Daring Bakers September 2012: Empanadas

Patri of the blog, Asi Son Los Cosas, was our September 2012 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she decided to tempt us with one of her family’s favorite recipes for Empanadas! We were given two dough recipes to choose from and encouraged to fill our Empanadas as creatively as we wished!

I know, I know. I'm two days late in posting. Blame my job or my procrastination, either way I'm late. One of my goals now that school has been happening for a full month is to do a better job blogging. Right now that means two specific things: posting on time for challenges and taking the time to take better photos. Hold me to those things, people! Please!

This was a delicious recipe that was perfect for the cooler weather we've been having lately. Something about meat and veggies baked in dough just screams autumn comfort food. We had the inaugural fire in the fireplace in our house and enjoyed the feeling of bellies full of yummy empanada as we relaxed last weekend.

I'd made dessert empanadas before (okay, I mostly cheated with canned apple pie filling and probably store-bought dough) and was looking forward to trying the savory kind. I could have made this a little easier on myself by buying a rotisserie chicken instead of roasting my own, but with whole chickens under a dollar a pound I couldn't really justify not doing the whole recipe from scratch.

Chicken and Bell Pepper Empanadas

Dough Ingredients:
5-1/3 cups (1280 ml) (750 gm) bread flour

2 cups (480 ml) of lukewarm water (about 85°F/30oC)
approximately
1 satchel (1 tablespoon) (15 gm) dry yeast or (1 oz) (30 gm) fresh yeast

2 teaspoons (10 ml) (11 gm) salt

4 tablespoons (60 ml) oil (you can use oil from the pan where you have cooked the filling)
1 large egg, for egg wash


For the filling:
1 3-pound chicken
Sea salt and black pepper to taste
½ cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 green bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 red bell pepper, seeded and thinly sliced
1 medium Spanish onion, thinly sliced
4 garlic cloves, minced
8 ripe plum tomatoes
1 fresh thyme sprig
2 bay leaves
½ cup dry white wine
2 teaspoons sweet pimentón (Spanish smoked paprika)




Dough Directions:
1. Measure out all the ingredients. Sift the flour into a big bowl and make a well in the middle. Rub the yeast in with your fingers.

2. In a small bowl, mix the water and the salt.  Using your fingers or a wooden spoon, start adding the water and mixing it with the 
flour-yeast mixture. Keep on working with your fingers or spoon until you have added 
enough water and all the flour has been incorporated and you have a messy ball of dough.

3. On a clean counter top, knead the dough for approximately 10 minutes
(You could do all the above using a stand mixer, in that case mix the ingredients with the 
paddle attachment until mixed and then switch to a dough hook and knead on low for about 6 
minutes.)

4.Clean and oil the big bowl you used for mixing and place the kneaded dough in it. Cover it 
with a napkin or piece of linen and keep it in a warm, draught-free place for approximately 40 to 50 minutes.

5. Once risen, turn the dough back into a floured counter and cut it in half. Cover one half with the napkin to prevent drying.

6. Spread the other half of the dough using a rolling pin. You can use a piece of wax paper over the counter, it will make it easier to move the dough around. Depending on the shape of your oven pan or cookie sheet, you will make a rectangle or a round.

7. Now, the thinness of the dough will depend on your choice of filling and how much bread you like in every bite. For your first time, make it about 3mm thin (about 1/10th of an inch) and then adjust from that in the next ones you make.

Filling Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 375℉

2. Season the chicken, inside and out, with salt and pepper and place on a rack set on top of a baking sheet. Roast the chicken for 45 minutes and let cool. Remove all of the meat from the chicken, discarding the skin and bones. Shred the meat and set aside.

3. Heat the olive oil in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat. Add the peppers, onions and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions and peppers are tender and golden brown, about 30 minutes.

4. Meanwhile, slice the tomatoes in half. Place a grater over a mixing bowl. Rub the cut surface of the tomatoes over the grater until all of the flesh is grated. Set the pulp aside and discard the skins.

5. Add the thyme and bay leaves to the onions and peppers and continue to cook until the mixture turns brown, about 5 minutes more. Add the wine and cook until it evaporates.

