it would be better to just tell my story visually. I did get a great new camera for my birthday, which has allowed me to take some wonderful pictures of my little pocket creations.<br />
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Before I tell you about the fantabulous empanadas I made for Thanksgiving, take a look at what I have been up to over the past month.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now lets get to the empanadas. While I made a few over the past month, the best ones had to be the two types I created for Thanksgiving. Both are actually repeat recipes, but turned out to be some of my best. This year we had Thanksgiving at my parents house. There were 18 of us, and 7 turkeys were made, yes 7 turkeys. I took charge in planning the whole menu. We started off with my butternut squash, leek shitake mushroom empanadas, curried cauliflower soup and crustini with blue cheese, cranberries, walnuts and balsamic drizzled frisee. The empanadas were super easy. All you do is peel and dice a butternut squash into 1/4 cubes, then roast it with a little salt, pepper and olive oil. While the squash is roasting, you saute chopped leeks, sliced shitake mushrooms, fresh garlic and thyme. Once the squash and leek mushroom yumminess is done, mix it all together and then add in some crumbled goat cheese. These really turned out to be the perfect start to a wonderful, and indulgent meal!<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtrW-wK_QlOq4q_cbazO35dt3EkC_-3OVBqwN4I1QYsY9wJK0IVqVS0qozA0r7EMCyz5dVEtVcyZaJJXotq5ebIj9WyozxvBXH9Qw2EA9G-_nibI5x98N1EW5Kn-3vpd15pu1aeRgaZOSR/s1600-h/IMG_0180.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtrW-wK_QlOq4q_cbazO35dt3EkC_-3OVBqwN4I1QYsY9wJK0IVqVS0qozA0r7EMCyz5dVEtVcyZaJJXotq5ebIj9WyozxvBXH9Qw2EA9G-_nibI5x98N1EW5Kn-3vpd15pu1aeRgaZOSR/s320/IMG_0180.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7y5T3_qC5T1_2u-ngDVVOO_KtaruK3YQlrIvNS9RzjhyXI9kVTSKn0bUiYZF4-qSjODKSaROVz3FO0IYCNv4_eC1xPo66QhfNU0AYevrTs0HEEoDx5jLIRB6QBMwXrBC51vcSBY8SPHMO/s1600-h/IMG_0182.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7y5T3_qC5T1_2u-ngDVVOO_KtaruK3YQlrIvNS9RzjhyXI9kVTSKn0bUiYZF4-qSjODKSaROVz3FO0IYCNv4_eC1xPo66QhfNU0AYevrTs0HEEoDx5jLIRB6QBMwXrBC51vcSBY8SPHMO/s320/IMG_0182.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tUdaGSRMfY46b6autJFVoUUHvS15uR-QJDnNLHK0leYnTxGN6TunVLOPgllTF03dNYnlSMUvTWay7jKJ_kAXHjurgEXVm_prpVtlb84_5q_0uSpA17uazPjuV0_w6YfDibJ1VqE-3XXo/s1600-h/IMG_0189.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9tUdaGSRMfY46b6autJFVoUUHvS15uR-QJDnNLHK0leYnTxGN6TunVLOPgllTF03dNYnlSMUvTWay7jKJ_kAXHjurgEXVm_prpVtlb84_5q_0uSpA17uazPjuV0_w6YfDibJ1VqE-3XXo/s320/IMG_0189.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYmcAyeuI90Q9l_wQPy3aR7rhuDuScnplTryIHsum8VI3kllL8we_5kq0H4XjHnMuhLLIBneuJFhbaTRylUdS5ASDBgiFjAAGFE9RafMQK8bxmuyZDU8uOy0w7ROdGf0BAOxG5RQSTnLm/s1600-h/IMG_0198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjYmcAyeuI90Q9l_wQPy3aR7rhuDuScnplTryIHsum8VI3kllL8we_5kq0H4XjHnMuhLLIBneuJFhbaTRylUdS5ASDBgiFjAAGFE9RafMQK8bxmuyZDU8uOy0w7ROdGf0BAOxG5RQSTnLm/s320/IMG_0198.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbF97nx06_9f1GUv8w91lcdryWyDF5Wipa5kkMDeur_q-2T9xjT9w3bQbsOswpw5YxwRzF7tbBD0zZVov9qcE10Xs6T3dbLfJBsoxBwRsbwL4m1TFP4NlTRlc3qor2mnd98I0PChVKewY/s1600-h/IMG_0200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXbF97nx06_9f1GUv8w91lcdryWyDF5Wipa5kkMDeur_q-2T9xjT9w3bQbsOswpw5YxwRzF7tbBD0zZVov9qcE10Xs6T3dbLfJBsoxBwRsbwL4m1TFP4NlTRlc3qor2mnd98I0PChVKewY/s320/IMG_0200.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Here are some photos of the other two appetizers. I dont have any pics of the cocktails, but my Uncle Andy and Aunt Liisa made some refreshing Turkey day cocktails for us during our cocktail and appetizer hour.<br />
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</div>For the main meal, I put together a fairly decedent menu. My mom and I made Rye bread and bacon stuffing, fresh cranberry and fuji apple sauce, mashed potatoes with crispy shallots, and roasted carrots and parsnips with fresh dill. My aunt Trudy made a stuffing and a corn casserole and my friend Lauren made some wonderful brussel sprouts with bacon, everyone could not get enough of the brussel sprouts! To top off the meal, my dad made the traditional Jello mold, a staple at all Carlton family meals. <br />
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Now I am sure you are curious about these 7 turkeys I mentioned. Well, I had originally planned on us having an apricot and herb glazed Turkey stuffed with citrus, garlic and onions, and my dad was going to fry up a bird, like we always do. Even though that would have been enough for 18 people, my Aunt Trudy decided she wanted to make a slow roasted Jack Daniels Turkey, and my Uncle Andy smoked a Turkey breast. That's four birds. Well, since we were frying up a bird, and we need so much oil (approximately 4 gallons) we told people to head on over with their own Turkey that they could fry up and take home as a party favor. So, my dad spent the entire afternoon frying up Turkeys for everyone. Unfortunately, as was expected, there was way too much Turkey and we didnt even get to carve the fried turkey to eat on Thanksgiving! Next year we will make sure that if my dad is out there frying all day, that the fried Turkey will be the main event of the meal and it will not go uneaten! Here are some pics from the day and meal:<br />
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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1nh0yKD_pgaOtSQ2Q57cVu4C1t-DK8QOOqxSGuq9S92cXurIKQnro04qpkvAbaM-18_cScZA7p6OxkXChiNRF9qjRcFtClugvFU-3Q7ugeH8YqvN7thVcei5yEWUdtY4_VRJTCL9m49ou/s320/IMG_0207.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYKElVHqZarJfMMri1fiIrLuAZYwXFE0UYfV9ItD9kRncUf9LjSJzLXokSm1OigyoC5tD_xdOX8chbmfbx69S8Z3YGVy9ZjvMj0dQ-4rFmWwE2VJqhC_u8pzHFjquJXtINM89tdS79DX5/s1600-h/IMG_0211.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEYKElVHqZarJfMMri1fiIrLuAZYwXFE0UYfV9ItD9kRncUf9LjSJzLXokSm1OigyoC5tD_xdOX8chbmfbx69S8Z3YGVy9ZjvMj0dQ-4rFmWwE2VJqhC_u8pzHFjquJXtINM89tdS79DX5/s320/IMG_0211.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhLSFTC1iydyjSaSe1iyxf3pjQFL45w69Zxlrhj2sjjRHJQfOyiVUgnZbZxsLYmQaRYPeG4dOYFz8IhQvKYmAbAyS9M8bMWmFBfRs0Ez6tKxdWbNX8jKSOdQOOsw_Rutc5q5vqygxHshnT_/s1600-h/IMG_0212.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; 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margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgJM5LFsj-sSa9_rIrHkHY5yiEBLEq3GbwvRO3aCIi13rApqbWOa6WN9Qkcr9LCNFH2Ybuc49ULb5RpIxW3HGE9SfExk9MaIuhWPTv1dgFvMlmwzBWYf9jnjLDe85P5CE-P6lGJggc_PFjp/s320/IMG_0218.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqSwMFFcOH26r8cJaEG_Ufo026vlhUYuFPXuQsplqxNZCcVRYdttCUr-v70_kKNNddHej2Say-oePkmafAK0L0KL60r9CcDA9lH9EyINakxC14xZ-cv7g9RYPNWEp_BI00GIsC2iFU0oZ/s1600-h/IMG_0238.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpqSwMFFcOH26r8cJaEG_Ufo026vlhUYuFPXuQsplqxNZCcVRYdttCUr-v70_kKNNddHej2Say-oePkmafAK0L0KL60r9CcDA9lH9EyINakxC14xZ-cv7g9RYPNWEp_BI00GIsC2iFU0oZ/s320/IMG_0238.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKXQyCZY6EcJIY2SSVlMXp45GbhcAYe9rTfH_IvkFFMoOkusOM9FOPYSITiF7VQviEqi1bMYypHjTzAvz1j6Z0As8K-VImI6BgAgQKtGS3mw3wSVoqqDWt8JhPsUOxGxMfoctufGIyxc_/s1600-h/IMG_0229.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHKXQyCZY6EcJIY2SSVlMXp45GbhcAYe9rTfH_IvkFFMoOkusOM9FOPYSITiF7VQviEqi1bMYypHjTzAvz1j6Z0As8K-VImI6BgAgQKtGS3mw3wSVoqqDWt8JhPsUOxGxMfoctufGIyxc_/s320/IMG_0229.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8COA-xYb3USKKj5x4ddHU-WJJhYFUsR8szLkB75iwIQpVO97FsPyGnFup3M7US0A2Drebx1lRqEU77XBdPCc1NeCFXfBFu-v0tnLbxU1bS2QmjUr7N0iYfKhn-lkvw0DpMZRNqawR1nP/s1600-h/IMG_0225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgo8COA-xYb3USKKj5x4ddHU-WJJhYFUsR8szLkB75iwIQpVO97FsPyGnFup3M7US0A2Drebx1lRqEU77XBdPCc1NeCFXfBFu-v0tnLbxU1bS2QmjUr7N0iYfKhn-lkvw0DpMZRNqawR1nP/s320/IMG_0225.JPG" /></a><br />
</div>Now onto the real good stuff, dessert. Even though we were totally stuffed, some of us saved some room for some sweet treats. Most of the desserts were brought by other people. I decided I wanted to make one dessert though, a bananas foster and chocolate empanada. I have made this one once before, and I just knew it would be the perfect addition to this rich holiday meal. These are super simple as well. I heated up a few tablespoons of unsalted butter and about a cup of brown sugar. Once that was melted and hot, I threw in 3 diced bananas to the pan. When the bananas softened up, the show started. I poured in a few tablespoons of rum and a few tablespoons of brandy, then BAM! I lit the liquor on fire and the crowd went wild. I have a great little video of the bananas on fire and my mom screaming in the background, unfortunately my computer skills arent developed enough for me to figure out how to put a video on this blog. Maybe one day...... After the bananas were cooked to perfection, I drained most of the sauce, and set it aside for later. I then folded in 1/2 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips and some chopped pecans. Once the filling was cooled, I stuffed it into puff pastry pockets. I thought that the puff pastry would go much better with this dessert filling than the more hardier empanada dough I usually use. I baked them with an egg wash and cinnamon sugar on top. When they were baked and ready I drizzled the left over banana sauce on top of them. Even though people were struggling, I made them try these wonderful dessert creations!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbK-ddv4qxBuZUPhbezLdxBQlPZ-NI3HjcvquvYPQKYrUBfFT7uw1Kp3meczwUtHdppn0AfBP09F5Utb553ToaGHfEmi5uqzgcgSY8AJrkR5qx-dgMOfRwWvroA_owN3lxzUL8rye2Hjl/s1600-h/IMG_0230.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgbK-ddv4qxBuZUPhbezLdxBQlPZ-NI3HjcvquvYPQKYrUBfFT7uw1Kp3meczwUtHdppn0AfBP09F5Utb553ToaGHfEmi5uqzgcgSY8AJrkR5qx-dgMOfRwWvroA_owN3lxzUL8rye2Hjl/s320/IMG_0230.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUw74guMzGnCyNDE7Bb1_07h969j8tz8XnXuXqQKsWM0A2VSBn0hyphenhyphena_SDP21pODeArwt66ObyUHtiNwBexjfOoBPXx0DhwzFOT1ZPa2WihRYi2zAqQomZhntzFq4_mysBrshPdwAiRk0_4/s1600-h/IMG_0232.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUw74guMzGnCyNDE7Bb1_07h969j8tz8XnXuXqQKsWM0A2VSBn0hyphenhyphena_SDP21pODeArwt66ObyUHtiNwBexjfOoBPXx0DhwzFOT1ZPa2WihRYi2zAqQomZhntzFq4_mysBrshPdwAiRk0_4/s320/IMG_0232.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDO5_s1Sd_AssJoVh0Uwn_sXSM_ER18ibs1Gx9pZnUi6ZGfWOQyO3w2JkiPuAXTlVLbnTcqonZcc1d8H0_Jhon2gwADRqVnslNm1FA3ehal0NgaYVz-LVJ31DaIHUaqTV0VhA8VC0F00m/s1600-h/IMG_0234.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEDO5_s1Sd_AssJoVh0Uwn_sXSM_ER18ibs1Gx9pZnUi6ZGfWOQyO3w2JkiPuAXTlVLbnTcqonZcc1d8H0_Jhon2gwADRqVnslNm1FA3ehal0NgaYVz-LVJ31DaIHUaqTV0VhA8VC0F00m/s320/IMG_0234.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6cRwSoRGXJ1vXK-7tL0-apF7Otn3DQ95QwrhZL38JBymQJYlq3j0V0bagajBNpgzvcootZLlyfCchQy0QBiOIgpQwUEkZ3Ha50xn31kgJDjMgg_dXzRLnEXe_bVpqSUAAu-vRPedls0X/s1600-h/IMG_0235.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE6cRwSoRGXJ1vXK-7tL0-apF7Otn3DQ95QwrhZL38JBymQJYlq3j0V0bagajBNpgzvcootZLlyfCchQy0QBiOIgpQwUEkZ3Ha50xn31kgJDjMgg_dXzRLnEXe_bVpqSUAAu-vRPedls0X/s320/IMG_0235.JPG" /></a> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupMBDZ2O4LURatNeqg3psakFu-4KJgsRlH0vPbwWtYn2k2PLmtY9035QU14lwoPaS6mDL6JLYdsoD9POBfODHOVN2tyxHPdEI_Cv3vy0-K4vKZDyu5vhG9SEhm-c6T4mrinevqS3oeYjw/s1600-h/IMG_0263.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhupMBDZ2O4LURatNeqg3psakFu-4KJgsRlH0vPbwWtYn2k2PLmtY9035QU14lwoPaS6mDL6JLYdsoD9POBfODHOVN2tyxHPdEI_Cv3vy0-K4vKZDyu5vhG9SEhm-c6T4mrinevqS3oeYjw/s320/IMG_0263.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Some of us needed milk to wash them down.....<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9twGDCOo0_pn5jnYG5gCACqNc33zGHlZJDd8r9ciX_7J14kSNjt70BlV5Wf5PGdJDrZbc5tiU31DwnfpVHz0PB0TveM7aeBxL3ksUuaQXVFxZljd3US27CzjT2x3jmsspe6W4X_fZxeG9/s1600-h/IMG_0242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj9twGDCOo0_pn5jnYG5gCACqNc33zGHlZJDd8r9ciX_7J14kSNjt70BlV5Wf5PGdJDrZbc5tiU31DwnfpVHz0PB0TveM7aeBxL3ksUuaQXVFxZljd3US27CzjT2x3jmsspe6W4X_fZxeG9/s320/IMG_0242.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpR_hyphenhyphen-jjvo5C4euDVHK4niR5GNCNPWUgU4pr54ViUd-aQf0tiU0a_tcZM2hQCUwCfBiNHeIlHwDMGibrtvpmWuiYu88DZmVw2T_3Y0bo5Pe1lV9rn8KrwJyJiroUxQNGbZmUKrYNtyaYS/s1600-h/IMG_0243.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgpR_hyphenhyphen-jjvo5C4euDVHK4niR5GNCNPWUgU4pr54ViUd-aQf0tiU0a_tcZM2hQCUwCfBiNHeIlHwDMGibrtvpmWuiYu88DZmVw2T_3Y0bo5Pe1lV9rn8KrwJyJiroUxQNGbZmUKrYNtyaYS/s320/IMG_0243.