Barfy Burgers and Bimbos

Now that we have our nice big kitchen with a working oven, we need to stock up on some groceries as our cupboards are nearly bare.  Going for groceries in Cordoba is very different than grocery shopping back home.  Shopping for groceries here involves trips to many small stores.  There is a polleria where I can buy chicken, carneceria for beef, verduria for vegetables, panaderia for breads and the farmacia for toiletries.  There are a few supermercados, but they are few and far between and often involve carrying the groceries home for many blocks.  Usually I go for groceries almost every day, but my plan this week is to go to the big Disco supermercado which is about a 30 minute walk from our apartment and then take a cab home. They will deliver your groceries but I'm not sure my Spanish is good enough for that type of conversation.  I think my groceries might never make it home.

Last week John and I went to check out the Buenos Dias supermercado that is about eight blocks from our apartment. Some of my favourite items were:

The Faty Empanadas.  This is truth in advertising in action since if you eat too many of these you may end up a bit fatty.

Also available at this same store were Barfy Burgers.  Enough said.....

When Shelbe and Madison were visiting, their favourite advertisements were the ones for the Bimbo Bakery:



Bimbo Bars








NOW HERE - BIMBO ( sign on the front door of the Kiosco just down the street.  Bimbos are everywhere!)



The Bimbo Bakery products are very popular here and John tells me that Bimbos were everywhere in Mexico as well. There are Bimbo granola bars, Bimbo buns, Bimbo bread.......so many Bimbos.

Our conversations went something like this:

"I'm gonna go down to the corner and get me a Bimbo."

"What kind of Bimbo are you gonna get?"

"I think I'll get me a sweet Bimbo...."

So how about a tasty Barfy Burger on a Bimbo Bun?  Bon Appetit!

Cooking with Lisa, Part 2

Since we needed to test out the oven, I decided to make empanadas for a predinner treat last night.  Empanadas are everywhere in Argentina and they are delightful little pockets of yummy goodness.  They cost about $3AR (~ 60 cents) each and are available in lots of different varieties - jamon and queso (ham and cheese), verdura (veggie), cebella and queso (onion and cheese), carne (beef), pollo (chicken) and some others.  Empanada wrappers are available in all the stores here at $6AR for a pack of 12.  I picked up empanada wrappers at the local store and decided to make spinach and cheese empanadas since I had those ingredients on hand.  I sauteed the spinach with some onion, grated some Reggiano cheese and some other cheese that looks like Swiss but is softer, and set out my assembly line. 

Just as I was getting started John came home from work and decided to pitch in. He added jamon crudo (cured ham, like prosciutto) and olives to our ingredient choices.  Can't make anything in Argentina without ham!

In the shops, each type of empanada is wrapped differently so you can tell the different varieties apart.  We weren't that fancy with ours, although we did try a few different techniques.

Ready for the oven......

 

 Usually empanadas are deep fried but we baked ours so they were a bit healthier.   The original plan was to eat a few as a predinner appetizer and save the rest for lunch the next day.  They were so good we ate them all - they were the appetizer and dinner.  I rationalized that since they had bread (wrapper), veggies (spinach), dairy (cheese) and protein (ham) that a plate full of baked empanadas is a great balanced meal.

Ready for dinner!