Happy Pi Day!

As any engineer will tell you, March 14 is Pi Day. Why you ask? Well Pi is 3.14...get it...3/14...March 14. I know...lame, but we engineers take the laughs where we can get them ;-) 

In any case, on the ride home from nursery Gabe informed me that it was Pi day, "But not the kind of pie you can eat." So of course mommy asked, "Well would you like to have pie you can eat?" To which the answer came back, "YES MOMMY!!!" (In stereo I might add as Gianni is all about good food.) 

After realizing that I had set myself up to make pastry, which we all know is not my strong point, and also realizing I had nothing to make a dessert pie with I decided to cheat a bit and make beef patties. Yes, I said patties and not pie...but isn't a patty just a meat pie in a different shape? Right, right? 

At first I thought of making Guyanese patties which have a shortcrust pastry and mixed veg in the filling. Of course after talking myself up, I realized I didn't have any mixed veg in the freezer. Drats! On to Plan B then, Jamaican beef patties! 

Now I tried this once with so-so results and that put me off from trying it since, but I was feeling lucky so I decided to give it another shot. I followed mommy's advice and made the dough by hand instead of in a food processor (aka the quick way). It took FOREVER (maybe not forever, but I did have a cramp in my hand by the time I was done), but it was well worth it. Greg complimented me on having a flaky pastry. He even dubbed it as the best pastry to date. Yay!

Patty Perfection

Needless to say this one was a keeper. The boys, big and little, ate every crumb. I even remember some singing at the dining table <hehehe> You know it's a good meal when everyone breaks out into random song and dance ;-)

A Perfect Meal - Beef Patty, Plantain Chips, Gazpacho

So give it a shot and let me know if your effort elicits a party at your dinner table!

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Jamaican Beef Patties

Ingredients
Dough
  2 cups all-purpose flour
  1/2 teaspoon salt
  1/2 teaspoon ground turmeric (or curry powder)
  10-1/2 tablespoons butter
  1/2 cup ice cold water (plus more as necessary)
Filling
  1 pound ground beef
  1 tablespoon vegetable oil
  1 small diced onion
  1 tablespoon jerk seasoning*
  1 tablespoon ketchup
  1 tablespoon barbecue sauce
  salt to taste
  1 cup water
Egg wash
  1 large egg
  1 tablespoon water

Directions
To make pastry dough, mix flour, salt, and turmeric in a large bowl. Rub the butter into the flour mixture, until it resembles coarse crumbs. Pour in 1/4 cup water and mix with your hands, adding more water 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms. Divide the dough into 12 equal pieces, place on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap, and chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

To make the filling, eat the oil in a skillet until hot. Add the onion and cook until soft, about 5 minutes. Add the ground beef, cooking until the meat is no longer pink. Break up any clumps as the meat cooks.

Add the jerk seasoning, ketchup, barbecue sauce, and salt to taste. Pour in 1 cup water and bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated and the remaining liquid has reduced to a thick sauce, about 10 minutes or so. Remove the pan from the heat and let the filling cool completely. Once cooled, divide the filling into 12 equal portions.

To make the egg wash, beat the egg and water together in a small bowl.

To assemble the patties, preheat the oven to 350deg F. Flour a work surface and rolling pin. Working with one piece of dough a a time, roll it out into a circle. Place a portion of filling onto half of the circle. Brush the edges of the pastry with water and fold over the other half, making a semi-circle. Press to seal, then take a fork and crimp the edges. Place the patty onto parchment-lined baking sheet(s). Repeat the process with the remaining dough and filling.

Once all the patties are formed and on the baking sheet(s), brush each with the egg wash. Place the sheet(s) in the oven and bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool  the patties slightly before serving.

*Jerk seasoning is a mix of spices so if you don't have it or can't find it in the store just make your own substitute. Here's another substitute you can try.

Happy Anniversary!

This past weekend I went all out for some pre-anniversary goodness. Nothing says love like a home-cooked meal! So in honor of our 10 years of marriage (can you believe it?!?!), I decided to make Greg's favorite breakfast...ackee & bacon. No, you read that right...someone has an issue with saltfish so ackee gets cooked with bacon in this house. It's not that weird once you get used to it. 

