My beef, pepperoni and cheese Empanadas

   

ok, straight into it, I'm not going to make you read paragraphs of my hopes, dreams, aspirations or thoughts about my version of empanadas.  There are videos, which are linked, here's the ingredients, quickie method and then you can start making yours.

TRACY'S EMPANADAS

DOUGH (dump in a food processor, you can make it by hand if you don't have one)

2 cups all purpose flour
pinch salt
tsp baking powder
1/3 cup ice water mixed with an egg

Dump it all in the food processor, pulse till it's a dough, divide in two, wrap each half, toss in fridge or freezer till you want them.  DONE :)

FILLING *this time it's beef, pepperoni and cheese but you can fill these with ANYTHING

a little oil for the pan
1 lb of ground beef
1 carrot, onion, celery, large garlic clove, chopped small
tomato paste
salt, pepper
italian season blend or whatever herbs/spiced you love
aleppo pepper if you have any, gives a lovely flavor without too much heat

Throw it all in a frying pan, fry till the meat is brown and the veggies are a little soft and the tomato paste is brown.  Add enough water to make a loose mixture.  Cover and simmer about 20, leave to cool, throw in a bag in the fridge till you want it.  Freezes great!! DONE

*shred some mozzarella cheese or whatever cheese you like, put in a ziplock and keep it in the fridge till you're ready.


THE CREATION

Roll half the pastry on a lightly floured board, this stuff is super easy to deal with.

Cut into 6 inch circles, reroll and cut as you need.  I get 4 from each half of dough with a little waste or I make smaller ones with the leftover pastry and filling.

Fill each round with some cheese and a scoop of the cold meat filling.  I use a 2 inch ice cream scoop.

Fold each round and pinch closed.  Either press with a fork to seal or go fancy and roll the edges.

Egg wash each empanada and bake on a parchment lined pan, Preheated 400 oven for 20 mins or so, until lightly browned and heated through, remember the filling is cooked.

EAT! or cool and freeze for another day if you can hide any from your family, or, preferably, just eat them... all!

Here's the links to the videos:

Empanada dough:

Empanada filling:

Empanada bake and the reveal



/thanks for your support, and enjoy!

My cheeseburger sliders, yeah, they're 5 minutes of actual effort then just pop then in the oven to reheat when you need them and you get just joy and cheesy meaty deliciousness

  

Everyone loves cheeseburgers, everyone makes cheeseburgers, everyone makes sliders, they're the groovy food fad of the day.  There's a slider for every occasion the ore you can make the better, the easier.

I've been making these for years.  I sort of morphed my take on the best qualities of a white castle skinny burger and leftover meatloaf sandwich day  I frequently have to cook multiple meals a night and this is the best way to get me in and out of the kitchen and I can whip up servings to order, there's nothing at all wrong with that.

This is my take on the current fad.

TRACY'S CHEESEBURGER SLIDERS 

INGREDIENTS

1 3/4 lb ground beef
1 thick slice bread
1 egg
1/2 grated onion
1 grated garlic clove
salt
pepper
whatever cheese slices that make you happy

METHOD

Dump it all in a bowl and mix.
How easy is THAT?

Flatten the mix into a 1/4 sheetpan or a 9x13 pan.  I line the pan with parchment paper so I can get it out in one piece but that's not necessary at all

Poke the meat with a fork, you're making steam channels so poke and push a bit to make tons of little holes all through it.  I sprinkle a little salt and pepper on top before it goes into the oven.

Bake the meat at 350 for 20 minutes, top third of the oven.

Leave to rest a few minutes then drain any fat away.  Divide the meat into 12 pieces with a spatula or knife or bench scraper, cover with foil and wait till someone is hunry.

As needed, put one square in each open bun, put cheese on top and top with the top of the bun, brush the top with butter if you like (yes, you like) and wrap in foil.  Toss in the oven or toaster oven for about ten minutes or until the cheese melts.

VOILA

burgers to order...

