Empanadas

As a follow-up post to our Argentine dinner, here's the recipe for the empanadas that we served. We made two kinds - carne (mince) and choclo (corn) but there are so many other fillings that can be done. Here are a few ideas: cebolla con Roquefort (caramelized onions and crumbled Roquefort) and jamon y queso (ham and cheese). Empanadas can be baked or fried (what we prefer) and the dough can be made or you can buy ready-made pre-cut empanada dough. All you have to do is fill it and fry or bake.

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Empanadas de carne

• 250 grams mince/ground beef (*Don't use lean beef, some fat is needed so it isn't dry)
• 1 medium onion, minced
• 2 Tbsp. vegetable oil
• a small chunk of lard or 1 Tbsp. vegetable shortening (e.g. Crisco)
• 1 tsp. cumin
• 1 tsp. sweet paprika
• 1 tsp. aji molida (crushed red chili flakes)
• salt and pepper to taste
• a dozen pitted black olives, chopped finely (about 1 olive per empanada)
• optional: 2 chopped hard-boiled eggs and 1/2 cup raisins
• 1 pack of pre-cut, ready-made fried empanada dough, comes in packs of 12 (*I use the Argentine brand Fargo. They also have a ready-made baked empanada dough)

• Heat the oil in a saute pan over medium heat. Sweat the minced onions then add the ground beef and shortening or lard. Add the cumin, sweet paprika and aji molida. Season with salt and pepper. Leave to cook over low heat.
• Chop the olives and set aside. (If using eggs, boil the eggs then chop and set aside. Prepare raisins as well and set aside).
• Mix olives (and eggs and raisins if using) into ground beef. Set aside to cool.

Empanadas de choclo

• 22 grams of butter
• 22 grams of flour
• 300 ml. milk
• 1 small can of sweet corn (150 grams) or 2 ears of fresh sweet corn, shucked

• For the Bechamel sauce, heat the milk in a saucepan. In another saucepan, prepare a roux by cooking the flour then mixing in the butter. Make sure that both are mixed well. Remove from the heat then slowly add the hot milk to the roux and put back on the heat and bring to a boil stirring constantly. Lower the heat and simmer until the sauce reaches the desired thickness. make sure that it it not too liquid - it should be thick.
• Add the corn to the Bechamel.

To assemble the empanadas:

• Prepare a wooden chopping board or a marble top. Sprinkle some flour then place one empanada pastry on the floured surface.
• Place about 2 Tbsp. of filling (ground meat or corn and Bechamel) into the empanada dough.
• Fold over and seal by twisting the dough with your hands or using a fork to seal the dough shut.
• Make sure to use a different seal for each type of empanada. For example, I used a fork for the corn ones and twisted the edges for the meat ones. This is so that when they're cooked, you can tell them apart.
• Heat oil in a deep-fryer. Fry the empanadas till light brown and crispy.
• Serve the meat ones with salsa chimichurri or white sugar for dipping.
• (* For baked empanadas, follow the same procedure but bake in a 200C oven instead)

Argentinean Dinner

Last night, we invited our next-door neighbors M & A and kids over for dinner. They had prepared a traditional Iranian meal for us a few weeks back and we decided to do an Argentinean dinner to reciprocate. After a week of careful planning - recipe research (from my mother-in-law), looking for ingredients all around Marbella and making do with our Weber grill instead of a parrilla (Argentine grill), we managed to re-create a near-authentic (at least food wise) experience for them.

As most Argentine meals are rustic outdoor set-ups where a large wooden table is set right beside the grill in a shady area of the garden, we opened all our sliding doors to let the outside in and first had aperitifs and appetizers on the terrace followed by the asado (grilled meat bien sur) indoors at sundown which is around half past nine anyway. The table was set with a place mat, a square plate, simple cutlery - forks and Laguiole steak knives, a linen napkin and some rosemary plants in terra-cotta pots as centerpieces.

To start we had empanadas de choclo (corn) y empanadas de carne (mince) along with Provoleta (grilled Provolone cheese) and chunks of baguette. The fried empanadas (we prefer these to the baked ones) were hot and crispy on the outside - the meat ones were either dipped in a bit of sugar or eaten with salsa chimichurri (oregano-based sauce for grilled meat) while the corn ones were eaten plain.

As soon as the appetizers were finished and the grill was ready, A prepared the three cuts of meat: entraña (skirt steak), asado de tira (short ribs) and bife de costilla (T-bone or Porterhouse steak). As we don't have a proper parrilla (grill) which can be lowered and raised depending on the heat of the coals, it was more difficult to ensure that the meat stayed red and juicy on the outside while not completely burning the outside. The grill sparked up with flames a few times but my Argentine husband managed to keep the flames to a minimum and cook the meat to medium-rare. We had two salads with the meats: a beet-carrot-egg salad and sort of a Waldorf salad of celery, apple, pear and walnut - both popular in Argentina. We also had some papas rejilla (crisscut fries) which are similar to potato chips to accompany the meat. I didn't have time to drop by the wine store in Marbella and see what Argentine wines they had so instead of the traditional malbec, we had an excellent Tempranillo from Ribera del Duero.

