That's was my dinner at the Festival of Nations, bought at the Colombian
café.

Has anyone made arepas? What's the customary white cheese in the middle?

How about corn empanadas? Meat-filled but yellow crust; deep fried.

Yowzah, was that some good! I'm thinking I'll have the arepa again
tomorrow. OK, maybe I'll have the whole thing again tomorrow.
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor
4/23/2008 The rains fall on the just and the unjust alike; sometimes
our umbrellas are not wide enough to keep us dry.

On 2008-05-04, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

> How about corn empanadas? Meat-filled but yellow crust; deep fried.

Empenadas ....both meat and dessert... are flour crust.

nb

On May 3, 10:27*pm, Melba's Jammin' >
wrote:
> That's was my dinner at the Festival of Nations, bought at the Colombian
> café.
>
> Has anyone made arepas? *What's the customary white cheese in the middle?

I've eaten them, never made them, but I don't think there are any
complications to it. Mozzarella is the most likely available cheese.
I gather that in the region it would be whatever white farmer's cheese
was made in the neighborhood. And they're good without cheese, too.
>
> How about corn empanadas? *Meat-filled but yellow crust; deep fried.
>
Yellow from corn and also from egg wash, probably. Further south down
the Andes they can be either fried or baked; don't know about
Colombia.

> Yowzah, was that some good! *I'm thinking I'll have the arepa again
> tomorrow. *OK, maybe I'll have the whole thing again tomorrow.

What other countries' foods are offered at this festival? Aside from
Mexican, we like Chilean things a lot. If they have something called
"pastel de choclo" you'd flip. -aem

In article >,
Melba's Jammin' > wrote:

> That's was my dinner at the Festival of Nations, bought at the Colombian
> café.
>
> Has anyone made arepas? What's the customary white cheese in the middle?
>
> How about corn empanadas? Meat-filled but yellow crust; deep fried.
>
> Yowzah, was that some good! I'm thinking I'll have the arepa again
> tomorrow. OK, maybe I'll have the whole thing again tomorrow.

There's a Venezuelan restaurant near where I work that serves arepas,
empanadas, and other Venezuelan foods. I haven't had the empanadas yet,
but they have different types of arepas. I don't recall trying an arepa
with cheese in it, the kind I usually get come stuffed with a meat
mixture sort of like pulled pork. They are very good.

In article >,
notbob > wrote:

> On 2008-05-04, Melba's Jammin' > wrote:
>
> > How about corn empanadas? Meat-filled but yellow crust; deep fried.
>
> Empenadas ....both meat and dessert... are flour crust.
>
> nb

These were different from what I know (which isn't saying a lot * but
I'm tellin' ya they were golden yellow, meat-filled, and the crust was
crisp).
--
-Barb, Mother Superior, HOSSSPoJ
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/amytaylor
4/23/2008 The rains fall on the just and the unjust alike; sometimes
our umbrellas are not wide enough to keep us dry.

One of my neighbors was Ligia Giles, they call her the "Empanada Lady".
She owned a restaurant, retired, and now she cooks at specialty events,
like the Texas Renassaince Festival.

Here are a couple of her recipes that I posted in 1999. There is also a
link about Ligia.

http://www.outriderbooks.com/TexasRe...eFestival.html

Becca

Newsgroups: rec.food.cooking
From: Becca >
Date: 1999/09/04
Subject: REQEUST: Columbian meat pies?


Beef Empanadas

2 pounds beef sirloin or round, ground
1/2 cup diced onion
1 tablespoon each: paprika, black pepper, ground
cumin (comino seeds), granulated garlic and
salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 pound peeled, cubed, cooked potatoes (optional)
1/2 cup cooked English peas (can use frozen peas)
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup black Greek olives (optional)
Pastry (recipe follows)

Brown meat and onion in large skillet, stirring constantly. Add
paprika, pepper, cumin, garlic, salt and sugar. Mix in
potatoes, peas, raisins and olives. Place about 2 tablespoons
meat filling on each pastry circle to within 1/2-inch of edge.
Moisten the dough slightly with water, fold the empanada in half
to form a crescent and press edges together with fork tines.
Bake or deep-fry empanadas . To bake, place empanadas on a
greased baking sheet and bake at 375 degrees until golden brown,
about 10 minutes.
To deep-dry, drop into 350 degree fat and fry until golden
brown. Be sure oil is maintained at 350 degrees. Remove from pan
and drain on paper towels. Makes 15 large or 30 small empanadas .

