Chef Sarah's Choice: Empanadas

Clearly I've been a little remiss in my blogging lately, so I'm going to make it up to you with food. I intend to post recipes from time to time that I've been enjoying and adapting so that you can do the same if you like. My title here is a nod to our middle school cafeteria, which used to offer "Chef Sarah's Choice" entrees that were usually either something easy or something to use up leftovers from earlier in the week. Let's hope my recipes are a little more enjoyable than hers were :)

First up is Venezuelan Empanadas. This recipe came originally from the Food Network. I made it faithfully the first time and then of course abandoned half of it and did my own thing. Here are the ingredients as listed, with my notations in green:

Ingredients

For the Fillings:

• 1 1/2 pounds beef blade roast, cut into 4 pieces, trimmed (any kind of beef roast works)
• 4 bay leaves (I've skipped these with no detriment to the dish)
• Kosher salt
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 medium onion, diced
• 1/4 green bell pepper, diced
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 shallot, diced
• 1 scallion, chopped (I sometimes just add more shallot if I don't want to buy a whole other onion item)
• 2 teaspoons paprika (I go about half on the paprika because I'm not a huge fan)
• 2 teaspoons sazon completa (seasoning blend found in the spice aisle- use Sazon Goya)
• 1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
• Freshly ground pepper
• 1/3 cup (ish) of beef stock

For the Dough:

• 3 tablespoons sugar
• 1 1/2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for greasing and frying
• 1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 3 1/2 cups precooked cornmeal (such as P.A.N. brand)
• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

For the Sauce:

• 1 1/4 cups cilantro (leaves and stems)
• 1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium avocado, halved, seeded and peeled
• 1/4 green bell pepper, chopped
• 1 scallion, chopped
• 4 teaspoons white vinegar
• 1 clove garlic, crushed
• Kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
• 
  
• Make the sauce: Combine the cilantro, olive oil, avocado, bell pepper, scallion, vinegar and garlic in ablender. Add 1 teaspoon salt and 2 teaspoons pepper and puree until smooth. Thin out the sauce with up to 1/4 cup water and serve with the empanadas.

I make this dish in the crock pot and it's very easy and smells amazing when you come home. I throw all the ingredients from the filling portion, plus a little beef stock, into the crock pot on Low for 6 or 8 hours. I usually chop up all my onions etc and measure my spices the night before. I store them in a tupperware container in the fridge so I can just dump it all in the crock pot and add the beef (with a little salt and pepper) and go to work. Now this is where you choose your own adventure. I am both lazy and frightened of the frying process, so I frequently make the filling and put it in regular taco shells with a little white mexican cheese or monterey jack and either this sauce or green salsa. (okay fine, I don't use the sauce, but George likes it a lot). I'm including the recipe link so you can follow the real empanada instructions if you wish. You could probably also make the dough, fill it, and bake the empanadas instead for a lower fat, lower risk version. I haven't tried it yet, but I should because the dough turned out well. So depending upon your level of motivation, this disk gives you lots of options. 

Que te aproveche!