Argentinean Ground Beef Food

ARGENTINE EMPANADAS

Steps:

• Heat olive oil over medium-low heat. Add onion and cook for 10 minutes, stirring often.
• Add garlic and diced red pepper. Cook for another 10 minutes, stirring often. Add chili powder, cumin, sweet paprika, and oregano. Cook for 2 minutes.
• Increase heat to medium and add the ground beef. Season with salt and pepper and cook, crumbling into small pieces, until browned. Stir in beef boullion.
• Remove from heat and transfer mixture to a bowl to cool for 10 minutes. Then, stir in green onion, olives, parsley, and hard-boiled eggs.
• Cover and chill mixture for at least 1 hour or up to 3 days (depending on freshness of ingredients). It's important that the mixture is chilled before filling the empanadas.
• Add flour and salt to a large bowl and stir to combine. Add egg and butter and stir well to combine. Add oil and warm water and stir until the mixture starts to come together into a dough ball. Add more water if it's too dry.
• Place dough in clean greased bowl and cover tightly. Allow to rest at room temperature for 1 hour. (Or, refrigerate for up to 1 day, removing from the fridge 20 minutes before using.)
• Divide the dough into two pieces. On a greased countertop roll each piece into a very large circle, about 1/8in thick (not so thin that it might break when filling or baking).
• Use a small bowl or round cookie cutters to cut the dough into circles about 6in in diameter for regular size empanadas or 3 inch for mini empanadas (empanaditas).
• Remove the excess dough from around the cut circles and keep the circles where they are for filling them (so they hold their perfect circle shape). Leftover scraps can be re-rolled to make more dough to cut out.
• Place about 2 tablespoons of filling (for regular size empanadas) in the center of each circle, leaving plenty of space around the border. Moisten the edges of the circle with water, then fold the dough over and match the ends together to form a semi-circle.
• Pinch the edges together and then seal the ends by crimping them with a fork or pinching and twisting/folding it over.
• Baked Empanadas: Place empanadas on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush with a little bit of egg wash and bake at 375° For 25-30 minutes until golden brown and fully cooked.
• Fried Empanadas: (I've found it best to refrigerate the empanadas for 20 minutes before frying to help the dough firm up and hold its shape before placing in the hot oil). Add several inches of hot oil to a pot and heat to about 365° F. Fry one or two empanadas at a time, flipping once, until golden on both sides (1-2 minutes per side). Place on a paper-towel lined plate.

ARGENTINIAN-STYLE BEEF WITH CHIMICHURRI SAUCE

Steps:

• Stir together all ingredients for beef with 1 1/2 teaspoons each of salt and pepper. Marinate, covered and chilled, 4 hours.
• Meanwhile, stir together all chimichurri ingredients with 3/4 teaspoon salt and 1/2 teaspoon pepper and let stand at least 2 hours.
• Prepare a grill for direct-heat cooking over medium-hot charcoal (medium-high heat for gas); see grilling procedure. Remove beef from marinade and rub off excess (discard marinade).
• Skewer beef, leaving about 1/2 inch between pieces. Oil grill rack, then grill (covered if using a gas grill), turning occasionally, 4 to 5 minutes for medium-rare. Serve beef with chimichurri sauce.

ARGENTINEAN GROUND BEEF

Steps:

• In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté ground beef, onion, green bell pepper and garlic until vegetables are tender and beef is browned, about 6 minutes; drain.
• Stir in kidney beans, hominy, salt, basil, pepper, sugar, oregano and red pepper flakes. For a soup consistency, similar to Mexican Pozole, add up to 2 cups water* until desired consistency is reached. Simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Serve warm over rice or pasta.
• *NOTE:.
• Without adding the water, meat mixture can be used as an empanada filling.

CHURRASCO (ARGENTINE GRILLED MEAT MARINADE )

Steps:

• Mash garlic, salt, and peppercorns into a paste, using a mortar and pestle. Stir in orange juice, lime juice, lemon juice, onion, and oregano. Let sit at room temperature for 30 minutes or longer. Whisk the garlic-orange juice mixture with the olive oil until well blended.
• Preparing the Meat: Preparing the meat is very easy. Place the meat in a large bowl or pan. Add enough marinade to cover the meat. Place a cover over the bowl or pan and place in the refrigerator a minimum of five hours, but preferably overnight.
• Grill the marinated meat outdoors on the barbecue. (Make sure your coals are hot and white!). For the steak - you can cook them however you like your it -- from rare to well done. However, the rarer the meat, the more tender and flavorful!
• Serve the meat with the Recipe #456210.