ARGENTINA

Between the Andes mountain range and the Atlantic Ocean lies the second largest country in South America...Argentina. This country boasts not just a musical where Madonna asks her not to cry; but, a cuisine that mixes European with indigenous foods. The result is deliciousness. Set aside that mate, and jump in.

I made a variation on the empanadas theme. Empanadas are small meat pies, often sold by street vendors with chimichurri, a parsley sauce. Instead, I made 2 large meat pies, using pie crust; and, made the chimichurri with cilantro.

I melted half a cup of shortening in a skillet, and added 2 chopped onions, cooking just until they started turning a golden color. I took this off the heat, and added 2 teaspoons of sweet paprika, 3/4 teaspoon of regular paprika, half a teaspoon of red pepper flakes and some salt. I spread out a pound of extra lean ground beef in a sieve, and poured boiling water on top of it, getting the cooking process going. I let the meat cool, then put it in a bowl and mixed in some salt, a teaspoon a cumin and a tablespoon of distilled white vinegar. and the onions.

After mixing well, I flattened this in a large plate, letting it cool and harden. Now is the time to preheat the oven to 350 degrees. I also unrolled one of the pie crusts onto a new large terracotta plate I bought for this, and working on fish. In the middle of the pie crust went half the meat, some raisins, a quarter cup of pitted green olives and a chopped up hard boiled egg.

I put some aluminum foil on a pie pan, sprayed it with Pam, and put the meat pie to one side of it. I repeated the process with the second pie crust. Make sure to wet the edges so that you can seal the crust. It should be shaped like a half moon when finished.

I glazed the pies with an egg, and put them in the heated oven for 25 minutes. While this was cooking, I put the following in a food processor: 1 bunch of cilantro chopped, 8 cloves of garlic crushed, 1 teaspoon of dried oregano, between 1/4 and 1/2 teaspoon of cayenne, a teaspoon of salt1/3 cup of red wine vinegar, 3/4 cup of olive oil and the juice of 1 lime. Do not puree. You want it to still have chunks.

When the pies were done, we cut them open and put the sauce right in the pies.

In the spirit of full disclosure...my wife did not like the raisins in the pie. She felt it made it too sweet. I could have done without the olives, and i would have put half the garlic in the sauce. Oh well...next time.

MEAT EMPANADAS (PIE):

1/2 cup Shortening
2 Onions chopped
1 pound Extra lean Ground Beef
2 teaspoons Sweet Paprika
3/4 teaspoon Paprika
1/2 teaspoon Red Pepper Flakes
1 teaspoon Cumin
1 tablespoon Distilled White Vinegar
1/4 cup Raisins
1/2 cup Pitted Green Olives chopped
2 Hard Boiled Eggs chopped
Salt to taste
Pie Crust

CHIMICHURRI:

1 bunch Cilantro chopped
8 cloves Garlic crushed
1 teaspoon Dried Oregano
1/4 teaspoon Cayenne Pepper
1 teaspoon Salt
1/3 cup Red Wine Vinegar
3/4 cup Olive Oil
Juice of 1 Lime