June Jewels

Some favorite recipes for my favorite month!

1.

I should put a bit of a disclaimer on these. Although they are absolutely delicious, they do take about an hour and a half to make from start to finish. But, the finished empanadas freeze and reheat very well (400 degrees for about 30 minutes). And you can chunk the recipe into four separate parts - making the dough, making the filling, assembling the empanadas, and baking them -and you can refrigerate in between each step. Well worth the effort, in my opinion. Serve them with Chimichurri Sauce (recipe below).

Pork Empanadas (adapted from Everyday Food)

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

4 cups + 1 T. flour, divided

2 t. baking powder

Salt

2 t. dried thyme, divided

2 t. dried rubbed sage, divided

1 1/2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

1 cup ice water

1 medium potato, peeled and diced

2 T. extra virgin olive oil

1 onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, minced

1 lb. ground pork

1/4 cup raisins

1/4 cup pine nuts

1 T. sherry

1 T. red wine vinegar

Pepper

1 large egg

DIRECTIONS

1. Making the dough: In a food processor, pulse 4 cups flour, baking powder, 2 t. salt, 1 1/2 t. thyme, and 1 1/2 t. sage until combined. Add butter and pulse until only a few pea size pieces of butter remain. Slowly add ice water while pulsing until dough begins to form. Pour into a gallon size resealable plastic bag and form into a disk. Seal bag and refrigerate until ready to use.

2. Making the filling: Set a steamer basket in a pot with 2 inches of boiling water. Add potato, cover and cook about 10 minutes, until tender. Meanwhile, in a large skillet heat oil over medium heat. Add onion and garlic and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes. Raise heat to high and add pork, remaining 1/2 teaspoons of thyme and sage. Cook while stirring to break up meat, about 4 minutes or until no longer pink. Add remaining 1 tablespoon of flour and stir to coat. Add raisins and 1/4 cup water and cook about 1 minute until thickened. Stir in potato, pine nuts, sherry, red wine vinegar, 1 t. salt and 1/2 t. pepper.

3. Assembling the empanadas: Preheat the oven to 400 degrees with racks in the upper and lower thirds. On a floured surface, cut disk of dough into 8 equal wedges. With your hands, roll each dough wedge into a ball and then flatten with a rolling pin into a 6 inch circle. Place a scant 1/2 cup of filling in the center. Use a finger to moisten the edge of the dough with water. Fold dough in half over filling. Press edges to seal and crimp with a fork.

4. Baking the empanadas: Place empanadas on 2 parchment lined baking sheets. In a bowl, beat egg with 1 tablespoon of water. Brush over tops of empanadas. Bake until golden brown, about 40 minutes, rotating sheets halfway through. 

2.

I could literally drink this stuff! It's great as a dipping sauce for empanadas or on flank steak . I used it this week to brush over shrimp kabobs and they were fantastic (1/4 cup per pound of shrimp). 

Chimichurri Sauce (adapted from America's Test Kitchen) - GF, DF, V

Serves 6-8

INGREDIENTS

1/4 c. hot water

2 t. dried oregano

2 t. salt

1 1/3 c. loosely packed flat-leaf parsley leaves

2/3 c. loosely packed cilantro leaves

6 medium garlic cloves, minced

1/2 t. red pepper flakes

1/4 c. red wine vinegar

1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil

DIRECTIONS

Combine hot water, oregano, and salt in a liquid measuring cup and let sit 5 minutes. Pulse parsley, cilantro, garlic and red pepper in food processor for ten 1-second pulses. Add water mixture and vinegar and pulse briefly to combine. With food processor running, pour in olive oil . Transfer to airtight container and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour, or refrigerate up to 3 days and bring to room temperature before serving.

3.

This great summer drink reminds of my honeymoon in Aruba. Leave out the rum and your kiddos can enjoy it as well!

Rum Punch - GF, DF, V

INGREDIENTS

1 part light rum

2 parts cranberry juice

2 parts pineapple juice

3 parts ginger ale
Splash of lime juice
Lime slices for garnish (optional)

DIRECTIONS

Combine all ingredients and serve over ice.

4.

Nothing says summer like fresh ears of sweet corn. This chowder captures their flavor beautifully! The potatoes don't freeze especially well, but this makes such a big batch that I usually end up freezing half anyways to save for a gloomy winter day.

Corn Chowder (adapted from Cook's Country) - GF

Serves 8

INGREDIENTS

3 slices bacon, chopped fine

6 ears corn

1 onion, chopped

Salt

Pepper

24 oz. baby red potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 1/2 inch dice

2 (15 oz) cans whole kernel corn, drained

5 cups low sodium chicken broth, divided

1 cup heavy cream

4 scallions, sliced thin

DIRECTIONS

1. In a large pot, cook bacon over medium heat until crisp, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, cut kernels from ears of corn and reserve kernels and cobs separately. Remove bacon from pot with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel lined plate and reserve. 

2. Add corn kernels, onion, 1/2 t. salt and 1/4 t. pepper to the bacon fat and cook until vegetables are softened and golden brown, about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, puree canned corn and 2 cups of broth in a blender until smooth.

3. Add potatoes, corn puree, remaining 3 cups of broth, and reserved corn cobs to the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low and simmer until potatoes are tender, about 15 minutes. Discard cobs and stir in cream, scallions, reserved bacon and 1 t. salt.

5.

Light, moist, sweet, healthy. Everything I'm looking for in a muffin. And don't skip the lemon zest! It definitely makes the muffin!

Blueberry Muffins (adapted from Ellie Krieger) - V

Makes 18

INGREDIENTS

1 cup flour

1 cup whole wheat flour

2 t. baking powder

1/4 t. baking soda

1/2 t. salt

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup canola oil

2 large eggs

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

1/2 cup plain non-fat yogurt

1/4 cup nonfat milk

1 t. vanilla

Zest of 1 lemon

1 1/2 cups frozen blueberries

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line two 12-cup muffin tin with 18 paper liners. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. In a large bowl whisk together the sugar, canola oil and eggs until light and frothy. Then whisk in the applesauce, yogurt, milk, vanilla and lemon zest. With a rubber spatula, stir the dry ingredients into the wet until just combined. Rinse the blueberries in cold water several times until the water is noticeably lighter when you drain them. Dry the berries well with several layers of paper towels. Gently stir them into the batter. Use a large cookie scoop to portion batter into the muffin liners. Bake about 20 minutes until a wooden toothpick inserted into the center of one of the muffins comes out clean. Cool on a wire rack about 15 minutes.