Empanadas de horno: Baked meat-filled turnovers
Empanadas de horno: Baked meat-filled turnovers
Yield: 12–14 appetizer portions
INGREDIENTS:
1 Tablespoon olive oil
1 cup finely chopped onions
½ pound boneless lean beef, coarsely chopped
¼ cup seedless raisins, soaked in 1 cup boiling water for 10 minutes and drained well
¼ teaspoon ground red pepper, more or less to taste
¼ teaspoon ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste
Turnover pastry dough (recipe to the left), or frozen pie crust or pie crust mix
2 hard-cooked eggs, each cut vertically into 8 wedges 14 stuffed green olives, coarsely chopped, more if needed
INSTRUCTIONS:
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Prepare filling: Heat oil in large skillet over medium-high heat, add onions, and sauté until soft, 3 to 5 minutes. Crumble meat into the pan, stirring constantly, and cook until browned, 5 to 7 minutes. Stir in raisins and spices to taste. Remove from heat and set aside.
Prepare turnover pastry dough (recipe to the left).
Assemble turnovers: Using a lightly floured rolling pin, roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to about 1/8 inch thick. Cut the dough into circles, using a 4-inch cookie cutter. Gather remaining dough into a ball and roll out. Cut the remaining dough into circles.
Place 1 tablespoon of meat filling, then one wedge of egg on top of that, and sprinkle with chopped olives. Dip your finger into a cup of water, and moisten the edge of the pastry. Fold top half of dough over filling to form a half circle, and press edges of dough together with fork to seal. Place turnovers side by side on baking sheet. Make vent holes in the top of each turnover by poking once or twice with fork.
Bake in oven for 15 to 20 minutes, or until lightly browned. Remove from oven and use a metal spatula to transfer turnovers to serving platter.
Serve as an appetizer while they are still warm.
Turnover Pastry Dough
INGREDIENTS:
2½ cups all-purpose flour, more as needed
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking powder
¾ cup cold butter or margarine, cut into small pieces
½ cup ice water, more if necessary
INSTRUCTIONS:
In large mixing bowl, combine 2½ cups flour, salt, and baking powder. Add butter pieces, and using pastry blender or fingers, blend until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add ½ cup ice water and using your fingers blend to form into ball. If dough is too dry, add more water, and if too sticky, add a little more flour. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour to chill.
Continue as directed above.
Recipe from Multicultural Cookbook of Life-Cycle Celebrations, by Lois Sinaiko Webb.
Alfajores Santafecinos: Frosted caramel-filled cookies
Alfajores Santafecinos: Frosted caramel-filled cookies
Yield: about 20 cookies
INGREDIENTS:
2 cups dulce de leche (recipe follows)
1 cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
3 egg yolks
1 teaspoon melted butter
1 cup confectioners’ sugar, more if necessary
½ cup heavy cream, more if necessary
INSTRUCTIONS:
Prepare the dulce de leche. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Preheat oven to 350°F.
Prepare cookie dough: Put flour and salt in large mixing bowl. Make a well in the center, and drop in the egg yolks and melted butter. Using your fingers, mix the ingredients together to form into a ball of dough. Transfer dough to lightly floured work surface and knead vigorously for 10 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. Let dough rest for 10 minutes.
On lightly floured work surface, roll dough to about 1/8 inch think with lightly floured rolling pin. Using a 2-inch cookie cutter or the rim of glass, cut out as many circles as you can from the dough. Gather the scraps together and form them into another ball. Roll dough out again and cut into circles, as with other dough. Repeat until all the dough has been used. Place the circles 1 inch apart on 1 or 2 lightly-greased cookie sheets.
Bake in oven for 10 minutes, or until the cookies are lightly browned. Using a metal spatula, transfer cookies to a wire rack to cool.
Prepare icing: Put 1 cup confectioners’ sugar into asmall bowl, stir in ½ cup heavy cream, a little at a time, and blend well. The icing should coat the spoon lightly. If it seems thin, add a few spoonfuls of confectioners’ sugar; if it is too thick, add a little more cream.
Using a pastry brush, coat the tops of half of the cookies with a thin layer of icing and let dry for 10 minutes.
Spread a thick layer of dulce de leche on the top of the remaining cookies. Place the cookies on top of each other like a sandwich, with the dulce de leche in the center and icing on top.
To serve, stack your alfajores santafecinos on a tray and serve as sweet treats at baptism celebrations and first communion parties.
Dulce de leche: Caramel-flavored milk pudding
Dulce de leche: Caramel-flavored milk pudding
Yield: about 4 cups
INGREDIENTS:
15 ounces canned condensed milk
3 cups whole milk
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup water
INSTRUCTIONS:
In small saucepan, stirring constantly, bring condensed milk, whole milk, and baking soda to a boil over high heat, and immediately remove pan from heat.
Put sugar and water into medium heavy-based saucepan, and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until the sugar dissolves. Stir in hot milk mixture and cook over very low heat for 1 to 1½ hours, stirring occasionally. The mixture becomes a thick amber-colored pudding when done.
Recipe from Multicultural Cookbook of Life-Cycle Celebrations, by Lois Sinaiko Webb.
