Beef Empanadas Recipe 435

Steps:

• Make the dough: Put 2 cups boiling water, 4 ounces lard and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in large mixing bowl. Stir to melt lard and dissolve salt. Cool to room temperature.
• Gradually stir in flour with a wooden spoon until dough comes together. Knead for a minute or two on a floured board, until firm and smooth. Add more flour if sticky. Wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Make the filling: Season chopped beef generously with salt and pepper and set aside for 10 minutes. Melt 3 tablespoons lard in a wide heavy skillet over medium-high heat. Add beef and fry until nicely browned, stirring throughout to keep pieces separate, about 5 minutes.
• Turn heat down to medium and add onion and chorizo. Keep turning mixture with a spatula, as if cooking hash, until onion is softened and browned, about 10 minutes. Add potatoes, garlic, thyme and marjoram and stir well to incorporate. (Add a little more fat to pan if mixture seems dry.) Season again with salt and pepper and let mixture fry for 2 more minutes. Stir in tomato paste, pimentón and cayenne, then a cup of broth or water. Turn heat to simmer, stirring well to incorporate any caramelized bits.
• Cook for about 10 more minutes, until both meat and potatoes are tender and the sauce just coats them - juicy but not saucy is what you want. Taste and adjust seasoning for full flavor (intensity will diminish upon cooling). Stir in scallions and cool to room temperature, then cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
• Divide chilled dough into 1-ounce pieces and form into 2-inch diameter balls. Roll each piece into a 4 1/2-inch circle. Lay circles on a baking sheet lightly dusted with flour.
• Moisten outer edge of each round with water. Put about 2 tablespoons filling in the center of each round, adding a little chopped green olive and some hard-cooked egg to each. Wrap dough around filling to form empanada, pressing edges together. Fold edge back and finish by pinching little pleats or crimping with a fork.
• Heat oven to 375 degrees. Place empanadas on parchment-lined or oiled baking sheet, about 1 inch apart. Brush tops lightly with lard or butter and bake on top shelf of oven until golden, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve warm.

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large Dutch oven over medium heat. Add onions, scallions, and bell pepper. Cover and cook, stirring occasionally, until onions are translucent, 10 to 15 minutes.
• Add ground beef, oregano, salt, cayenne pepper, and cumin to the onion mixture. Cook and stir beef until no longer pink, 8 to 10 minutes. Remove from the heat and allow to cool slightly, then cover and place in the refrigerator until meat is completely cooled, about 1 hour.
• Remove filling from the refrigerator and transfer into a colander to drain. Return filling to the Dutch oven.
• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Liberally grease a baking sheet with butter.
• Place about 2 tablespoons filling into the center of an empanada disc. Fold empanada in half into a crescent shape, press the edges of the dough together with a fork or your fingers to seal, and place onto the prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining empanadas and filling. Brush tops with egg white.
• Bake in the preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

Steps:

• For the filling: Add the oil to a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the onions, sofrito, and peppers, stirring occasionally until soft. Add the tomato paste, adobo, and cilantro, stirring occasionally until combined. Add the ground beef, season, and stir until the mixture reaches 160 degrees F. Remove from the heat, strain, and allow the mixture to cool.
• For the empanada dough: Sift the flour, sugar, and salt onto parchment paper. Place the sifted dry ingredients into a food processor. Add the remainder of the ingredients to the food processor and process until the dough looks like a ball. Remove the ball from the food processor and cover it with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
• Transfer the pastry onto a lightly floured board and roll out until it is 1/16-inch thick. Cut into segments with a 4-inch dough cutter. Each cut will create a dough round. Put 1 tablespoon of the filling onto the upper half of each round, and then fold the bottom pastry up into a half-moon shape. Crimp the edges closed with your finger to fold the upper and bottom halves together. Repeat this step until all the edges are closed.
• For the guava sauce: Blend all the ingredients in a food processor until the mixture is silky and smooth. Pour the sauce in a separate dish or bowl for dipping.
• Put about 2 inches of oil into a heavy, deep skillet over medium heat and heat to 350 degrees F. Add the empanadas, a few at a time, and cook until golden brown on both sides, about 5 minutes per side.

