My next trip will be to South America!

Instead of watching Grey's I'm here blogging about my latest endeavour; EMPANADAS. (Ok so Im taping it)

Attempting to make this South American fare was completely unplanned. As I was trying to lovingly force-feed W and watch Handy Manny, I was scoping out new recipes I could try for dinner. I came across Tyler Florence's Potato and Chorizo Empanadas , the reviews were great and it involved using Masa Harina which sounded authentic albiet strange. Surprisingly, I found it at my local grocery store, which now has a whole aisle devoted to authenic ingredients including Indian, Asian, Mexican and Lebanese. I loved making this because it required many steps, but alot of cooling and wait time in between, which allowed me to get things done outside of the kitchen. I began cooking the filling (chorizo, onions, garlic and potatoes) around 2pm because it needed to cool completely before continuing. As it cooled, I did a load of laundrey and then whipped up the Empanada dough (so easy!) I have to say I may have been grossed out a bit as I un-cased the chorizo sausages.

So with having a brother-in-law who's been to South America recently and has tasted authentic Empanadas, I had to make sure I nailed it. He came over for dinner and said they tasted really good!

The recipe called for a Cilantro Cream (sour cream, finely chopped fresh cilantro, lime juice, S&P) to dip the Empanadas in. It also suggested a 4" cookie cutter, which would make very small crusts, instead, I used a pyrex bowl which made larger Empanadas.


..and this is how they turned out!!

Will definitely make them again, the dough was a little tough to work with as it kept cracking, but it yeilded a very authentic tasting crust. Next time I plan on making them with a different filling, the possibilities are literally endless. B said he wants to try sweet Empanadas, so if anyone knows of a good filling, please share!

Last night the Vegetable Barley stew turned out nicely, I'm starting to think that the crock-pot infuses my food with a wierd taste, so next time I make it will be in a pot on the stove. It was very hearty and healthy.

Tomorrow I hope to visit our friends at Ade's Meat Market to pick up some ham hocks (is that that part that has all the flavour!?) and make Pasulja (Navy Bean soup) Should be interesting!