birthdays, miami and me, and empanadas
so, yesterday was my birthday, some of my friends asked if my party was miami nice themed. It was twelve thousand degrees, there was no breeze and the theme of the party could have been sweaty, but a couple hours into a 21st birthday party who cares about all that, right?
More important than my silly party is MIA turning the big 1-1-4. That's right. If Miami was a person it would be in the running for a world record (not really, the oldest documented person died at 122 and 164 days), but at a little more than a century our city is celebrating, like, a twenty first. We'll say it's transitioned out of the awkward teens and it's turning the corner into adulthood as a force to be reckoned with. (we're talking about Miami here I swear).
miami 114 by Stephen Gamson
So, in honor of turning 144 Miami is having a birthday party at Bayfront Park. Seriously. The City of Miami's birthday party is on Wednesday, July 28 (tomorrow), tickets are 25 bucks, and miami nice favorites Suenalo and DJ Le Spam are booked for the jams, Grey Goose is providing the liq, and more than 20 restaurants are coming out to celebrate, because what's a party without the food. Speaking of the food, I thought I would share a recipe from my party last night that I learned from a Puerto Rican, but is perfect Miami party food.
Caramelized Onions and Mozarella/ Manchego and Guayaba Empanadas
here's what you'll need for ten empanadas:
- 2 large onions
- 1 ten pack of empanada dough
- olive oil, sugar, butter and salt and pepper for caramelizing
- mozarella cheese (not the pre-shredded kind)
- oil for frying
- you'll also need a fork for pressing the edges shut
You can buy empanada dough pre-made and cut at Publix or any grocery store in the frozen foods section. Usually, they're right by the frozen tostones, platanos, and other Cuban food (which is such a fun section to waste some time in... frozen banana leaves?).
Cut the onions into small pieces and caramelize them. Here's a tutorial on how to do that.
Then it's easy, just shred the mozarella and scoop the onions and cheese into the (defrosted) empanadas.
Fold the empanada in half and use the edge of a fork to seal the edge of the dough.
and then comes the part that will really make you fat (you're already eating the healthy part full of butter and sugar, so why not go all the way)- fill up a pan with about half an inch of oil for frying. I try and use as little oil as possible to get the job done. Heat it up at about medium high and lower the temperature as it starts to get really hot so you don't burn them (learned that the hard way).
Carefully drop the empanada in (come on, you have to have seen an abuela do this before) and let it turn a golden brown on each side- and voila!