After dinner, we went back to the terrace for more conversation and to wait a but before the extra-sweet dessert we were going to have - mousse de dulce de leche (caramelized milk mousse). Much-needed espressos followed until we realized it was past midnight and time for the kids to go to bed.

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Salsa Chimichurri

• 1 Tbsp. oregano, crushed (fresh is better but dried works fine as well)
• 1 bay leaf, crushed
• 1 sprig fresh rosemary, crush the leaves
• a handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
• 1 tsp. ground red chili flakes or to taste
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped finely
• sea salt and freshly-ground pepper
• 2 Tbsp. red wine vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil (if you want a milder flavor, use vegetable oil)

Soak all ingredients in the vinegar and water. Leave for at least an hour then add the oil. Adjust seasoning and serve with meat empanadas and grilled meat.

*If you're in a rush, get some of the ready-mixed dry chimichurri herbs that you add water and vinegar to, set aside for an hour or so, add oil and it's ready. I've used this many times and the result is very good.

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Mousse de Dulce de Leche

• 1 bottle of Dulce de Leche (about 454 grams) - buy the best that you can find. (*I use either La Salamandra or Havanna)
• 454 grams of whipped cream (in other words, equal amount of whipped cream and dulce de leche)
• Crushed meringues
• Walnuts

Crush the meringues and line the bottom of a large bowl, a serving dish or any container that you would like to present the mousse in Whip the cream until stiff. Add a dollop of dulce de leche to the whipped cream and whisk in. Gently fold in the rest of the dulce de leche. Make sure that the two are mixed together. Transfer into container then chill in the fridge for at least a few hours or better yet, overnight. When the mousse is solid, top with a few walnuts. Serve very cold.

Summer salad

You know that it's summer when the lavender starts to flower non-stop. We cut the blossoms every other day to make little lavender bouquets which we leave lying around perfuming the house with its' wonderful summer scent. I already posted a recipe for a grilled chicken and nectarine salad from my friend Rima but I'm writing about it again because it's so delicious that it's become our favorite "grilled" salad. As we are eating al fresco and off the grill for the summer (less mess), we had it yesterday evening and finished off with some espressos on the terrace.

Spanish-style grill

Here's another post to continue my summer grill theme. After a weekend of Argentine meat, we went to Marbella's Mercado Central to buy some seafood and meat. For lunch, we had a typical Andalusian grill of while squid along with a large piece of red tuna from Almadraba. Both were delicious and light enough to eat on a day with temperatures reaching almost 35C. We were starving by the time the squid was ready so I wasn't able to take any photos.

Dinner was two large hunks of meat, the very Spanish cut - chuletón de buey (similar to T-bone) which is excellent on the grill. We had this with hand-cut french fries, fried sweet potatoes and a green salad. The meat was chewy and marbled in fat, completely different in texture and flavor from the Argentine cuts of meat we had the previous weekend. We finished off our meal with a bowl of frozen summer fruits - peaches, nectarines and strawberries and extra-short espressos.

Asado Argentino Lunch & Dinner

Last weekend, we continued with our grill theme and looked for the Argentine butcher that a friend had spoken of. We finally found the place tucked away in a quiet corner near the Supersol supermarket on one of the side streets off the main plaza in San Pedro. The place was packed for a Saturday morning. As we waited in line for our turn, we noticed two good things: first, there was an Argentine buying some meat ahead of us and second, that the two butchers working behind the counter were Argentine as well

We were looking forward to finding out which Argentine cuts of meat were available. There was chorizo criollo which don't have paprika like the Spanish chorizo and also have more meat and less fat and morcilla (blood sausage). We didn't see any more Argentine cuts displayed and we asked if they had tira de asado (short-ribs) and they pulled out a large piece from their back freezer. When we asked for entraña (skirt steak), they also had it in their back freezer. I guess the trick is to ask since most of the Argentine meat cuts are stored away in the back. In the end we bought entraña (skirt steak), a morcilla, two chorizos criollos, 2 strips of asado de tira (short ribs) and some mollejas (sweetbreads). They also had dried chimichurri - the special sauce served with grilled meats, mate - traditional Argentine herbal tea and aji - dried chili and even the special pastry used to make empanadas (meat-filled pies).

After our successful butcher expedition, we headed straight home and got the grill hot and decided what we were going to have for lunch and which for dinner. We mixed some chimichurri and made a salad then we had the chorizo, morcilla and asado de tira for lunch with some bread to make delicious choripan - freshly grilled chorizo sandwiched in between two pieces of baguette. For dinner we then had the rest of the meat - entraña with the rest of the chimichurri and mollejas, sliced thinly with lemon juice. After a full-on Argentine asado lunch and dinner, we're off meat for at least a week or until our next visit to the Argentine butcher which will probably be soon.

* Thought I'd add on that photo of the different Argentine meat cuts. The place mat was a gift from the restaurant El Mirasol.

*This might help explain the meat cuts better - I found a website that talks about Argentine cuisine called Asado Argentina.

