Recipe Weekend: Spice Islands Makes Summer Better With Taste Buds Kitchen!

Disclosure / Disclaimer: I received this info, free of charge,from Spice Islandsfor blog posting purposes. No other compensation, monetary or in kind, has been received or implied for this post. Nor was I told how to post the info,  all opinions are my own. 

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Did you hear the news?

Spice Islands is teaming up with Taste Buds Kitchen as their Official Spice Partner in a year-long program that includes thousands of cooking classes, workshops and special events nationwide from May 2018 through May 2019! 

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Spice Islands selected Taste Buds Kitchen for this alliance, in order to support the cooking school’s mission to provide home chefs cooking classes that are fun, educational, enjoyable and easy. During their classes, instructors guide participants in amazing ways to cook with spices, to enhance meals for the whole family. 

Taste Buds Kitchen and Spice Islands know that not all spices are created equal. 

To achieve such rich flavors and premium quality,Spice Islands buys many spices whole, such as black peppercorns from Vietnam, India and Malaysia, and then mills them in its facility to release their rich flavors and capture them in each bottle.  Spice Islands premium spices and seasonings adhere to strict specifications to ensure high volatile oil levels, meaning a higher quality and more flavorful product.  From cultivating long term relationships with farmers throughout the world, to handpicking many of the spices, to maintaining traditions of drying many of the herbs and spices in the sun - tender care is put into each harvest to ensure the highest quality product.

These new cooking classes, using Spice Islands, will inspire people to turn to spices when creating recipes to make them more interesting and flavorful. “We are delighted to partner with Taste Buds Kitchen to create a program for a year-long series of classes that allows Spice Islands to be part of thousands of classes, workshops and events for people to really enjoy and learn more about spices,” says Julie Gould, Spice Islands Brand Manager. “We know that home cooks will love the Taste Buds Kitchen classes and learn how to bring the world of flavor home.”

The union between Spice Islands and Taste Buds Kitchen is a perfect match as it allows the home cook to learn about the value of cooking with spices and ways to incorporate spices into meals. The classes will bring to life such dishes as Homemade Garam Masala, using several Spice Islands Spices, Poached Pears featuring Spice Islands Saigon Cinnamon, Butternut Squash Empanadas featuring Spice Islands Garlic Powder and Smoked Paprika,as well as hundreds of other recipes and ideas. 

For more information including the upcoming schedule and to register for Taste Buds Kitchen cooking classes visit www.tastebudskitchen.com.
In the meantime, check out one of the great recipes from the classes:

Spice Islands® Butternut Squash Empanadas
A Taste Buds Kitchen recipe
Spice Islands® Butternut Squash Empanadas
Makes 12, approximate 4” empanadas
Ingredients-Pastry
2 cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup cornmeal
1 tbsp. Spice Islands® Dried Oregano
2 tsp.sugar
2 tsp. Spice Islands® Paprika
2 tsp.Spice Islands® Salt
6 tbsp. unsalted butter, cold
2 eggs
½ cup water (more or less as needed)

Ingredients-Filling

7 oz. butternut squash, roasted and mashed
2 tbsp. frozen corn
¼  red bell pepper, diced
¼ onion, diced
2 garlic cloves, minced
2 oz.cheddar cheese, grated
¼ cup vegetable stock
2 tbsp. olive oil
¼ tsp. Spice Islands® Garlic Powder
1 tsp.Spice Islands® Cumin
Pinch Spice Islands® Salt and Pepper

Ingredients-Egg Wash

1 egg
2 tbsp. water

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients for the dough; flour, cornmeal, Spice Islands Oregano, sugar, Spice Islands Paprika and Spice Islands Salt. Cut butter in and mix until if forms pea size pieces. Then add eggs, mixing one at a time. If mixture is dry, add water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and mix until it just comes together as a dough that forms a ball and is not sticky to the touch. 

3. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill in refrigerator for a minimum of 30 minutes.
4. While the dough chills, make the filling: Sautѐ onion and red pepper until soft, then add minced garlic until fragrant. 

5. Add mix to a medium mixing bowl with mashed butternut squash, corn, grated cheddar cheese, vegetable stock, olive oil, Spice Islands garlic powder, Spice Islands Cumin and Spice Islands Garlic Powder, Spice Islands Salt and Pepper. Mix thoroughly until combined.
6. Once dough is chilled, cut into individual portions, about 1.7 oz. each. Roll out the dough portions between 2 pieces of parchment paper about ¼” thick, into 4: circles. 

7. Place a heaping spoonful of butternut squash filling into the middle of each round (be very generous with the filling). Fold dough circle in half, over the filling and seal with fork.
8. Place empanadas on prepared baking sheet and brush each with egg wash (egg and water whisked together). 

9/ Bake for 15 – 20 minutes until golden brown. Let cool slightly before serving.


About Taste Buds Kitchen

Taste Buds Kitchen’s mission is to be the top culinary entertainment experience for kids, families and adults by engaging and delighting our budding chefs in the kitchen. They support kids, families and food and strive to create a lifestyle around connecting, learning and growing in the culinary playground of the kitchen. What began as a few holiday baking classes and cupcake birthday parties, quickly evolved into much more. Taste Buds Kitchen events now include an ever-growing variety of culinary classes, parties, camps and special events that combine a mix of hands-on engaging recipes, both savory and sweet, for kids and adults.

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