Empanadas!

It's been a while since I posted but i've FINALLY got something new to share.  I recently got my hands on a book about Argentinian cooking.  This is the first recipe I was able to try out from it, and I must say it turned out pretty good!  I hope you guys can try it out too!

Ingredients:

Dough:

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup lard or 3/4 cup lard and 3/4 butter

Filling:

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup water

1 pound boneless steak cut into 1/4 inch cubes or ground beef

1 tsp chili powder

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 salt

2 hard boiled eggs, cut into small pieces

handful of green olives

1 egg beaten with 1/2 tsp water

pepper to taste

Method:

First were going to make the dough.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Make sure the fat you are using is room temperature, otherwise cut it into small peices and with your fingers, form a course meal.

Incorporate the lard or butter into the dough, you can add water to help moisten it up.  The dough will be stiff, but not dry.  Now roll it into a ball, wrap it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 1 hour.

Now you can start making the filling.  In a pan place your onions, olive oil and water.  You can turn the stove to high heat and boil out the water.  Once it has all evaporated, add the meat and brown on all sides.  If you are using ground beef, drain out the excess fat.  Next stir in the chili, garlic, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.  Now you can set it aside to cool.

 You should be able to start using your dough now.  Remove it from the fridge and start to roll it out until its about 1/8inch thick.  Make sure your surface has been floured to prevent sticking.  Using a bowl or other object that is about 4 or 5 inches in diameter, start cutting circles into the dough, until you've got about 16 or 17 circles.

Preheat your oven to 400F.

You can begin to fill the dough in now.  Use about 2 tbsp of meat in each one.  After you've put the meat in the center of the circle, place 2 small pieces of egg and 1-2 olives on top.

Moisten the edges of the circle with some of the beaten egg mixture to help seal it, and fold it over.

Make sure you press the two ends together very well making sure the meat mixture is in a tight pocket.  Seal the empanada by folding or twisting the dough onto itself.  If you can't get the hang of that, you can also use a fork and press the edges that way.  Either way works well.

Once your done with all the empanadas, place them on a greased cookie sheet.  Using the left over egg mixture from before, lightly brush each empanada to help brown them.

The empanadas should go into the oven for 10 minutes and then bring down the temperature to 350F and keep cooking for 30 more minutes.  Let them cool a bit and they are ready to eat!!

Enjoy!

Pohan Piščanec!

Pohan Piščanec or what we might know as simple 'fried chicken' is what's on today's menu!

This recipe is really the basic of the basic. Back in Slovenia this would be something you might have on a lazy Sunday for lunch or a quick and easy dinner! This is a favorite for my husband and I just because of how easy and quick it is to make. Here's what you will need..

Ingredients:

8 pieces of chicken (thigh, breast, etc)

salt

fresh or dried thyme (chopped)

Breading:

Flour

2 eggs

1 tablespoon oil

breadcrumbs

fat or oil for frying

Method:

Prepare the chicken by rinsing it under water. Dry it and cut if needed. Lightly salt.

Next you will need to set up the breading. Whisk your eggs thoroughly and add a spoonful of oil so the breading sticks better. Add the thyme to the egg mixture and stir.

Take your chicken pieces and roll them first into your egg mixture, let the excess drain off.

Now dust the chicken with the flour.

 

Re-dip chicken into the egg mixture and once the excess has dripped off, roll it into the breadcrumbs.

Repeat this with the rest of the chicken.

Once all the pieces have been breaded you can cook it in one of two ways. Either in fat or in the oven. I prefer to cook the chicken in the oven personally but it's up to you. If you are frying, heat up your oil in a pan and cook it for 8-15 minutes on each side depending on the cut. Once its cooked, place it on a paper towel to remove excess oil. If you are baking, place the chicken in a lightly greased pan at 350 degrees until the breading is lightly browned and juice from the chicken comes out clear.

And your done! You can add any side you like and serve!

I hope you enjoyed this recipe, see you next time!

Guiso de Arroz!

Hey again!

