# Mini Empanadas idea



## kadesma (Nov 16, 2007)

Sat down and decided on the appys for Thanksgiving  The kids have asked for, mini empanadas,green blue cheese stuffed olives in puff pastry, and sausages in the puff pastry this is just from me..Who knows what will come from the others invited
For the empanadas there will be two fillings cheese with diced up apricots,raisins, and nuts and a beef with pine nuts,onions,garlic,mushrooms,parsley and garlic... to enclose the empanadas I just grabbed some of the pillsbury pie crusts already to go..Make at least 10 2-1/2 inch circles out of the pastry, crumble up or shred some gruyere,mix it with fruit,nuts..put some cheese mixture on the circle sprinkle with pepper, fold over and seal edges tightly and them brush with egg wash
bake in preheated oven400 10 min or til golden..For the meat empanadas just saute the meat,onions,mushrooms,garlic,parsley and pine nuts, let cool then place a small amount on your pastry, fold and continue as with the cheese empanadas...
For the olives, just wrap in strips of puff pastry and brush with egg wash bake at 400 til golden and puffed.
The sauge can be any pre-cooked sausage, kielbasa, hot sausage, just wrap in puff pastry cook til puffed and golden, then slice and serve with several kinds of mustards or a chilli mayo..
kadesma


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## lpb (Nov 16, 2007)

I love empanadas from restaurants but never tried to make them myself...going to put the meat/cheese ones on my list! Thanks!

lpb


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## Dina (Nov 16, 2007)

They sound yummy Kadesma.  I made some apple empanadas with puff pastry the other day...so gooooooooooood.  My empanadas will be out of Granny Smith apple and caramel filling this Thanksgiving.


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## kadesma (Nov 16, 2007)

Dina said:


> They sound yummy Kadesma.  I made some apple empanadas with puff pastry the other day...so gooooooooooood.  My empanadas will be out of Granny Smith apple and caramel filling this Thanksgiving.


Dina, I love the idea of the puff pastry and the apple and caramel sounds so yummy..Thanks for the idea..I've always just used pie dough but I'm going to switch for Thanksgiving and use the puff pastry, it should be much lighter and crispy.Now I can hardly wait

kadesma


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## kadesma (Nov 16, 2007)

lpb said:


> I love empanadas from restaurants but never tried to make them myself...going to put the meat/cheese ones on my list! Thanks!
> 
> lpb



Thanks lpb,
I hope you get a chance to try these..We love them.

kadesma


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## layla17 (Nov 16, 2007)

That's sounds like a great idea.  I may have to borrow it for my after shopping Black Friday party!


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## Loprraine (Nov 16, 2007)

OK, duly printed.  I love empanadas.  Did a mixture last week when I was away.  Diced leftover pork loin, roasted onion marmalade, and some chopped up figs that had been marinating in port.  Never quite got around to making empanadas, but I will some day.  .  Thanks for the ideas!


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## kadesma (Nov 16, 2007)

layla17 said:


> That's sounds like a great idea.  I may have to borrow it for my after shopping Black Friday party!


Please do Layla, we just love them and there are so many filling ideas out there.
kadesma


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## kadesma (Nov 16, 2007)

Loprraine said:


> OK, duly printed.  I love empanadas.  Did a mixture last week when I was away.  Diced leftover pork loin, roasted onion marmalade, and some chopped up figs that had been marinating in port.  Never quite got around to making empanadas, but I will some day.  .  Thanks for the ideas!


Welcome Like your mixture idea..Now I'm drooling and want to go make some...
kadesma


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## wysiwyg (Nov 17, 2007)

Kadesma,
If you want an original recipe for empanadas, let me know. 
I was born in Argentina, my Mom makes some of the best you can have.  Also, I think Saveur magazine had a section dedicated to Argentinian food way back 5 yrs ago and listed some recipes, if I am not mistaken was in their issue No 36.
You can bake them or fry them, you can make them "dry" or "moist" and also sweet, the variations are endless. Some of the most popular are meat, spinach and cheese, ham and cheese, dulce de leche, etc. etc.


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## Loprraine (Nov 17, 2007)

apple empanadas with puff pastry the other day...so gooooooooooood. My empanadas will be out of Granny Smith apple and caramel filling this Thanksgiving.

I'm thinking a bit of  my Curried Apple  Chutney with raisins  would be good in there!  

Wysiwyg, I would love to see your recipes.  Dulce de leche is one of my favourites, espcially in Alfajores.  Bring them on!!!


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## kadesma (Nov 17, 2007)

wysiwyg said:


> Kadesma,
> If you want an original recipe for empanadas, let me know.
> I was born in Argentina, my Mom makes some of the best you can have.  Also, I think Saveur magazine had a section dedicated to Argentinian food way back 5 yrs ago and listed some recipes, if I am not mistaken was in their issue No 36.
> You can bake them or fry them, you can make them "dry" or "moist" and also sweet, the variations are endless. Some of the most popular are meat, spinach and cheese, ham and cheese, dulce de leche, etc. etc.


wysiwyg,
I'd love any recipe you would like to share...Thank you

kadesma


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## wysiwyg (Nov 23, 2007)

I hope this time the recipe gets posted.

