Empanadas

I've been on a huge latin food kick lately.  I just can't get enough tacos, quesadillas, fajitas, patacones, chimichurri, empanadas...and the list goes on.  Since I'm still searching for that perfect hole-in-the-wall Mexican restaurant here in Columbus that serves all of the above, I've been trying my hand at some of my favorite dishes in my own kitchen. Empanadas are definitely at the top of the list and what do you know, they're easy enough to make at home.  I first tried empanadas in Barcelona, near La Segrada Familia and I fell in love with their buttery, flaky crust and the powerhouse flavor packed inside.  My empanadas are dynamic, smoky and indulgent and repackaged a croissant-like crust.  They are best served hot, right out of the oven, but taste great at room temperature as well.  They can even be made in advance, frozen and cooked later on.  You gotta try these!

This recipe has many steps, but don't be intimidated.  They're all easy and the result is worth it.   

Empanadas Perfecto 
This recipe makes 8 empanadas.

For the marinade:

Zest and juice of 1 orange

Juice of 1 lime

2 garlic cloves

1 t. Cumin

1 t. Smoked Paprika

1 Chipotle Pepper in Adobo sauce (more if you like it spicy)

1 T. Cilantro

1/4 C. Oil

Salt & Pepper 

For the filling:

Flank Steak, cut into small cubes
1 Onion, diced
1 Red Pepper, diced

For the crust:
Puff Pastry (2 sheets)
1 Egg, beaten
Avocado, tomato & cilantro, for garnish

In a blender, pulse the citrus juice, garlic, spices, chipotle, cilantro, oil and salt & pepper.  Your mixture should be thin and a bright orange color.

Carefully pour this marinade into a big resealable bag.  Add the cubed steak and allow it to sit in the fridge for a couple of hours, or at least for 30 minutes.

Heat a couple Tablespoons of olive oil in a medium skillet.  When it's hot, add the onions and peppers.  Cook over medium until they have caramelized.  When they are dark and golden, remove them from the skillet and set aside to cool.  Don't skimp on their cooking time - they're going to add great flavor to the empanadas.

Remove your puff pastry from the freezer and allow it to thaw.  Preheat the oven to 400.

Reheat that same skillet over medium heat.  Add your steak with the marinade and cook over medium heat until the steak is cooked through, about 10-12 minutes.  When the meat is thoroughly cooked, but not overdone, remove the skillet from the heat.  Allow to cool slightly.

Open your puff pastry and lay it flat on a baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray.  Working quickly, cut the puff pastry sheet into 4 equal squares.  To each square, add about 2 Tablespoons bit of the steak and onion mixture.  Brush the left side and bottom side of each square with a bit of beaten egg so the pastry seals when it's folded.  Take the top right corner of each square and fold it over to the bottom left corner.  Use a fork to crimp the edges, sealing in that great flavor.  Slice an X on the top so the steam can escape and brush the entire triangle with beaten egg.

Pop them in the oven for about 12 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.  Serve with fresh avocado, tomato and cilantro.

If you find that you have leftover filling, use it in some tortillas or simply with an egg on top.  

Honduran Holiday Pork

This recipe is inspired by a traditional holiday meal served in Honduras.  I fell in love with it over dinner with a friend’s family and now I make it every year around the holidays.  This pork is dynamic and robust, with wonderful citrus flavors and smoky spices.  It’s incredibly easy to make and it will fill your home with delectable aromas.

Guide to Latin T Dishes:

Torta - sandwich on soft bread
Tortilla - obvious, but flat bread made from corn or flour
Tostada - crispy tortilla piled high with latin goodies
Taquito - rolled and fried tortilla with meat and cheese
Taco - if I have to explain this one to you, you may be reading the wrong blog

Crockpot Orange Pork

1 Pork Shoulder (one that will fit in your crockpot)
Salt & Pepper
1 T. plus 1 t. Smoked Paprika, divided
1 T. plus 1 t. Cumin, divided
1 T. plus 1 t. Sugar, divided
2 Red Onions, cut into slices
2 Oranges, cut into large chunks
1 Lime, cut into large chunks
¼ C. Olive oil
2 Tablespoons butter
Cilantro, Orange slices & Avocado, for garnish
Tortillas, for serving

Add the pork and onions to a large bowl and sprinkle generously with salt, pepper and the spices.  Squeeze the citrus over the pork and drizzle with the olive oil.  Cover the bowl with plastic and marinate overnight. 

In the morning, squeeze whatever is left from the citrus over the meat and onions.  Remove the citrus from the bowl and discard.  Carefully transfer the pork, onions and marinade from the bowl to a crockpot.  Set to high and cook for 8-9 hours until the pork is cooked through, tender and pulls apart easily with a fork. 

