Empanadas

Empanadas!  Have you ever had one??  The first time I tried an empanada was in San Juan, Puerto Rico.  I was on a cruise that stopped there and it was a perfect street food type of lunch.  My goal on any vacation is to eat the local cuisine so after a far walk from the touristy area I found a food stand selling empanadas.  I ordered one that was stuffed with shredded chicken...it was delicious!  Years later I had empanadas again right here in York, PA made by the girlfriend of one of my husband's best friends (she's now his wife) and these empanadas were far superior to the one I tried in Puerto Rico.  When I found out Giant sells empanada shells in their frozen section I decided I had to give these a try on my own.   The best way I can describe an empanada is sort of like a hot pocket* but way better!!  Ha, I lived off of those silly frozen hot pockets during senior week in Ocean City, MD.  And when the hot pockets and cash ran out by the end of the week I found myself at a "Jesus Loves You" type of meeting which included a FREE spaghetti dinner...LOL, oh what a crazy week!! Anyway, back to empanadas... You can find the shells at Giant and all you need to do is thaw them out, stuff them with your favorite ingredients and press them with a fork to seal.  Then you can either fry them or bake them.  Below are two recipes for some fillings I have tried so far.  Enjoy!

CHICKEN EMPANADAS
3 cups chopped or shredded cooked chicken
1 8oz package of shredded colby jack cheese
4 oz cream cheese, softened
1/4 cup chopped red bell pepper
1 jalapeno, seeded & chopped
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1 package empanada shells

Combine ingredients and divide evenly among the shells.  Fold over and seal by pressing with a fork.  Bake at 375'F for 10-15 per side or until golden brown.


PORK EMPANADAS
3-4 cups shredded pulled pork
1 can black beans, drained & rinsed
1/2 cup chopped red pepper
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup chopped jalapenos
1/2 cup salsa
1 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp chipotle seasoning
1/4 cup sour cream
1 package empanada shells

Saute peppers & onions until soft.  Combine ingredients and divide evenly among the shells.  Fold over and seal by pressing with a fork.  Bake at 375'F for 10-15 per side or until golden brown.

*of course whenever I hear the word "hot pocket" I think of this video!  Its hilarious if you have a few extra minutes to spare ...

Jerk Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salad

I have been trying out some new recipes lately.  I started to feel like I was on a repeat cycle of recipes so I got out a bunch of recipe books and picked a few new ones that sounded interesting. Last night we tried Jerk Pork Tenderloin with Mango Salad ...one bite of this and my mind took me to a small restaurant over looking the turquoise water of the Caribbean.  The spiciness of the jerk seasoning, the ripe mango tossed in lime juice all tasted delicious and definitely tricked me into thinking I wasn't in snowy PA anymore. I served this with steamed broccoli and chardonnay.

PORK

2 tsp vegetable oil

1 lb pork tenderloin

1 tbsp Jamaican Jerk Seasoning/Rub

MANGO SALAD

2 green onions with tops

1 small red pepper

2 large mangoes

1 lime

1 tsp Jamaican Jerk Seasoning/Rub

1.  Preheat oven to 350'F.  For pork, add oil to a saute pan; heat over medium-high heat 1-3 minutes or until shimmering.  As pan heats, trim fat and silver skin from pork tenderloin.  

2.  Coat pork with jerk rub.  Cook 3-5 minutes or until browned on all sides, turning occasionally.  Transfer pan to oven and roast 12-15 minutes or until thermometer registers 155'F for medium doneness.  Remove pan from oven.  Tent with foil and let stand 5 minutes (temperature will rise to 160'F).

3.  As pork roasts, start salad.  Thinly slice green onions (set aside 1 tbsp of the tops for garnish).  Place remaining green onions in a bowl.  Peel bell pepper. Slice off top and bottom of pepper; discard.  Remove and discard seeds and ribs from sides of pepper; slice into thin strips.

4.  To finish salad, peel and slice mangoes.  Juice lime to measure 1 tbps of juice.  Add pepper strips, mango slices, lime juice and 1 tsp jerk rub to bowl; toss thoroughly.

5.  To serve, slice pork crosswise into medallions and serve with salad.  Garnish with reserved green onion tops.

Yield: 4 servings

Source:  Pampered Chef - 29 Minutes to Dinner

Jalapeno Poppers

I see a ton of links for recipes when I'm looking through my Facebook newsfeed.  How many people are actually trying these recipes when they share the link??  Do you come back to any of my KathCooks recipe blog posts and try making the recipe???  I certainly hope you've tried at least one so far!! I'd love to hear some feedback!

Last month I saw a link to a recipe for Jalapeno Poppers from my girlfriend who is a Tastefully Simple Consultant*.  I just happened to have a bunch of jalapenos in my fridge (weird, I know).  I needed a jalapeno for a different recipe and my husband offered to pick one up at the store and instead of getting one he bought an entire package of peppers.  Okay, so perfect ... now I have something to make with all of those jalapenos and I immediately started making the recipe!  I didn't, however, have all of the other ingredients but I didn't let that stop me ... I used what I had in the fridge and wrote my own recipe.  I've made this three times since and they're VERY TASTY.  Its a perfect appetizer for a small group of friends or just a quiet evening with your significant other.  They are not as spicy as you might imagine. When you remove the seeds & membranes from the pepper & roast them the spicy level goes way down.  I also liked the fact that they are baked versus coated with a batter & fried like the ones served in restaurants.  The absence of the batter allows the flavors of the bacon & cheeses to really shine.  Enjoy!

