Recipe - Empanadas (Baked Filled Pastries)

PICADILLO (SPICY BEEF
FILLING):
1 pound Ground beef
1 md Onion, finely chopped
2 lg Ripe tomatoes, peel, chop
1 Clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Vinegar
One fourth teaspoon Cumin
1 teaspoon Salt
1 teaspoon Granulated sugar
1 ds Ground cloves
One half teaspoon Ground cinnamon
One half cup Raisins, soaked in hot water
for 10 minutes
One fourth cup Blanched almonds, chopped
2 tablespoon Chopped green olives
(pitted)
1 teaspoon Capers

PASTRY
2 cup Allpurpose flour
One half teaspoon Salt
2 tablespoon Granulated sugar
One half cup Shortening
2 tablespoon Unsalted butter
One fourth 1/3 cup ice water
1 Egg, separated
1 teaspoon Water
2 teaspoon Milk

To prepare the filling: Heat a large skillet. Add the ground beef and cook,
stirring, until it begins to brown and release some of its fat. Stir in the
onion and cook until transparent. Darin off excess fat and add the rest of
the ingredients to the skillet. Simmer for 25 to 30 minutes, stirring
often. Transfer to a mixing bowl and set aside to cool while you prepare
the pastry.

To prepare the pastry: Combine the flour, salt, and sugar and mix well. Cut
the shortening and butter into the flour mixture until it becomes coarse
and crumbly, like cornmeal. Sprinkle One fourth cup of ice water onto the mixture
and stir with a fork, adding more water by the spoonful, if necessary, to
make the dough form a ball. Turn the dough out onto a floured surface and
divide it into 24 equal parts. Roll each part into a ball. Preheat the oven
to 400F. In a small bowl, beat the egg white with 1 tsp of water until
frothy. Roll each ball of dough out into a circle 4 inches in diameter and
a little until 1/8inch thick. Place a Tbsp of filling on one half of each
sircle, leaving a 1/41/2inch margin around the edges. Moisten the edges
with the egg white mixture, then fold the other half of the circle over.
Press the edges together firmly and crimp with a fork to seal (or use a
cuttercrimper tool.) Transfer the pastries to a large baking sheet.
Lightly beat the egg yolk with 2 tsp of milk. Brush the pastries with this
mixture, then bake in preheated oven for about 15 minutes, or until golden.
Serve hot or warm.

Makes 24

Recipe by: Homemade Good News (Vol 5 No 6)

Posted to MCRecipe Digest V1 #472 by Sean Coate swcoate@peganet.com on
Feb 04, 1997.