Empanadas made from scratch, yes, even the shells

I noticed how incredibly hard it is to find empanada shells in Manhattan, so I decided to take things into my own hands, and make the shells myself. The pictures on this blogpost belong to empanadas made with whole weat flour, that is why they look dark, normally they are made with white flour, up to you!

And if you want to try them but dont dare make the shells I know a lady who makes them (for a decent fee), email me and I will put you in touch.

Enjoy.

SHELL INGREDIENTS

1 pack of flour (whole weat, white, whatever you prefer, white does indeed work better)

half a pack of butter, or 125 grams)

pintch of salt

1 cup or a little more of warm water

one egg

SHELL PREPARATION

Make a circle with the flour and put the egg in the middle. Melt the butter until is liquid and put it in the middle too. Then with your hands (be careful it may be hot!) start pushing the batter until it begins to form little grums, then add warm water little by little until it forms an homogeneous mix.

Let it rest in a plate for about 20 minutes

After 20 minutes the mix will expand. That is good.

Begin grabing little pieces of it, make a circle and then use the rolling pin to stretch it thin, to about 2 milimiters.

TIP: when you stretch it, think four directions, northeast, northwest, southeast and southwest. That way you will expand it a rectangular sort and it will give you more opportunities to draw more shells out of it.

I use a little more flour and spread it on the table to make the spreading of the batter easier.

Then with a circle cookie cutter begin cutting them in circles. I stack them up using waxed paper in between them so they dont get glued to each other

FILLING INGREDIENTS & PREPARATION

1 onion

1 red pepper

soy protein mix (or grounded meat if you eat meat)

3 table spoons of raisins

the grains of 3 corns

Saute the onions and peppers in oil or in butter. Make sure to cut them very small.

Add the soy protein, the raisins and the corn.

Let it warm up, it does not need to cook for very long, 10 minutes at low fire will do.

MAKING THE EMPANADAS

Put a little (a spoonfull) in the middle of each round shell, then use the yellow of an egg, dip your fingers on it, and pass it around the bottom half of the empanada, then flip the top part and glue it in by pressing gently. Make sure they are very glued, otherwise they will open in the oven.

I paint the top of them with the yellow of the egg too for shine effect.

Put in the oven at 350 for about half an hour. Let cool and enjoy.

105 Vegetarian Chilli

This delicious and tasty Chili comes from my yogi friends Gloria and Steven, who live happily ever after in Verona, NJ. Enjoy with lots of friends, like they do.

Ingerdients

One medium onion

Oil to fry the onion

Oregano, thyme, salt and pepper

One regular can of each the following: Garbanzo, Black Beans, White Beans. Or you can boil them yourself the night before (let them soak in water for three hours before boiling if you do)

One large can of tomatoes cut in pieces

One fresh corn.

One vegetable stock cube

One spoon of sugar

Cilantro

Preparation

Sautee the onion in oil until they become transparent. I always do this over a low fire, it cooks slower and with gives better results. When the onions are transparent add the spices and then poor the tomatoe can contents and add the vegetable cube.

Let it be for 10 minutes. Then add the garbanzos and all the beans, put a little cilantro and the suggar.

Again let it continue to be over the low fire for another 20 minutes.

Cut the corn grains and add together with more cilantro and reduce the fire to almost minimal. Let it cook very slowly for 10 more minutes.

Serve with rice.

Enjoy

James rates the chili four stars!

106 Eggplant with Polenta

This recipe comes courtesy of my fabulous yogi friend Natalie who cooked it for me and James. Absolutely delicious!

If you would like to know more about Natalie, she blogs funny things on her excellent page http://www.ifonlymyenglishwerebetter.com/

Serves 4

Ingredients

1 big eggplant cured (meaning you put it in water with vinager for at least 4 hours, this is the secret! as Natalie explains that otehrwise the eggplant will be hard or taste bitter)

1 big can of chopped tomatoes

1 onion

Salt

Pepper

Oregano

a little olive oil to fry the onions

1 polenta that you can buy in a rol and cut in patty-style pieces

Preparation

Fry the onions until they are transparent and add the spices of your choice, I recommend salt, pepper and a little oregano for this one.

Add the tomatoes and let it be there, under a low fire, for about 5 minutes.

Cut the "cured" eggplants in small chunks and add them

Let the mix sit over a low fire for 30 to 40 minutes, add water if it is getting too dry.

For the polenta, at the last minute, place them on a grill or pan with a little oil underneath, and let it be there as if it was a toast, until it is hot all around and inside.

Share with friends

James rates this recipe 5 stars!

107 Curried Chick Peas

This recipe comes courtesy of a South-Indian woman from Mangalore, who shared it with me on the 10th day of last week's retreat. It is delicious.

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup of chick peas (I prefer to soak them over night and then boil them myself with one of those vegetarian flavoring cubes, but a can will also work)
1 can chopped tomatoes
1 medium to large onion
1/2 green peppers
1 table spoons of curry powder
1/2 table spoon of Turmeric
cilantro to taste
salt
a little olive oil to fry the onions
A little bit of suggar

Preparation:

Chop the onions and saute them in the olive oil (I am generous with the olive oil here) adding the curry powder and the turmeric, if you like to use garlic, put it here too. When the onions begin to look transparent, add the tomato chunks, and let it remain over a low fire for about 3 minutes. Then add the chopped peppers and stir for another minute.

Add the Chick peas and the salt, also sprinkle the suggar around (it will ease the acidity of the tomatoes). Again let it be there over a very low fire for 10 to 20 minutes.

At some point, put about a third of the curry on a blender (this is the magic secret!) and then put it back again. You will obtain that fantastic texture, and it will taste even better.

When ready to serve put some cilantro on top.

We usually like to eat it with pitta bread, rice, or corn bread.

James rates this recipe: 5 stars!

108 Gazpinach

Gazpinach combines the traditional gazpacho soup with vitamine packed spinach.

To keep it more Satvic I avoided the onions and hence the acidity. In return the soup gets to be easier to digest. This is a very nutritious dish.

Serves four people:

4 tomatoes cut in pieces
1 red pepper
1 yellow pepper
2 cucumbers peeled
1 cup tomato juice
a small bunch of parsley chopped
Salt and Pepper to taste
half a cup of Olive oil
1 1/2 glass of spinach juice

Mix all ingredients in the blender until it forms a thick soup
Garnish with croutons and a few leaves of cilantro

Serve chilled and with love

James rates this recipe: 5 stars!