Breakfast of Champions

Unfortunately the plan to make an awesome lunch fell short since I took a nap after being up most of the night with Stormageddon, baby overlord...and yes, that is her new nickname <hehehe> But I managed to pull it together for dinner & we had roasted leg of lamb with warm potato salad, capped off with a dessert of cupcake bread pudding. Oh yes, nothing goes to waste in this house so last week's leftover Mountain Dew cupcakes became this week's new dessert!

Fresh Out of the Oven

Main Course

Sugar-Dusted Yumminess

A Slice of Goodness

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Ackee & Bacon

Ingredients

1 can ackee

6 slices bacon, cut into 1/2-inch pieces*

1 medium onion, diced

Scotch bonnet pepper, to taste (or pepper flakes)

1 medium bell pepper, sliced

2 cloves garlc, minced

1/4 teaspoon dried thyme (or a few sprigs of fresh thyme)

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

salt, to taste

Directions

Place the ackee in a colander and place the colander in a bowl. Fill the bowl with boiling water and leave for 5 minutes. Remove the colander and allow the ackee to drain.

Place the bacon pieces in a cold skillet over medium heat and cook the bacon until it is crispy. Remove the bacon from the skillet with a slotted spoon. Drain all but about 2 tablespoons of the bacon grease from the skillet. Add the onion, garlic, peppers, thyme, and black pepper. Cook for about 5 minutes, until the onion softens up.

Add the ackee and bacon and toss  gently, taking care not to break apart the ackee too much. Leave the mixture to cook for another 2 or so minutes, until the ackee is heated through. Taste and add salt to your liking.

Serve warm with fried plantain, fried breadfruit, boiled green bananas...whatever reminds you of a good back-home breakfast!

*You can also use turkey bacon, even though Greg reminds me that it's not the same as real bacon. You'll have to add oil to the pan prior to cooking the turkey bacon though as it doesn't have as much fat as regular bacon.

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Warm Potato Salad

Ingredients

8 large potatoes (I used red, but whatever you have on hand is fine)

a large pinch of salt

a large pinch of sugar

1 cup Italian salad dressing (or any vinaigrette-type dressing)

1 tablespoon brown sugar

cayenne pepper, to taste (or you can use red pepper flakes)

1 cup frozen mixed vegetables

Directions

Chop the potatoes into chunks. Put them in a pan, pour in water to cover, and add the salt and sugar. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to boil gently for about 10 minutes, or until the potatoes are just tender. Drain the potatoes in a colander and leave to cool.

In a large bowl, mix the salad dressing with the brown sugar and set aside.

Place the mixed vegetables in a medium-sized microwave-safe container and microwave for about 3 minutes, just until heated through. 

Add the potatoes and mixed vegetables to the dressing. Mix well and serve.

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Roasted Leg of Lamb

Ingredients

a 5-6lb bone-in leg of lamb

2 bunches green onions, coarsely chopped

1 small onion, chopped

8 garlic cloves, minced

1 tablespoon fresh thyme, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried thyme)

2 - 3 tablespoons fresh ginger, grated (or 2 - 3 teaspoons dried ginger)

2 tablespoons brown sugar, packed

1/4 cup paprika

2 tablespoons cumin

1/8 cup olive oil (or canola or vegetable oil)

Directions

Score the lamb by making 6 or so 1/2-inch cuts all over the surface. Place the lamb in a non-aluminum pan and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine the green onions, onion, garlic, thyme, ginger, sugar, paprika, and cumin into a paste. Add in the oil and stir to combine.

Pour the marinade over the lamb and rub it in. Cover and refrigerate the lamb for at least 4hrs, preferably overnight.

Preheat the oven to 400deg F. Take the lamb out of the fridge & place it in a roasting pan.  Place the pan in the oven and roast for 30 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350deg F and continue to cook for about 2 hours longer for medium, or until a meat thermometer inserted into the center of the roast registers about 140 - 150 deg F*. (Be careful not to let the thermometer touch the bone or your reading will be off.) Remove the pan from the oven and allow the lamb to rest for 10 - 15 minutes before carving.

*Check out this link for a handy guide to roasted lamb temperatures.

