Homemade Empanadas Tutorial

My husband came to love these while living in Buenos Aires, Argentina. Once you've made the crust, fill them with whatever you like--chicken, beef, ham and cheese, or even apple for dessert.
 
Dough:
2 1/2 c. Flour
1 1/2 tsp. Salt
1 stick of Butter
1 egg
1/3 c. ice Water
1 Tb. vinegar

Directions:
Mix the flour and salt. In a separate container mix the egg, water and vinegar.
Add the softened butter to the flour mixture. Cut in using a pastry blender until coarse crumbs. Add the egg mixture and stir just until flour is incorporated and dough is smooth.
Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes to an hour.

Roll small pieces of dough into circles, about 6 inches in diameter.

Place a large spoonful of desired mixture onto center of dough.

Fold the dough over mixture and crimp the edges to secure. 

*Tip: When making ham and cheese empanadas I like to stand them up so the cheese does not bubble out. Lay the others flat.

Bake at 350 degrees F until golden brown-- about 8-10 minutes.

Note- many people like to add an egg wash to the empanadas before baking. We omit this step, but feel free to try it for yourself. 
Egg wash: beat together 1 egg and 1 Tb. water. brush onto the empanadas before baking.

Beef filling-

Ingredients:
1 pound ground beef
1 small onion
Paprika to taste
1 hard boiled egg
green olives
black olives
3 Tb. tomato sauce
1 large potato- cubed and boiled until soft
1 beef bullion cube
*We like this spicy so we add canned jalapenos and sriracha hot sauce.

Season the ground beef with salt and pepper. Saute the onions and paprika. Add ground beef and cook until lightly browned. Add beef bullion cube. Cover and let simmer 7-8 minutes.

Add remaining ingredients.

 Fill empanadas and you're ready to bake.

Gnocchi

It's hard not to love these little Italian potato dumplings, but make them homemade and you will wonder why you ever paid soo much for them in a restaurant.

Ingredients:
8 potatoes
2 Tb butter
2 cups flour
Yields 5 servings

Boil the potatoes for about 15-20 minutes--until they are soft but still firm to the touch.
Peel the cooked potatoes and then mash them in a bowl. You may choose to grate the potatoes so they are easier to mash. Make sure there are no chunks.

Add 2-3 Tbs. of butter to the center of the potato mash and let melt.
Add 2 cups of flour and knead it all together.  If the mixture is too dry add a little more butter.

Divide the dough into 4 pieces. Roll each piece between your palms and the work surface into a 1/2-inch-diameter rope (about 20 inches long). Cut the dough into 1-inch pieces. Roll each piece of dough over the ridges of a fork to form grooves in the dough.

Drop pieces into boiling water and cook until they float.

Serve with sauce of choice.

Our Tips:

• After cooking the potatoes, hold them with a rag as you peel

Homemade Flour Tortillas

These little gems are very easy to make and taste great!

Ingredients:
3 cups flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp.  salt
4-6 Tbsp. vegetable shortening or lard
about 1 1/4 cups warm water

*We hear that lard, rather than shortening, is best when making these tortillas but we just couldn't bring ourselves to buy it.   
Not that shortening is much better...maybe it's just that word-- lard. ugg


Directions:
Combine the dry ingredients. Use a pastry blender to cut in the shortening. Once the mixture resemblmes coarse crumbs, lowly stir in the warm water. Knead on a countertop for 3 minutes. Place smooth elastic dough in a bowl. Cover and rest for about 30 minutes. 

Divide the dough into about 8 small balls.  Use a rolling pin to roll out each ball until very thin. Cook on hot, un-greased griddle until light brown and bubbly on each side. 

Pollo con Capellini

This yummy recipe is from the "Taste of Salt Lake" cookbook. Below is the exact recipe from the book.  See our tips for healthier substitutions. 

Ingredients:

2-3 Chicken Breasts- cut into 1/2 inch wide strips
1 onion, sliced
1 Tbs. Paprika
1/4 tsp ground pepper
1/2 cup chicken broth
1 pound capellini pasta
1 pint sour cream
2 Tbs. flour
1/2 c. butter
2 cloves garlic
1/2 c. bread crumbs
parsley for garnish

Directions:
In large skillet melt butter. Add chicken slices and brown lightly. Add onion, paprika, pepper. Cook until onion is limp. Stir in broth and, reduce heat, cover and simmer until chicken is tender.

Meanwhile cook pasta.

Combine flour and sour creams; stir into the chicken mixture and heat thouroughly but do not boil.

In another skillet melt 1/2 c. of butter until almond color. Add the garlic, drained pasta, and breadcrumbs

Pour chicken mixture over pasta. Enjoy!

Our Tips:

• We omit the butter completely and, instead, use a small amount of olive oil, just to cook the chicken.
• Instead of sour cream, try using plain yogurt. Or use half sour cream, half yogurt-- just an easy, tasty way to cut the calories.

Simple Homemade Hummus

It's hard not to love this delicious dip. Hummus can be expensive at the store but is extremely easy to make and tastes even better from scratch! Try it once and you'll be hard pressed to ever buy it from the store again! 

Ingredients:

1 (15oz) can garbanzo beans, drained and liquid reserved)

1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice

2 cloves garlic

1 Tbsp tahini or sesame paste
1 tsp salt

Combine ingredients in food processor and blend. Add 1-2 Tbs of the reserved liquid from the garbanzo beans and blend until smooth.  Drizzle about 1 Tb. olive oil on top. Garnish with fresh parsley.

Serve with vegetables, naan, pita chips, bread or crackers.

Also try our Spinach Artichoke Hummus!

Our Favorite Banana Bread

• 1 cup  sugar
• 1 stick  butter
• 2  eggs
• 3 ripe bananas
• 1 Tbs milk 
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp salt

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Grease a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.
Cream the sugar and butter in a large mixing bowl until light and fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition.
In a small bowl, mash the bananas with a fork. Mix in the milk and cinnamon. In another bowl, mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt.
Add the banana mixture to the creamed mixture and stir until combined. Add dry ingredients, mixing just until flour disappears.
Pour batter into prepared pan and bake 1 hour to 1 hour 10 minutes, until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Set aside to cool on a rack for 15 minutes. Remove bread from pan, invert onto rack and cool completely before slicing.

Our Tips:

• Use room temperature ingredients (especially eggs and butter)
• You really don't need to use a whole cup of sugar. We usually use about 1/2-3/4 cup.
• For extra moist and fluffy bread, don't overmix! Especially when you add the flour mixture--just lightly mix it.
• If the bread is browning too much in the oven before the time is up, place a piece of tinfoil over it. 

Original recipe found here.

Hershey’s “perfectly chocolate” Chocolate Cake

Our favorite homemade chocolate cake recipe:
Ingredients

• 2 cups sugar
• 1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 cup Cocoa
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 eggs
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
• 1 cup boiling water

1. Heat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour two 9-inch round baking pans.
2. Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add eggs, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour batter into prepared pans.
3. Bake 30 to 35 minutes
Find the original recipe Here.

Frosting:
1/2 cup butter
2/3 cup Cocoa
3 cups powdered sugar
1/3 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Our Tips:

• When baking, make sure all of your ingredients are at room temperature before you begin

• Substitute butter milk for the regular milk for an extra moist cake! (If you don't have buttermilk on hand, you can use milk and vinegar substitution)