The Cooking Diva Blog: Original Tropical Creations by Chef Melissa De Leon

Edible Tours in Argentina: Cooking with Teresita & Empanadas Argentinas

I lived some of the best days of my tasty life in Buenos Aires, Argentina. That is what keeps me going back there year after year to explore the culture and the magical wine country.

For reference, please visit:

Sometime ago I discovered Cooking (Latin American Cuisine in Buenos Aires) with Teresita, a top class cooking tours service in Buenos Aires. For me, there is nothing more inspiring than a person that is willing to share the knowledge and experience treasured all of her life.

This is the reason why today we are featuring Teresita and what she has to offer in Buenos Aires. We invite you to put Argentina high on your "places to visit" list and enjoy the wonders of this beautiful South American Country.

Welcome to the two different worlds of cuisine in Argentina. On one hand, there is the urban cuisine, highly influenced by international recipes and cooking trends, reflecting Argentina's importance in global society. Second, there is the rural cuisine that draws inspiration from the indigenous cultures in the north of Argentina. In the last case, an interesting social phenomena is happening as we speak.

Porteños, people from the city of Buenos Aires, have adopted only in recent years some indigenous techniques into the new world of Argentine cuisine. Today, we can observe the typical Argentinian empanadas being sprinkle with sugar which is a special costume used in Tucuman, a province in the north of Argentina. Frying empanadas with lard has also been adopted by some of the well-known chefs in Buenos Aires. Lard has been a tradition in empanadas making techniques in Misiones, another province in the north bordering with Paraguay and Brazil. While there are many other indigenous food preparation of Argentine traditional foods, it seems that young Argentineans chefs are adopting them slowly making sure that is a reflection of recycling innovation and not lack of contemporary cuisine knowledge.

Recipe covered at one of Teresita's classes:

Crust for baked Empanadas Argentinas
Ingredients
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup of Salmuera (brine). Prepare a concoction with dissolved salt in hot water and left aside until cold.
4 ounces of butter or margarine

Crust for fried Empanadas Argentinas

Ingredients
1 2/3 cup all-purpose flour
6 teaspoon of corn oil
1 egg
1 cup of boiling water

Preparation
To make the crust, place the flour into a bowl and mix the butter into the flour using your fingers. Pour the Salmuera slowly into the mix and mix it with your fingers just until the dough comes together and can be formed easily into a ball. Let the dough rest (outside the fridge) for about half an hour. Divide the dough in small balls the size of half an egg. Then roll with a roller pin out to a thickness of 1/8-inch making a rounded shape.

Filling
1 pound ground beef
2 tablespoons Corn oil
1 tablespoons of butter
1 large yellow onion chopped in small cubes
2 hard boiled eggs, finely chopped
1/2 cup green olives, finely chopped
2 tablespoons raisins
1/4 cup chopped spring green onion (only the green part)
1 tablespoon ground hot and sweet paprika
1 tablespoon ground red dry spicy peppers
1 tablespoon cumin
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Glaze is Optional
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon milk

Preparation

In a large saucepan, melt the butter with corn oil together, and place the onions and stir them until ransparent. Add the ground beef, next add the raisin, spices, salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste and stir with a fork to keep the meat broken-up. Pour over the about a half cup of water and let it cook for about about 10 minutes or until meat is completely cooked. Once cooked, place in a bowl, cover it and put in the refrigerator (for better taste) over night, otherwise if time does not permit, leave the filling for about an hour in the refrigerator. Once you have the mix cold then is when you add the hard boiled eggs, green olives and spring green onions.

Filling the empanadas
Take the dough you let to rest and divide the dough in small balls the size of half an egg. Then roll with a roller pin out to a thickness of 1/8-inch making a rounded shape from each ball. Spoon the filling onto one half of each leaving room to fold in the other half and seal. Tab some warm water with your fingers, place in half of the ends so the dough will stick better, press the edges with the tip of a fork or you can do what we call in Argentina "repulgue" which instead of using the fork to seal you flip it upwards and press with your fingers. Place on a non-stick baking pan or add a thin layer of butter to the pan. Combine the ingredients for the glaze and brush each empanada at the top. Put oven heat to 350 and bake until the crust turns light brown.

Tip for the Fried EmpanadasUse vegetable oil. When frying the empanadas do it only in batches no more than three at a time. Then place in basket or tray and sprinkle with sugar.

For more information please visit: Cooking Latin American Cuisine in Buenos Aires with Teresita.

