Category: Meat & Poultry

Baked Wonton Beef Empanadas


I had never really heard of empanadas until I married my husband. My Argentinian mother-in-law loves to cook up a storm whenever we come to visit and these meat-filled pockets are often on the menu. She whips up a batch in no time and makes it look so easy! For my husbands birthday this year, I cooked him a surprise dinner that included all of his favorite family recipes including empanadas, milanesas and mechshie. It was my first try at them, but with my mother-in-laws help, everything turned out super delicious.

I made empanadas again last week on the spare of the moment, having some defrosted ground beef sitting in the fridge. Whereas my mother-in-law throws together a batch of dough in no time, I am one to avoid any recipe that calls for home-made dough. Instead, I decided to make use of the eggroll wrappers in my freezer. I had no idea if this would work, especially since I had no intention of frying them, but I decided to give it a try. And work, it did. The wontons turned out perfectly crispy without being greasy and the filling, although not traditional, was perfectly delicious. If you don’t mind frying, go ahead and make these super golden and crispy in some hot oil!

I call these “wonton empanadas” because they are a cross between traditional empanadas (filled with ground beef, olives, and cumin) and beef eggrolls (filled with meat, cabbage, carrots, mushrooms etc.). You can call them Asian empanadas or Spanish eggrolls, either way, these meat-filled samosas are sure to please!

Wonton Beef Empanadas

1 medium onion, diced small
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 container mushrooms, stems removed and thinly sliced
3/4 c shredded carrots
1/2 c sliced green olives
1 lb ground beef
1/2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp paprika
salt and pepper, to taste
good quality dry red wine
wonton wrappers
szechuan sauce, for dipping

Method:

Saute onion and garlic till translucent, add mushrooms and carrots. Continue to saute until softened and golden. Add olives and spices and mix until fragrant. In a separate pan, saute the meat until crumbly and no longer pink. Drain the meat of the fat and add to vegetable mixture. Add a splash of red wine (about 1/8th of a cup) and cook for a few minutes.

Lay a wonton wrapper on a clean cutting board and cut on the diagonal so that you have 2 triangular wraps. Cover the remaining wrappers with a damp towel while you work so that they don’t dry out. Place a teaspoon of filling on each wrapper and fold in half to close. Wet the sides of the wrapper with some water and press down to seal edges (if this doesn’t work for you, you can try eggs, or make a “glue” with 1/2 tsp cornstarch dissolved in 1/2 cup water). Place on a greased cookie sheet. Spray wontons generously with cooking spray and and bake at 400 for about 8-10 minutes on each side, until golden.

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Peanut Chicken Curry


My sister Sara opened my eyes to Indian food with this chicken recipe. I never imagined peanut butter and chicken would make a good combination, but she urged me to try it, and I’m so glad I did. Now I’ve broadened my horizons and have taken to experimenting with Indian spices like garam masala, chicken curries, coconut rice, and more.

I wasn’t quite sure if my kids would take to this recipe. One of my daughters loves peanut butter, so once I elaborated on the peanut-butteriness of the dish, she was willing to give it a go. The younger one is willing to try anything new, and thankfully, both of them absolutely loved it. So if your kid loves peanut butter, just tell them you’re making extra special “peanut butter chicken” and they’ll be singing your praises around the dinner table.

Peanut Chicken Curry

1 onion, finely diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tbsp curry powder
1 pkg chicken breasts, cut into small chunks
3 tbsp honey
3 tbsp soy sauce
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup water
Basmati rice, for serving
scallions, diced, for garnish

Method:

Saute onion and garlic in a bit of oil until translucent. Add curry powder and continue to saute until fragrant. Add chicken and stir over medium heat until no longer pink. Add remaining ingredients, mixing well to incorporate. Cook, stirring until sauce thickens, about 10 minutes.

Serve over basmati rice and garnish with scallions.

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Spice-Crusted Chicken

There is no one on this earth that cannot make this recipe. It’s that easy. Well maybe not no one – you’ve got to have an oven, chicken, and a few basic spices. If you’ve got that, and you’ve never cooked anything other than eggs in your life, you can do this.

This has to be my #1 go-to recipe for a quick weekday dinner. It’s got tons of flavor with minimal effort, and it pleases even the most discriminating palette. I like to make this recipe when I’m cooking dinner for our local Bikur Cholim because I’m pretty sure anyone who will eat chicken will eat it.

What makes this chicken so good? Well for one, it’s baked in it’s skin, keeping the chicken nice and moist. Baking it on a high temperature (400 degrees), with the help of some olive oil, makes the skin super crispy, and all those spices get toasted to perfection.

Here’s the best part. If you’re on one of those low-carb or no-sugar diets like atkins or south beach, you can make yourself a super flavorful dinner without store-bought BBQ sauce that is so full of carbs. If you are watching your fat intake as well, don’t eat the skin, but feel free to scrape off the yummy spices and spread it on your chicken. If dieting is not on your agenda, go ahead and sop up all the drippings from the bottom of the pan, they are seriously delicious!

