Empanadas

Let's widen our horizons for a moment.

All over the world, there's a dish of meat wrapped in a pastry crust. Sometimes they're sweet. It's hard to go wrong with something wrapped in dough. There are a lot of names, but let's roll with empanadas today.

This recipe was pretty helpful in getting the dough and the cooking time right. As for the filling, I put some beef in the slow cooker, and also made some slow cooker salsa chicken.

So, I guess you could say these take a lot of work. First, the slow cooker, to get the meat filling just right. Then rolling out the dough. That is my least favorite step of any recipe - getting the counter all flour-y and then trying to scrape up the pasty flour and dough bits. Ugh.

It's not that bad. Really. And in case you're wondering, the circles were cut out using a cereal bowl as a template.


I would say, just as good as Empanada's Place. But that place really rocks, nice people, and amazing prices. So you should check it out if you're around. Save your time for Facebook.

Pepperpot Beef

Once upon a time, I had a beautiful wedding and an absolutely perfect honeymoon. But you probably already knew that. Or now you're thinking, "great, another girl who's going to relive her wedding for the next 20 years." Not so.

But, it happened, and we had some amazing food while touring the Caribbean. One of which was a dish that I could only tell you was called "pepperpot beef" on the menu, and was amazing. It was essentially a dish of beef in a spicy sauce, served with sweet potatoes. Maybe not immediately the most appetizing-sounding combination, but believe me on this one.

Since then I've been snooping around for a recipe that sounds like it might get the same results. The beef was super tender, so anything I found would get cooked in the slow cooker. But as for the spices, I was at a loss.

Apparently, websites featuring recipes from the Caribbean are few and far between. For instance, everywhere we went there was this incredible yellow hot sauce. From what we heard, most people make it themselves, but you can also buy it. Yeah, if you want to pay three times the price of the bottle in shipping. As good as it was, around $50 for a bottle of hot sauce is a little beyond me.

I found this BBC recipe which happened to have the same name, and since it's been about nine months of looking, I was really ready for trying.


Now, this might be a good recipe. You might really like it. It didn't look very appetizing, but that's just how some slow cooker recipes look. And it was dark when I had it originally, so it might not have looked good either. But, it wasn't my Ti Kaye pepperpot beef.

I'm open to suggestions! If you figure it out, I'll make it for you!

Christmas Eve Dinner

Obviously there has to be at least one special dinner during the Christmas holiday, although I loved cooking big dinners almost every night. I'm not a big turkey fan, although I seriously dream about cooking a full Thanksgiving dinner. And I am not going to make a ham. Ever, if I can help it.

And, a fancy meal deserves a fancy bread, right? And did you know that rosemary-onion-parmesan focaccia is fairly easy to make? This could have been ready in a little over two hours, but it waited all day. The recipe, of course, was from Oracle Crocker. I should totally work as a chef at Olive Garden.


People tell me all the time that baking is an exact science; that you have to have the perfect amounts, conditions, etc. Bah. If I can make yeast breads, you can too. And I still don't measure. (And on the off occasion that I do, I run and get my husband and say, "See? See what I'm doing here??")

I didn't make ham, and I didn't cook a turkey. When I was younger, we'd have steak for Christmas dinner for just that reason. So what did I make for my first married Christmas in my very own home?


I slow cooked a roast allllll day for the main event. With cooked carrots, onions, and Yukon gold potatoes. Sure, it looks like an alien's organ in the picture. I can't take all the credit, though. The darling husband picked out the five-pound tri-tip and the Yukon gold potatoes. Tri-tip is an amazing cut, and Yukon gold potatoes are known for tasting extra buttery, naturally. I don't think he knew this when he was at the store, but we'll just say he's that good. OK? Oh, and the beautiful platter was a gift from my mom. I felt like I was having such a grown up party.

I'm not entirely sure Christmas Eve dinner went over better than Christmas Day dinner. For Christmas Day, I made Greek lemon soup and replaced the chicken with some chicken ravioli. It was a little risky, a little exotic, and completely worth it.

It was so much fun cooking big dinners that week. Anyone up for some dinner parties?

Pepper Steak Stir Fry

This became dinner as soon as I read about it. Satiates new pepper obsession? Check. Cleans out the refrigerator? Check. Gets rid of random freezer meat? Check.

Unfortunately, disaster struck and the knife slipped while I was thinking about other things. As lovely as our nice knives are ... OWW.

Usually I read about these recipes, and then make it between memory and improvisation. For whatever reason, I actually printed it out today. Talk about a sign! So, Andy took over.


He did a ridiculously awesome job, despite my nagging and backseat cooking. Can you believe he actually follows the recipe? But I secretly added some ginger to the sauce pre-accident.

Remember how I was extolling the virtues of Sun Bird beef and broccoli sauce mix? And thinking of how to make it from scratch? The jig is up, my friends. I think I've got it. Cornstarch, ginger, sugar, garlic, soy sauce, and water.

And apparently I will obnoxiously add peppers to everything I cook. (I kind of, sort of, bought two giant green peppers and a four-pack of multi-colored peppers on a grocery run. That is TOO MUCH!)