Recipe - Easy Beef Empanadas
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At the request of a follow Twitterer (@garrick_s, please follow him if you're on Twitter), I'm posting a beef empanada recipe. Now if you're unfamiliar with empanadas, let me explain. They're turnover-like pastries mostly popular in Latin America (in Argentina they're about as common as white bread is up here in the United States) that can be stuffed with a limitless variety of fillings - chicken, beef, ham, fish, cheese, vegetables, eggs or even with sweet ingredients to make a dessert empanada (you may have heard of Taco Bell's Caramel Apple Empanada, a guilty pleasure). Empanadas can be baked or fried. The choices are up to you; it's fun to experiment to find your favorite fillings, but here's a great beef empanada recipe to start yourself out with.
Ingredients
Empanada dough:
3 cups of white flour
1 egg
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 tablespoons shortening
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold water
Filling:
1 pound ground beef
4 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 medium pimento, chopped
1 whole jalapeno, chopped with stem removed (leave this ingredient out for a milder recipe)
1/2 medium onion, chopped
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 tablespoon paprika
1/4 cup tomato paste
1/2 cup water
Salt and pepper, a dash or two of each to taste
2 eggs, lightly beaten
Vegetable oil, as needed for frying
Directions for the Dough
1. In a large bowl, beat the egg, egg white, water and vinegar together. Set aside.
2. In a separate large bowl, mix together the flour and salt.
3. Add the shortening into the flour mix with two butter knives (or a pastry blender if you have one). Make a crater in the middle of the flour mix and pour in the liquid ingredients from the first bowl into the center.
4. Mix the liquid and dry ingredients with a fork until it becomes firm.
5. Lightly flour a large, flat surface such as a counter-top or a table (you can lay wax paper underneath to reduce mess and clean-up). Dump the dough out onto the floured surface and knead it just until the dough is smooth all the flour is incorporated.
6. Wrap up the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour before cooking. If you're planning to use the dough the next day, you should freeze it and then thaw it out shortly beforehand.
Directions for the Beef Filling
1. Cook the ground beef in a skillet until brown. Drain grease thoroughly and set aside.
2. In a large sauce pan, heat the oil to medium.
3. Mix in the tomato paste, onions, pimentos, jalapenos, cumin, oregano, garlic and paprika and saute for about 2 minutes.
4. Add the ground beef, stir in, and cook for another 2 minutes.
5. Add the water, salt and pepper. Stir well, lower the heat and cover the pan. Let simmer for 15 - 20 minutes more. Drain excess water out and cool.
Put 'Em Together
1. Take your empanada flour and place it on a lightly-floured, large, flat surface (you may still have this from earlier in the recipe). With a rolling pin, flatten out the dough until it's about 1/8" thick and cut out 10 circle-shaped pastry pieces approximately 6 inches in diameter (a small coffee or small bowl can may aid you in this).
2. Place 1 or 2 tablespoons of the empanada mixture on each pastry piece. Brush beaten egg around the pastry's edge, fold in half and press around the seam with a fork to seal.
3. Fill a deep fryer or large pot half way with vegetable oil. Set to medium-high heat. Wait until it's fully-heated and ready.
4. With a fork, pierce the empanadas several times. Deep fry until light (very light) golden color. Remove and place on a paper towel to drain.
Makes approximately 10 six-inch empanadas. Serve with salsa, hot sauce, or just eat 'em by themselves.
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2011-04-05 21:49:03
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