Un abrazo,

Melissa

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by Chef Melissa - CookingDiva · November 30, 2007 · 11:46 AM
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Whole Foods Culinary Center, Austin: Join Panama Chef Melissa De Leon for "a Taste of the Tropics"

Thursday, September 20th 6:30–9:00 p.m. $45

Chef Melissa has an extensive background in food and has trained in the United States, Panama, South America and Asia. She has worked to promote the tropical ingredients of Panama through the development of numerous pastry recipes, as well as cooking classes and a website. Her class will allow us to experience the best of the tropics and guests will learn how to prepare plantains (patacones), green mango and coconut!Guests will enjoy original topical creations that include Patacones with Salsa Chimichurri; Tropical Crab Cakes with Tomato Chutney and Mango Salsa; Flan de Coco y Chocolate served with Panamanian Coffee. Register online

Whole Foods Market Culinary Center
525 N. Lamar Blvd.
Austin, TX 78703
512.542.2340

Panama Boutique - Select Travels and Treasures

by Chef Melissa - CookingDiva · September 14, 2007 · 03:39 PM
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Mystical Travels through the World of Food, Wine, and a delicious recipe to prepare Roasted Chicken!

The Wine Tasting:

Friday night was great! I joined the wine tasting organized by Carlos Mata and a group of very fine young wine lovers from Panama. I know Carlos and his wife Concepción are big fans of Gary Vaynerchuck from the Wine Library TV, and to tell you the truth I am heading to that same direction!

Antonio Touriño from VinoManiacos.com and Monica Arauz from Panama Coffee Lovers were there too, they are such a fun couple!

***The report on the wines we tasted will follow soon! We'll keep you posted***

Wine Tasting photo credits: Carlos Mata.

My Meditations on Food:

We work hard at developing new delicacies every day, experimenting with what I call the "neglected" tropical ingredients, and I truly love it. It is like creating these magical concoctions, playing a little with chemistry, at the same time getting my little travel book of notes out, the same I work on during my many trips around the world. They are truly beloved memories, all surrounded by mystical aromas of food and the lost-in-time moments when my senses got the first glimpse of the bounty.

Sometimes, in special days like today I stop all the rush I feel I have most of the time in my life, and in search of inspiration...I find myself meditating through the photos of my past travels: one after the other, they bring joy and tears sometimes. This has been a very intense year so far, and far from complaining or crying my lungs out of the stratosphere, I cook!

We are blessed in so many ways and it is a tough task to find an equilibrium between the spiritual and the day to day life. You know what I mean, right? You have probably been there too...One thing I can tell you is that I am working at finding that perfect balance. You've got my word!

But, back to the basics, now...I just want to have a juicy homemade roasted chicken. How about you?

The Scrumptious Roasted Chicken Recipe:

Serves 4

Ingredients:

1 whole young chicken, rinsed and patted dry
1/4 cup melted butter
salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander seed
1/4 teaspoon ground paprika
2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
optional: baby potatoes, carrots and onion (to roast with chicken)

Serve with: Chimichurri Sauce AND/OR Roasted Garlic Mayonnaise. If you love rice sides, do not miss our Black Beans and Rice recipe. They are out of this world! Yum!

Instructions:

With a flavor injector (large-new syringe for marinating), inject the melted butter in the two chicken breasts, followed by the legs. So, you will actually inject the bird four times.
Season chicken inside and out with salt, pepper, cumin, coriander and paprika. Transfer to roasting pan and roast until golden brown and thermometer registers 170°F when inserted into leg joint (45 minutes approximately). Remove from oven and let stand covered with foil for 10 minutes.
Halve chicken in four pieces and serve with the sauce and side of your choice.

Have a delicious week!

Un abrazo,
Melissa

by Chef Melissa - CookingDiva · July 22, 2007 · 09:21 PM
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A Taste of Panama - Culinary Tours

Our tours are designed to provide unique and exotic gastronomic journeys, a once-in-a-life time experience in our country, better known as the "Bridge of the World," where modern life beautifully blends with nature's bounty.

Experience the flavors of the unique and traditionally loved culinary jewels of Panama on a gourmet tour. Our itineraries are designed with the food-lover in mind and include casual cooking classes by international Chef Melissa De Leon and other local professional chefs, tastings, visits to markets, exclusive visits to artisan producers as such as: bakers, cheese makers, coffee plantations, organic fruit and vegetable gardens, edible insects and edible flower farms.

We offer non-cooking options for companions who don't want to spend time in the kitchen. This tour is also perfect for the people who have just made Panama their home, for the tourists, for the locals, high school students and YOU. Tours available in English and Spanish.

Private and Custom Culinary Tours

If you want to enjoy a private or custom tour, tailored to your needs, this option is the answer to your prayers. We will design a special edition of any of our tours or a totally unique itinerary to fit your calendar, destinations and activities you want to include. We invite you to consider this option when planning: corporate team-building events, business meetings, business incentive trips, weddings, family reunions and friend gatherings. It will be an unforgettable adventure. Tours available in English and Spanish.

For details of our tours and other services please contact Panama Gourmet.

by Chef Melissa - CookingDiva · June 14, 2007 · 02:35 PM
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