6. Stir in the tomato pulp and pimentón, reduce the heat to medium and cook slowly until the oil separates from the mixture and the tomato becomes dark brown in color, about 20 minutes more.

7. Add the shredded chicken and cook for 5 more minutes. Remove from the heat, season to taste with salt. Transfer the mixture to a strainer set over a mixing bowl to drain and let cool. Discard liquid.

To Assemble:
1. Turn a 13x18 inch baking sheet over on a work surface and brush the back of the pan with olive oil. Transfer one rectangle of dough to the baking sheet.

2. Spoon the filling into the center of the dough and spread to about 1 inch from the edge. Beat the egg in a small bowl with a little water and brush the egg wash along the edge of the dough.

3. Place the second rectangle of the dough on top of the filling. Fold the dough over, crimping the edges to seal. Brush the top of the dough with the remaining egg wash and prick the dough with a fork to allow the steam to escape.

4. Bake until golden brown, about 30 minutes. Allow the empanada to come to room temperature before slicing.

Daring Cooks September 2012: Paella

I know, I'm a little late in this posting, but better late than never, right? I swear, now that school has started I'm lucky to remember my name at the end of the day much less how to cook.

Our Daring Cooks’ September 2012 hostess was Inma of la Galletika. Inma brought us a taste of Spain and challenged us to make our very own delicious Paella!

I was so excited when this challenge was posted, paella is a dish I love to eat, love to make, and I have fond memories of my trip in Spain every time I eat it. The first time I ate paella I was a little nervous when the waiter put the plate down in front of me- there were crawfish placed around the lip of the plate just staring at me. I avoided the crawfish and their creepy eyes, but as soon as I had my first mouthful I was enamored.

When I got back from the trip my first request for a birthday present was a paella pan. Since then I've made the dish quite a few times but always when I know I'm going to be feeding quite a few people. This time around we invited friends over and planned a night of sangria, paella and Monopoly. One of our guests is not a big fan of seafood so I adjusted the recipe to accommodate his tastes as well as those of us who love shrimp. I am saving the recipe that Inma gave us for another time, I'm very interested to try another very authentic recipe.

I have one very yellow photo of this dish because I was too busy cooking and talking and drinking sangria to take more. But this is really a beautiful dish and wonderful to eat!

Paella (adapted from Williams Sonoma)

½ tsp saffron threads
1lb large shrimp, peeled and deveined
¼ cup olive oil
salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 yellow onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced
½ cup roughly chopped canned peeled tomatoes
2-3 lbs chicken pieces (I used thighs because that's what I had this time, I've also done it with a whole chicken that I broke down into pieces)
2 cups short grain rice
2 tsp smoked paprika
½ cup dry white wine
4 cups chicken broth
½ cup water
½ cup red bell pepper strips, 1/4 inch wide
½ cup thawed frozen peas
2 lemons, each cut into 8 wedges

1. Preheat oven to 350℉.
2. In a paella pan (or large skillet) over medium heat, cook chicken pieces in 1-2 Tbs olive oil for 15 minutes, turning from time to time. Remove and keep warm.
3. Toast saffron in paella pan, stirring constantly until fragrant, about 1 minute. Transfer to a small bowl, let cool and crumble with fingers, set aside.
4. In another bowl, combine the shrimp, 2 Tbs of olive oil, salt and pepper. Stir to coat. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
5. In the paella pan over medium heat, warm 2 Tbs olive oil. Add the onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and translucent, about 7 minutes. Stir in the garlic and cook for 30 seconds. Add the tomatoes and cook, stirring, until most of the liquid has evaporated and the tomatoes have darkened slightly, 6-7 minutes.
6. Add the rice, saffron, and paprika and cook, stirring constantly, until the grains are evenly coated with the tomato mixture, about 2 minutes. Add the wine, chicken broth, and water and season with salt and pepper. Spread the rice evenly over the bottom of the pan, increase the heat to medium-high and bring to a boil.
7. Cover the pan tightly with aluminum foil and transfer to the oven. Cook until rice has absorbed most of the liquid, about 20 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven.
8. Arrange the chicken evenly around the pan and press into the rice. Place the shrimp on top. Lay the bell pepper strips over the seafood and scatter the peas on top. Re-cover the pan with the foil and return the pan to the oven. Cook until the shrimp are opaque and the chicken is cooked through, 17-20 minutes, removing the foil during the last 5 minutes of cooking.
9. To create a brown crust on the bottom of the rice, set the pan over medium-high heat and cook, turning the pan occasionally so the bottom browns evenly, 4-6 minutes. Remove from the heat and let stand for 5 minutes. Serve the paella with lemon wedges alongside.

