Empanadas

I've been out of town, but while I was away I did a little experimental cooking. It's always nice to have a willing guinea pig! One of the things I'd wanted to try for a long time was empanadas, but there are so many different recipes out there. Then I came across this recipe, which seemed to match everything I was looking for, especially a flaky crust that doesn't use crisco or lard. We all loved it! The only thing I did differently was to use ground turkey thighs instead of beef or veal, but the flavors are so rich you can't tell. The almonds, olives, raisins, and tomatoes in the filling blend perfectly with the meat and warming spices like cinnamon, cumin and cloves. The dough uses cream cheese, and it was tender and flaky. I ended up with twice as much filling as needed, though, so now it's in the freezer all ready to go for another day.

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Na-cho Nachos

Game day food. The first half isn't even over, and the snacks have already been inhaled. These nachos have homemade cheese sauce, guacamole, spicy salsa, sour cream, and pickled jalapeños.

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Friday Food: Seafood Nachos

At the end of a long, busy week, you want something easy but also satisfying to eat. I went to dinner at my friends' house last night and brought with me all the fixings for nachos. These included chips, a blend of cheeses, grilled corn salad, guacamole, sour cream, spicy salsa, pickled jalapenos, and cooked shrimp. To keep things easy, I put the pan directly on the grill--which also gave the nachos a smoky, flame-broiled flavor. I didn't make the sangria, but it was dark and rich and very tasty.


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Fish Tacos

Flour tortillas filled with grilled halibut, grilled onions and peppers, lots of avocado, salsa, romaine lettuce and cilantro. Happy Cinco de Mayo! - Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Guest Chef: Iron Chef Swimmer

This guest chef post is from the fabulous SwimmerGirl, 14, who volunteered to make us all dinner. She planned the menu, bought the ingredients, and, as you'll see below, cooked a wonderful meal. Tonight, I conquistadored the kitchen. I decided to make Baked Penne with Farmhouse Cheddar and Leeks, Brown Butter Soda Bread with fresh garden rosemary, and Cinnamon Dusted Mini Churros with orangeness for dessert. After my wonderful adventure to Whole Foods from which I was rescued, I made the bread dough before mixing the cheese sauce and cooking the pasta. This timed very well, as the bread finished in the oven as the pasta needed to go in. While these two were cooling or baking, I mixed and fried the churro dough. Deep-frying is actually rather alarming, but it was pretty cool. I rolled each churro in cinnamon sugar and then we ate! I think it turned out pretty well, if I do say so myself. And all this only took about three hours, start to finish!