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.

Spiced Cake Pops

Every wonder what to do with leftover cake crumbs? After I made the Apple Pie Cupcakes I had cake crumbs from the centers I removed. I know at times, it seems as though I'm joking when I talk about recycling bacon grease and being environmentally friendly but I'm actually really serious. These are not jokes. If we can reuse it or recycle it we do.

So I had to find something to do with the crumbs. Hello spiced cake pops. Cake pops are great because it allows me to use any left over cake and icing I might have and it's bite sized.

Spiced Cake Pops

Makes 8 cake pops

Ingredients

1/2 cup cake crumbs
1 tablespoon of cinnamon frosting
1 cup of white morsels or 4oz of candy melts
splash of heavy cream

8 Lollipop Sticks

Optional: Sanding sugar, sparkle gel or sprinkles for decoration.

*Note: I'm using white morsels because I have it in the house. White chocolate melts or white bakers chocolate is much easier to work with and dries quicker. You also won't need to use as much of it.

Click for the Spice Cake Recipe and Cinnamon Frosting recipe.

Directions:
Crumble spice cake in a bowl. Add about a tablespoon of frosting. Mix thoroughly using your hands or a fork.
You don't need a lot of frosting. Just enough to hold the cake together.

Using a round tablespoon, scoop the cake & frosting mixture into balls.

Once you have your cake balls. It's time to melt to chocolate. 

Melt the chocolate in the microwave for 30 seconds, until smooth. 

If you are using morsels after the first 30 seconds stir and microwave for another 30 seconds. It should take you no longer than 2 minutes to get a smooth consistency.

Dip the tip of the lollipop stick into the melted chocolate, then into the cake ball.

Place the cake pops on parchment paper and let them set in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

Remove the cake pops from the freezer and remelt your chocolate. Dip the cake into the melted chocolate and turn to coat evenly. Twirl the cake pop gently until the chocolate begins to set.

*Note: I coated the pops twice. The second time using chocolate with a splash of heavy cream in a double boiler (glass bowl over a pot of water). It created a smoother coating for my cake pops. That option resulted in a much longer time twirling the coating onto the cake pop waiting for it to dry.

Place the coated cake pops on parchment paper or stick the lollipop ends in a piece of styrofoam and place it into the refrigerator.

Before I was finished some cake pops were confiscated... so it must be good.