Daring Bakers August 2012: Pate a choux Swans

Kat of The Bobwhites was our August 2012 Daring Baker hostess who inspired us to have fun in creating pate a choux shapes, filled with crème patisserie or Chantilly cream. We were encouraged to create swans or any shape we wanted and to go crazy with filling flavors allowing our creativity to go wild!


I knew as soon as I saw this challenge that I would be using this to introduce my neighbors to my baking obsession. I could have made a half batch that would have still been too much for just me and my husband, but when you can take something like this over to the neighbors, what an introduction! They all looked at me kind of strange and asked "you just did this.... for no reason?" and I had to explain about the monthly challenges I do with the assurance that this would be the first of many food presents.

Bingley would like a swan, please.

I have never done pate a choux before, and looking at other bakers' pictures I think mine was a little runny. It didn't take too much time and wasn't all that difficult so I'm not too intimidated to give this another try. I think that these would be so much fun for baby showers or similar events.



Pate a choux
Ingredients
½ cup (120 ml) (115 gm) (4 oz) butter
1 cup (240 ml) water
¼ teaspoon (1½ gm) salt
1 cup (240 ml) (140 gm) (5 oz) all-purpose flour
4 large eggs

Directions:
Line at least two baking sheets with silicone mats or parchment paper, or grease pans well.
Preheat oven to moderately hot 375°F/190°C/gas mark 5 .
In a small saucepot, combine butter, water, and salt. Heat over until butter melts, then remove from stove.
Add flour all at once and beat, beat, beat the mixture until the dough pulls away from the sides of the pot.
Add one egg, and beat until well combined. Add remaining eggs individually, beating vigorously after each addition. Resulting mixture should be somewhat glossy, very smooth, and somewhat thick.
Using a ¼” (6 mm) tip on a pastry bag, pipe out about 36 swan heads. You’re aiming for something between a numeral 2 and a question mark, with a little beak if you’re skilled and/or lucky.
Remove the tip from the bag and pipe out 36 swan bodies. These will be about 1.5” (40 mm) long, and about 1” (25 mm) wide. One end should be a bit narrower than the other.
Bake the heads and bodies until golden and puffy. The heads will be done a few minutes before the bodies, so keep a close eye on the baking process.
Remove the pastries to a cooling rack, and let cool completely before filling.

Assembly
Take a swan body and use a very sharp knife to cut off the top 1/3rd to ½.
Cut the removed top down the center to make two wings.
Dollop a bit of filling into the body, insert head, and then add wings.

Vanilla Crème Patissiere

(Half Batch)

Ingredients:
1 cup (225 ml.) whole milk
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbsp. (100 g.) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbsp. (30 g.) unsalted butter
1 Tsp. Vanilla

Directions:
Dissolve cornstarch in ¼ cup of milk. Combine the remaining milk with the sugar in a saucepan; bring to boil; remove from heat.
Beat the whole egg, then the yolks into the cornstarch mixture. Pour 1/3 of boiling milk into the egg mixture, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not begin to cook.
Return the remaining milk to boil. Pour in the hot egg mixture in a stream, continuing whisking.
Continue whisking (this is important – you do not want the eggs to solidify/cook) until the cream thickens and comes to a boil. Remove from heat and beat in the butter and vanilla.
Pour cream into a stainless steel/ceramic bowl. Press plastic wrap firmly against the surface. Chill immediately and until ready to use.

Help us decide...

Okay, so this is a non-food related post. My husband and I are trying to decide on colors for the last two areas to be painted in our new house. We are planning on doing a painting extravaganza over Labor Day Weekend but are having a hard time agreeing on color choices.

