Empanada Gallega

     

     Patri of the blog, Asi Son Los Cosas, was our September 2012 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she decided to tempt us with one of her family’s favorite recipes for Empanadas! We were given two dough recipes to choose from and encouraged to fill our Empanadas as creatively as we wished!

     Empanada traces its origin to Galicia and Portugal. Traditionally they are made in a form of a pie which is afterwards cut in pieces. Nowadays, however, other variations exist – like “calzone-style” big pies or individual “turn-over style” small pies (which – when made in on oval shape, looks similar to Russian “pirozhki”!). 

       The fillings of empanada usually include tuna, chorizo or sardines but it can also contain cod and pork loin. Since my husband is not fond of tuna and pork and since we had brandada with salted cod the same day, I decided to choose ground beef for my pie. I wanted the filling to have “a Spanish hint” so I added bell pepper, tomatoes, black olives, paprika and lots of parsley. I wish I had some anchovies in my cupboard – they would have made the whole thing “undoubtedly Spanish”!

     Anyway, the pie was very good: a juicy, hearty filling wrapped in bread-like paprika-scented dough.  What a great way to create Galician atmosphere at home!

Choux Puffs with Orange Chantilly Cream

     Kat of The Bobwhites was our August 2012 Daring Baker hostess who inspired us to have fun in creating pate a choux shapes, filled with crème patisserie or Chantilly cream. We were encouraged to create swans or any shape we wanted and to go crazy with filling flavors allowing our creativity to go wild!

     To say true, I really wanted to make swans…or  at least some sort of Paris-Breast gateau with an unusual filling. But – oh, yes! There’s always “a but” – I was so-o-o-o-o-o busy in August (with some baking, by the way!) that I had to leave the idea of making something massive.  I just had to go for an easier option (which does not always mean “worse”!) – and I simply made some prifitroles filled with orange-flavoured Chantilly.

     Oh yes, I had such a hectic time that I couldn’t even complete the challenge on time! Feeling a bit guilty, however, I managed to find another half an hour to make sugar decorations for assembling my dessert!

     The result was elegant and seductive, with a comforting sweetness of sugar strands and a refreshing zing of orange zest.

     It was not a Swan lake but it was a “Choux ballet” of mine – much simpler, yet pleasant and charming as well.