Empanadas

I recently visited Chile, to ski.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were some nice graphics on the way to the resort.

I noticed that the Chileans are fond of empanadas. They are pretty much the same as our empanadas.  Shrimp and cheese are really typical, and beef, similar to pot roast is offered. The food is not very hot. And they like steak and seafood.   Here are the empanadas in Chile: We went to the grocery store, and noticed about four varieties of avocados, which they call palta, not aguacate, and eat on hot dogs, along with many other things. That’s called a   completo italiano.

And the grocery carries quail eggs as well,

 

plus more beautiful produce, including artichokes and pears.

 

They have an interesting wine variety, carmenere, killed in

France during the phylloxera epidemic. They claim that their carmenere is the only pure carmenere, and that those in other wine growing regions are blends.  We went to the Conch Y Toro tour, and you would probably say why not go to a smaller winery for a tour?  Sometimes it’s better to be in a big group and look around, and not be in a small captive audience. Plus they have a nice little set-up for visitors. The tour was of the cellar only, not of the factory. 

So in August I set out to make some empanadas, and used the dough recipe on page 264 of Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz’s  The Complete  Book of Mexican Cooking. 

These empanadas were peach, and filled with actual peaches prepared just like peach pie and cooked on the stove long enough to cook the corn starch in the filling. I used a four inch cocoa can to cut out the dough which I rolled as thin as possible. The empanadas were fried in peanut oil. I over-filled most of them, unfortunately, and it doesn’t seem to matter much.

They could look prettier, but

    powdered sugar covers a lack of talent, and tastes really good.

We didn’t have any problem finishing these.

This taste tester ate plenty. I think she is the one who gave me the Elizabeth Lambert Ortiz cookbook.  Thanks!

Technorati Tags: empanadas,Chile,Camenere,peaches,complete book of mexican cooking,elizabeth lambert ortiz,Palta

Since the Oven Outside is Already On.....

Don't turn on the oven inside. Just make the chocolate pie here. It's inspired by Alton Brown Moo-Less Chocolate Pie Moo-Less Chocolate Pie, which is good, but I prefer it my way. I think his recipe may have been inspired by the recipe for Chocolate Dream Dessert on the Mori-Nu web site at Chocolate Dream Dessert which I have not tried, but it is more dietetic. For my pie, here is what you will need:

1 chocolate cookie crust

3/4 cup real maple syrup

2 cups chocolate chips, your favorite type, I use semisweet

1/4 cup Kahlua(optional, you could use strong coffee)

1 teaspoon vanilla

1 block of silken tofu

Open up the crust and wash the plastice lid. Put the chocolate chips in the blender.

Heat the Kahlua and maple syrup in the microwave until boiling. Watch it carefully. It will take atleast one minute. Pour the syrup mixture over the chips and let it stand until the chips are soft. Then add the tofu and blend. Pour that into the crust and chill it until it's cool, two or three hours. Then try not to eat it all at once.

This is how is looks:


This is an odd combination of home-y food combined with tofu. I don't often advertise that I use convenience foods like a cookie crust, but when I made my own, it was not as good, and fell apart. And if Alton Brown can us a store bought crust, I guess it's OK. And the semi-sweet and bitter sweet chocolate chips are pretty bitter, and some children would prefer milk chocolate, although I don't care for those at all. I like to use the lid as a cover, upside down.

Below is a really pretty, summery tomato pie with a rosemary crust, and I hope to write more about it later.

Fiddle Camp

Here I am at fiddle camp in the beautiful cross timbers of Texas. This is not a bad view to wake up to in the morning.The views remind me of the Texas artist Frank Reaugh. It was as cool at 71 'F at 6:45 AM on monday, and got hotter from that point on. And guess what, there is no pie at fiddle camp, not the kind I am used to, anyway.

The moon was still up. It was really pleasant.






Here is one of the quaint buildings at Cisco Junior college where the Elmore Fiddle Camp is held every summer for the past 10 years.





It's nice to get some exercise including hills in the morning before a day of music.

I had a great time with my son at Elmore Fiddle Camp. Every night there is a concert, and instructors and others play for the student "campers." Randy Elmore , Wes Westmoreland , and a student are shown above in a youtube link, and if you visit that link you can enjoy their version of Black and White Rag.
Below Randy, Wes and Rich O'Brien play in that brief video.

And Dick Gimble on bass playing Thelonius Monk with instructor Danny Levin on piano.