Chileno Empanadas
Ingredients for dough
5 cups of white flour
4 Tablespoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of salt
1/2 cup of vegetable shortening softened (or lard if you are hard core).
1 cup of milk
1 cup of warm water (use more or less to attain proper elasticity)
Ingredients for the filling
4 onions finely chopped
3-4 cloves garlic finely chopped
1/2 cup of vegetable oil
1 teaspoon of red chili powder
1 teaspoon of cumin powder
1/2 lb of meat (cooked and diced in small cubes 1/4 inch)
1/2 teaspoon Mrs Dash Table Blend (or pepper)
1/2 teaspoon of Oregano
Preparation phase
3 hard boiled eggs chopped into pieces
1/2 cup of black raisins
1 cup of black olives (chopped)
1 raw egg - beaten severely
Preparing the dough:
In a large bowl blend flour, baking powder and salt. Add shortening (should be warm and soft). Add milk, then knead dough until ingredients are well blended. Let the dough sit for 20 minutes covered in warm area.
Preparing the filling:
While dough is sitting in the above step, saute the onion in vegetable oil over medium heat until translucent. Add seasoning, oregano, cumin and chili powder, garlic and continue mixing over heat until meat is cooked and brown in color. Remove from heat and let filling mixture cool down.
Roll out the dough:
Cover your work surface with a little bit of flour and begin slowly kneading and stretching the dough with a dough roller (you can use an empty wine or Pisco bottle if you don’t have roller). Stretch the dough out in circular pattern until it's roughly about 1/4 inch thick and cut the dough into round pieces about 8 inches in diameter.
Stuffing them:
Add a single Tablespoon of filling in the middle of a cut piece of dough. Add a couple of pieces of chopped hard boiled egg, chopped olives and a couple of raisins onto the filling. Do not over stuff it.
Wet one of your fingers (you can choose which finger) in a cup of warm water and lightly moisten the edge of the dough. Now close the empanada up by bringing one side over to cover the filling. Press firmly, but not too hard to seal the edges. Fold them into rectangles or half-moons.
With a fork, lightly prick the empanadas two or three times, just enough to pierce the dough, which will prevent them from exploding in the oven. Using your finger (again with the fingers - use the same one of switch to another to be creative) take a little dab of the beaten egg and lightly cover the top side of the empanada.
Pre-heat the oven to 375 degrees. Place empanadas on a lightly greased baking sheet. Separate them by about an inch. Bake at 375 degree for approximately 35-45 minutes until they are a golden-brown color.
Serve with Pisco Sours and lots of friends.
