There are traditional Halloween foods, but this Halloween, you want to serve something different for your family and friends.

About 5 years ago, Juan Zavala had a business idea he just couldn’t get out of his head. On one of his yearly trips back to his native Argentina, he went to a gathering of family and friends, like he usually does when visiting. At one point, one of his cousins asked everyone whether they wanted to order pizza or empanadas. Just about everyone voted for empanadas. That’s when he thought to himself, “why don’t we have that in the States?” The more he thought about it, the …

This recipe makes about 20 to 24 empanadas
Dough, ingredients

4 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons salt
2 sticks (1 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
2 large eggs
2/3 cup cold water

It’s a fact that Colombia always has been a big contributor to the development of salsa music. For years, formations such as Fruko y su Tesos, Niche, Guayacan and Sonora Carruseles have been contributing to a distinctive, recognizable sound that is easy to listen to.
But salsa music keeps on developing. Bogota, Colombia, is on the way to distinguish itself and responds to the desire to create a sound which touches your soul. Call it rough, or unpolished and hard, or just call it “Salsa Callejera”.

When I was travelling in Costa Rica with my girlfriend a couple of years ago I realy fell in love with this dish. This is a typical Costa Rican dish you can eat as breakfust, lunch or diner. Well to be honest, it didn’t matter what time of the day it was, I just ate it.

Back home I thought this would be a nice dish to complement empanadas. So now, when serving empanadas on parties, I also serve some Gallo Pinto as a side dish. As an extra you can even serve some fried plantains with it.