Empanadas!

Over the summer, Vanessa and I have been blessed to get to know a new friend. This new friend is from Missouri, so he had to leave sometime, and that time is today. A few of us decided to have one last meal together before he left, so I made one of my absolute favorite things.

Empanadas!

These beautiful little guys hail from Argentina, and so does our new friend, so it was all quite fitting.

And delicious.

You start with puff pastry dough.

These are frozen, so start by taking them out of the freezer about 45 minutes before you need them.


While they're dethawing, you can prepare the filling for the empanadas. Empanadas can be filled with just about anything, and I totally want to try some new things. But for now, I used the tried and true ground pork and onion combo.

To die for.

Almost.

For some reason I completely forgot to take pictures of the process, but here's what you do:

Chop up a yellow onion and throw it in a skillet with some shortening (I didn't mention that this is good for you, right? Because it isn't.). Caramelize it a bit and then put it in a bowl. Add 2 tsp of Spanish paprika, 1 tsp of cumin, and 1 tsp of crushed red pepper flakes.

Brown one pound of ground pork in the same skillet, and then add that to the onion mixture. Toss it together, throw in a tablespoon of vinegar, and you're done! Super simple.

Now back to the puff pastry.



It comes with 2 sheets in the package. It's been sitting out like this for 45 minutes, so it's time to unfold it.



I used to cut circles out of this, but that wasted a lot of dough, so now I cut it into 6 rectangles and then trim the edges just a bit to round them out. The empanadas are half-moon shaped, so we want rounded edges.

Flatten them out as much as possible - we want these guys to be as big as we can make them!

Take some water and put a thin layer around the edge of each dough circle. This will help the sides stick together when we fold them.

Grab the filling and heap a couple spoonfuls into one side of the dough circle. Leave room to seal the edges, and make sure there's enough dough to fold over.

The kind of tricky part is putting them together. Once you've folded the top over, you need to pinch the fold shut. You can either use your fingers or a fork.

Gorgeous! There's one more step. It's crucial.

Eggwash.

Crack an egg, stir it up, and brush it on the tops of the empanadas.

Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes (mine take exactly 22 minutes). They'll be golden, bubbly, and crispy.
I wish my little cell phone camera could do them justice!

You cannot just make these for yourself. That would be selfish. You need to invite several of your favorite people and share the love with them!

Armand, Jelaine, Trey, Natalie, and Stephen were the fun guests of this "last supper", and we all immensely enjoyed this Argentine dish!

Nessita versus Marble Cheesecake Brownies

:) So, this is the first time I, Vanessa, have posted about baking...

Though I absolutely love baking, it hasn't really happened this summer. I've felt a bit preoccupied with adjusting to life after college. I suppose getting asked to make 4 dozen cookies for tomorrow night spurred up the baker inside of me again! :) I was reminded of some really kind friends and coworkers and how they have served me this summer and filled with gratefulness and a desire to show my thankfulness to them in baked form...

So here was today's lovely adventure...

Inspired by the lovely Smitten Kitchen blog! One of my favorites :) Come these delicious Marble Cheesecake Brownies

I admit, mine are not so beautiful as hers. I was incredibly nervous about the swirling part...but I think they turned out equally delicious and hopefully will be a sweet treat for my coworkers and thank you for a few friends!

Here's the remarkably simple ingredients for the delicious brownie batter. It always astounds me how so many different delicious things can come from such simple basics!

So I combined the butter and chocolate and melted it down...

Then mixed in the rest...

Then made the simple cheesecake batter and mixed it with Chocolate chips which i then "attempted" to swirl into the brownie mix....it doesn't look amazing...I admit...

But the finished product looked ready to devour!

Here is the lovely finished product!

Deliciousness! :)

Red Pepper Chicken Curry

Does the thought of making Indian food scare you?

Me too.

But I did it anyway.

And so should you.

A few weeks ago I made this red pepper chicken curry, along with some naan and mango ice cream for a few friends. Today I made it for Becky and her novio since I'm spending a couple days in Overland Park, KS before flying out to Boston.

Here are the ingredients:


You will need some Indian spices. Don't let this intimidate you! The spices are pretty inexpensive at Indian markets (or you can have a world traveling roommate who actually GOES to India and brings them back with her!).

This is garam masala.


It is a combination of several different spices and it smells divine.

But you don't need it quite yet.

First we need to make the curry. Roughly chop the red peppers, onion, garlic, and ginger and toss them in a blender. Add the juice of a lime, coconut flakes, and water.



Liquefy the mixture....


until it looks like this!


Take the garam masala and the curry powder and stir fry them in some oil for a few moments.

I wish you could smell this.

Absolutely divine.


Notice the plastic spoon in the very hot pan.

Don't do that. Ever.

I melted Becky's spoon. Whoops!

Add the vegetable paste and bring to a boil.


Chop up 2 or 3 potatoes.


And throw them in a pot. Don't overcook them, though - they'll continue cooking once they are in the curry.


Chop up some cooked chicken to about the same size as the potatoes and put them in the curry.


Let that simmer for about 30 minutes. While that's working, prepare some naan! Vanessa made some homemade naan a few weeks ago, but today, since I'm visiting my dear friend Becky, I decided to go the easy route and pick up some naan at the local Indian market.

I brushed it with olive oil and chopped garlic and popped it in the oven for about 10 minutes.


About 15 minutes before the curry is done simmering, toss in the cooked potatoes.

The funny thing about Indian food is that it doesn't look very appetizing.


But take my word for it, this is fabulous. Over some rice with naan on the side....mercy!