Here's the play by play

    

   

Pop it in the oven for 20 minutes

Drain the fat and divide the meat into 12 squares, put cheese on if you want, cover with foil and let it sit there till someone is hungry.........

   

OH and as a side, I make potato wedges.

DRIVEBY METHOD FOR POTATO WEDGES

Take as many potatoes as you need, cut them in quarter or 6ths ? and throw them in a dry sink.

Throw salt, pepper, garlic powder and paprika on them, drizzle well with oil and put on a rack in the oven.  Bake at 400 for about 20 then flip them all over and bake till they're done.  eat eat eat


Back to the sliders:

Put the bottoms of the buns on a sheetpan, top with a square of the meat and cheese.
Butter the tops and put them beside the bottoms.  Bake till the cheese melts and the buns toast, about 5 minutes at 350 or so.

Assemble, eat, repeat

    

oh yummy

   

   

There ya go, dinner.  I made a couple for the child, then a couple of hours later, i made a couple for me and in a few hours, I'll make a few for the husband.  Dinner across the whole evening and nothing needs to be nuked! 

/enjoy

Mississippi Roast, allegedly the roast that broke the Internet, this is the roast that all the cool kids are cooking, this is the roast recipe and hype that made me buy ranch mix and (cough cough) brown gravy mix...I have to try this

I am the first to admit I am weak and I am easily swayed, culinarily speaking.  I try try try to look away from the fad foods, the chemical foods and anything that uses a packet.  I am certain that my home made version of any packet will be superior. 

THAT being said, I've been haunted by the 'roast that broke the internet', this Mississippi Roast.  There are various stories of the incarnation of the thing but the instructions and ingredients are pretty universal and because I am weak and easily swayed...  guess what we're having for dinner. 

I am completely and totally and will full abandon jumping on the "but all the cool kids are doing it" culinary bandwagon and am actually making Mississippi roast.  

I'm not swapping homemade for any of the chemical packets :)  I just, quite simply, have to know... 

MISSISSIPPI ROAST 

(in the crock pot OR pressure cooker)

For the three people, apparently, who haven't seen this recipe online

INGREDIENTS

2-4 (this is 3.1lb) chuck roast
one packet of dry ranch dressing mix
one packet of dry brown gravy mix
one stick of butter (my favorite part of the recipe)
however many pepperoncini peppers you want

The whole recipe is to drop the chuck roast in the crock pot.  Sprinkle with one ranch dry mix packet and one packet of brown gravy mix (omg I cannot believe I'm doing this) then add a few pepperoncini and a stick of butter.  

**electric pressure cooker:  BROWN the meat in the pressure cooker then pile the stuff on the same way but do add about 1/4 cup of water in and pressure cook for an hour on high, leave to come down naturally.    IF your pressure cooker has a 'slow cooker' button, use that for 8 hours if you have it.  I think the slow cooker is the best way to deal with this recipe.

IN the crock pot; Cook on LOW for 8 hours, shred or serve hunks (ahahaha) with mashed potatoes and some veg, that's what I'm doing today.  You can also serve it in a sandwich, on crusty rolls (my homemade ones baby!) as a sort of Italian beef sandwich, i'll heat up the shredded meat in some juices (I think there will be loads) and I may fry up some veggies or peppers to go along, oh and I'll slather the bread with homemade aioli, yeah, it's going to be good and tat is is how child and I are having it tomorrow mid day. 

Yep, that's it.  No liquid but that roast will oooooze.  

Allegedly, in 8 hours, I'll be in beefy nirvana, we'll see (said the skeptic) we'll see.  Here's the sad little prep pics :) 

The chuck roast, unadorned, dropped in the crock pot.  These are the packets, first sprinkle the ranch then the brown gravy mix over the roast.

   

Put a stick of butter, this is unsalted because I cannot even begin to imagine how salty these packets are.  These are the peppers I got, $1 for the jar so I don't mind experimenting.  The original recipe said 2-3 peppers, well the child and husband both like pickles so i think they'll like a slightly heavier brine presence.  I may drop more in later 

Throw the lid on the cooker, turn it on low and set a timer for 8 hours...  tick tick tick

    

This is the "this morning" shot and this is the "this afternoon" shot. I did not open the lid even once, no matter how hard I wanted to and trust me, I WANTED to.

