Empanadas...Tasty!

I'm sorry it's been so long. Last week was a little rough. I had a friend in the hospital and I spent most of my time hanging out there with her. Let me tell you, hospitals are just no fun, and I'm not even going to discuss the food! Yuck. How can anyone get better eating that stuff?


On a tastier note, I made empanadas last night for dinner. I'm sure there are empanada purists out there who will take exception to my approach, but it worked for us! First I found a picadillo recipe that I liked. Then I broke it down, reassembled it and voila, empanadas with potatoes and black beans. No olives or raisins here. My dislike for olives is legendary and the niece is highly allergic to raisins. The potatoes and black beans were tasty but not photogenic, but that's another story.

 

Empanadas

1 pkg frozen dough discs (I used Delicious Bite - Authentic Latin American Style Easy Dough Artisan Dough Discs)
1 1/2 pounds ground beef
2 tbsp olive oil
1 med. bell pepper, chopped
1/2 med yellow onion, chopped
2 cloves garlic minced
1/2 c beer
1 15oz can petite diced tomatoes, drained
2 tbsp tomato paste
2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/4 tsp ground coriander
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
1/4 tsp Tabasco sauce
1 egg
splash of water

• Thaw frozen discs and preheat oven to 400 degrees.
• In a large, deep, stainless steel skillet, saute onion, garlic and pepper until onion is translucent and fragrant
• Add ground beef and cook until no longer pink
• Stir in the beer, tomatoes, tomato paste, cumin, coriander, salt, black pepper and Tabasco sauce and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, covered for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Spray 2 cookie sheets with non-stick cooking spray
• You'll need to remove a protective film from between each layer as you use it.
• Using a kitchen tablespoon (not a measuring spoon, that big tablespoon in your silverware drawer), put one spoonful of the meat mixture in the center of one disc.
• Fold the disc over and crimp the edges together. You can roll them or use a fork, whatever works.
• Place the sealed meat pie on the cookie sheet.
• Repeat the last three steps for each disc. The box I used had 14 discs which was enough to comfortably serve 4 and I had some filling left over.
• Once all your discs are filled, beat the egg with a splash of water to make an egg wash
• Brush the tops of the empanadas with the egg wash
• Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until golden brown.

 Just a little note here, have I mentioned tomato paste in a tube on here yet? Best. Innovation. Ever. Seriously. I have recipes like this and I never know what to do with the rest of the can of tomato paste; with tomato paste in a tube I don't have to worry about it. I use the 2 tbsp., put the lid back on the tube and move on. No fuss, no muss, and better yet, no waste!

Potatoes and Black Beans

1 pound baking potatoes, peeled and diced
1 cup black beans
Salt and pepper to taste
2 tbsp cooking oil

• Heat oil in a large non-stick skillet over medium heat. Add potatoes and cook stirring occasionally until golden brown. About 8-10 minutes.
• Add black beans and cook until heated through, 3-5 minutes more. I always have black beans in my freezer so I just grab a bag and throw them in. You can drain a can of black beans and do the same.

Leftovers? No worries! Just combine your leftover meat mixture with the leftover potatoes and beans. It's a great one dish meal that's easy to reheat and serve.

Hammy Mac-n-Cheese

I just love big holiday dinners. Now that there are only three of us living in the house, a big meal means lots of leftovers. So after last Sunday's Easter feast I was left with A LOT of ham! I froze most of it, but I would have felt a little cheated if I couldn't have a few leftovers. I wanted to do something with the ham that wasn't ham and beans. Sorry folks, that is just not one of my favorite foods. I scoured the pantry, the refrigerator and the Internet looking for ideas and finally decided on mac and cheese because I already had nearly all the ingredients. I had several partial bags of shredded cheese, plenty of pasta, milk, egg, flour, everything except dry mustard. So, one quick trip to the store and I was good to go.

There are literally hundreds of recipes out there for macaroni and cheese; I used this one from Alton Brown at the Food Network. Of course, his doesn't call for leftover ham, so my addition is in bold italics.

