By: Hannah Gliedman

A recent trend taking over food TikTok and Instagram, is accordion potatoes. It’s a form of cutting the potatoes so they make a sort of accordion shape. It’s a very simple and creative way to incorporate a bit of flavor and uniqueness to a dish or meal.

They are very easy and fast to make. They only require simple ingredients and a couple of utensils. Adding this form of potatoes to your meal is a way to visually spice up a plate. They are also very customizable, adding different spices and sauces can change this side. The way of cutting the potatoes is also popular in other foods, such as cucumbers.

What you need
The only ingredient essential to making this side is potatoes. However, I will be sharing different sauces to add to the potatoes. Other things you’ll need, include an air fryer or stove top.

How to make the accordion potatoes

1. Wash as many potatoes as you would like; each potato can make 2-3 accordions.
2. Cut the potatoes into about 1⁄4 inch slices, the thinner the slice the more stretch you will get.
3. Then place the potato on the counter and put 2 chopsticks or skewers on either of the longer sides.
4. Then cut a lot of lines perpendicular to the skewers; make the cuts close together
5. Then cut a lot more lines in the same way but diagonal
6. Then stretch out the potato to create the accordion

To cook

1. Oven: Add potatoes to a tray, preheat oven to 355 degrees, and bake for 30-40 mins, or until golden and crispy
2. Air fryer: Add potatoes to the air fryer and fry at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes.

Sauce
Garlic and herb butter
Heat 1⁄4 cup of butter and add 2 tbsp of chopped parsley, 4 cloves of minced garlic, 1 tsp Italian seasoning, 1⁄2 tsp paprika, 1⁄4 tsp black pepper, and salt to taste. Brush on potatoes before cooking.

Homemade Canes sauces
Add in a bowl 1⁄2 cup of mayo, 1⁄3 cup of ketchup, 1⁄2 tbsp of pickle ranch, 1⁄2 tsp of Worcestershire sauce, 1⁄2 tsp of paprika, 1⁄4 tsp of salt. Whisk together.

Other sauces to use can include ketchup, sriracha mayo, ranch or BBQ sauce.

By: Pablo Contreras

Empanadas is a dessert that I have only made once and there’re many different variations of empanadas; you can add in any filling that you want. For example, the first ever empanadas that I’ve ever made had yams as the filling, the second time that I made empanadas was with arroz con leche as the filling.

For those of you who don’t know what arroz con leche is, its English name is rice pudding.

Now, when I was little I absolutely hated rice pudding but when I made these empanadas I slightly (but not too much) liked the flavor. The rice pudding empanadas were definitely better than the yam empanadas.

There are many different variations of empanadas, I believe that the dough is made the same but the filling changes. You can add in meat like beef and chicken inside or cheese, but this recipe focuses on rice pudding empanadas.

Before we start, just to let you all know, this recipe is not mine, it belongs to La Cocinita De Lorena Marin. Now that that’s out of the way, here is how to make the empanadas.

Empanadas de arroz con leche

Here is what you are going to need to make the empanada dough:

1. 2 cups of flour
2. 1 teaspoon of Baking powder
3. 1/4 cup of Butter (room temperature)
4. 1egg
5. Half a cup of water
6. 2 tablespoons of sugar
7. 1/4 of Water
8. A pinch of salt

Here are the steps to make the dough:

1. In a big bowl add in 2 cups of flour
2. Then in the middle of the flour make a little hole in the middle and add the 2 tablespoons of sugar
3. Next add in the 1 egg, the room temperature butter, a pinch of salt, and 1 teaspoon of baking powder and mix
4. When it starts to be a dough texture, start to add in the 1/4 cup of water and mix
5. On a flat surface you are going to start to knead the dough
6. When it starts to get sticky, add in a little bit of flour (the dough needs to be smooth and not sticky)
7. Once it’s done leave it in the same bowl and use plastic to cover the top and leave it to rest inside the fridge for 30 minutes

Now, while we wait for the dough here is what you are going to need to make the arroz con leche

1. 1 cup of rice already rinsed and drained
2. 2 cups of milk
3. 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4. 2 mini cans of condensed milk
5. A few drops of lime
6. A stick of cinnamon

1. First, in a pot put in both cups of milk, then place in two mini cans of condensed milk and mix
2. Next add in the rice, leave the stove on medium-high and put in the cinnamon stick
3. Now you are going to add in 1/2 teaspoon of lime juice inside and let it boil for a little bit and then add 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract
4. Let this cook for 10-15 minutes
5. Once the ten minutes are up, and if it’s dry, turn it off and take out the cinnamon stick and let the rice cool (if the rice is not dry leave it on for another 5 minutes until its dry)

Now while we wait for the rice to cool down, here is what to do next with the dough:

1. Once the 30 minutes are up, you are going to use a rolling pin to roll the dough out
2. Once it’s all flat use a circular cookie cutter to cut out the shape for the empanadas
3. Now, once more roll out the small dough

Once the rice pudding is completely cooled down:

4. Add a spoonful onto the empanada in the center
5. Then fold the empanada in half to cover the filling and press the edges together
6. Bake the empanadas for 15 minutes at 380
7. Once the 15 minutes are up take the empanadas out and let them cool down
8. To add more flavor, mix cinnamon with sugar on a plate and when the empanadas are no longer hot, mix the empanadas in the sugar and enjoy 🙂

To find the original recipe, and to learn more, here is the link to the recipe, and beware the video is in Spanish:

• https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=oqt3W-8b4S4&feature=youtu.be