6-7 jalapeno peppers (about 3" in length)
4 oz cream cheese with chives
2 oz colby jack cheese, shredded
3 slices of bacon, cooked & chopped
1 tsp of Mexican seasoning (taco seasoning or sante fe)
dash of Cayenne pepper
dash of salt & pepper


Remove and discard tops from the peppers.  Slice peppers in half length wise and remove seeds & white membrane. Mix cheeses and seasonings.  Lay the peppers on an oven safe pan and stuff with cheese mix.  Top with bacon pieces and additional shredded colby jack (optional).  Bake at 375'F for 25 minutes.  Serve & enjoy!

This is what they look like before baking.

*Thanks Mollie!  TS Jalapeno Poppers ... you can also LIKE her on FB for more TS recipes

Biscotti

The temp outside this morning was 0'F...ZERO!!  This afternoon it made it up to 5'F. Someone please take me away to the Caribbean!!!  There is no way I'm going outside in these freezing temperatures.  I am staying warm and toasty inside with a hot cup of tea and some delicious homemade biscotti.  Its so good it tastes like something from a fancy coffee cafe.  The word biscotti comes from Italy and translated to English means twice cooked.  The definition makes perfect sense when you're following the recipe and realize you need to bake these cookies twice.  This process gives the cookies the hard crunchiness they require to stand up to being dunked in a hot cup of coffee or tea. Stay warm my friends!

1/2 cup slivered almonds (or pecans)
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
6 tablespoons butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 teaspoons sugar for topping

Preheat oven to 350'F.  In a bowl combine flour, baking powder and cinnamon; set aside. In a large bowl, beat butter and 3/4 cup of sugar until creamy.  Beat in eggs and vanilla.  Add flour mixture; mix well.  Stir in the almonds.  Divide dough in half.  Form each half into a 7 x 2-inch log.  Lightly spray a cookie pan with nonstick cooking spray or cover with parchment paper.  Place each log on the pan about 4" apart.  Sprinkle each with 1 teaspoon of sugar.  Bake 30 minutes.  Remove pan from oven and place on a cooling rack.  Let the logs cool on the pan for 15 minutes.  Carefully remove logs from pan and place on a cutting board.  Using a serrated knife, gently cut logs diagonally into 1/2 inch thick slices.  Arrange slices upright on cookie pan about 1" apart.  Bake 20-25 minutes or until dry and crisp.  Cool completely on cooling rack.  Store in tightly covered container.

Yield: about 2 dozen cookies

Source:  Pampered Chef "More Stoneware Sensations"

Caribbean Tuna Cakes

I came across this recipe in one of my Pampered Chef cookbooks.  I actually made these back in the springtime and froze the leftovers.  I pulled them out of the freezer this week to have for dinner.  They have a completely different flavor than a traditional mayo/bread crumb based tuna cake.  They're a little on the spicy side from the Jamaican seasoning and the black beans make the texture much thicker.  The dressing has just the right amount of spice and the lime juice in it pushes it over the edge to make your taste buds dance ... mmm!

The first time I made these tuna cakes I served them with the salad as the recipe suggests and the second time I made them I reheated them in my toaster oven and served them with mashed sweet potatoes.  I made 1/2 of the dressing recipe and topped them right before serving.  The sweet potatoes paired well with the Jamaican seasoning and it made this recipe seem more like something to serve during the winter (not that salad isn't perfectly acceptable year round)  Obviously leftovers can be frozen and reheated & they taste just as good the second time around.  Enjoy!

DRESSING & SALAD
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 tsp lime juice
1 tsp Jamaican jerk seasoning
1 bag butter lettuce mix

TUNA CAKES
1 small red onion
1 small green bell pepper
1/4 cup mayonnaise
1 1/3 cup panko bread crumbs, divided
2 tbsp Jamaican jerk seasoning
1 can (15 oz) black beans, drained & rinsed
2 cans (6 oz each) chunk light tuna in water, drained
2 tbsp vegetable oil, divided

1) Prepare dressing:  Combine mayonnaise, lime juice & rub in a small bowl; set aside.  For tuna cakes, finely chop onion and bell pepper.  Combine mayonnaise, 1 cup of the bread crumbs and rub in a bowl.  Add onion, bell pepper, beans and tuna; mix well.  Place remaining bread crumbs in a dish.  Using a large scoop or 1/4 cup scoop one heaping scoop of the tuna mixture, packing firmly.  Add cake to the plate of bread crumbs; gently flatten with the back of the scoop to 3/4 in thickness.  Turn cake over to coat lightly with bread crumbs.  Repeat with remaining tuna mixture for a total of 12 cakes.

2)  Cook Tuna Cakes:  Heat 1 tbsp oil in skillet over medium heat 2-3 minutes or until shimmering.  Add half of the cakes; cook 2-3 minutes or until golden brown, turning once.  Heat remaining oil in skillet 30-45 seconds or until shimmering.  Repeat with remaining cakes.

3) Prepare salad & Serve:  Toss lettuce with 2 tbsp of the dressing.  Serve cakes with salad; drizzle with remaining dressing.

Yield:  4 Servings

Source:  Pampered Chef 29 Minutes to Dinner, Volume 2