Baked Macaroni and Cheese 

Ingredients

• 1/2 pound elbow macaroni
• 1/2 pound leftover ham, chopped in bite size pieces
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 3 tablespoons flour
• 1 tablespoon powdered mustard
• 3 cups milk
• 1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced (about 1/2 a med onion)
• 1 bay leaf
• 1/2 teaspoon paprika
• 1 large egg
• 12 ounces sharp cheddar, shredded (3 cups)
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• Fresh black pepper

Topping:

• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 cup panko bread crumbs

Directions

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
• In a large pot of boiling, salted water cook the pasta to al dente (about 8 minutes). Toss cooked pasta with chopped ham and set aside.

• While the pasta is cooking, in a separate pot, melt the butter. Whisk in the flour and mustard and keep it moving for about five minutes. The idea here is to cook the floury taste out of the flour. You want it to have a nice nutty smell and to be a gorgeous warm brown in color. If you've ever had a homemade mac and cheese that tastes gritty or flour-y, someone in the kitchen rushed this step. Make sure it's free of lumps.

• Stir in the milk (slowly and keep stirring, you don't want to get lumps), onion, bay leaf, and paprika. Simmer for ten minutes and remove the bay leaf.

• Temper in the egg (I put my egg in a bowl with high sides and beat it, then slowly pour the hot liquid from the pan in to the bowl while continuing to whisk the egg. This brings the egg up to temperature with the hot ingredients without scrambling it. Don't worry, it's easier than it sounds). Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Season with salt and pepper. Fold the macaroni into the mix and pour into a 2-quart casserole dish. Top with remaining cheese. I like mine extra cheesy so I added another 1/2 cup that was just hanging around in the frig.
• Melt the butter in a saute pan and toss the bread crumbs to coat. Top the macaroni with the bread crumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and rest for five minutes before serving.

 

This was marvelous! To be honest though, next time I'll use less onion and add some garlic. It's just a personal preference. I'm new to the use of onions in my cooking and I find that I definitely prefer them in smaller doses.

Lasagna...YUM!

Tonight I attempted my first ever homemade lasagna. Would it be bragging to say it was delish? No? Well then, it was delicious! Okay, the ricotta cheese was green, but that was because I processed the spinach with the ricotta instead of chopping it separately. It was still fantastic, but it was also much easier than I expected. I'll be making it again and next time I'll make a couple of small dishes instead of one large one. I'll also add a little tomato sauce next time, I like my lasagna a little saucier. Like me.

Serve this up with garlic bread and a salad and you're good to go! Oh, and I also found a great use for those pesky leftover noodles. Check out the end of the blog.

Lasagna with Italian Sausage

1 pkg lasagna noodles
28 oz crushed tomatoes
1/2 cup red wine
6 cloves garlic, fine chopped
1 med. yellow onion, fine chopped
20 fresh basil leaves - minced
.75 oz pkg fresh oregano - minced
1/2 pound sweet Italian sausage
1/2 pound hot Italian sausage
2 C fresh baby spinach
4 C ricotta cheese
1 large egg
1/2 C parmesan cheese, divided
2 C mozzarella cheese
1 tsp dried oregano

• Preheat oven to 350
• Cook pasta to al dente, lightly oil and set aside
• Saute onion in olive oil until translucent, add chopped garlic and saute until garlic is fragrant but not brown.
• Add red wine and let reduce. I used Malbec. Cabernet or Merlot also work well with this sauce.
• Once the red wine is reduced, add crushed tomatoes and minced herbs and let simmer while you cook the sausage.
• Combine sweet and hot sausages, crumble and cook until no longer pink. Drain the fat and add the meat to your marinara sauce. Reduce or turn off heat. This marinara is pretty thick, so if you like a saucier lasagna, add a little tomato sauce to thin it out.

• In a food processor, combine ricotta, 1/4 C parmesan, the egg and spinach. Pulse until combined. If you don't have a food processor, chop the spinach and mix with the other ingredients in a large bowl. Set aside.

