Homemade beef and pork empanadas

My mom's health aide is from Colombia and likes to cook. One day she brought empanadas to eat. I asked her where she got them and she said she made them. I told her I always wanted to know how to make them. She said she would teach me one day. So, last Saturday she and I decided to finally make empanadas. These are the traditional Colombian beef and pork empanadas that are made with a masa (cornmeal) crust not the pie dough kind. Masa crust makes a crispier and crunchy crust with a corn taste. These had a pork and beef filling. Very simple to make with lots of tasty flavorful ingredients. It takes a bit of practice to be able to shape the empanadas and make sure you have an even thin layer of crust for top and bottom so when you fry the empanadas the filling does not come out. The only thing about making empanadas is that they take time to prepare and it is best to eat them the day of. Below is the recipe I wrote from what she told me and showed me how to make. Hope you enjoy and try to make them yourself. You will never buy empanadas again or buy the pie dough version.



Beef and Pork Empanadas

Ingredients:
1 lb. pork, cut into bite size chunks
1 lb. london broil beef, cut into bite size chunks
1 tomato, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup cilantro, chopped
4 potatoes, diced small
5 green onions, finely chopped
salt
black pepper
3 packages sazon goya mix
1 bag masa
1½ to 2 cups warm water

Directions:

1. Take beef and pork and put in heavy pot. Add green onions, potatoes, cilantro, tomatoes, sazon goya mix, salt, black pepper, and a little oil. Cook on medium high heat.
2. Stir and let cook until meat is tender and potatoes have cooked down and mixture turns thick and creamy. Turn off heat and let mixture cool.

3. Make masa crust by pouring whole bag into a mixing bowl add about 1 ½ to 2 cups of warm water. mix with hands, adding more water if needed to get a smooth consistency that is not to wet and not too dry.

4. Place a sheet of plastic wrap on the counter. Take a golf ball size of masa and place on plastic wrap. fold over the top of plastic wrap. Using your hands flatten out the masa to an even thin layer. Take off the plastic wrap and add a tablespoon of the meat mixture in the center. Fold over the masa to enclose the meat. Using a glass, put the top of the glass down on the empanada just halfway creating a moon shaped empanada. Press down to seal and cut. Continue with the rest of the Masa and meat mixture to make empanadas.

5. Heat a heavy high sided pot halfway with oil. Heat until oil reaches 375 degrees F. Place 5-6 empanadas in the oil to fry. Fry until golden brown. Place on a towel lined plate. Continue to fry the rest of the empanadas until all done. Cool slightly then serve.

Homemade Lychee cheesecake

I was watching TV and it was talking about the famous Junior's cheesecake. They were talking about having a contest for the people to create the next Junior's cheesecake. So I decided to try to experiment to see if I could enter. I asked a friend about it and we were thinking of ideas--green tea, chia tea, and early grey tea. Then she said how about lychee and I was like sounds good. aI also said to do almond cookie crust instead of the traditional graham cracker crust. She thought it might be overpowering but I wanted to test it out. So I decided to make a lychee cheesecake with chopped lychees in the cheesecake base, an almond cookie crust, and a lychee puree gelatin on top. I baked the cheesecake then let it cook and then put the lychee puree gelatin on top. The result was a smooth and light flavored cheesecake. The almond cookie crust did not overpower the cheesecake and complimented the whole cheesecake. It was yummy (even my 5 year old nephew loved it). Below is the recipe I came up with and made. Next time I will try to experiment with puree lychees in the cheesecake base. I will definitely enter this into the contest.


Baked Lychee Cheesecake

Crust:

7 almond cookies

2 tablespoons butter, melted

Filling:

2-8 oz package cream cheese

½ cup sugar

3 eggs

1 can lychee, chopped

½ cup lychee syrup from can

Topping:

lychee puree from 1/2 can of lychees

1 tablespoon gelatin

½ cup boiling water

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Wrap aluminum foil on bottom of springform pan and up the sides of the pan. Butter bottom and sides of a springform pan.
2. In food processor, pulse almond cookies until finely grounded. Slowly add the melted butter until it just comes together. Press cookie crumbs onto the bottom of springform pan. Place in oven and bake for 5-7 minutes. Let cool.
3. In electric mixer, add cream cheese, lychee syrup and sugar. Beat until smooth and creamy. Add eggs one at a time. Add the chopped lychees and mix until incorporated and smooth.
4. Pour cheesecake mixture into the prepared pan with crust. Put springform pan in a baking pan. Pour hot water in the pan just enough to go halfway up the springform pan.
5. Bake cheesecake for 1 hour 15 minutes or until set. Take out oven and let cool then chill in fridge while making topping.
6. Cut 2 lychees in half and put in center in a circle on top of cheesecake.
7. Mix the gelatin and boiling water in a bowl. Set aside for gelatin to dissolve. Puree 1 can of lychee in food processor. Strain into a bowl. Add the gelatin and mix. Pour on top of the cheesecake and chill for at least 2 hours until firm. Serve.