Red Pepper Chicken Curry

2 sweet bell peppers
1 large onion, chopped
3 garlic cloves, chopped
1 inch piece ginger, chopped
2 tbsp coconut flakes (I left these out because I didn't have any - you shouldn't)
2 tbsp lime juice
1 cup water
1 tbsp garam masala
1 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp chili powder
2 lbs boneless skinless chicken breast, cooked
4 tbsp plain yogurt (to be added in at the end - this is optional)
2-3 potatoes, chopped

What to do with all those Romas....

I have a garden. You remember all those early blog posts when I showed you pictures of baby tomato and cucumber plants, right?

Well, it's been quite prolific this past month. And when Roma tomatoes come in, they come in force. Dozens at a time.

What's a girl to do with all those tomatoes?

Make marinara sauce, of course!

Here's what you need:

12-14 Roma tomatoes, an onion, parsley, tomato paste, ground oregano, basil, garlic, salt and pepper.

If you don't have fresh tomatoes, canned crushed tomatoes work just as well! I've tried it both ways.

If you do have some whole tomatoes to use, you have a bit of work ahead of you.

You have to peel and seed those suckers!

Bring a pot of water to a boil....


And throw the tomatoes in. Let them bob up and down for about 20 seconds....

Then throw them in an ice bath.

The skin will come right off!

Once that's done, chop them in half....

And pull out all the insides. They would really water down the sauce, and you don't want that.

In the meantime, have the onion cooking in a big pot on the stove.

So now you have a bowl full of peeled and seeded tomatoes.

You can throw them in a food processor, but I prefer a slightly more rustic method.

Hands on.

This gets messy. You definitely can't answer the phone during this step!

It's also difficult to take a picture of this step. Yikes.

Crush them until there aren't any big pieces left....

And dump in the rest of the ingredients (the exact measurements are at the end of this post).

Pour it all into the pot with the onion.

Let this simmer for about 20 minutes, then add a few splashes of white wine. I didn't actually have any open bottles when I made this particular batch, so I left this out - but you shouldn't!

One very important thing to remember when cooking with tomatoes - they are really acidic, so you should add some of this VERY secret ingredient:

Brown sugar! It really balances out the acid.

Make sure it's really well incorporated, and once it is, you have a delicious marinara sauce, ready to take on the world!

I like making a batch of meatballs and tossing them in at this point. I use this recipe by Alton Brown. I modify it slightly by using 3/4 lb. of ground pork sausage and 3/4 lb. ground round and not use lamb. I also omit the spinach. Absolutely delicious.

Marinara Sauce

12-14 roma tomatoes, peeled and seeded OR 2 14-oz cans stewed tomatoes

1 can tomato paste (use two cans if you opt for using fresh tomatoes)

4 tbsp fresh chopped parsley

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tsp ground oregano

1 tsp sweet basil

1 tsp salt

1/3 cup finely diced onion

1/2 cup white wine

2 tbsp brown sugar

ground black pepper

Apple Crisp...yes, I know it isn't fall yet!

Today I'm going to share with you the most delicious apple crisp I personally have ever encountered.

It all begins here.

Apples. Granny Smith. They are perfect with the sweet topping, plus they were on sale at HyVee. Score!

Wash, peel, core, and slice the apples into 1/4 inch pieces. Put these in an 8x8 or 9x13 pan (I used a 9x13 because I doubled the recipe).

Mix together flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, oats, and finely chopped pecans.

While the cinnamon's out, sprinkle some (along with some granulated sugar) on the apples and toss to coat them.

Mix softened butter into the flour mixture with your fingers. This will take a few minutes; I suppose you could also use a pastry cutter, although this ends up being more doughy than a usual topping.

Sprinkle the dough mixture on top of the apples and press it down; this is a lot of topping! You won't regret it. Trust me.

Stick it in the oven and wait patiently - this sucker takes 50 minutes to bake.

Let it rest for at least 15 to let the juices calm down. You'll be glad you did.

Then dig in! I didn't actually get a picture of the cut final product....I ate it too fast.

Whoops!

Here's the recipe (and the link to the original copy!):

Filling:

5-6 medium apples, peeled, cored, and sliced

3 tbsp granulated sugar

1.5 tsp cinnamon

Topping:

1 1/3 cups flour

1 1/3 cups brown sugar

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1 stick butter, softened

2/3 cup chopped pecans *these are a must!*

1/3 cup oats

Bake at 350 degrees for 50-55 minutes.

Salsa!

I love salsa dancing. I learned how to dance in Mexico, and so even though I'm not very good, I just love the music and the people who do it.

I also love salsa.

But I'm kind of picky. Does that surprise anyone? It shouldn't. But when you make your own food, you can be as picky as you want!

I'm picky with salsa in that it's gotta be really finely chopped and blended. No chunky salsa here, people.

But this recipe obviously works either way, if you and I are opposites!

Here's the cast of characters (the recipe is at the end):


I spent FOREVER chopping all of that, and throwing in some roasted jalapenos, salt, and pepper, as well.


This is probably perfect for most people.

Not me! It needed a spin in the food processor.

Perfect!

Let the salsa hang out in the fridge so all the flavors can get to know each other. Then grab some chips and some of your favorite people and dig in!

Salsa (from Alton Brown)

6 Roma tomatoes, chopped

4 garlic cloves, minced

2 seeded and minced jalapenos

2 roasted jalapenos, minced

1 red bell pepper, diced

1/2 red onion, finely chopped

1 tbsp olive oil

1 lime, juiced

kosher salt and pepper to taste