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">And as we all know, a big Turkey dinner can really tire you out....<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsDH4Pm4vJQ6PQP31YXALtYnJTi_qUWQzQpUUNHKcdTH4Ynbwphj_oBL8KTyo3RZvLJ4P6XYn7yySNb1tRDi2PBM3sMtUL32jHwPWTowAOwA-aAWOVO7OoVGt28_m5yfOLnAWZnDUNVtp/s1600-h/IMG_0249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnsDH4Pm4vJQ6PQP31YXALtYnJTi_qUWQzQpUUNHKcdTH4Ynbwphj_oBL8KTyo3RZvLJ4P6XYn7yySNb1tRDi2PBM3sMtUL32jHwPWTowAOwA-aAWOVO7OoVGt28_m5yfOLnAWZnDUNVtp/s320/IMG_0249.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Oh wait, we almost forgot the rolls!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyJH_8b-2qIzgUxiANe7m8v0nk3tgrRyJgKMnLkSxX0e3qjgpEgL7E1NG8JZdBsKAheFNq_yfT8-wxjgK-e-RQS5cRkIo6trtRb5lkpOzlbYltGpXKW_iQR8Z1kdQvPZqsCGhmqd3duKq/s1600-h/IMG_0248.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxyJH_8b-2qIzgUxiANe7m8v0nk3tgrRyJgKMnLkSxX0e3qjgpEgL7E1NG8JZdBsKAheFNq_yfT8-wxjgK-e-RQS5cRkIo6trtRb5lkpOzlbYltGpXKW_iQR8Z1kdQvPZqsCGhmqd3duKq/s320/IMG_0248.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div>All in all, it was a fabulous meal, and we had some amazing empanadas. I will try not to go so long without posting. I have already started thinking about my Carlton family Christmas empanadas.....I'll give you one hint.....they involve BACON!Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-91487775663634752502009-10-20T17:49:00.000-07:002009-10-20T17:49:30.137-07:00It's not really a business presentation with fresh fried empanadas!This week is a crazy week in business school. Last year the administration decided to switch from a semester system over to a 7-week module system. Lucky for me, this is week 8, finals week. In my entrepreneurship class, rather than having a final exam, we have an 8 minute presentations, or pitches, for a new business idea. My team has elected to pitch "What's in your pocket?", a cross cultural empanada cafe, market and catering service. Because of the increased popularity of Argentine food and wine, we saw the opportunity to connect the people of DC with Buenos Aires through empanadas. Additionally, we recognized that every culture has their own form of stuffed dough, or pockets. Thus, empanadas would allow us to bring the world together one pocket at a time....catchy, I know...<br />
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Our presentation is tomorrow afternoon, and as we were preparing our power-point deck today, I thought to myself, what better way to bring our business idea to life, than to actually make some "pockets" and hand them out to our audience?! So, silly me committed to making empanadas for 50 people, all the while I am in the midst of writing 4 papers, preparing for the presentation and studying for a final exam in business law (and no, the law genes did not get passed down from my father to me).<br />
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This afternoon after writing and editing 2 of my four papers, in the 2 hours I had free before my International Marketing class, I decided to make my empanada filling. I wanted to keep things simple and easy. So, I decided to go with the traditional spinach empanada, or empanada de verduras, as they are known in Argentina. I dashed over to Whole Foods to buy my frozen chopped spinach and yellow onion, since I did not have them on hand. When I walked into the store I noticed their large display of mushrooms. I thought to myself, "now mushrooms would be a great addition to this traditional pocket, and would show how are business idea is to put our own twist on the traditional." I picked up an 8 oz. package of sliced baby bella mushrooms, grabbed my onion, tasted the cheese they had on display and finally grabbed my bag of frozen spinach. <br />
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After paying, I hopped on my bike and rushed home to get things going. First thing I did was make my bechamel sauce. As I described in an earlier post, this sauce is quite simple and delicious. All you do is melt 2 tablespoons of unsalted butter in a small sauce pan. Once it is melted stir in 2 tablespoons of flour. Last, add in about a cup of whole milk or cream, and whisk until smooth. I quickly made my sauce, and then moved on to the veggies. I chopped up half of a yellow onion and started sauteing it in a generous amount of olive oil. Next I added in 2 chopped cloves of garlic. As those were cooking up I gave about half of the package of mushrooms a rough chop, and then added them in. <br />
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While the onions, mushrooms and garlic were sauteing, I drained the chopped spinach. Basically I just ran hot water over the spinach, in a colander, and once the spinach was thawed, I drained as much water out of it as I could. After the spinach was drained to my liking, I added it into the pan with the other vegetables. I stirred in the spinach and let it heat up. Next, I folded in my bechamel sauce that I had set aside earlier. When everything was blended together, I sprinkled in my spices. The spices are key to this dish. After salting the mixture, I then added in a hefty amount of white pepper and a generous amount of ground nutmeg. These two spices really highlight the flavors of the spinach, and the mushrooms for that matter. The nutmeg adds a delightful nuttiness to the dish. Once I was more than satisfied with the taste I took it off the heat and transferred it to a Tupperware. It is much easier to stuff the empanadas when this filling is chilled.<br />
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I have not assembled the actual empanadas yet, as the presentation is tomorrow and I want them to be as fresh as possible. Tomorrow I will be assembling 50+ half size empanadas. I have decided to fry these puppies up, because I still have a few packages of the dough made for frying, and the fried beef empanadas were such a hit. Additionally, the fried empanadas cook up much quicker, which leaves me with more time to study! <br />
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Hopefully these little pockets will get me an A in entrepreneurship.....Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-30630948758172334322009-10-18T18:49:00.000-07:002009-10-18T18:49:02.305-07:00Fall root vegetable pockets are the perfect cure for a rainy dayThis past weekend the weather in DC has been super icky. The temperature dropped down into the low 40's and it has been raining non-stop since Friday. It was one of those weekends when you just want to stay in and watch movies all weekend. Unfortunately, I have a ton of school work so I had to fit in a little business law in between HBO flicks. I did manage to venture out of the house on Saturday to hit up my favorite store, Whole Foods. Thanks to the generous whole foods gift card from my Aunt Aty and Uncle Howard, this week's empanadas are sponsored by them! I wasn't sure what type of empanada I was going to make when I walked into the store, but almost immediately after walking into the produce section an idea came to me.<br />
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One of my favorite things about the fall and winter are all of the wonderful root vegetables. I was wondering the aisles and I passed by the most adorable bunch of whole carrots. I was quickly reminded of this wonderful roasted carrots recipe from the Barefoot Contessa. Very simple, just roasted carrots or parsnips with a little olive oil, salt and fresh dill. I decided I would do a little twist on this recipe. Also, since I was not having anyone over to enjoy my pockets, I wanted to make a dish I could eat during the week on its own. So, I grabbed the carrots, a bag of little red potatoes, a few shallots, a bunch of fresh dill, and what I thought were parsnips. When I was done with my shopping I headed to the register to check out. As I was watching the checkout girl ring everything up, I inspected my bunch of "parsnips". I soon realized I had not grabbed parsnips, but Daikon. This would just not work. I have never even cooked with Daikon! So I sprinted back over to produce while my other items were being scanned, returned the Daikon and perused the aisle for parsnips. Unfortunately, after asking a produce man, it was made clear that they were out of parsnips. Carrots, potatoes and shallots would have to do!<br />
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After unloading my other groceries, I decided to get going on my empanadas. First thing I needed to do was chop up my veggies so I could roast them up. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgoyW2YZlkdt4_tw49K7pifVvBZWwIFVRGAlWHaLG-aDnQ5tC6PuE7Zd_FPQZyuAB87rCtGZFR17gy0zyjCacKT_vJrgM3JTtVdCsKYkKdtH6t7Go55Igi1ppblSacOnDRI3PKQ8RBYBW-/s1600-h/IMG_6136.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgoyW2YZlkdt4_tw49K7pifVvBZWwIFVRGAlWHaLG-aDnQ5tC6PuE7Zd_FPQZyuAB87rCtGZFR17gy0zyjCacKT_vJrgM3JTtVdCsKYkKdtH6t7Go55Igi1ppblSacOnDRI3PKQ8RBYBW-/s320/IMG_6136.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After chopping everything up in to 1/2 inch pieces, I put everything on one of my fabulous baking sheets. I tossed everything with a generous amount of olive oil, some fresh ground sea salt, fresh ground pepper and about half of a bunch of dill finely chopped up. <br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bi8_y4R1yGGAI92iRA0scTCHIzApqw4nu3xuvr_WLepnAFgXJglBTq4B1PClEnjGTEaGgGkmxBT8Q1F7sucj9-lHC3r7-DVHGtfGcoo2XYpogV7LZ9yUOqUIKq9QR3erCt8L__u9fT6U/s1600-h/IMG_6141.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9bi8_y4R1yGGAI92iRA0scTCHIzApqw4nu3xuvr_WLepnAFgXJglBTq4B1PClEnjGTEaGgGkmxBT8Q1F7sucj9-lHC3r7-DVHGtfGcoo2XYpogV7LZ9yUOqUIKq9QR3erCt8L__u9fT6U/s320/IMG_6141.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">I had preheated the oven to 375 while I was chopping up the veggies. I put them in the oven and after about 30 minutes I gave them a good toss. I then cranked up the heat to 400 so that the veggies would get nice and caramelized. I waited about 20 more minutes, and I took the vegetables out of the oven to cool a bit. My apartment smelled of wonderful roasted vegetables, and I was definitely ready to give them a taste.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">The vegetables were out of this world. Salty, caramelized, bold flavors, perfect to stuff into some dough pockets! As I mentioned, I didnt have anyone coming over, so I decided to just make one empanada. While at Whole Foods I found some new organic empanada dough for baking in the freezer aisle. I took one circle out of the freezer to defrost. Once it was defrosted, and the veggies had cooled down a bit, I put my empanada together. Since I was only making one empanada, I didnt want to waste a whole egg on an egg wash. Instead I brushed the top of the empanada with some of the flavorful oil from the vegetables. After about 15 minutes in the oven at 375 my pocket was ready. I took one bite and it was pretty tasty. Then I decided to try it with some of my balsamic reduction I had in the fridge. Mission accomplished. Delicious, hearty, rainy day empanada done!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZFN1Gxr4odlILWJ1b_aULHLrgXu1BUwvOaYuk3kFwDJqwhQdVUMtpyXhtMW53p2nT5D50lXREL8eZ9gEZM2_xuPbN3ctB2Cg1k8tV7-miK5ugtRHlvOF1MCJW6kOzqlDTgpTevQPstdZ/s1600-h/IMG_6156.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlZFN1Gxr4odlILWJ1b_aULHLrgXu1BUwvOaYuk3kFwDJqwhQdVUMtpyXhtMW53p2nT5D50lXREL8eZ9gEZM2_xuPbN3ctB2Cg1k8tV7-miK5ugtRHlvOF1MCJW6kOzqlDTgpTevQPstdZ/s320/IMG_6156.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div>Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-55817860476785392912009-10-18T18:25:00.000-07:002009-10-18T18:25:51.701-07:00Pics of my Pie, as PromisedI am shocked to say that I made my pumpkin pie on Tuesday, and I still have a lot of it left! The pie turned out great, unfortunately I have not been able to have anyone over to enjoy it. So, lets consider it a good thing that it's not all gone, or else that would have meant that I ate it all! Here are some pics from my pie making experience.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkq3H4qU_eCxXes1jD8zTbFo4a3EIxh54n3SAtK5lEKPlEo1LboM4SwCns7NyH9Nv1FfJ71oiLzAjHR-TBPQ75jrejAap76841T7Gn1NKUaOdbbkGowB3_Wcpj6OiQq3_FzupSwE-ppR_p/s1600-h/IMG_6123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkq3H4qU_eCxXes1jD8zTbFo4a3EIxh54n3SAtK5lEKPlEo1LboM4SwCns7NyH9Nv1FfJ71oiLzAjHR-TBPQ75jrejAap76841T7Gn1NKUaOdbbkGowB3_Wcpj6OiQq3_FzupSwE-ppR_p/s320/IMG_6123.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgI-3p_TAjE-gcZyQOlnskLVPA4jg0R22BxEXI28t6szMgrJKlOncXhIaP3dauSi2olybg_Ro60Cv_zxdz3XZzag6kOKjXZFL6sMAIcXHafCCwFvyHIY2L3-CbtZvzh3CN3QiwkQPNpyU/s1600-h/IMG_6124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtgI-3p_TAjE-gcZyQOlnskLVPA4jg0R22BxEXI28t6szMgrJKlOncXhIaP3dauSi2olybg_Ro60Cv_zxdz3XZzag6kOKjXZFL6sMAIcXHafCCwFvyHIY2L3-CbtZvzh3CN3QiwkQPNpyU/s320/IMG_6124.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwfebVIT50WCN_flk3MG6bRNFDxXug9TpjS0zKb-KP83PG0vWp6ZErJ88OhyphenhyphenxvaqloVcc1ZZF55r6CZy3uEU2v2xN3Miz9AHc5VIP35PYV78sA2CLVhUZcvSU9nc4aAEfpnOQEq6KZD7qi/s1600-h/IMG_6127.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgwfebVIT50WCN_flk3MG6bRNFDxXug9TpjS0zKb-KP83PG0vWp6ZErJ88OhyphenhyphenxvaqloVcc1ZZF55r6CZy3uEU2v2xN3Miz9AHc5VIP35PYV78sA2CLVhUZcvSU9nc4aAEfpnOQEq6KZD7qi/s320/IMG_6127.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm263ihC_pJV5WYGTlK-Gd4U30ml3NphyphenhyphenbgHkvJ4f14lyVdjIIDcFKmcBexbeyS0S7dqY5QWAUkjrAk7js7y0rRHqRwY7sNoxtwi7Ak3yWXP9oZYb8JMTk7LMs6MNE5qxXg_s9E7WEVQ68/s1600-h/IMG_6129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgm263ihC_pJV5WYGTlK-Gd4U30ml3NphyphenhyphenbgHkvJ4f14lyVdjIIDcFKmcBexbeyS0S7dqY5QWAUkjrAk7js7y0rRHqRwY7sNoxtwi7Ak3yWXP9oZYb8JMTk7LMs6MNE5qxXg_s9E7WEVQ68/s320/IMG_6129.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0aH-pdpjmfwbhg_p1TVRUJPBonR8uHRo4mDnT2w57TbwAk6pj1LHeKpsY3qInjjbLIhqEe_NGtEb7mUuWE2VsvCnCFa71fnFxQNa23ByGV42aOjdo-U0Gj7I9Bbp_yUUTsVbH3OhIzOt2/s1600-h/IMG_6133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0aH-pdpjmfwbhg_p1TVRUJPBonR8uHRo4mDnT2w57TbwAk6pj1LHeKpsY3qInjjbLIhqEe_NGtEb7mUuWE2VsvCnCFa71fnFxQNa23ByGV42aOjdo-U0Gj7I9Bbp_yUUTsVbH3OhIzOt2/s320/IMG_6133.JPG" /></a><br />
