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Total time: Plan on 1 hour per 10 empanadas.
Beef Empanadas
* 2 hard-boiled large eggs
* 1/2 medium onion, finely chopped
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
* 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
* 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
* 3/4 pound ground beef chuck
* 2 tablespoons raisins
* 1 1/2 tablespoons chopped pimiento-stuffed olives
* 1 (14-ounce) can whole tomatoes in juice, drained, reserving 2 tablespoons juice, and chopped
* 1 package frozen empanada pastry disks, thawed, or make dough
* About 4 cups vegetable oil
* a deep-fat thermometer
Cut each egg crosswise into 10 thin slices.
Cook onion in olive oil in a heavy medium skillet over medium heat, stirring frequently, until softened. Add garlic, cumin, and oregano and cook, stirring, 1 minute. Stir in beef and cook, breaking up lumps with a fork, until no longer pink, about 4 minutes.
Add raisins, olives, 1/2 teaspoon salt, 1/4 teaspoon pepper, and tomatoes with reserved juice, then cook, stirring occasionally, until liquid is reduced but mixture is still moist, about 5 minutes. Spread on a plate to cool.
Preheat oven to 200°F with rack in middle.
Lay a large sheet of plastic wrap on a dampened work surface (to help keep plastic in place), then roll out an empanada disk on plastic wrap to measure about 6 inches. Place 3 tablespoons meat mixture on disk and top with 2 slices of egg. Moisten edges of disk with water and fold over to form a semicircle, then crimp with a fork. Make more empanadas in same manner.
Heat 3/4 inch vegetable oil in a deep 12-inch skillet over medium heat until it registers 360°F on thermometer. Fry empanadas, 2 or 3 at a time, turning once, until crisp and golden, 4 to 6 minutes per batch.
Transfer to a shallow baking pan and keep warm in oven. Return oil to 360°F between batches.
 On the way to the refrigerator Total time: 15 minutes.
* 3 cups flour
* pinch of salt
* 2 teaspoons sugar
* 3 teaspoons baking powder
* 1/2 cup lard or shortening
* 3/4 cup chicken stock
* 1 egg
Preparation:
Mix the dry ingredients together. Cut in the lard with a pastry cutter or 2 knives until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Whisk egg and mix into chicken broth. Mix the broth and egg into the flour mixture and knead until dough forms. Cover and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Lightly flour a surface and roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Cut into 4-inch circles for small empanadas, 5-inch for medium ones or 6-inch for large ones. Place 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of the dough circle for small empanadas, 2 tablespoons for medium and 3 tablespoons for large.
Fold dough over to make a filled half circle and use a fork to press the edges together. Refrigerate uncooked empanadas for 3 hours.
Fry in 350 degree oil for 6-7 minutes or until golden brown.
Update June 16, 2009 – Used this dough recipe for potato pockets, and it was cuppylicious! I didn’t use a circle cut-out, though. Instead, I divided up the dough into 12 equal fist-sized balls and rolled them individually. Also, 1/4″ is a little thick for me, so I rolled mine thinner. It’s really preference.
When I put flour down on my board, it seemed to make the dough sort of elastic-feeling, so I wiped the board clean and rolled without. I think Empanada Dough I is “flakier” than this recipe. Perhaps if I’d only rolled the dough to 1/4″ thick instead of so thin like I did…? Regardless, my potato pockets recipe made the exact right amount to use all the dough. Woohoo!
Total time: Full recipe of 30 empanadas will take close to 3 hours. Plan on 1 hour per 10 empanadas.
 A great addition to our "Meximeal"!! This dough made only 9 of my preferred sized empanadas the first time I did it. I’ve had mixed results since.
Filling
1 pound of hamburger (or shredded meat of your choice)
.5 pound of sausage (I like a tube of Jimmy Dean sausage) (optional!)
1 can of black beans (or one cup dry beans, soaked over night and boiled for 10 minutes)
1/2 an onion, finely chopped
1 poblano pepper, finely chopped
1-3 serranos, finely chopped
1/2 can of corn
1 tomato, pureed
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped (I like to use 2 tablespoons of the garlic that’s already chopped up in a jar)
1/4 cup or more of cilantro, finely chopped
salt, pepper, and cumin to taste
1-3 cups of corn or vegetable oil
Prepare empanada dough as directed; set aside. Brown meat in medium skillet on medium heat; drain. In a large mixing bowl, add all of the ingredients and mix well.
Shape dough evenly into 9 balls, using about 3 Tbsp. of the dough for each ball. Flatten each ball into 6-inch round with a rolling pin. Spoon about 1/4 cup of the meat mixture onto center of each round. Fold dough rounds in half to enclose filling; press lightly on tops to remove any air pockets. Seal edges with fork or fold over and press down.
Heat oil in large deep skillet to 375°F (you can flick a drop of water into the pan and it’ll sizzle). Add empanadas, in batches of three or four; cook 3 min. on each side or until golden brown on both sides. Remove from oil; drain well. Cool slightly before serving.
This filling makes about 30 empanadas!!! I had no idea it was going to make so much! I wouldn’t do that much meat again! I made 9 for JB and Brett and myself, and then I put the rest of the filling in the refrigerator. I made 9 more the next day, and I still had too much filling leftover. So… cut back on the meat and vegetables for a smaller amount of filling.
