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 Entertainment | Restaurants & Dining | June 2005 
Empanadas: Snack-Sized Pocket Pastries
 Vicky Cowal - The Herald Mexico
Most regions of the world have some sort of cooked dough pockets filled with any number of succulent bits. They can be U.S. apple turnovers, English Cornish pasties, Mexican quesadillas, Middle Eastern boereks or Russian piroshkes. They can also be Spanish/Latin American empanadas which for many people become a dietary obsession almost from the first bite.
The word empanada comes from the Spanish for "to bake in pastry." Empanadas range in size from the huge empanada gallega, large enough to feed a whole family, to tiny ravioli-size empanaditas. In Latin America they tend to be about 6-inches-long and make a great snack, an enticing first course or several will make a terrific light dinner.
Recently I went to a Mexican rodeo (charreada ) where stands had been set up with foods, primarily empanadas, from all the Central American countries. I went down the line tasting each variety of empanada. The favorite from this region among the large crowd seemed to be from Nicaragua, but empanada connoisseurs would no doubt give the top hemisphere award to either Argentina or Chile. Theirs are simply sensational, especially when accompanied by the parsley-oregano based chimichurri sauce from Argentina or pebre, similar to the Mexican pico de gallo, from Chile. The South American empanada has been traditionally filled with ground beef, chopped black olives, chopped hard-cooked eggs, raisins and lots of seasoning. But nowadays there is a trend towards more vegetarian alternatives. In Mexico favorite fillings for empanadas are tuna and other kinds of fish, and mole with shredded chicken, but there are also many new ideas such as the curried cheese empanada below. Empanadas can also be filled with fruit and served as a dessert or sweet snack.
There are many dough recipes and all are good. You choose which you like best. Most empanadas are fried in hot oil but a few are baked in the oven. In the recipe for curried cheese empanadas I have used puff pastry (pasta de hojaldre ) which is sold in the bakery section (panaderia ) of most large supermarkets in Mexico. You can also buy ready-made dough disks. You fill and cook them and they are quite good, although not as good as your own homemade dough.
EMPANADAS ARGENTINAS DE PICADILLO (GROUND MEAT ARGENTINE EMPANADAS)
DOUGH: - 1 cup warm water.
-1/2 tablespoon vinegar.
-1 teaspoon salt.
-3 1/2 cups flour.
-3 tablespoons melted butter or vegetable oil.
FILLING:
-1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
-1 medium-size white onion, finely chopped.
-1 clove garlic, peeled and minced.
-1 pound ground beef.
-1/2 teaspoon each black pepper, salt and ground cumin.
-1 cup beef broth.
-3 tablespoons raisins.
-2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped.
-3 tablespoons peeled, chopped almonds.
-1/4 cup chopped pitted black olives.
In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the onion and garlic and cook, stirring, for 5 minutes. Add the ground meat, pepper, salt and cumin and cook, breaking it into small pieces, until no longer pink. Add the beef broth and raisins, lower the heat and cook another 5 minutes. Remove from the heat and add the chopped eggs, almonds and olives. Let cool.
For the dough, in a large bowl mix together the water, vinegar and salt. Add the flour and melted butter and mix well. Knead the dough for about 30 seconds and then form it into a long roll. Cut into 8 parts and with a lightly floured rolling pin roll out each piece into a 6 to 7-inch circle. Place about 1/2 cup of filling on each circle leaving a half inch border. Wet the edges of each circle and then fold the dough over to form half circles. Crimp the edges with the tines of a fork or make a braid edging with your fingers.
Heat about an inch of oil over medium heat and fry the empanadas until golden brown. Drain well on paper towels. Makes 8 large empanadas.
EMPANADAS DE CHAMPIÑONES (MUSHROOM EMPANADAS)
DOUGH: -1 stick butter, softened.
-1 small package (3 ounce size) cream cheese, softened.
-1 cup flour.
FILLING:
-1 small white onion, finely chopped.
-1/2 pound mushrooms, washed and chopped fine.
-1 jalapeño chile, stemmed, seeded and minced.
-1 clove garlic, peeled.
-1/2 cup stock or water.
-1 tablespoon vegetable oil.
-1 tablespoon chopped epazote.
-1/4 cup sour cream.
-1 egg.
-Salt, to taste.
For the dough, cream together the softened butter and cream cheese. Add the flour and blend until smooth. Wrap in waxed paper and chill for at least 1 hour.
Preheat oven to 425 F (220 C).
Put the onion, mushrooms, chile, garlic, stock and oil in a medium-size saucepan. Bring to a boil, lower the heat and cook until the liquid evaporates and mushrooms begin to fry in the fat. Remove from the fire and stir in the epazote and sour cream. Season to taste with salt. (You will have some leftover filling good for quesadillas as well).
Roll out the chilled dough 1/8inch thick. Cut into 3-inch rounds. Place about a tablespoon of filling in the center of each round. Fold over and press the edges together with a fork Brush the tops with an egg which has been lightly beaten with 1 teaspoon water. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake on a shelf near the top of the oven until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Makes about 12 to 15 small empanadas.
CHIMICHURRI - MEXICAN STYLE
-2 large cloves garlic, peeled and mashed.
-1 cup olive oil.
-1/4 cup vinegar.
-1/4 cup liquid from canned jalapeño chiles.
-3/4 cup chopped fresh Italian parsley.
-2 tablespoons dried oregano or 6 tablespoons fresh oregano.
Mix all the ingredients in a blender. May be kept for several days in a glass jar with a tight lid in the refrigerator.
PEAR EMPANADAS
-Adapted from a recipe in Sundays at Moosewood Restaurant by The Moosewood Collective.
DOUGH:
-1 1/2 cups flour.
-1/4 teaspoon salt.
-1 stick butter, softened.
-2 egg yolks about 6 tablespoons ice water.
FILLING:
-3 cups dried pears (also can use other dried fruits such as apple or apricot).
-4 1/2 cups water.
-1/2 cup sugar.
-1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon.
-1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg.
-1 egg yolk beaten with 2 tablespoons water.
For the filling, bring the water to boil in a medium-size saucepan. Add the pears, lower the heat and simmer until soft, about 30 to 40 minutes. Drain, saving the liquid. When the pears are cool, purée in a blender with enough reserved liquid to make a thick purée, about the consistency of mashed potatoes.
In a small saucepan, heat 1/2 cup of the reserved liquid. Stir in the sugar and cook until the sugar begins to caramelize, about 5 minutes. Stir in the pear purée, cinnamon and nutmeg. Remove from the heat and cool.
For the dough, sift the flour and salt into a large bowl. Cut in the butter with two knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Beat the 2 egg yolks with 3 tablespoons of ice water. With a fork, mix the beaten yolks into the flour mixture. Add more water as needed until the dough forms a ball. Chill the dough for 10 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350 F (175 C).
Divide the dough into 16 balls. On a floured surface, roll each ball into a 4-inch circle. Brush the edge of each circle with the beaten egg yolk mixture and place about 2 tablespoons of the filling in the center. Fold the dough over the filling to form a semi-circle and crimp the edges to seal the empanada. Pierce the top of each empanada with a fork and brush it with the egg yolk mixture. Place the empanadas on a lightly greased baking sheet and bake for 30 to 40 minutes, until puffed and golden. Makes 16 small empanadas.
Vicky Cowal is a weekly contributor to The Herald. VickyCowal@prodigy.net.mx |
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