</div>Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-91785071054636851962009-10-13T14:41:00.000-07:002009-10-13T14:41:01.946-07:00Empanadas are just mini pies, aren't they?Today I decided to put my leftover pumpkin filling to good use. I wasnt sure what I was going to do with all of my leftovers, but while I was at Whole Foods today they had graham cracker pie crusts on sale and I thought, wow, I can make a pumpkin pie! As I mentioned in my last post, it is really starting to feel like fall here in Washington, so what better way to spend my day than making a fresh pumpkin pie. So, I purchased my pie crust, along with some cinnamon scented pine cones, and made my way home.<br />
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When I got home, I preheated the oven to 375, and googled pumpkin pie recipes. I have never made a pumpkin pie, so I just wanted some references to what goes into a traditional pie besides the spicy pumpkin puré. I figured out that I should add a few eggs and some cream to my filling. Well, knowing me I didnt just want to do the traditional thang, and I had some leftover chopped pecans in my cupboard, so I decided to work those in some how. I decided to coat the bottom of my graham cracker crust with the chopped pecans. After layering pecans on the bottom of the crust, I beat 3 eggs in a large bowl. The I added in my leftover pumpkin filling (about 2 cups). Lastly I poured in about 1/2 a cup of cream. I blended it all together, and it was time to pour it into the crust. I had made the perfect amount for one pie! I decided to take things one step further and sprinkle some more pecans on top of the pie to add a little texture. Now I am waiting for the pie while it bakes for about 45 minutes. When it is done I promise to report back, and post some pics. <br />
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Hope everyone is enjoying fall as much as I am!Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-28840905915241569642009-10-12T13:51:00.000-07:002009-10-12T13:51:53.737-07:00My first attempt at frying and a little fall inspired pocketTwo posts in two days! You all must think I'm crazy. I guess I feel like I just owe everyone since I went so long with no posts. This past Saturday my roommate and I threw a little b-day fiesta for yours truly at our apartment. As you would expect, I whipped up some tasty empanadas for my guests. I decided to make one savory kind and one sweet, because having two types of empanadas at my last party was such a hit. <br />
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For the savory empanada I thought I would bring it back to the traditional empanada that really inspired me to get into empanadas. So, I decided to cook up some classic Argentine beef empanadas. In case you are unfamiliar with the traditional Argentine beef empanadas, let me give you a run down of the plethora of ingredients that go into these little fiesta pockets: ground beef, olive oil, red peppers, yellow peppers, garlic, green onions, tomatoes, olives, parsley, raisins, hard boiled eggs, paprika, cumin, cayenne, salt and pepper. BAM! I know, that sounds like a lot of ingredients, however, they really all come together to create a wonderful little Argentina party in your mouth. As I mentioned in past posts, the dough I purchased was made for frying, but I have been baking them up. Well, I decided to go all the way and fry up the little pockets for the party.<br />
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The night before my party, my good friend, and sous chef, Dawn Marie, came over to help me cook and enjoy a little vino. We kicked things off by cooking up the ground beef. I purchased about 2 lbs of lean ground beef and just cooked it up in my handy dandy Calphalon pan, on medium heat. While the beef was cooking up we started chopping up the other ingredients.<br />
<div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Oxu8nPQyScJvgSIKewLKVRf7F9n6HwVc_kwMdwgeoXz_aFgyOdRU26MEpTrp4lzPHYnUZ0NTF4vBKJymuRfDIqGSZMGm-LpUf25UV2reXSZNtbg1Z-UWGv9ylY4zw8eB2npd2PXdae73/s1600-h/IMG_6084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg_Oxu8nPQyScJvgSIKewLKVRf7F9n6HwVc_kwMdwgeoXz_aFgyOdRU26MEpTrp4lzPHYnUZ0NTF4vBKJymuRfDIqGSZMGm-LpUf25UV2reXSZNtbg1Z-UWGv9ylY4zw8eB2npd2PXdae73/s320/IMG_6084.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyi4oZPgrqzP0L27wOjjsqwotrTsI7AkZSGsdRo3XT-tXNlLoYAkQADIrh8sNhVpsB2jx1TieFjUJxm3MNssvH7wph5Ut3wzQ9FOV5cbWDcouua5PDR0GDhyJFPMf7o5wPTtjTWsl2grjh/s1600-h/IMG_6085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyi4oZPgrqzP0L27wOjjsqwotrTsI7AkZSGsdRo3XT-tXNlLoYAkQADIrh8sNhVpsB2jx1TieFjUJxm3MNssvH7wph5Ut3wzQ9FOV5cbWDcouua5PDR0GDhyJFPMf7o5wPTtjTWsl2grjh/s320/IMG_6085.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFY4PF5U4Nyz8TlQ_tI4sKCpbO8z7DsloCzx44NZWmLLJXQTjnV9UQ-r2iVWlIqpJFomHbcImy6-AN3TPwineRtkAbZl_G1MX66uaSdPT45Zwnl142COPc_lmkt_g3b7lHjPvEupNcEjMJ/s1600-h/IMG_6086.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFY4PF5U4Nyz8TlQ_tI4sKCpbO8z7DsloCzx44NZWmLLJXQTjnV9UQ-r2iVWlIqpJFomHbcImy6-AN3TPwineRtkAbZl_G1MX66uaSdPT45Zwnl142COPc_lmkt_g3b7lHjPvEupNcEjMJ/s320/IMG_6086.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8E7irD7Z8sK2tiXj3BC6jBRGUayjlhvV5F1rI1UsO4qlXA7uqm23hGZoa12bs1v6gUaPuqWgciLLD-UBUg99jJKcOQRyZjIOMfwmJ7Z7CEa4ImztjBLsvMRJt9a2GVvMiyJ2EQgb-dzw/s1600-h/IMG_6088.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc8E7irD7Z8sK2tiXj3BC6jBRGUayjlhvV5F1rI1UsO4qlXA7uqm23hGZoa12bs1v6gUaPuqWgciLLD-UBUg99jJKcOQRyZjIOMfwmJ7Z7CEa4ImztjBLsvMRJt9a2GVvMiyJ2EQgb-dzw/s320/IMG_6088.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>I forgot to mention that I hard boiled 3 eggs prior to cooking up the beef. It makes things easier to get the eggs done and out of the way, before your stove gets taken over with other pots and pans. So, back to the veggies. I chopped up the green onions first, while DMarie worked on the red and yellow peppers. You want to make sure to chop up everything pretty small, becuase when everything goes into the empanada you want to get bites with a little bit of everything. Once the green onions were ready, I threw them in one of my other Calphalons with some hot olive oil in it. When they softened up and turned bright green, we threw in the peppers. I quickly chopped up a few cloves of garlic, and added them in.When those vegetables were soft, it was time to add in the tomatoes. We had chopped up 3 Roma tomatoes to add into the mix.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6qGBu_RR6UvD4VKenqPwRpNUlM06FkW9Oylb40WAIr8G6Xttc5r8axMhsJfRXQvb-iUAigh8S0TBQiKT4DSHx8UQUUCWS3I1FByRUezJpyGPdQOqSZ1_kcyXBLLbeaLExLrOP13LWEf5/s1600-h/IMG_6089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhZ6qGBu_RR6UvD4VKenqPwRpNUlM06FkW9Oylb40WAIr8G6Xttc5r8axMhsJfRXQvb-iUAigh8S0TBQiKT4DSHx8UQUUCWS3I1FByRUezJpyGPdQOqSZ1_kcyXBLLbeaLExLrOP13LWEf5/s320/IMG_6089.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">When the veggies were cooked up and soft it was time to add in the ground beef. I drained the ground beef of the fat, and then added it into the veggie medley.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xFxfyiQxuZJyeBkre3sjm8Neq9Mp_URPaEuZm8vvKaJjnG_fPiVjWHYYiUlkWt0mED2pahDes3THOggDn20tw97SzMRbn10c5I5PtaYfco2ZgTMsFbejuaIdJSHqvr-e7TLGv-q9iVw8/s1600-h/IMG_6092.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8xFxfyiQxuZJyeBkre3sjm8Neq9Mp_URPaEuZm8vvKaJjnG_fPiVjWHYYiUlkWt0mED2pahDes3THOggDn20tw97SzMRbn10c5I5PtaYfco2ZgTMsFbejuaIdJSHqvr-e7TLGv-q9iVw8/s320/IMG_6092.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">After adding in the beef, it was time to season it up. I sprinkled in a hefty amount of cumin and paprika. To give the dish a little kick I threw in some Cayenne pepper. Then for good measure I tossed in a little Salt and fresh ground pepper. I let the beef and vegetables cook up together and really blend together. After about 7 minutes on medium heat I removed the beef and veggies from the heat. It was now time for the final touches. DMarie had chopped up some fresh Italian parsley and some green olives stuffed with pimientos, and I had chopped up some golden raisins and the hard boiled eggs. After adding all of those into the beef, the filling was almost ready.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7pw-vXeu0ZrQpzQcKE0tg9BHVYUkBM_HS4SRR5P9ECyE5oidamfD_2c591KYTyglrnj6okCzlhq77C8T7tY4Zx2enfGtTgD4xuxaBr6LLhyYPONdcBJb6YZ3LHSYIHQDacaII8eeqdTxZ/s1600-h/IMG_6094.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7pw-vXeu0ZrQpzQcKE0tg9BHVYUkBM_HS4SRR5P9ECyE5oidamfD_2c591KYTyglrnj6okCzlhq77C8T7tY4Zx2enfGtTgD4xuxaBr6LLhyYPONdcBJb6YZ3LHSYIHQDacaII8eeqdTxZ/s320/IMG_6094.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I mixed everything together. Tasted the filling for seasoning. Added a little more cumin and salt. And there you have it, traditional beef filling done! Now, all I needed to do was stuff the empandas and fry them up.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3_8ouOitspJASFPN1uIqakDkDN9uRrDX-2PtbaV59HaO4w9NQjhCE8dtvT5bhJdC5IA1MoO8pE1hKgykMD5hRfRc8id9xV_cQtxaV7U2J1dOItNS9JwCZnepG00AElAPFUCzb2_Ktfm7/s1600-h/IMG_6095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgN3_8ouOitspJASFPN1uIqakDkDN9uRrDX-2PtbaV59HaO4w9NQjhCE8dtvT5bhJdC5IA1MoO8pE1hKgykMD5hRfRc8id9xV_cQtxaV7U2J1dOItNS9JwCZnepG00AElAPFUCzb2_Ktfm7/s320/IMG_6095.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">I waited until the afternoon of the party to put the empanadas together. I wanted to make mini empandas for the party, so I cut the circular dough I had purchased at Giant in half and made little triangle empanadas. I was having a hard time getting as much beef filling in each empanada as I would like. I tried out a few different things, and finally discovered a great trick. I folded over the curved side of the empanada and sealed it. Then, I would stuff the beef filling into the open side while holding it up. This really allowed me to get a lot beef in each pocket. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">While I was stuffing the empandas, I started to heat up the oil. I had planned on just using vegetable oil, but realized when I looked in my cabinet, that I only had a small amount of Canola oil. So, I used up the vegetable oil I had, and then threw in about half of a bottle of Spanish Olive oil. I had remembered when I was in Spain that they fried everything up in Olive Oil, so I figured I would be fine. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Once the pockets were filled, and the oil was hot, I started to fry. I only put in two empandas at a time. This would make it easy for me to manage, but also would not cool down the oil all that much. Each set of empandas took about 30 seconds to fry up, super fast! When I took them out of the oil I placed them on one of my cookie sheets I had lined with paper towels. This allows for some of the oil to drain out of the empanadas. I also sprinkled the emapnadas with a little salt right when I took them out of the oil. Frying up the empandas may have been a little messier than baking, however, they turned out to be extremely delicious! Everyone at the party thoroughly enjoyed them, and I had none left at the end of the night!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43lImEEeynYqMGc6pv0nF8XOYaZJ41Y-so63v9enrrFgaYdgzBspYK97z5Rr7KJ47EZqTPg21CawB_bCZgfnuUbaVKAsgi0GQrsX85woBKoKFiXbub6Ar6kM6Ibi8bch0ILKON6Z6GBEF/s1600-h/IMG_6113.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj43lImEEeynYqMGc6pv0nF8XOYaZJ41Y-so63v9enrrFgaYdgzBspYK97z5Rr7KJ47EZqTPg21CawB_bCZgfnuUbaVKAsgi0GQrsX85woBKoKFiXbub6Ar6kM6Ibi8bch0ILKON6Z6GBEF/s320/IMG_6113.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNrgvmw2mDGXhydclpSzUMiqXb7sqw3vVqGLZ3QEd_edtJGiOpqapGufYpjhhZpI-KSlcLJWiJlYYNsm0oO0FbDYJQL1r854UwYjTaGJn-oHWB0rMEuRqMcT-srkZKyYvU51d8AiszT3Nw/s1600-h/IMG_6114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNrgvmw2mDGXhydclpSzUMiqXb7sqw3vVqGLZ3QEd_edtJGiOpqapGufYpjhhZpI-KSlcLJWiJlYYNsm0oO0FbDYJQL1r854UwYjTaGJn-oHWB0rMEuRqMcT-srkZKyYvU51d8AiszT3Nw/s320/IMG_6114.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDW4kIlv1UL8uAqvpie8ehDGuE6RGM5IgtX6IHXlnp4Q5iL06pF8UYgEzU9oUWXRi2Vcz_C0UEbbFIpkejMrYSoZ2YmmLo7rq1MaRr3zH_6Oj8uN1SmkNBnRRMWM1xtYrFrrdrdiJDJyK/s1600-h/IMG_6116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgEDW4kIlv1UL8uAqvpie8ehDGuE6RGM5IgtX6IHXlnp4Q5iL06pF8UYgEzU9oUWXRi2Vcz_C0UEbbFIpkejMrYSoZ2YmmLo7rq1MaRr3zH_6Oj8uN1SmkNBnRRMWM1xtYrFrrdrdiJDJyK/s320/IMG_6116.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now that I've told you all about the beef pockets, lets talk about the sweet empanadas.... It is really starting to feel like fall in DC, and last time I was at Whole Foods, they had pumpkins everywhere. So, I thought to myself, why not make a pumpkin pie empanada?! I will warn you, I did not go all the way and roast my own pumpkins, I took the easy route and bought pumpkin puré at the store. Also, I decided to buy puff pastry at the store, as the dough I have been using would have been too heavy for these pockets.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">To make the filling, I started with 3-4 tablespoons of unsalted butter. As you may have been able to guess, I melted the butter in my Calphalon pan. Once the butter was all melted down, I added in about a cup and a half of brown sugar.<br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsl5neGLL-JAbl2d_versQIH6CsqZx_7spGuXPHXktIapEQe6zlrXciGqPzVJLactI6S-WiDhaSabORnr4vAqLOQMti7kaaW-Y9EI7FiupOjfgiV_YZ8QkFX6EgIzzh0Bdizk0eM86bebZ/s1600-h/IMG_6096.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjsl5neGLL-JAbl2d_versQIH6CsqZx_7spGuXPHXktIapEQe6zlrXciGqPzVJLactI6S-WiDhaSabORnr4vAqLOQMti7kaaW-Y9EI7FiupOjfgiV_YZ8QkFX6EgIzzh0Bdizk0eM86bebZ/s320/IMG_6096.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgG7cPyVv1Jek9samwcjUDzyQ42iY-PwxQDvIPCRs8JBq9w8fwLRyXjUgGCgY_Cnv3jS2b_1xPQDMBaDyifgaR6Z9ZS7l9GqS8rjC1w3hwoVi8pkPmgIP9fFdrmwVBeg7k6iYvjmEFC4Cc/s1600-h/IMG_6098.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhgG7cPyVv1Jek9samwcjUDzyQ42iY-PwxQDvIPCRs8JBq9w8fwLRyXjUgGCgY_Cnv3jS2b_1xPQDMBaDyifgaR6Z9ZS7l9GqS8rjC1w3hwoVi8pkPmgIP9fFdrmwVBeg7k6iYvjmEFC4Cc/s320/IMG_6098.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">When the brown sugar was melted down into caramel, I added in a can and a half of Pumpkin. At first I freaked out a little because the caramel mixture immediately hardened up in weird chunks right after I added the Pumpkin. I then realized that the low temperature of the pumpkin likely cooled down the sugar and made the consistency a little strange. Once the pumpkin heated up, the sugar and butter just blended right in. As the pumpkin was heating up, I sprinkled in a bit of cinnamon, ground cloves, nutmeg and the zest of a whole orange. These spices really remind me of fall, and go beautifully with pumpkin. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9yaSKBQZFLNMlCmPyJpZeCpOhnEaY9FHQtU8ZhJWZqGSDU5C4Mh9oZbYX8rNjvsBB5Xiybc_H4SrparuW9rSe48Nr8qpZlRonSsZp5A_3idUMXX7V7XZDxa0YJNGFxZbaO4oSWE5oxxbI/s1600-h/IMG_6099.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9yaSKBQZFLNMlCmPyJpZeCpOhnEaY9FHQtU8ZhJWZqGSDU5C4Mh9oZbYX8rNjvsBB5Xiybc_H4SrparuW9rSe48Nr8qpZlRonSsZp5A_3idUMXX7V7XZDxa0YJNGFxZbaO4oSWE5oxxbI/s320/IMG_6099.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">This is me, freaking out about the sugar hardening after I added the pumpkin.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmndKf4mB50pwCxruasmcQBruOv2ZB4xo-YdG8WNNl-F7C1gdPnWOD_NaLDezUT7a0tb5LDeEkRYf0RIlTSghL8BVpNmXQp1PvRiQU1f2aptK2GjmTjZeyZKAscp6pfCCRCCNl_qd5nvHp/s1600-h/IMG_6100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgmndKf4mB50pwCxruasmcQBruOv2ZB4xo-YdG8WNNl-F7C1gdPnWOD_NaLDezUT7a0tb5LDeEkRYf0RIlTSghL8BVpNmXQp1PvRiQU1f2aptK2GjmTjZeyZKAscp6pfCCRCCNl_qd5nvHp/s320/IMG_6100.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3fYfJuMmIloSbumW42OjMP3e30WKQsY7Ox-rO4C2BLmJEsITEytki6XGG_neuL7QuC8Heb85GG5YzKnTtlEuHnwB6kodG-djU3F5WgT4nsEVu-OlbWk94T6NABT8jR6yLKh_pgzXUyyX/s1600-h/IMG_6101.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhh3fYfJuMmIloSbumW42OjMP3e30WKQsY7Ox-rO4C2BLmJEsITEytki6XGG_neuL7QuC8Heb85GG5YzKnTtlEuHnwB6kodG-djU3F5WgT4nsEVu-OlbWk94T6NABT8jR6yLKh_pgzXUyyX/s320/IMG_6101.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: center;">DMarie enjoying the spicy pumpkin filling!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Like the beef empandas, I decided to wait until the afternoon of the party to actually put the empanadas together and bake them up. So the next day, I took out the pastry dough and let it thaw for about 40 minutes. Once it was ready, I rolled out each piece of dough so that it was really thin. I did not want the dough to overpower the filling. I was able to use one of my handy empanada cutters to cut out the circles for my empanadas. Because I had let the filling sit in the fridge over night, it set, which made stuffing the empanadas a lot easier, as the filling was not oozing everywhere. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After the empanadas were all stuffed and ready to be baked, I brushed them with the usual egg wash, and then sprinkled regular sugar and cinnamon on top. I had preheated the oven to 400 degrees, so they were ready to go in.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOiH1kPA-Ic2utr7ZHDnWmH1ItNcJjEe4GBJSVF7w5DVLK7Uv31Us0EgTYIXD3Euyy5BzYNZuYGqMJEOZcchhVT-Yj1dMpmSJ6yk-FF-8W3II3B7xvoXckFwcwx1hgJ5T4TP52Dg4UjZGD/s1600-h/IMG_6102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOiH1kPA-Ic2utr7ZHDnWmH1ItNcJjEe4GBJSVF7w5DVLK7Uv31Us0EgTYIXD3Euyy5BzYNZuYGqMJEOZcchhVT-Yj1dMpmSJ6yk-FF-8W3II3B7xvoXckFwcwx1hgJ5T4TP52Dg4UjZGD/s320/IMG_6102.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEielj8cWZzqnBMmdGfVbcuvWQy5V_u2wB0YJfFiSSllfJLgrotCf3jNQfn8i0JUkPe6G9zA8pI58eXAhlhjph2abC-2tOt2nH2FI92703WS9qM2Uyb4J27CKAzYRmnIqU_iVQxUopIJ32LK/s1600-h/IMG_6104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEielj8cWZzqnBMmdGfVbcuvWQy5V_u2wB0YJfFiSSllfJLgrotCf3jNQfn8i0JUkPe6G9zA8pI58eXAhlhjph2abC-2tOt2nH2FI92703WS9qM2Uyb4J27CKAzYRmnIqU_iVQxUopIJ32LK/s320/IMG_6104.JPG" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">They may not look perfect, but hey they are homemade! After about 15 minutes in the oven, the pockets were golden brown and smelled like Thanksgiving.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAtOa5dagkgxmM_L4kwEXel7U2RXRO0u6sEP_Zqn2SB3jZAT71FkkjVJU5iJlLTx8deu43DvCIB8WAEHlYWH-mdQ_yW7FT5Zom1S6Roq4nYtZDRs6Fqw594whoKYhXZTIKdxxlNFOvM4m/s1600-h/IMG_6108.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnAtOa5dagkgxmM_L4kwEXel7U2RXRO0u6sEP_Zqn2SB3jZAT71FkkjVJU5iJlLTx8deu43DvCIB8WAEHlYWH-mdQ_yW7FT5Zom1S6Roq4nYtZDRs6Fqw594whoKYhXZTIKdxxlNFOvM4m/s320/IMG_6108.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjol5ECdLKW-rTnPM_HrNZBh4JpE8i6Z-nDlNcObLt11zn1cyxnEcHNS9ex8aILF2WvlwS4u2lVYL1VpHsBlvx37jR4Ga8XkRs-qU_GDzc9WCLvfV6FOieLmsh-8mHDT_0rtbWL7kZDaAec/s1600-h/IMG_6110.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjol5ECdLKW-rTnPM_HrNZBh4JpE8i6Z-nDlNcObLt11zn1cyxnEcHNS9ex8aILF2WvlwS4u2lVYL1VpHsBlvx37jR4Ga8XkRs-qU_GDzc9WCLvfV6FOieLmsh-8mHDT_0rtbWL7kZDaAec/s320/IMG_6110.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: center;"> </div><div style="text-align: left;">The pumpkin pie empanadas turned out to be pretty amazing. I think I definitely need to make this recipe for my family over the holidays. The dough was light and fluffy, and the filling was sweet yet spicy. Another great hit at the party. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I promise to try and not go so long without reporting on my empanada filling adventure. Until the next pocket!<br />
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</div>Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-62767330264453465002009-10-11T09:53:00.000-07:002009-10-11T10:01:15.596-07:00Been a long time, but lets talk Indian flare!First of all, allow me to apologize for depriving my avid readers of posts for the last couple of weeks. Grad school kicked it into full gear, and my empanada adventure sort of took the back burner. I have a few empanadas to report on, but lets start with an Indian empanada filling experiment. I need to start by saying that this filling actually never got turned into a wonderful dough pocket, but I can say that I know from my empanada experiences that this filling would be delightful turned into an empanada.<br />
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So lets dive right in. I was shopping at Trader Joes, and was trying to buy groceries for the week based on a couple of meals I was going to make. One thing I have learned since being in school, is that it is a great idea to make a large dish on Sunday night, and eat the leftovers for dinner or lunch the rest of the week. As I was wandering the aisles I spotted the TJ's cooked lentils. I thought to myself, "I could make a wonderful lentil salad with tomatoes, parsley, maybe some goat cheese and a few other treats." I grabbed the lentils and then wandered around in search of the other salad ingredients.<br />
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Like my blog, I sort of let my recipe go, and never found the time to make my lentil salad. A week or so later I decided it was time to do something with the lentils. I still had most of the salad ingredients, but was no longer in the mood for such a dish. I opened up my cabinet and found a can of garbanzos. Immediately I remembered this wonderful Indian garbanzo dish that I used to make. It was incredibly simple, onions, garlic, tomatoes, garbanzos and some masala seasoning.<br />
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</div>I chopped up an onion and garlic and sauteed them in some Spanish Olive Oil. Then I added in the garbanzos.<br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Next the tomatoes.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMgf71IFhIF8VNNPnh8TWS3qz1Rml6sfOzbQYdBdtW7cv54nrjWWd63Sa1K-jDIU2cYx0YAvYbwVR-cmwaC3YtG8g0lD3TcZtSEp3six-w2BvidHBOjPvp248VcMZ-Wj1OJgMcSqeGauO/s1600-h/IMG_6072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPMgf71IFhIF8VNNPnh8TWS3qz1Rml6sfOzbQYdBdtW7cv54nrjWWd63Sa1K-jDIU2cYx0YAvYbwVR-cmwaC3YtG8g0lD3TcZtSEp3six-w2BvidHBOjPvp248VcMZ-Wj1OJgMcSqeGauO/s320/IMG_6072.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After seasoning the fun melody with salt and pepper, I finally added in the Lentils.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEice-eLfKogiiPLkzWONmBAMzpINJnix2xKZNBypl6BTcFws5HTdiSxx9dyaIxpBLBILqH-hAiqcO-GS6robDXms4wHp_danWtGlG0AYP0kutcZEu03aS1HCXltw1Gt3Ivmn0MjQAulrBTV/s1600-h/IMG_6075.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEice-eLfKogiiPLkzWONmBAMzpINJnix2xKZNBypl6BTcFws5HTdiSxx9dyaIxpBLBILqH-hAiqcO-GS6robDXms4wHp_danWtGlG0AYP0kutcZEu03aS1HCXltw1Gt3Ivmn0MjQAulrBTV/s320/IMG_6075.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once everything was in the pan and really cooking I added in the key ingredients, the spices. No measurements were used, I just kind of felt it out. I sprinkled in a healthy amount of masala seasoning. A key spice in Indian cooking. Then I added in one of my favorite spices that I use in Mexican cooking, but I thought would go well in this dish, Cumin. Added in some more salt and pepper and just let everything simmer for 10-15 minutes.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZXJMetDp-gKhzh8t_ChFn-keuV3e2BTJ9h8b30HbAb7Fx-78OynqClKi1mJY0XTpfxSkeU1ntZo0NlbLqr_gsmWopvyqE0uIzlrjkpuEoCAE1GgmewG0njxjKulsp_3VYNV4EGE-VAnbY/s1600-h/IMG_6080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjZXJMetDp-gKhzh8t_ChFn-keuV3e2BTJ9h8b30HbAb7Fx-78OynqClKi1mJY0XTpfxSkeU1ntZo0NlbLqr_gsmWopvyqE0uIzlrjkpuEoCAE1GgmewG0njxjKulsp_3VYNV4EGE-VAnbY/s320/IMG_6080.JPG" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After it was all done, the lentils were truly delightful, a real Indian treat. I never was able to put them into an empanada, but I just know they would be a great filling for future empanadas. I ate the lentils for the rest of the week. Sometimes on their own, other days over Quinoa. I would definitely recommend this recipe for empanadas, a side dish to accompany some Tandori Chicken, or just a fun treat over rice. <br />
