Empanadas de Pato a la Huancaina: Duck Empanadas with a Spicy Peruvian Sauce

Last Friday I had two dear friends over for dinner. As Emily, Laura and I love Spanish, travel and good food, I thought it fitting to prepare empanadas for dinner. I'd recently purchased aji amarillo paste and was excited to try it out. Aji de gallina and papas a la huancaina are among my favorite Peruvian dishes, so I thought it would be a fun twist to try substituting duck for the traditional chicken. (For the purists out there, this is my version of the sauce).

For the Duck:

4 duck legs, thawed (or fresh!), rinsed well with water and patted dry with a paper towel.
S & P

Heat oven to 300.
Salt and pepper duck legs.
Place duck legs fat side down inside cooking dish.
Cook for 2 1/2-3 hours or until fat has melted into cooking dish.
Remove duck legs from cooking dish, place atop paper towels to drain some of the fat and let cool.
Remove duck meat and set aside.

For Aji/Huancaina Sauce:

1 diced onion
3 minced garlic cloves
4 tablespoons aji amarillo paste
2 cups chicken stock
3 slices stale white bread
1 cup whole milk
4 oz crumbled queso fresco
1 tablespoon butter or olive oil
1/2 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Turmeric
1/4 teaspoon Cumin
S&P to taste


Soak bread in milk. Mash up with a fork.
In large saute pan, heat up olive oil or butter over medium to medium-low heat.
Add onions and garlic and saute for 5 minutes, keeping an eye on it to make sure that the garlic
does not brown.
Add cumin, turmeric and paprika to mixture.
Add mashed bread/milk and aji amarillo to pan. Cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Add chicken stock and queso fresco to pan. Simmer 20 minutes.
Blend mixture until smooth. Return to heat and simmer additional 15-20 minutes.
Store sauce in refrigerator until serving.



For Empanadas:

10 empanada shells
4 oz chopped spinach
4 oz crumbled queso fresco
1 caramelized onion
Duck meat

To Make Empanadas:

Preheat oven to 400.
Roll out defrosted empanada shells and fill with duck meat, spinach, crumbled queso freso and caramelized onion mixture.
Fold over shells to make a half moon. Pinch shut with fingers and then press along seam with a fork to create indentations.
Cook about 20 minutes in oven until empanadas are golden.

Serve with heated huancaina sauce and a delicious Pisco Sour!

Carne Mechada

Carne Mechada is a kinder, more easygoing relative of Ropa Vieja. Less ingredients equate less chopping and less active cooking time. I love this dish. Tender, shredded beef, sauteed red bell pepper and smoky paprika make my mouth water before sinking my teeth into the dish. I had some as stew last night with avocado, limes and Cuban black beans with rice but today, it's all about the empanadas. What is it about food that you can pick up that is so appealing?

To Make Carne Mechada:
1 lb flank steak, cut into 4 pieces
3 Vidalia diced onions
Enough beef broth to cover meat pieces
1 red bell pepper, sliced into thin strips
4 cloves minced garlic
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste or 2 diced tomatoes
Paprika, to taste
Salt
Pepper

In large stew pot, add meat, beef broth and 1 diced onion (making sure broth covers meat). Bring to a simmer and let cook 2 hours at this heat.

Remove pieces of meat from the broth (reserve for use later) and let them cool on a plate. When cool enough to handle, shred the chunks into thin strips using your fingers or a fork (I like doing it with my hands, easier to remove fat, etc).

Heat up olive oil in a clean stew pot. Add bell pepper, onion and garlic. Let cook 5-7 minutes until translucent. Sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon paprika. Add tomato sauce and 1 cup reserved broth, let simmer about 15 minutes.

Add shredded beef and enough reserved broth to ensure the mixture is covered. Bring to a simmer, cover the pot and stir every 10 minutes or so to prevent the stew from sticking. The covered pot should just barely be boiling (to avoid drying out the meat). Cook an additional hour at this temperature.

Serve with rice, black beans, and a fried sweet plantain for pabellon criollo, Venezuela's national dish, by itself as a hearty stew, or in empanadas! You will love it any of these ways-it's just that delicious.

Empanadas de Choclo: Sweet Corn and Cheese Empanadas

These vegetarian empanadas are creamy, sweet and salty. They are ridiculously easy to prepare and make very satisfying snack or side dish.

Ingredients:
Dough to make about 12 empanadas (homemade, or frozen-if frozen, remove from freezer before starting to cook)
1 cup creamed corn
1/4 cup ricotta
1/4 cup queso fresco, crumbled (use feta if unavailable)
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels
1/4 teaspoon dried parsley
1/4 teaspoon paprika
1/8 teaspoon cumin
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Mix together creamed corn, cheeses, corn, spices and salt and pepper.

Roll out empanada dough and cut into small discs, about 3-4 inches in diameter. If using frozen discs, gently roll out a little to loosen the dough. Fill each disc with about 1 1/2 tablespoons of filling. Fold over to create a half-moon and use a fork to pinch dough shut. Repeat until all filling has been used.

Set filled shells onto a cookie sheet lined with wax paper. Cook about 20 minutes or until empanada dough is starting to turn golden brown. Remove from oven and let cool a little on cookie sheet.

Serve with salsa to kick it up a notch or add chicken and eat as an easy lunch.