Shredded Pork Empanadas

I am so excited for Cinco de Mayo that it's ridiculous.  I started dreaming about Cinco de Mayo before we even left our Mexican vacation, back in February.  I had imagined having a big party at our house for the 5th of May, but May is turning out to be a pretty busy month for us and I decided instead to just have our friends over for dinner.  I've got some pretty fun ideas in mind.   I'll be making shredded beef tacos with all the toppings.   Cilantro lime black beans and rice.  I'll be infusing some tequilas to make different margaritas, including a raspberry vanilla tequila that will be finished off with hibiscus flower juice.  And for dessert, Mexican hot chocolate ice cream.

I thought we'd start the evening off with some cervesas, chips and salsa and some fresh guacamole. I think I'll add these pork empanadas to the list, too.  We had these at the first dinner we went to in Mexico.  They were filled only with mozzarella and pumpkin flower.  They were delicious.  I was surprised that they used mozzarella and not a Mexican queso, but the chef assured me it was mozzarella.  Whatever, it was awesome.

I made these on a whim one night when we'd first returned from vacation.  Originally, I was going to make them vegetarian, with just cheese.  I could not find pumpkin flowers so I was going to do them without.  That was when I decided I may as well use some leftover shredded pork I had.  They were incredible!  I used the pork carnita recipe from Gina's Skinny Taste, which my family loves!   And wrapped inside tender, flaky pastry with creamy, melted cheese - I dare say it's even better!  (Although not as skinny as Gina had intended.  Whoops!)

Serve them with some sour cream, pickled red onions and salsa verde and you have a fantastic appetizer for a party.  Or just have a few with a little additional shredded pork and a side salad, and you've got a great small meal.

Shredded Pork Empanadas
Pork Carnita recipe adapted from Gina's Skinny Taste 

For the shredded pork:
1 pork tenderloin, approximately 1.25 pounds
6 cloves of garlic
cumin
dry adobo seasoning
garlic powder
3.4 cup fat free chicken broth
2-3 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

Season pork with salt and pepper.  In a medium saute pan on medium high, brown the pork on all sides.  Remove from eat and allow to cool.

Using a sharp knife, insert blade into pork, cutting small holes and insert garlic cloves.  Season pork all over with cumin, adobo and garlic powder.

Pour chicken broth into the crockpot and add chipotle peppers.  Place the tenderloin in the crock pot and cover.  Cook on low for 8 hours.  After 8 hours, shred the pork using two forks and mix with the juices in the crock pot.  Taste for seasoning and add more salt, pepper or cumin if needed.  Let cool.

*I usually make this as tacos and have about half left over, which I freeze to use at a later date.  I defrosted some of my reserved shredded pork for these empanadas.

For the empanadas: 
1 package frozen pre-made empanada disks, defrosted**
1.5 cups Mexican shredded pork carnita
1 ball of fresh mozzarella, sliced into small pieces
1 egg, whisked for wash
pickled red onions, salsa verde and sour cream for garnish

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Place an empanada disk on the counter and place a slice of mozzarella on one half of the disk.  Be sure the cheese is small enough to leave room around the edge to crimp the dough closed.   Place a teaspoon of carnita on top, fold the dough over and crimp dough closed.  Place each empanda on a cookie sheet about 1" apart from each other.  Brush with egg and bake for 20-25 minutes, until browned.

Serve with pickled red onions, salsa verde and sour cream.

**I used pre-made disks in this dish because my first attempt at empanadas left me with tough pastry, and undesirable empanadas.  I didn't want to run the risk again, so I took this lovely short cut.
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Grapefruit Margarita

Since our return from Mexico, I have not been able to get enough of Mexican flavors.  The last month or so, I've been trying to give my husband a little break from it, though.   Cinco de Mayo is little over a week away and I know I may just go overboard.   I'm very excited that it falls on the weekend this year!

A few weeks ago, I made these grapefruit margaritas and since then, I've made them a few more times.  I love grapefruit juice, and I love grapefruit cocktails.  But I think this one is my favorite.  Tart and tangy, with just a tiny hint of sweetness. Perfect for a margarita and perfect paired with spicy food, if you ask me.

I won't say that this is my favorite margarita, though.  I had so many different types in Mexico, and for Cinco de Mayo, I am excited to try to recreate some of them.  My favorite was a hibiscus juice margarita with lime.  But since most supermarkets don't carry hibiscus juice, this is a much more accessible play on the classic margarita.

