Last year we hosted a foreign exchange student from Spain for 10 months. Nadir lived with us and was a part of our family for an entire school year - from August to June. It was an amazing experience. It made a permanent and positive change in our lives. It honestly benefited us as much as it did her. Don't get me wrong, we had our ups and downs just like any family but in the end it was worth it.
She enjoyed American food for the most part. She tried so many new foods - practically every thing we ate was new to her. Her absolute favorite was Hidden Valley Ranch Dressing. It's so sad that she can't get it in Spain. I send her a few bottles every so often. She also loved sweet tea, biscuits and my chicken casserole. She did not, however, like my famous sweet potato casserole. She absolutely hated sweet potatoes. I still can't understand how a human could taste my sweet potato casserole and not love it.
Nadir was from a small fishing village in the Northern part of Spain - right above Portugal. Her father is a fisherman by trade and she literally ate fresh fish every day. How awesome would that be? She also ate a lot of empanadas - pies filled with various meats or fruits. I found a great recipe from Paula Deen of all people for a delicious chicken empanada. I'll have to share that one soon. But she really loved the sweet empanadas I made. I make several versions, but the blueberry is my absolute favorite.
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| They're much prettier dusted with powdered sugar. I forgot to dust these! |
Blueberry Empanadas
- 1 1/2 cups fresh or frozen blueberries (if frozen, allow to thaw at room temp for 30 minutes)
- 2 prepared pie crusts (I use Pilsbury pie crusts in the refrigerated section of the grocery store)
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Preheat oven to 350 degrees
-Put the berries in a medium sized bowl and add the flour and sugar. Mix until all the berries are coated.
-Roll the pie shells out on a lightly floured surface and cut circles out with a large round cookie cutter. How many circles you get depends on the size of your cookie cutter. You can roll the scraps out and use those as well.
-Working with one circle at a time, place about a tablespoon or more of the fruit in the center of the circle.
-Have a small bowl of water nearby and moisten your finger tip and run it along the entire edge of the circle.
-Here comes the tricky part... Using your thumbs to hold the fruit in the middle, use your fingers to roll the dough over itself to form a crescent shape. Press down the edges with your fingers then go over the edges with a fork. If your dough splits, simply moisten and flatten a reserved piece of dough and place over the hole.
-Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake at 350 for 25-30 minutes or until lightly browned on top, (Do yourself a favor and protect your cookie sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper. The fruit will ooze out while baking and practically destroy your cookie sheet)
-Let cool for 10 minutes. Mix together the orange juice and powered sugar glaze. Spoon over the cooled empanadas. Dust with powered sugar. Enjoy!
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Moisten the edges with water.
This is way too much fruit! I had remove about half. |
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| Press the edges with a fork |
To make Apple Empanadas simply peel and dice 2 - 3 large apples. Saute in a tablespoon of butter for about 3 - 5 minutes, stirring the entire time. The apples should be slightly soft, but not mushy. Remove the apples and add 1.5 Tbs. flour, 1/4 cup sugar and a several good dashes of cinnamon and nutmeg. Use the above directions to prepare and bake. (You'll need to brush the tops of these with a beaten egg to help prevent the tops from splitting during baking).
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Apple Empanadas!
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That looks great! I'm going to try it.
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