Pork, Kapusta, potatoes and beetroot salad

Last night I finally decided to use the rest of the ingredients I got from the Polish supermarket the day I bought the herrings and ogórki for my other recipe. This time, I had to do some cooking, but the result was worth it.

I think this makes a great lunch or big dinner...

Ingredients (3 portions)

300 gr. of chopped pork meat

300 gr. of kapusta

1 teaspoon of sugar (optional)

1/3 red bell pepper

1 teaspoon of mustard

3 tablespoons of butter

5 small potatoes

200 gr. of beetroot salad (grated beetroots with a little vinegar and a touch of salt)

Directions

Cut the potatoes in thick slices and put the in hot water. I don't peel them but you can, if you want to.

While they cook, chop the pepper and cook it in 2/3 of the butter on medium heat.

After 4 or 5 minutes, add the pork meat, chopped in small pieces (the size of a dice).

Add the mustard and move frequently.

Cook until it's light brown.

Add the kapusta to the pork meat, stir and cook for 15 minutes on medium heat. If you find it a bit sour, add a teaspoon of sugar (some store-bought kapusta is milder, which works better for this recipe).

While the meat with kapusta is cooking, check the potatoes and remove them from the heat when they are done. Strain and add the remaining 1/3 of the butter. Mash the potatoes. Add a bit of salt.

Serve a portion of mash potatoes, a portion of pork with kapusta and two scoops of beetroot salad. You can always make just one part of this recipe, but I think it works better as a combo, because the salad is sweet and balances the acidity of the kapusta, and regarding the potatoes, well, they are just nice.

Tropical style tomato snack

This recipe starts similar to the Italian tomato snack, but the taste is very different and fresh. The mix of ingredients is typical South American, but not very hard to find (the trickiest one was the cheese, but now that I contacted the guys from Queso Blanco Dublin, I have that craving covered).

By the way, when picking an avocado, make sure it's not too firm (that means it's still unripe), not too mushy (too ripe, usable for guacamole, maybe). If you shake it and the stone moves a bit, it's a good sign.

Ingredients (for 15 pieces)

15 crackers (you can use tortillas or nachos for a Mexican touch)

3 tomatoes

150 gr. of grated queso blanco

4 tablespoons of sour cream
1/2 avocado

Directions
Spread the sour cream on the crackers.

Add the tomato (sliced or chopped, as you prefer).

Add a couple of pieces of avocado (if it's very ripe, you can mash it and add it with a piping bag).

Complete with the grated cheese on top of everything. You may add a bit of salt as well.

Serve cold.

Italian inspired tomato snack

I already posted recipes with Polish and Venezuelan inspiration, and even thought I have published an easy Bolognese sauce, I still feel I wanted to dedicate a post to my other great influence and side of the family: Italian. 

This one is extremely easy and, if you are in a rush, you don't even have to cook it (although I prefer to).

Ingredients (for a dozen)

12 crackers (slices of toasted bread will make a great substitute)

3 small tomatoes

1/2 bell pepper

5 olives (I like green olives but black olives are OK)

4 garlic cloves

Olive oil to taste

Parmesan or Italian style hard cheese to taste (the second cost way less but the real deal is worth the difference)

Directions

Preheat the oven to medium-high temperature.

Pour a bit of olive oil on top of the crackers.

Finely chop the garlic cloves, add on top of the crackers and then add pieces of sliced tomato.

Add a few stripes of bell pepper.

Finely chop the olives (remove the seed) and add on top of everything.

Grate cheese on top and add more olive oil.

Heat in the oven for 10-15 minutes, until the cheese melts, the crackers toast and the tomatoes dry a bit.

Tips: 

• As I said before, you can use bread instead. 
• If you don't have fresh tomatoes, you can use tomato sauce. 
• This same combination makes a very nice sandwich, especially if you add a slice of white cheese.

Empanadas with queso blanco, Venezuelan style

I've already gave up to my Polish food craving the other day and it proved to be very easy to find the ingredients in Dublin. Now I want to show you how to make empanadas de queso, a recipe from Venezuela, my country of origin, that I haven't had the chance to make because I couldn't find the right cheese.

You'll see, even though I loooove the many types of cheeses you can find here in the supermarket; the fresh, semi-hard, salty cheese from Venezuela that I used to take for granted seemed to be non-existent in the emerald island. That was, until I met the guys from Queso Blanco Dublin the other day. A small group of young Venezuelans that decided to make the type of cheese not only missed by their countrymen, but by lots of South Americans as well, because with one name or another, this ingredient appears in many Latin  American cuisines.

So, I contacted them through their Facebook and we agree to met by Saint Stephen's Green for the delivery. The guys were punctual and friendly and with a price of 10 euros per kilo, I think it's good value for artisan cheese. 

Before I move on to the recipe, I want to talk about the cheese: it was definitely fresh, and with a good level of salt. A bit on the softer side, but hard enough to grate it comfortably. The most similar thing I've had encountered here before was mozzarella balls, but they are too watery for empanadas and you'll see why...

Ingredients (4 empanadas)

250 gr. cornmeal (you can find it in many international food shops in City Centre

500 ml of water

1 teaspoon of salt

200 gr of queso blanco (white cheese)

4 tablespoons of oil (for the dough)

Enough oil to fry them

Directions

Put the cornmeal in a bowl. Add the salt, mix and add half the water. 

Add the oil and mix everything, we normally do it with our (very clean) hands.

Knead the dough and add the rest of the water gradually. When it feels like Playdough, it's ready (if it's too crumbly, add more water and oil, if it's too wet, add more flour). 

Divide the dough in four pieces the size of a small orange.

Put on ball of dough on a silicon mat (or a cutting board covered with plastic film), and press with your fingers until you get a 0,5 cm thick circle. You can use a dough roll if you prefer but it's not necessary. 

Put one quarter of the cheese on one side of the circle. Avoid covering the borders because you'll need them clean to close the empanada properly.

Carefully, fold the circle in half, without pressing the centre. Press very gently on the borders and uncover. You'll get a moon-shaped empanada.

Make sure the borders are well closed (if they're not, the water from the cheese will get out and when it touches the hot oil, it will be very dangerous).

Sometimes I use a plate as a cutter just to perfect the shape but this is optional. Repeat with all the empanadas. You can spread a bit of oil on the mat or plastic film so it's easier to fold the empanadas.

Pour enough oil in a pan, so it can cover at least half the empanada. Use medium-high flame, if it's too hot they'll burn outside and won't cook inside. If it's too low, they will cook very slowly and absorb too much oil. Fry the first side of the empanada. 

When the sides are getting golden, you can flip it. Be very gently, because if you squeeze them, the juice from the cheese will come out to the hot oil and you may get burned.

You can let them rest in absorbent paper before serving, most people do that, but I prefer not to.

Eat them hot.

Tips: If you don't find queso blanco, a firm type of mozzarella will be a decent substitute. Just add a bit of salt to it.

You can make empanadas with chicken, meat and even fish. 

You can make mini-empanadas and serve as finger food.