Empanadas Argentinas (Tucumanas)​Empanadas are not a quick fix (at least the traditional ones), you should plan to make them at least one day in advance. Recipe for about 3 dozen of empanadas tucumanas.
*Filling ingredients
*1 kg of matambre (veal shank)
300 grams of lard (veal, not pork)
1 large onion
4 green onions
Vegetables for a veal broth (1 celery head, 2 carrots, 1 leek, 2 shallots, a bit of parsley)
1 handful of kosher salt
1 tablespoon of cumin
1 tablespoon of Spanish paprika/sweet paprika 
½ tablespoon of sugar
4 eggs
1 tablespoon of grounded chili (optional if you don’t like spicy food)
Salt and pepper to taste
Water to prepare veal broth.
*Preparation
*Trim all fat from veal, save trimmings.
Fill a large pot with water, the trimmed veal, vegetables and kosher salt
Leave pot in medium heat until boiling, let simmer for 90/120 minutes until veal is tender
Remove veal, pat dry and cut in thin stripes, then cut stripes in cubes not larger than 1/6"
Remove solids from pan, sieve broth and keep about three cups for later use
In a medium size sauté pan, heat up the lard (medium heat)
Chop the onion and add to the pan. Sauté until transparent, do not burn it
Add veal trimmings, cumin, paprika and sugar while mixing with wooden spoon 
If you like spicy food, add the grounded chili
Incorporate two cups of broth
Add the veal cubes to the pan while mixing thoroughly
Add salt and pepper to the mix, chop green onions and add 
While being cooked, the mix will gain consistency and feel sticky, like dough
If too dry, add a tablespoon of broth at a time to keep moist
This cooking is done to create a juicy mix, should last about 20 min under medium heat. A good way to check for "juiciness" is to press the mix with the wooden spoon, if the juices come out of the mix, it is right.
Once the mix is juicy, let it cook for not more than 2 to 3 additional minutes
Remove pan from fire, keep mixing for about 5 min. Let it cool down to room temp.
Put the mix into a bowl and keep it overnight on the refrigerator
The next day, hard boil the eggs chop and add them to the mix.
*Dough Ingredients
*You can either buy or make the pastry shell, if buying look for "Tapas para Empanadas" in local Latin markets. Traditional good brands are *La Saltena, Blancaflor* or *Goya*. Look for regular, not flaky tapas. If you’d rather to make the dough from scratch:
1 kg all purpose flour
300 grams of lard (veal, not pork)
2 tablespoons of salt
700 cc of warm water
*Preparation
*Warm up lard on medium heat until is soft
Lay flour in a flat surface creating a ring
Dissolve salt into warm water
Add the lard to the center of the flour circle and mix adding water gradually
Keep mixing for not more than 10 min. creating a dough cylinder
Cut the cylinder in slices not thicker than 1" each
Not mix each slice thoroughly until dough is soft and shiny
Trim dough so you can make a small dough disk 2" in diameter by 1" tall
Press the flat surface of the disk with your thumb to leave an indentation
Once you have all your disks (about 36) put them in a plastic bag and let them rest
Check them after 30 to 45 min. the indentations should be gone, disks are ready
Stretch each disk with a small rolling pin until getting a flat disk about 5" in diameter
The diameter of each disk will determine how much filling the empanada will get
These disks should be ready for the empanadas, you can let them rest for 30 minutes
*Filling and cooking
*Warm up oven to 400F 
Make sure to keep the mix in the refrigerator until you are ready to fill the empanadas
Lay a disk in your palm, fill half of it leaving the edge clear with 1 - 2 tablespoons of mix
Wet your index finger with water and run it through the edge of the disk
Close the disk edge, lay in a flat surface and press the edge of the empanada with a fork all around. They are ready for baking.
Place empanadas on a slightly greased cookie tray (do not use non-sticking tray) 
Bake each batch for about 10 minutes or until pastry looks golden brown.
The baking is done to bring out the meat juices and cook the dough, when rolling the disks is important to have a consistent thickness for even cooking of the shells.
Serve with Cabernet or Malbec, some people sprinkle sugar on them before serving. 
I love to keep the leftover ones in the refrigerator and eat them cold the next day.
This is probably the lengthier recipe, you can change the filling by adding olives or raisins or filling them with ham, cheese with oregano. To simplify, some substitute the matambre with grinded beef so there is no need to prepare a broth, but the empanadas will be much drier. Sweet empanadas are filled with dulce de leche.


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## kadesma (Nov 23, 2007)

Thank you Wysiwygm
  it looks great. I appreciate your doing this for us. I know it took you some time and trouble.  Thanks again.
kadesma


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## legend_018 (Dec 15, 2007)

If I have some time -  might try to make these someday. I've never made them before.


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## legend_018 (Dec 17, 2007)

kadesma said:


> Sat down and decided on the appys for Thanksgiving  The kids have asked for, mini empanadas



I'm thinking about making these for my dads xmas eve get together. I never did it before so I hope I don't mess up "lol".

Can you make these ahead of time? If so where do I store them? I'm thinking of doing everything BUT cooking them in the oven. I'll do that at my dads. But can I put everything together including the pie crush and egg wash? or do I wait to do certain things when I get to my dads. I'm thinking about making them during the weekend sometime and I'm going to my dads Monday Night.


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## kadesma (Dec 17, 2007)

legend_018 said:


> I'm thinking about making these for my dads xmas eve get together. I never did it before so I hope I don't mess up "lol".
> 
> Can you make these ahead of time? If so where do I store them? I'm thinking of doing everything BUT cooking them in the oven. I'll do that at my dads. But can I put everything together including the pie crush and egg wash? or do I wait to do certain things when I get to my dads. I'm thinking about making them during the weekend sometime and I'm going to my dads Monday Night.


legend,
I've never done them ahead of time, but yoiu could maybe make them the day or evening before..I'd do everything right up to the egg wash, but leave that til putting in the oven..Give them a good cover and keep them in the refrigerator and I'd think they will be just fine.
kadesma


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