Empanadas

[Silly Disciple]

I recently traveled to Argentina and Chile, where I had some great empanadas.

In addition to the meat filled empanadas there were also some that had a corn filling - whole corn kernels and I think some egg.  They were great!  Does anybody have a recipe like this?

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Nathan,

empanadas de humita (corn empanadas) are very common in Argentina (not sure about Chile).

If these are the ones you refer to, the traditional recipe calls for sweet corn kernels and some variation of bechamel sauce. Sometimes they call for onion as well.

[markemorse]

Great, great topic and photos!!!

I was just in South Beach, Miami for a few weeks and my girlfriend's breakfast of choice was empanadas...so we tried plenty of varieties. It ended up being most efficient to go to the Charlotte Bakery on Washington St. where they had not only chicken, beef, cheese, and corn empanadas, but they had mulitple regional varieties of each: for example, three different varieties of chicken empanada: Chilean, Argentinian, and Venezuelan (L to R):

Not the greatest photos, but...it was like 7 in the morning on a cloudy day at the beach...

So good. My girlfriend preferred the Chilean, and it was excellent indeed...the best thing about it was that, although it was the crustiest of the three, the crust actually tasted like something, so there was no temptation to just eat the filling (who would do such a thing?)...I liked them all: the olives were essential to the moistness and general success of the Argentinian one, but the Venezuelan one was the softest/juiciest of the three because of the corn-based dough I imagine...I didn't try the Pabellón empanada, I wish I had known what it was....anyway, they were all good, go to Charlotte Bakery next time you're in Miami.

mem

Edited February 8, 2007 by markemorse (log)

[pizzabrasil]

Nathan:

As asked, following a little explanation and a recipe of empanadas de humita.

From Wikipedia

“Humita is a Native American dish from pre-Hispanic times, and a traditional food in Argentina, Chile, Ecuador and Peru. It consists of masa harina (flour dough) and corn, slowly cooked in oil.

Humitas are present in various countries in Latin America, although their origin is unclear. The noun "humita" derives precisely from Quichua, a regional dialect of the Quechua people found in Ecuador, the south of Colombia, and the northwestern part of Argentina. In Venezuela, they are known as hallacas, in Peru as humitas, in Bolivia as "sweet corn cakes," and in Mexico and Central America as tamales.”

Empanadas de Humita are basically the traditional empanadas dough, already mentioned in this thread, filled with humita.

There are the essence of the tradition, as like the ‘empanadas de pino’ (or meat filled empanadas – as in the recipe already presented here) are, and there are indispensable in any Argentinian table, along a good bottle of Merlot.

There are several humita recipes, depending on each country. The one that I like most is made with corn and bechamel sauce, so simple and so great, as following:

The dough recipe and shape was explained before in this thread.

For humita filling

Bechamel sauce recipe.

100g of butter

1cup of flour

2 cups of milk

Fresh grated nutmeg (do not forget it), salt and pepper.

Melt the butter in a hot pan, add the flour slowly and mixing continuosly until the butter be incorporated in the flour. This mixture will be a little dry and thicken. Do not stop mixing and do not let it burn

By continuous mixing, add the milk until well incorporated. Wet dough, still dense, thick one.

Remove from heat. Season with salt, pepper and the nutmeg.

Filling the empanadas dough with humita

All the Bechamel sauce above.

Four/Five grated corn (or a can of canned corn)

Water or milk to boil the grated corn.

A big onion.

250 gr cheese (muzz or parmesan, as you wish) chopped or grated.

Crushed red pepper (sweet and hot type)

Salt and pepper (if needed)

Fry the chopped onion until slighty brown (do not burn) and add in the bechamel sauce.

Boil the corn in the water or milk until tender. Or use the can of canned corn.

Add the tender corn to the bechamel + onion sauce.

Season with the red pepper. Taste the filling, the red pepper taste mild when incorporated in this sauce.

Add in the cheese.

More salt, pepper and nutmeg, if necessary.

The filling will be ok when smooth and ticky and when, if tasted, there is an extreme danger to left the pan empty with nothing to fill the empanadas dough <g>

Fill the empanadas dough as explained in previous mail, beeing cautious to not let some filling on the edges, otherwise the filling could running out when baking or frying.

Bake or fry the empanadas de humita as already mentioned.

Bon apetit!

Luis

[nathanm]

Thanks - I will try the humita version!

[dividend]

I just made the empanadas described in the original post for a loosely "Mexican" themed potluk at work. Wow! They're delicious. I made mine very small, using a 3" glass to cut the circles because, well, that's all I had. I ended up with about 72 mini empanadas, and came home from work with none. I'll definately make these again. At that size though, the full amount of dough only used half the filling, so I'll keep that in mind.

