Empanada Hut (Richmond, BC)

My first experience with empanadas would have to in elementary school, when I had to witness a classmate chomp down on his mothers homemade empanada. It was kind of a treat to be eating lunch at school - being that my mother was a stay-at-home mother, and that we lived so close to school.

On the rare occasion that I *did* have lunch at school, P, with his little chubby fingers, would nimbly remove what looked like pastry pocket stuffed with raisins, meat, onions, garlic and sometimes vegetables.

Perhaps it was evident even at that age that I was enamoured with food. "What is that?" I'd ask him, then proceed to watch him finish the whole thing. All the while, a lingering sweet-meaty-buttery odour emanated from the pastry shell.

Later on in elementary school, I'd do a project on Chile and the empanadas also came up in my research. I'd attempt to make empanadas in high school, but they didn't come close to what I remember my childhood friend P eating.

While we were waiting for dinner at Gingeri a couple weeks ago, Sherman had joked about going out to go get an empanada at Empanada Hut, which was also in Lansdowne Mall.

"Noooo!" I had said, knowing that we'd probably be splitting at the seams after dinner. But part of me wanted to go too - just to enjoy that piece of childhood.

I got my chance last week...after all, I work in Richmond, why don't I eat in Richmond?! I opted for a combo with my choice of two baked empanadas and a drink.



Naturally, I chose two different empanadas - chicken and beef. Empanada hut also offers a baked seafood empanada, and a number of cheese empanadas which are deep fried. In addition, I saw a sign for churros - for someone that made churros as my operations management (was it? someone correct me here.) project in BCIT, it was a tempting. BUT. My tummy can only hold so much food! And empanadas would fit the bill.



The beef empanada had a more "caramel" like flavour than the chicken - there were plumped raisins in the mix, along with a whole olive, hard-boiled egg, onions and garlic. The flavour was mild but definitely pleasing and satisfying.



The chicken empanada was similar to the beef, except with a cleaner flavour. Both empanadas were accentuated with a salsa that was supplied. I'd go back for more salsa. There was a nice hit of cilantro and lime that accompanied the empanadas beautifully.

And yes, the empanadas from Empanada Hut did emanate the same sweet meaty odour that I remember from my childhood. Perhaps I should ask if it was Mrs. G herself manning Empanada Hut? :)

Empanada Hut

#1065 - 5300 No. 3 Road [map]

Richmond, BC

P: (604) 273-9130

Recipe: Sticky Beef Ribs

As I didn't get to take any new photos of the beef ribs I served at a family get together a couple weeks ago, I'm using the same photos I used for the photo teaser previously!

Me and M are always on the hunt for a good deal - garage sales, store promotions, double duty / uses for things we buy. When we decided that we were going to have each of our families over for dinner, we thought about tasty dishes that each family would like, but wouldn't break the bank.

When we came upon packages of beef ribs at our local supermarket labeled and priced as "beef rib soup bones", our eyes got that special glint. Whereas other supermarkets priced the same item (beef bones!) as "prime rib bones" at over $9 a kilo, our supermarket was pricing them at around $4 for soup bones. For under $5, we could have ourselves a very substantial meal!



Before marinading the ribs it is important to remove the papery "tissue" on the back of the ribs. It's a little tedious, but once you get the hang of it, the results are well worth it! It makes the difference between sifting through sinewy, tough, papery skin, to chomping down on juicy, tender meat with no resistance at all.

To remove the "skin", use a small paring knife to slip under the paper layer behind the ribs. Wiggle the knife around so that you can make a hole large enough to fit a finger or your fingers in. Moving your fingers around, loosen the papery layer and tear it off. Work from rib to rib until the entire piece is complete.

Ingredients
~2.5kg / 5 lbs of beef ribs (about 12-16 ribs)
2 t dried oregano leaves
2 t sweet paprika
1 1/2 t brown sugar
1 t garlic powder
1 t kosher salt
1 t ground black pepper

Method
Combine all marinade ingredients in a small bowl. Prepare beef ribs as described above and rub marinade into the meat on both sides. Cover and refrigerate for 8 hours or overnight.