Because he and I are stubborn and will just sit here and continue liking the color we like, I am enlisting your help. Here are two shots of the room (you'll have to excuse the iPhone photography and light sources.)

This is the front room/living room/ Music Room (so titled because that is where Dave teaches lessons). I do have to admit that he will have to look at this room more than me because he teaches in there and I just have to walk past it when coming downstairs. The room tends to be a bit dark because while it has nice sized windows, right outside is a porch with an overhang that blocks some of the outside light. 

The accent wall color would be going on the wall behind the couch. I made sure to get the colors of the dining room in the photo because I want to make sure that the color schemes help the rooms flow well together.

Here are the color schemes we are looking to use. I won't tell you which I prefer (unless you saw what I posted on Facebook yesterday) in the interest of avoiding "the wife is always right" contributions. Just honest opinions on what you think works better. Like I said, we are both stubborn and will just continue thinking our color scheme is the better of the two until someone comes up with a reason why one works better than the other. If you think they would both be fine, that's cool too, we just need some input.

Color Scheme 1:

Accent Wall Color: Behr Sequoia Dusk

Main wall color: Behr Peanut Butter

Color Scheme #2:

Accent Wall: Behr Plum Shadow

Main Wall Color: Behr Pebbled Courtyard

I like both schemes, I just think for this room one is probably a better fit. So, let me know either in the comments here or on Facebook, if you know me there. Thanks for the help! 

Daring Cooks August 2012: Cooking with Cornmeal!

Rachael of pizzarossa was our August 2012 Daring Cook hostess and she challenged us to broaden our knowledge of cornmeal! Rachael provided us with some amazing recipes and encouraged us to hunt down other cornmeal recipes that we’d never tried before – opening our eyes to literally 100s of cuisines and 1000s of new-to-us recipes!

Lots of colors in summer veggies.

We have been doing quite a bit of traveling this month and keeping busy getting ready for the next school year. I've done a couple weeks of beginning band camps- starting a room full of beginners on any instrument is always a fun time. We also added a dog to our little family. His name is Bingley (yes, after the character in Pride and Prejudice.) Bingley is about 2 years old and is just the biggest sweetheart. He is my new helper in the kitchen, stays by my side the whole time I'm in there, although I suspect he is hoping that I'll drop something as much as he is enjoying being near me. 

My new kitchen assistant. Love this dog!

I knew almost immediately after reading this month's challenge that I was going to use the cornmeal for a savory tart with summer veggies. It just sounded too good to pass up the chance to make! This was delicious, although the crust didn't work out exactly how I thought it would. The crust slid down the sides of the pan, but it still turned out okay. I'm glad that the challenge was cooking with cornmeal because I hadn't really ever thought about using cornmeal. My mom always used it when she made fried chicken, but I was not aware of the multitude of recipe options with cornmeal. I'll definitely be using it again!

Doesn't look like much on the plate, but it sure tasted delicious!

Savory Summer Tart

(adapted from Williams Sonoma)

Cornmeal crust:

1 cup flour

¼ cup cornmeal

½ tsp salt

2 tsp sugar

8 Tbs cold unsalted butter, cut into ½ inch pieces

3 Tbs ice water, plus more as needed

1. In a food processor, combine the dry ingredients and pulse until combined (4-6 pulses). Add the butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add the ice water and pulse 4-5 times. The dough should hold together but not be too sticky, if it is crumbly or not fully combined add more water, 1 tsp at a time, pulsing twice after each addition. Turn the dough out onto a work surface and shape into disk. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. 

2. Preheat oven to 425℉. On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a 13 inch round. Transfer to a 10 inch cast iron pan, pressing the dough into the bottom and sides of the pan. Fold under the overhanging dough and flute the edges. Prick the sides and bottom of dough, refrigerate for 10 minutes. Transfer to the oven and bake 12 minutes, pricking the pastry with a fork if it puffs up. Transfer to a wire rack and let cool. 

