Chapter 13 - I AM BECOMING A TICA

Today I decided to finish off the dough that Rita left and I wrapped and placed in the refrigerator.  She said it would dry out, so I didn’t want to leave it very long.  I had purchased a special tool to make tacos the last time we were at the grocery market.  I hadn’t seen this tool before, but recognized it immediately.  I have always been keen on kitchen gadgets.

This tool was a couple of round slices of wood with a wooden handle on top and a hinge at the base.  You need only to place a round of dough on the flat wood, bring down the little top and presto, you have a taco shape.  Now just get it into the frying pan without messing it up.

            What I wanted to make was more empanadas.  I thawed out some of the chicken mixture, enough to make four empanadas.  I thought that was the amount of dough that I had, but after I had added a handful of shredded cheese and some sour cream I had enough for six.  The last two I made with more cheese in the centre.  As long as it’s cheese, it’s good.

The first one I formed was a little tricky, and some of the filling erupted through the dough.  I had seen Rita do some patchwork, so I tried the same, but she is more adept at handling that dough than I.  It looked pretty messy, but I slapped it into the fry pan, hoping.  The next five didn’t look too bad.  I felt they would be edible.

The pan wasn’t quite hot enough.  It should have been heated longer.  The first side was slow to cook and brown.  The other side looked better.  They smelled good.

We ate the empanadas for dinner.  They weren’t as pretty as Rita’s but they were tasty. 

We had some tiny gingersnaps for dessert, and watched some T.V.