30 minutes before you are ready to prepare the ribs, remove from the refrigerator and allow to come up to room temperature.

Preheat the grill to high heat. Place ribs onto grill; reduce heat to medium or medium low to create sear marks in ~2 minutes. Sear on both sides; turn the heat elements under the ribs off; leave others on. Close barbeque and allow to cook on indirect medium low heat for 50-60 minutes.

During the last 10 minutes of cooking, baste with your favourite barbeque sauce.

Slice into portions and serve!



I multiplied the recipe / rub and made it for Ms family when they came over. They almost finished all the ribs but they left lots of leftovers of everything else!

Photo Teaser: BBQ Beef Ribs

A month ago, I was not a beef rib fan. The ones I had before were tough, sinewy, and flavourless.

After making them myself at home though, M and I contemplated keeping our new secret to ourselves - we discovered that this cheap cut of meat offered lots of flavour, and when prepared properly, they offered little resistance to our hungry selves.

We'll be bbqing up some for guests this weekend, so I'll leave you with this!



Have a sunny weekend!

Kitchen Gadgets: Ravioli Form

Ms mom has lots and lots of gadgets. The last time I was over there, she showed me her madeleine forms (cast iron AND tin!), her cast iron alphabet cookie form, her cake pans, and something near and dear to my heart, a ravioli form!!!

I've always wanted a ravioli form. There were times when I picked up a single ravioli stamp and showed M, and he responded with, "what is that?! Do you need it?"

Of course, the answer was always, "No. No, I don't need it." ...but I want it!

I was glad that Mrs. Y lent me hers - it is a beautiful two piece mould that comes with one piece that has holes and lattice edging on one side, and another piece with recesses to shape malleable pasta dough for filling. I *love* it.

The ravioli I made the first time were a simple beef and spinach filling. I precooked it because I did not know how the pasta dough and the filling were going to cook up; next time I want to do a butternut squash or pumpkin filling and serve it with butter, parsley, and walnuts.



The pasta dough recipe I used was something from culinary school. Of course, the first batch didn't quite work out because I worked it too much! But second times the charm.

Ingredients
Scant 2 3/4 c all purpose flour
3 eggs
pinch of kosher salt

Sift the flour onto a smooth surface and make a well in the middle.

Using a fork, beat together the eggs and the salt until the egg is well mixed and the salt combined.

Pour the eggs into the well. Gently and gradually using the fork, incorporate small amounts of flour from the sides of the well. Make sure that the egg doesn't seep out of the well!

When most of the flour has been incorporated, knead the dough with floured hands until the dough is smooth and elastic. Allow to rest, covered in a bowl for about an hour. If the dough becomes tough and overworked, you may have to start over. It will be very hard to work it through the pasta machine if it has become tough.

Cut the dough into four parts. Lightly flour the dough on both sides by sliding through a couple tablespoons of flour sprinkled on a cutting board.

Gently work through the pasta machine set on the lowest setting. You may have to fold the dough over on it self a couple times before it goes through cleanly. Work the dough through the pasta machine about three to five times before going to a thinner setting. Slide the sheet of pasta through the flour as required.

For the ravioli, I worked the pasta to the #6 setting. It was beautiful!!! :p The sheets were nearly see through and the pasta was still slightly moist.

I placed a sheet of pasta onto the ravioli form, used the other piece to stretch the dough to allow room for the filling. I placed about two to three teaspoons of filling into the hollow, moistened all the edges with a touch of water, then put another sheet of pasta dough on top. Finally I ran a rolling pin over the form to cut the dough, and generously floured the ravioli before putting them on a surface to dry.

The ravioli were refrigerated in single layers until ready to cook.



Sorry there's so few photos! I believe it was a weekday and I was just getting a little overwhelmed. I'll post more when I make pumpking ravioli.