The smell of this is INSANE!  it's so sweet and beefy and I did not open it until the 8 hour mark

  

OMG LOOK!!  It's mahogany, there are crispy bits and soft bits and the peppers are smooth and tender and tart and peppery.  The meat, wow.  The meat is fork tender, I reached into the middle, stuck my fork into minimal resistance and twisted, then sampled, then twisted and sampled some more to be sure I was tasting was as good as I thought.  It's rich and dark and buttery and NOT diet food but it's got great mouth feel and tenderness without the meat being dry.  Did I say, wow?

  

Then I went in for the corner, yeah I took it :)  I'm glad I did, it was thick and intense and sour and sweet and I have no idea how

 

I'll post the real dinner pictures after we eat.  I'm making mashed potatoes now and will serve it up with peas and some of the sauce which I may or may not defat, depending on my mood in a little while. 

I'm shocked and more than a little gobsmacked that this is as good as they say.  Am I going to make it regularly?  No, we'll have heart attacks BUT I am going to try it with pork carnitas because, hey why not.  I'll report back on that but in the meantime, if you find chuck roast on sale, grab a packet of ranch and some dry brown gravy mix and some pepperoncini and do it, you really have to give this a go.  DO not add water like some recipes suggest, stick with the classic and you'll end up with a richer product, not watered don and the meat with have more umami and be browner and, well, just go do it. 

OK, the dinner pics :) 

           

/enjoy

Tracy

THE NEW NESCO PRESSURE COOKER

WELL WELL WELL, lookie what came in the mail for me today!!  *insert squeals of delight here*  My BELOVED Nesco pressure cooker of 'old' has started to die a slow death.  I have used it daily DAILY for 3 years and I think that's an amazing record of survival for any appliance.  I think the death of the old Nesco is due to the sealing ring and I think a new ring will revert it to it's former glory.

This is the new Nesco Pressure Cooker that I have in my house and am testing:
http://www.nesco.com/products/Kitchen-Appliances/Electric-Pressure-Cookers/Pressure-Cooker-6-Liter-4-functions-in-1-UnitDigital-Controls/session_fd7737ff255b/?utm_campaign=Nesco&utm_medium=Paid%2BSearch&utm_source=Google&utm_term=dehydrator%2Baccessories

THAT being said, I wrote to Nesco and told them about me, my blog and my love of all things Pressure Cooker and VOILA, I'm a product tester (for the moment anyway)

I'm going to be brutal with my testings and will tell you exactly what I think.  I could, easily, write pages about how much I love it, blindly, but that wouldn't be me taking this job very seriously.  I'm going to be honest, brutally honest... ok, that being said, let's rip this baby open and start playing!!

The box is gorgeous! The Cooker is GORGEOUS!
   
I love it in white! The whole cooker feels more substantial than the older model.  Hinged lid! YAY!  I never know where to put the lid when I pull it off the pressure cooker. LOOK at the control panel, fabulous!  BIGGER buttons and a dual color display.  I like the bigger buttons, I don't have squint to see what I want and I won't squash two at once. So far, so brilliant, Nesco.

Oh, uh.  Look at this...  if I lift the lid...and there's still steam in there, isn't it going to cook my wrist?  Who thought this up?  Ok, I won't judge just yet but this isn't brilliant.  On to the cooking.
  

I chopped an onion and threw it in the cooker, set to BROWN, with a squirt of oil and got an instant sizzle! BRILLIANT!  It browns hotter and faster than the old one.  The unit also didn't turn off and have to be reset after a few minutes.  Oh yes, this is good.
   

*ASIDE*  These are two of my Pugs (BabyAlice, rear left and WalterPug rear right) and Guestpug waiting for dinner.  I am trying to explain the recent time change to them, they aren't 'getting' it.