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</div>Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-85521541213125645422009-09-21T16:22:00.000-07:002009-09-21T16:22:55.082-07:00End of Summer sweet empanadasThis weekend it really hit me, the summer has come and gone. It has started to cool down in DC, and the leaves are on the brink of changing colors. School is in full gear, although my mind isn't quite there yet! Seeing as though the summer is wrapping up, I thought I would make an empanada that paid tribute to the wonderful summer fruits. So, I made my way over to Whole Foods, as usual, and the first thing I noticed were some nectarines on sale. The nectarines were not as ripe as I would have liked, but I picked up a few anyway. Then, as I made my way into the store I saw some wonderful, plump blackberries. They reminded me of some of the delicious blackberries I had eaten while in North Carolina this summer. They may have been the best blackberries I ever tasted. Even though I knew these would not be as scrumptious as the blackberries I ate in NC, I picked up a box to mix in with the nectarines.<br />
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A s I made my way through the aisles, all I could think about was this delicious blackberry peach crumble I made this summer while staying with my good friends Rachel and Scott in Atlanta. This led me to the bulk oats and grains aisle, where I picked up some regular rolled outs. I thought it would be a fun idea to sprinkle them on top of the empanadas.<br />
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After getting all my ingredients, I made my way home. Lucky for me, I had stocked up on empanada dough from Giant last week, so I didnt need to venture up to Columbia Heights to get anymore. When I got home, I started by prepping the nectarines. <br />
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</div>Because the nectarine was not as ripe as I like, and empanadas dont bake as long as crumbles/crisps, I decided to cook the nectarine a bit. I melted a couple of tablespoons of unsalted butter in my trusty Calphalon pan. I tossed the 2 nectarines I diced up with some lemon zest, lemon juice and brown sugar. Once the butter was melted, I added the nectarine to the pan.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVwmwM7qCvmRyJKqfpNDDB1Uu8ljmtVXE1kENJPBK2QptHvUdfC3aiL8ZCE3zNeZHqNAsaxJYhWbm3LoxqJyYMW4zJG6HqzNX-zON-EnMjRbZG94BTGYJQmpkzO_mzK_MEClTMsRFd_4c/s1600-h/-29.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSVwmwM7qCvmRyJKqfpNDDB1Uu8ljmtVXE1kENJPBK2QptHvUdfC3aiL8ZCE3zNeZHqNAsaxJYhWbm3LoxqJyYMW4zJG6HqzNX-zON-EnMjRbZG94BTGYJQmpkzO_mzK_MEClTMsRFd_4c/s320/-29.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirGg_o5el-nibSyfj8YIeSf8evL5S3eop42qW-5bi8UrG68BnCgZavJGco_-_ehgj7NTJBhjXNjdQiOqlunjJo-N7ZdKJ93vWtrSMr4fQ2foyVRSGLGP_tD3Tx3pWrrK_mO-wLyi_RF8LE/s1600-h/-30.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirGg_o5el-nibSyfj8YIeSf8evL5S3eop42qW-5bi8UrG68BnCgZavJGco_-_ehgj7NTJBhjXNjdQiOqlunjJo-N7ZdKJ93vWtrSMr4fQ2foyVRSGLGP_tD3Tx3pWrrK_mO-wLyi_RF8LE/s320/-30.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I cooked the nectarine for about five minutes until it was nice and soft. It smelled amazing, and tasted even better! Sweet tart and delicious. As the nectarines were cooling, I took out the big ripe blackberries and gave them a rough chop. When the nectarines were cooled down, I added them to the blackberries. I sprinkled in just the right amount of cinnamon and nutmeg, a touch of vanilla extract and just a touch more of brown sugar.<br />
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</div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguz_vgWpHwN-a7g7uL4tZuKLnZ7lSBGEkIX57MC23fHN6luwX-05QHDyTDyAPQA8IROq0tmqmdLpxA4zpTaf74xVTgjb6joanHY-l68oKWZlaxj7KR9XawsoCvAmULyRA63fbP9AubbBxZ/s1600-h/-31.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEguz_vgWpHwN-a7g7uL4tZuKLnZ7lSBGEkIX57MC23fHN6luwX-05QHDyTDyAPQA8IROq0tmqmdLpxA4zpTaf74xVTgjb6joanHY-l68oKWZlaxj7KR9XawsoCvAmULyRA63fbP9AubbBxZ/s320/-31.jpg" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">I then got to assembling the empanadas. It is starting to be like second nature. I can now pump out 20 empanadas like it aint no thang! I guess Im on my way to a mini empanada catering business.... I made them just like the ones last week, cutting the big circles in half and making little triangle empanadas. I have discovered that it works much better to seal the empanadas up with an egg wash rather than just dabbling water around the edge of the dough before closing them up.<br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5zNcs7Gzzqj5jdc_3zvIN6Z6Vz28d_V_BojYtyexZawxwJ1kwgQyfFHWvYnxfhzYE-CsWZPbxmuaC4cuaNJc0g81SQ2wqqJg5Bs24_w6EOIzWMiPWah2jS8LgqWjNc5vvT0yGfdCYeJG1/s1600-h/-32.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5zNcs7Gzzqj5jdc_3zvIN6Z6Vz28d_V_BojYtyexZawxwJ1kwgQyfFHWvYnxfhzYE-CsWZPbxmuaC4cuaNJc0g81SQ2wqqJg5Bs24_w6EOIzWMiPWah2jS8LgqWjNc5vvT0yGfdCYeJG1/s320/-32.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> Once I assembled 20 miniature empanadas, I gave them the usual egg wash on top. I then sprinkled a mixture of rolled oats, unsalted butter and brown sugar, on the tops of the empanaditas. Before putting them in the oven, I took a knife and slit a tiny hole in the top of every empanada in order to let the steam come out while they were baking. I put them in the oven at 375.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">After my weekly set of empanadas were all assembled and baking, I realized I had a little of the filling left. I also had a small little baggie of rolled oats left from Whole Foods. I thought for a second, and then I realized I should use the leftovers to make a miniature little crumble. I pulled out one of my adorable little Le Crueset creme brulee dishes and assembled my tiny little crisp. I just poured in the fillings, then sprinkled the top with oats, brown sugar and butter. When that was ready I just popped it in the oven with the empanadas.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I patiently waited for about 25 minutes while this wonderful pie smell started wafting throughout my apartment. The empanadas were ready. They smelled like heaven. They turned out well, but the dough looked a little weird. As I mentioned in a previous posting, the dough I have been using is made to be fried up. I have not had a problem with the last two batches, but maybe this was just God's way of telling me I should make a fried empanada next week!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtWRYXagPZUYEipyhmsA1GmcN5knFrGIxkcPfcWzyHxDHtCQNcj8xHSf-qJAi_1JERBg9xsXhL5aCrEyxtiwYEkuyLz0aZAC5L_1DbcjGnGv4Qd0hxrb_x6bDFgLWF2wkBtCjGwQglqwfA/s1600-h/-34.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtWRYXagPZUYEipyhmsA1GmcN5knFrGIxkcPfcWzyHxDHtCQNcj8xHSf-qJAi_1JERBg9xsXhL5aCrEyxtiwYEkuyLz0aZAC5L_1DbcjGnGv4Qd0hxrb_x6bDFgLWF2wkBtCjGwQglqwfA/s320/-34.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdagXQyb3NrYgJmxCrAYhTtEWv36YMjPgiNHasoIJJYVo0NxA22EUj0YCbdx58rUiQTjsSbJq-IFFUFKnQgI83ydPGVVWue_wJ_uSV15RwXgadoAwvvD2TNh8t5IzJ7Ofcmbd44NGMNvUw/s1600-h/-35.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjdagXQyb3NrYgJmxCrAYhTtEWv36YMjPgiNHasoIJJYVo0NxA22EUj0YCbdx58rUiQTjsSbJq-IFFUFKnQgI83ydPGVVWue_wJ_uSV15RwXgadoAwvvD2TNh8t5IzJ7Ofcmbd44NGMNvUw/s320/-35.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4Dx0GEuPl0otzGrgTuJ9KgpAYOs-De-ebbYMElP3NYzqo5BZ7KRarwHnlRyKZfoTy4En1E_CdffsZJzRyIX8O82xgqHGCrLjKWx6VYf7jlCjOEYGYD2aQ2kRwjnMLMC5aAYEMLhd3Bsa/s1600-h/-36.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgE4Dx0GEuPl0otzGrgTuJ9KgpAYOs-De-ebbYMElP3NYzqo5BZ7KRarwHnlRyKZfoTy4En1E_CdffsZJzRyIX8O82xgqHGCrLjKWx6VYf7jlCjOEYGYD2aQ2kRwjnMLMC5aAYEMLhd3Bsa/s320/-36.jpg" /></a><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjilG58XGsPy6lDiDd3_yLgl4omelXMjoA0VCpOVLH_CHm-faRvhotbleqjAyy13k2Ge0YXoHXSVMacZILog1oC_Z4evMQhfUhhflfv0KasJci6V-ACP0FKojVcRlCkPWdMJfTvesFJ5rae/s1600-h/-33.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjilG58XGsPy6lDiDd3_yLgl4omelXMjoA0VCpOVLH_CHm-faRvhotbleqjAyy13k2Ge0YXoHXSVMacZILog1oC_Z4evMQhfUhhflfv0KasJci6V-ACP0FKojVcRlCkPWdMJfTvesFJ5rae/s320/-33.jpg" /></a><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">I may have to skip next weeks empanada escapade, as I am off to New Orleans on Wednesday and then NYC for the weekend. I am sorry to all of my loyal readers, but you will have to wait another week and a half or so until you get to read another wonderful tale of my empanada adventures!<br />
</div>Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-75564612584215673532009-09-14T11:45:00.000-07:002009-09-14T14:51:46.402-07:00Liz's Empanadas go to a party!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Sorry it has been over a week since I wrote my last blog. Let me begin by giving an update on my traveling empanadas. As you know, I froze the fig and goat cheese empanadas before baking them, and then took them to Colorado with me. I was a little worried they would defrost on the plane ride and get mushy, but they actually kept quite well. I got to Colorado Friday afternoon, went straight to my friend Jessica's condo and put the empanadas in the freezer. Then Saturday we filled a cooler with a bunch of food to make dinner for about 15 people that night up in Beaver Creak. When we got to Beaver Creek that afternoon I decided the empanadas would be a good appetizer to have while we were having drinks out on the patio. I baked them up at about 375 degrees, and after 25 minutes in the oven, they were perfection. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed them. I have to say, adding caramelized onions to the empanadas really filled them out and made them delicious. I think my friend Casey liked them more than anyone else(she kept coming back again and again for a half of an empanada!). Here is everyone sitting on the patio waiting for the empanadas.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3JekikD7KrhdHUjZvH0NYYye_Y_tsbIJIfXooW1jUPX2-B3C2fFUFj7Wly_BKRTc7UOMy64R4-26OCcoVZmjbh1tjH0yiqW1dkwqfCiE0WZ_KiuFJwDWNcYxZA8ecpElpj6sh1_-Nxbn7/s1600-h/IMG_5986.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi3JekikD7KrhdHUjZvH0NYYye_Y_tsbIJIfXooW1jUPX2-B3C2fFUFj7Wly_BKRTc7UOMy64R4-26OCcoVZmjbh1tjH0yiqW1dkwqfCiE0WZ_KiuFJwDWNcYxZA8ecpElpj6sh1_-Nxbn7/s320/IMG_5986.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now onto this week's empanada adventure. On Saturday my new roommate Anne, and I decided to throw a little party at our apartment. The party was in celebration of the end of summer, the new school year and Anne moving in. When we decided to throw the party, I thought, what a great opportunity for people to enjoy my empanadas! I thought about what kind to make, and couldnt decide, so I called my mom. She asked me what the theme for the party was, and I quickly responded "booze". We are in grad school after all, we need to let loose on the weekends! My mom then suggested I make an empanada that had some sort of liquor in it.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">My first inclination was to make a recipe that I have made before. A crab and shrimp empanada with a sherry bechamel sauce. Then I decided it would be fun to also try something new. I rarely ever make dessert empanadas, so why not debut one at the party! After some careful thinking, it came to me. I wanted to do some sort of twist on bananas foster. I knew I couldnt put ice cream into the empanadas, so I thought why not just add in some chocolate chips and pecans to fill it out.