A lot of people who have been to my parent's house over the years have more than likely had my moms, guiso de arroz - and loved it! So I have been asked to post the recipe for this dish. Now, before I go on I want you all to know that I tried to make it, but it really didn't turn out very good. BUT, I think I know why, so I will warn you guys about what I suspect went wrong as I go along. I hope you guys don't mind going through these recipes even when I made some mistakes myself while cooking them, it's all about trying things several times with cooking to get it right. Either way, I want this to be informative and hope you will still try it out even though I may not have succeeded! Because believe me, there will be more flubs to come!!! haha But I will try and keep it to a minimum!!

On to the ingredients: (NOTE - as with the crepes, this is somewhat of a loose recipe and not every amount of a specific ingredient is exact, but more something you can model to your tastes!)

1 onion chopped
1 carrot chopped
1/2 red pepper
2-3 medium sized potatoes, peeled and cut into small cubes
cubed stewing beef or any beef of your choice
1 can tomato paste
2 cups rice
bay leaves
salt

Method:
Okay, to start off, place your chopped onions, carrot, pepper, potatoes and a bit of oil into a medium sized pot and cook on medium heat until onions are browned.

Add beef and brown lightly. Once sealed, add in your rice and tomato paste and stir everything together while still under medium heat.

Once rice is completely coated, add 2 1/2 cups of water, a little salt, 2 bay leaves and stir.

Wait until mixture boils. Once it boils, put fire on low and keep covered until rice is cooked. Stir frequently and make sure your rice doesn't stick to the bottom of the pot. You may also need to add more water as the rice cooks, but you will be able to tell.

Make sure that you cut your potatoes and carrots into small cubes so that they cook fast enough. Once you have checked everything is thoroughly cooked you are done!

Now remember I mentioned that mine did not taste very good? Well, I think it was because, I accidentally used Japanese/sticky rice instead of long grain rice. BAD MOVE! Your dish will come out somewhat mushy and will not turn out right, which is what happened to mine. If you guys try this recipe out, send me pictures or let me know how it turns out!! There are a couple of variations to my mom's recipe depending on the day but I will be trying this out again and post the (hopefully) better results!!

Goulash!

Hello Folks!

Well this is the first post of my FANNCYYY NEEWWWW BLOOOGG!!!
I am not sure how often I will be posting recipes and other tidbits but I will try to as often as I can!

On to the food...
Today I decided to try making Goulash, Slovenian style. Or 'Golaž' as they call it. I am currently using a cookbook I bought in Slovenia last year called:

"Zmeraj sestra Vendelina, osnove dobre domače kuhinje"

Which basically translates to something like 'Sister Vendelina's basic's of home cooking'. Any native speakers out there can correct me if I'm wrong however! Sister Vendelina's cookbooks are apparently best sellers over there so I couldn't pass up getting some. The only problem was all her books are totally in Slovene, which can be slightly difficult when I can't figure out the meaning of something and Sebastian isn't here or if good old google translate gives me a gem.

Either way, here's my best translation of the recipe for you folks!

Golaž

1.5 pounds or 3 cups beef shank or neck (low fat)
6 tablespoons oil
1 ⅓ cup or 1 large onion
1 tablespoon butter
1 - 2 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 tablespoon chopped tomato or vinegar
2 - 3 cups beef stock or boiling water
salt

Prep:

Cut meat into bite size peices.
Place butter, onions, salt and oil and 100 ml of water into sauce pan. Here are some pics along the way. (btw, I just realized now as I post this that I forgot to add the water, which would have helped):

Fry slowly to evaporate liquid and brown onions - SOMETHING like this:

Add salted and cubed meat onto one side of the pan to sear slightly before mixing everything together. Make another space and add flour and 1 tablespoon of butter and fry until brown:

Mix all that together and pull the pan from the flame. Add in paprika, mixed bell peppers (optional), 1 tablespoon of vinegar or chopped tomatoes. I added about a half a red bell pepper, but you can definitely add more or less depending on your taste. Stir quickly, place back on flame and pour in stock or boiling water. You'll notice in the pictures below that I also added potatoes, it doesn't mention anything about it in the recipe - BUT you can always just use a good bread instead.

Cover and simmer for 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
You will hopefully get something that looks like this (or better!!) at the end.

There you go! Not the fanciest of pictures for the grand finale but I will try harder next time! It's a pretty easy little recipe but if anyone has any little hints or idea's on how to make this recipe better, let me know!