Move the pork to a large bowl and shred with 2 forks.  Skim the fat from the juices in the crockpot and doctor up the sauce with the butter and about one teaspoon of smoked paprika, cumin and sugar.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste.  Add the meat back to the crockpot so it can soak up all those good flavors. 

To serve, pile the pork onto a warm tortilla and garnish with fresh cilantro, orange and avocado. 

Happy holidays and happy eating!

Baja Burritos

I love making savory latin dishes with hints of fresh sweetness.  Whether it's a quesadilla with slices of apple or Honduran orange pork, fruit adds a dynamic twist to an everyday favorite.  These burritos are no exception.  Packed with tender chicken, caramelized peppers and onion, highlighted with chunks of sweet pineapple and a BBQ-inspired enchilada sauce, these burritos are spicy and sensual and a welcome summer surprise.  

Baja Sauce:

6 T BBQ sauce

1 Can Red Enchilada sauce

2 T. Worcester sauce

2 t. Cumin

Salt & pepper

Filling:

Onion

Red Pepper

Chicken boobs, in chunks

Pineapple, without juice

1 jalapeño, finely diced, no seeds

Tortillas

Combine the sauce ingredients in a medium saucepan and bring to low simmer.  Season with salt and pepper, to taste. 

Bring a large skillet to medium heat with 1 T. olive oil.  Sprinkle the chicken with salt and pepper and cook until golden.  Remove and set aside.  

In the same skillet, sauté onion, red pepper, jalapeño and pineapple until slightly charred.  Add the chicken and toss to combine. 

Spoon the mixture into the tortillas and roll to make burritos.  I eat them just like this OR fry them lightly for a crunchy edge.  Serve them with the Baja Sauce for dipping. 

Fish Tacos

Fish Tacos.  They can be really good or they can be RULL bad.  These ones are the former.  Crunchy, zesty, flavorful, fresh and delicious.  They always take me back to the first fish tacos I had, in Oceanside, CA at a restaurant that jutted out into the sea.  They were fabulous.  This is my easy homemade version that you could effortlessly make on a weeknight.  Feel free to switch up the garnish and make them your own!

Fish Tacos
 

Fish Sticks or fillets of white fish, such as tilapia or cod (1-2 per taco)

Tortillas

Cilantro Sour Cream (for the recipe, click here)

Tomato, avocado, cilantro & lime, chopped for garnish

Preheat the oven and bake the fish sticks according to the package's instructions.

Meanwhile, light the flame or electric burner on your stove and using tongs, toss the tortillas over the heat, allowing them to char slightly. 

Once the fish is cooked, place a fillet in each tortilla.  Top with tomatoes, avocado, sour cream and cilantro.  Spramp with fresh lime and enjoy.

Seis de Mayo!

Yesterday was my first Cinco de Mayo outside of Arizona in roughly ten years!  So, you can imagine how homesick I was for good, old-fashioned Mexican food.  There are not too many places here in the middle west that serve the famous greasy, spicy fare that I'm used to.  So, instead of settling for an imperfectly satisfactory restaurant experience, Sean, our roommate Morgan and I made our own Cinco de Mayo fiesta at home.  From the bar night favorite Carne Asada Fries to a modern twist on queso to traditional Mexican corn on the cob, I have to say, our night was muy bueno.  

Carne Asada Fries

Carne Asada Fries were our go-to meal after a night of heavy drinking in PHX.  The perfect combination of crunchy fried potatoes, fresh veggies, guacamole and juicy, greasy steak topped off our nights in magnificent fashion.  Amazingly satisfying, these Carne Asada Fries are our homemade version of Phoenix's late night taqueria staple.    

Carne Asada Fries

1 lb. Skirt or flank steak

Carne Asada seasoning (garlic, onion powder, salt & pepper)

Olive oil

Frozen French fries

Shredded cheese of your choice

Tomato, diced

Onion, diced

Your favorite salsa

Avocado or guacamole

Sour Cream

Cilantro

Place the steak in a ziplock baggie.  Add a healthy tablespoon of carne asada seasoning and a drizzle of olive oil.  Smoosh (technical term) everything together so that the steak is completely covered by the seasoning.  Set in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes to marinate.  

Preheat your oven to 425-450, depending on the instructions on the frozen french fries package.  Place them on a baking sheet and cook according to the instructions.  Near the end of the cooking time, sprinkle the fries with cheese and allow it to melt all over the fries.  

Heat a large skillet over medium heat and add the steak.  Cook for 4 minutes on each side.  Remove the meat and let it rest for a full five minutes.  This will ensure you have a tender, juicy steak.  

When the fries have fully cooked and the cheese has melted on top, pull them out of the oven.  Place a pile on your plate and load them up with all of the toppings.  

