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Empanadas...

I'd like to dedicate this appetizer recipe to a good Argentine friend of mine, Ruben whose recovering from a 5-way heart by-pass. He spent a good part of his life traveling with his band (drummer) from one country to the next. ........ here's my take on the dish probably similar to one that's made from a South American region
 
 
 

 
Ingredients: Mint, Cilantro, Oregano, Culantro, Italian Parsley, Lime Leaves, Garlic, Onion, Shallot, Scallions, Jamaican Red Hab, Aji Venezolano Pepper, Eggs, Flour, Flour, Cream, Pepper, Salt, Ground Beef (85/15) Sunflower Oil, Olive Oil, Cumin, Golden Raisens, Paprika, Spanish Olives.
 

 
Blend the 1/2 cup of each Mint, Cilantro, Oregano, Italian Parsley, Culantro,  ,...Lime Leaves (3), Scallions (green parts only)  4 chopped green Aji Peppers along with 2 tbls of water. While blender is running drizzle in Olive Oil to a loose but blended sauce forms. Add Salt and Pepper to taste. Set aside. ...Meanwhile, hard boil eggs...when cooled down, peel and chop. Set aside.
 

 
Brown the Ground Beef  (2lbs) in 2 tbls of Sunflower Oil, add  1 chopped onion, 6 minced Garlic Cloves,5 Red Habaneros, 2 tbl Cumin, 1 tbl Paprika, When the meat is browned remove pan from heat  Stir in Hard Boiled Eggs, 1/2  c of Golden Raisens,  1/2 c chopped Olives. Set aside
 

 
In a mixer cream 1 stick of unsalted Butter and 8oz Cream Cheese. Fold in and gradually mix 1.5 c Flour, 1 tsp Baking Soda, 1 tbl Sugar,  Remove dough when clumped together. Knead to combine and flatten into disc.
 

 
Place dough in the fridge for at least 30 min. ( I made 2 discs total).
 

 
The dough was removed from the fridge and rolled out to about 1/8" thick piece. I used a 4" cutting disc, then placed each piece in a tortilla press to get a thin uniform piece. A smell scoop was used for the filling and a brush of a beaten Egg was brushed on half the dough. Fold dough over and pinch/fold the edges. Fire up oven to 350. Brush tops of Empanadas with a mix of beated Egg and Cream.
 

 
Bake for 12 to 15 min.   ...(I should have used a regular size sheet pan)....over sized pans have there purpose, but even with a convection running its difficult to get an even bake with the lack of overall air circ.
 
 
 
The plating....Beef Empanadas with a slurry of Chimichurri............hmm..........where's the Malbec ?
 
I baked 2 fish to make empanadas tonite. Was baked only some minutes, about 15. On this way It can be crumbled fish with fingers and remove thorns.
 
When fish meat was remove to fish, the procedment is very similar to make meat empanadas.
 
The fish cooked... Sorry for bad pic.
 
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Well... Back in home, my wife has made the dinner... Instead of Empanadas was "Empanada Gallega"
 
Empanada Gallega (since Galicia España) is like to empanada Argentina, but it's a giant empanada. the dough same as empanadas. In reality here called "tarta" but real called is empanada gallega around the world. Cuting into portions like pizza
 
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Ha. unfortunately I don't think I've slept past 6am in the last 10 years. Tonight or this morning I was out catching night crawlers. I'm an urban redneck brotha :)
 
I really gotta make some of these!!
 
Got a hankering for some empanadas today.  Of course THP did not disappoint for content and inspiration.  :)  Here are some empanadas I made today:
 
The set up - 
 
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That's the dough rounds cut and being rolled, the filling to the left and the chimichurri to the right. :D  And now onto the filling:
 
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The great thing about empanadas is that whatever leftovers you have can go right in and become something new.  I'm stuffing these with a mixture of leftover dolma stuffing (ground lamb, onion, garlic, rice, pine nuts, golden raisins), leftover bison taco meat, leftover homemade hot giardiniera and the last of a bag of three cheese mexican blend from sargentos.  Add a bit of salt and pepper powder and we're off!  
 
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I'm not good at all with the traditional braiding around the edges of the empanadas, so I crimp them with a fork instead.  This recipe made 6 nicely sized empanadas.
 
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They're rubbed with a little butter and sprinkled with Stardust.  Into the 375 oven for 20-30 minutes.  The waiting.....it begins...
 
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And they're out!  Slightly golden, wished they were a bit darker.  Crust is flakey and light - like a pie crust.  On the plate:
 
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Thanks for looking! I'll edit in the recipes when I get more time.  :)
 
Killer looking empanadas SnF!!
 
That filling sounds great, do you make your own dolmas too? Ive also had something similar called a turkish ciger... which had pastry instead of a vine leaf... kinda like a spring roll..
 
Well done!
 
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