Empanadas De Pino - Empanadas with Spicy Beef

Esta es la receta de mis riquisimas Empanadas de Carne e Empanadas de Pollo....yum yum yum Delsioso!

( this is my recipe for meat and chicken empanadas in the Chilean style)

You can eat a million of these! They are a cute little hand pie made with shredded beef , onions, garlic, raisins and a few pieces of boiled egg and black olives. Every Latin country have their own variation of these. My neighbour George is from Chile and last summer he asked me to make some of these for him. I have modified the recipe I originally used so it's not a classic version however it's in the Chilean Empanada style. I think mine is better because they are normally made with shortening and I have used coconut oil which is much healthier as well as I have added some whole wheat flour to my recipe. You can bake them or fry them. I have to admit I love them fried best. This dough makes a nice flaky crust when fried! I have done both Beef and Chicken in this recipe to show you. This is a weekend project and I would suggest you make the fillings and dough on one day and assemble and cook the next. They are well worth the effort. George was happy to see me when I brought over a sample platter for him after these were made.

Buen Provecho 

You will need:

Beef 

• steak or ground beef
• salt/pepper
• chili flakes
• orange juice
• lime juice
• bay leaves
• 6 garlic cloves

Filling

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tbsp coconut oil
• 1/2 large onion chopped
• 3 cloves garlic chopped fine
• 2 cups of the above shredded beef
• 1 tsp sweet paprika
• 1 tsp hot paprika (in the chicken mix I only added the sweet paprika)
• 2 tsp ground cumin
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp kosher salt
• 1 tbsp honey
• strained broth left over from cooking steak
• 2 boiled eggs
• 6-10 black olives sliced
• 1/4 cup raisins chopped 

Chicken

poach 2 chicken breasts in water for 20 minutes with some bay leaves, peppercorns, 2 cloves of garlic, salt and dried oregano- then shred the chicken and add the same list of ingredients as the beef filling listed above.

Dough

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup melted coconut oil
• 1 cup warm milk with 1/2 cup warm water added.

*You could use a store bought pie pastry if you wanted another alternative for the baked variety and didn't want to make your own. 

Step 1: This recipe is perfect when you have some roast that is leftover. Traditionally you can also use ground beef (this option is also easier!) I am looking to cook my steak until the meat it is able to be shred. 

I like the shredded beef mouth feel best in the empanada so this is what I am making today.

Step 2: in a blazing hot pan with a bit of oil added at the last second, add the meat. Fry the meat on both sides with a bit of salt and pepper.

Step 3: add orange, lime juice to almost cover, garlic, salt, pepper, a pinch of chili flakes and a few bay leaves. Cook on low until meat is fall apart tender. Approx 45- 60 mins. Add more liquid if necessary. This could also be done in the oven at 350 degrees F.

Step 4: In a large bowl add flours, salt and melt the coconut oil in the microwave for 25 seconds. This is what the coconut oil looks like, its a much healthier alternative to shortening. Big Pete puts it in his shake in the morning he is convinced it will prevent him from getting Alzheimer's. (go on line to see the numerous benefits to coconut oil!) 

Step 5: make a well in the middle of the dry ingredients and add the coconut oil and start to incorporate. Once it gets difficult add the warm milk/water and continue to mix. If still too dry add bit more water to absorb all flour. Turn out onto counter and knead until you form a smooth ball. This is a solid dough and requires 5-10 minutes before it becomes nice and smooth. Some people start the dough in the food processor and add the coconut oil in solid form I tbsp at a time but, since its a large ball of dough I like to do it on the counter by hand. I like my food processor and don't want to abuse it! Consider this your arm workout for the day.

Step 6: finally! once you are done cover in plastic wrap and leave 30 minutes on counter.

Step 7: chop your onions, garlic and shred the cooled beef. Strain the liquid that is left from your meat cooking. I have approx 1/4 cup here.

Step 8: fry the onions until lightly browned in coconut oil or coconut/olive oil

Step 9: add meat and all remaining ingredients from the giant list of filling items listed above. If it gets too dry add a bit of water or orange juice. You want the filling moist but not wet. Let filling completely cool before using.

Step 10: take a piece of dough and roll out with a bit of flour, you wont need much because there is lots of coconut oil in the dough. I actually tried rolling it out without any flour and it worked fine. 

Step 11: cut out empanadas with a biscuit cutter. I used a 5 inch cutter which make nice little pies. If you don't have a biscuit cutter you can use a knife and a piece of cardboard as a guide to make your circles.

Step 12: take your chicken or beef mixture and put approx. 1 tbsp of mix in the centre. Do not overfill. Top with a few slices of black olives and a few tiny pieces of chopped boiled egg. I forgot to take a photo of the egg and olives on top of this mixture before closing.

Step 13: dip your finger in a small bowl of water and run it along the entire outer edge. Fold over and carefully start to seal without any of the contents falling out. I like to try to force out any air as I go.

Step 14: start at one end by folding over the point. Then flatten out the point where you will fold over the next crimp. Then flatten and fold , and flatten and fold until you reach the end and you have a cute little edge. You will get some practise since you will be making them until you run out of dough.

Note: this recipe is enough dough for either the beef or the chicken since I made both I had leftover filling which I just turned into little tiny egg rolls by rolling some filling on some store bought fresh won ton wrappers. Then I froze them for another day.

Step 15: you can bake them or fry them. Before baking I brushed them with an egg wash and you can brush a bit of oil on the pan or use a Silpat silicone pad without any additional oil. I baked them at 350 degrees F for approx 30 minutes or until lightly browned.Don't over bake them because the crust will be too hard. Frying is much quicker. I used grape seed oil and fried them in a shallow pan. I think they taste much better fried because the dough crisps up and has wonderful flavour from the coconut oil. SOOOOOOoooo yummy. 

These are the baked. You can see the pieces of boiled eggs and olives in this one.

These were fried. Nice puffy, flaky crust.

I think Big Pete ate 10 of them. We served them with a salad for dinner. You have to try to make these at least once!