Horizontal Tastebud Tango

I am already regretting my innuendo stupendo of a post title buuuuut here it is! Another great conquest, so great that it has taken me over a month to post the recipe online!! ;-) Seriously though, these empanadas turned out wonderful -- although I do recognize that it’s not something you would make on a daily basis. Do keep them in mind for those special occasions where you might want a flakey, savory appetizer treat with a South- American flare. :-)  I paired them with an avocado salad for a main meal. My boyfriend Shane happened to be in town when I made these so he did me a solid by snapping some really profesh pics with his SLR camera… my advanced apologies for the gratuitous amount of pictures! Makes me want to make them all over again yummmmmm

Argentinean Pork & Thyme Empanadas with Chimichurri Sauce

Ingredients

Chimichurri Sauce

½ cup chopped fresh cilantro

1/3 cup chopped fresh Italian flat-leaf parsley

3 garlic cloves

½ cup extra-virgin olive oil

1 teaspoon coarse salt

1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon cayenne pepper

2 teaspoons crushed red pepper

2 teaspoons dried oregano

1/4 cup red wine vinegar

Empanada Filling

¾ of a whole Butternut squash, small cubes (~1 inch)

Small yellow onion, diced finely

2 garlic cloves, minced

3/4 lb ground pork (I love Whole Foods’ spicy pork sausage filling behind the meat counter)

2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves, plus small sprigs for topping

2 teaspoons chopped fresh sage

2 teaspoons all-purpose flour, plus more for working

2 tablespoons toasted pine nuts

1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt and ground pepper

Empanada Dough

4 cups all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 tablespoons each minced fresh sage and thyme

¾ cup (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into pieces

1 ¼  cups ice water

1 large egg (for egg wash)

 Directions

Preheat oven to 350.

Chimichurri Sauce

Place all ingredients in food processor/ Magic Bullet and blend until smooth

Filling

Spread cubes of squash on cookie sheet and lightly brush with a few splashes of olive oil. Roast in the oven for ~25 minutes or until caramelized. Remove and let cool.

While squash is roasting: In a large skillet, heat oil over medium. Add onion and garlic; cook, stirring occasionally, until onion softens, 5 to 7 minutes. Raise heat to high and add pork, thyme, and sage; cook, breaking up meat with a spoon, until pork is no longer pink, about 4 minutes. Add flour; cook, stirring, until blended, about 30 seconds. Add 2 tablespoons water; cook until thickened, about 1 minute. Remove from heat and stir in squash and pine nuts. Season filling with salt and pepper and let cool.

Dough

In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, and sea salt. Add minced
fresh sage and thyme; mix well until combined. Keep mixing while adding pieces of butter. Add 1 cup ice water; mix until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed (add up to 1/4 cup water, 1 tablespoon at a time, if needed).
Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface and knead just until dough comes together, 4 to 5 times.

Empanada Construction

Preheat oven to 400, with racks in upper and lower thirds. On a floured surface, divide dough in half and roll each piece to an 1/8-inch thickness. Using a 6-inch cookie cutter or plate as a guide, cut out 8 circles. Place 1/4 cup filling on half of each circle, leaving a ½-inch border. Brush edge of dough with water; fold top half over filling. Press edges to seal, then crimp firmly with a fork.

Transfer empanadas to two baking sheets lined with parchment. In a bowl, beat egg with 1 tablespoon water. Brush empanadas with egg wash and top with thyme sprigs. Bake until golden brown, 30 to 40 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through.

One for Senore... and one for Bellissima...

A rustic Italian classic. Gnocchi is my most favorite pasta and I always wanted to make my own from scratch so I did and followed this self-tailored recipe. I wanted to try something different besides your textbook marinara or pesto sauces so I chose a twist on a gorgonzola cream sauce. There is something magical about the pear + gorgonzola combination so hopefully y’all try it out and agree! For those calorie-counters out there (I am one of them), guilt not! I chose low-fat/ fat-free ingredients where I could :-) My plan is to eventually link a few more sauces to this gnocchi recipe so you can mix and match according to what you're in the mood for that day. Anyways enjoy! Bellissima!