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Now that I have introduced the two types of empanadas I made, lets dive into the recipes. I started off with making the sherry bechamel sauce. This is something that has become sort of second nature to me. I use the basic sauce in a lot of different empanada recipes that I have made in the past, most notably my spinach empanadas. I started off with melting two tablespoons of unsalted butter in a sauce pan. After it all melted I added 2 tablespoons of flour. The trick here is you need to make sure to whisk the two together quickly so as to get rid of any lumps.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaDwKgZbSNGE9uB9eW4Q6Jjh-vxUsZXwI1sLzpBlLa0vIzA5JN8Kn5Fw1Tf7EzxqbsBsFiZ1G6BZxhnoxeh-wUK6IpMCdIaVwGQXJmc29ovpItdNqVeGSzpLpQ_N0MQJocp66tHo5e_47/s1600-h/IMG_5988.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYaDwKgZbSNGE9uB9eW4Q6Jjh-vxUsZXwI1sLzpBlLa0vIzA5JN8Kn5Fw1Tf7EzxqbsBsFiZ1G6BZxhnoxeh-wUK6IpMCdIaVwGQXJmc29ovpItdNqVeGSzpLpQ_N0MQJocp66tHo5e_47/s320/IMG_5988.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdunnODkn01cLpWTZ7-h86mKGyGvEEM4HMN5aRhfd1pmo6N80U8RisIU4gjuwvDIb4Hh8WD5yvf_V72b327RNoo4DqkObM1HQ7zoSeZz6AvNiT09SJP2IwC_QMfnuvZGj-ICZ-53NeZ1M/s1600-h/IMG_5989.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhFdunnODkn01cLpWTZ7-h86mKGyGvEEM4HMN5aRhfd1pmo6N80U8RisIU4gjuwvDIb4Hh8WD5yvf_V72b327RNoo4DqkObM1HQ7zoSeZz6AvNiT09SJP2IwC_QMfnuvZGj-ICZ-53NeZ1M/s320/IMG_5989.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: left;">After mixing in the flour, I added almost a cup of light cream. You need to be careful and add the cream slowly, whisking away at the same time, again to avoid lumpiness to the sauce.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBVM7YKvlt9b_rwxUXHP2G50hfsM50vc2YvqA748TmmFQEWKMZkFX_rO1uAje4Pi0WlwR2bqgTRlkuMFxPsHwuGm2Iq2IEIpa3tT2xyaDVJnrlFZu3mC5mD3O4WPGzbp7ZrcfeSbSU14mZ/s1600-h/IMG_5992.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBVM7YKvlt9b_rwxUXHP2G50hfsM50vc2YvqA748TmmFQEWKMZkFX_rO1uAje4Pi0WlwR2bqgTRlkuMFxPsHwuGm2Iq2IEIpa3tT2xyaDVJnrlFZu3mC5mD3O4WPGzbp7ZrcfeSbSU14mZ/s320/IMG_5992.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Once you have added all the cream, and you have a nice thick white cream sauce, go ahead and add a little salt and pepper. Keeping the heat on medium, you can then add the sherry. I am not sure how much I added, in the end probably ended up being 4 tablespoons or so. It is really easy to just add a little and taste, thats what I do. Depending on what you are trying to make, you can put as much or as little sherry as you want.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFTg3iqO5HQiYoNQy9TFYJ6QYL14eGz1NCF0C77xNkkpyRQgl8Ju2g1Jk3Yoq2v3k1UCTNLQRyeO2Oy4kInxI87O2LfezvF4Cqgx3VBrMkz5OcLjvEzwrRVWy2Hili7Hnf5Y237eOD0sj/s1600-h/IMG_5994.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFFTg3iqO5HQiYoNQy9TFYJ6QYL14eGz1NCF0C77xNkkpyRQgl8Ju2g1Jk3Yoq2v3k1UCTNLQRyeO2Oy4kInxI87O2LfezvF4Cqgx3VBrMkz5OcLjvEzwrRVWy2Hili7Hnf5Y237eOD0sj/s320/IMG_5994.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;">Once the sauce was done, I decided to get going on the shrimp. I bought lump crab meat in a can, so I didnt need to prepare the crab at all. For the shrimp, I bought frozen uncooked shrimp from Trader Joe's. They are a great deal there. Even the crab at TJ's was not too expensive. Once I defrosted the shrimp, I set them aside and began to melt about a tablespoon of unsalted butter. When the butter was melted I added a few tablespoons of dry white wine, some lemon juice, salt and pepper. I then added the shrimps to the pan. Shrimp takes almost no time to cook, so make sure to stay close by. You dont want to overcook the shrimp, or else it gets gummy, which is no good. When the shrimp were done, I couldnt help myself but to try one. They were scrumptious. Cooked just right, with the perfect amount of acidity.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIin2atb0zQLubqn7swpOe5Xf3dFIGBcQzRicu0kcpTOIB3XoS7M8jiWc_3OkJpuOt1iYLM6zQS056CYbp0nQrmIJtBitF8kUVL6YkL3LENfeIH2NXejIqeDCVFf6AS0dzuZ04A6E_VAvv/s1600-h/IMG_5997.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIin2atb0zQLubqn7swpOe5Xf3dFIGBcQzRicu0kcpTOIB3XoS7M8jiWc_3OkJpuOt1iYLM6zQS056CYbp0nQrmIJtBitF8kUVL6YkL3LENfeIH2NXejIqeDCVFf6AS0dzuZ04A6E_VAvv/s320/IMG_5997.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I chopped up the shrimp, and then mixed them in a bowl with the lump crab meat. Then, I poured in the bechamel sauce that I made a little earlier over the crab and shrimp. In the past that is all I did for this recipe, but this time I decided to add one more ingredient, Italian flat leaf parsley. The parsley really adds a mice crisp fresh taste to the dish.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTlddF0rQwd8U-J85lctADsHVZ8E1ggtfGgYVp-VUE2VRjIXqSdLJ9KXIZUPrT2_6oT1V0IAZQ2rJB2a6yGy_zsbSR-NA-_mEuhDiP3eVeaVwmWIQ3rJYkEe-cArxFZl7YMdwGcyBLKHit/s1600-h/IMG_6000.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTlddF0rQwd8U-J85lctADsHVZ8E1ggtfGgYVp-VUE2VRjIXqSdLJ9KXIZUPrT2_6oT1V0IAZQ2rJB2a6yGy_zsbSR-NA-_mEuhDiP3eVeaVwmWIQ3rJYkEe-cArxFZl7YMdwGcyBLKHit/s320/IMG_6000.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDZg0G5sx523RuS-ivLzcmyGhAgr-zDPzIP2T8GRgQnK45C7cVbhaHiRJpmmDbgUM3owVvARbP7e8tCXtwDOBHTcu2vpk7KYR5-oVMEFghctA9rwMkdi22OfpAiykvJ3ihPwEO646o30K/s1600-h/IMG_6001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDZg0G5sx523RuS-ivLzcmyGhAgr-zDPzIP2T8GRgQnK45C7cVbhaHiRJpmmDbgUM3owVvARbP7e8tCXtwDOBHTcu2vpk7KYR5-oVMEFghctA9rwMkdi22OfpAiykvJ3ihPwEO646o30K/s320/IMG_6001.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzI_FHR2yc_86Swco1ZVaaHIUHktOzSWAtLpuduUvwqLl8oJ42k7rS9IWaoPh_weSiKwm0GQgrzNcuOwqTzxkQ0sUl2dWxJ6m9d0nStiwtrM6nxBATPX7cY9zF_2I3krAchqzIR9WvlTm/s1600-h/IMG_6004.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhIzI_FHR2yc_86Swco1ZVaaHIUHktOzSWAtLpuduUvwqLl8oJ42k7rS9IWaoPh_weSiKwm0GQgrzNcuOwqTzxkQ0sUl2dWxJ6m9d0nStiwtrM6nxBATPX7cY9zF_2I3krAchqzIR9WvlTm/s320/IMG_6004.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The crab and shrimp filling was ready, so I set it aside, and put it in the refrigerator while I started on the banana filling. This filling was extra fun, and I have to say one of the most delicious empanadas I have ever made in my life. I started out by cutting up the banana. I had 2.5 ripe ones on hand, so thats how many I used. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqlxkB7wMVKpQ0hwURbsPKQRu8t0XxiWIcn2U9_A68KXsamU9KJrgKQwEUX2-Fw7aLl6FvhsR_lFIfvTjcjs7gBPVgzVyU9oY8gJhOf3E5_9G196oqzCfR3vlaQ9F9ksIqH1Ds5q9xIYL/s1600-h/IMG_6006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmqlxkB7wMVKpQ0hwURbsPKQRu8t0XxiWIcn2U9_A68KXsamU9KJrgKQwEUX2-Fw7aLl6FvhsR_lFIfvTjcjs7gBPVgzVyU9oY8gJhOf3E5_9G196oqzCfR3vlaQ9F9ksIqH1Ds5q9xIYL/s320/IMG_6006.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Once the bananas were chopped and ready to go, I started to melt the butter, about 3 tablespoons. Then I added a hefty amount of brown sugar. I figured, you can never make a sweet empanada too sweet! Once the brown sugar had dissolved I was ready to add the chopped bananas. I cooked the chopped bananas in the wonderful sugar butter mixture for a few minutes.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JuUdo53KRISS-7iZPDWCQBcAbELcVVVLdk1XJafOJTBRbaOmYD6JKUe6GxaqdyNY8yRoGFn6fCB_2KXPx7oV_369FDnWs5r_gCTWyvdP-KPryGjL0gs8wQijJzvWoJdRLtAcDF1qmFlh/s1600-h/IMG_6013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4JuUdo53KRISS-7iZPDWCQBcAbELcVVVLdk1XJafOJTBRbaOmYD6JKUe6GxaqdyNY8yRoGFn6fCB_2KXPx7oV_369FDnWs5r_gCTWyvdP-KPryGjL0gs8wQijJzvWoJdRLtAcDF1qmFlh/s320/IMG_6013.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKzzaYxRzoTlgip2NNHZv32sHmebW3yJfwYV-zMz6LK8wzgzKQd-zJ7xS8YSapk_bVH2xijDqgQyrkSK-IgN93ZSMMYQJ8cz4s2ualrbyfdxhTa36d_zakO-kOSkWJlWa7zb1Jt3TMMrjr/s1600-h/IMG_6014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgKzzaYxRzoTlgip2NNHZv32sHmebW3yJfwYV-zMz6LK8wzgzKQd-zJ7xS8YSapk_bVH2xijDqgQyrkSK-IgN93ZSMMYQJ8cz4s2ualrbyfdxhTa36d_zakO-kOSkWJlWa7zb1Jt3TMMrjr/s320/IMG_6014.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now I was ready for the real action. I added a shot of brandy and a little bit of rum to the pan. Then BAM! I lit it on fire like they do in the restaurants. I was a little scared becuase I just got my bangs cut and I was worried the fire would burn them off and then get to my eyebrows, but I was lucky.... Actually, the flame was not that big. Less dramatic than I had expected. I figured out though if you stir it around a little the flame got bigger. After about a minute and a half the flame died away. The bananas were done!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTc_kbEBGCpbqjmZwIJPFlV267SmX630UWDKz58F0NILdq_x-QePODzkhztw7y6hojA6e9AjNnq7JNTfbtYYt490Zc2IJaSm_sittTirrPCm8e8VGSC6ANncxBCGSNTHYKro6Ar9Co9Wa/s1600-h/IMG_6017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjzTc_kbEBGCpbqjmZwIJPFlV267SmX630UWDKz58F0NILdq_x-QePODzkhztw7y6hojA6e9AjNnq7JNTfbtYYt490Zc2IJaSm_sittTirrPCm8e8VGSC6ANncxBCGSNTHYKro6Ar9Co9Wa/s320/IMG_6017.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Oz9Ix0GYEDp04I3IHOrDT5hVqt4ZhTRsiRMiadz-hqflGBFoxasJtVtnrlcl4yna0du6lDWpHhC_qXbU3gvARoIhSwap__i9BRrj41IqIB3hneGWex4JpFFTAC9CqB-0bdtT4JDbhd1q/s1600-h/IMG_6016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg8Oz9Ix0GYEDp04I3IHOrDT5hVqt4ZhTRsiRMiadz-hqflGBFoxasJtVtnrlcl4yna0du6lDWpHhC_qXbU3gvARoIhSwap__i9BRrj41IqIB3hneGWex4JpFFTAC9CqB-0bdtT4JDbhd1q/s320/IMG_6016.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I decided to strain the bananas from the gooey wonderful buttery sauce. You never want to have too much liquid in the empanada filling or else they ooze out when you bake them. Dont worry though, I kept the sauce in a Tupperware for later (I bet it tastes delicious on vanilla bean ice cream!).</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtSNf163lb1LQqIko464TCrkKwe1tztm-MnAT9VzVgYncvhdnVgzg9eMvU_27bWsz98urix_xlLv7aVQef-m2UmjCmS9Vd0VE41fXQ7mtmk-sq-U2Zvs8t7ASeNBDYCEM-PIaOfcBr9lh/s1600-h/IMG_6020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiKtSNf163lb1LQqIko464TCrkKwe1tztm-MnAT9VzVgYncvhdnVgzg9eMvU_27bWsz98urix_xlLv7aVQef-m2UmjCmS9Vd0VE41fXQ7mtmk-sq-U2Zvs8t7ASeNBDYCEM-PIaOfcBr9lh/s320/IMG_6020.JPG" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">Once the banana was strained I added in the semisweet chocolate chips and some chopped pecans. The smell was irresistible. It was like someone had blended bananas foster with chocolate pecan pie, I mean, can you imagine anything better!? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtDyBp6tDzoDn2vxoy_ffMUg5KPO7QE5FgYyWyLQR8oWRwfYT8I0wVb4-_FjpYwn3bNuTOHCQGfj0pOHyiXoetWPZ802j7_6AA9cBUqaa9BZ88z7DLnhEJ4WT0HK7O7soBL6S7fWdltzC/s1600-h/IMG_6022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYtDyBp6tDzoDn2vxoy_ffMUg5KPO7QE5FgYyWyLQR8oWRwfYT8I0wVb4-_FjpYwn3bNuTOHCQGfj0pOHyiXoetWPZ802j7_6AA9cBUqaa9BZ88z7DLnhEJ4WT0HK7O7soBL6S7fWdltzC/s320/IMG_6022.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now that both fillings were done, it was time to get going on putting the empanadas together. I started off with filling the dessert empanadas. My friend Dawn Marie was over, and she was really itching to try one of the banana empanadas, so I figured I should get to those first. Because I was having a party and was expecting 40-50 people, I decided to make little bite sized empanadas. I used the dough purchased at Giant supermarket, but cut the circles in half. The empanadas were in little triangle shapes. Once they were filled and ready to go in the oven, I brushed them with the usual egg wash, but then decided to add a little flavor and fun, and I sprinkled some brown sugar and cinnamon on top of them. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBSfAzGSWQK06vGcf2TWMj5fflNO2_OESXE-jr0mMLtjiZ0vfILXLfFi8HweVtx7HhfmJNOxP91vPQ0FffbJoktcAjnGYLp32IN4cUi1rIbELpKKah-HDiU3WMTzJLPHGvvQQgWkW5z5i/s1600-h/IMG_6027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCBSfAzGSWQK06vGcf2TWMj5fflNO2_OESXE-jr0mMLtjiZ0vfILXLfFi8HweVtx7HhfmJNOxP91vPQ0FffbJoktcAjnGYLp32IN4cUi1rIbELpKKah-HDiU3WMTzJLPHGvvQQgWkW5z5i/s320/IMG_6027.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbv9-AeKg2mz7wtZAy-d2Vuri1VobDnoMEU-X-Q4XMLi_CiVG7AbKkRaWiuE-M3JzVKKPEx96_oLR8XrmUiB9dThfXTlyr69Q_TjRC3jIq3ypvkHDQEmXBSJXKqIxGGz-ncF9tEEAkaIz/s1600-h/IMG_6030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZbv9-AeKg2mz7wtZAy-d2Vuri1VobDnoMEU-X-Q4XMLi_CiVG7AbKkRaWiuE-M3JzVKKPEx96_oLR8XrmUiB9dThfXTlyr69Q_TjRC3jIq3ypvkHDQEmXBSJXKqIxGGz-ncF9tEEAkaIz/s320/IMG_6030.JPG" /></a><br />
