Griggs Empanadas

One of the recipes in Mrs. Griggs cookbook that I've been wanting to try is the empanadas; it's one of the many dishes from Griggs Family Restaurant that I miss on a regular basis.  Mincemeat empanadas were the perfect dessert after a plate of red enchiladas. Today seemed like a good day to try my hand at it.

You can see from the recipe that it's simple enough, in fact, sparse in the instructions, but I like the economy.  If you don't have a jar of mincemeat and have instead, as I did, a box of the kind that needs to be reconstituted, you ought to do that first.  Then:

Mix 2 cups of flour,  1 tsp. salt and 2 tsp. baking powder by sifting it together.   Cut in 2 tablespoons of "shortening" which I took to mean Crisco into the flour.   Then the recipe says, "Add only enough milk to make a medium dough."

Well.  Hmmm.  I thought about that, and decided 1/2 cup of milk would probably work,  and luckily I was right.  I wrapped the dough in plastic wrap and went out for a while to play with the pup.

About 30 minutes later I rolled it out, as instructed, very thin.  This is important!  I found out why when I fried them.



She said to cut them in circles 3-4 inches in diameter.  I found a saucer that seemed about right, and cut 5 out of the first rolling.  Then I took the scraps and rolled it out again for 2 more, so I had seven in all.  I think if I had rolled it just a little bit thinner I could have done 8.

 When you fill them, paint some water on half of the inside edge and put a tablespoonful of filling in it.  Close it up by pressing the edges together and then crimp the edge with a fork.
Do not poke any vent holes in the crust, you don't want the filling leaking out into the hot fat.

Yes,  I said fat!  Mrs. Griggs says fat, which I take to mean lard, and that's what I used.  And I learned something about frying in lard.  First of all, it makes a beautiful brown crust, and two, it cooks really, really fast.  This isn't like frying chicken, where you can toss in the chicken and turn away for a couple of minutes.  This will burn very fast if you let it!
Empanadas cooked perfectly brown in a minute or so on one side, then the other.  If your dough was too thick it would be raw on the inside.
A shake of powdered sugar on top, and they are ready to try.

Yep.  Just like I remembered.  Mrs. Griggs surely has a winner there.

 

Griggs Empanadas

Sift the following:
2 C. AP flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1tsp. salt

Cut in
2 T. Crisco

Mix with 1/2 C. Milk until it forms a ball
Rest the dough 30 mins.
Roll out very thin.
Cut into circles 3 to 4 inches diameter.
Brush water on half of the edge of the circle.
Place a heaping Tablespoon of filling slightly off center.
Fold long side over and press closed, then crimp with fork tines.
Fry in hot lard until golden brown.
Dust with powdered sugar.
Serve warm.

Fat Mama Cookies

This is my only cookie recipe.  I used to make them often, when the boys were little.  (A long, long time ago.)  I used to call these "Goody Two Cookies" because you can remember the recipe so easily that way, but then I had to rename them when I realized that they were completely responsible for porking me up, as we say around here.
They are (here's that tired but apt descriptive) addictive and delicious; once, years after I had taken them to an event, a woman I had met there called me from Kentucky to ask for the recipe.  Again.
This recipe can be used for oatmeal or chocolate chip cookies with a minor variation.  Sorry to say they are just as fattening either way.  So.. here is the oatmeal recipe.

Take 2 sticks of softened butter and throw them in the mixing bowl.
Add 2 cups of sugar.  (I use 1 of brown and 1 of white, but you can use either/or.)
2 very generous pinches of salt
2 eggs
2 big slurps of vanilla

2 eggs
2 cups of all purpose flour
2 cups of oatmeal
1 tsp. baking soda
and mix this up. 

This part is important:
 Let it sit for about 15 minutes before you start making cookies!   Bake at 350 for 12-15 minutes.

Here is how you change it up for chocolate chip.  

Instead of adding the oatmeal, add 2 more cups of regular flour.

Add chocolate chips (and nuts if you want to).   That's it! 

Don't say you weren't warned.

 

  

Rhubarb Shortcake

Rhubarb is a fruit (deemed so in 1947 by court decree, although it is botanically a vegetable) that many people don't know much about.  It is very high in fiber and contains substances that "aid digestion" and you all know what that means!  It's very low in calories, but you do have to sweeten the dawg out of it so it's not exactly a diet food.
My Mom and Dad loved rhubarb, and so do I.  They liked theirs stewed and had it in the morning with breakfast.  However, if you have ever seen a bowl of boiled rhubarb, you will readily understand why this isn't my favorite way to serve it.

I like to roast my rhubarb and serve it with cake or shortcake.  And this is NOT with strawberries.  Talk about gilding the lily!
I also like to make rhubarb crisp which is just like any other crisp.   But for today,  here is how to make Rhubarb Shortcake.

Try to buy thin stalks of rhubarb, about the size of very big celery.  You might have to make do with giant stalks, but the thinner the better.  Don't worry if they aren't all bright red. They are usually available here in May through the summer.  Sometimes I have to pester the produce man to order it for me.

Get about 6-8 stalks of rhubarb and wash it,  and if it's big, run a knife down the stalk and cut it in two.  Then cut it into pieces about 1 inch long.  More or less.

Put it into a bowl with about a cup of sugar, and toss it around until the pieces are coated.
Spread it out over a sheet pan. 
Put it in a hot oven (400)  for 20-30 minutes.  Some of the sugar will be browned and the rhubarb will be tender.

With a spatula scrape it off the foil into a bowl and give it a taste. Be sure to get all the juice!  If it's too sour, add more sugar and toss gently.   That's all there is to it.