Gnocchi with Bosc Pears and Gorgonzola

Ingredients

Gnocchi:

2lb Yukon gold potatoes (finer consistency than Russet)

2 ½ cups flour (keep more on hand)

1 tablespoon sea salt

2 large eggs

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Sauce:

1/4 cup (1/2 stick) light butter
2 Bosc pears, cored & sliced into 1/3-inch-thick strips
1 tablespoon chopped fresh rosemary or 1 1/2 teaspoons dried
1 cup low-sodium chicken broth
4 ounces light Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
3/4 cup grated light Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup fat free half & half cream
1/3 cup chopped pecans

Directions

Gnocchi (can make ahead of time and store in fridge for up to 12 hours)

1.            Lightly flour a baking sheet. Put potatoes in a large saucepan; cover with cold water by 2 inches. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer; cook until potatoes are very tender when pierced with a sharp knife, about 25 minutes.

2.            Drain potatoes. When they are just cool enough to handle, peel, and then pass through a potato ricer into a medium bowl (if you don’t have a ricer, just mash with a fork until there are minimal lumps). Sprinkle with flour, and add eggs. Season with black pepper and 1 tablespoon salt. Stir mixture with a fork to combine.

3.            Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; gently knead until it is soft and smooth, about 3 minutes. If dough is too sticky, keep adding flour until it is more manageable. Divide dough into handfuls. Roll each piece into a long rope about 3/4 inch thick. Cut ropes crosswise into 1-inch gnocchi.

4.            Roll a cut side of each dumpling against the tines of a fork with your thumb so each piece has ridges on one side and an indentation on the other. Place on the floured baking sheet until ready to cook.

Sauce

5.            Melt butter in heavy large skillet over medium-high heat. Add pears and sauté until tender and beginning to brown but not soft, about 8 minutes. Using slotted spoon, carefully transfer pears to bowl.

6.            Reduce heat to medium-low and allow pan to cool slightly. Add rosemary to same skillet and stir until fragrant, about 1 minute. Add broth, Gorgonzola cheese, 1/2 cup Parmesan cheese and half & half. Simmer until sauce thickens enough to coat spoon, whisking occasionally, about 10 minutes. Return pears and any accumulated juices to sauce.

When ready to cook pasta….

7.            Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Add half the gnocchi; when they rise to the top (after about 2 minutes), continue to cook until tender, about 15 seconds more. Transfer gnocchi with a slotted spoon to the sauce. Repeat process with remaining gnocchi.

8.            Add pecans to sauce. Toss mixture over medium-low heat until sauce coats pasta, about 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Serve in shallow bowls and sprinkle servings with remaining ¼ cup Parmesan cheese.

Just for kicks I attached a video of one of my fav SNL sketches to get you inspired for some good Italian cooking….

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jeDHFxT-qnY

Scones will put some meat on your bones

Just tried my first scones recipe - they were so easy, and you can make any kind you can imagine!  They were soft and moist - delicious!

Blueberry scones

2 cups flour (I used half whole wheat and half all-purpose)
1/3 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
8 Tbsp unsalted butter (cold)
1/2 cup fresh, frozen or dried blueberried (I used frozen and they worked great)
1/2 cup nonfat Greek yogurt (or sour cream)
1 large egg

1.  Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and preheat over to 400 degrees.
2.  Dump 1st 5 ingredients (through salt) in a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.  Cut up butter and put in food processor and pulse until crumbled into the flour mixture.  Dump in a medium bowl and stir in fruit.
3.  In a small bowl whisk yogurt and egg until smooth.  Using a fork, stir into the flour mixture until large dough clumps form.  Use your hands to press the dough against the bowl into a ball.  (The dough will be very sticky.)
4.  Place on a lightly floured surfact and pat into a 7- to 8-inch circle about 3/4-inch thick.  Sprinkle with 1 tsp of sugar.  Use a sharp knife to cut into 8 triangles; place on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper about 1 inch apart (they will get significantly bigger so make sure you space them out).  Bake until golden, about 15 to 17 minutes.  Cool for 5 minutes and serve warm or at room temperature.

Variations:
Lemon-blueberry scones:  Add 1 generous tsp lemon zest to the flour mixture.
Chocolate chip:  Substitute 1/2 cup chocolate chips for the blueberries.
Cranberry-orange:  Add 1 generous tsp orange zest to the dry ingredients and substitute cranberries for blueberries.

Here is the original recipe:  http://allrecipes.com//Recipe/simple-scones/Detail.aspx

If lovin' you is wrong, I don't wanna be right

I'm pretty sure Barbara Mandrell was singing about this cake when she belted out that line.  WARNING - these are not healthy by any stretch!