<div style="text-align: left;">After about 20-25 minutes in the oven at 375, the empanadas were ready. They smelled like the most delicious, chocolaty amazingness that had ever come out of my oven. Dawn couldnt wait to try one, so she dove right in.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhw3R_qRiO4MBXzdOrC8E9kFj40e4_BT-WRre_M718VAsRmw_AbP_HRSJ7g8KOgXTVAg5eppDfDAVaxR0oRJ4tercAkxk53HH9FYj-fM7Id7T_SEmChhp2xPP2z6RTj_H2gwENKrAsG7-3/s1600-h/IMG_6031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhw3R_qRiO4MBXzdOrC8E9kFj40e4_BT-WRre_M718VAsRmw_AbP_HRSJ7g8KOgXTVAg5eppDfDAVaxR0oRJ4tercAkxk53HH9FYj-fM7Id7T_SEmChhp2xPP2z6RTj_H2gwENKrAsG7-3/s320/IMG_6031.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before moving onto the crab and shrimp empanadas, we had to stop to do a little party prep. The highlight of the party (besides my empanadas ofcourse) was our "brew tub". We decided it would be a great idea to fill Anne's bathtub with ice, and then throw all the beer in it. Our fridge likely would not hold enough beer for the number of people coming to our party. Here is a quick look at the creative and wonderful brew tub.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmnDm6zGdVRttxvk4vs45Dn1yxQCFdN_l1cSZkbNAVBEUbQeeZDaOnBcZY41RF8M7G-kb1tG3QPBADs6o0bIWvJuU1pgq6jtZKuFQp0tXVB5SVyFTIr7FgRQoXBAc3E8Hw-u95tQFSAJ7M/s1600-h/IMG_6032.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmnDm6zGdVRttxvk4vs45Dn1yxQCFdN_l1cSZkbNAVBEUbQeeZDaOnBcZY41RF8M7G-kb1tG3QPBADs6o0bIWvJuU1pgq6jtZKuFQp0tXVB5SVyFTIr7FgRQoXBAc3E8Hw-u95tQFSAJ7M/s320/IMG_6032.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTZ4aA0m0z3kc72MT2dcW3U8VbAQTu_3SnB3MPSMxqjS0w83N9_N3OaV4GKfkLdmispwN0RF3YvK4MuQxpyuZ3n1sQPdHyBaiq6mMaq-Wovw2plUM51_jLuP9nC1PPe7vk0RQHYepgzNY/s1600-h/IMG_6033.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhoTZ4aA0m0z3kc72MT2dcW3U8VbAQTu_3SnB3MPSMxqjS0w83N9_N3OaV4GKfkLdmispwN0RF3YvK4MuQxpyuZ3n1sQPdHyBaiq6mMaq-Wovw2plUM51_jLuP9nC1PPe7vk0RQHYepgzNY/s320/IMG_6033.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY79l83YqvGxNeQi7mscQdRlQ-WoSZQI2GI74nNVamR6FnBdjZEXMiqD5EU6Whyphenhyphenqgbt3RTUDGflh0wnirToanNnpIZZygCcSeAbn47ME0oWJKI1IE_cF10gPGNk41_Kes3ZNbI8vst0YPV/s1600-h/IMG_6034.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY79l83YqvGxNeQi7mscQdRlQ-WoSZQI2GI74nNVamR6FnBdjZEXMiqD5EU6Whyphenhyphenqgbt3RTUDGflh0wnirToanNnpIZZygCcSeAbn47ME0oWJKI1IE_cF10gPGNk41_Kes3ZNbI8vst0YPV/s320/IMG_6034.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now onto the crab and shrimp empanadas. I filled them the same way as the banana ones, in small half circles. Rather than sprinkling brown sugar and cinnamon on top, eww that would have been really gross, I did an egg wash and then sprinkled Parmesan cheese on top. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"> <a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0IvliCXhYWaAlhFUbu3XAMzyRfFM2Kk_qX_5T_93J4jz7X8TIDAbmNH_sdypRT8EL9auBgXHzbgftyoecpISUjl0Cz5uhvPd0wunoAG_Ug0iY2xg94LBH8fIHWPX7-ONNYOQyl07w3nQ/s1600-h/IMG_6041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhc0IvliCXhYWaAlhFUbu3XAMzyRfFM2Kk_qX_5T_93J4jz7X8TIDAbmNH_sdypRT8EL9auBgXHzbgftyoecpISUjl0Cz5uhvPd0wunoAG_Ug0iY2xg94LBH8fIHWPX7-ONNYOQyl07w3nQ/s320/IMG_6041.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8YkqexcsEE5zF-EJw-3M9FvW-y5qWgxz7GLhOCdBuXnL2bggCGJBEcfRmWtT1vRTP6wFLrty7tlU9WQnLYIUoQZFGHmjredR1nUis72psgrGn_UgumMU160_92Z2QnUDZhIqxvDBtc7u/s1600-h/IMG_6042.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiR8YkqexcsEE5zF-EJw-3M9FvW-y5qWgxz7GLhOCdBuXnL2bggCGJBEcfRmWtT1vRTP6wFLrty7tlU9WQnLYIUoQZFGHmjredR1nUis72psgrGn_UgumMU160_92Z2QnUDZhIqxvDBtc7u/s320/IMG_6042.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEI4n6LnW7UbD4HV_hPL27brBksAlHOrM6xgYXHrHPBHipm27eE4iMVYX_v8jtSg2NMy-lnpwm2AuyFJovdMiXPg09pquxCkUzZ01AHs_hG8s-z2mvZojE0njf5DO41Es-e2OkpBacrBn/s1600-h/IMG_6050.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYEI4n6LnW7UbD4HV_hPL27brBksAlHOrM6xgYXHrHPBHipm27eE4iMVYX_v8jtSg2NMy-lnpwm2AuyFJovdMiXPg09pquxCkUzZ01AHs_hG8s-z2mvZojE0njf5DO41Es-e2OkpBacrBn/s320/IMG_6050.JPG" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">The empanadas were done, the brew tub was filled, it was now time to party. By the end of the night there were no empanadas left, and the brew tub was almost empty. All in all, everything was a success. I will definitely be making the banana empanadas again, probably over Thanksgiving. They were so tasty, and perfect for the fall holiday! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-w1Jpbj1ZW_Wad65g9LOU0u97k11NDCmKKFIVFtE0gnp-T2O0Hcm1CbrUXIgwnv4XFo1pLGMJSkQ_5xWdz6t1y7A-bXwVSdv5ylnbFA853jiFo4uchVB5RlUF7EuXJgDn7c00pgZ1g3q/s1600-h/IMG_6056.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEix-w1Jpbj1ZW_Wad65g9LOU0u97k11NDCmKKFIVFtE0gnp-T2O0Hcm1CbrUXIgwnv4XFo1pLGMJSkQ_5xWdz6t1y7A-bXwVSdv5ylnbFA853jiFo4uchVB5RlUF7EuXJgDn7c00pgZ1g3q/s320/IMG_6056.JPG" /></a></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7ep_osdiZrv3CW_Mi5ic-g0kRpTM9_QGByj9VSYNSrrGCkk7TUKRREsRcVv6_pWsI7SRBTmkDByNGdUXReOtU81LkqoB8I9_3lX91Zl7y8ZWB1v_T_wCR8GeZk8rLlWOYbg8f0BNw4a3/s1600-h/IMG_6037.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgi7ep_osdiZrv3CW_Mi5ic-g0kRpTM9_QGByj9VSYNSrrGCkk7TUKRREsRcVv6_pWsI7SRBTmkDByNGdUXReOtU81LkqoB8I9_3lX91Zl7y8ZWB1v_T_wCR8GeZk8rLlWOYbg8f0BNw4a3/s320/IMG_6037.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGqIrZBxD4AQ8lsD71yjtr7AdUCVb74WfkzX77jWBIEz2uPuWw5irc4PhMRROYhND-sWt5DVLix6Spa8UQw5RCOISZ8o0vxzfdDB1mLDuOUZKOgRSzhOCV1OHlpvvnfNCu-EKuoRFEVkP/s1600-h/IMG_6061.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiLGqIrZBxD4AQ8lsD71yjtr7AdUCVb74WfkzX77jWBIEz2uPuWw5irc4PhMRROYhND-sWt5DVLix6Spa8UQw5RCOISZ8o0vxzfdDB1mLDuOUZKOgRSzhOCV1OHlpvvnfNCu-EKuoRFEVkP/s320/IMG_6061.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiajIksd-ZuaPSY5v5kbZKj3xBYNWNyrgC53y9quyZfNf1hs5pLOz0M1TTV-HAgeOlfqhOizFVlj-P_4tHs9Nx-ClO26pF7maYGPDKb4J-v2SbGHQQWi9tja_rJSZJ8yTk7CWbVP3Vi2P1/s1600-h/IMG_6062.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiiajIksd-ZuaPSY5v5kbZKj3xBYNWNyrgC53y9quyZfNf1hs5pLOz0M1TTV-HAgeOlfqhOizFVlj-P_4tHs9Nx-ClO26pF7maYGPDKb4J-v2SbGHQQWi9tja_rJSZJ8yTk7CWbVP3Vi2P1/s320/IMG_6062.JPG" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipC59xNJVx0oWojNXTcS5kjLmvFAaJDeEdbEMxWX-IJolwRLcVfJgRUnUkcBsUHkkYZF6PIBN8jNZvGIzVV394u7VAZRoXque53VJ_KEC3vGTM0LVl3feArAn2u6xhyphenhypheno_yKhfcriDSsyi2/s1600-h/IMG_6063.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipC59xNJVx0oWojNXTcS5kjLmvFAaJDeEdbEMxWX-IJolwRLcVfJgRUnUkcBsUHkkYZF6PIBN8jNZvGIzVV394u7VAZRoXque53VJ_KEC3vGTM0LVl3feArAn2u6xhyphenhypheno_yKhfcriDSsyi2/s320/IMG_6063.JPG" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Until the nest pocket adventure!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"></div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div>Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-43565320385810237242009-09-03T18:31:00.000-07:002009-09-03T19:28:22.362-07:00Traveling empanadas<div style="text-align: left;">Tomorrow I am taking off to head to Colorado for the weekend. I am so excited, as I have never been. I will be staying with my good friend Jessica in Denver, whom I have known since we were about 12, and then a couple of our other friends from middle/high school are flying in to meet up too. I am so thankful to have friends that have been around for so long. We always have so much fun together. </div><br />
I knew I would be gone for the weekend, and I am super committed to making this blog happen, so I thought I would make some empanadas and freeze them to bring to Denver so that my friends from out West could try them. It was a bit of a struggle to come up with my next filling idea. So I headed to the market for inspiration. I was at Whole Foods the other day and saw some tasty looking figs, so I thought I would try and incorporate them in some how. I also had some leftover fresh lemon thyme from the last empanadas. After some careful thinking, I decided to do a caramelized fig, goat cheese and lemon thyme infused balsamic reduction empanada. <br />
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As I mentioned in my last empanada post, making the dough myself was taking up a lot of time, and the dough really is not the focus of this project. With the start of classes, I just don't have as much free time. So, I was up in Columbia Heights yesterday and found some pre-made empanada dough in the Giant supermarket. The empanada dough they had was for frying, but I thought I would give it a try in the oven. I find that fried empanadas are a bit too heavy, and the fried flavor tends to over power the filling flavors.<br />
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To begin, I made my balsamic reduction. I took a couple of cups of balsamic vinegar and threw in a bunch of sprigs of lemon thyme. I brought it all to a boil, and then turned it down to a simmer for about 20 minutes. It reduced down to about a cup or so. Its important to get it to a thick consistency, but not quite as thick as honey.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIQiFsEplYRLwL_AJIlnWF_YIZYpAG5YA-ewWQpVPvBUd9EbvZqJnqp0Ov1M9if4IUDVmgdLbFOP_zxhIPxiniogh-1YqAW2yPik54_8TkFjxhJGgFZShYG_f-nQuh30E9lP_aA8TlZoF/s1600-h/-26.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhEIQiFsEplYRLwL_AJIlnWF_YIZYpAG5YA-ewWQpVPvBUd9EbvZqJnqp0Ov1M9if4IUDVmgdLbFOP_zxhIPxiniogh-1YqAW2yPik54_8TkFjxhJGgFZShYG_f-nQuh30E9lP_aA8TlZoF/s320/-26.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Next I decided to caramelize the figs. I cut them up into quarters, laid them on one of my fabulous baking sheets, which I lined with parchment paper (a must in my kitchen), and then sprinkled sugar all over the little ripe fig pieces. I had never done this before, so I started off by broiling the figs for about 10 minutes. It didn't look like they were getting caramelized so I decided to take them out of the broiler. In order to get the sugar on the figs caramelized I decided to heat up my trusty Calphalon pan and just caramelize the figs in there. It actually ended up working out quite well, and all of the figs had a nice little sugar crust on them. Here are the figs pre-broil:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZFfWtgr1-NpMmY_fJdjbN4H5P86Kkr2sUMa91JVrYFVlbDMqDdisLHvJ_ZUmw2j8IL42p3gM0vE6BxNHlywgzL_y0OilweCZkNDEv9AklDBUL23THfq8f4c8d8d5CRxtuSUT7kFxBWCR/s1600-h/-22.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmZFfWtgr1-NpMmY_fJdjbN4H5P86Kkr2sUMa91JVrYFVlbDMqDdisLHvJ_ZUmw2j8IL42p3gM0vE6BxNHlywgzL_y0OilweCZkNDEv9AklDBUL23THfq8f4c8d8d5CRxtuSUT7kFxBWCR/s320/-22.jpg" /></a></div>Once the figs were caramelized I was ready to put the empanadas together. As you know I had the pre-made and pre-cut empanada dough, so I was all set to make some great empandas in a flash. I was planning on making the empanadas and freezing them once prepared, so that my friends and I could bake them and have them fresh in Denver. I wanted to make sure they were going to work out, so I decided to prepare a few and bake them, and then bring them to class this afternoon to get some feedback from my MBA friends.<br />
