Empanadas

It was happy hour Friday at our house this afternoon. What a great way to usher in the weekend. Besides, I needed a good excuse to try out these empanadas. I think we may have to make happy hour a regular occurance around here, it gives me a chance to try out all sorts of delicious appetizers I normally never have a reason to make.
Empanadas are a Latin American food that is often consumed as a street food. It is basically a filled pastry pocket. Each country in Latin America seems to have their own version of filling. My version is completely NOT authentic! I just threw in a bunch of random things I had available in the kitchen. I did use the crust that is common in Argentina- it uses milk instead of water. I was going to try the filling too, but I didnt feel like cooking meat. It is seasoned hamburger with a slice of hard boiled egg and a green olive.

I filled mine with pinto beans, corn, tomato, and a few other things:

All wrapped up, crimped and ready to go:

Dont forget the egg wash if you want a nice golden brown color:
Mmmm...

Ok, ok maybe the filling was a little dry, but I love crust, which turned out great, so it really didnt bother me. The hubster is not a crust guy, so they were too dry for him. We combatted the dryness by dipping it in a salsa and sour cream mixture. Yummy! Next time I will work on making the filling more moist for our own personal taste, but actually the authentic Latin American ones all seem on the dry side also, so ...

Empanadas (dough from http://www.laylita.com)

3 c. flour

1/2 tsp. salt

1 egg yolk

1/2 c. butter

3/4 to 1 c. milk

*Combine flour and salt in your mixer

*Mix in butter until butter is about pea size

*Add egg yolk and slowly add milk until mixture begins to hold together

*Divide dough into two and press into discs. Wrap them and chill for about 30 min.

*Roll out dough thinly and cut into circles using a biscuit cutter or bowl (depending on what size you want)

*Put a scoop of filling (recipe below) in the middle of each circle of dough

*Rub egg white around the whole edge of the disc to act as a glue. Fold the disc over to make a semi-circle and press edges together. Crimp by pressing with a fork.

*Brush each empanada with egg yolk.

*Place in the fridge for about 30 min. or until you are ready to bake (can be in fridge overnight)

*Bake at 400 degrees for 20-25 min.

Filling (I measured nothing, just eyeballed, do what looks good to you):

Mix together the following:

1 can of pinto beans

half can of corn

chopped tomato

chopped green onion

two mushrooms, chopped

chili powder

oregano

paprika

(cumin would be a good spice to include, but I am out!, also, I wanted to use black beans, but out of those too! Time to go shopping!)

Like I said, I would make the filling juicier next time. Im thinking taco meat with a little cheese and sourcream and a black olive. Really, the possiblities are endless, use your imagination!