I have known Jehanne, The Cooking Doctor, for under one year but it feels like I have known her for a long time. This warm and passionate heart surgeon is also an enthusiastic baker, food blogger, mother and wife all in one. That’s not where she stops. She has already published 4 mini cookbooks and few more are in the horizon.
You will be amazed how this multi talented doctor swaps her medical instruments at her day job as a doctor to kitchen utensils in the evening and creates magical treatment of healthy treats for her family, which she shares in her blog, The Cooking Doctor. Though I have never met Jehanne, our common struggles as working moms has created a circle of bonding between us. We sometimes chat during late nights/early mornings like old friends. It’s amazing how you find good friends at the most unusual way.
Let me stop here and kick of the weekly Ramadan guest post series starting with Jehanne.
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I have known Lail only through the blog world, but it seems as if I have known her for a long time, like a girl next door. I like her passion for authentic Bangladeshi food, and her posts speaks a volume about her passion for cooking too.
When Lail asked me to guest post on her lovely space, I could not be more excited. I wanted to create something that fits the bill, something which is traditional and dear to my heart yet at the same time worldly, and full of continental flavors.
I blogged about curry puffs a while back and in fact was one of the posts that I wrote for Honest Cooking magazine. Growing up, I was not familiar with puff pastries but these puffs, oh yes. Made from scratch using only shortening and flour, these hand pies would be welcomed as afternoon snack on rainy days, filler in lunch boxes and even breakfast. It was only much later that I realized the concept of hand pies are universally similar, with Empanadas being the equivalent in Spanish or South American countries.
The filling varies between vegan, vegetarian and meaty options but the outer flaky layers remain almost similar. Some are baked, some are deep fried. Despite the variations, they all convey the message of homey goodness, and snacks made to be shared.
Making the Empanadas from scratch is a must for Ramadhan in our house, and I bet if you like samosas, you would love this too. This time around, I used spiced potato and egg filling to suit both vegetarian and non-veg palates. They make a beautiful Iftar platter, and healthier baked than deep fried. For classic Empanada look, I use fork to crimp the edges together, this is also a twist from traditional Malaysian curry puffs whereby the edges are twisted together using hand.
I would like to thank Lail for the generous invite to grace her lovely space here, really appreciate it my friend! I hope your readers will try out this wonderful savoury snack for Ramadhan idea and beyond.
- Prepare the filling:
- Heat the olive oil. Saute onion, ginger garlic until fragrant.
- Add in the potatoes and spices. Splash some water then cover with lid to let the potatoes cook. Add in the scrambled egg and combine well. Season with salt and pepper.
- Prepare the crust:
- Take 1 ½ cups of flour and mix with egg, salt, pepper and enough water to form soft dough.
- Divide into 8 balls.Mix the remaining cup of flour with shortening and form smaller balls.
- Flatten the bigger ball and insert the smaller shortening ball and enclose fully. Roll the dough into rectangle and using a knife, cut a slit in the middle.
- Roll the dough all the way from bottom to top then come all the way down. Then cut into 2. Roll each halved ball into a circle and spoon some filling.
- Join edges together and crimp using fork.
- Brush top with egg wash.
- Bake for 20-25 minutes at 180C /350F until golden brown.
That’s an lovely one….that filling sounds new to me…You presented empanadas in a gorgeous way Jehanne….Thank you for the post Lail….
thanks Lail for your kind words, and for the opportunity to be here in your lovely blog. Hope to meet u in real one day, soon insyaAllah 🙂
Great guest post!
jehanne’s recipes are always good and seeing it on ur space is really lovely… kudos to both of u… Ramadan Kareem, Lail… 🙂
you have lovely space Lail and the guest post from Jahanne is superb…good work both of you…
Wow! They look delicious Jehanne. I bet they will be over in no time. I love that it is a baked and the filling is easy to put together.
Lail, agree with you on the friendships formed along the way, in the most unsusal but amazing way:-)
Great looking empanadas! I love the flavorings you’ve used – so tasty. Excellent guest post – thanks.
Great looking empanadas Jehanne! Perfect for iftar. It’s pretty amazing the friendships one forms without even meeting someone. That is my most favourite part of blogging and why I continue to do it. Great guest post Lail.
Nazneen
I adore empanadas/hand pies. They are the perfect portable food, great for picnics too.
We love empanadas, but haven’t seen them since we left Texas. Thanks so much for the recipe for the crust. And, more importantly, I’m so glad these are baked instead of fried. So much healthier. What a great idea to serve them for breakfast. I’m definitely pinning this.
Sam
Thank you, Sam.