I frosted them all together like a cake for my friend's birthday,

and we just pulled them apart

(my decorating skills need some work, I know)

Peanut Butter Chocolate Cake (or cupcake cake, in this case)

Just cheat and use a chocolate cake mix (I used a Betty Croker Super Moist cake mix)

Peanut butter filling:
1 stick butter, softened
1/2 c. creamy peanut butter
1 c. powdered sugar

Beat PB and butter until smooth.  Mix in sugar until smooth.

Chocolate frosting:
3 1/2 c. powdered sugar
3/4 c. shortening
1/4 c. butter, softened
2 Tbsp. milk
1/2 tsp. lemon juice
1/2 tsp. vanilla
Dash of salt
2 oz. cream cheese, softened
2 oz. unsweetened baking chocolate, melted and cooled

Beat all ingredients in large bowl with mixer on medium speed until smooth and spreadable.

To assemble:

Pipe about a tablespoon (?) of the peanut butter filling into the cupcake with an icing bag/large tip.  (Thanks, Mom, for this idea!)  Then frost with the chocolate frosting, and that's it!  (These are FANTASTIC when the cupcake is still warm, and it melts the PB filling.... YUM!!)

Salsa Recipes

I'm not feeling clever today, so no catchy titles.  :)  However, I did make two batches of salsa recently - one regular tomato salsa, one tomatillo.  The tomatillo is similar to the sauce in the recipe here; the red salsa is one I like to use in my chilaquiles recipe...which will follow at a later date.  However, since it's salsa, you obviously can use it on anything!  These are both great basic recipes that you can tweak as you like, but I absolutely love the deep color and flavor the Ancho chiles add to the salsa. I also make homemade chips from store-bought corn tortillas, which are much more delicious and healthy.

Roasted Tomato & Ancho Salsa

Ingredients:

--8 roma tomatoes

--1 large yellow onion

--2-3 large jalapenos (depending on how spicy you want it)

--3 large cloves of roasted garlic (instructions below)

--3 large dried Ancho chiles

--1 cup cilantro

--2 tbsp lime juice

--1 tbsp Mexican chicken bouillon

--1 tbsp oregano

--1 tbsp cumin

--Salt to taste

Directions:

1.  To roast garlic: Peel the papery skin off a whole head of garlic; drizzle the top with olive oil and wrap in foil.  Roast in the oven at 400 degrees for 45 min to an hour, until the head is soft.  (I do this ahead of time.)

2.  Cut the stems from the Ancho chiles and shake free the seeds; place the chiles in a bowl of HOT water and allow them to soften.  Check them periodically to be sure the WHOLE chile is softening; sometimes you may need to turn them or freshen the hot water.

3.    While the Anchos are softening, pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees. 

4.  Spray a cookie sheet or baking pan with non-stick spray.  Stem, seed and halve the jalapenos.  Cut the onion into 1" slices.  Place the onion, jalapenos and roma tomatoes on the baking pan; roast in the oven until the tomato skins split and the vegetables start to char.  Remove from oven.

5.  Peel off the tomato skins and discard.  Remove the remaining seeds from the Ancho chiles.  Combine the ingredients and blend in a food processor.  Add salt to taste (everyone's taste varies!) and serve with homemade chips.

I prefer to serve this salsa warm; it kinda reminds me of Pappasito's salsa.  Sooooo good! 

Homemade chips:

1.  Take a baking sheet and coat with non-stick spray. 

2.  Cut corn tortillas into small pieces (I make two cuts each way, like a tic-tac-toe board).

3.  Place pieces on baking sheet and spray tops with non-stick spray.

4.  Bake in oven at 400 degrees until golden brown - remove immediately to prevent burning.

5.  While hot, lightly salt the chips with sea salt.  Allow to cool.

Tomatillo Salsa

Ingredients:

--2 Anaheim peppers

--1.5 lbs tomatillos

--1/2 cup cilantro (I used a bit more 'cuz I love cilantro)

--1.5 tsp cumin

--1 tsp oregano

--2 tbsp Mexican chicken bouillon

Directions:

1.  Preheat oven to broil on high (400-450 degrees).

2.  Peel the skins from the tomatillos and wash thoroughly.  Halve/stem/seed the Anaheim peppers.

3.  Line a pan with tin foil, coat with cooking spray, and broil the Anaheim peppers until they are charred, about 5 minutes.  Bundle up the tin foil after roasting to contain the chiles; let them sit for 15 minutes.

4.  Arrange tomatillos on the same pan and broil until they are charred, about 15 minutes, turning once.

5.  Combine tomatillos, Anaheims, and remaining ingredients in a food processor and serve.