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I got out all of the empanada stuff: figs, goat cheese, balsamic reduction, dough, water and a fork. In each empanada I placed two pieces of fig, about a tablespoon of goat cheese and then drizzled some of the balsamic reduction on top of the fillings. To close up the empanadas I just wet the edge of the dough a little, fold it over, and seal the dough by pressing down firmly with a fork.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY11W-TXGu1VdylmUZhYq1TYbmIK7J7hnrTyA4HEH2UyFWZytVfvMCCgHcHz_ojl000d-1sJCgJY_iAwLcQ6eny28lcJUjtV9arhLJKsmGVdn7z69jeO3ndcjC19QI-ZvcfHl9_fWR_4Qu/s1600-h/-20.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhY11W-TXGu1VdylmUZhYq1TYbmIK7J7hnrTyA4HEH2UyFWZytVfvMCCgHcHz_ojl000d-1sJCgJY_iAwLcQ6eny28lcJUjtV9arhLJKsmGVdn7z69jeO3ndcjC19QI-ZvcfHl9_fWR_4Qu/s320/-20.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ0kRbgnEQe6YDQyI8WNeHjm1ICpUJKVts-xkKyujDNwfWhyphenhyphenMuU8RzMdRDs3xiZG2uWCMptBa1aPcV5n5V_zwUTDdFDixWICC3Qq-9wY78ZHckWwaa_kIu2rFIBOQLKOS7xCkEbezvh0-l/s1600-h/-21.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjJ0kRbgnEQe6YDQyI8WNeHjm1ICpUJKVts-xkKyujDNwfWhyphenhyphenMuU8RzMdRDs3xiZG2uWCMptBa1aPcV5n5V_zwUTDdFDixWICC3Qq-9wY78ZHckWwaa_kIu2rFIBOQLKOS7xCkEbezvh0-l/s320/-21.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpKpKNoRB6TW6rei1ws7si-uVOsiaLNfy324df6hmAPTVmyVfh8h_0Ox_l6Yf5KX6suIc2-bkAXtllKLTgaVT2by1DQGKSshcDIibtT3FRPBGCaRfQcdCJyhdZWdmIdfmYhyh35927Nh8f/s1600-h/-19.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpKpKNoRB6TW6rei1ws7si-uVOsiaLNfy324df6hmAPTVmyVfh8h_0Ox_l6Yf5KX6suIc2-bkAXtllKLTgaVT2by1DQGKSshcDIibtT3FRPBGCaRfQcdCJyhdZWdmIdfmYhyh35927Nh8f/s320/-19.jpg" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After brushing the empanadas with a little egg wash, I baked them up. Even though the dough I bought was for frying, they actually turned out quite well baking in the oven. After about 15 minutes at 350 degrees the empanadas were ready (I could just tell by the smell!). I took them out and let them cool off a little. It was hard to control myself and not just bite right into one of the wonderful piping hot stuffed dough delicacies. After waiting patiently for them to cool I cut one open and gave it a try.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcDNGihkAubHsvZFCFu25MZojJ4qqMGktp_IGjVLiCIyrFwlzbKa5G_sKnHRFcCDn_4hPzpas0hxRfDTQpGYQppoPP3Z5S18JiKc2LHQxO_yZ-VEIL7BnZgDhXr0yF74qkz_K8M2bLC6C/s1600-h/-25.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNcDNGihkAubHsvZFCFu25MZojJ4qqMGktp_IGjVLiCIyrFwlzbKa5G_sKnHRFcCDn_4hPzpas0hxRfDTQpGYQppoPP3Z5S18JiKc2LHQxO_yZ-VEIL7BnZgDhXr0yF74qkz_K8M2bLC6C/s320/-25.jpg" /></a> </div><div style="text-align: left;">They tasted delightful. The thyme really came through in the balsamic reduction. Although they tasted sublime, they seemed a little empty. I wondered what I could do to fill them up a little more? I thought about putting in more cheese, but I knew that would just melt away. The balsamic reduction obviously wouldnt help, and I was a little short on figs. So, I thought and thought, and I realized, when in doubt, just add caramelized onions! Lucky for me, I always have some sort of onion in my fridge. I really think they are one of gods greatest little gifts! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfeOsDQw5Q_FO5_je0pDur6ryG6_y0dMCZjfZcK92UE6MHJjMTMENqjz7WSBf39EVbE8MY5RNwsDwBjqyD1Ga4tk3h1b1NsVHaa6TCuSAVGAInVRXlm1WKYsafbGSjGihu1p-xfTUSVbk/s1600-h/-27.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhkfeOsDQw5Q_FO5_je0pDur6ryG6_y0dMCZjfZcK92UE6MHJjMTMENqjz7WSBf39EVbE8MY5RNwsDwBjqyD1Ga4tk3h1b1NsVHaa6TCuSAVGAInVRXlm1WKYsafbGSjGihu1p-xfTUSVbk/s320/-27.jpg" /></a> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I would love to report on how the onion worked out with the other fillings, but the rest of the empanadas I made are currently in the freezer, waiting to be baked this weekend. I guess I will have to report back later on how the final ones turned out.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">On another note, when I got home from class this evening, around 8:30, I was pretty hungry. I didn't really want to fix anything that would create any leftovers, since I am leaving for the long weekend. So I peaked into my fridge to see what I could whip up. I had a little bit of the filling leftover from last weeks onion, mushroom and tomato empanadas, and a box of orzo in the cupboard. I thought to myself, I can totally turn this leftover filling into a pasta sauce! I cooked up a little orzo, and then tossed in the leftover filling once it was cooked al dente. The boursin cheese in the leftover filling really brought it the pasta dish together. I just wanted to share my experience, and let you know it is always better to make too much than not enough. You can always find creative ways to use leftovers, and sometimes they even turn out better than the original dish!</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div>Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-80604469838448313802009-09-03T11:26:00.000-07:002009-09-03T11:38:35.432-07:00Let's just call it an open pocket!After going to my Spanish literature class and discussing the literature "boom" of the 1960's in Latin America, and then hitting the GW gym for a while, I returned home with a craving for a grilled cheese. Now I could have just made the traditional grilled cheese my grandmother used to make me, two pieces of wheat bread with margarine on either side, some tillamook sharp cheddar laid evenly between the bread, and then pan grilled to perfection in a standard tephlon non-stick pan. Even though I haven't been blogging for long, you should know that I tend to pizazz things up a bit. So, I looked in my fridge and realized I had some beautiful ripe avocado, a plump tomato and a chunk of tasty aged Gruyere. <br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9i_k6-z47XF_Qfwk76CeOh255U39SN6MYEw3RaZ9FEWL-uU6dGlESjs5mSapIHAh0M0wxJp1TSFEaTMcDsN5PhHdC1tQdz4Khgo5yiaEJNVF1o9yLkwWy2KxRBPOopPJOUZ_J7QO4hz7/s1600-h/-24.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjz9i_k6-z47XF_Qfwk76CeOh255U39SN6MYEw3RaZ9FEWL-uU6dGlESjs5mSapIHAh0M0wxJp1TSFEaTMcDsN5PhHdC1tQdz4Khgo5yiaEJNVF1o9yLkwWy2KxRBPOopPJOUZ_J7QO4hz7/s320/-24.jpg" /></a></div>I sliced everything up, and then smothered the outside of the bread with some margarine. Now the trick to perfecting a grilled cheese when adding non-cheese elements is that you need to put a thin layer of cheese then the veggies and then another thin layer of cheese. Otherwise, everything would end up sliding out. The cheese on either side acts as the glue of the sandwich, holding everything together. Once I assembled my sandwich, I cooked it up just the way my grandma taught me, in a non-stick pan. Thanks to my mom I have a great Calphalon pan I use for these sorts of treats. I cooked the first side on medium heat, and covered it. Once the margarine was melted on the side facing up (about 4 minutes), I knew it was time to flip the sandwich. I quickly flipped my grilled cheese and cooked it on the other side for another few minutes. Finally it was done and I was ready to eat my lunch. As you can see it turned out just right!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYm9lg2i0kIjSSIsmVEO-GN5dJOniz5cfRlg0Z8MDRNo6uIho7k4IpbaOPbrnjjSQnkqXqno8_1x_bk8xo_w-cuf7B6tVLbQke0khYOIFQRr2B4-y5PJe8uH1voMKykMR7aYuxwNVA75VC/s1600-h/-23.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjYm9lg2i0kIjSSIsmVEO-GN5dJOniz5cfRlg0Z8MDRNo6uIho7k4IpbaOPbrnjjSQnkqXqno8_1x_bk8xo_w-cuf7B6tVLbQke0khYOIFQRr2B4-y5PJe8uH1voMKykMR7aYuxwNVA75VC/s320/-23.jpg" /></a></div>So, next time you feel like a grilled cheese, mix it up a bit. It's so fun!Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-79677171245316187682009-08-29T14:15:00.000-07:002009-08-29T14:31:11.089-07:00The 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.<br />
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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!<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSEs0FkizcOBzm74op3hzZ7Ihvm2MWhrO_izNr0CcXebNFtiTKVDDVVsKkact4YkArMUQlcOMDfc5R4h0gwtJCDnGI2WVR5Ya83qzY_FH7Jhg09WOQVTE7TT_othpjF7P6tW6f9VAiYRqZ/s1600-h/-18.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSEs0FkizcOBzm74op3hzZ7Ihvm2MWhrO_izNr0CcXebNFtiTKVDDVVsKkact4YkArMUQlcOMDfc5R4h0gwtJCDnGI2WVR5Ya83qzY_FH7Jhg09WOQVTE7TT_othpjF7P6tW6f9VAiYRqZ/s320/-18.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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! <br />
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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!<br />
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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!<br />
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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!<br />
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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.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnk0kQ5ATv5ZvqU5L2h6JPd0HYASLxekg3vdsSQoCa37bZfzkL-tZWejXnMDi6mHxz_ZY1-5keDX6cHa8NK6bfCCuSIbMt5QmbWAhlyXBF6o0oG2Ysg_k1HjAUi7c01A5TXQ6apoCN7IK/s1600-h/-10.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcnk0kQ5ATv5ZvqU5L2h6JPd0HYASLxekg3vdsSQoCa37bZfzkL-tZWejXnMDi6mHxz_ZY1-5keDX6cHa8NK6bfCCuSIbMt5QmbWAhlyXBF6o0oG2Ysg_k1HjAUi7c01A5TXQ6apoCN7IK/s320/-10.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEir_rLcAA-OXTQKBn9Q5Fzbom9VWv0-zbDLEnz0mcezWp8B1zQVIz1LXMxyKPu-Bko9_MHdX06NAq-XdEjoSlTdiSpVQZVzEDTwEcb_fQILkPROu665b93T5O70IjZdlm8cULyqiBN6of/s1600-h/-11.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiEir_rLcAA-OXTQKBn9Q5Fzbom9VWv0-zbDLEnz0mcezWp8B1zQVIz1LXMxyKPu-Bko9_MHdX06NAq-XdEjoSlTdiSpVQZVzEDTwEcb_fQILkPROu665b93T5O70IjZdlm8cULyqiBN6of/s320/-11.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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?<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsNxqUNU9oFBZsQOVBT-LYt26Kir73tMRh0D2xDAmzsy1koy4DNQvbvOLdrbmCcbqFj2LMtQmhIxDGimLZVfhIb2o9UHHAbQZ3dKzV_SuprRlrWk9ccWmr7WcW7AugQ7E2ERCTWOE8RQ_Y/s1600-h/-9.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsNxqUNU9oFBZsQOVBT-LYt26Kir73tMRh0D2xDAmzsy1koy4DNQvbvOLdrbmCcbqFj2LMtQmhIxDGimLZVfhIb2o9UHHAbQZ3dKzV_SuprRlrWk9ccWmr7WcW7AugQ7E2ERCTWOE8RQ_Y/s320/-9.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWLr37eEceb4g7Bxq7mHsIike89pZHeKu5q4f556shWZMXKO5uogGfDV4MD848K0BB-51B-BwArf7lEQofEjCSOCyuBK6P32lWIoo9RwNMP7nse6ZH-t99JK0r2zr9aCkugWkz388EHGb/s1600-h/-12.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiuWLr37eEceb4g7Bxq7mHsIike89pZHeKu5q4f556shWZMXKO5uogGfDV4MD848K0BB-51B-BwArf7lEQofEjCSOCyuBK6P32lWIoo9RwNMP7nse6ZH-t99JK0r2zr9aCkugWkz388EHGb/s320/-12.jpg" /></a></div><br />
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.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbD-j2cKsYkC8LJB-aNex5V-wiZ6CxelTiUSNzmO95TQ07mZmX3kC-cztOR-thGb8RhpC0rX_jnXJGkSx03DNJpi9H3S5cLs1g5KWydxD6qc-a_eRr2dMdzT_9rGHmPwPwQuUDYPNHXler/s1600-h/-8.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjbD-j2cKsYkC8LJB-aNex5V-wiZ6CxelTiUSNzmO95TQ07mZmX3kC-cztOR-thGb8RhpC0rX_jnXJGkSx03DNJpi9H3S5cLs1g5KWydxD6qc-a_eRr2dMdzT_9rGHmPwPwQuUDYPNHXler/s320/-8.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLl9gFU6H4zO2F2yDAryOGdfBxHFdmLn9B1QZocwfhyphenhyphenAYEs8PdnumTNGL524W_fbsOKi8ecAZV-jGVyrYcggrN2pbq2BSe2VlIygIyyuDDQNdnuJVcPhKs1K6y8bf78ysuNRc8hWNJHljC/s1600-h/-7.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLl9gFU6H4zO2F2yDAryOGdfBxHFdmLn9B1QZocwfhyphenhyphenAYEs8PdnumTNGL524W_fbsOKi8ecAZV-jGVyrYcggrN2pbq2BSe2VlIygIyyuDDQNdnuJVcPhKs1K6y8bf78ysuNRc8hWNJHljC/s320/-7.jpg" /></a></div><br />
Until the next empanada!Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-75285846144941038662009-08-25T10:49:00.000-07:002009-08-25T10:49:42.245-07:00Gazpacho 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!).<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQlC3geQa1YarwzOTdNjB99sYS9tXmPQwL7n7iw3xUo1G9idrmXMgjgFgc_DRoEVwj3rB_B6CPU7PariY8uO60TmQxxnENPeLU_gad6Zog_Q6L2rmQbfuPyGZ4psZPH7oMlfJMiTgLTAk/s1600-h/-4.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiYQlC3geQa1YarwzOTdNjB99sYS9tXmPQwL7n7iw3xUo1G9idrmXMgjgFgc_DRoEVwj3rB_B6CPU7PariY8uO60TmQxxnENPeLU_gad6Zog_Q6L2rmQbfuPyGZ4psZPH7oMlfJMiTgLTAk/s320/-4.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYWSCpGKiNQHP8uYAMfqN-VVgnHIQpf0dx06kCMp30xoOQROoaspDAS69RyfUROhGSNFost1pxTrrm1BkhORc-_ZdGZh40c4D8E_hy2W0vOTJda2oo6NJBdF48rfFDCYR4v7kkn2WRW3LH/s1600-h/-3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYWSCpGKiNQHP8uYAMfqN-VVgnHIQpf0dx06kCMp30xoOQROoaspDAS69RyfUROhGSNFost1pxTrrm1BkhORc-_ZdGZh40c4D8E_hy2W0vOTJda2oo6NJBdF48rfFDCYR4v7kkn2WRW3LH/s320/-3.jpg" /></a></div>Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3991244458314628840.post-73170048310981973952009-08-24T11:42:00.000-07:002009-08-24T11:46:23.244-07:00Haven't made an empanada yet....but I did make some great Gazpacho!<div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">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!<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">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 España 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? <br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">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).<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">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!<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">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.<br />
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</div><div style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;"></div><span style="font-family: "Helvetica Neue",Arial,Helvetica,sans-serif;">Next time, I promise a new empanada recipe.....</span>Liz Chttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06193636484683059305noreply@blogger.com2