Alfajores

Alfajores 

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
1 egg
2 egg yolks
1 tsp. vanilla
2 tsp. lemon rind, grated
1 1/2 cup cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt

Cream butter; add sugar and beat until fluffy. Add egg and egg yolks, one at a time, beating well. Beat in vanilla and lemon rind. Sift together cornstarch, flour, baking powder and salt.

Add to mixture and mix well. Drop batter by small spoonfuls onto well buttered baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 minutes. Remove immediately. Sandwich the cookies together with (dulce de leche) sweet milk dessert. Makes 40 cookies.

Chimichurri Sauce

Chimichurri Sauce

Combine in a jar:

1 chopped sweet pepper
1 chopped, skinned and seeded tomato
1 chopped onion
2 chopped garlic cloves
2 chopped bay leaves
2 tablespoons chopped parsley

Separately mix:

1/2 cup oil
1 cup vinegar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cracked black peppercorns
1 teaspoon oregano

Combine both mixtures and mix thoroughly. Cover and leave for 12 hours before using. It will keep for several weeks in the refrigerator.

Sweetbreads

Sweetbreads

3 sweetbreads (about 4 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place sweetbreads on the heated grill.
Brush with olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cook until done, about 1 hour.

Sweetbreads

Sweetbreads

3 sweetbreads (about 4 pounds)
1 tablespoon olive oil
Coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

Place sweetbreads on the heated grill.
Brush with olive oil.
Season with salt and pepper.
Cook until done, about 1 hour.

Asado Meat Grill

Asado Meat Grill

Buy 1 lb. of meat per person
1 regular sausage (chorizo)
1 black sausage (morcilla)
1/2 kidney
1 stuffed intestine (chinchulin)
1/2 spiced meat covered with a fine membrane (pamplona)
1/2 spiced liver, also covered with membrane
1/2 provolone cheese

To start your fire: Buy "espinillo" logs for firewood. Make sure the logs are hard, dry and thin. It takes about 6 lbs. of wood for 4 persons. Place paper (old newspaper), then pine cones, then the firewood in the grate. If the fire is hard to start, place some meat fat on the wood to burn. Let it burn until it produces a good quantity of red embers. Meanwhile, clean the rack by placing over the fire and wiping it with oil. Remove from heat. Place red embers under the rack, then salted meat on the rack and then the rest of the barbeque, washed and pierced on a grill fork on the rack.

Place the cheese on an oiled iron pan and sprinkle with oregano. The cheese should receive more heat, since it will be served first. When the cheese is brown around the edges, it is done. Remove from fire and serve with fresh white French bread.

All embers are then drawn underneath the meat until it is done. The meat is done when golden brown on both sides.

Serve cut portions with a salad (Ensalada Rusa/Russian Salad) and "chimichurri.

The Asado/Barbeque may also go with grilled sweet potatoes which are boiled unpeeled and when tender brushed with butter. They are then placed in a hot oven for 45 minutes and served hot.
The meat is served on wooden plates or individual wood boards. Extra dishes are needed for the salad.

Argentine Beef Stew

Argentine Beef Stew

2 pound of beef, cut in bite size cubes
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper; chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon oregano
2 teaspoon of basil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup of dried apricots, chopped coarsely if whole and large
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups of beef broth
1 medium large Pumpkin
butter or margarine; melted
1/4 c Dry sherry

1 pound of whole kernel corn, drained and/or defrosted

In the olive oil brown the beef with the onion and garlic. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the corn, sherry and pumpkin of course. Simmer for a 1 hour, covered.

Cut the top off the pumpkin and discard. Scoop out the seeds and stringy membrane, and discard them as well. You could toast the pumpkin seeds in the oven for a snack if you like, but they are not used in this recipe.
 
Brush the inside of the pumpkin with butter and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper. Stir in the stew, sherry and corn. Bake the stew containing pumpkin at 325F for about an hour, or until the pumpkin is tender.

When serving, scoop out some pumpkin along with the stew. 

Russian Salad

Russian Salad

2 lbs potatoes
1 lb. carrots
1 (16 oz) can English peas

Mayonnaise and Salt to taste.

Cook potatoes and carrots separately in boiling water until tender.

Allow to cool and cut into cubes. Add peas,mayonnaise and salt to taste. Mix well and refrigerate. Serve cold.

Argentine Mantioca

Argentine Mantioca

1 kg yuca
½ kg granulated sugar
½ cup shredded coconut
½ cup coarsely grated cheese
1 tbsp aniseed
butter
1 small bay leaf
salt

Peel and grate the yuca into a medium-size bowl. Add the granulated sugar, the grated coconut, the cheese, and the aniseed. Mix until you obtain a chunky paste.

In a medium-size saucepan, melt a knob of butter over medium-low heat. Place a bay leaf on the bottom of the pot. Pour the mixture onto the leaf and cook until the mixture turns a golden brown.
Transfer the enyucado onto a greased baking sheet.

Allow it to cool, then cut it into small squares.

Argentina Empanadas

Argentina Empanadas

4 cups unbleached flour
4 tbsp vegetable shortening
1/2 tbsp salt
2 onions
1 green bell pepper
1/2 kg tenderloin
1/3 cup seedless raisins
1/4 cup green olives, finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, minced
1 hard-boiled egg, minced
paprika
salt
crushed red pepper
Finely dice the beef.

In a medium-size frying pan, melt 2 tbsp vegetable shortening. Dice the onion, bell pepper and add to the pan. Saute over medium heat until the onion starts to turn golden.

Add the diced meat. Season to taste with salt, red pepper, and paprika. Saute, stirring occasionally, until the beef turns brown on all sides.


Remove the frying pan from the heat. Mix in the egg, the raisins, the olives, and the green onions. Allow to cool until it drops to room temperature.


 
While the beef filling cools, pour the flour on a smooth surface, forming a mound. Using the back of a spoon, make a depression in the center. Put 3 tbsp shortening in the depression. Mix and knead the ingredients until fully incorporated.
 
Fill a cup with warm water and dissolve the salt in warm water. Gradually incorporate this liquid into the dough, kneading 10-15 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.

Pull off balls of dough about the size of a golf ball. On the floured surface, roll out each ball of dough into a 10-cm-diameter circle. Flour your hands. Hold the dough circle in one hand and place1 tbsp of the filling in the center. Press and crimp the edges together to secure the filling within.

Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Lightly flour a baking sheet. Arrange the empanadas on the sheet and until the pastry is golden brown, approx. 10 minutes.