The Argentinian-born founder of St. Paul, Minnesota-based Quebracho Empanadas serves up a smattering of meal and snack ideas.
“WHAT’S IN YOUR POCKET?”
“WHAT’S IN YOUR POCKET?”
The Argentinian-born founder of St. Paul, Minnesota-based Quebracho Empanadas serves up a smattering of meal and snack ideas.
Today, Belén is the founder of Quebracho Empanadas, a St. Paul, Minnesota-based Argentinian empanada brand. When she first founded the company in 2018, she sold empanadas, other savory pies, and charcuterie at local farmers’ markets and pop-up shops. But when the Covid-19 pandemic hit in 2020, she quickly pivoted her business to focus on selling wholesale, frozen empanadas through grocery stores and co-ops—a step that anyone in the consumer packaged goods industry will tell you is far from easy, pandemic or not. But for Belén, working the food industry runs in her blood.
In Astoria, a historically Greek neighborhood of Queens where baklava are as common as bagels, Cafe Boulis stands out. Panagiotis “Pek” Peikidis bought the cafe in 2016, but he’s quick to say it really belongs to his mother, Lemona Peikidou. Every morning, Peikidou walks the ten blocks from her home to Cafe Boulis at 4:30. She pulls spanakopita, tiropita (phyllo dough stuffed with cheese), and other pastries prepared the previous day from the fridge and starts her first bake.
Back to the kitchen I went, determined to make a solid gluten-free empanada dough that didn’t break and baked well since I don’t have enough oil to fry masa-based dough. After playing around with this trusty King Arthur Pie Crust I finally figured out how to adapt it to have less ingredients to suit what was in my pantry and still be malleable enough to crimp (be sure you’re using the measure-for-measure flour). The delicious solution was simple, add more butter and let the dough warm up a lot (you can be pretty slow with these unlike with standard pie crust).
This quick, healthy weeknight meal comes together in 30 minutes and brings a lot of color and flavor onto the table. The soup is great on its own, but incredibly hearty when dumplings are cooked in the blue-ish broth infused with garlic and scallions. Top with your favorite fresh herbs and pickles and a hefty spoonful of chili oil.
Last July, I started deleting my instagram account daily. I’d download it in the morning and set a timer for 15 minutes before checking in, post a picture if I had one to share, respond to DMs and comments, comment on posts in my feed, and then delete the app until the evening, when I’d do the same thing all over again.
Can I make a vodka pie dough and use bourbon in place of vodka? The answer is yes. Yes, you can.
The original vodka pie dough recipe, published by Cook’s Illustrated in 2007 (RIP), was created because vodka, with its high alcohol content, adds moisture to the dough without aiding in the formation of gluten.
Less gluten formation = a flakier pie crust. Vodka is also used in place of water (which is very good at helping to form gluten) because it is flavorless, so it doesn’t interfere with the taste of the pie filling.
Where to get the best Chinese dumplings in Austin? The Farmer’s market! Cindy Chee and Leslie Chau are serving up handmade dumplings stuffed with organic, locally sourced vegetables and sustainable meat.
Pupuseria 503 y Mas is located on the corner of Justin and Lamar in Brentwood, Austin. Doris and Victor Monterroso are lovingly serving up some of the best pupusas in Austin.
We hopped (eventually waddled) around downtown Flushing, Queens on a sunny April day, traveling all over China through the dumplings we ate. Eddie Mao’s walking dumpling crawl is perfect for a Saturday adventure or a day trip on a long weekend. In about 5 hours, we hit 10 dumpling shops, and even stopped for a fruit tea refresher.
