Empanadas

I've been wanting to try my hand at empanadas for a while, so last week cooked Argentine food.

We had rosemary steak, with 3 types of empanadas. We'd planned to do a chocolate tasting after, but were too full from the tasty dinner. Look out for an upcoming post as we try to discover (the fun way) what is the optimal cacao percentage.

Empanadas are a great meal to make in big batches and then freeze. I froze the filling in separate bags, then froze a couple balls of dough. They've been great to pull out of the freezer quickly and assemble for a warm comforting meal in this snowy weather!      

The steak was delicious and a nice change from the usual.  I haven't yet been to Argentina, but supposedly this type of steak is served widely.

Rosemary Steak:
Mix together in a bowl 1 sprig fresh rosemary, 1 tsp of salt, and 1 cup of red wine. Let the mixture stand at room temperature for 2-3 hours. (We also marinated the steak in the mixture for the last 30 minutes).

Cook the steaks in a skillet, then remove from the skillet and wrap in foil to keep moist. Pour the wine mixture into the skillet and let boil for a minute until thickened. Serve sauce over the steaks.
source: grouprecipes.com

Potato, Pepper, and Chorizo Empanadas:

3/4 cup (3 ounces) finely chopped Spanish chorizo - I put it in food processor to chop

2 Tbsp olive oil

2 onions, finely chopped (2 cups)

3 garlic cloves, finely chopped

1 red bell pepper, finely chopped

1/2 green bell pepper, finely chopped (1/2 cup)

1 bay leaf

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 tsp dried oregano, crumbled

1/2 pound yellow-fleshed potato such as Yukon Gold (1 large)

Cook chorizo in oil in a 2.5- to 3-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring, 2 minutes, then transfer to a medium bowl with a slotted spoon. Add onions to saucepan and cook, stirring frequently, until golden and very soft, about 15 minutes. Add garlic, bell peppers, bay leaf, salt, and oregano and cook, stirring frequently, until peppers are very soft, about 15 minutes. Peel potato and cut into 1/2-inch pieces, then stir into onion mixture and cook over moderately low heat, covered, stirring frequently, until potatoes are just barely tender, 10 to 12 minutes. Add potato mixture to chorizo and stir to combine. Cool filling to room temperature and discard bay leaf.
source: epicurious

Simple Chicken and Cheese Empanadas:

1 cup shredded cooked chicken

1 cup grated cheese (white cheddar, Monterrey Jack, or similar mix), plus some extra for topping

1 jalapeno pepper, diced

optional: chopped roasted sweet peppers

1/2 onion, chopped and caramelised

2 cloves garlic, minced and browned

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

Mix all ingredients together in a bowl, after garlic and onions have cooled fully.  When assembling empanada, top mixture with extra cheese before closing.

Beef Empanadas:

1/2 medium onion, finely chopped

1 Tbsp olive oil

1 garlic clove, finely chopped

1/2 tsp ground cumin

1/2 tsp dried oregano

1/2 tsp salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

3/4 pound ground beef chuck

2 tablespoons raisins (i used white ones)

1 can (14 oz / 400g) whole tomatoes in juice, drained, reserving 2 tablespoons juice, and chopped

(The traditional recipe also includes 2 hard boiled eggs thinly sliced, and 1 1/2 Tbsp chopped pimento stuffed olives. I excluded both, but the olives are added along with the raisins and the slices of egg are places atop the meat mixture when assembling the empanadas)

 
Cook onion in olive oil in a heavy medium skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until softened. Add garlic, cumin, and oregano and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in beef and cook, breaking up lumps with a fork, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.

Add raisins, salt, pepper, and tomatoes with reserved juice, then cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced but mixture is still moist, about 5 minutes. Spread on a plate to cool before assembling.
source: epicurious

Empanada Dough:
I tried two different recipes - one with eggs and a small amount of shortening, the other with no eggs but with large amounts of shortening and butter.  The butter one makes a very tasty and flaky dough, but would be better used for meat pies or something similar. It was difficult to handle (sticky to roll out, but hard to get the empanadas to seal) and the (good) taste of the crust overpowered the filling.

The first dough was easier to handle and more appropriate taste for empanadas, so I'll only post it here. I have used the buttery dough since for making really tasty calzones....just roll out and fill with cheese, tomatoes, and meat. I cut up some homemade meatballs that I'd frozen and they were great! If i can find italian sausage here, I'll try for some sausage and pepper calzones.  

• 3 cups flour (plus a little more for kneading)
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/2 cup cold water
• 1 egg
• 1 egg white
• 1 tsp vinegar
• 3 Tbsp shortening

In a bowl, beat together water, egg, egg white and vinegar, then set aside. 
In a separate bowl, mix together the flour and salt. Cut the shortening into the flour mix with a pastry blender or two butter knives (or pulse in food processor).
Make a well in the center of the flour mix and pour the liquid ingredients from the first bowl into the center.  Mix with a fork until it becomes stiff.
Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead just until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth. Wrap dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but never more than 24 hours. (Freeze the dough if you're going to keep longer than 24 hours)
source: About.com

Making the Empanadas: It's pretty easy to figure out how to assemble them, but there's a good step-by-step at About.com. Roll out into 6 or 8 inch circles. Place filling in middle and lightly wet the edges of the dough. Fold over and crimp edges tightly, then crimp with the tines of a fork. You can brush with a light egg wash to make them look nice, but it wasn't necessary.

Bake at 400° for 20-25 minutes, until golden. Alternately, you can fry them.  

Comments

[Tiffany @ No Ordinary Homestead]

Even though I just had dinner, I am now hungry again. Those sound great! And such a smart idea you had about using the turnover thing for those...would be perfect. Clearly I do not cook enough ethnic food...don't think I've made empanadas. Tex Mex and Southern, yes. A little German. But never Argentinian which is a shame!

[Frau A]

I didn't know until your post that the turnover tools existed, so I made them by hand (with some accidents). I'm thinking the tool will help a lot in not adding too much filling!