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Cupcake Bread Pudding

Ingredients

6 - 10 leftover cupcakes

2 tablespoons melted butter

1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons milk

2 large eggs

1/4 cup sugar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

a pinch of salt

powdered sugar, to garnish

Directions

Grease an 8x8-inch baking dish. Break the cupcakes into chunks and place in the baking dish.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the butter, milk, eggs, sugar, vanilla, and salt. Pour the mixture over the cake pieces.

Preheat the oven to 325deg F. Bake the pudding for 30 - 40 minutes, until the top is browned nicely and a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.

Dust with powdered sugar and serve warm.

Empanadas!

Is it just me or does everyone else run out of ideas for dinner by the time Friday rolls around? Even though I have a monthly menu plan I always end up pulling something out of the air come Friday; maybe it's because I'm secretly hoping to get out of cooking. Junk food Friday anyone ;)

Well this particular Friday my menu said pizza rolls, but I wasn't in the mood for pizza so I decided to go digging through my cookbooks & magazines for something to try. After about 10 magazines, I came up on a recipe for beef brisket empanadas in Saveur. The picture looked so good & the description sounded so delicious that I decided to give it a shot. It also helped that Little Miss was sleeping & the boys were playing a no-mommy-required game. So with the window of opportunity open, I dived right in.

First things first, I made the dough. Now I despise making pastry dough, not sure why...I just do. But this dough was easy enough & I managed to pull through. Maybe there's hope for me yet :)

Next was the filing. Seeing as I started this experiment about 4pm there was no way I was making brisket, not to mention the fact that I didn't have brisket anyway <hehehe> So I dug through the fridge & came up with 3 different fillings: pulled chicken, guacamole, and pepper jam. Why 3 you ask? Well I didn't have enough of any particular one to use up all the dough. Necessity is indeed the mother of invention!

Chicken

Guacamole & Cheese

Pepper Jam & Cheese

Well, after a massive rolling, filling, and frying session, I ended up with 24 empanadas. They were all tasty, but the grown ups liked the guacamole and cheese the best. Surprisingly so did the boys. I think the least successful was the jam/cheese combo, but that's mainly because frying jam makes it melt so it was a molten mess inside. I reiterate, MOLTEN...if you opt for a jam filling, make sure you let them cool before eating one. Just trust me on this...

So now that you've heard all about my experiment, give it a shot & let me know what fillings you come up with. Enjoy!

All Done

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Empanadas
Ingredients
4 cups flour
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed
1½ tsp. kosher salt, plus more to taste
1½ cups warm water
Fillings of your choice (shredded chicken, taco beef, cheese, etc.)
Oil for frying

Directions
In a large bowl, combine the flour, butter, and salt. Use your fingers to rub the butter into the flour mixture until pea-size crumbles form. Add the warm water and stir until a dough forms.* Knead the dough in the bowl until it is smooth, about 4 minutes. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Once your fillings are all set, take the dough out of the fridge & divide into 24 balls. Place the balls on a work surface and flatten each ball into a 5in disk, using either the heel of your hand or a rolling pin. Brush the edges of each disc with water and place 2 tbsp. filling in the center. Fold the disks in half to form half-moons and seal edges together using the tines of a fork. Refrigerate the empanadas for at least 1 hour. (I didn't refrigerate mine because like I said, I was under a time crunch.)

Pour about 2in of oil into a saucepan and heat over medium-high heat until a deep-fry thermometer reads 350°. (If you don't have a thermometer then do like I do and drop a small piece of dough into the oil. If the dough starts to fry, then the oil is ready. If not, wait until the dough starts to fry before adding your empanadas.) Fry the empanadas in batches until browned and crisp, about 6 minutes per batch. Drain the empanadas on paper towels before serving. (Or if you're a hippie like me you can use old paper bags instead of paper towels and then toss them in the recycle bin. Yep, we're making the kitchen experience green one recipe at a time!)

*Alternately, you could make the dough using a food processor or a stand-mixer. If you're using a food processor, add all the dry ingredients to the bowl & mix. Then add the butter and mix until crumbles form. Add the water and pulse the mixture until dough forms. Make sure you pulse otherwise you'll overheat the dough and melt the butter, making it very sticky and hard to work with. To make the dough in a stand mixer, add the dry ingredients tot he mixer bowl and stir together. Next, add the butter and mix on low until crumbles form. Add the water and mix on low just until the dough pulls together. Once you have the ball of dough, knead by hand until smooth and continue following the directions above.