Argentina’s Gala in Ottawa, Canada
May 27, 2010 – 2:15 pmTry country’s classic meat pastries — or fancier fare at Saturday’s gala.
‘If I had to pick one food that is most typical of Argentina,” wrote the celebrated chef Francis Mallmann, “it would be the crispy fried or baked turnover known as the empanada.
“People eat these at the start of big meals or make a filling meal-on-the-go out of them,” Mallmann, an Argentine chef and TV star in South America, wrote in his recent cookbook Seven Fires.
“Many times, on the long road trip to my cabin … in the most remote part of Patagonia, I have pulled into a little mountain town at midnight — at which time families with small children are still coming in for a big dinner — and ordered up a paper sack of empanadas. After wolfing down a few, I can continue driving through the night.”
While you won’t likely be making the long journey down the length of Argentina this week, it would nonetheless be fitting to wolf down some of the tasty meat pies. This week, the country celebrates its bicentennial.
Indeed, the Argentine capital of Buenos Aires, has been Ottawa’s sister city since 1998, and on Tuesday, Ottawa Mayor Larry O’Brien proclaimed Argentina Day in Ottawa to mark the bicentennial.
One recipe for Empanadas, passed along by the Embassy of Argentina, appears on page F5.
On a more posh note, the embassy is also co-sponsoring a fundraising dinner at the Casino Hilton Lac-Leamy, on Saturday, May 29, with proceeds going to the Queensway Carleton Hospital.
Chilean-born chef Hector Diaz of the Hilton Lac-Leamy is offering a menu that will include Locro Sofisticada (the chef’s version of a stew from Northern Argentina), Grilled Beef Tenderloin with Chimichurri Sauce and such deserts as Yerba Matte Creme Brule, Quince Membrillo, and Napoleon of Dulce de leche.
Admission to the gala is $225, which includes the performance of three tango couples with a live orchestra.
Argentina: Turned 200 this week
Empanadas
For the pastry
- 4 cups (75 mL) unbleached flour
- 6 tablespoons (90 mL) vegetable shortening or 1 cup (250 mL) butter
- 1/2 tablespoon (7.5 mL) salt
For the filling
- 2.2 pounds (1 kg) beef tenderloin
- 2 onions, chopped
- 2 bunches green onions, minced
- 3 tablespoons (45 mL) butter
- 2 tablespoons (30 mL) paprika
- 1 red pepper, chopped
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) of jalapeño or chili
- Salt, to taste
- Pepper, to taste
- 1 teaspoon (5 mL) ground cumin
- 1/3 cup (75 mL) seedless raisins (2 or 3 raisins per empanada)
- 1/4 cup (60 mL) green olives, finely chopped
- 4 hard-boiled eggs, minced
1. Finely dice the beef.
2. In a medium-size frying pan, melt 3 tablespoons butter. Dice the onion, red pepper and add to the pan. Saute over medium heat until the onion starts to turn golden.
3. Season to taste with salt, pepper, cumin, jalapeño or chili, and paprika. Add the diced meat previously washed with hot water. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the beef turns brown on all sides.
4. Remove the frying pan from the heat. Mix in the egg, the raisins, the olives, and the green onions. Allow to cool until it drops to room temperature (could be taken to the fridge for 8 hours).
5. While the beef filling cools, pour the flour on a smooth surface, forming a mound. Using the back of a spoon, make a depression in the centre. Put 6 tbsp vegetable shortening or 1 cup butter in the depression. Mix and knead the ingredients until fully incorporated.
6. Fill a cup with warm water and dissolve the salt in warm water.
7. Gradually incorporate this liquid into the dough, kneading 10-15 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.
8. Pull off balls of dough about the size of a golf ball. On the floured surface, roll out each ball of dough into a 10-cm-diameter circle. Flour your hands. Hold the dough circle in one hand and place1 tbsp of the filling in the centre. Press and crimp the edges together to secure the filling within.
9. Preheat oven to 450 F. Lightly flour a baking sheet. Arrange the empanadas on the sheet and until the pastry is golden brown, approximately 10 minutes.
______________________________________
SOURCE:
“Argentine treats”
By Peter Hum, Citizen Special
The Ottawa Citizen
What do you think about Argentina as a travel destination?
Click here and leave us your message.!