May, 2019 - Retro Food For Modern Times

These triple cheese and triple onion empanadas were inspired by two events. The first was my visit to Tasmania in January. There was a stall selling triple cheese and onion empanadas at the Salamanca Markets. I didn’t eat any because I was full of scallop pie but the memory stayed with me. The second inspiration was one of our Film Club pics. And the third, oh yeah, I forgot to mention at the start that there was a third.

It’s empanadas? Hell yeah!

The three kinds of cheese I used for the empanadas were feta, smoked cheddar and parmesan.

And the three onions were Spanish, Spring and leek.

The film that inspired this recipe is the documentary Three Identical Strangers.

This was the documentary choice in our first round (we are now about to start round 2) and it was a brilliant choice from one of my friends. I had never even heard of this film before this but I was so glad Film Club brought it to my attention.

The film begins with three young men, discovering that they were triplets who were separated at birth and adopted out to different families. Their reunion is the stuff of media wet dreams and the boys achieve a degree of fame with numerous froth pieces showing them dressing the same, talking the same, moving in unison, etc. And initially you think this is all the film is going to be about….how are they the same? How did their different upbringings make them different? What is nature, what is nurture?

Except it doesn’t quite turn out like that because the film then takes a dark turn. And just as you are recovering from that twist? It takes an even darker turn. I’m not going to spoil… but the end? OMG! I don’t think I have ever been that angry at the end of a film before. Talk about the heart of darkness.

I think this is a really clever piece of film making, the timing and pacing is perfect, the story being told is totally compelling. I can highly recommend this film. Except be prepared to be FURIOUS at the end.

If you are watching at home, my triple cheese and triple onion empanadas would make a great movie snack.

I can also heartily recommend the Aji Pique ( a Colombian hot sauce) I made to go with the empanadas. The recipe stated that in Colombia, they use this oosauce on everything fish, eggs, meat, chicken and I can totally see why!

For the empanadas it adds a sharp, spicy tang that complements the smoky cheesy filling and the crisp pastry.

Next weekend, why not bake up a batch of these empanadas and watch Three Identical Strangers?

Here’s the trailer.

Here’s the recipe!

Triple Cheese and Triple Onion Empanadas

Print Recipe

A film watching (or anytime) snack, these triple cheese and triple onion empanadas are a delicious vegetarian snack!

Author: Taryn Fryer

Ingredients

Scale

3 sheets of Shortcrust Pastry
1 egg separated

For the Filling

1 tsp olive oil
1 leek, finely chopped
1 red onion, finely chopped
4 spring onions, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic,crushed
1/2 tsp smoked paprika
200g Smoked Cheddar cheese
200g Feta Cheese
100g Parmesan
1 egg, beaten
Salt and Pepper

For the Glaze

1 egg, beaten

Cook Mode Prevent your screen from going dark

Instructions

For The Filling

Heat the oil in a frying pan.
Add the leek, Spanish and spring onions and reduce the heat to low.
Cook, stirring occasionally until the onions are softened (around 10 minutes).
Add the garlic and cook until the onions are golden (another 10 or so minutes).
Set aside to cool.
Preheat the oven to 180C.
Grate the Smoked Cheddar and Parmesan,.
Crumble the feta into a bowl and add the other cheeses.
Mix in the beaten egg, the smoked paprika and the cooled onion mixture

To Assemble

Cut each sheet of pastry into 4 rounds.
Spoon the cheese mixture onto the middle of each of the rounds.
Brush the edges of the pastry with the egg white. Fold over and seal.
Alternatively you can use an empanada press to seal the edges of the pastry.
Brush the tops of the empanadas with the egg yolk.
Place the empanadas in the oven for around 20 minutes. Around halfway through, turn them over and brush the other side with the egg yolk.
Serve with the Aji Pique.

I served my empanadas with some Aji Pique, which is a Colombian Hot Sauce.

The recipe for this can be found here.

Hello brunch! Eggs Benedict is one of my favourite brunch dishes. Mind you, I would also eat them for breakfast, lunch or dinner. I’m not that fussy! But today’s project is to uncover the eponymous Benedict,

What Are Eggs Benedict?

Okay, so…given this is such a brunch favourite, I know many of you will already know exactly what Eggs Benedict entails. And all of you are quite welcome to skip to the next section.

For those who are in the dark, Eggs Benedict is a dish typically served at breakfast or brunch which consists of two halves of a toasted English muffin, topped with bacon or ham, a poached egg and Hollandaise Sauce.

Who Was Benedict?

Larousse names Brennan’s Restaurant in New Orleans as one of the possible birthplaces of Eggs Benedict. And there is certainly an amazing looking Eggs Benny on their website.😍 However, all the other research I have done points to New York as being the birthplace of Eggs Benedict.

Delmonico’s is a contender. A regular customer, one of the Le Grand Benedict family, got bored with the regular breakfast and asked for “poached eggs on toasted English muffins with a thin slice of ham, Hollandaise sauce and a truffle on top” as a more exciting alternative.

In 1967, a letter to the New Yorker said that Commodore E.C.Benedict, a yachtsman and retired banker was the inventor of Eggs Benedict.

My favourite story, however, and so the one we are going to go with, suggests that the recipe was devised by one Lemuel Benedict in 1942 when he strolled into the Waldorf Hotel with a raging hangover and asked for “buttered toast, poached eggs, crisp bacon, and a hooker of hollandaise”.

Instead of looking askance at him and saying in a very stern manner, “We Sir, are a classy establishment and hence not familiar with the practice of measuring our sauces, Hollandaise or otherwise in units of sex workers”, the kitchen complied and Eggs Benedict was born!

Can we just take a step out to talk about how delicious Hollandaise Sauce is?

OMG..it’s the best thing in the world. Sometimes, when I really don’t feel like cooking? I will buy a jar of Hollandaise sauce, heat it up in the microwave and just dip vegetables…asparagus, broccoli, beans, etc right into the jar for my dinner!

And do you also know that it was only very recently that I reaslised Hollandaise is just French for “from Holland”? I mean, it’s totally damn obvious when you think about it but….at the time?

The Recipe

Given it’s likely New York origins, I used the recipe from the New York Times for my classic version of Eggs Benedict.

Some variations are below.

Variations

The interwebs abound with variations of Eggs Benny. You can change the meat:

This Naughty Benny swaps out the ham for mortadella and adds an onion jam.

You can change the base:

This one swaps out the English Muffins for Potato Rosti.

You can combine it with other brunch favorites such as this Benedict BLT.

Or add some Italian Pizzazz with an Eggs Benedict Pizza.

You can also swap out the sauce

For those who like a bit of booze with their Benny, this one has a beer-based sauce.

I guess the only constant is the eggs…

Oops, scratch that. Here’s a vegan version.

A myriad of other versions can be found here

Modern Day Benedict

In my mind, there can only be one:

What’s your favourite version of Eggs Benedict?

And to whom would you dedicate a modern dish of poached eggs, ham and hollandaise sauce on an English Muffin?

Have a wonderful week!

Retro Food For Modern Times

Month: May 2019

Triple Cheese & Triple Onion Empanadas