Empanadas!

It's been a while since I posted but i've FINALLY got something new to share.  I recently got my hands on a book about Argentinian cooking.  This is the first recipe I was able to try out from it, and I must say it turned out pretty good!  I hope you guys can try it out too!

Ingredients:

Dough:

4 cups flour

2 tsp baking powder

1 tsp salt

1 1/2 cup lard or 3/4 cup lard and 3/4 butter

Filling:

1/2 cup chopped onions

1 tbsp olive oil

1/2 cup water

1 pound boneless steak cut into 1/4 inch cubes or ground beef

1 tsp chili powder

3 cloves garlic, finely chopped

1/2 tsp paprika

1/4 tsp ground cumin

1/2 salt

2 hard boiled eggs, cut into small pieces

handful of green olives

1 egg beaten with 1/2 tsp water

pepper to taste

Method:

First were going to make the dough.  In a large bowl, combine the flour, baking powder and salt.  Make sure the fat you are using is room temperature, otherwise cut it into small peices and with your fingers, form a course meal.

Incorporate the lard or butter into the dough, you can add water to help moisten it up.  The dough will be stiff, but not dry.  Now roll it into a ball, wrap it with plastic wrap and place it in the fridge for 1 hour.

Now you can start making the filling.  In a pan place your onions, olive oil and water.  You can turn the stove to high heat and boil out the water.  Once it has all evaporated, add the meat and brown on all sides.  If you are using ground beef, drain out the excess fat.  Next stir in the chili, garlic, paprika, cumin, salt and pepper.  Now you can set it aside to cool.

 You should be able to start using your dough now.  Remove it from the fridge and start to roll it out until its about 1/8inch thick.  Make sure your surface has been floured to prevent sticking.  Using a bowl or other object that is about 4 or 5 inches in diameter, start cutting circles into the dough, until you've got about 16 or 17 circles.

Preheat your oven to 400F.

You can begin to fill the dough in now.  Use about 2 tbsp of meat in each one.  After you've put the meat in the center of the circle, place 2 small pieces of egg and 1-2 olives on top.

Moisten the edges of the circle with some of the beaten egg mixture to help seal it, and fold it over.

Make sure you press the two ends together very well making sure the meat mixture is in a tight pocket.  Seal the empanada by folding or twisting the dough onto itself.  If you can't get the hang of that, you can also use a fork and press the edges that way.  Either way works well.

Once your done with all the empanadas, place them on a greased cookie sheet.  Using the left over egg mixture from before, lightly brush each empanada to help brown them.

The empanadas should go into the oven for 10 minutes and then bring down the temperature to 350F and keep cooking for 30 more minutes.  Let them cool a bit and they are ready to eat!!

Enjoy!