Tart Filling:

4 bacon slices, diced, cooked and fat reserved

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 small red bell pepper, seeded and cut into ¼ inch strips

2 ears of corn, kernels cut off cobs

4 oz green beans cut into ½ inch pieces

salt and pepper to taste

1 bunch chard, ribs removed and leaves cut into strips

1 ¼ cups half and half

3 eggs

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

3. Reduce oven heat to 375℉. To make filling, in a large skillet over medium high heat, warm 1 tablespoon of the reserved bacon fat. Add the onion, bell pepper and corn kernels and cook until the vegetables are just starting to soften, about 5 minutes. Add the green beans, salt and pepper and cook for 3 minutes. Transfer to a bowl. 

4. Warm 1 teaspoon of bacon fat in the pan. Add the chard and cook until just wilted, about 2 minutes. Transfer to the bowl with the onion mixture. 

5. Whisk together the half and half, eggs and salt and pepper. Stir in the bacon, cheese and vegetable mixture and pour into the crust. Transfer to the oven and bake until a knife inserted into the center of the tart comes out clean, about 35 minutes. Let stand for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Daring Bakers July 2012: Crisp, crunchy crackers!

Our July 2012 Daring Bakers’ Host was Dana McFarland and she challenged us to make homemade crackers! Dana showed us some techniques for making crackers and encouraged to use our creativity to make each cracker our own by using ingredients we love.


I'm sitting at my mom's house in Iowa, bemoaning my (once again) procrastination. I fully intended to write up this blog weeks ago after I baked the crackers. But (as usual) I kept telling myself there was time. Well, now I'm in Iowa and the recipes I thought were stored on my computer are not. There are back-up printouts that I actually used to bake the crackers, but they are in a drawer in Wisconsin. So you'll have to wait to see those until I get back on Sunday. But for now, enjoy the pictures! 

I made 4 different kinds of crackers, homemade Wheat Thins, Parmesan and Flax , Rosemary and Parmesan Icebox Crackers, and Carta di Musica (How could I not?!), a crisp Italian cracker. We had them with the obligatory cheese and meat tray at a birthday get together at our new house. Interesting results on what people liked: my husband, who I thought would like them, did not like the flax crackers at all. My father in law, who is quite selective in what he enjoys loved the flax crackers.

The Daring Cooks July 2012: Cooking En Papillote

Our July 2012 Daring Cooks’ host was Sarah from All Our Fingers in the Pie! Sarah challenges us to learn a new cooking technique called “Cooking En Papillote” which is French and translates to “cooking in parchment”.

I have been wanting to try this cooking method for a while now and as usual, I am so glad to be a "Daring Cook" to give me a little push towards actually doing it! I was interested in trying this out because it is a healthy way to prepare a delicious dinner and wanted to see if the time to make these little individual parchment packets was really worth it.

I found that making the parchment packets was not even time consuming. It added no more than a few seconds, honestly chopping all the veggies (which you would do anyway) was the longest part of the preparation. I also really liked how each parchment packet was a serving.

The verdict on cooking en papillote? Super easy, perfect for fish, and after doing a little research, I really want to try different ingredients (did you know you can do fruit?! It looks ridiculously good.)

I made tilapia and lots of summer veggies, but if you do a little thinking about how everything will cook, making sure it will take the same amount of time, I think the possibilities are numerous for combinations.

Tilapia En Papillote
(two servings)

2 Tilapia filets
1 red pepper, cut in thin strips
1 small Summer squash, cut in rounds
1 small zucchini, cut in rounds
1 bunch asparagus (you don't have to use the whole thing, but I did)
your favorite seasoning mix
1/2 cup dry white wine
1 tablespoon butter, cut into small pieces
2 pieces parchment paper, cut in 24 inch diameter

1. Preheat oven to 375℉. Fold parchment in half, place tilapia against the fold and cover with veggies. Sprinkle with seasoning mix and wine. Dot with butter.

2. Fold parchment paper over itself and twist edges closed. Place on a baking tray and bake for 20-25 minutes. Parchment will be puffed and slightly browned when the dish is finished.

You can open the parchment packets at the table if you want to "wow" everyone, or simply plate it before serving. Enjoy!