September Daring Bakers Challenge - Empanada Gallega

Blog checking lines: Patri of the blog, Asi Son Los Cosas, was our September 2012 Daring Bakers’ hostess and she decided to tempt us with one of her family’s favorite recipes for Empanadas! We were given two dough recipes to choose from and encouraged to fill our Empanadas as creatively as we wished!

This time, the first part of the post will be in English, and then I'll change into Spanish... just fair for you DB guys!

I am deeply honored to have been asked to be your hostess for this month's challenge. I have been a member of the DK since October 2009, so that's almost three years now!

Thanks to that (well, to you guys!) I have cooked a lot, learned a lot, and pulled my hair quite a few times because whatever I was concocting wasn't the way it ought to be. The challenges I have liked best are the ones that let your imagination fly and give you the basis to build something of your own. That's why I picked empanada. And because of this little story.

My grandparents lived in a country house that my great-grandfather built a hundred years ago. It is in the northwest of Spain, right on top of Portugal, in the region called Galicia. Back in the 70s, the kitchen was the place of gathering, talking, reading… and there was always something cooking on the iron stove, be it a pot of caldo (a hearty soup), or a stew or a cake in the oven. When I think back to those days, I can smell the sweetness of burnt wood or coal, the almost “chocolate” scent that rose up to your nostrils when you opened the door, the warmth of the air when coming in from a cool, windy and wet August morning…

In that kitchen I used to step on my great-grandmother’s toes when I wanted to give her a kiss. There, my uncle Pepe taught me to fry eggs and potatoes. And that’s where I learned to make empanada from my grandma Carmen. She left us almost four years ago, but she stays with me in my heart... and in my kitchen :)

Empanada is the kind of food that makes one go back to childhood. A bread-like dough that surrounds a vegetable frittata with anything you can imagine, from sardines to beef. Or filled with sugar, butter and fruit. Warm or cold, it was simple, pretty, and delicious.

And what I've seen in the forums for the challenge is exactly that: delicious. The fillings you've come up with are so varied (from vegan to meaty, from light to hearty, fresh fruits or jams). And more: some of you guys are artists! The decorations are so pretty it is a pitty to cut into them! Here is a link to ALL your creations!

Not only have I had fun preparing the challenge, hosting it has also been a moment of fun learning. I never cease to be amazed with you. THANKS DBers!

Here is the link to the recipes, both for doughs and for fillings, and here are some pictures of the empanadas I made while preparing the challenge:



Ground meat empanada I made for my birthday picnic



Marinated pork loin and red bell-pepper empanada, also for the picnic

 

Bacalao con pasas empanada, good picnic stuff!

What the pork loin and pepper empanada looks like inside

Ham and cheese empanada, plain, simple, and yummy!

Caballa corn flour empanada (not very pretty, but SOOOOOO good!)

The empanada I made for my brother in law's birthday, in my grandma's oven.

I'll be visiting your blogs during the next few days, because there are a LOT of them :-)