January 26, 2019

We had our first cooking group gathering in the country!  All members were present except for Angelica.  

We sat around the fire, walked the dogs, PRUNED GRAPE VINES, SHOT GUNS and drank wine out of Pringles tins.  The small ones.  We aren't crazy.  

We also circulated a memo to wear black and I did not receive said memo.

For our appetizer, Tonya created an empanada recipe using Elk!  ELK! These were so delicious and with the egg wash, the oven baked pastries were crispy without the mess of frying.

Ingredients:

1 lb. ground elk

1 lb. fresh ground pork chorizo (from HEB)

1 small yellow onion, diced

1 green bell pepper, diced

1 orange bell pepper, diced

3 cloves garlic, minced

Goya Adobo Seasoning

Goya empanada disks, defrosted (Found in the freezer section. There are some that say "para horno" - for the oven, and some that don't say anything that are probably supposed to be fried. We baked a couple of the ones for frying, and I fried some at home the next day. I like the ones for oven baking best.)

1 egg, beaten

Brown ground meats in large skillet. Discard oil, keeping just a tablespoon to saute the vegetables. Mix sauteed vegetables with browned meat, add seasoning to taste. Let cool. 

Place about 3 tablespoons of filling in the center of each empanada pastry disk. Fold in half to close, and either fold over and pinch edges closed, or press with fork tines to seal. Brush tops with beaten egg. Bake at 350 degrees for about 20 minutes, until browned.

The dipping sauce (not shown) was a mixture of sour cream, Herdez guacamole salsa, and salt.

Our main dish was Shepherd's Pie.  Since there were men folk crashing our shin dig, I thought meat and potatoes was the way to go.  Shepherd's Pie is simply meat mixed with vegetables and covered with mashed potatoes.  We prepared it in cast iron because I have a plethora of it and thought it would be something new to try.  This recipe was flavorful and simplified with frozen vegetables that stayed firm during all the cooking.  I worried they would be mushy but this was not the case!  This is a hearty dish and it re-heats well too.

Michelle picked this spinach salad.  It was the most interesting salad I have ever prepared.  The dressing was like a roux gravy!  It was SO GOOD!  BACON!  How can you not love a salad with bacon and mushrooms?!  

To finish our meal, Mary created a new recipe for Black Forest Gooey Butter Cake.  The chocolate bottom and butter cake top enveloped the cherry filling.  This was a very rich and satisfying dessert!  I almost think it could have used more cherry to really bring out the Black Forestness.