Puerto Rican Empanadas

Hi Veg!

My husband and I are of Puerto Rican heritage (but we live in the mainland US), and one of our favorite meals are Empanadas.

Empanadas are made with empanada wrappers (we buy ours frozen at the grocery), which comes in circles. The filling includes ground hamburger, chopped green olives, and a latin seasoning called Recaito. Recaito is a green paste/sauce made from finely chopped cilantro, green pepper, onions, and garlic. My mother-in-law makes her own, which is out of this world, but we often buy it in a jar at the grocery. Latin foods are very common in the US, and can be found at most grocery stores.

One browns the ground beef, then draining the oil, adds the chopped green olives and recaito. It is all stirred together and cooked for about 10 minutes. Then you let it cool. After cooling, you spoon a 1/4 cup or so onto half of your empanada wrapper. You dampen the edges, fold the wrapper over, and smash the edges together with the tines of a fork to hold everything together. We then freeze them.

To cook, I take a few out of the freezer (or you could just use the fresh-made ones), and put them in a heavy pan which has vegetable oil heating in it. The oil should be deep enough for the empanada to float. Fry them until they are golden brown, let cool on paper towels. I love them with a dipping sauce made from apricot jam and sriracha (a Thai pepper sauce).

I hope you enjoy our empanadas!

BossNurse

Thank you Hansik and hello Jagej!

Dad went out early this morning to get the papers. The finalists of the Great Scot Award are in one and an article on Mary's Meals and me in another. I think the schools in Malawi are on holiday as well so no news of kitchen. It's only 26 days until we visit. All the finalists in the Great Scot Award are doing brilliant things and I hope you enjoy the ceremony.

I've been baking today. It was hard to plait to start with but it got easier as I remembered the pattern. It took a long time to bake and I had to keep sticking a spike into it to test it. It's really tasty and easy to make. I had some for breakfast!
We're having friends over for a Sunday Roast this evening. It's a shoulder from one of our Tamworth pigs. Dad has cut the skin so it will crackle. I am hoping to ask our friends to rate their meal. I hope Dad doesn't mind!

I am glad Hansik survived the typhoon ok. We got him by lightening so our phones and computer didn't work but they are fixed now. I like all your dinners and please can you send me a simple recipe I can try and make! I will show you the result. I think the lunches have been healthiest so far. Thank you!

Please welcome 10 year old Jagej (pronounced jug-ech and means lobster). Jagej is being helped by his great uncle who says,

"The Mi'kmaq are an ancient people who have lived in the area of the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, most of Quebec's Gaspe Peninsula, and northern Maine in the United States for thousands of years. The area is collectively known as Mi'kmaqi. Members of the Mi'kmaq First Nation historically refer to themselves as Lnu (the people), but used the term n�kmaq (my kin) as a
greeting."

It is going to be really interesting because Jagej will be having traditional dinners until he goes back to school at the end of the week. I think the dinners will be very different.

"The Mi'kmaq refer to plants, animals and all things comprising their environment as "relations". For this reason, and, the cultural tradition of the Lnu treating all relations with respect, the hunting and gathering of food as well as the gathering of plants and materials for medicine, shelter and clothing is performed with a spiritual
thankfulness for the gift of the spirit and life which "the relations" give to the people."

Here is a video from their 2012 Pow Wow,



I am really looking forward to reading more next week. If anyone would like to send in pictures of their traditional food this week please do, neverseconds@gmail.com. please tell us why its traditional and when you have it.

I will start with a traditional Roast Dinner!

Thank you Hansik and hello Jagej!

Veg

PS big hello to Isadora!

http://www.bbc.co.uk/portuguese/videos_e_fotos/2012/09/120831_blogueira_escocia_brasil_jp.shtml