• Spray a 9x13 baking dish with cooking spray.
• Add 1 C marinara mixture to the bottom of the pan and spread evenly.
• Top with 3 lasagna noodles. Spread noodles with 1/4 of the ricotta mixture, top with 1 C marinara mixture and sprinkle with 1/2 C mozzarella cheese. Repeat this step 3 more times.

• Sprinkle with remaining parmesan cheese and the dried oregano.
• Bake for 45 minutes or until cheese is bubbly.

Most packages of lasagna come with 18 noodles and you only need 12. So what do you do with the other 6 noodles? There are a number of ideas on the internet, my favorite was this:

Fried Lasagna Noodles

1. Heat cooking oil to 375 in a deep skillet.
2. While the oil is heating, cut the cooked noodles in varying shapes.
3. Without overcrowding the pan, add the cut noodles in small batches and fry until golden and crisp.
4. Sprinkle with parmesan cheese while still hot.
5. Serve with a dipping sauce. I used a jar of pesto I had in the pantry. You could also use leftover marinara sauce.

You can make these while your lasagna cooks and enjoy a tasty snack while you're waiting on the oven!

There you have it, my first homemade lasagna!

Shrimpy Mango Goodness

Last weekend I was in Ft. Lauderdale and ate at the Carolina Ale House. Aside from being shocked at how affordable it was, I fell in love with their shrimp tacos. Sadly, the recipe is not out there. Not even from the Top Secret Recipes guys (gals? people?) I, however, was determined to create something equally yummy in my own kitchen. I almost succeeded. Next time I'll blacken the shrimp. Here is last night's effort. Oh, and this time? I came up with my own recipes after reviewing several different ones on the web. Well, mostly. The corn and black bean salad is not mine, it's Rachael Ray's. But the rest of it is mine.

The Menu

Shrimp Tacos with seasoned sour cream
Mango Salsa
Warm Corn and Black Bean Salad

Make the mango salsa and a couple of hours in advance to give the flavors time to develop. When you're ready to start cooking, make the warm corn and black bean salad first, then the sour cream, save the shrimp for last.

Mango Salsa

1 med. Mango

½  red bell pepper

Juice and zest of 1 lime

3-5 cloves garlic

1 shallot bulb

1 jalapeno pepper

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp ground coriander seed

Salt

 

1. Peel and finely chop the shallot, garlic, mango, red pepper and jalapeno and set in a small bowl.
2. Zest and juice the lime over the bowl, add the sugar and ground coriander and sprinkle with salt.
3. Toss well. Refrigerate for 2 hours. Heat through before serving if desired.

Warm Corn and Black Bean Salad

This recipe is from the Food Network's Rachael Ray and can be found here.

1 can, 14 ounces, black beans, rinsed and drained

2 cups frozen corn kernels

1 small red bell pepper, seeded and chopped

1/2 red onion, chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin, half a palm full

2 teaspoons hot sauce, just eyeball the amount (recommended: Tabasco)

1 lime, juiced

2 tablespoons vegetable or olive oil, eyeball it

Salt and pepper

Combine all ingredients in a bowl. Let stand at least 15 minutes for corn to fully defrost and flavors to combine, then toss and serve. The corn will also place a quick-chill on this easy side-salad as it defrosts -- no need to refrigerate!

Seasoned Sour Cream

¼ - ½ c sour cream (I just had some left over from an 8oz container so the amount is a guess)

1 tsp garlic powder

1/8 tsp cumin

¼ tsp ground coriander seed

Shake of dried cilantro leaves

Combine all ingredients, stir well, serve.

Shrimp Tacos

1 1/2 pounds peeled, deveined, tail removed shrimp (51-60 per pound)
1 lime
Mango Salsa (recipe follows)
Seasoned Sour Cream (recipe follows)
Leaf lettuce
1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced
Small flour tortilla shells
 
Heat a skillet over medium. Add shrimp, sprinkle with salt and squeeze lime juice over the top. Sautee until shrimp are just pink, but not curled into themselves. When shrimp get all curled up they are over cooked and tend to be a little tough.
 
