I’m trying to keep a steady flow of commentaries on this site, but undeniably, this blog is also slowly shaping up into a food blog.
As promised, I’m posting the Beef, Chile and Potato Empanadas Recipes that I got from the Robert Mondavi Winery in Napa Valley, California during my tour last week.
(Approx. 7 dozen hors d’oeuvres)
2 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Pinch of Kosher salt
3/4 cup milk
1 egg yolk (set aside egg white)
1 lb. ground beef
1 small yellow onion
3 garlic cloves
1 anaheim chile
1 red bell pepper
1 pasilla pepper
1 russet potato
1/2 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. chile powder
1/4 tsp Kosher salt
Pich of black pepper
2 cups of corn or canola oil (for frying)
Prepare pastry: Place 2 cups of flour, butter and salt into mixer bowl. Using the paddle attachment of an electric mixer, combine ingredients until the mixture resembles a course meal. Stir the egg yolk into the milk with a fork. Add this to the flour and combine quickly. Add in the remaining 1/4 cup of flour. Do not over-mix. Turn the dough out onto a floured board and form a ball. Wrap in plastic and chill for at least one hour or overnight.
Prepare filling: Brown the ground beef and pour off any fat rendered while browning. Add the minced garlic and small diced onion to the beef and cook for 5 minutes. Dice the chile, peppers and peeled potato. Add to the meat mixture and continue to cook for 10 minutes. Add the cumin, chile powder, salt and pepper.
Prepare empanadas: When the filling has cooled and the dough has rested, assemble the empanadas. Roll out the pastry and cut into 2-inch circles. Brush the inside seam of the circle with the white of the egg used in the pastry dough. Spoon 1 teaspoon of the filling onto one side of the pastry. Turn the remaining half over the top of the filling. Pinch closed with a fork. Fill a frying pan with 1 1/2 inches of corn oil and heat to 365 degrees. Fry the empanadas until golden brown (approximately 2 minutes).