Empanada Gallega

Ah the sun. Ah the trees. Ah the birds. Oh the birds. Ah the air. Ah the sky. Some more birds. These were the kind of thoughts that were sloshing around Celestial Dragon's head as he was lying on a yellow meadow in what was then known as the Year of the Sneaky Tomato. His arms were crossed around his scaly head and his tail was flicking absentmindedly to and fro. His huge nostrils inhaled the sweet scents of summer that whirled and buzzed around him. Behind him, hanging lazily from a tree, was Divine Cherry. Her red legs were dangling in what would later be known as a nonchalant manner from a branch.
Suddenly, a little girl came walking by. It wasn't really a girl, nor was it really little, but in those days things were still a bit blurry. Be that as it may, she was hopping from one flower to the next, like a bee, thus making her way to Divine Cherry's tree. She was carrying a small wicker basket under one arm. It wasn't really an arm, not was it really a wicker basket, nor indeed was it really small. In that ill-defined basket, however, was something round and good. It is still unknown how she had managed to do it, but the little girl who wasn't really little nor a girl had succeeded in capturing a small star (which wasn't really small nor really a star). She had put it in the basket and was carrying it to her grandmother, who was indeed her grandmother. At the mere smell of the star, Celestial Dragon jumped out of his reverie and Divine Cherry jumped down from her tree. Gracefully, though. They both gathered around the not-little girl and started talking to her. At the end of that fruitful discussion (its content has never been revealed, but it is being assumed that it ran along the general lines of what-is-it-you-haver-there-girl-oh-my-!-what-a-big-nose-mister), it was decided that the grandmother--who was really a grandmother--could wait some more since she had been waiting so long already, and that the not-star would taste much better if baked in the oven and filled with a delicious, well, filling.
And so it was that later that day in the Year of the Sneaky Tomato, a dragon, a cherry, and a little girl that was not little nor a girl sat down for dinner and enjoyed the first ever Empanada Gallega. The recipe down below is a faithful reproduction of what Divine Cherry and Celestial Dragon think their first Empanada must have tasted like. After all, the Year of the Sneaky Tomato has expired a looong time ago...


Blog-checking lines: 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 Gallega - recipe adapted from the September Daring Baking Challege

Dough:
- 750 g bread flour
- 480 ml of lukewarm water, approximately
- 15 g fresh yeast
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 10 g salt
- 60 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large egg, for egg wash

Filling:
- 1 hard boiled egg
- 1 yellow pepper, cut in stripes
- 200 g chopped tomatoes
- 180 g tuna
- 1 big onion, finely chopped
- 10 black olives

Prepare the dough. Stir the yeast with sugar in the water and let it dissolve for 10 minutes. Make a wheel in the flour and add the water yeast mixture, add the oil and salt. Mix all the ingredients with a wooden spoon  to combine them. On a floured surface, knead the dough for 15 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Transfer to a clean bowl, cover with a cling film and let it rise in a warm place for 1 and half hours or until the dough has doubled in size.

Prepare the filling. Heat the oil in a pan and fry the onion. When the onion is soft, add the pepper and cook it for 10 minutes. Pour in the tomatoes and finish to cook the vegetables. Let the vegetables to cool down and then add the crumbled tuna and the olives.

Assembly of the empanada. Cut the dough in two parts. With a rolling pin, spread gently one half in a greased and floured tray. Pour the cold filling in the dough case, and finish it with the crumbled hard-boiled egg.  On a clean surface, spread gently the second half of the dough and use it to cover the empanada. Join the top and the bottom dough pincing the edges with your fingers in order to end up with a  rope-like border. Use extra dough to decorate and make a central hole in the top dough to let the steam escape during the cooking. Brush the surface with a beaten egg.
Cook in a preheated oven at 180°C for 45 min.