Summer grill - Indian style

After our fantastic Iranian dinner the other night, I decided to dig up some similar recipes for the grill. I came up with an Indian-influenced chicken Tikka with cucumber raita along with some ready-made minted lamb kebabs from the English Butcher. We also made some buttered Basmati rice to go along with the meat. Both turned out well and we had another dinner al fresco although the M's kebabs were still the winner.

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Chicken Tikka

• 500 grams chicken breast, cut into large chunks (*I use chicken tenderloins which are the softer smaller filets under the breast)
• 3 Tbsp. yoghurt, plain or greek
• 1/2 cup tikka masala paste (* I use ready-made)

• Mix the yoghurt and the tikka paste.
• Marinate the chicken pieces overnight or for at least 6 hours.
• If using chicken breast pieces, thread onto bamboo skewers otherwise grill directly over hot coals.

Cucumber Raita

• 3/4 cup yoghurt, plain or greek
• 1 lebanese cucumber (around 130 grams), halved lengthwise then chopped into chunks
• 2 Tbsp. chopped mint
• 1 tsp. ground cumin

• Mix all ingredients in a bowl and chill till ready to serve.

Iranian Dinner

Last summer, my son made friends with two well-behaved Iranian boys, P & A, at the pool who had recently moved to Marbella. Over the course of the year, the boys have stayed friends and have gone biking and played together a lot. I also made friends with their mother, M, and we have even gone to the Marbella market together. She is one of my readers and has tried a few of the recipes from my blog. This summer, she and her husband A had a grill built on their terrace and when all was ready, they invited us over to dinner. We were so looking forward to this evening as she had promised to prepare a traditional Iranian meal for us and it was going to be the first time we would eat authentic Persian cuisine.

We arrived a little bit after eight and the three boys went off to play while we sat on their terrace had some Iranian tea - black tea flavored with cardamom seeds and sweetened with nabat (saffron-rock sugar crystals) in a glass inside a silver-filigree holder. The tea was sweet with a whiff of aromatic spice. With this we had some pistachio nuts and gaz - a traditional sweet made with pistachio nuts, sugar, egg whites and saffron - an essential ingredient in Persian cooking . There were also all sorts of fruit - peaches, kiwi, apples, tiny pears and figs - piled up beautifully on a small tray table which looked too good to eat. We talked about the current situation in Iran and life in Marbella before starting up the grill.

While it was still bright and sunny, we went upstairs to their back terrace where with the view of the mountains and the Mediterranean, A started to fire up the traditional grill for the kebobs (kebab). The table was set with crystal glasses, silver serving dishes and maroon napkins. A started grilling the many skewers of yoghurt-marinated chicken kebabs and ground lamb/ground beef kebabs while M started to bring up the many different salads and dishes that she had been preparing since the day before.

M explained that these salads and vegetable dishes were eaten with the kebabs and that Iranians ate family-style with the platters in the middle of the table and everyone sharing the different dishes. There was a salad shiraz, named after the famed city in southwest Iran, was a mixture of diced tomatoes, cucumbers and onions mixed with chopped dried mint and tossed in a simple vinaigrette of olive oil and lots of fresh lemon juice. There was another mixed salad of lettuce, spring onions, tomatoes and cucumbers and a platter of beets, tiny pickles and mashed aubergine. The star of the salads though was the large cut glass container of cucumber, walnut and yoghurt salad which M had lovingly topped with rose petals, saffron and mint in the shape of a flower. There were also two other dishes - kuku sabzi (green vegetable frittata) made with leeks, parsley and cilantro and kuku atun (tuna frittata) made with leeks, carrots and tuna. Both were very similar to the Spanish tortilla. There was one more pot on the table - not vegetables or a salad - but the traditional dish fesenjan - meatballs stewed in pomegranate molasses, crushed walnuts and sugar. There was so much food on the table that I was sure we weren't going to finish all the kebabs lined up on the grill.

By this time, the kids were chanting ke-bab, ke-bab and so we sat down to eat just as the sun was setting. M prepared us a plate of lamb and chicken kebabs, grilled peppers and tomatoes and long-grain saffron-flavored rice mixed with butter. The lamb was crisped on the outside while the chicken chunks were moist and tender and accompanied by the cooling cucumber yoghurt salad and the tasty rice, the meal was truly delicious. I was wrong about the number of kebabs because we had at least four each and even my son had two lamb kebabs and lots of rice and so there really wasn't much left. When we had finished with the kebabs, we each had a plate of rice topped with the fesenjan - a last taste of sour-sweet to end our dinner.

The sky was now dark although the night was still warm and after a last mug of hot cardamom tea, we thanked our hosts and walked slowly back home around midnight. It was a delicious introduction to Persian cuisine and an invitation that we will have to return with either a Philippine-themed dinner or an Argentine asado. Mamnoon M & A!

Blogspot or WordPress

I've been blogging on Blogspot for over two years now and I'm thinking of switching over to WordPress.  Here's what my blog looks like over there. It's going to take awhile before I do the final transfer since I'm still learning how to use WordPress and checking to see if it can do everything and more that Blogspot does so for now, enjoy both online versions and let's see how this goes.