BACK to the onions, beautifully soft and lightly browned in no time at all. I added some beef and shushed it around, a squirt of tomato paste and salt and pepper and browned it.  It browned beautifully evenly.  I'm impressed.  No hot spots and no slanting bottom that sends the stuff to the sides.

I think it's ready to test at pressure.  You will notice I didn't add extra liquid.  There was enough liquid with the fat the water that came out of the meat to be deep enough.  It's how I do it.  IF you feel the need, then add a little water.

    

LOCK AND LOAD, 10 minutes
     at the end, it tells you that it's done... nice.  

Ok, the release button is large and I love the fact you can turn it either way to release it.  It's in the middle of the top and easy to stay out of the way. Ah, the reveal.  The handle is much larger than the previous model, lovely to hold and smooth.  The top didn't get as hot because of the plastic, nice and nice.
   
COLLOSAL BAD DESIGN moment.  If you have to open the pressure cooker before the steam from inside is dissipated...you have to reach over it.  OH WHO THOUGHT THIS UP?

I burned my wrist and I'm a PRO so I switched to using a spoon to open it.  *I later learned how to open it, QUICKLY, without burning myself but people don't usually open pressure cookers QUICKLY.  

I was SO impressed with the design of this model:

THESE THINGS I LOVE;

1.  The condensation reservoir is at the back, with the hinged lid so that it catches liquid from the lid.
2.  The plug is slightly off center at the back so you CAN push it against a wall and not have a plug in the way.
3.  BIG handle.
4.  Easy to reach, read and use regulator knob
5.  BEAUTIFUL control panel.
6.  Easy to read and use buttons.
7.  BIG buttons.
8.  Dual color timer display that also displays when you're at pressure.
9.  LOVE the hinge.
10.  It's easy to remove the lid as well as use the hinge so you're good either way you want to use it.

THE LIST OF WHAT'S WRONG WRONG WRONG:

1.  Having to open the lid across the emerging steam.  BAD form Nesco.

BACK to the test:

I opened it with the spoon but LOOK, the meat is perfect!  Perfectly cooked, perfectly moist, perfectly absorbed the flavors.  I'm happy, even with the singed wrist.
   

The reason I like to make my Chinese Pie in this way is that I can drain the meat into a strainer in the pan I'm going to cook it in.  I can throw away most of the fat (I always keep a little in the pan) then toss the meat in.  I think it's an easier way to do it
.   
After the meat is drained, cover it with frozen corn, I like a lot.  Then make some mashed potatoes and cover the whole thing with them.
   
BAKE the whole thing at about 425 till the tops are brown and the meat is hot
  
 

Serve it with some crusty bread that you make like this one:
http://www.tracycooksinaustin.com/2013/03/crusty-rustic-italian-bread.html
I'd made it the day before and cut off a hunk and threw it in the oven for about 15 minutes to get crusty and warm.  Yeah, it was that good.


SO, the Nesco Test.  In addition to my thoughts above, here's more thoughts, pros and cons:

1. PRO;  The cooker is fabulous, overall and it's a looker!
2. PRO;  The whole thing feels more secure and substantial than the older model.
3. CON;  The recipe book is sad, sad, sad.  They need ME to write them one or at least link to me in their paperwork or website.  I mean, who writes a cookbook to go with a pressure cooker and under meatballs, uses frozen meatballs as an ingredient.  Boo Boo Hiss.
4.  PRO;  I think it browns faster and hotter.
5.  CON:  BAD handle/hinge design placement.  A simple shift of the hinge to the 3'oclock position would allow you to open the unit from the side, thus avoiding any steam on your hand, arm, wrist.  You CAN spin the whole unit and open it away from you but that's a pain to do, especially if you have limited space.

VERDICT:  Day one, I LOVE this machine.  I think you should go and buy it now.  I think it's absolutely worth the money and if you can remember to open the lid fast and use me as your recipe place, the Nesco Digital Pressure Cooker is absolutely the one to get.

THAT being said... let's move to the NEXT TEST

Sticky Rice