Spinach Empanadillas

Having served the people of Spain for 2 years on a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Michael knows Spanish food. And was unimpressed with puff pastry for an empanada, tapa or no tapa. (Michael editorial note: As all clear thinking individuals know, true empanada is Galician empanada.  All other forms are merely pale imitations).  So he made up his version of traditional empanada dough:

Mix together:
1 tsp active dry yeast
1 tsp sugar
2/3 C warm water
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
1 egg
2 tsp salt
2 T melted butter OR 2 T water

Add 3 1/2 C of flour, 1 cup at a time. Stir until flour is incorporated. Knead until elastic and smooth. Let rise one hour. Then roll out to about 1/8 " thick:

(Michael editorial note: this is enough empanada dough to make a cookie sheet sized empanada.  Should anyone actually want to try that let me know and I will give you the recipe and cooking times)

He made the filling as listed in the recipe and we used a mug to cut out circles of dough. Jacob, of course, was our helper-boy. Stuff, crimp, repeat. We then brushed them with an egg wash.

Bake at 350F for 20 minutes. Listen to Jacob chant: "Jacob eat.  Jacob eat."

They were delicious.  They have the official Jacob seal of approval; he even ate eyes into them to match what he thought looked like a mouth.

Yum.

Ditto.

Chicken with Lemon and Garlic...

We made...the exact same thing.

So this blog post doesn't count. Except that we took a picture.

So, yeah. Yum. :)

Chicken with Lemon and Garlic

When we first got the cookbook we were so excited we went ahead and made something almost immediately. So this is a "practice" post from our archived files for your enjoyment.

This is the first recipe that caught my eye, mostly because I was hoarding the cookbook and wouldn't let Emma see it, but it was delicious!

(Even if the picture doesn't show that because the camera was dying.)

We had it with a brown lime rice (thanks to some leftover limes from Tasha's reception), but in retrospect a long grain white or jazmine rice. We didn't try the hot lemon wedges, but they look good in the book!

It was very delicious and easy. Emma's friend who was there loved it and immediately wanted the recipe.

(p.188)

Tanzanian Fried Fish

A few weeks ago, Kristin got a text from our friend Stef asking if we liked catfish. Turns out Stef's uncle had been at a fundraiser where they had a stocked pond for kids to fish out of, and when the event was over, they were going to throw out the fish! So he filled two coolers with dozens of catfish, and a few hours later, we found ourselves at a catfish filleting party.

Frying the marinated, floured catfish pieces.

Simmering spinach, onion, coconut milk.

The only time previous I can remember having contact with a fresh fish was at another stocked pond before I was 10 years old, when I stood by as Dad did a quick cleanup of a fish we caught there. Catfish have some pointy barbs to steer clear of, and really tough scales—that have to be ripped off to get to the meat. Kristin got pretty good at that. I was on gutting duties. One of our friends there is from Hawaii, and he showed me some good techniques for getting some nice clean fillets.

At the end of the night, we had 5 freezer bags of fresh catfish fillets.

So we've been looking for fish recipes! This one sounded interesting—especially the blend of spices used for the fish, including cinnamon. Kristin started the fish marinating about an hour or two before I got home (still at church, as usual), and blended up the spinach. Then we fried (making sure the oil was hot enough before we added the fish; my most common mistake in frying fish is adding it too early, and the fish soaks up the oil instead of cooking in it. (Ideally, as I understand it, the oil quickly crisps and cooks the breading and the outside of the fish, sealing it so that the inside is actually steamed from its own moisture.)

It turned out delicious. The coconut paired surprisingly well with the spinach and fish, giving it a smooth and nutty taste. This would probably work just fine with any type of firm, white fish.