Steps:

• Prepare the empanada dough: In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with the milk and 1/2 teaspoon salt. In a large bowl, combine the flour and 1 tablespoon salt, and mix well. Add the butter and incorporate it into the flour using your hands or a food processor. Combine until mixture is sandy. Combine the egg mixture, vinegar and 2/3 cup ice water, whisking to break up the egg. Add egg mixture to flour mixture, and beat with a fork to bring dough together.
• Sprinkle a light layer of flour over a work surface. Place the dough on top. Bring dough together by pressing and folding dough onto itself a few times with the palms of your hands. Being careful not to overwork, split dough in half and form into two equal logs about the thickness of a small sausage, 1 1/2- to 2-inches thick. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour.
• While the dough rests, prepare the filling: In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium-high and bring to a shimmer. Add the tomato paste and toast, stirring frequently, until darkened and caramelized, about 3 minutes. Add the onion, bell peppers, garlic, salt and pepper, and cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add the potato and raisins, and cook, stirring, until mixture starts to caramelize, 8 to 10 minutes. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 5 minutes.
• Add the beef, increase the temperature to medium-high and cook, stirring occasionally, until beef is cooked through, about 10 minutes. Stir in oyster sauce and soy sauce until coated, then stir in chicken stock. (Mixture should be glossy but not overtly wet; cook for another 5 minutes or so to reduce liquid, if need be.) Transfer to a sheet pan, dispersing in a thin layer, and refrigerate until chilled, at least 20 minutes.
• Fill a small bowl with some cool water for sealing your empanadas, and another small bowl with flour for dusting. Working with one log at a time, remove dough from fridge. Cut each log in half crosswise, then cut each half crosswise into 10 equal pieces, which will be the shape of thick coins. Using a bit of flour, dust your work surface. Round each coin slightly using your thumb and forefinger and on your surface with your hands press each coin lightly to coax it into a flat round shape. Switch to a rolling pin and roll each piece of empanada dough into a 4 1/2-inch circle. You can lightly dust and stack your circles off to the side or transfer them to a parchment lined baking sheet and chill until you are ready to assemble (they are easier to work with when kept cool). Repeat with remaining log. When you have all your pieces rolled out, you are ready to assemble your empanadas. Place about 1 1/2 tablespoons of the meat filling in the center of each circle, leaving at least a 1/2-inch border. Using a brush or your finger, wet the edges of the dough with water and fold the crust over the filling, forming half-moon empanada shapes, sealing out as much air as possible. Crimp the edges of the empanada with the tines of a fork to seal.
• In a large heavy Dutch oven or pot, heat about 2 inches of oil over medium-high. Heat oil to 365 degrees. Working in batches so as not to crowd the pan, maintaining an even heat, fry the empanadas, turning frequently, until they start to bob, 4 to 5 minutes. (They should be crisp and golden brown, the pastry should be cooked through and the meat should be warmed through.) Transfer to a paper-towel lined baking sheet and fry remaining empanadas. Serve warm.

Steps:

• Heat oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add ground beef and cook until browned, breaking up meat with a wooden spoon, about 10 minutes. Add onions and cook until soft, about 5 minutes more. Stir in tomato sauce, olives, Sofrito, Sazon, garlic, oregano and black pepper. Lower heat to medium-low and simmer until mixture thickens, about 15 minutes.
• On a lightly floured work surface, using a rolling pin, roll out discos until 1/2-inch larger in diameter. Spoon about 1 tbsp. meat mixture into middle, fold in half to form a half moon; moisten edges with water and pinch to seal closed, or seal with a fork.
• Fill a deep saucepan with oil to a depth of 2 1/2-inches. Heat oil over medium-high heat until hot but not smoking (350 degrees F on deep-fry thermometer). Cook Empanadas in batches until crisp and golden brown, flipping once, 4 - 6 minutes. Transfer to paper towels to drain.

Steps:

• To make the filling, heat a large skillet over medium heat, and then swirl in the olive oil. Add the onion and bell pepper. Saute until the onion is translucent, 3 to 4 minutes. Raise the heat to high and add the beef. Cook, stirring constantly to brown, about 5 to 7 minutes. Add the cumin and cook for another minute.
• Stir in the olives, raisins, honey, salt, pepper, and hot sauce. Cook until the meat is golden brown, the liquid has evaporated, and the flavors have blended, about 4 more minutes. Cool the mixture completely in the fridge. Stir in the egg whites.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit. Butter or line a baking sheet.
• To form the empanadas, work with half of a disk of dough at a time, rolling out on a floured surface. Using an overturned bowl (about 5 inches across), cut out circles about 3 or 4 at a time from each piece of dough. Gather all dough scraps together, reroll once, and cut. Place 1/4 cup filling on one side of a dough circle. Wet the edges of the dough with water. Fold the dough over to form a half circle. Pinch the edges of the dough together. Crimp the edges with a fork. Repeat the process until all the filling is used. The empanadas can be frozen at this point.
• Place the empanadas on the prepared baking sheet and chill for a few minutes. Prick each pie on top twice with a fork. When ready to bake, beat the egg yolks with 1 tablespoon water. Brush the egg wash over each empanada. Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, until golden brown. Let rest for 5 minutes before serving. The empanadas can be cooled and frozen to reheat in a microwave.