Makes 8-10 glasses
1 bottle inexpensive white wine, chilled
1 orange, thinly sliced
½ lime, thinly sliced
2 cups Mango-passion fruit juice, or peach juice
¼ cup orange liquor (Citronge, Grand Marnier or Cointreau)
Any of the following fruit
1 apple, cored and sliced
1 nectarine, pitted and sliced
½ cup green grapes, removed from stem and slice in half
1 plum, pitted and slice
1 cup strawberries, hulled and quartered
In a pretty pitcher, combine the wine, the sliced orange and lime and gently muddle the fruit. Add the juice and orange liquor and stir. Add the remaining fruit and refrigerate for up to 8 hours, but no more than a day. Remember, the fruits start to ferment so the sangria becomes more alcoholic over time.
These empanadas are lovely for a party – easy to make in advance, freeze, and heat in the oven, to order. Our favorite wrappers are called "La Saltena" and are specifically for empanadas. To simplify life, use round potsticker (wonton) wrappers that you can find at Asian markets and many grocery stores. Some students like to use puff-pastry dough that they roll out and stamp into circles with a drinking glass. This yields a flakier-pastry empanada. Depends what you like – flaky pastry or thin and crunchy pastry.
Yields 12 large empanadas, of each kind
Beef empanadas
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 onion, finely chopped
1 cup bell peppers, finely chopped (use multi-colored, because they are pretty)
½ pound ground beef
14 ounces diced tomatoes, drained
2 tablespoons ground cumin (Why not toast and grind them yourself for a lovely flavor?)
¼ cup raisins
¼ cup green olives, chopped
1 teaspoon sea salt
Empanada wrappers (or wonton wraps or puff pastry)
Onion and cheese empanadas
2 tablespoons butter
4 cups thinly sliced yellow onion, about 4 small onions
1 hearty splash cognac or Madeira
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme, or oregano, or margoram
2 cups grated cheese, like emmental, grueyere, mozzarella or even a shredded quattro formaggio mix La Saltena brand empanada wrappers (or wonton wraps or puff pastry)
For the beef empanadas
Heat the olive oil in a large sauté pan. Add the chopped onion and bell peppers and saute until they begin to soften. Add the ground beef, diced tomatoes, the cumin, raisins, the chopped olives and salt, cook until the meat is about medium rare. Do not fully cook the meat in the pan beacuse it will continue to cook in the oven and will ensure a juicy rather than dry empanada.
Once the filling cools slightly (or thoroughly), you can fill the wrappers with a spoonful of filling and seal.
If you are using La Saltena wrappers or puff pastry, prick each empanada with a fork, and throw in the oven on a cookie sheet. For wonton wrappers, lightly brush with an egg wash (an egg beaten with 1⁄4 cup water) before baking to ensure a nice toasty- looking empanada.
Bake in a pre-heated, oven until brown.
For the onion and cheese empanadas
Pre-heat oven to 400°F.
In a large saute pan, melt the butter and add the sliced onions. Saute the onions until they become nice and translucent, at this time add a hearty splash of cognac and continue cooking the onions until they are soft. Season with salt and thyme and allow to cool before combining with cheese.
Fill the skins with a spoonful of filling and seal nicely. Pierce each empanada with a thin blade to create a vent on top, and throw in the oven on a cookie sheet. If using wonton wrappers, lightly brush with an egg wash (an egg beaten with ¼ cup water) before baking to ensure a nice toasty-looking empanada.
Bake in a pre-heated oven until brown.
If you wish, consider marinating the steaks in a teeny bit of olive oil, slivers of garlic, parsley and lemon zest for up to 24 hours.
Serves 6
6 - 7 ounces pieces top sirloin steak
6 teaspoons salt
3 teaspoons crack black pepper
For the chimichurri:
½ jalapeno, chopped
5 cloves garlic, chopped
2 lemons, zest and juice of
½ cup parsley, chopped
½ cup oregano, chopped
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup olive oil
To prepare and grill the steaks
Allow your meat to come to almost room temperature before cooking. Season each piece with 1 teaspoons salt, on both sides and ½ teaspoon black pepper, on both sides. When you season your steaks you want to see the salt on the meat! This results in a tasty steak.
Heat your grill on high for at least 7 minutes. You want the grates to be nice and hot so that you get a nice sear on the meat and great color and texture. Grill both sides until it is cooked the way you like it.
Remember to rest the meat for at least 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
To make the chimichurri
Combine the jalapeno, the garlic, the lemon zest and juice, parsley, oregano and the sea salt. Stir in enough olive oil to make a nice sauce. Serve with your warm steaks!
Serves 6
3 zucchini, the largest you can find
½ cup olive oil, divided
8 ounces ricotta
zest of 1 lemon
1 handful mint, cut into chiffonade
⅔ cup pine nuts, toasted
Slice the zucchini thinly and as evenly as you can with the biggest knife you have. In class, I use a mandolin to easily get nice even slices. Brush with oil and grill on both sides until prettily charred and soft. Set aside to cool.
To make the ricotta stuffing, mix the mint and lemon zest into the ricotta. Add a sprinkle of salt and a bit of fresh pepper.
To make the parcels, calculate 2 slices of zucchini per parcel, and about a heaping tablespoon of ricotta mixture per parcel. To assemble, lay two pieces of the zucchini flat on a cuttingboard so that they make a “x”, overlapping in the middle. Plop a spoonful of the filling where the two slices cross. Fold the parcel together by wrapping the lower zucchini slice first over the filling, then the upper. Place them all on a serving platter and sprinkle liberally with toasted pine nuts, a squeeze of lemon, some more chopped herbs and a twirl of olive oil. Yum!
Serves 6
2 cups heavy cream
1 cup dulce de leche ("La Pataia" brand is our fave, but TJs carries a good one, too)
Dark chocolate, grated, for garnish
Whip the cream until stiff and set aside one cup of whipped cream for later. Add the dulce de leche to the majority of the whipped cream and beat again until soft peaks form.
Evenly distribute half of the dulce de leche mixture into six of the prettiest glasses you can find. Layer with a dollop of the reserved whipped cream. Top with the remaining dulce de leche mixture and chill for at least 2 hours.
Upon serving, top with shaved chocolate.