To assemble and serve:
 
Open a flour tortilla and spread a little of the seasoned sour cream in the center. Add a piece of leaf lettuce, the shrimp, a slice of avocado and top with the mango salsa. Serve the bean and corn salad on the side.

 
This is a fairly light meal, so if your family needs a little more substance, add some rice or even french fries on the side. We loved it!

About Last Night - Thai Cashew Chicken

I love cashew chicken. It's my favorite Chinese take-out meal so I was really excited when I found a recipe for it in the complete book of Thai Cooking: Over 200 delicious recipes by Linda Stephen (available here: http://www.hamiltonbook.com/complete-book-of-thai-cooking-over-200-delicious-recipes).  Even my "ew, why are you making cashew chicken, it's slimy" niece liked it. Anyway. I served this with white rice seasoned with soy sauce and home-made Chinese 5-Spice powder. Future posts will have photos, since this is kind of after the fact you'll have to take my word that it looks as good as it tastes! As will frequently happen, I'll give you the original recipe and then tell you what I changed. That's the great thing about cooking, you find what you like and build from there.

Stir Fried Chicken with Cashews

2 tbsp oyster sauce
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp fish sauce
1 tsp hot chili sauce
1 tsp cornstarch
2 tbsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts, thinly sliced
1/2 onion thinly sliced
1/2 red bell pepper thinly sliced
8 small dried red chilies
6 green onions cut in 1-inch lengths
1/2 c roasted cashews.

1. In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine soy sauce, water, fish sauce, chili sauce and cornstarch.
2. Heat a wok or large skillet over medium-high heat and add oil. Add garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds or until golden. Add chicken and stir-fry for 3 minutes.
3. Add onion, red pepper and dried chilies and stir-fry for 2 minutes
4. Stir reserved soy mixture and add to wok. Toss to coat all ingredients with sauce and cook for 1 minute.
5. Stir in green onions and cashews.

What did I change?

Not much really. The biggest change is that I used boneless skinless thighs instead of breasts. I think the dark meat has a richer flavor. Plus, they're usually a little less expensive. I like my cashew chicken saucy, so I doubled everything in the soy mixture except the hot chili sauce. I use sriacha sauce which I find to be really spicy, so one was enough for me. Use what works for you. Also, I omitted the green onions intentionally because I just don't care for them and I omitted the red chilies by accident. All that work to find them in my grocery store and then I forgot to put them in the dish. Ah, well. It happens. You could also add more veggies to this. It would be quite tasty with some snow peas or, if you're a fan, broccoli.

Next up, the rice! Seasoned this way, the rice adds a beautiful depth of flavor to the stir-fry without overpowering it. You can get 5-Spice Powder online, in a specialty Asian market, OR you could make your own like I did (recipe below).

White Rice with Soy Sauce and 5-Spice Powder

1 cup dried white rice
1 tsp. Chinese 5-Spice Powder
1 tsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. butter
2 c. water

1. Place first 4 ingredients in a saucepan over medium heat. Heat until butter is melted and the rice is fragrant and nearly toasted.
2. Add water and without raising the heat, bring to a boil.
3. Reduce heat and simmer until done (about 20 minutes)

I went searching for 5-Spice Powder a few months ago and after no small amount of frustration, I just googled it and made my own. Here is the recipe I found and used.

Five-Spice Powder

• 3 tablespoons cinnamon
• 6 star anise or 2 teaspoons anise seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons fennel seeds
• 1 1/2 teaspoons szechuan peppercorns or 1 1/2 teaspoons whole black peppercorns
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions:

1. Combine all ingredients in blender or coffee grinder.
2. Blend until finely ground.
3. Store in airtight container.
4. Keeps up to 2 months.
5. Note: You could"roast" the whole spices a bit for a more intense flavor in a dry frying pan-- Watch closely to prevent spices from burning.

I used whole black peppercorns and toasted my spices first and then tossed them in a coffee grinder that I use only for spice grinding.

So there it is. My favorite cashew chicken recipe. Enjoy!