Spiced Beef Empanadas with Lime Sour Cream

I made the beef empanadas on Wednesday night and froze them until Friday night.

Here's what you need:

olive oil (not extra virgin - just plain olive oil)

small onion chopped

1 lb. ground beef (80 - 85% lean - trust me, this makes a difference in the flavor)

ground cinnamon

ketchup

golden raisins

salt + pepper

warm the olive oil, throw in the chopped onion until soft

crumble in the beef, cook until not pink

put in some cinnamon, ketchup, salt and pepper. i had measured amounts, but i don't cook to measurements unless i'm baking, neither should you. i think more love goes into food when you aren't measuring. you're going for spiced beef not spicy beef. when you taste it and its delicious, you'll know the mixture is good. then throw in the golden raisins. ratio of beef to golden raisins should be about 3:1.

buy a box of rolled up pie crusts, take the lid of a glass and proceed to use like a cookie cutter (or you could actually buy a decent size cookie cutter, whatever). This should make about 12 or so rounds. Divide the beef mixture among the rounds. fold over like a taco, brush with egg, bake at 375 for about 20 - 25 minutes or until golden brown.

lime sour cream is sour cream + lime zest. super!

Happy Birthday Mama C!

I love you!

In honor of one of my besties birthday, I am making a full course dinner for 10+ (could possibly be 13).

Here's the menu:

Appetizers:

Spiced Beef Empanadas with lime sour cream (for the meaties)
Red Pepper and Goat Cheese Crisps with Radicchio (for the veggies)

Entree:

Broccoli and Three-Cheese Lasagna (for the veggies)
Prosciutto Wrapped Pork with Sweet Potatoes and Pears (for the meaties)

Dessert:

Mango's Famous Birthday Cake

Pictures and recipes to come (but not for the cake - that is a family secret!)

In case you were wondering

This is what radicchio looks like:


Radicchio is NOT red cabbage. Just in case you were wondering.

V

who knew my sister had a site? I didn't until now. I'd been getting emails saying a site is updated and I was two seconds from throwing it into my spam folder when I went in to discover it's my sister's site sending me email notifications she's updated it.

My "baby" sister's website

more veggie pot pie love

veggie pot pie and love

the barefoot contessa's vegetable pot pie

modified by lola

Ingredients

• 12 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 1/2 sticks)
• 2 cups sliced yellow onions (2 onions) - sliced means cut crosswise, exclude smaller core pieces
• 1 fennel bulb, top and core removed, thinly sliced crosswise - ends up being cut similar to the onions - also, fennel smells like black licorice, not sure if you knew that. i didn't.
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 1/2 cups good chicken stock - mama c is vegetarian, so i used vegetable stock
• 1 tablespoon Pernod - i think this is a type of wine - since i'm not that classy, i excluded it.
• Pinch saffron threads - oddly, they don't sell this at publix ;), so this was excluded as well.
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt - i used regular salt - i also didn't measure out the salt and pepper... just taste it, when its a little much, it's actually perfect.
• 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 3 tablespoons heavy cream
• 1 1/2 cups large-diced potatoes (1/2 pound) - i used small potatoes and i quartered them. looked better
• 1 1/2 cups asparagus tips - basically this means the tips of a bunch of asparagus
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced carrots (4 carrots)
• 1 1/2 cups peeled, 3/4-inch-diced butternut squash - i picked up the wrong squash so i ended up using sliced yellow squash
• 1 1/2 cups frozen small whole onions (1/2 pound) - dude, more onions is ridiculous considering you're using 2 onions and fennel
• 1/2 cup minced flat-leaf parsley - mincing parsley is a bitch for real. mince as much as you can without it driving you crazy and throw it in

so next should be the ingredients for the pastry portion. we are not that advanced here. i bought pie crust pastry rounds. dudes, pie crusts have come a long way since i last paid attention. so remember when you used to buy the pie crust ready-made in the freezer section? now the pie crusts come packed in a roll in the rolls section. they come two to a box. make sure you have a decently deep 9" pie dish, lay the first pie crust in the dish, adhere to the sides, pour the mixture in, put the 2nd pie crust round at the top, seal with a fork. fancy! so now that you know how to take the easy route on the pie crust...

Directions

Melt the butter in a large pot (like a stew pot) over medium heat. Add the onions and fennel and saute until translucent, 10 to 15 minutes. Add the flour, reduce the heat to low, and cook for 3 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Slowly add the stock, Pernod (no), saffron (no), salt, and pepper, and bring to a boil. Simmer for 5 more minutes, stirring occasionally. Add the heavy cream and season to taste. The sauce should be highly seasoned (meaning it should be really salty and peppery).

Cook the potatoes in boiling salted water for 10 minutes. Lift out with a sieve. Add the asparagus, carrots, and squash to the pot and cook in the boiling water for 5 minutes. Drain well. Add the potatoes, mixed vegetables, onions (no), and parsley to the sauce and mix well.

(you can skip this next part) For the pastry, mix the flour, salt, and baking powder in the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade. Add the shortening and butter and mix quickly with your fingers until each piece is coated with flour. Pulse 10 times, or until the fat is the size of peas. With the motor running, add the ice water; process only enough to moisten the dough and have it just come together. Dump the dough out onto a floured board and knead quickly into a ball. Wrap the dough in plastic and allow it to rest in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Okay, so the Contessa's recipe calls for dividing ingredients into 4 souffle bowls. we are making pot PIE. ignore everything until you get to the egg wash part. Divide the filling equally among 4 ovenproof bowls. Divide the dough into quarters and roll each piece into an 8-inch circle. Brush the outside edges of each bowl with the egg wash, then place the dough on top. Trim the circle to 1/2-inch larger than the top of the bowl. Crimp the dough to fold over the sides, pressing it to make it stick. Brush the dough with egg wash and make 3 slits in the top. Sprinkle with sea salt and cracked pepper. Place on a baking sheet and bake for 1 hour, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling hot.

my pot pie is cooking now and it smells great. can't wait to see how it turns out!

in case you were wondering..

this is what fennel looks like: