Empanadas de Argentina

Empanadas are enjoyed in many countries, majority of latin america as well as Spain and Portugal where the origin of the reicpe seems to lie, and recipes vary enormously. This version of Empanadas was introduced to me by a friend who lived for some years in Buenos Aires, and typically Argentinean. There are great many Italian immigrants in Argentina, and the subtle use of sultanas and olives suggest a touch of Italian influence. You can also make a bite size empanadas for a buffet, or potluck, it will surely disappear pretty quickly!

600-700g puff pastry dough
500g pork mince
1 onion, chopped
1 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1 tbsp sultanas, chopped
10-15 green olives, deseeded and chopped
1 tsp powdered cumin
1 tbsp paprika
salt and pepper
extra virgine olive oil
1 egg

Immerse the sultanas in lukewarm water, leave for about half an hour
Prepare a flat surface to work on and dust with some flour.
Roll out the pastry dough about 3mm thick, cut out discs of about 15cm.
Keep them in the fridge, with a sheet of wax paper in between layers.
In a skillet sautè the onion and mince and thoroughly brown them, in just enough olive oil.
Add the sultanas, olives, spices and just enough salt and pepper, toss well.
Remove from heat and let it cool to the room temperature.
Preheat the oven to 200°C.
On the same surface where you worked the dough, assemble the empanadas.*
*you may want to take out the doughs in a few batches as you work, the dough is easier to work with when it is cold.
Place a spoonful of sautèed mixture at the centre of each discs.**
**take care NOT to overstuff it, you should be able to comfortably fold the disc in half and enough room to fold over the edge without struggle.
Fold the disc in half, and fold over the outer edge (up to 1cm) and secure it by pressing, using a fork.
Place the formed empanadas on a baking sheet (or on a few of them), bake them for 10-15 minutes or until golden brown.
They are equally good hot/warm or at room temperature.

Savoury Mushroom-Cheese Strudel

I improvised this recipe the other day when I defrosted a sheet of puff pastry meaning to make a quiche, then realizing too late I only had 1 egg left. :-( Thank god puff pastry is so versatile, and I jumped on the opportunity to use up some left over mushrooms and brie still left in the fridge. This turned out to be a yummy hit, and it will surely turn into a proper repartoire when an occasion calls for a quick snack or a hors d'oeuvres!!


Savoury mushroom-cheese strudel

Ingredients
250g mushrooms, thinly sliced
1/2 onion, thinly sliced
1 large clove of garlic, finely chopped
2 slices of speck or english style bacon (optional)
dash of herbs provençal
butter, just enough to sautè the above items
1/2 tsp granulated (powdered) vegetable bouillon
dash of pepper
150g brie, chopped (or your choice of cheese)
generous handful of parsley, chopped
1 sheet of puff pastry (about 300g)

Melt the butter in a skillet and prepare the sautè mixture, starting with onion.
When onion starts to soften, add mushrooms, garlic, speck/bacon, and the seasonings. Continue to cook on high heat stirring well, until onions and mushrooms are completely tender.
Just before turning off the heat, add the parsley.
Let it stand to chill to the room temperature.*
(*if the mixture is too warm it will soften the pastry dough immediately, and it will be difficult to flip over in the process.)
Roll out the puff pastry dough, flatten it to about 3mm thickness if the sheet is thicker, spread it flat on a baking sheet.
Mix in chopped brie into the sautèed mixture, blend in evenly.
Arrange the filling on the surface of the pastry sheet across the centre, about 6-7 wide, leaving about 2cm each on both sides (so it can be secured).
Fold the pastry sheet in 3, folding over the both sides together, overlapping slightly at the centre.
Carefully flip over the strudel, so the seam side will be at the bottom. Press the opening edges on both sides gently with a fork to secure them.
Make a few diagonal slits on the surface with a sharp knife.
Bake the strudel in the oven at 200°C for about 10 minutes, or until the surface is thoroughly golden brown.
Let is stand to cool slightly to stabilize the texture before slicing up.

Homemade Pancakes

Here is a favourite treat for just about everyone, great for brunch, afternoon tea, late night snack or any time of the day when you feel peckish!! Contrary to the belief of many it doesn't require a special ready made mixture, it is just as simple making it totally from scratch!! While it IS a quick and easy recipe but it may take a bit of practice to get the hang of it, so I tried to explain step by step in detail, please don't be intimidated by the longish entry, the procedure is much simpler than it looks!!

If you can find a self rising flour, that would be the perfect pancake making flour. This type of flour has already a rising agent mixed in so your pancakes will puff up without fail!!

However, if you can't find it in stores don't despair, you can mix about 1,5 tea spoon of baking power into about a cup of regular all purpose flour for the same effect as well.
Make sure though, the baking power is well preserved and well within the expiration date, many people make the mistake of using the poorly preserved "dead" baking powder which surely leads to a disappointing result!!

