Recipes from:
  The Mansur Family

Two great recipes, traditional to Argentina!  Using Armando Mansur's Organic Oil enhances the authentic flavor of both these dishes.

Argentina Empanadas

4 cups unbleached flour
5-6 tbsp Mansur Olive Oil
1/2 tbsp salt
2 onions
1 green bell pepper
1 # beef tenderloin
1/3 cup seedless raisins
1/4 cup green olives, finely chopped
1 bunch green onions, minced
1 hard-boiled egg, minced
paprika
salt
crushed red pepper

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.

1. Finely dice the beef, dice the onion, bell pepper

2. Put 3 tbsp of Mansur olive oil into a medium-size frying pan.

3. Sauté the onion and bell pepper over medium heat until the onion starts to turn golden.

4. Add the diced meat. Season to taste with salt, red pepper, and paprika. Sauté, stirring occasionally, until the beef turns brown on all sides.

5. Remove the frying pan from the heat.

6. Mix in the egg, the raisins, the olives, and the green onions. Allow the mix to cool until it drops to room temperature.

7. While the beef filling cools, pour the flour on a smooth surface, forming a mound. Using the back of a spoon, make a depression in the center. Put 2 to 3 tbsp olive oil in the depression.

8. Mix and knead the ingredients until fully incorporated.

9. Dissolve the salt in a cup of warm water. Gradually incorporate this liquid into the dough, kneading 10-15 minutes until it becomes smooth and elastic.

10. Pull off balls of dough about the size of a golf ball. On the floured surface, roll out each ball of dough into a 10-cm-diameter circle.

11. With floured hands, hold the dough circle in one hand and place 1 tbsp of the filling in the center. Press and crimp the edges together to secure the filling within.

12. On a lightly floured baking sheet, arrange the empanadas on the sheet and bake until the pastry is golden brown, approx. 10 minutes.

SERVES 8

Argentine Beef Stew

2 pounds of beef, cut in bite size cubes
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 tablespoon Armando Mansur Olive Oil
2 large tomatoes, coarsely chopped
1 green bell pepper; chopped
1 red bell pepper chopped
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 tablespoon oregano
2 teaspoon of basil
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper (optional)
1 teaspoon sugar
1 cup of dried apricots, chopped coarsely if whole and large
3 medium potatoes, peeled and diced
3 sweet potatoes, peeled and diced
2 cups of beef broth
1 medium large Pumpkin
butter or margarine; melted
1/4 c Dry sherry
1 pound of whole kernel corn, drained and/or defrosted

Preheat oven to 325 degrees.

1. In the olive oil, brown the beef with the onion and garlic.

2. Add all the remaining ingredients, except the corn, sherry and pumpkin.

3. Simmer for a 1 hour, covered.

4. Cut the top off the pumpkin and discard. Scoop out the seeds and stringy membrane, and discard them as well.

(You could roast the pumpkin seeds in the oven for a snack if you like, or sauté them in Mansur oil with some light salt, but they are not used in this recipe)

5. Brush the inside of the pumpkin with butter and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.

6. Into the stew, stir in the stew, sherry and corn. Place the mixture into the pumpkin.

7. Bake at 325F for about an hour, or until the pumpkin is tender.

8. When serving, scoop out some pumpkin along with the stew.

SERVES 6 - 8