Grapefruit Margarita


Juice of 2 grapefruit, about 1 cup
Juice of 3 limes, about 1/2 cup
1/2 cup triple sec or Cointreau
1 cup tequila of choice, I used a Resposado
ice
extra lime wedges kosher salt

Pour the juices, triple sec and tequila into a shaker over the ice.  Shake well.  Pour into four prepared margarita glasses, rimmed with lime and kosher salt.  Enjoy responsibly.


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Orzo Caprese Salad

Some nights, we have sandwich nights.  I have a love/hate relationship with sandwich nights, because I struggle with what to serve for a side.   Most of the time I will do some kind of salad, whether it be a garden salad or my favorite cous cous salad.  I am not a big fan of pasta salad, potato salad or cole slaw.

Now if Nico had his way, we'd have chips.  But if we are going to just have sandwiches, I have to sneak a vegetable in somewhere.   Well last week, I did't have a clue what to make, so I raided the fridge and ended up with this orzo caprese salad.

The kids liked it because they always like tiny pasta shapes.   And mozzarella and tomatoes always goes over well in my house.   It is a simple dish, yes.  But a quick and easy side dish for the summer months.   It would be a great addition to your next backyard BBQ as a large batch can be made as easily as a small batch can.   This recipe was enough for us to have for dinner and I had a little left over for my lunch the next day.

Orzo Caprese Salad
2 cups low sodium chicken broth
1 cup orzo
1/2 pint cherry tomatoes
1 cup bocconcini (mozzarella balls)
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons basil leaves, chopped
salt and pepper to taste

Bring the chicken broth to a boil over medium high heat.  Add the orzo and cook until al dente, about 8 minutes.  Drain and set aside to cool.  (Tip: lay the orzo flat on a cookie sheet while you prepare the rest of the ingredients and it will cool faster.)

Prepare the tomatoes and mozzarella. If they are too large for bite size, quarter them.  Place them in a bowl, add the orzo, olive oil, basil, salt and pepper and toss to combine.   Serve room temperature or chilled.

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Broccoli Bites

I made these tonight and I could not wait to share the recipe.  For one thing, everyone loved them.  Evie, my four year old daughter said, "This is the best dinner ever, mommy.  You should make this every day." Win!

They are delicious.  Even though it's not a pure vegetable and its all mixed up with eggs and two kinds of cheeses.  But once in a while it's ok to have some fun with your vegetables.  I found this recipe over the weekend when I was writing my menu.  Since my kids have been open to vegetable bites in the past, I thought this could work, and I was right.

I am not 100% certain but I think this is Paleo friendly.  I sort of fell into a wormhole this weekend reading about the Paleo diet (and I am almost convinced to start doing this with my family, if only I can convince my husband.  He is not on board at all). I found this recipe in my reading.  In lieu of regular flour, it uses almond flour.  If you wanted, you could substitute all purpose flour, but I had almond flour so I used it.  I figured while I was getting my kids to eat their vegetables, I'd sneak in a little extra protein and fiber with the almonds.

The original recipe called for a maple dipping sauce that I did not make.  That sounded a little strange to me so I skipped it.  These didn't need any dippers.  So good as they were.  I can't wait for lunch tomorrow!

Broccoli Bites
adapted from Food Renegade
1 lb broccoli, about 3 crowns
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup shredded parmesan cheese
3 eggs, whisked
1 cup almond flour
salt and pepper, to taste

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F.  Cut the broccoli flours from the stems and put in a food processor.  Pulse until well chopped.   Transfer to a large bowl and add the rest of the ingredients.   Mix well.

Scoop mixture into a mini muffin pan.  (If not non-stick, spray with cooking spray first.) Bake for 25-30 minutes, until browned.  Serve immediately.
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Taco Stuffed Shells

Since discovering Pinterest, I've made a lot of the recipes I've pinned.  I've had some definite hits.  And there have been several Pinterest fails, as well.   This one was a home run. 

Taco stuffed shells is something I pinned early into my pinterest craze.  When I was making it the other night, I was a little worried about it.  As a back up, in case it was not something I wanted to serve my family, I had regular taco shells on hand.  So glad I didn't use them! 

While it's pretty standard to a regular taco, there are more differences than just "pasta shell instead of corn tortilla".  Cream cheese is added to the filling.  Which was awesome.  In addition to the taco filling, salsa and cheese, I also love shredded lettuce and fresh tomatoes in my regular tacos.  Since I couldn't bake those, I made them the base underneath my shells.  