Ingredients:
1 cup of flour (self rising, or all purpose + 1,5 tsp baking powder)
1 egg
2 tablespoon sugar
milk (preferably at room temperature)
juice of half lemon

Beat together all the ingredients, gradually adding the milk little by little, to bring the texture to a "muddy" consistency (not too dense not too liquid, it will be lighter than the regular cake batter, but not so liquid like the crepe batter)*. it's okay if it is not perfectly smooth and slightly lumpy.
Let the mixture rest for about 10 minutes.
Lightly grease a hotplate or non-stick skillet and heat it.
Give a quick thorough stir to the mixture before start to cook it.
Drop about a ladleful (you can make it as small or as big as you want, but regular pancakes are usually about 10-15cm diametre).
Observe the pancake, after a while the bubbles start forming on the surface. When there are lots of bubbles all over and the edge of the batter start to dry, quickly flip it.
The side comes up should be nicely golden brown (not burnt), if the colour is still too pale, flip it back when the second side is fully cooked.
The other side should take much less time to colour. You can just raise the edge slightly with a spatula to check the colour/doneness.
When the both side is fully cooked, take off from the heat and repeat the procedure. (the first one usually takes the longest, as the hot-plate/skillet heats up more the cooking procedure gets quicker. If you are using a burner you may want to turn down the heat just a little when it starts to cook too quickly)

Enjoy the pancakes with
generous amount of butter plus
-pure maple syrup
-honey
-molasses
-fruit preserve/sauce
-nutella etc. etc.!!

Herb Ricotta Bites

This is a very easy and simple snack/antipasto for an impressive result. A well esteemed friend of ours passed on this recipe to us, according to her this is a very antique Roman recipe, she translated it from a Latin text!
The dose of course can be multiplied as this would also make a great party nibble!!


fresh bayleaves (10-12 circa) or sage leaves (20 + or -)
1 tub (250g/8 oz) ricotta
about 50-60g freshly ground parmigiano, pecorino or grana padano
1 large tablespoon (heaped) of flour
1 tsp baking powder
dash of pepper

Rinse clean the herbs, pat dry.

Mix well the rest of ingredients in a bowl.

Arrange the leaves on a baking tray, and on each leaf drop a spoonful of the mixture, roughly making the shape to match the form of the leaves, in about 1cm thickness. Bake at 180°C about 12-15 minutes, or until golden.

Note: leaves are to be peeled off when they are eaten. In case of sage leaves though (which are much more tender than bayleaves), some people would happily eat them without any harm!

Classic Bruschetta

Bruschetta is one of the finest example of the delicious simplicity of the true Italian cooking!! This traditional Italian "antipasto" is not just for a starter, but also is a great snack or light meal which is really easy&quick to prepare... it is also a perfect variety for a barbeque cookout, throw on some slice of bread on the barbeque grill and dress it up as you go!
you can experiment with endless options of toppings, various grilled vegetables, cheeses, patè etc., but this is the most classic, most loved version, prepared with fresh ripe tomatoes and basil leaves, it does carry a wonderful summery flavour!

Large crusty loaf of bread
Garlic cloves, about half per slice
Tomatoes, ripe but firm, chopped. (Eliminate the seed if too soggy, but better with skins intact to maintain the texture.)
Good quality extra virgine olive oil
Fresh basil leaves, chopped*
salt, pepper

In case fresh basil leaves are not available, use crushed dry oregano.

Slice the bread, not too thinly, broil both side.
Cut the garlic cloves in half, put the sliced surface in contact with the broiled bread, still hot, and rub into it evenly.*
Pile the tomatoes on the slice, sprinkle with salt, pepper and basil leaves to taste.
Drizzle the olive oil over.
Serve immediately.

*Alternative preparation
For people who are disturbed by the strong aftertaste of raw garlic.
Roast the garlic in the oven and then mash it, or sautè the minced garlic in just enough olive oil, and sprinkle them over the toast evenly.

Veggie Briouats

Briouats originates in Morocco, but like other certain food the basic idea seems to be pretty global, it is quite similar to Indian Samosa, or Lumpia from Philippines and alike. It can be shaped in triangle like classic Samosa, but I went for the cigar shaped version as it is easier to form... :p The fillo is very delicate, so take care in its handling, keep it cool and dry, and also chill the filling completely. While rolling the briouats, if there are many of them put them in the fridge as you go! Slightly tedious procedure will be definitely paid off as they are absolutely delicious!! As you get the hang of it, you can experiment with different fillings, like cheeses or minces, or sweet version with nuts and dried fruits!!

1 packet of fillo pastry sheets (270g)
1 small courgette
1 small bell pepper
2-3 porcini mushroom*
1 medium carrot
1 small onion
1 spring onion
1-2 clove of garlic, crushed
salt & pepper
Olive oil
frying oil

*you can use a regular button mushrooms mixed with a small amount of soaked dried porcini (you can utilize the soaked liquid to flavour the vegetables), or substitute with shiitake.

1. (if bought frozen) take out the fillo sheets from the freezer at least half a day in advance (better the night before) and defrost in the refrigerator.
2. finely julienne all the vegetables.
3. sautè the vegetables in just enough hot olive oil with garlic. Start with onion, carrot, bell pepper, then courgette and mushrooms, spring onion goes last just to pass the heat. Season with salt and pepper.
4. Cool the vegetables completely, and let them rest in the refrigerator for about an hour.
5. take out the fillo sheets, carefully roll them out and slice them into about 20x15cm (approx., depending on the original size of the fillo sheets)
6. add about one tablespoon full of the vegetables on each sheet and make a thin line of it near the centre.
7. fold over the both sides of the fillo sheet, to keep the vegetables from falling out from the ends.
8. Roll up each sheet like a cigar.
9. Let it rest in the fridge again to chill.
10. Deep fry the rolls (a few at a time at the most, not too many) at about 175-180°C, until golden.

Serve piping hot, they are delicious by itself, or enjoyed with various sauces/condiments like mango (or other type) chatney, tahini, tzatziki, curry etc.