Beef Empanadas

Cookbooks are a weakness. It's something about their utility that allows me to loosen my resolve and buy them even though there are millions of recipes and instructions available online. My latest purchase had already been vetted by some friends with great results: it's Michel Roux's Pastry: Savoury and Sweet. Unlike his cookbook on sauces, this volume tells you how to make the dishes to accompany his various kinds of pastry. The first attempt was beef empanadas (or empanadillas, as they are known in Spain). Definitely worth the effort...

Iced Mint Aguas Frescas

It's another sunny day here--just right for something cool and refreshing. The perfect touch would be some agua de horchata; sadly, that's hard to come by on this side of the Atlantic. Here's a flavour-packed variation on aguas frescas from chef Sherry Yard of Spago in LA. (All this thanks to Food & Wine 2006.)

Ingredients

• 1.5 c. sugar
• 3 Tbsp honey
• 2 c. water
• 1/3 c. fresh ginger slices
• 2 oz. mint sprigs, leaves only
• 1/4 c. plus 2 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1.5 L chilled sparkling water

1. Bring water, sugar, and honey to the boil, stirring constantly until the sugar dissolves. Remove syrup from heat and add the slices of ginger and mint leaves. Let stand until cool (about 1 hour).
2.  Strain syrup into a large pitcher, and squeeze the ginger and mint to remove all the liquid. Refrigerate for at least 30 mins. (At this stage you can stop and refrigerate up to a week.)
3. Add the remaining mint leaves and lemon juice to the pitcher. Stir in the sparkling water and serve over ice. 

Definitely serve over ice. I preferred mine slightly more diluted--it reduced the sweetness and brought out the flavour of the ginger.