Cooking With Teresita Blog

Today, I would like to talk about the flavors of my country Argentina. Argentina offers a diverse cuisine due to its multicultural influences.

To begin with, we should divide the country in four regions. Today, I will introduce the first one which is the central region, the land of the gaucho, and even though there is not much heritage left, we can still appreciate the asado, dulce de leche, mate and torta frita (fried cake). If we combine that with our Italian heritage then we will realize that pasta, pizza, especially the pizza canchera (only tomato sauce, condiments and coldly served), stuffed pizza, and stone-baked pizza are part or our culinary heritage.

The milanesa (breaded steak) is served in different forms such as stuffed, plain or a la napolitana; topped with tomato sauce and mozzarella cheese; and, by the way, it has nothing to do with Naples in Italy.

From Spain, we have inherited, among other recipes, the cocido, a stew-like dish that have become our traditional stew that firstly came to represent the food people with scarce resources would consume, and with the passing of time it became a traditional dish liked by every social class.

We should not forget about our native meat that the gaucho used to eat before the arrival of the Spaniards, and with the introduction of pork, cattle and sheep the rhea meat, a typical animal of this land, appeared, and with it, exquisite dishes started to be made. Little by little our native meat cuts started to gain the place it deserves to have.

Hoy quiero hablar y referirme un poco a los sabores de mi pais….Argentina….

Argentina es una region multicultural y por eso ofrece un menú diferente, pero no menos gustoso que los del resto del mundo…., mas exotico, por menos conocido y digno de conocerse para halagar cualquier paladar por exigente que este sea….

Dividamos el pais en cuatro regiones y dediquemonos hoy a la primera…la zona central…la tierra del gaucho…que de gauchos nos queda poco, pero a el sobrevivieron, el asado, el dulce de leche, las tortas fritas y el mate. Si a esto le sumamos nuestra herencia italiana, nos encontramos con que las pastas, la pizza, especialmente la canchera, la rellena y la que se hace a la parrilla, hacen hoy dia a nuestro acervo gastronomico. Llegaron luego, las milanesas…rellenas, sencillas o a la napolitana, que nada tienen que ver con Nápoles. De España heredamos, entre otras recetas, el cocido gallego convertido hoy, en nuestro popular puchero, que como muchas comidas del resto del mundo, comenzaron siendo comidas de gente de bajos recursos para convertirse y continuar siendo hoy dia un plato gustado y requerido por todos los niveles sociales.

No nos olvidemos de las carnes autoctonas, que el indio consumia antes de la llegada de los españoles y de la entrada de la carne vacuna, porcina o bovina, la carne de ñandú , animal tipico de esta zona y con la cual se preparan unos exquisitos platos…..De a poco va ganando el lugar que tenia y que se merece por ser la autoctona

Click here for Video of Empanadas Class!

I very much enjoy teaching the empanadas Argentinas cooking class at my home because I get a chance to present this very traditional dish to people from all over the world. The empanada is probably the most world-known dish from Argentina. There are many kind of Empanadas; beef empanadas, corn (humita) empanadas, ham and cheese empanadas (jamon y queso), onion and cheese empanadas (cebolla y queso), but probably the most well know type of empanada is the beef empanada.
Below is the recipe of Empanadas that I teach at my cooking 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 margarine or 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 Corm oil
1 tablespoons of butter
1 large yellow onion chopped in small squares
2 hard boiled eggs, finely chopped
1/2 cup green olives, finely chopped
2 tablespoons raisins
¼ 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 transparent. 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 Empanadas
Use sunflower 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.

Dulce de Leche Casero (Homemade Dulce de Leche)

• 122 cubic inches of milk
• 1 vanilla pod
• 20 ounces of sugar

In a casserole, put all the ingredients together. Cook them until boiling point. Keep stirring continuously with a wooden spoon. (In former recipes, it was advised to stir the preparation with a fig tree branch to give it a special flavor.) Lower the heat and continue cooking until it gets so thick that if it is put on a plate, the preparation would not slide. Remove from fire and place the casserole over another casserole containing cold water and stir until it is cold. For a more intense color, add a pinch of baking soda while cooking.

• 6 ounces of mashed corn
• 60 cubic inches of milk
• 6 ounces of ground sugar
• 1 vanilla pod
• Fresh fruits or fruits in syrup to garnish (optional)

Let the corn soak from the night before in cold water. In that same water, cook the corn next day. In a casserole, boil the milk with the sugar and the vanilla. Add the cooked corn already drained and continue cooking for a few more minutes. Serve cold. If you wish, use the fresh fruits or in syrup to garnish.