Empanadas

Empanadas - the must eat in Argentina. 

 To get a better feeling of Argentinian cuisine, we took a cooking classes.

Empanada is a stuffed bread or pastry baked or fried. The name comes from the Galician, Portuguese and Spanish verb empanar, meaning to wrap or coat in bread. Empanadas are made by folding dough or bread around stuffing, which usually consists of a variety of meat, cheese or vegetables. 

They are often served at parties as a starter or main course. The dough is usually of wheat flour and beef drippings with fillings, it is mainly chicken; in others, beef (cubed or ground depending on the region) is used, perhaps spiced with cumin and paprika; others include onion, boiled egg, olives, or raisins. Empanadas can be baked (Salta-style) or fried (Tucuman-style). 

That's all for the theory, now let's have some practice. Our teacher - Teresita was a great host. She invited us to her cosy apartment where with a glass of wine in one hand - we could start our tasks...

Ingredients.

Dough: White flour. Lard (10% of the flour). Salty water.

Count 5-6 empanadas per person as a main course.

Filling: onion. beef (both same amount). oil. butter. sweet paprica. pepper and cumin. raisins. 

Prepare the filling:

• Finely chop the beef into 1 cm. square pieces. 
• Cook the  white onions in the beef fat or oil until tender.
• Add the paprika, cumin, salt, and chili pepper, and stir well.
• Add the beef and cook until just browned. Add 1/2 to 1 cup water and simmer for 5-10 minutes more, allowing water to boil off. The filling should be juicy but not watery, and the meat should be tender
   

Leave it for 1 day in the fridge. The next day:

• Stir in the green onions, optional raisins, green olives and hard boiled eggs. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Prepare the dough:

• Cut the lard or shortening into the flour until well blended. Slowly stir in the water a little at a time.

• Turn the dough out onto a flat surface and knead.
• Add more water if necessary until the dough comes together into smooth clump. If you add too much water and the dough is too sticky, you can knead in some more flour.
• Knead the dough for 5 to 10 minutes, until it is smooth and stretchy.

Shape the empanadas:

• Cut the dough into small balls, roll out each ball into rounds.

•  Place 1-2 tablespoons of filling in the middle of a dough round. Brush edges of circle with water. Fold the round in half over the filling, and press down hard along the edges to seal. 

• Starting at one end of the pressed-down edge, fold the edge towards the middle and press down.  Continue around the sealed edge of the empanada, folding the edge over itself, to make a twisted rope effect.

Fry your empanadas fully covered in sunflower oil (the more, the better) until they get brown color. Dry them in paper, cover in little sugar.

Now they are ready to EAT!!!

 

Woran denkt Basti???