gringa cooking : empanadas

Australia, being a bit multicultural, has bucketloads of variety when it comes to food choice. Food Forward 2012 has tipped ‘South American flavour combinations’ to become the latest trend in Sydney – and for good reason. This style of food is fresh and unique on our scene, and trending is understandable.

South American food, in my experience, is usually substantial and often spicy. It’s definitely not so friendly for those on a diet; it lines your gut unashamedly with carbs and grease, and fortifies you for the day ahead. Think that satisfying stodginess of potatoes, rice and beans. Although there were times during my year in those lands that I never dreamed I would feel the loss of yet another empanada or sopaipilla, South American food is simultaneously brash and homely, and I miss it a lot.

So here goes my attempt to recreate some staples, a crack at bringing me back to moments in that year away. I guess I hope it will be like when my best friends sent me a care package that year. I sat on our patio overlooking the snow-topped Andes with a mouthful of familiar chocolate and a head whirling with the memories of the approximate ten thousand other times I had eaten TimTams. That chain reaction of food on tastebuds to memory is a wonderful thing.

Empanadas are pretty much parcels of deliciousness – any combination of meat, cheese and veggies wrapped in dough, either baked or fried. Originally designed to be hearty portable lunches for people working on the land, empanadas came to Latin America with the Spanish, and like most things the Spanish brought, South Americans modified away until they had their own distinct flavour going on. Empanadas follow the trend that most food and even the language in South America do, and are completely different things depending on the country or province you are in. They tend to be made in the oven and filled with beef, raison, olives and egg in Chile, as well as generally requiring two hands to eat. In Peru, on the other hand, empanadas come more petite and are served with a variety of spicy salsas.

This recipe is my attempt at recreating a tried and true hangover salvation from a corner store in Lastarria, which we used to eat in a tiny and mercifully shaded plaza on the same street. This recipe is so straightforward it can probably even be undertaken while hungover, when simple tasks take on unnecessary difficulty. It differs from the typical Chilean empanada de pino, being a bit friendlier on the stomach minus the lard and meat to digest. Also cooking with lard is probably a bit too gross while hungover. But I digress:

Ingredients:

200g (roughly 2 cups) of chopped mushrooms
200g grated gouda cheese
250g grated cheddar cheese
6 concasséd Roma tomatoes
Chilli powder
Salt (to taste)
2 cloves of crushed garlic
1 cup chardonnay
Approx. 30 mL extra virgin olive oil

Dough:

4 cups plain flour
1-2 teaspoons of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
Pinch of baking soda
180 grams of melted butter
2 egg yolks
¾-1 cup chardonnay

Preheat the oven to about 180 degrees.

Sieve the flour and stir through the sugar, salt and baking powder. On a clean and dry surface, make a volcano shape with this mixture. Add the melted butter to the top of your volcano a little at a time, folding evenly with your fingers and remaking the volcano shape before adding more butter. (make sure the butter isn’t too hot).

Once all the butter is in and combined evenly, make your volcano again. Whisk the chardonnay and egg yolks separately, and knead it in gradually until the consistency is soft and springy. Cover in gladwrap and refrigerate for a minimum of 15 minutes.

Dice the mushrooms, and cook on low heat with the olive oil, chardonnay and garlic. Simmer until the wine is mostly cooked off.

To concassé the tomatoes isn’t strictly necessary if you are feeling lazy. But I find that removing the skin of the tomatoes improves the texture of the empanada, as the skins tend to toughen when cooked, especially with the high heat of the oven. And removing the tomato seeds means none of that bitter taste.

To concassé, cut out the stem nub of the tomato and slice a little cross on the base, just skin-shallow, about halfway down the length of the fruit. Add tomatoes to boiling water for about thirty seconds, or when you notice the skin raised. Next, remove and place in iced water. The skins should be easily peelable now, pull them off and quarter the tomato, discarding the seeds. A rough chop is fine for the remains.

Combine the mushrooms, tomato, cheese; then add salt and chilli powder to taste. I used a popular Chilean spice here called merquén. It’s a combination of chilli powder, paprika and coriander seeds, and is incredibly addictive. If you can’t find any (I have resorted to getting people to mail it to me, but live in hope), add as much chilli as you want, and a generous pinch of paprika and coriander seeds if you feel that way inclined.

Separate and form the dough into smooth spheres in your desired size (a golf ball sized ball will roll out to about 15cm in diameter). After letting the dough rest for 5 minutes, roll it out until it gets to somewhere between 3-10mm, depending if you want your empanadas doughy or filling-y. Add tablespoons of the filling, then brush the edges of the circle with water before folding in half. Press the folded edge firmly with a fork or just with your fingers to ensure it stays together (this is cheating because I can’t do the magical dough-weaving repulge edge yet).

Mix an egg wash with an egg yolk and a few tablespoons of milk. Brush over and bake for about 25 minutes or until golden brown.

I feel its always good to make a few too many as you can freeze them or reheat them just fine. Always allow them to cool for a while, the insides will be like molten lava, but the smell of them cooking drives you to dig in immediately.

Resist! Then enjoy!

(Images by Elke O’Connor)

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