I usually try not to make a special meal for my kids.  Usually, they have to at least try what we are having.  I do make exceptions, however.  And this time they didn't eat what we did.  In a rush, I bought a (low-sodium) taco seasoning packet at the grocery store, instead of making my own seasoning, and it was super spicy.  They have had tacos when I make my own seasoning and it's never been a problem.

This was an awesome recipe to be able to put together in a snap.   As a matter of fact, I even had the shells already cooked.  When I made the Tuna Stuffed Shells, I only needed half the box.  But I cooked the entire box and froze the half I didn't use.  Just lay the shells out flat on a sheet pan, so they don't stick together.  Put them in the freezer and when they are frozen, transfer them to a zip top bag.  When you need them, just run them under hot water.  This works with all pastas!

Nico and I loved this.  Such a simple change of pace from our usual taco night routine, and it was like an entirely different meal.

Taco Stuffed Shells
from The Way To His Heart

1 lb ground beef (or turkey or chicken)
1 package low sodium taco seasoning
4 oz cream cheese
14 cooked jumbo pasta shells
1 jar salsa
1 cup taco sauce
2 cups shredded cheese, taco blend
3 green onions, diced
sour cream, diced tomato, and shredded lettuce for garnish

Preheat oven 350 degrees F.

In a large sauté pan over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef.  Add the taco seasoning (and water if required), stirring to combine.   Add cream cheese, and stir until cheese has melted and is fully incorporated.

Pour salsa on the bottom of a 9x13 baking dish.  Stuff each of the shells with the taco filling.  Place each shell, open side up in the pan.  Cover shells with taco sauce.  Cover with foil and bake for 30 minutes.  Remove foil, add shredded cheese and bake uncovered for 10 minutes.   Allow to sit for 10 minutes before serving.
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Lemon Scented Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Curd Filling

I am ridiculously in love with lemon.  I would love to have a lemon tree in my back yard.  I always have fresh lemons in my kitchen for cooking and cleaning.   When my best friend and I started to plan our Easter dinner, everything I offered to bring to her house had lemon in it.  Lemon zested green beans.  Limoncello Champagne Cocktails.  But I hand't decided what to make for dessert yet.

Then on Tuesday before Easter, I made a cake.  This cake.  I had never had olive oil cake before.  I knew it was a thing, but there was something about it that made me nervous.  But I had some lemon curd and really wanted to do a light airy lemon cake, but didn't want to do an angel food cake.  And as soon as I ate it, I knew I had to make it again for Easter.

When I found this recipe, I didn't read the recipe all the way through.  I read the reviews.  It had great reviews.  And I got to skip two steps: making the lemon curd (because I already had it) and making the whipped topping (because I didn't want it).  But I somehow managed to skim over the fact that it was an olive oil cake, until 6am on Tuesday when I started making it.   Had I known that, I might have picked up the extra light tasting Bertoli olive oil.   But all I had on hand was this lovely olive oil that a friend of mine brought me from Madrid.  Light is not a word I would use to describe it.  It's a very olive-y tasting olive oil, whereas I usually like a butter-y tasting olive oil.

I threw my fears aside (I even thought about substituting the olive oil for canola oil) and used the darkish, green-ish, strong smelling olive oil.   As I was mixing the batter, all I could smell was olive oil.  At 6 in the morning.  Nervous doesn't begin to describe what I was feeling.  But, oh my!, when it came out of the oven, it smelled like heaven.

I made my Tuesday cake in the spring form pan that epicurious had recommended.  The batter filled the pan 3/4 of the way and puffed 2-3 inches above the top of the pan when baked.  When I un-molded the spring form pan, I caught a few crumbs and it was so delicious. It was all I could do to wait until it cooled to slice it, fill it, and frost it.  On Sunday, I decided to make the cake in 6" cake pans.  I worried about it not having the spring form release, but it came out of the pan like a charm.   I also broke the batter into 4 pans instead of baking it in one pan like I did on Tuesday.   Both methods worked fine, but I do wish I would have baked the cake a few minutes less on Sunday.  I thought it was ever so slightly tougher on Sunday.

On Tuesday, I did frost the cake.  I made a light lemon flavored whipped cream frosting.  I had some issues with the frosting on Sunday, so I just dusted the stacked cakes with powdered sugar and served the whipped cream on the side.

This cake is lemon perfection.  The crumb on it was perfect.  It was dense and moist without being heavy.  There was only a hint of olive oil.  I could almost give up chocolate cake, entirely. 