Thankfully, none of my Lean Cuisine eating freinds at work asked for the recipe - that quantity of lard may have caused them to faint!

Edited to add: I served them with Salsa Mexicana from the eGCI Salsa course, and Jayme's shortcut cooked red salsa, for a thoroughly eGullet themed offering. My coworkers think I'm a great cook - little to they know I'm just plugged into a great community.

Edited March 29, 2007 by dividend (log)

[jscarbor]

There seems to be so many different stuffed pastries from carribean patties to venenzuelan empenadas to runzas in Nebraska. Almost all cousines have a version. What are some of your favorites? I really am thinking meat stuffed pies but all are welcome.

I am thinking about making a batch or two and really looking for some that freeze really well. Is it best to cook almost all the way then cool then freeze?

Edited November 4, 2007 by jscarbor (log)

[HarryB3]

When I was teaching in Guam a lady in our school made some that were filled with minced chicken and rice. The filling was a golden color, as if saffron were in the recipe. I think she liked how much I raved over them she made a batch twice a month for me to take home.

Now I am hungry!

[toweringpine]

samosas and spanakopitas are both great. not necessarily meat filled but still really tasty!

[dls]

This thread/tutorial w/pix from little over a year ago might be of interest.

[Lilija]

When I was teaching in Guam a lady in our school made some that were filled with minced chicken and rice.  The filling was a golden color, as if saffron were in the recipe.  I think she liked how much I raved over them she made a batch twice a month for me to take home.

Now I am hungry!

←

Oh YES!! I lived on Guam for two years, and I still crave those. You could get them at any bodega, pretty much, they were made with chicken and ground rice, cooked with achiote, onions, and bacon, I think. The shell was a thinly pressed masa dough. I've figured out how to recreate most of my Guam-favorites, like kelaguen and red rice, but I still can't get the hang of those things, my goodness they were so good. I would eat two for breakfast every morning with a can of iced coffee, while waiting for my school bus.

Thanks for bringing this memory back, but now you got me craving them all over again!!!

[Jmahl]

These are some we made recently filled with meat and potatoes, very tasty with some good cold beer. The recipes follow.

Empanadas Gouchas

Beef and Potato Empanadas

Empanada Filling

2 small potatoes peeled and boiled for 5 minutes

1 lb ground beef

½ onion chopped

1 tsp chopped garlic

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp chili powder

Salt and pepper

Pastry Dough

3 ½ all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2 sticks butter, chilled cut into ½” pieces 1 egg beaten

1 tsp vinegar

5-7 Tbs cold water

1 egg

1tsp water

Preparing Filling

Grate the boiled potatoes into bowl.

Cook ground beef and chopped onion in skillet until brown and crumbly, stirring frequently. Add grated potatoes, garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper -- mix well cook until heated through. (some people add cut up cooked eggs, chopped green olives – and or raisins – softened in hot water)

Preparing Pastry Dough

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Cut in butter until resembles course meal.

Add beaten egg, vinegar and cold water – mix until form a ball – add additional water if necessary.

Knead the dough on floured surface. Chill for ten minutes.

Whisk 1 egg and 1 tsp water in small bowl. (egg wash)

Form dough in to 12 balls for large empanadas or 24 small balls for small empanadas

Roll out ball for large empanada full with 2 Tbs meat mixture brush edges with egg wash, crimp edges with fork and brush top with egg wash.

Repeat until all empanadas assembled.

Arrange on baking sheet covered with sheet of oven parchment

Cut slits in tops of empanadas (I used scissors)

Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees F. for 25 minutes until golden brown

Serve with Chimichurri by breaking open empanadas and dipping in sauce

Chimichurri

6-8 cloves garlic

2 cups parsley

½ cup cilantro

2 Tbs thyme

2 Tbs rosemary

2 bay leaves

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp red pepper

¾ cup vinegar

¾ cup olive oil

½ tsp salt

Combine in food processor

Jmahl

[andiesenji]

My Mexican neighbors make empanadas with many different fillings, both savory and sweet.

They are not necessarily 100% ethnically authentic because Celia has lived here for more than thirty years and has enthusiastically adopted ideas from other cultures.

She makes traditional sweet empanadas filled with "candied" pumpkin or squash combined with pine nuts and "spices". The squash is diced and the pine nuts are toasted. Celia says she doesn't have a "recipe" she just seasons it to taste with cinnamon, the candied pumpkin or squash is already sweet.

