Monday, June 4, 2012

Muffin's love Empanadas!

Me and my boy
Hey There Sleepy Muffin Readers!


I am so thrilled that its almost officially Summer! Mr. Muffin and I have been going through a transition lately of trying to recycle more, eating at home, composting, and trying our hand at growing our own fruits and veggies (that last part is more Mr. Muffin - not me). In addition to that, I can't believe my boy is already 4 months old. He's already become quite a character by laughing, giggling, and jabbering to anyone who will listen. He loves grabbing his feet and trying to stick his toes in his mouth.



Our first sunflower!






One of our favorite activities lately has been visiting the local farmer's market in Coppell, Texas on Saturday mornings. Its hands down the best one in the area. They have all sorts of goodies both grown and locally made. One of my favorite finds lately have been eight ball zucchini. My favorite way of cooking it has been sauteed in butter with a little garlic and onion.




Peach inspecting Pattypan squash and Okra seedlings



Anyways.....back to what we've been up to:
Mr. Muffin, has gotten into the urban farming concept and has started two beds. One with Patty pan squash, Okra, summer savory herb, tomatillos, and ground cherries. The other bed has bush cucumbers, heirloom watermelons, and purple hull peas.  As you can see, they're doing very well so far aside from some hungry pests that seem to like okra leaves. Peach seemed a little interested in the bed but for the most part she keeps away thank goodness. We're looking forward to seeing how well they turn out.

Purple Hull Pea seedlings




A couple of weeks back, we visited a restaurant called El Guapo in Denton after visiting their farmer's market (I bought some sunflower sprouts that were quite tasty in my salad - by the way). I decided to order chicken empanada's which was a lucky choice. They were so crispy and bursting with flavor, I was instantly in love. Since we had some leftover taco meat tonight I decided to try my hand at making some. They turned out extremely well and were fairly easy to make so I figured I'd share the recipe with you:







Little Sleepy Muffin's Empanadas

Ingredients:
  • Cold taco meat (use your favorite type of meat)
  • Shredded Cheese
  • 4 cups flour
  • 1 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 Tbsp. Lard
  • 1 Tsp. Kosher Salt
  • 2 Tsp. Baking Powder
  • 1 1/2 Cups water
  • Extra flour for dusting

Using a cast iron skillet is the best way to fry hands down!
Combine the flour, baking powder, and salt. Once combined, mix in the butter and lard and combine so it creates a cornmeal like texture. Now, comes the messy part: gradually add in water and knead the dough until its been combined completely and smooth. If you have kiddies, this is the part that they would find particularly fun. After the dough is ready, separate it into about 10 balls (give or take). Take a doughball and manually work it into a thin disk large enough to place a small spoonful of taco meat and shredded cheese. Fold the disk in half and seal the empanada with a fork around the edges.

fried clamshell-looking goodness


Next, fry those baby's up! Unfortunately, I didn't gauge how long to fry them but I fried them long enough to brown it on both sides. Once they're done cooking, serve them up with salsa, queso, or enchilada sauce. Also, I must apologize because I can't really tell you how many empanadas this batch makes: Mr. Muffin and I were enjoying them so much that we didn't bother trying to count how many they made.




*yawn* Well, I'm getting tired folks.

Until next time,

The Little Sleepy Muffin