Beef Empanadas

 Here is my 3rd and last Goya recipe for this month of August.  We were also supposed to do a beef recipe from "Beef, It's what for dinner" council.  August is a really busy month with me going back to the classroom so I did a beef recipe with my Goya product.  Knocking out two and one.  So this last one, I really wanted to see if I could find the Goya "Discos" or the puff pastry circles to make Empanadas.  Luckily at my second attempt at a Safeway that seemed to have lots of Goya on their shelves...I tried my luck in the freezer to look for the dough and SCORE!!! I scooped up two.  I stay away from recipes most times that have you make your own doughs.  I just don't have the time or patience for it anymore.  When I saw that Goya made its own dough for Empanadas I had to see if I could find it and so happy I did.
Allrecipes had only one empanada recipe from Goya and in true JennyMac fashion I tweaked it:

-I did not use all their prepared seasonings and such.  I was fearful of it being too salty,
-None of the seasonings (Sazon Goya and Goya Soffrito) were included in my box of goodies so I wasn't going to go out and buy them.
-I added a non-traditional food in it, (K-man doesn't like olives) sweet potato.
-I did NOT FRY them.

Beef and Sweet Potato Empanadas
by JennyMac Lipsmack on Allrecipes.com

1/2 pound ground beef

1/2 medium yellow onion, finely chopped

1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed

1/4 cup Goya Tomato Sauce

1 Tbsp. Adobo seasoning

1 teaspoon Minced Garlic

1/2 teaspoon Dried Oregano

Ground Black Pepper, to taste

1 (14 ounce) package Goya Discos (yellow or white), thawed

About 1/4 c. Oil, for cooking and brushing

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Heat about 1 tbsp. oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Remove and put to side.  Put another tbsp of oil and onions and sweet potato in the already heated pan. Cook until soft, about 10 minutes. Stir in tomato sauce, adobo, garlic, oregano and black pepper and add the ground beef back into the pan mixture. Taste for seasoning

On a lightly floured work surface, using a rolling pin, roll out discos until 1/2-inch larger in diameter. Spoon about 1 tbsp. meat mixture into middle, fold in half to form a half moon; moisten edges with water and pinch to seal closed, or seal with a fork.

Line cookie sheet with either a silpat or parchment.  Brush with oil.  Place 12 empanadas on sheet and brush with oil.  Place in preheated oven and bake for 15 minutes.  Turn empanadas over and bake for another 5 minutes or until both sides are golden brown.

This is the second time I took a classically FRIED recipe and baked it (I also bake egg rolls now instead of deep frying them) and the dough comes out just as crispy as though it was fried and so little oil is being absorbed by doing this.  

I AM GOING TO GO BACK AND BUY MORE OF THESE DOUGH DISKS....SO CONVENIENT AND THEY WERE AWESOME!!!

All in all, the Goya products were top notch and I used them before, so it was a no-brainer to me about using them.  Also we like to eat beef here so a double  assignment of making a beef recipes wasn't to difficult since we eat it at least twice a week.  It was fun taking a beef recipe and creating a new filling and using a new Goya product.  This was a good month for food from Allrecipes Allstars.

Enjoy!

Cheesy Chicken and Yellow Rice

Time for my second Goya Recipe review.  I find that I really have to play with rice when it comes to K-man.  He is not a fan of plain rice at all and any flavored rice has to be really good for him to finish what is on his plate. 

My tweak on this recipe was adding a little cream of chicken soup.  That made this a winner to K-man.  Clean plate. 

I also didn't want to mix all the veggies and chicken in with the rice because K-man likes to have his food somewhat separate.  Although, personally I don't care K-man perhaps thinks he gets more of a variety through eating a bite of the chicken and pepper then the rice.  Not rice coated chicken and peppers.  It's not like he is OCD and the chicken can't touch the vegetables and the rice can't touch them either.  He's not THAT bad! 

All in all, I felt this was a pretty good recipe and would do it again.

Cheesy Chicken and Yellow Rice
by Goya on Allrecipes.com

1 (8 ounce) box GOYA® Yellow Rice

2 medium tomatoes, cored, seeded, and finely chopped

2 tablespoons GOYA® Extra Virgin Olive Oil, divided

1 pound boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut in 3/4-inch pieces

GOYA® Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning with Pepper, to

taste

1 medium green bell pepper, chopped

1/2 medium onion, chopped

1/2 cup shredded Cheddar cheese

 

In small saucepan over medium heat, bring 2 cups water to boil. Add contents of yellow rice mix, tomatoes and 1 tbsp. oil; return water to boil. Reduce heat to low. Cook, covered, until water is absorbed and rice is tender, about 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, heat remaining oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Season chicken with Adobo. Cook chicken until golden brown, about 5 minutes. Add bell peppers and onions to skillet. Cook, stirring, until vegetables are soft and chicken is cooked through, about 10 minutes more; remove from heat.

In skillet with cooked chicken, stir in cooked rice until combined. Mix in cheese, stirring until melted. Serve warm. (I did not stir in my rice with chicken as shown above but you can do what pleases you most)

Cook's notes:  I added 1/2 cup cream of chicken soup in with the step with the cheese and it made the rice so much creamier!

Chipotle Cheeseburgers

This month for my Allrecipes Allstars assignment we are working with Goya.  I have used Goya many times and have been very pleased with their products.  Even though I got a lovely box of free products....I would still sing their praises.  One of my first recipes I did was Chipotle Cheeseburgers.  It was very tasty.
Of course since this was dinner and there was no daylight my picture looks nothing like their beautiful picture on AR.  They added a big onion slice, tomato and lettuce.  We kept it simple because we wanted to really taste the burger to see if it was flavored enough.  Even without making the chipotle mayo (an extra task for you to do to make this burger) it stood out on it's own.  I sliced my burger in half and tried it both ways.  So I you want extra steps with high flavor/heat....go for it.  But without the special mayo it was still awesome.

Chipotle Cheeseburger
from GOYA on allrecipes.com

1/4 cup Goya Mayonnaise

1 chipotle pepper from a can of Goya

Chipotle Peppers in Adobo Sauce, finely

chopped

1/4 cup sauce from a can of Goya

Chipotle Chiles in Adobo Sauce

3 tablespoons Goya Minced Garlic,

divided

1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh

cilantro

Goya Adobo All-Purpose Seasoning, to

taste

2 pounds ground beef (80% lean)

1 teaspoon Goya Vegetable Oil

6 slices Cheddar cheese

6 hamburger buns

6 (1/4 inch thick) slices red onions

6 (1/2 inch thick) slices tomatoes

6 lettuce leaves

 

1.	In medium bowl, stir together mayonnaise, 1 tbsp. chipotle sauce, 1 tsp. garlic, cilantro and adobo; cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
2.	In large bowl, gently mix together beef, chopped chipotle, 3 tbsp. chipotle sauce, remaining garlic and adobo until combined. Divide meat into 6 portions; form into 1 inch-thick patties. (Take care not to over-handle meat or else it will toughen).
3.	Prepare grill to medium-high heat, grease with oil (or heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat). Cook burgers, flipping once, until charred and cooked to desired doneness (about 12 minutes total for medium rare). Add cheese to patties about 5 minutes before taking them off grill.
4.	To assemble, divide patties evenly among bottom buns; top with onion slice, tomato slice, lettuce and top bun spread with reserved chipotle mayonnaise.