Lemon Scented Olive Oil Cake with Lemon Curd Filling

cake recipe adapted from epicurious

curd recipe courtesy of Joy of Baking

For the cake:

2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

5 large eggs, separated

3/4 cup sugar, divided

3/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon grated lemon zest

3 tablespoons lemon juice (this took 1.5 lemons for me)

1 cup cake flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

Adjust the oven rack to the middle position. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.  

Brush all sides of a spring form pan with melted butter.  Line the bottom of the pan with a round of parchment paper, then brush the pan and parchment again with the butter.  Allow to chill 2 minutes to set.   Dust with flour and knock out the excess. 

Beat the yolks and 1/2 cup of sugar in a large bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until the yolks are pale and thick.   At medium speed, beat in olive oil, lemon zest and lemon juice until combined.  Stir in the flour and mix on low until combined. 

With clean beaters, in a large clean bowl, beat the whites and salt on medium high speed until foamy.  Add the remaining sugar and continue to beat until the whites hold a soft peak.  Gently fold 1/3 of the whites into the yolk mixture to lighten it.  Then fold in the remaining whites gently until thoroughly combined.  Transfer batter to prepared pan, smooth the top, and rap on the counter to eliminate air bubbles.  Bake until golden brown and a wooden pick comes out clean when inserted in the center, 40-50 minutes.   Cool in pan on a rack for 10 minutes, then remove the sides of the pan and cool 1 hour.  The top in cave a little. 

For the lemon curd:

3 large eggs

3/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup fresh lemon juice (2-3 fresh lemons)

4 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature

1 tablespoon finely grated lemon zest

In a stainless steel bowl placed over a saucepan of simmering water, whisk the eggs, sugar and lemon juice until blended.  Cook, stirring constantly, until the mixture becomes thick.  This will take approximately 10 minutes.  Remove from heat and immediately pour through a fine mesh strainer.  Cute the butter into small pieces and whisk into the mixture until the butter has melted.  Stir in the lemon zest and let cool.  The lemon curd will begin to thicken as it cools.  Cover immediately and refrigerate for up to one week. 

To assemble the cake:

Invert the cake and discard the parchment paper.  Cut the cake horizontally in 2 or 3 even layers (I chose to do 2) with a long serrated knife.  Transfer one layer, cut side up to a cake plate.  Whisk the lemon curd to loosen it, then spread it some filling over the top of the layer.  Top with remaining cake layer, cut side down.   Dust with powdered sugar and serve with whipped cream. 

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Pasta alla Norcina

I don't know what my draw is to sausage pastas.  Whenever I see a recipe combining the two ingredients, I can't make it soon enough.  But this one add mushrooms, too.  I've made this dish twice now and every single person in my family loves it.  

This week was kind of a weird week for me, too.  I was helping my best friend out this week and watching her kids during the day.  So I had four kids under age 5 all week.  I purposely planned for easy dinners this week since I didn't know how much time I'd be allotted for dinner each day.  This dish fit in there perfectly.  

I like this dish with a fun pasta shape.  It would work well with penne or bowties, as opposed to a string pasta.  But really, you would use whatever you like best.  The spicy sausage, earthy mushrooms and light creamy sauce, it's almost everything I love in a pasta dish.   I topped it off with some fresh herbs and grated parmesan, served it with a salad and a glass of wine.  (Remember, I had 4 kids under 5?  Yeah, I served this with wine.)

Pasta alla Norcina
adapted from Recipes from the Italian Cuisine

1/2 box of pasta of choice
1 lb mild Italian sausage (casings removed)
1 small onion, finely diced
8 ounces fresh mushrooms, cleaned and sliced
1 teaspoon minced garlic
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup white wine
salt and pepper
1 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup chopped fresh herbs (I used parsley, chives and basil)
1/4 cup fresh grated parmesan cheese

Bring a large pot of water to a boil, add salt and pasta of choice.  Cook until al dente and drain, reserving 1 cup of cooking liquid.

While pasta is cooking, in a large sauté pan, over medium high heat, cook the sausage until no longer pink, breaking it up with the spoon as it cooks.  Once browned, add the olive oil and onions.  Cook until the onions are softened, about 5 minutes, then add mushrooms.  Continue to cook until mushrooms give up their liquids, add the garlic and cook for another minute or two.

Add the white wine and simmer uncovered until the wine is reduced by half.   Add cream, season with salt and pepper and continue to cook until the sauce has thickened.   Toss with cooked pasta.   Add some of the reserved pasta water if the sauce seems to thick.  

Top with grated parmesan and chopped herbs.

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