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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Desdichado" data-source="post: 2530166" data-attributes="member: 2205">Very clear evidence that you haven't had enough weird stuff to eat yet.  <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile    :)"  data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" />  Probably the worst thing I've ever eaten was "mondongo steak"--fried stomach lining of a cow.  Blood sausage isn't much better; barbecued scabs.  Armadillo is probably one of the odder things I ate; but my little sister's got me beat--she had broiled monkey once.Here's a good recipe adapted from something I used to eat all the time in Argentina.  Ingredients are adapted to what's readily available in the US, and I don't actually measure anything out; I just "eyeball" it.Empanadas salteñasCreate the "meat mix" by browning about half a pound or so of ground beef and half of a chopped yellow or white onion in a large frying pan.  Season to taste with minced garlic (fresh is the best, but garlic powder will do in a pinch), chopped red pepper, salt, cumin, chopped oregano and parsley.  Remove from heat, stir in half a cup or so of chopped green olives and two or three chopped boiled eggs.To simulate tapas de empanadas I use eggroll wraps.  There not exactly the same, but IMO, are just as good in a slightly different way.  With a shallow bowl of water handy, put about two tablespoons or so of the "meat mix" in the middle of one of the eggroll wraps.  Fold it in half and seal it with the water.  Then, fold the edges of the wrap over to completely close the package.  Ideally, you'll be what looks like a fat half-circle with the round edges neatly folded over in a braided appearance, but let's face it; it doesn't matter too much what they look like.  If they're tightly sealed, you're OK.Place them on a cookie sheet an inch or two apart.  Brush the tops with raw whipped egg.  Preheat your oven to 350º or so, and bake until they turn slightly golden brown.  Take out, allow to cool, and enjoy.  They're still good cold, but I prefer 'em hot.Here's another "recipe" I learned in Argentina; basically, again, I don't measure anything out, I just kinda mix it up until I get something I like.  I do it kinda as second nature, but I'll try and spell out how I do it, more or less.ChimichurriTo be spread on meat (especially asado to be traditional, but slow-cooked flank steaks are my favorite) or bread (especially hard-shelled Italian bread), or whatever else you want to eat it with.  It's spicy, but not hot.  Unless you go out of your way to make it so, of course.  My version contains about twelve years of tweaking stuff since I got back from Argentina, partially to reflect available materials in the US, but mostly just because I like it better that way.In a bottle about the size of an empty salad dressing bottle,  mix about a tablespoon each of dried and chopped oregano and parsley (I don't use fresh of either; just your typical McCormick spice cabinet stuff works fine, IMO.)  About half a tablespoon of minced garlic or garlic powder, and then less than that even of chopped red pepper, salt and cumin.  Seal it up well and shake until thoroughly mixed.  Then slowly pour vinegar (I prefer white) and virgin olive oil in even portions until you have a kinda sludgy consistency.  Come back in about an hour, and you'll find that the spices have absorbed a bunch of the liquid; you'll need to add more.  You want it to remain fairly thick.And that's that.  It seems every Argentine housewife does it a bit differently, and I've seen several online recipes for chimichurri, but few of them differ substantially from mine.  Some of them call for red vinegar instead of white, and some of them add a few other spices included chopped black pepper corns, cilantro, bay leaves, rosemary, thyme, etc. and many of them call for only fresh spices, but I'm not that snobby.  Since coming home, I've also mixed in a bit of lemon juice (only a few teaspoons) and a drop or two of Liquid Smoke, and I like what that does to it.  Frankly, it doesn't seem right to talk about measuring specific quantities; just make the stuff up depending on how much you like the spice in question.  I've seen so many varieties that I'm convinced that it's not possible to actually do it wrong.Also note, although I'm notorious for my love of extremely spicy-hot food, neither of the above is very hot at all.  Although it can easily be made so by re-jigging the ratios of pepper, the types of peppers, and my "one size fits all" addition of a bit of Dave's Insanity Sauce.</blockquote>

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