On August 24th, our monthly social took us to the kitchen of a small catering company to learn how to make a delicious Argentine treat - empanadas!

Perla, our instructor and owner of the catering company, prepared everything for us beforehand, so it didn't take too long to get to the final step - eating!! However she still took the time to explain to us the step-by-step process of making empanadas - making the dough, the filling and of course learning the 'repulgue' - the skillfull (and decorative) way of closing the empanadas once they are filled.

After much anticipation, our delicious empanadas were ready! See the pictures below!

For those volunteers feeling daring enough to try the empandas at home....here is the recipe for both the dough AND the filling!

Ingredients for dough

½ k flour
200g butter - at room temperature
1 tsp paprika
350 CC water
1 pinch of salt

Preparation:
In a bowl, mix in flour, salt and paprika. Mix in butter and water. Continue mixing until a forming a solid mass. Move to a countertop and begin kneading the dough. Once kneaded, let sit in refrigerator about a half hour – perfect time to make the filling! Once cooled, cut into rounds, about six inches in diameter.

Now, for the filling....

Ingredients (makes 1 dozen empanadas)
¼ kilo ground beef
¼ kilo onions
100 g green onions, chopped finely
50 g olives, pitted and cut into slices
2 hard boiled eggs, cut into rounds
Condiments: (to taste)
Paprika
Pepper
Cumin
Crushed red pepper
Olive oil

Preparation:
In a pan, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat. Put the onions, sliced finely, in a frying pan and add a pinch of salt. Sauté until the onions are translucent, add the beef. Cook the ground beef, chopping as it cooks with a flat spatula to maintain ground beef texture. Cook until the beef is thoroughly cooked, add salt and pepper for taste. Stir in the paprika, cumin, and crushed red pepper and mix well. Lastly, mix in hard boiled eggs, olives and green onions. Place the mixture aside, letting cool. For best results let the filling cool completely before filling into the empanada rounds. 

A few reminders:

• Once you've filled the empanada with the filling, fold the edges with the Repulgue. Using yourfingertip, fold one corner of the empanada over, and pressing down firmly. Go to the edge again and repeat, pressing firmly each time. Go around the edge of the empanada and you’ll get a spiral pattern.
• Beat an egg in a cup and paint the top of each sealed empanada so that when they bake, they have a shiny, golden shell. Spread flour lightly over several cookie sheets, and place the finished empanadas on top.

Put the empanadas in to bake for 12 to 15 minutes-they should be sizzling and very golden brown on top. Take
out and eat very carefully while hot!

BUEN PROVECHO!!

Cuando llegué a casa después de quedarme un mes en Córdoba, tuve un dilema. No soy cocinero, pero quise cocinar la comida argentina que probé durante mi viaje. Sin embargo, si eres como yo a quien se le complica preparar  pasta con salsa de tomate, existe algo argentino que es posible cocinar – choripanes. Estos son sándwichesgigantes: chorizo en pan con lechuga y tomate. Es la comida perfecta en un asado. ¿Cómo hacer el choripan? Bueno,  no se necesita mucha explicación; pero heescrito una receta para la salsa que loacompaña.

La salsase llama chimichurri, y claro, que el choripan no es lo mismo sin ésta. Cuando estaba en un puesto en el que los preparaba, no tenían chimichurri; entonces el sabor era muy diferente. Un hombre ahí que se quejaba me enseñó un eslogan: “Si no hay chimichurri, no es choripan”. También, es posible comer la salsa con verduras u otra carne, aunque no sea común en Argentina. Encontré una receta para el chimichurri en internet, pero tuve que modificarla un poco.

Ingredientes:

• 1 taza de perejil (sin tallos)
• 3-4 dientes de ajo
• 2 cucharaditas de hojas de orégano frescas (o de orégano seco)
• ¼ ta za de aceite de oliva
• 2 cucharaditas de vinagre de vino
• ½ c ucharadita de sal
• ½ cucharadita de pimienta negra molida y fresca
• ½ cucharadita de ají molido

Preparación

1)      Picar el perejil, el ajo y el orégano, luego colocarlos en un procesador de alimentos. Esperar algunos minutos hasta que todos los ingredientes se mezclen y sean de un tamaño uniforme.

2)      Añadir aceite, vinagre,  sal, pimienta y ají en el procesador. Poner en marcha la máquina otra vez y esperar hasta que todo se mezcle hasta lograr una consistencia uniforme. Es importante que la salsa no sea demasiado chirle para la comida. Si se necesita, añadir más de los ingredientes sólidos o de los ingredientes líquidos para modificar la consistencia.

3)      Retirar la salsa del procesador y colocarla en un bol. Se la puede servirle inmediato o guardarla en la heladera.

Pachamama, or Mother Earth, is the female goddess of earth and fertility. She is an agricultural deity conceived as benign mother who nurtures, protects and sustains human beings. In the Inca tradition, she is the deity of communal agriculture, the foundation of all civilization and the Andean state.

For thousands of years the Andean peoples of northwestern Argentina, Bolivia, Peru and northern Chile have offered food and drink to the Pachamama on August 1 to so that their crops will be plentiful and their livestock productive during the coming year. This date marks the official beginning of both a new crop year and a new Andean year; winter is beginning to lose its grip, the first rains set in, and people think towards the spring. The entire month of August is considered a sensitive time, when people are supposed to take special care of their health and of the Pachamama.

Usually, on the last night of July, neighbors pick up any trash that might be lying around outdoors and burn it in a symbolic “spring” housecleaning. Then, on August 1, they drink a cup of ruda (rue) tea to ward off envy and illnesses, and burn resins and herbs to “cleanse” their homes with the smoke. Around midday comes the most important part of the festivity – the corpachada or earth-feeding ceremony. Each member of the community digs a whole and puts a clay pot filled with items that they believe will please the Pachamama. This includes – coca leaves, corn, or a slice of squash or potato, and  “vices” that include chicha, wine, coca leaves and cigarettes.

There are various celebrations of this day throughout Argentina, and more so in the northwest of the country near Salta, Jujuy, Tucumán and Catamarca where Indigenous traditions are still very strong.