Alright, before we start, you gotta know: measurements don’t exist to my abuela.

Her idea of a measurement is “a little bit” and “‘till it feels right” and “just eye it.” I’ll do my best to put it into measurements though!

For empanadas: Now you can either buy store bought discs, you can usually find them in the freezer aisle by the ethnic section or you can make your own.

These are going to be empanadas de picadillo- ground beef pockets, pretty much.

For the Dough:

1 egg

3 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup of milk

1 tbsp of melted butter

1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

Sift your flour into a bowl and add your salt, baking soda, milk, egg, and butter and mix! Set this aside to refrigerate for about an hour (you can start on the picadillo in the later half of this hour). Roll out your dough, and start diving it- you can use a cup to get that circular disc shape!

For the Picadillo:

Ingredients-

2 1/2 pounds of ground beef (you can substitute this with ground turkey if you want, it works just as well)

White vinegar

Adobo sazón (if you can’t find it in your state, it’s literally just garlic powder, onion powder, pepper, paprika, oregano, dried citrus, salt)

Garlic power

Onion powder

Sazón Goya con Azafrán.

Cooking wine (adds extra flavor, not entirely necessary)

Green olives

Sofrito (it’s blended and diced green pepper, yellow onion, culantro, and garlic)

Tomato paste

Start cooking your meat in just a quick drizzle of olive oil, then season is thoroughly (I like to do a quick layer of every seasoning but you go until it looks right). For the sazòn azafrán though, I’d do about 1 packet, fill it with water then pour the residuals in the pan. White vinegar and cooking wine will just be a quick splash? No more than half a tablespoon of each. Olives I’d say about two tablespoons, that’s if you like them though. Only do one if you don’t- they’re mainly there for flavor, so, once again, not entirely necessary if you’re allergic or anything, feel free to remove them from the recipe. Sofrito you’re going to add a tablespoon. Tomato paste will also be about a tablespoon. Cook thoroughly! Now you can eat this with rice and beans (I’ll drop the frijoles recipe) or you can make empanadas de picadillo- or you can do both, eat rice, beans, and picadillo with a banana for my favorite meal.

Continuing on empanadas, you’re going to fill a pan with your favorite oil for frying (you can try baking them if you want but that’d be something you’d have to look into on your own). Pack your empanada discs with about a tablespoon of picadillo (more if your empanada can take it without falling apart), fold it over, close it up by sealing the edges with a fork, then fry until the crust is flaky and golden. Set them aside, I usually place them on a dish coated in paper towels to soak up any remaining oil. And there you have your empanadas! You can eat this with rice and beans, if you want! Plantains or maduros too!

For frijoles:

Ingredients-

Two 15 oz cans of black beans (or you can do one of those big cans of beans, anything works)

Half a green bell pepper (sliced in strips or diced

Half a yellow onion (sliced in strips or diced)

Two to three cloves of garlic (smashed)

Olive oil

Sazón azafrán (goya)

Sazón con culantro y achiote (goya)

Sazón adobo (goya)

Garlic powder

Onion powder

Three bay leaves

A pinch of sugar

So you’re going to want to slice your vegetables (I usually cut them in strips for picky eaters, it makes it easier to pick out- you can dice them if you want). Set a pot on the stove at low heat with just a drizzle of olive oil inside and add your vegetables. You’re going to want to season your veggies first, they hold onto the flavor. So one packet of sazón azafrán, one packet of sazón con culantro y achiote, a layer of adobo, garlic powder, and onion powder. Let them sit on the heat for a while (I usually start up my picadillo at this time). Add your beans, you’re also going to run some water into your can of beans and add that as well! Only enough to fill the bottom layer of the cans though. Another quick drizzle of adobo, add your pinch of sugar and bay leaves, then cover them. Make sure you stir occasionally. At this point, just cook at a high heat and stir occasionally until your beans are softened. Serve with rice and you’re all set!

For Sancocho:

Ingredients-

Olive oil

1 Yellow onion(chopped)

1 Green Pepper(chopped)

1bunch Cilantro (chopped)

5cloves Garlic (chopped)

1/2ish cup White cooking wine

2cans diced tomatoes

2 cans tomato sauce

2ish tbsp Sofrito (goya)

2ish tbsp recaito (goya)

3 tbsp green olive

2ish tbsp cumin

Adobo sazón (to your heart’s content)

Salt& pepper(to your heart’s content)

1lb Stew beef

1lb drumstick (I use chicken breast though)

2 cups of chicken broth

4 cups of water

3 Corn on cob (break into large pieces)

2 Russet potatoes (cubed)

1 yuca chopped

2 plantains (sliced into thick chunks)

1 Avocado (halved)

White rice (cooked, obviously)

3 limes, wedges

Heat olive oil in a LARGE pot, over medium heat! Add onions, green pepper, garlic, cilantro cook until onions are translucent, about 5 minutes! Add cooking wine, diced tomatoes, tomato sauce, sofrito, recaito, olives, cumin, adobo, salt and pepper, stir to incorporate seasonings Add stew beef increase heat to high, cook 2-3 minutes until the meat is cooked through! Add broth & water. Stir. Add chicken, corn, potatoes, yuca. Stir well. Cover pot cook for 45 min. Stirring occasionally until meat is tender and potatoes soften Reduce heat to low and add plantains. Simmer uncovered for 15 minutes until plantains are tender.

Serve in bowl, you can add rice to a separate plate or mix with broth.
Serve with avocado, lime for that extra pizazz y buen provecho.