We served them with cheese, sour cream, homemade grilled salsa and guacamole.
Total time: 15 minutes.
From the folks over at Kraft Food & Family.
2 cups flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 cup lard
1/2 cup water
COMBINE flour, salt and baking powder in large bowl. Cut in lard with pastry blender or two knives until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Gradually add water, stirring until mixture forms a ball.
PLACE dough on lightly floured surface; knead 5 min. or until smooth and pliable.
WRAP tightly; set aside while preparing empanada filling.
How to Make Sweet Empanada Dough
Prepare as directed, substituting 1/2 cup sugar for the 1 tsp. salt.
Make Ahead
Prepare dough as directed. Wrap tightly and refrigerate up to 2 days. Remove from refrigerator about 30 min. before using. Let stand, covered, at room temperature until ready to use as directed.
Total time: 25 minutes.
Not really a risotto, but you’ll see. This is a simple vegetarian style dish, that in this case is cooked in an electric rice steamer.
two cups of Thai style jasmine rice
one tablespoon of sliced garlic
one tablespoon of ground ginger
one tablespoon of chopped shallots (purple onions)
one table spoon of red prik ki nu (birdseye or dynamite chilis) sliced
one table spoon of green prik ki nu, sliced
A quantity of good chicken stock, equal to the volume of water specified by the rice cooker to cook two cups of rice, plus two tablespoons. (I normally use a normal sized can of chicken broth and 1 cup of water.)
Place the rice in the cooker.
Stir fry the other ingredients (except the stock)
Add all the ingredients to the cooker, and switch on.
When the cooking time is finished the dish is ready to serve.
(if you wish you can add a pinch of saffron or turmeric to colour the
rice yellow.)
Special thanks to – Muoi Khuntilanont.
 Served here with another spicy Thai dip and pork satay (with rice and spinach). Total time: 5 minutes.
3/4 cup coconut milk
4 Tbsp peanut butter
1 Tbsp lemon juice
1 Tbsp soy sauce
1 tsp brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1/2 tsp ground coriander
1-2 dried red chilies, chopped (keep the seeds for heat)
Mix dry ingredients in a small bowl. Add soy sauce and lemon, mix well.
Over low heat, combine coconut milk, peanut butter and your soy-lemon-seasoning mix. Mix well, stir often. The peanut sauce literally takes 2 minutes to stir together on low heat (all you’re doing is melting the peanut butter, really), so make your peanut sauce after you’ve made everything else in your meal, or make ahead of time and reheat later.
 Tangy, sweet, spicy, lovesit. Total time: Approximately 4 hours.
* 1 head of cabbage, thinly sliced
* 1 carrot, thinly sliced
* 1/3 cup milk
* 2 fluid ounces plain yogurt
* 2 fluid ounces mayonnaise
* 1 tablespoon spicy vinegar
* 1 teaspoon dry mustard
* 1 tablespoon green onions
* 1 teaspoon of sugar
* 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional!)
* salt and pepper to taste
Directions
Generously salt the cabbage and drain in colander for 3 hours. Rinse thoroughly and dry.
In a separate bowl, combine all of the ingredients except the cabbage and carrot. Whisk to combine evenly. Toss the cabbage and carrot with the dressing.
 Use all the cloves!! Total time: 1 hour
Staple for Thai soup.
I use this in a lot of marinades and recipes.
One full head of garlic
2-3 cups of vegetable oil
Separate, peel and snip the ends of all the garlic cloves. Mash them up in your sturdy mortar and pestle or finely chop them in your food processor – both methods work. If you have time, there’s something to be said about the gratification in beating garlic in a mortar.
Caution! Turn on your overhead fan if you have one, or open the windows before you begin!
Fry in oil until golden brown (depending on how big your pile of garlic mash is, this could be one or two cups of oil!).
Pour garlic oil and remaining oil in a glass container for storage. Let cool completely before closing the lid. Keep up to 2 months. I keep mine in the cupboard next to my peanut oil and fish sauce.
 Use everything but the stem. Total time: Approximately 10 minutes.
Staple for Thai soup.
I use this in a lot of marinades and recipes.
4 jalapenos
2 cups of vinegar (approx)
Slice jalapenos and soak them in 2 cups of vinegar. Store up to 2 months in the refrigerator. (I use an old pickle jar or peanut butter jar.)
 Beautiful! No yellow here! Total time: Anywhere from 1 hour to 24 hours.
I decided that the presentation didn’t do the flavor justice. There’s just something about that bright yellow that really turned me off, plus it just took too long. I wanted to try something else.
2 T olive or peanut oil
2 T lemon juice
1 tsp ginger powder or 1 T fresh ginger root
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp garlic powder or fresh chopped garlic
1 pound of pork loin or chops
Marinate the meat for 4-24 hours.
This is the marinade I use when I don’t have time to let it soak overnight. It tastes equally as good as Pork Satay I, although the flavors are incredibly different. I use the same Peanut Sauce for both satay recipes, and I’ve taken to serving my pork satay and peanut sauce with spinach.
Dip fresh spinach into boiling water for 10 seconds, remove, drain, and serve immediately.
Served here with Thai “risotto”.
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