Here's my recipe for shortcake:
2C. SR flour
1/4 C. sugar
1 good pinch of salt
1 stick of softened butter
1/4 brick of softened creamed cheese (optional)
1C. milk
Mix the dry ingredients.  Cut in the butter and cream cheese.  You can leave some large chunks.
Add milk, stir and form into a ball.
Flatten the ball into a greased pie plate, or shape into individual biscuits.
Cook at 350 for 30 minutes.
Slice the pieces horizontally in half before serving.

You are also going to need some whipped cream, creme fraiche, or ice cream. 

Then assemble your rhubarb and shortcake in layers: shortcake, rhubarb, cream, shortcake, rhubarb, cream and mint if you have some.
Oh, yes.  This is much better than a bowl of stewed rhubarb, don't you think?

Tres Leches

 Tres Leches is Ice Cream and Cake.  Birthday Cake!  And, after all,  my favorite vanilla ice cream has always been home-made Eagle Brand.  This is by far the quickest Tres Leches I have ever made.  And it makes a small cake, important for space because you keep it refrigerated.   If you need to,  it can be doubled,  but this is enough
for 8 people.
Here's what you will need:

3 eggs
3/4 c. sugar
*1c. Self-Rising flour.  (or 1c AP flour with 1/2 tsp. baking powder.)
1/8tsp. salt
1/4 c. milk
Evaporated milk
Sweetened condensed milk
Heavy cream
Powdered Sugar
vanilla optional
*I always use SR flour when I bake.  It just seems to me to be more dependable and no sifting.
Preheat your oven to 350.
Separate the eggs and put a pinch of cream of tartar in the whites and beat to soft peaks.  I love, love, love this whipper for egg whites.  You can do this by hand in about one minute.

Mix up the yolks with 1/4 cup milk and gently mix it into the whites in about 3 portions.

Combine the SR flour and sugar and salt and add that, gently, in about 3 portions.

When it is just  combined, put it into a prepared pan more or less 8x8. 
By the way, I love this stuff for cake pans.

Nothing, and I mean nothing, sticks to this stuff.  You can get it at Walmart.  And I wish I were getting something for my recommendation, but nahhh.





Put it into the oven for 20-25 minutes.
While it is cooking, mix a can of sweetened condensed milk, about 3/4 of a big can of evaporated milk or 2 small cans, and 1/2 c. Heavy Cream.

When your cake is done, you can take it out of the pan like this, or just leave it in and poke holes all over the cake with a skewer (not too skinny) and use the flat end.

Pour the milk mixture over the cake and refrigerate for 2 hours before serving.

And for even more smooth delicious milkiness, whip about 2 cups of heavy cream with 2 T powdered sugar and a few drops of vanilla.  Did you know that powdered sugar has lots of cornstarch in it?  If you use powdered sugar in the cream it will "stabilize" the cream and the whipped cream will stay whipped much longer.  Good to know, for us cream freaks.

Hide this in the refrigerator and just see if this lasts long enough to be worried about.  I bet it won't.

Very Berry French Toast Dessert

My crew likes dessert.  What can I say, it's just expected.  So, like all cooks, sometimes I come up with stuff just using what I have on hand.    This is one of those, and it's so good I make it fairly regularly.  The only thing special that you need is a bag of frozen berries, and I always have those around.  You could easily make this using half the egg yolks and Splenda if you're watching calories. 

I had a half a loaf of whole-wheat French Bread, left over from spaghetti the other night.  You can use any bread you happen to have around, as long as it's not garlic or some other flavored bread.  Lightly butter or spray a shallow pan and lay the bread it it, cut in slices about 1 inch wide.  
You can gauge the number of eggs by the slices of bread, in this case, I used 5 very large eggs.  (Sincere thanks to Mildred, Gertrude and Harriet.)   Mix the eggs with milk or a combination of milk and cream, about a 1/8 cup for each egg.  Mix well, and add sugar, about a heaping teaspoon per egg.  Add vanilla and some nutmeg, if you like.  Also a pinch of salt.  Then put your egg mixture over the bread and turn the bread over to get it all wet and covered.  Let that sit for about 30 minutes until the bread soaks up the egg mixture.  Then top it all generously with frozen berries and a light sprinkle of sugar over the berries.
Bake for about 30 minutes at 350 degrees.  The eggs will get puffy and golden and the berries soft and glistening.  I like to shake powdered sugar over the berries before serving, usually with a dollop of cream.  Not as sweet as many desserts, but a winner nonetheless.  Don't you think?
P.S.  The leftovers make a pretty wonderful breakfast...

Making "Crack" Brownies

Here is how I make brownies.  One of my son calls them "Crack" Brownies.  Funny, huh?   It all started when I read Katherine Hepburn's recipe in some magazine about 30 some-odd years ago.  Once you have that down, you just take it from there.

In a bowl, throw in a large chunk of butter.  It really doesn't matter how much, just as long as it's a lot.  2 sticks, say.  Then you put in what looks to be the same amount of chocolate.  By that I mean a large bar of dark or whatever you have on hand.  Throw it in the microwave and melt the chocolate bar and butter and stir it up.  Then you throw in a big bunch of cocoa, like 3 big spoonfuls.

Then add a nickel size pile of salt an a big glug of vanilla.

Stir that up and then start adding sugar.  Add sugar till it won't get greasy any more, like this.

Now add eggs, usually 3 is enough to make it thickly liquid, then add just enough self- rising flour to make it stop looking grainy, less than a cup.

I didn't put parchment paper under this batter and I should have.  Bake at 350 for 30 minutes.  I like pecans on top but whatever.  Cut and take out of the pan when they are not hot but not cold.  That's it!