Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.
Category : BasqueStage
Category : BasqueStage
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.
Category : BasqueStage
A bit over a week ago, our Sammic scholar Ruth Selby had her hand at a cooking class for the people of San Sebastián. With one side of her family hailing from the Phillipines, Ruth has grown up with the flavors of this country, so we decided having her introduce them to San Sebastián was a no-brainer.
Above, you have empanadas. Some of the other dishes that Ruth cooked at a local gastronomic society were lumpia, a Phillipine spring roll, and bibingka, a sweet cake.
Another exotic night of cooking, starring our other scholar, Elisha, as sous chef.
Here you have the recipe for these tasty empanaditas.
“These golden pastry bites enclose a rich, savory filling of ground beef, crunchy vegetables and sweet raisins. Very similar to my grandmother’s recipe for empanaditas, this particular recipe is adapted from Memories of Philippine Kitchens, a cookbook by New York City restauranteurs Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa.” -Ruth
makes about 40 pieces
1 recipe Rich Pie Pastry, see below
½ pound dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated in warm water, then sliced with water reserved
1 small onion, diced
2 small carrots, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 cup peeled and diced russet potato
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 cup diced chorizo (cured Spanish chorizo, not fresh Mexican chorizo)
3 tbsp raisins
½ cup frozen peas
4 egg whites, for sealing
4 egg yolks, for brushing
¼ cup milk, for brushing
4” round cookie cutter
Rich Pie Pastry
4 ½ cups AP flour
1 ½ tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, chilled
3 eggs, beaten
Ice water, as needed
1. Whisk together flour and salt. Add butter and cut into flour using a pastry cutter (or pulse in a food processor if you have one) until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the egg until combined. Dough should just come together, with visible bits of butter. If not, add ice water 1 tsp at a time until dough holds together.
2. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and pat flat. Divide into four equal parts and shape into ½” thick disks. Wrap four disks in plastic film and refrigerate at least one hour.
Empanaditas
1. Over medium heat, saute the mushrooms, onion, and carrot until soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the ground beef, until brown, another 5 minutes.
Add the diced potato, soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar and shiitake soaking liquid. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until potatoes have softened, about 10 minutes.
3. Add chorizo and raisins, and simmer uncovered until most of the liquid has evaporated, another 10 minutes. Stir in the green peas and cook just enough to warm through, 2 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adjust with salt/ soy sauce/ rice vinegar as needed.
4. Preheat oven to 375F. Remove pie pastry from refrigerator. Working one disk at a time, roll out to 1/8” thickness and cut the dough into 4” circles, saving scraps to reroll at the end.
5. Transfer circles to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spoon 1 tablespoon of filling onto each circle. Brush the edges of the circle with egg whites and seal into a half moon, using the tines of a fork to seal the edges. Repeat with remaining three disks of dough, filling all circles with ground beef mixture.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together yolks and milk. Brush tops of filled empanaditas with egg wash.
7. Bake empanaditas until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Serve warm.
Category : BasqueStage
As part of the Sammic Scholarship’s mission to introduce young cooks to the multiple facets of Basque cuisine, our scholars have recently spent some quality time in the countryside, with some very special animals.
Ruth and Elisha spent a few days on the property of Martin Txiki, an Idiazabal cheesemaker outside of Tolosa. This artisan outfit handcrafts Idiazabal cheese daily during the milking season. Our stages got to experience that firsthand, making friends with the local Latxa sheep, and even trying their hands at shearing.
On her blog, Ruth details the entire process of making Idiazabal cheese. To see it, click here.
photos courtesy of Ruth Selby
Category : BasqueStage
Today and tomorrow are the last days to apply for the IV Sammic Scholarship for BasqueStage. That still leaves you time to get your application in for consideration.
Maybe you’re still on the fence. Perhaps you aren’t sure what kind of person is BasqueStage material. One way to get the answer to that question is to visit our former and current stages’ blogs.
We’ve asked our current stages, Elisha Ben-haim and Ruth Selby to give us what they think are the top qualities that a future stage should have. Read on and then get in your application!
- Be hardworking.
- Be thick-skinned. “This is a very old school kitchen,” adds Elisha.
- Speak some Spanish. “Everything is in spanish, not having the language skills automatically puts you one step behind,” Elisha says. Ruth seconds that, saying “Things happen fast here, and they often happen in Spanish. You can get by with only English, but you’ll get so much more out of the experience if you come with a little Spanish in your back pocket. If you don’t speak a word, even just learning some basic vocab demonstrates that you’ve done your homework, and you want to contribute to the team.”
- Be willing to learn.
- Know what motivates you (hint: it should cooking). Elisha says, “If you are sure you want to be a cook you will push hard every day to make the most what’s going on no matter what.”
- Have a good attitude. “Both in the kitchen and out, you should want to get out, see and learn as much as you can while here,” adds Elisha.
- Pay attention to detail. Ruth breaks it down: “BasqueStages have to work in a 3 star kitchen where details matter; in Sammic marketing videos where minutiae matter; and in the blogosphere where details are what set you apart. It’s important to be focused and to care about the little things, like your uniform, your word choice, and your photographs.”
- Bring your knives-sharpened. “I’ve realized what a great knife culture we have in kitchens in the US. Some people here don’t even have their own knives. You do yourself a big favor if you come with quality knives, ready to rock,” Ruth adds.
- Have patience and be humble. “It can be frustrating, humbling and occasionally infuriating to work in any kitchen, and this kitchen is no different. I remind myself how much I’m learning every day, and how fortunate I am to be here,” says Ruth.
Category : BasqueStage
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.
Category : BasqueStage
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.
Category : BasqueStage
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.
Disculpa, pero esta entrada está disponible sólo en English.