Empanadas

The best endorsement I get is the "Dad, can you make ____ for our _____ celebration at school?"  So the latest ad-lib fill-ins were Empanadas and Spanish...  Now, I'm a Midwestern boy through and through, so the recipe is tricky.  It actually comes from the snack bar manager at Fords baseball field where the kids play a tournament every summer.  The guy is nice and the empanadas are fought over.  Here is my approximation of the recipe.

I made the dough this time, although you can buy the dough at most grocery stores.  The filling is a great thing for the kids to help with - from cutting to cooking to filling.  Alex helped on this project and we had a good time, even if the whole process is a little long.  The results were worth it.

Ingredients:
Empanada dough -
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 stick frozen butter, cut into small cubes
1 egg
1/3 cup cold water
1 Tbsp white vinegar

Filling -
1 onion, chopped
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 clove of garlic, minced or passed through a garlic press
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1 lb ground turkey
2 Tbsp raisins (my kids don't like the raisins, so out they go)
Chopped olives, a generous amount
1 (14-ounce) can diced tomatoes, drained although reserving 2 Tbsp
Large bag of grated mozzarella cheese

Directions:
1) Put flour, salt, and butter in food processor until butter is chopped into fine pellets
2) Lightly beat egg, vinegar and water, then pulse into flour a few times
3) Turn onto a floured surface and lightly work the dough until it forms a loose ball.  Don't overwork it or the butter will melt.  Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate an hour.
4) Cut dough in half and roll out to 1/8 of an inch.  Cut out 6" circles from the dough.  Re-roll out and re-cut circles until both halves of the dough is used.  Put circles on sheet trays, cover with saran wrap and back into the fridge they go.
5) Prepare the filling.  Saute onions and garlic in the olive oil for 3-4 minutes.  Add the spices, cook until fragrant (about 30 seconds).  Add the turkey, cook until browned.  Don't cover or it will be too liquidy.  Add the tomatoes and olives, cook until warmed through.  Take of the stove and cool.
6) Make the empanadas - put a tsp of filling in the middle of the empanada dough, top generously with cheese, wet the edges of the circle, fold and press ends together with a fork.  Set aside and make the next.
7) When the empanadas are completed, brush top and bottom with olive oil, place on the sheet pan and roast them until the dough is a light golden color.  You could deep fat fry them, but they become too oily.  Baked they are deliciously buttery.  Enjoy.

Chicory smoked chicken

If you've ever had smoked cheese or fish, the flavor is just divine!  Well, I thought I could pull off smoking chicken - even though I don't have a smoker, never smoked anything before and thought it might make a colossal mess.  Ah, the bliss of ignorance.

Well, this recipe had great flavor, but my technique was WAY off.  So, you get to benefit from my experiment.  I used chicory coffee because I didn't have black tea bags on hand and it was better for it.  Have no fear, black tea, chia tea, peppermint, coffee all can work with the recipe.

Ingredients
4-6 breast of chicken
12 bags of tea (or 2 Tbsps of chicory coffee)
1 Tbsp of brown or white sugar
2 tsp Black peppercorns
2 tsp Coriander seeds

Directions
1) Roast the peppercorns and coriander seeds on the stove.  When toasted, remove from heat, cool slightly and grind them up coarsely in a mortar.

2) Coat the chicken on both sides with spices, salt and pepper.  Roast in the oven for 4 minutes, turn over and roast for 4 minutes.  The chicken should be just cooked .

3) While the chicken is roasting, line a large skillet with aluminum foil.  Place well mixed tea and sugar on the foil and covering the entire bottom of pan.  Place a metal rack above the tea mixture and turn on the stove to a medium to medium-high heat.  Transfer chicken onto the rack and cover the pan with aluminum foil.

4) You should see smoke coming out of the foil within 2 minutes.  Turn down heat slightly, cook for 8 minutes.  Take off the heat, leave the aluminum foil on and continue smoking for another 15 minutes.

5) Transfer to plate with rice or, in my case, couscous with vegetables and enjoy.

Shrimp Stock

We will always buy the frozen shrimp which you have to peel yourself.  I used to be frustrated having to peel all of those shrimp constantly thinking "isn't there an industrial process to remove these shells?"  Okay, well the thought never crossed my mind, but I didn't like having to peel shrimp until I discovered fish stock.  OH BOY, that changed my mind.

Its delicious and deliciously simple.  Put the peeled shells in a colander when peeling shrimp.  Then put about 3 Tbsps of olive oil in a well headed stock pot, add the shrimp shells when the oil is very hot.  Cook the shells, stirring lightly, for about 5-7 minutes.  They should be a deep red color and look well dried.

Quickly 3-4 whole, peeled cloves of garlic, 1 thickly sliced onion, the tips of celery (especially the leaves), lots of pepper plus a generous pinch of red pepper flakes.  Cook until fragrant - about 2 minutes.  Then fill the stock pot with 8-10 quarts of water, add two bay leaves and plenty of salt.  Turn down the heat and let simmer for an hour.

Strain the stock and refrigerate, if using within a couple of days, or freeze, if using later.

Mushroom Barley Risotto

This is the last blast of cold air before spring.  Generally, I am no longer interested in the standard winter vegetables, hearty soups and heavy meals.  So, to spice it up some, I changed a familiar recipe - risotto - by using barley as the grain rather than rice.  It was delicious and incredibly good for you as well.  As you can see with the photo, it is also rich and hearty befitting good winter food.


Plus, you'll definitely need the kids' help for this one.  I generally chop the onions which the daughter then browns when I chop the mushrooms and garlic.  She'll start the risotto stirring and I'll finish.  Then, with a flourish, she'll add the cheese.  It is family cooking at its best.


Ingredients:
Quart or so of chicken stock (homemade is best, but canned will work)

Still in the Pot!!!

• 2 tsp butter
• 2 tsp olive oil
• 1 large, diced onion
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1 cup barley
• 1 tsp dried thyme
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 lb mushrooms, sliced (I used white cap, but any you like)

• 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup Gruyère cheese, optional (can use Edam)
• 
  
• Directions
  1) Melt butter in large stock pot on medium-high heat. Add onion and sauté until starting to brown (about 7 minutes.) 
  2) Reduce heat to medium.  Add mushrooms and garlic to pot along with olive oil.  Cook until mushrooms are dark in color and beginning to get tender (about 5 minutes.)
  3) Add barley, thyme and oregano to pot; stirring for a couple of minutes to absorb the existing liquid.
  4) Start adding enough chicken stock to cover the barley; bring mixture to boil. Simmer until most of stock is absorbed, stirring frequently, then add more stock to cover the barley.  Simmer, stir, add - simmer, stir, add, until the barley is tender, about 40 minutes.
  5) Take the pot off the heat, add salt, pepper, a little more broth (otherwise the risotto hardens) and the cheese.  Stir until cheese is melted.  Serve right away.