Empanada Pastry

4 cups all-purpose flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 tablespoons sugar
2 teaspoons salt
1/2 cup solid all-vegetable shortening
1 1/4 cups lukewarm water

In medium bowl, lightly stir together flour, baking powder,
sugar and salt. Cut in shortening with pastry blender or two
knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Mix in water, a
little at a time. Shape dough into a large ball; divide into
equal pieces (15 large or 30 small) and carefully shape into
balls. Roll each ball into a thin circle. Add filling and cook
as desired.

Banana Empanadas

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
8 ripe bananas, sliced
Pastry
1/2 cup powdered sugar

Mix granulated sugar and cinnamon. Add bananas and toss to coat.
Place 1 tablespoon mixture (for small empanadas ) or 2
tablespoons filling (for large) in the center of each circle to
within 1/4-inch of edge. Moisten the edge with water. Fold
empanada in half to form a crescent; press edges together with a
fork. Deep-fry in 350-degrees oil until golden brown. Sift
powdered sugar on top. Serve hot.

Becca wrote:

>
> Beef Empanadas

I bought the stuff for this today. I got currants instead of
raisins, just because I saw currants and they looked good. I'll
report back after dinner. Thanks for posting this!

I've been in the mood for empanadas for weeks, which is strange
because I've never had them. We went to the local restaurant that
serves them yesterday to get me some, but they're closed on Mondays
and Tuesdays, so I guess I'm just gonna have to make 'em my own self.

Serene

Serene wrote:
> Becca wrote:
>
>> Beef Empanadas
>
> I bought the stuff for this today. I got currants instead of
> raisins, just because I saw currants and they looked good. I'll
> report back after dinner. Thanks for posting this!

I made a lot of changes in the filling (less beef, chutney instead
of currants and sugar, more olives and potatoes, no yucky cumin),
but I did the dough exactly as the recipe said (but halved).
They're pretty good, baked. I may try frying them next time. Thanks
again, Becca.

Serene

Serene wrote:
> Serene wrote:
>> Becca wrote:
>>
>>> Beef Empanadas
>>
>> I bought the stuff for this today. I got currants instead of raisins,
>> just because I saw currants and they looked good. I'll report back
>> after dinner. Thanks for posting this!
>
> I made a lot of changes in the filling (less beef, chutney instead of
> currants and sugar, more olives and potatoes, no yucky cumin), but I did
> the dough exactly as the recipe said (but halved). They're pretty good,
> baked. I may try frying them next time. Thanks again, Becca.
>
> Serene

Sounds like you made some good changes in the recipe. I am glad you
enjoyed it.

Becca

Becca wrote:
> Serene wrote:
>> Serene wrote:
>>> Becca wrote:
>>>
>>>> Beef Empanadas
>>> I bought the stuff for this today. I got currants instead of raisins,
>>> just because I saw currants and they looked good. I'll report back
>>> after dinner. Thanks for posting this!
>> I made a lot of changes in the filling (less beef, chutney instead of
>> currants and sugar, more olives and potatoes, no yucky cumin), but I did
>> the dough exactly as the recipe said (but halved). They're pretty good,
>> baked. I may try frying them next time. Thanks again, Becca.

>
> Sounds like you made some good changes in the recipe. I am glad you
> enjoyed it.

Made them again last night. :-) I used a little bit of cumin this
time, and some chili powder, and I used the currants I'd forgotten
the previous time. This time, too, I made the crust with cold
water, wondering if it would be flakier. It wasn't, and it was
harder to deal with, so I'll stick with the dough recipe as written
from now on. :-)

Serene

Serene wrote:
> Becca wrote:
>> Serene wrote:
>>> Serene wrote:
>>>> Becca wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Beef Empanadas
>>>> I bought the stuff for this today. I got currants instead of raisins,
>>>> just because I saw currants and they looked good. I'll report back
>>>> after dinner. Thanks for posting this!
>>> I made a lot of changes in the filling (less beef, chutney instead of
>>> currants and sugar, more olives and potatoes, no yucky cumin), but I did
>>> the dough exactly as the recipe said (but halved). They're pretty good,
>>> baked. I may try frying them next time. Thanks again, Becca.
>
>> Sounds like you made some good changes in the recipe. I am glad you
>> enjoyed it.
>
> Made them again last night. :-) I used a little bit of cumin this
> time, and some chili powder, and I used the currants I'd forgotten
> the previous time. This time, too, I made the crust with cold
> water, wondering if it would be flakier. It wasn't, and it was
> harder to deal with, so I'll stick with the dough recipe as written
> from now on. :-)

Fried the ones I put in the freezer (uncooked) last time. Uh-oh. I'm
gonna have to make these less often, because I'm gonna insist on
frying them from now on. They're way yummy fried.

Serene