She makes savory empanadas with tongue that is cooked for a day then put through a meat grinder with the medium-coarse die. She mixes this with roasted peppers, cooked onions and stewed beans and presses it in a colander to remove most of the moisture (saving the broth that drains off) before spooning onto the rounds of pastry. She uses a wheat flour based pastry, not corn for these.

She uses corn flour to make pastry for empanadas filled with pork and goat meat.

You have to understand that I am watching them work, armed with my notebook and continually saying, "Wait, wait, what did you just add? How much? How do you spell it? Where can I get it?" and probably annoying the heck out of them.

Plus, I am always asking "why" a particular item is treated a certain way. Usually there is a specific reason, but sometimes it is just "because my mother did it that way."

We all have these traditions.........

I had Cornish pasties when I was a child - I took them to school in my lunch box. One of my teachers scolded me for eating a dessert - she thought it was an apple turnover. She had never heard of a pasty filled with meat and vegetables.

Edited November 4, 2007 by andiesenji (log)

[jscarbor]

These are some we made recently filled with meat and potatoes, very tasty with some good cold beer.  The recipes follow.

Empanadas Gouchas

Beef and Potato Empanadas

Empanada Filling

2 small potatoes peeled and boiled for 5 minutes

1 lb ground beef

½ onion chopped

1 tsp chopped garlic

½ tsp ground cumin

½ tsp chili powder

Salt and pepper

Pastry Dough

3 ½ all purpose flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

2  sticks butter, chilled cut into ½” pieces 1 egg beaten

1 tsp vinegar

5-7 Tbs cold water

1 egg

1tsp water

Preparing Filling

Grate the boiled potatoes into bowl.

Cook ground beef and chopped onion in skillet until brown and crumbly, stirring frequently. Add grated potatoes, garlic, cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper --  mix well cook until heated through.  (some people add cut up cooked eggs, chopped green olives – and or raisins –  softened in hot water)

Preparing Pastry Dough

Combine flour, baking powder, and salt in bowl. Cut in butter until resembles course meal.

Add beaten egg, vinegar and cold water – mix until form a ball – add additional water if necessary.

Knead the dough on floured surface. Chill for ten minutes.

Whisk 1 egg and 1 tsp water in small bowl. (egg wash)

Form dough in to 12 balls for large empanadas or 24 small balls for small empanadas

Roll out ball for large empanada full with 2 Tbs meat mixture brush edges with egg wash, crimp edges with fork and brush top with egg wash.

Repeat until all empanadas assembled.

Arrange on baking sheet covered with sheet of oven parchment

Cut slits in tops of empanadas (I used scissors)

Bake in preheated oven at 425 degrees F. for 25 minutes until golden brown

Serve with Chimichurri by breaking open empanadas and dipping in sauce

Chimichurri

6-8 cloves garlic

2 cups parsley

½ cup cilantro

2 Tbs thyme

2 Tbs rosemary

2 bay leaves

1 tsp black pepper

½ tsp red pepper

¾ cup vinegar

¾ cup olive oil

½ tsp salt

Combine in food processor

Jmahl

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Would these freeze well? Im just thinking about the potatoes? I would assume they would.

[hummingbirdkiss]

yes they freeze beautifully I am not the owner of that recipe and have not tried it but I plan on it after reading it!!

I make empanadas, samosas and patties often in big batches (with potatoes inside) and just put them on a clean baking sheet when they are completely cool and freeze them individually ...then wrap them either individually or toss them all into a big freezer bag and just take out what you need when you need them ..I reheat them on a baking sheet but you can nuke them as well I guess...

potatoes and all these kind of pastries freeze like a dream I think!

the way I make patties is very similar to the above recipe except the pastry is made with lard and curry powder in it (just a teaspoon)

and my filling is similar as well but has curry spices and

my "secret" ingredient is a spoon full of Grace's Jerk in the filling...

Edited November 7, 2007 by hummingbirdkiss (log)

[Domestic Goddess]

I blogged about the Chicken Empanadas that my hubby really loves. I made 2 dozen a couple of days ago and only one is left now.

Here's my recipe (well, actually my mother's recipe):

Chicken empanada

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Ingredients:

2 tbsp Cooking oil

2 tbsp Garlic,minced

1 pc Onion, diced

1/2 kilo (1 pound) shredded cooked chicken meat

1/2 can campbell cream of asparagus soup

1 cup Water

1 cup potatoes, diced (1/2"x 1/2" )

1 cup carrots, diced (1/2"x 1/2" )

2 1/2 cups Flour

1 tsp Salt

1/2 stick butter

4 tbsps lard

8 tbsp Ice cold water (add more or less if needed)

Cooking Instructions:

1. In a pan heat oil, saute garlic and onion for 2 minutes.

2. Add the shredded chicken and carrots and cook for 2 minutes.

3. Add the cream of asparagus soup and potatoes. Add a little water and let potatoes cook.

4. Simmer until sauce thickens. Take off heat and let cool.

Crust:

1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt together.

