Yummy empanadas
So, I've been cooking and planning to cook a lot lately. We are having a party this Saturday, so I've been recipe searching for cake/frosting (as we will have a short birthday section to the party for Miriam) and then I am doing the food for the equestrian Rose Tourney at Castle Wars next weekend. Anyway, this planning resulted in me having quite a bit of discs of dough for empanadas. As I also had some chicken in the freezer I thought, "hey, why not have chicken empanadas for supper?" So we did. I thought they were super yummy, Kevin did not. Here is my recipe, mainly so that I can recall it when I make them again
Ingredients:
3 chicken breast halves, cooked and shredded (these were just done in a pan with olive oil, nothing else)
5 roma tomatoes, cut up slightly chunky
1 medium yellow onion, diced
1 T minced garlic (I used the kind from a jar, because it's easier)
1 cup shredded cheese (I used Vermont extra sharp, but only because I'm on a vermont extra sharp kick - and this is a guestimate on the amount)
thyme (um, 3-4 shakes from the stubborn container?)
S&P to taste
flour (maybe 1 T)
empanada wrappers (in the freezer section at the grocery store)
Saute onions in olive oil until soft. Add garlic and tomatoes and saute for a few more minutes on medium high (I'm so not specific on stuff). Add thyme (and S& P if you want S&P, I add them to everything). Reduce heat to medium low and place a lid on the pan and let the mess simmer for about 5-10 minutes. At this point I added some flour to thicken it up some, then simmer for a bit more, although stirring occasionally. Then add cheese, place lid on the sucker again and let it get all gooey, shouldn't take to terribly long. Once the concoction has reached a point of looking delicious, turn off the heat. Place shredded chicken in a bowl and add the onion/tomato/cheese mixture to it and stir it up really well.
Prepare your empanada dough as the package directs (ie roll it out some). Place mixture on one side of dough circle, fold dough in half to enclose the mixture and then press a fork along the edges to seal it in. You can then take a pizza cutter (the rolling kind) and roll around the edges to get a nice even edge.
Fry the suckers on medium high - each side until golden brown. I wouldn't do the heat any lower or they will just sit and absorb the oil. My guess is that they would deep fry very well. They can also be baked at 375 for 15-20 minutes (but they aren't as good).
I made 9 empanadas, but I think if I had portions a bit better it would've made 10. I had a couple of very big ones. I also would take the extra dough that I cut off from each 2 empanadas and roll it into a ball then roll it out. I cut some into strips and coated in cinnamon and sugar and fried them. I also made two "mini" empanadas this way and filled them with the pearsauce I made Miriam (like applesauce, only pear...nothing else added). I then tossed them in cinnamon and sugar and fried those. Both Miriam and Kevin liked those.
Kevin says the empanadas had chunky tomatoes. I think he's really picky :) The tomatoes cooked down to almost nothing.
Mmm, mmm, good.





