Recipe - Mushroom Empanadas

3 tablespoon Unsalted butter
1 Onion; minced
1 Garlic clove; minced
1 pound White or oyster mushrooms;
cleaned and roughly chopped
1 One half teaspoon Salt
One half teaspoon Freshly ground black pepper
2 Chiles de arbol; stemmed,
seeded and finely ground,
or One half teaspoon cayenne
pepper
1 bn Epazote or parsley; leaves
only, roughly chopped
1 Recipe corn tortilla dough;
recipe above
1 cup Grated cheese mix; (see
Note)
4 cup Vegetable oil; for frying
Salsa
1 cup Shredded cabbage
1 cup Crema; recipe above, creme
fraiche or sour cream

TOO HOT TAMALES SHOW #TH6166

Melt 2 tablespoons of the butter in a medium skillet over medium heat.
Saute the onions until they just begin to brown. Then stir in the garlic
and cook until the aroma is released, about 1 minute longer. Add the
mushrooms, salt, pepper and arbol chiles. Continue cooking until the
mushrooms soften, 5 minutes. Stir in the epazote or parsley and briefly
cook just to release its flavor, about a minute. Set aside to cool.

Divide the corn tortilla dough into 16 equal balls and flatten to 1/4inch
thick, 3inch circles Divide the cooled mushroom mixture into 16 portions.

Lightly coat one side of each tortilla with the remaining softened butter.
Place the mushroom mixture in the center and top with 1 tablespoon of the
grated cheese mixture. Fold over to enclose and pinch the edges together
tightly to seal. Refrigerate, covered with plastic wrap, a minimum of 30
minutes or up to 2 days.

Pour the oil into a medium saucepan and place over medium high heat. When
the oil is hot, fry the empanadas, a few at a time, until they color
slightly and rise to the surface, about 7 minutes. Transfer to paper towels
to drain.

To serve, split each empanada open along the seam and garnish with 1
tablespoon each salsa, cabbage, crema, creme fraiche or sour cream. Serve
hot.

Note: Use a mixture of equal parts of the following cheeses: Mexican
Manchego (substitute Monterey Jack or Muenster if unavailable), Anejo
(substitute Romano or dried feta), and Panela (substitute ricotta or dry
cottage cheese).

Yield: 4 servings

Posted to recipeludigest by molony molony@scsn.net on Feb 24, 1998