2. Add the lard and butter to flour mixture and cut it wiht a pastry blender until sandy.

3. Add water one tbsp at a time to form into ball. Roll out the dough and cut into 1 1/2" round pieces.

To assemble the Empanada;

Place 1 teaspoonful of the prepared filling at the center of each piece of crust.

Fold it forming half moon shape pieces. Twist the edges to seal completely.

Arrange them on cookie sheet and brush top with eggwash. Bake at 350 F for abouth 30 minutes.

*You can check out my blog to see a pictorial on how to do this.

** Any kind of meat can be substituted for chicken. Pork or any firm flesh fish is good too.

[handmc]

I fill my Empanadas with Carnitas and Chicken Tinga. MMMM Carnitas, Homer Simpson drool Icon...Now you've done it!

[Luckylies]

Jamaican beef patties. I could eat them all day.

[pat_00]

Baozi from street vendors all over china. All the types of baozi i can get here use a different kind of dough, and are usually really sweet.

In Beijing I had pickled carrot and chilli ones, so good.

[HungryC]

I make the Louisiana version, known as Natchitoches meat pies. Filling is simple: half ground pork, half ground beef, browned w/garlic, salt, red & black pepper, and several bunches of chopped green onions. The cases are a basic baking-powder leavened short crust made w/crisco. They're far more delicious than the modest ingredients would suggest, and equally good baked or fried.

[BonVivant]

only salteñas do it for me. eating them without spilling the juices requires 'skills'...haha... dilicioso!

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btw, a history of salteñas. it says they make the best in Sucre but every salteña i had in different places in Bolivia was good, including those from Sucre.

Edited November 18, 2007 by BonVivantNL (log)

[jscarbor]

I ended up making a basic butter pastry and used a few different fillings. My favorite was a roasted chicken, mex chorizo and potato emp. The other was made with some leftover beer braised brisket and then a simple ham and cheese for the kids. I froze a few of them and they heated well.

I want to try and make some samosas next.

[jlwquilter]

This is an older thread, but the topic is relatively new to me

I've been making empanadas for about 2 months now. I am using a basic dough recipe that's worked pretty well overall, given that I don't know what I am doing anyway. In reading some other threads though, I see that many of the dough recipes have baking powder - mine does not. For filling I have used, variously, beef & cheese, chili, sausage/pepper/onion, tamale, etc. Any meat based filling that I have on hand that isn't too wet may get shoved into a dough pocket for trial!

Here's my issue: My DH, who is thrilled with the empanadas, also loves gobs of melted cheese inside of the pocket. I have been placing shredded cheese on top of the meat filling before folding the circle in half. I wet the edges with water first and crimp with a fork. Brush with egg wash and into the oven, ususally about 375 for 25 minutes or so.

The cheese is melting OUT of the pocket at the crimped edges. Argh! The meat stays in. And the one emapanda I baked, forgetting to put the extra cheese on top DID NOT leak. Go figure.

So... if I add a leavener to the dough recipe will the rising action stop leaks? If I add steam slashes to the top before baking, will that stop the leaking? If I use egg wash instead of water for the edge moistening? What if I twist the dough at the edges to get a thicker edge vs. crimping with a fork??

FYI - this cheese leaking thing bugs me, but as I am currently cutting the melted cheese off and giving it to DH to eat, he's pretty happy with the leaks!

Any insights or suggestions would be most appreciated!

[piazzola]

Find a visual guide to making Empanadas Salteñas

Guía visual para la elaboración de empanadas salteñas (Spanish only)

http://www.iruya.com/index2.php?option=com...55&pop=1&page=5

Enjoy!

[blizzard854]

Another great flavor combination for this is guava and white cheese...

I usually see restaurants that make empanadas, fill them with either some guava paste or guava jelly, and some queso blanco as most hispanic people call it, and its amazing and delicious savory dessert empanada...

[piazzola]

Another great flavor combination for this is guava and white cheese...

I usually see restaurants that make empanadas, fill them with either some guava paste or guava jelly, and some queso blanco as most hispanic people call it, and its amazing and delicious savory dessert empanada...

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Argentineans do make ham and cheese and humita(corn and white sauce) empanadas and some seafood and stronger cheese but of course they all are savoury.

Although Argentineans also make a kind of quick fried pockets filled with quince paste or other sweet pastes. These pockets resemble the federal star of eight points rather than an empanada.