Empanada Gallega - ricetta adattata dalla sfida di settembre dei Daring Bakers

Impasto:
- 750 g farina forte
- 450 g acqua tiepida
- 15 g lievito di birra fresco
- 1 cucchiaino di zucchero
- 10 g di sale
- 60 ml di olio evo
- 1 uovo sbattuto, per spennellare
Ripieno:
- 1 uovo sodo
- 1 peperone giallo tagliato a striscioline sottili
- 200g pomodori a pezzi
- 180 g tonno sottolio
- 1 grossa cipolla, tritata finemente
- una decina di olive nere
- olio, sale e pepe

Preparare l'impasto. Mescolare il lievito all'acqua insieme a un cucchiaino di zucchero e far riposare per 10minuti. Fare un buco nella farina e aggiungerci l'acqua con il lievito e l'olio, mescolare e aggiungere il sale. Trasferire su una superficie pulita e impastare per 15 minuti circa fino ad ottenere una palla liscia ed elastica. Mettere in una ciotola, coprira con pellicola e far lievitare in luogo tiepido per circa un'ora e mezza, o fino a che l'impasto avrà raddoppiato il suo volume.

Preparare il ripieno. Far appassire la cipolla in una padella con un po' d'olio evo. Quando la cipolla è trasparente, aggiungere i peperoni e cuocere per una decina di minuti.Aggiungere i pomodori e terminare la cottura. Quando le verdure si sono intiepidite aggiungere il tonno sbriciolato e le olive.

Assemblaggio. Dividere l'impasto in due parti uguali. Stendere una metà dell'impasto e metterela in una teglia precedentemente unta e infarinata. Coprire con il ripieno, completamente raffreddato. Sbriciolare sopra l'uovo sodo. Stendere anche la seconda metà dell'impasto sopra al ripieno. Unire le estremità dei due impasti con le dita, pizzicando i bordi in modo da fare una sorta di cordoncino (come in foto). Fare un buco in centro all'empanada per far fuoriuscire l'umidità durante la cottura. Spennellare la superfice con l'uovo sbattuto. Cuocere in forno caldo a 180 gradi per 45 minuti circa.


Enjoy,
And Spread the Mess

Ale, Cheddar and Chives Cake for the Daring bakers

To the question of Life, the Universe and Everything Celestial Dragon once answered "me". Records that survive from earlier eras even corroborate this. After all, how many cultures have dragons roaming their skies? How many great people, thinking themselves the epicentre of their empire, have adopted the dragon as their symbol? How many warriors, cowering in a ditch and hoping to be the last one standing on the battlefield while arrows, axes and frankly astonished pigs flew over their heads have called themselves sons of dragon? How many cooks, after having accidentally dropped an entire jar of chillies in the soup, have dubbed it dragon's broth (this last claim may be pure conjecture)? All the dragons invoked were in fact merely aspects of Celestial Dragon; and they all stem from that primeval "me" uttered so long ago.
Now, however, Celestial Dragon is fishing. He is resting his old bones in a modest boat, sailing along the Milky Way as time drives by in its Wingèd Chariot, saluting cordially. His golden angle is listlessly tucking at the stars, encroaching its hook in a solitary solar system that -silly system- had the unfortunate curiosity to poke its nose out of the whirling galaxy. Yet, upon closer inspection, one discovers that Celestial Dragon is in fact not really fishing: he is treasure hunting. For in his osier basket, propped up against the inner side of the boat, that is to say within reach of his agile claws, one can discover the incredible: a bottle of golden liquid, a lump of soft and mellow gold, and a few shoots of the greenest plant of all.
Some say that history has a tendency of being given to a certain amount of hyperboles, and that in fact Celestial Dragon had in his basket a bottle of ale, a piece of cheddar and some chives. Only he knows where he fished those from. Nevertheless, upon his return to the palace, he presented Divine Cherry with his treasure. But she, instead of being impressed, impatiently shook her head and grabbed them from him. Celestial Dragon was helplessly forced to observe as his most treasured possessions were being used as the involuntary special ingredients that would complete Divine Cherry's experiment: an Ale, Cheddar and Chives Cake. The coincidence was astonishing indeed.
Notwithstanding the improbable origins of that cake, it must in all fairness be said that it was delicious. So if you happen to chance upon a bottle of ale, a piece of cheddar and some chives while innocently fishing the day away on the Milky Way, make sure to follow this recipe – you shall not regret it!

