Empanadas

Our friends Jeremy and Danielle made these for us. They were so good. Tonight my kids finally caught the love of them. This turned out to be a fairly easy meal b/c I could prep it in shifts. The night before I knew I was going to have leftover mashed potatoes. So while they were boiling, I chopped the onions and bell peppers so I could saute them the next day for this. So after dance and right before the baseball game, I had about 40 minutes to make salsa, make the dough, saute the stuff and miraculous find all the missing parts of the baseball uniform. I mixed the whole filling together and let it sit while we left for the game. So when we came home at 7pm dinner was ready in about 15 minutes and it was delicious.

Filling
leftover mashed potatoes (or 4 potatoes)
1/2 cup bell pepper
2 small onions chopped
3 Tbs oil
1/2 tsp pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 cup corn
1/2 cup chopped pimientos
1 cup cream cheese room temperature
1 cup mild cheddar and mild jack

Saute the onions and bell peppers for about 10 minutes. Add the rest of the ingredients and be careful not to enjoy it like you do cookie dough!

Dough
1 cup warm water
1/2 Tbs vinegar
1 tsp salt
3 1/2 cups flour
3 Tbs melted butter
oil for frying

Mix all the ingredients together. I found that when I let it sit for a good hour or two the consistency was much better. It's great to make right before a baseball game.

Serve with Lupita's Green Salsa and this great Salsa.

Salsa

1/3 cup of chopped onions
1/2 cup fresh cilantro
4 tomatoes
2 Tbs canola oil
1 Tbs vinegar
1 Tbs lemon
1 garlic minced
salt and pepper
2 Tbs Tabasco

Lupita's Green Salsa

Christmas Eve Lupita taught me how to make tamales. I need to do it again to remember the tricks. Buuuut I remember the Green Salsa she taught me how to make. This is Delicious.

6 Tomatillos (golf ball sized)
1 bunch of cilantro
3-4 jalapenos
2-4 garlic cloves
1/4 onion
2 avocados

This is the best part ... remove the peels on everything and stick it aaaaall in the blender! Add a little water a tablespoon or two at a time until it gets a little liquidy.

Salmon with an Indian Flare

So I modified this recipe from Cooks Illustrated The Best Recipe. It turned out to be very flavorful. I had a small salmon fillet but it turned out to be perfect b/c the spices were a mouthful. I did not have mango to add on top this time, but I bet that would soften the kick. It was still delicious without the mango.

Ingredients

1-2 Tbs fresh minced ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp ground corriander
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
1 Tbs lemon juice
1 good long wild salmon fillet
Sesame Oil

Chutney
2 Tbs chopped cilantro
1/2 chopped onion
3 Tbs lemon juice
1 large chopped mango (this I didn't have tonight but look forward to trying it)

Mix all the spices together and smother on top of salmon. Pour lemon juice on top. Let marinade for no more than 30 minutes. Saute in Sesame Oil along with the chopped onions. Remove the salmon and cook the onions with the cilantro for just a minute more. Serve on top Salmon and enjoy!

My Mashed Potatoes

You know it's one of those staples ... well here is what I tried tonight that worked well for me.

peeled potatoes
whole garlic
salt
cream

Roast a whole head of garlic in the oven for 45 minutes at 350/400. Afterwards the peel comes off easily. Dump into the room temperature cream and mash in boiled potatoes. Add some good kosher salt and voila ...

My Spaghetti

I used to think that Spaghetti was just a matter of opening up a jar of your favorite sauce and boiling some noodles. But I have a hard time doing that any more b/c I can get so much flavor out of the most basic vegetables and herbs. So here is my favorite concoction.

Spaghetti Sauce

1 Large can of whole tomatoes
1-2 Tbs of Kosher Salt (or more if you desire)
3-6 leaves of fresh Basil
3-4 whole garlic cloves
1-2 Tbs olive oil

Dump into your blender and puree.

1 Tbs olive oil
1 bunch of scallions
1 zucchini
1 shredded carrot
1/2 red pepper
2+ TBS of fresh parsley and oregano
(Red pepper flakes if you're in the mood.)

ground beef
worchestershire sauce
garlic salt

Chop and sautee in the olive oil for about 10 minutes until nice and soft. Then add ground beef and cover with worchestershire sauce and garlic salt. Once it is cooked, add the tomato sauce.

Cook your favorite noodles and cover with sauce. Marshalls occasionally has some fun striped super long noodles. They make for an exciting kid meal.

African Tomato & Peanut Soup

This was a Nadia find back from my Rochester days. It's a very full soup and I looooove it.

1 Tbs canola oil
1 large onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
2 tsp minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin seeds
1 1/2 tsp ground corriander seeds
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch ground cloves
3 ripe medium tomatoes, chopped (or 1 can)
2 large (about 1 1/2 pounds) sweet potatoes
1 carrot coarsely chopped
4 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1 pinch cayenne
2 Tbs peanut butter
1/4 cup chopped dry roasted unsalted peanuts
1 Tbs chopped cilantro

Brown the onion in the oil. Add the garlic, ginger and spices and simmer for another 3 minutes. Add tomatoes, sweet potatoes and carrots and cook for another 5 minutes. Dump into a blender and puree. Return to large cooking pot. Add water, salt, cayenne and peanut butter and bring to a boil. Serve and top with chopped peanuts and cilantro. Mmmmm mmm.