Empanadas!

Everyone loves these puppies - probably because they involve fried things! But you can bake them if you are frightened of fried things. I made this recipe up - and can be easy or complicated depending on your patience and adventurousness.

Step one: Buy some Empanada skins

I use pre-made "discos para empanadas" found in your frozen food section - Goya makes them. They come in white or orange - I don't know why - but I like the orange ones, they remind me of my Grandfather's empanadas.

Step two: Defrost and enlarge

So you buy these things and defrost them about an hour before you want to use them. Then use a rolling pin to roll them out with some four - just a little bigger than they already are.

Step three: Fill

Any of the following fillings work for me - but I like to combine corn, beans and meat with about 5 small cubes of pepper jack cheese all in one empanada. Load your stuff up on one side of the rolled out skin leaving a half inch or so around the edge.

Corn Mixture - sauté some chopped red peppers, green chilies, chopped tomatoes and add some frozen corn in towards the end.

Black beans - sauté some onions and garlic and add some canned or cooked black beans, simmer until most of the moisture is gone.

Chicken - I usually sprinkle deboned chicken parts with Adobo and fry until cooked and then shred them.

Beef - saute some onions and ground beef and add some green olives, simmer until most of the moisture is gone.

Go ahead - make something up!

Step four: Seal & Fry (or bake)

Wet the edges of the skins liberally with water and then use the tines of a fork to go around the edge sealing them once they are filled. I use about an inch of HOT corn oil in a medium sized pot to fry them - about 30 seconds on each side - its fast! Make sure the oil is hot enough that the empanadas are sizzeling when you put them in - i.e. that they mean business as soon as you carefully slip them in the pot. Or you can brush them with corn oil and pop them in the oven until they look done - about 15 minutes at 350 degrees.