Blog-checking lines: The Daring Bakers’ February 2012 host was – Lis! Lisa stepped in last minute and challenged us to create a quick bread we could call our own. She supplied us with a base recipe and shared some recipes she loves from various websites and encouraged us to build upon them and create new flavor profiles.

Ale, cheddar and chives loaf Adapted from Recipe Girl’s Cheddar Chive Beer Batter Bread
- 1 tablespoon oil
- 1 handful chives, finely chopped
- 420 gm all-purpose (plain) flour
- 45 gm granulated sugar
- 10 gm baking powder
- 6 gm salt
- 240 g grated sharp cheddar cheese
- 330 ml bottle dark ale (brew dog)
- 55 gm butter, melted and divided

Preheat oven to moderately hot 190°C. Grease a loaf pan with butter. Cut the chives thinely. Combine flour, sugar, baking powder and salt in a bowl; make a well in the center of the mixture. Add onion, cheeses, and beer. Stir just until moist. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Drizzle evenly with 2 tablespoons of butter. Bake for 35 minutes; brush with remaining 2 tablespoons butter. Bake an additional 23 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 5 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Cake salato all'ale, cheddar e erba cipollina  ricetta adattata da Recipe Girl’s Cheddar Chive Beer Batter Bread
- 1 cucchiao di olio
- 1 manciata abbondante di erba cipollina sminuzzata
- 420 g farina
- 45 g zucchero
- 10 g lievito in polvere
- 6 g sale
- 240 g cheddar grattugiato
- una bottilia da 330 ml di ale scuro
- 55 g burro, sciolto e diviso in 2 ciotoline

Riscaldare il forno a 190 C. Imburrare una teglia da plum cake. In una ciotola mescolare farina, lievito, sale e zucchero. Fare un buco al centro e versare, il cheddar, l'erba cipollina e la birra. Mescolare velocemante solo per amalgamare il tutto. Versare il composto nella teglia e versare sulla superficie il burro sciolto. Cuocere in forno per 35 minuti. Versare il burro restante e finire di cuocere in forno per altri 23 minuti o fino a che il cake è cotto, verificare facendo la prova stecchino. Lasciare raffreddare per 5 minuti prima di sformare e lasciar raffreddare completamente.

 Enjoy And Spred The Mess

Savoury cake with cherry tomatoes and feta

Episode 1
It was a big day. Perhaps the biggest day of them all. It was a long and large and heavy and important day. It was one of those days that will remain engraved in the collective memory of those present for the rest of their lives. It was the day the Celestial Dragon ascended to the higher spheres of heaven, there to be appointed rightful ruler of the four classes of Small Beings. Needless to say, the Celestial Dragon was very proud that day. The denizens of the higher spheres had even decided that a special ceremony was to be performed. A large number of creatures were summoned, and most them answered the call and announced their presence at the ceremony. This was to be one of those very big days. Divine Cherry, however, although very happy for the Celestial Dragon, was at a loss as to what to offer in sacrifice to the other creatures attending the ceremony. For it so happened that it fell upon Divine Cherry to feed everyone. So she set out on an culinary journey to find the perfect sacrifices. This is her story, and this is the first episode in which she discovers the delicious savouriness of the feta and cherry tomatoes cake.
Divine Cherry was grumpy. She had been rummaging in her grimoires for ages, and she still hadn't chanced upon something she deemed worthy of being a ceremonial sacrifice. She had tried everything from the book that contains raw sacrifices to the book that shows you how to combine various sacrifices in order to create a new, bigger and better sacrifice. Divine Cherry wasn't satisfied with any of the millions and millions of combination she was able to scan through in a second (you don't need forever to read a book when you are a Divine Cherry). Then, however, she fell upon this particular concoction. And this is how the sacred scrolls tell us she did it:
First of all, she cut 200g of cherry tomatoes into small pieces and put them in a bowl with a bit of olive oil, a whole clove of garlic and fresh basil. She also threw a pinch of salt on the tomatoes and put the bowl to rest, covered in cellophane, while she went on to prepare the rest. With the aid of her trusty electric whisks, Divine Cherry mixed together three medium-sized eggs, 50ml of (extra virgin) olive oil and half a glass of milk. When they had emerged of the electric whirlpool of madness as a well-mixed liquid, she added 150g of flour, a tsp of baking powder, salt and pepper and mixed it all again until it became a homogeneous whole. At this point Divine Cherry cut 150g of feta in cubes and threw them in the mix together with a handful of black kalamata olives as well as the previously-prepared cherry tomatoes (minus the garlic, of course. She didn't want any of the creatures attending the ceremony to smell like a garlic clove for the rest of their lives. Some of them ruled over worlds in which lived a fair number of vampires. Surely you can understand that this would've been a major diplomatic faux-pas.) Once Divine Cherry had added everything (again, minus the garlic), she delicately mixed it all. She then poured it in a rectangular cake mould (not unlike the one used for plum cakes) and cooked it for one hour in the oven at 180°C. The sacred scrolls that record this creation however tell us that alternatively, Divine Cherry could've known that the cake was ready once it had become golden. Be that as it may, it remains vitally important not to open the oven during the first 45mins, for that will mean that the cake will not raise and therefore deflate, consequently ruining the sacrifice. But that Divine Cherry did know. Indeed, once the cake was ready and she had put it on a plate and served it to the creatures attending the Celestial Dragon's ceremony, she received many a compliment for her sacrifice. Everyone was pleased, and Divine Cherry's cheek flushed red when the Celestial Dragon gave her a kiss that reverberated across all the spheres of heaven.


