Empanadas Del Gringo

Take another look at the name of the recipe. Got that? Just what it says. So I don't want to hear it from some know-it-all who claims I'm "DOING IT WRONG." No, there are no raisins, no hard boiled egg, and NO MAYO. Deal with it.

So says the gringo.


Anyway! Three cups of flour, six ounces of butter (frozen, hacked into chunks), an egg, and a pinch of salt. Add dry ingredients to a food processor, add egg, whirl, add chunks of butter, and then drizzle cold water until the dough looks stiff and lumpy. You don't want it sticky. If it is, add more flour.






Remove dough from processor, form into a ball, and stash it in the fridge for 30 minutes.


Time for the filling. You know the drill. Onion, garlic, hot pepper. Also: cumin, chili powder, paprika, oregano, thyme.




Fry up a pound of ground meat (this is turkey thighs -- HEY! What did I tell you? Gringo, remember?), add some salt, and the herbs and spices.



Remove, and in the same pan sauté the veggies. Oh, did I mention I'm using bacon fat? Oh, yeah.


Garlic comes last, remember. Don't want that to burn.


Return the meat, and splash on some Worcestershire sauce, and some lemon and lime juice.



Take another egg, separate egg from yolk, and whisk both (yolk shown has not been whisked).


Ok, now the hard work. Take some dough, roll it out thin (1/8 of an inch, or so), and use some sort of template to cut a circle out of it, about four inches in diameter.



Add some of the filling, wipe some of the egg white around the edges, fold it over, and crimp the seam with a fork. I won't lie to you. These last two steps take a bit of time.



Take the beaten yolk, and brush them over the tops. Then bake at 400 for about 25-30 minutes, until golden brown.



Serve with wine and vegetables (shown: grilled asparagus).

Turkey Cutlets with Anchovy Butter, and Paprika Roasted Cauliflower

(Okay, so while I was making this, the camera didn't behave properly for a couple of shots. I'll walk you through the parts that got missed.)

Cut cauliflower into half inch slices, arrange on baking sheet. Drizzle with olive oil, and season with salt, garlic powder, and paprika. Roast at 450 for 20 minutes.


Season cutlets with salt, pepper, and poultry seasoning.



Mince garlic, dice shallot, chop chives.


Get some oil hot, dredge cutlets in flour, then brown, about 3 minutes on a side.


Remove cutlets, lower heat, and in remaining fat, sauté the shallots. Add the garlic when shallots have softened, and sauté another 30 seconds.


Raise heat, add 1/2 cup of white wine, deglaze pan and reduce to about 1/3 cup.


Remove from heat, add chives, a Tbsp of butter, and 2 tsp of anchovy paste. Stir to melt and combine. Return turkey to pan and turn to coat.


Serve next to cauliflower, with remaining sauce drizzled over top.

Roasted Radishes

Easy as it sounds, right? Right.

A bunch or two of radishes. Wash them, trim and chop the tops, then slice lengthwise.




Toss with olive oil and salt, then arrange in a pan cut side down, and roast at 400 for about 20 minutes, or until tender. Serve with chopped tops and a squeeze of lemon.

Herbed Roasted Lamb with Cauliflower Gratin

Start by taking a head of cauliflower and separating the florets into one-inch pieces. Chop the core and place in a food processor.


Blanch and shock the florets in salted boiling water, and process the core until minced.


Dice a shallot and mince garlic, adding bay leaf, thyme, and parsley.


Add the minced core, a bit of chicken stock, and some heavy cream. Simmer gently for several minutes to soften the core and extract the flavors.


Remove thyme, parsley and bay leaf, and put the mixture in a blender. Add nutmeg and curry powder, and blend until smooth.


Combine florets and puree, and then fill ramekins with the mixture. Top with emmenthaler cheese and panko breadcrumbs. Place in hot oven until bubbly and browned.


Season the lamb with rosemary, salt, and pepper. Roast at low heat until internal temp is 145 or so, then sear in a hot skillet until browned.


Ok, we're not done. Just for the hell of it, we decided to make an aioli sauce the original way. Mortar and pestle, garlic, a bit of sauce. Mash the hell out of it.


Squeeze some lemon and make it a paste.


Slowly add olive oil and keep grinding away. When I say "slowly", I mean drop by drop for about 20 minutes. Keep going until smooth and creamy.


And here it is all put together, Yeah, I realize it could use some color for presentation, but maybe next time.