Beef Empanadas

I asked my husband the other day whether he packed our mini me the empanadas I made him for a snack. He turns to me and says, No. Empanadas are not a snack. I'm sure his response was partially fueled by the fact that I used the larger empanada disc when I made them. Of course, for some reason his retort just seemed ridiculous to me. Not a snack? I only eat these as appetizers or snacks. So, I had to consult some of my friends. The responses were half and half.

Then I started thinking about it.  I guess technically you can make an empanada a complete meal. Add some vegetables to your meat mixture. Serve it with a salad or on a bed of lettuce. Or some maduros? Sweet plantains are a great addition to any cuban dish.

It doesn't take much for me to want empanadas. Who doesn't like a hand held meat pocket? Luckily, I made picadillo earlier this week, so I decided to use the picadillo mixture to stuff the empanadas. If you know you are planning on using picadillo to fill the empanada dough, you should use olives stuffed with pimentos. I would also suggest slicing the olives. That is if you even decide to put olives in your empanadas.

Despite our disagreement, when I set up the labels for this post I put it under both appetizer and dinner. See compromise... isn't it grand.

Beef Empanadas
Makes 10

Ingredients
1 package La Fey dough for pastries (thawed)
2 1/2 cups of picadillo
1/4 quart of vegetable oil
1egg (if baking)

Empanada Directions

Place un-opened empanada dough and picadillo on counter.

Once you've opened the empanada dough, place a wet paper towel over the dough you are not using.

Remove one disc of dough and in the center place 1/4 cup of picadillo.

Lightly wet the edges of the dough.

Fold the dough in half and gently press the edge of the dough together with a fork.

Repeat the above for all 10 discs of dough.

Frying Directions
In a cast iron frying pan, heat of oil to 375 degrees.

Fry empanadas two at a time (over crowding the pan will decrease the heat of your oil).

Fry until each side is golden brown. Approximately 2 to 3 minutes on each side.

Place fried empanadas on a baking sheet covered with paper towels to allow excess oil to drain.

Baking Directions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Spray baking sheet with oil.

Gently brush completed empanadas with beaten egg and bake for 12 to 14 minutes.

Flip empanada over after 8 to 10 minutes.

Continue baking until empanadas have gently browned.

Remove from oven
.

I love hot sauce on my empanadas, but that's probably because I eat it like an appetizer. Depending on whether you considering this dish an appetizer or dinner will dictate how you eat your empanadas.  This dish is also a great way to make use of leftovers. Whether that be picadillo or rotisserie chicken. Add some tomatoes or potatoes and put it in a pocket. Whatever way you make it, I hope you enjoy.

Picadillo

I've been dying to make this dish for some time. I'm not sure why it has taken so long. It feels like it's been over a month since I asked my colleague to help me translate some traditional Cuban recipes. Growing up on the Lower East Side of Manhattan, I was always lucky enough to have access to great Puerto Rican and Cuban food. I've always been able to go to a friend's house or find a restaurant that made what I like just right. But now that we are in the suburbs, it's just not the same.

Years ago, I would buy the seasoning mix or the pre-made yellow rice, but within the last couple of years it's really been my mission to cut out a lot of the pre-made artificial stuff and really figure out how to make the dishes I love. I've been lucky enough to have friends and family that are more than willing to help me refine the flavors of my favorites dishes. I left out raisins which are traditional in both the Cuban and Puerto Rican versions of this dish.


Initially, I was going to try to make this in the slow cooker but my friends convinced me to make it stove top. It makes sense especially since most of the ingredients need to be started stove top. So here's the dish I've been waiting for. Thank goodness it came out the way I wanted or I don't know what I would have done.

Picadillo
Makes 6 servings

Ingredients:
1 1/2 pounds of ground beef
2 tablespoons of olive oil
1 large onion diced
6 cloves of garlic minced
1 red pepper diced
4 small potatoes diced
2 tablespoons of cumin
1 sazon packet
3/4 cup of alcaparrado (olive & caper mixture)
16 ounces of crushed tomatoes
3/4 cup of dry white wine
1 ounce of cilantro (or culantro)
1/4 teaspoon of pepper
1/2 teaspoon of salt
2 teaspoons of oregano
1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder
1/4 cup of alcaparrado juice

*Note: If you get the olives stuffed with pimentos you don't have to worry about pits.

Directions:
In a casserole pot/dutch oven heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil and diced onion over medium heat.

Once the onion is translucent approximately 3 to 5 minutes, add red peppers then garlic.

Remove vegetables from heat.

Take half of the cooked vegetables and cilantro and place in a food processor. Blend for 30 seconds. If you do not have a food processor, mince well.

Season ground beef with 1 tablespoon of cumin, salt, pepper, oregano, garlic powder and mixture from food processor. Combine all ingredients well.

Add ground beef to pot and cook 8 to 10 minutes.

Remove beef from heat and drain excess oil.

Add olive oil to pot then add diced potatoes.

Cook potatoes for 5 to 10 minutes until tender. (You should easily be able to stick a fork through the potato)

 Add cooked vegetables, ground beef and white wine. Stir gently.

 Cook for 5 more minutes then add alcaparrado.

Continue cooking over medium heat and stir occasionally.

Add crushed tomatoes, alcaparrado juice, cumin and sazon.

Allow mixture to simmer for 10 to 15 minutes. Add any additional salt, pepper, cumin and/or alcaparrado.

Allow meat to simmer for an additional 15 to 20  minutes. This will allow the sauce to thicken.

Serve with rice and an avocado salad.