The original item, beef empanadas, were made for my friend Darren's birthday party. There, I presented them, still warm from the oven, with a lovely Aji sauce on the side. Make no mistake, all was eaten. These were tasty and enjoyed by adults and youth alike. Rich and savory, with a mild spicy kick, especially with the addition of the sauce, I would qualify them as a success. My only complaint? I found the process of making them to be a bit labor intensive. The irony to this was that the recipe came from Cooks Illustrated, and was billed, in their intro, as something streamlined for weeknight cooking. Ha!
You make a dough, which then chills. You make the meat filling, which includes chopping, sauteing, boiling eggs and chipping olives off of their pits. You let it all cool off. Then roll out, assemble and bake said empanadas. Weeknight cooking indeed. I would qualify these as an item to bring to a party, when you are not obligated for the remainder of the dishes, and can clean up later. I would also mention the benefit to having more than one person available for the assembly sections, to speed things up. Weeknight cooking indeed.
It doesn't help that I actually made a double recipe, in anticipation of needing a fair number of the little pies. And then, in the making of the double recipe, I found myself with almost all of the second recipe of the meat filling left over. Ah well. It all turned out fine in the end.
Today, to use up said leftovers, I made a bastardized rendition of shepherd's pie. Bastardized, as the meat filling was beef, not lamb, and essentially spiced in a Latin style. I added veggies to the mix, because I can't not do that.
And the result was better than the originals. So. I will give recipes for all items here, but suffice it to say, I was so focussed on getting the empanadas baked and out the door, I failed to photograph them, so you will have to use your imagination: half moon pies is what you should conjure up here.
Beef Empanadas
adapted from Cooks Illustrated
makes 12
makes 12
Dough:
3 c flour
1 c masa harina
1T sugar
1 1/2 t salt
1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut in small pieces
1/2 c cold tequila or vodka
1/2 c cold water
Put the flour, masa, sugar and salt into a food processor, pulse to combine. Add the butter, pulse several times to get a coarse flour texture. Turn the mixture out into a bowl, add the tequila and water, mix with your hands to combine. When you have a ball, cut it in half, and then each half into 6 pieces. Roll lightly into balls, cover and chill 45 min.
Meat mixture:
1 slice white sandwich bread
2T + 1/2 chicken broth
1 slice white sandwich bread
2T + 1/2 chicken broth
1 lb ground beef
2 c finely chopped onions
1 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 t cumin
pinch cayenne
1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 c cilantro, chopped
1/4 c green olives, chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/3 c raisins, coarsely chopped
2 t cider vinegar
Pulse bread and 2 T broth in food processor until combined, add meat, pulse to combine. Saute onions in oil in a large skillet, until translucent, add beef and brown. Add garlic, cumin, cayenne and cinnamon, saute x 1 min, then add remainder of chicken broth, increase heat and simmer until meat is moist but not wet. Put into another bowl to cool x 10 min, then add remaining ingredients. Allow to cool completely.
Assemble: Roll the dough balls out to approx 6" circles, set aside, but work quickly. Otherwise cover with plastic wrap. Place 1/4-1/3 c meat mixture in the center of each round, wet the edges of the rounds with water, then fold over. Cut uneven portions of the dough (pizza cutter works great here), and press the dough with a fork to seal. When all are assembled, brush lightly with olive oil.
While assembling: Preheat the oven to 425F. Have racks at high and low positions. Put 2 baking sheets into the oven while heating. When hot, drizzle 2 T olive oil into the pans and put back into the oven. When the pastries are ready, quickly put 6 on each, and bake x 30 min. Rotate top to bottom and front to back at the half way point. Cool on a rack.
See what I mean? Labor intensive. But very good. Now here is the Aji sauce. I found a recipe for this on Epicurious, but have seriously monkeyed with it. This would be good with steaks and other meats, as it is similar to a Chimicurri sauce.
1 T olive oil
3 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
1 t cumin
pinch cayenne
1/4 t cinnamon
1/2 c cilantro, chopped
1/4 c green olives, chopped
2 hard boiled eggs, chopped
1/3 c raisins, coarsely chopped
2 t cider vinegar
Pulse bread and 2 T broth in food processor until combined, add meat, pulse to combine. Saute onions in oil in a large skillet, until translucent, add beef and brown. Add garlic, cumin, cayenne and cinnamon, saute x 1 min, then add remainder of chicken broth, increase heat and simmer until meat is moist but not wet. Put into another bowl to cool x 10 min, then add remaining ingredients. Allow to cool completely.
Assemble: Roll the dough balls out to approx 6" circles, set aside, but work quickly. Otherwise cover with plastic wrap. Place 1/4-1/3 c meat mixture in the center of each round, wet the edges of the rounds with water, then fold over. Cut uneven portions of the dough (pizza cutter works great here), and press the dough with a fork to seal. When all are assembled, brush lightly with olive oil.
While assembling: Preheat the oven to 425F. Have racks at high and low positions. Put 2 baking sheets into the oven while heating. When hot, drizzle 2 T olive oil into the pans and put back into the oven. When the pastries are ready, quickly put 6 on each, and bake x 30 min. Rotate top to bottom and front to back at the half way point. Cool on a rack.
See what I mean? Labor intensive. But very good. Now here is the Aji sauce. I found a recipe for this on Epicurious, but have seriously monkeyed with it. This would be good with steaks and other meats, as it is similar to a Chimicurri sauce.
Aji Sauce
heavily adapted from Epicurious
makes 1-1/2 c
4 Jalapeno peppers, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/2 green pepper, seeded and coarsely chopped
1/4-1/2 c coarsely chopped green onion
1/3 c coarsely chopped sweet onion
1/2 c cilantro
2T champagne vinegar
1/2 t kosher salt
Puree everything in a food processor until smooth, taste and correct seasonings. Should be bright and mildly spicy (say 1-2 stars).
And now, the new and improved beef option. You see, the beef, itself, was not too miserable, in the labor department. It was the whole package. But this is as much a factor of any item that gets wrapped in pastry, I suppose. So quit harping already, right?
The beef I used had all the basic filling parts of the recipe, but I omitted the eggs and raisins. I kept the olives. If I were to make the shepherd's pie with this beef option, I would probably omit the whole bit with the bread as well. Not necessary for this. So that would leave the onions, beef and spices, finished with olives and some vinegar.
The beef I used had all the basic filling parts of the recipe, but I omitted the eggs and raisins. I kept the olives. If I were to make the shepherd's pie with this beef option, I would probably omit the whole bit with the bread as well. Not necessary for this. So that would leave the onions, beef and spices, finished with olives and some vinegar.
Shepherd's Pie, My Way
serves 4
Meat filling from Beef Empanadas, with adaptations as noted above
8 pearl onions, halved
1 carrot, chopped 1/2" pieces
1 celery stalk, chopped 1/2" pieces
1 c. butternut squash, chopped into 1/2" pieces
1 T olive oil
2-3 c potatoes, peeled and cut into large chunks
1T butter
salt to taste
1/4+ milk
Boil the potatoes in salted water until tender, drain, add butter, milk and salt and mash until smooth. Set aside.
Saute veggies, add 2-3T water, cover and steam until tender.
Assemble: Place meat mixture in a casserole to fit, cover with veggies. Cover with mashed potatoes and smooth.
Broil until potatoes are lightly browned. It occurs to me that the Aji sauce might go well with this....
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