Quick & Easy Chicken

1 package chicken, quartered
garlic powder
onion powder
paprika
salt
black pepper
extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Clean chickens (do not remove the skin) and pat dry. Sprinkle generously with spices (but go light on the pepper). Drizzle with olive oil. Bake, uncovered, for one hour.

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Busy in Brooklyn Lightens Up

At least for this week! :) After all that cheesecake, lasagna and blintzes, I think we all need to lighten up our menu’s just a bit. My husband decided to join the diet bandwagon as well, and I wanted to make him feel good about it. I figured for his first day of dieting, I would treat him to a special dinner. But not just any dinner. A dinner that would show him that you can have your fast food and eat it too!

This was my plan – make his favorite fast food, have it look delicious, taste even better, and keep it lighter than the deep-fried version!

The Steak Santiago sandwich from Subsational is among my husband’s favorites. It includes rib steak with lettuce, tomato, onion and their spicy mayo. To lighten this up, I made an open-face sandwich on a half of a whole wheat baguette with lean sandwich steak, lettuce, tomatoes, pickles and sauteed onions. I whipped up some easy garlic mayo with a lowfat canola variety.

Next, onto the fries. Of course fried anything was out of the question. And I had to give the potatoes the boot as well. Instead, I roasted some butternut squash fries with some chili powder and smoked paprika. They came out delicious.

Finally, just for fun I had to throw in a few chicken nuggets. I dipped a few pieces of chicken breasts into light olive oil and flavored corn flake crumbs and baked until crispy (about 15 minutes at 400 degrees – 8 minutes on one side, 5 on the other).

Needless to say, my husband was more than satisfied with this lightened up version of his favorite fast food. Of course I won’t be doing this regularly, but it’s good to know that our favorite comfort foods can still be eaten, albeit on special occasions, and a little on the lighter side!

Marinated Sandwich Steak

Sandwich steaks are quite lean. Marinating them helps to tenderize the meat by holding the moisture in the thin slices.

1 pkg sandwich steak
2 cloves garlic
2 tablespoons lime juice
1 teaspoon chili powder
1 teaspoon ground cumin
¼ cup soy sauce
1 tablespoon canola oil
salt and pepper, to taste

Method:

Mix ingredients for marinade and pour into ziploc bag. Add sandwich steak and refrigerate for a few hours (or less if you don’t have the time). Saute on high heat for about 2 minutes on each side.

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Black Bean & Chorizo Chocolate Chili

Chorizo chocolate chili is a real tongue twister, and, a real tongue pleaser too! :) I happened to read a few recipes recently that used chorizo as a base. Having seen Jack’s Gourmet at KosherFest a few months back, I knew that their amazing array of gourmet kosher sausages had recently hit the market, including spicy Mexican Chorizo, and I wanted to give them a try. To me, the absolute best chili offers sweetness, spice and depth of flavor. That’s where the chocolate comes in. It adds that little something that takes the chili from delicious, to over the top.

Chili makes a great kids meal when served in Taco shells or Tostito scoops. Serve alongside diced tomatoes, corn, salsa, guacamole and scallions with a side of rice. I was lucky enough to host my nieces and nephew (who live across the globe) when I made this for dinner, and they loved being able to eat their dinner out of miniature chip bowls!

In general, the longer you cook the chili, the better it will taste as the flavors will have a chance to blend. It tends to taste even better the second day, but this is pretty next to perfect when fresh!

Black Bean & Chorizo Chocolate Chili

2  Jack’s Gourmet Mexican Style Chorizo sausage, finely diced (use 1 if you don’t want it too spicy)
1 spanish onion, diced
1 green bell pepper, diced
1 red bell pepper, diced
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 2 lb. pkg ground beef
3 (15-ounce) cans black beans, rinsed and drained
3 (14-ounce) cans diced tomatoes (do not drain)
1 1/2 tablespoons chili powder
1 tablespoon ground cumin
1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
salt, to taste
juice of 1 lime
1/2 bar Noblesse 72 percent cocoa bittersweet chocolate
tortilla chips (optional)

Method:

Heat a large nonstick pot over medium-high heat. Saute the chorizo until it renders some of its fat and gets slightly crispy. Remove chorizo from the pot (leave the fat for sauteing the vegetables). Add chopped onion, bell peppers and garlic and saute until tender. Remove from the pot. Add ground beef and cook, breaking up the meat until it is browned. Drain the fat from the meat and add chorizo and vegetables back to the pot. Add beans and tomatoes and mix well. Add remaining ingredients, besides for chocolate, and bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, covered, for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add chocolate and simmer for an additional 30 minutes-1 hour, until the chili has thickened and the flavors have blended.

NOTE: If you are decreasing the amount of sausage, you may want to cut down on the brown sugar as well, otherwise it may come out too sweet.

TIP: Use your leftover chili to make Shepherd’s Pie! Spoon chili into bottom of a greased ovenproof dish. Top with mashed potatoes, sprinkle with paprika and bake until set.

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