Alfajores

I have a soft spot for Alfajores, mainly because it was what I took to school for a snack to eat at recess EVERYDAY when I was growing up, pretty nutritious, hu?

 

My favorite brand of store bought Alfajores growing up, purchase at the Latino store
 

Romina and Gonzalo, two of my siblings in their "tunicas", all ready for school, aren't our uniforms funny? The white coat and blue bow bring back so many memories!

 

Alfajores are basically a cookie "sandwich" filled with Dulce de Leche, they can be covered with chocolate and the edges are usually rolled in coconut flakes.

This is the recipe for the cornstarch cookie.  The cornstarch makes these cookies soft, crumbly and delicious.

I've had these Alfajores for dessert in most Sunday dinners and holidays for the past 30 + years of my life, it never gets old!


Ingredients (makes approximately 24 alfajores)

·        1 2/3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

·        2 1/2 cups cornstarch

·        1/2 teaspoon baking soda

·        2 teaspoons baking powder

·        1 1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened

·        3/4 cup white sugar

·        3 egg yolks

·        1 teaspoon of lemon or orange extract

·        1 tablespoon of vanilla extract

·        1-2 Can of Dulce de Leche

·        1/2 cup unsweetened shredded coconut

Directions:

1.      In a bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add butter and yolks and work them into the dry ingredients, continue with the vanilla and orange/lemon extract. 

2.      Start forming the dough with your hands, when you have made the dough into a ball (it takes some work to form dough) bring it to a floured surface.

3.       Divide dough in half.  Using a rolling pin, roll dough into 1/4 inch thickness (the dough may crack but can be easily put back together). 

4.      Cut out cookies using at 2 inch round cookie cutter, you may also use a heart shape but the dough is too delicate for more complicated shapes.

 

5.      Preheat oven at 350 Fahrenheit and line cookie sheet with parchment paper. Place about 12 cookies at a time and bake for 12-15 minutes, until they are firm and start showing some color in the bottom (top remains pale), don't leave too long or they come out too hard.

6.      Let cookies cool, spread about two tbsp. of Dulce the Leche on cookie bottom and add a second cookie to form the "sandwich", press softly together (cookies crumbles easily) and top with melted chocolate, roll edges in coconut flakes or sprinkles.

Fast Uruguayan/Argentine ground beef empanadas

Empanadas are a very popular food in South America, they are fun and easy to make. 
My kids love to help make them, they actually like to take them to school for lunch and that doesn't happen very often-they are very attached their PB &J sandwich... They even take extra ones for friends, not ashamed of taking Mom's Uruguayan food to school at all when it comes to empanadas!

Remember "Moose Kaka" from My Big fat Greek wedding?  None of that happening here ha!

They are versatile and can be made really quick if you need a fast dinner or appetizer.  To be honest, we usually fill them up with ham a shredded cheese and go, but they can be filled with anything from egg, cheese and bacon for a breakfast version, chicken, cheese and spinach, etc...

We love the beef filling, our absolute family favorite.

I get the pre-made empanada dough discs, always have these guys in my fridge, total lifesavers!!

                                                 Homemade dough recipe coming soon!

Get these at the Latino store, some grocery stores have in the freezer aisle (the GOYA brand) or even the Mexican stores carry "Tapas para Empanadas", my favorite brand is "La Saltena"

Ground beef filling:

Ingredients:

      1 tablespoon olive oil      

1 small onion, chopped      

1 small green bell pepper, chopped      

1 pound ground beef            

3/4 cup green olives, sliced (optional)     

3/4 cup raisins (optional)  
1/2 cup parmesan cheese   

Salt and pepper     

3 large eggs, boiled and cut up 



1. Heat a large pan over medium heat, swirl in the olive oil. Add the onion and bell pepper, saute until the onion is translucent for 3 to 4 minutes. Raise the heat to high and add the beef. Cook, stirring constantly to brown, about 5 to 7 minutes.
2. Stir in the olives, raisins, salt, pepper. Cook until the meat is golden brown, about 5 more minutes, add the eggs.
3. Drain any remaining liquid and cool the mixture completely.

Make the empanadas

1. Fill the pre-made dough with a spoonful of beef filling (or for a really easy filling, cut up sliced ham and shredded cheese).  Place filling on the center of the dough disc, wet edges with water and fold disc in half forming a semicircle, fold over edges.
   
   
   
   
2. Grease baking sheet or line with parchment paper. 
3. Place each empanada on the baking sheet and pierce each one with a fork a couple of times. 
4. Crack 1 egg in a small bowl and beat it lightly (to create an egg wash) brush each empanada with the egg wash.  This helps give each empanada the golden brown color! 
5. (Optional) In our family we like to sprinkle a little with sugar over the top of each empanada, or you can also sprinkle a little shredded parmesan cheese!
6. Preheat oven to 375 Fahrenheit.  Bake for 30 min until tops are golden brown.  Serve with a green salad for a great lunch or dinner.

 

Sweet potato gnocchi

Image via www.cleaneatingmag.com

Gnocchi is a very popular pasta in Uruguay, we have a tradition there involving this dish, every 29th of the month, everyone has gnocchi!  The whole family gets together and have a big gnocchi lunch or dinner, you also put a coin under the plate to bring on prosperity. 

My aunt Laura making Gnocchi for the Whole fam on our last trip to UY.

Yes, all of that in the counter are Gnocchis!

We usually make the potato version, my husband Kaleb started making this sweet potato version when he was eating Paleo a while ago, I totally fell in love with it.  I love the bittersweet taste the sweet potato brings.  This is a super simple healthy version. Enjoy!

Ingredients. Serves 3-4           
1 Large sweet potato
1 egg
1-2 cups of flour
Salt and pepper.            


1. Pierce the potato several times with a fork and cook it either in the oven or microwave until it is soft.  Let it cool down (something you can do the night before if you want) and then it easily comes out of the skin.

2. Cut in half and scoop the flesh into a bowl. Add 1 egg, salt, pepper and blend until well mixed. Add the flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a soft dough forms. Use less or more flour as needed to create the dough.

 

3. Divide the dough into balls. Roll out each ball into a 1-inch wide rope. Cut each rope into 1/2 inch pieces. Roll the gnocchi over the tines of a fork.  Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. .

4. Drop the pieces into the boiling water, and allow them to cook until they float to the surface. Remove the floating pieces with a slotted spoon.

5. Serve with marinara, Alfredo or garlic butter sauce, top it with Parmesan cheese.

Pionono and Studio 5

I was super lucky to participate in a food segment at Studio 5, one of our favorite local shows here in Utah.  It was so fun to watch the different segments being recorded as I was setting up in the kitchen and to observe the dynamics of a TV show, very fascinating:)

I talked a little bit about Dulce de Leche and kind of showed (talked a bit much and run out of time) how to make "Pionono".

Pionono is a thin, airy cake that my Mom has been making forever, it's an amazing dessert that everyone that has tried it, cant get enough.  I feel like I'm kind of just giving away the family's most precious recipe ha! It's really that great...

It can be filled with the spread of you choice (Dulce de Leche is my favorite), rolled up and topped with chocolate, powdered sugar, fruit, etc, possibilities are endless.

It can also be used as a savory dish, you can spread chicken salad like filling and it works great as an appetizer.

Pionono recipe:

6 eggs

5 tablespoons of flour

5 tablespoons of sugar

A teaspoon of Vanilla

A pinch of salt  

1.     Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2.     Separate egg whites from yolks.  Put whites in a bowl and beat with electric mixer until hard peaks form. 
3.     Add sugar, flour and vanilla to the yolks and mix well.
4.     Fold the whites gently into the egg yolk mixture until blended.
5.     Spread batter evenly into the prepared cookie sheet. 
6.     Bake for 10-12 minutes until it is golden and starts to spring back to your touch. Do not over-bake, or it will be difficult to roll. 
7.     Loosen the edges of the cake by running a knife around them, then turn cake out onto a dish cloth and let it cool.  Spread Dulce de Leche (or any filling of your choice) and roll up the cake.
8.     Top it with melted semi-sweet chocolate chips and strawberries.

 Maria xo

Introducing one of our favorite things in the planet...DULCE DE LECHE

Dulce de Leche is a delicious creamy "sauce" from South America, it's similar to caramel but instead of having sugar and water for its main ingredients, it is made of sugar and milk that has been boiled and stirred for a very long period of time.

It is known by a few different names in different countries in South America like Manjar, Cajeta or Arequipe.  DdL is becoming more and more popular in the US, Haagen Daz and the Girl Scout's cookies use it, so it has to be good, right?  It is out there a little bit, but I feel like it is still a "hidden gem" and America hasn't truly discovered it yet 😂 you can find the Nestle brand at most grocery stores though:)

It serves as a main part of basically all desserts in Uruguay (where I am from)... it's so big there that it is a flavor of soft serve ice cream at Mc Donald's, it tastes amazing and you can get one for a quarter, I got so excited about it last time I went to UY on vacation that I had one every day!   

I later calculated that I ate 21 ice creams, twenty one!  No wonder...

It can be used in many different ways!

*I love to use it for breakfast as a spread on toast, filling in pastries, it also goes well with fruits like banana, peaches or strawberries.

*It pairs with crepes beautifully as a dessert called "Panqueques" (recipe coming up soon)

*Use it as a dip with pretzels, saltine crackers or as a replacement for PB in your kids lunches.

*It's is most famously use as an ingredient for every dessert, ice cream topping or as a filling for cakes

*Works wonderfully with chocolate, merengue and many fruits

*You can have a spoonful for those late night sweet cravings;)

Such a delicious affordable, versatile product!  A pantry must have!