Award Winning Empanadas!

After mentioning my Paula Deen experience with the Real Women of Philadelphia in my last blog post, I thought I should explain a little for anyone who didn’t know what it was all about. I entered an online competition (it was considered a “talent search” and not a “cooking contest”) by submitting videos of myself preparing recipes with Philadelphia Cream Cheese. I was chosen as one of 16 finalists and flown to Savannah for one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Here is the clip from the awards show about the appetizer cook off:



The other finalists were amazing women and I am so blessed to have them all as friends now. We were treated like royalty- we stayed at the only 5 star hotel in Savannah, we went to all the best restaurants (Paula’s of course, but also some fancy- schmancy ones), we were driven around in a caravan of black SUV’s with tinted windows and bodyguards dressed in all black, and we got a private tour of Savannah that included Paula’s home. Of course we got to hang out with the fabulous Paula Deen a couple of times- she is the funniest, most gracious and down-to-earth person I have ever met. I was so impressed with who she is. It truly was the experience of a lifetime and I am so blessed that I got to be a part of it!




Anyway, here is the recipe for my "award winning" (or at least finalist level) Empanadas, if anyone wants to try them:
(Brandon, Paula’s personal style guru- he designed the set, her new line of furniture and co-authored Paula’s latest style book- he said they were “like crack”- meaning delicious and addictive- so be careful!)

Spicy Breakfast Empanadas:
1 lb. hot pork sausage
8 oz. cream cheese
1 can Rotel tomatoes
1 tsp Paula’s House Seasoning
1 tsp cumin
1 can refrigerated jumbo biscuits
4 oz. cream cheese
½ cup sour cream
2 chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, minced
½ tsp garlic salt

1. Preheat oven to 350. Spray a cookie sheet with vegetable oil cooking spray.
2. In a large skillet, over medium- high heat, cook sausage, crumbling into small pieces. Once cooked through, drain fat. Add cream cheese to sausage and stir until melted. Add Rotel tomatoes, House Seasoning and cumin. Stir to combine.
3. Open can of biscuits; separate raw biscuits into 2 halves. Flatten with your hands to make larger. Spoon a heaping tablespoon of sausage mixture onto center of biscuit. Fold biscuit in half and seal by pressing seam together. Place on prepared baking sheet and bake 15 minutes. Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before serving with Chipotle Cream.

Chipotle Cream: In a small saucepan combine cream cheese, sour cream, chipotle peppers and garlic salt. Cook over medium heat until cream cheese is melted and all ingredients are combined.

Paula Potato Party

One of my goals for this year was to cook through one of Paula Deen’s cookbooks. Yes, I was inspired by the Julie/Julia book and movie phenomenon. It has been a lot of fun and I am a good ¾ of the way through the book. There have been a lot of delicious recipes, some average ones, and just a whole lot of calories in general. She in no kidding about the butter, my friends. I am such a fan of hers and it was such a treat to have her sign the actual cookbook that I have been cooking through when I was in Savannah for the Real Women of Philadelphia!




The cookbook is Paula Deen Celebrates! and it is a year’s worth of celebration menus- New Years, Valentines, Mardi Gras, Fourth of July, Christmas- and also lesser known holidays/events- Elvis’ birthday, May Day, Football party, etc.- you get the idea. The menu that I recently did was the “Graduation Potato Bar” which was meant to be a buffet of baked potatoes and various delicious topping to be served after a high school or college graduation- perhaps open house style. I changed it up just a smidge- I was only having a few people over and I wanted everyone to be able to try everything, which would be difficult with full baked potatoes, so I made mashed potatoes so we could all try a nibble of everything.



The recipes in this menu (other than the mashed potatoes) were: Chicken A La King Topping, Steak and Mushroom Topping, Creamed Seafood Topping, Spinach Salad with Homemade Dressing, Savannah Sheet Cake and Chocolate Chip-Coffee Cookies. Yummy!

Churro Peach Cobbler!

How to give peach cobbler a Southwest kick? With churros, of course! I took Paula Deen’s recipe from ‘The Lady and Sons Savannah Country Cookbook’ and put my own twist on it. Churros are a fried Mexican treat, covered in cinnamon sugar. They are very popular at state fairs and Disneyland; they are also my favorite treat to get when I am finished shopping at Costco. Not sure if that is a nationwide Costco treat… Anyway, I decided to be a little more authentic and go to my local Mexican market (see previous blog post) and get churros there. To be honest, the ones at Costco are better, or at least not stale. I also tried placing the churros 2 ways- before baking and just for the last 10 minutes. The ones that were placed on for the entire baking period sank. While they were delicious baked into the peach goo, there was the lack of presentation wow factor. So that is the way I will do it from now on.


Recipe:
2 cups peeled, large chopped peaches
1 cup water
1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick butter
1 cup sugar
¾ cup self rising flour
¾ cup milk
4 (8”) churros

In saucepan, bring peaches, water, sugar and cinnamon to a boil and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir often to make sure sugar is dissolved.

Preheat oven to 350. Put butter in deep dish and place in oven to melt. Mix sugar and flour; add milk slowly to prevent lumping. Pour over melted butter- do not mix. Spoon fruit on top, gently pouring in syrup- still do not stir. Bake 30 minutes.

While baking, cut churros in half length-wise, making 2 long strips. Cut these into 1” chunks. Remove cobbler from oven after the 30 minutes- add churros to top- bake another 5-10 minutes, until juices are bubbling up around the churros.

The Mexican Market

In the spirit of not only giving y’all my Southern roots, but authentic Southwest flavors as well, I decided to explore my local Mexican markets. There are quite a few here in Las Vegas- the first that Andrew and I went to was Las Palmas, and it was not much bigger that a local 7-11, and was also similar as far as the local clientele. But they seemed to have great produce, what little there was. Next, we headed to Mariana’s, which is more of a Mexican supermarket, although it is locally owned. This place was huge and had an amazing variety of products. Not being from Mexico, I am not sure it they had everything you could ever need, but I would imagine so.


We went on a Sunday morning, and let me tell you, this place was packed! You literally had to wedge yourself through the people, especially around the produce areas and meat counter. And the produce was amazing. I think people may have gotten annoyed at the silly white girl slowing things down by taking goofy pictures, but other that a few frowns and rolling of eyes, it was no big deal. The meat counter offered all kinds of meats you can not really get at your local Smith’s- cow tongue, pig and chicken feet, tripe… But they also had some amazing looking carne asada and chorizo. The bakery was also pretty fabulous. I picked up some churros- stay tuned for what I put together with those!!!

The only thing that concerned me was that the produce department, as well as the meat counter, seemed to be buzzing not only with the hustle and bustle energy of excited patrons, but with flies as well. A lot of flies. They kind of grossed me out. But perhaps that was just part of the authenticity. I have asked around and have gotten more recommendations for Mexican markets, so I will follow up on those. Overall, Marianna’s was a great experience, and the first place I will head to get Mexican products.