Crispy Queso

There's a trendy little restaurant inside the Clarendon hotel, around the corner from my old apartment in Phoenix called Gallo Blanco.  Unassuming by day, but colorful and vibrant by night, this gem serves unique and inspired latin fare alongside authentic flamenco dancing and invigorating drumming interludes.  One of their best appetizers is a Chicharron de Queso, a crispy and chewy fried cheese.  Interesting, bizarre and a little bit fascinating, this crispy queso is a must-try.  Oh, and it's as easy as uno, dos, tres.

Crispy Queso

Grated Parmesan Cheese (this time I used a combo of Parmesan, Asiago & Romano)

Heat a non-stick skillet over medium high heat.  Sprinkle a single layer of cheese right onto the hot skillet.  Allow the cheese to melt.  Once the bottom turns golden brown, carefully flip it and cook the other side until golden brown, about a minute or two.  Drape the melted cheese over rolling pin or utensil of your choice.  Allow it to cool slightly and firm up and serve alongside chipotle aioli.  

Chipotle Aioli

1/2 C. Mayonnaise

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1 chipotle pepper in adobo sauce, finely diced'

Salt & Pepper

Combine all ingredients and season to taste.  

Elote

Now here's a dish that will make you say, "whaaaa?"  If you haven't already tried Elote, you must do so.  Immediately.  Basically, it's corn on the cob, drenched in a tangy sauce, sprinkled with Mexican cheese and paprika.  Sweet, dynamic and delectable, I guarantee this Mexican treat is going to be your new favorite side dish.  

Elote

Corn cobs, with husk on

Butter

Smoked Paprika Aioli, recipe follows

Queso fresco

Cilantro, for garnish

Peel the husk back on each corn cobb, but do not remove it.  It works as a great handle for corn on the cobb.  Bring a large pot of water to a hard boil.  Carefully place each corn cobb into the boiling water, leaving the husk handle out of the water.  Boil the corn cobs for about 10 minutes. Remove them and pat dry.  

Heat a large skillet over medium heat.  Add a couple tablespoons of butter and add the corn cobs.  Cook them for about 2 minutes, rotating as necessary to form a char on all sides.  Remove from the heat.  

To serve, drizzle each corn cob with smoked paprika aioli and sprinkle them with queso fresco and fresh cilantro.  

Smoked Paprika Aioli

1/2 C. Mayonnaise

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/2 t. Smoked Paprika

Salt & Pepper

Tres Leches Cupcakes

A few weeks ago, two of Sean’s very good friends got married!  We had been invited to their engagement party, but it turned out to be their wedding reception!  It was a fun surprise and I don’t think I’ve ever actually seen two people who are more in love and made for one another.  We hope they have a happy life together and that their love will continue to grow forever and always.  

The engagement party-turned-wedding reception was catered by the bride’s mom and it was absolutely fabulous.  She is originally from Honduras, so we had pulled pork, black rice and beans, enchiladas and an oyster bar!  Sean and I were so impressed by the delicious food that we attempted to recreate the pulled pork at home.  We made two batches and the entire house was filled with the fragrant aroma of slow cooked pork, orange and garlic.  Although we still have some perfecting to do, our meal was scrumptious. 

It got me thinking.  What would be an appropriate finish to our Latin feast?  My brain swirled around fried plantains and ice cream, and flan, and finally rested on Tres Leches Cupcakes.  I’ve made Tres Leches Cake several times before and I’ve always found it to be incredibly satisfying. 

These Tres Leches Cupcakes are just as enchanting.  Small chilled cakes, dowsed in a sweet cinnamon cream and served with whipped cream frosting – what’s not to like after a spicy and dynamic main course?

1 white or yellow cake mix and the ingredients it requires*

¼ C. sweetened condensed milk

¾ C. whole milk

½ t. cinnamon

1 pint of whipping cream + 2 T. of sugar

Raspberries

White chocolate, for garnish

*I haven’t mastered baking yet, so I take advantage of store-bought help – why not?

Bake the cupcakes according to the mix’s instructions.  Allow them to cool completely. 

While the cupcakes are baking, mix together the two kinds of milk in a small bowl.  Set in the refrigerator to chill. 

In a large bowl, beat the whipping cream until soft peaks form.  Add the sugar and whip until very stiff peaks form – you’ll want them to be stiff so that they can stand up on the cupcakes.  Set the whipped cream in the fridge to keep it cool. 

When the cupcakes have cooled, take a spoon and scoop out a small portion of the cake’s top.  Gently spoon some of the milk mixture into the cupcake and allow it to soak in.  Place the top back on the cupcake.  **I have experimented with poking holes in the cake, which is normally how I’ll make Tres Leches sheet cake.  However, the milk mixture tends to drip right down the sides, instead of soaking in.  So, for the cupcakes which are more delicate and visible from all sides, I use the scoop technique (a very technical term) ** 

Pipe the whipped cream on top of the cupcakes and sprinkle with cinnamon, for that finished look.  If you desire, garnish your cupcakes with berries and white chocolate designs for an elegant touch.