Again:
-150g of flour
-1 tsp of baking poweder
-3 medium-sized eggs
-150g of feta
-50ml of olive oil (extra virgin)
-half a glass of milk
-200g of cherry tomatoes
-a handful of kalamata olives
-plenty of fresh basil
-1 clove of garlic
-salt and pepper

Cut the cherry tomatoes in small pieces, put them in a bowl and add olive oil, the clove of garlic and the basil. Add some salt and let it rest while you prepare the cake.
Mix together the eggs, the milk and 50ml of olive oil with electric whisks. Add then the flour, the baking powder and salt and pepper until you get a homogeneous whole. Add now the feta (cut in cubes), the olives and the cherry tomatoes (including their oil but excluding the garlic clove). Mix delicately. Pour the mix in a rectangular cake mould and put it for 60mins in the oven at 180°C until it is cooked. Alternatively, until the outside turns golden. Be careful not to open the oven during the first 45mins as to do so will prevent the cake from raising. Serve cold garnished with some rocket.


RICETTA IN ITALIANO:

CAKE SALATO FETA E POMODORINI
-150 g farina
-un cucchiaino di lievito in polvere
-3 uova medie
-50 ml olio evo
-mezzo bicchiere di latte
-150 g feta
-200 g pomodorini
-una manciata di olive nere kalamata
-abbondante basilico
-uno spicchio d'aglio
-sale e pepe q.b.

Tagliare i pomodorini a pezzetti, metterli in una ciotola con una girata di olio d'oliva, uno spicchio d'aglio intero e basilico. Salare e lasciare insaporire mentre si prepara l'impasto del cake.
Sbattere con la frusta elettrica le uova, i 50 ml di olio e il latte. Aggiungere la farina con il lievito, sale e pepe e mescolare fino ad ottenere un composto omogeneo. A questo punto aggiungere la feta tagliata a cubetti, le olive tagliuzzate e i pomodorini con tutto il loro olio e basilico (togliere l'aglio...) e mescolare il tutto delicatamente. Versare l'impasto in uno stampo rettangolare (tipo da plumcake appunto) e cuocere per un'ora a 180° o fino a quando risulta dorato fuori. Attenzione a non aprire il forno nei primi 45 minuti altrimenti il cake sgonfia e non lievita più... :)
PS: Questa ricetta non e' mia, e' ripresa e adattata da una trovata in rete tempo fa. Sinceramente non ricordo la fonte: se qualcuno la riconosce, saro' felice di indicare l'origine!


Enjoy,
And Spread the Mess