
Ok, so there are empanadas all over the southern hemisphere...but here is what makes the Chilean empanada unique :) The flavoring or the filling of the Chilean empanada has what we call el "pino" which comes from the original Araucanian Indian (family of the Mapuches and Pampas) word "pinu" which means ground meat flavored with lots of sweet onions and spices! So voila!, here goes:
Meat and onion filling:
3 tablespoons of vegetable oil
6 cups of chopped onions
2 cloves of garlic
1 tablespoon of sweet paprika
2.5 teaspoons of ground cumin
2.5 teaspoons of dried oregano
0.5 teaspoon of Cayenne Pepper
3/4 lb beef (for stewing), cut into 1/4-inch cubes, or ground beef, or mixed beef, or just chicken...
1 tablespoon flour
3/4 cup of homemade beef broth (caldo de huesos...mmmm, I can post that recipe too..just ask!)
Salt and fresh pepper to taste..
Dough
7-8 Cups of flour
4 tablespoons of vegetable shortening & 4 tablespoons of butter (I guess here is the French influence??)
1 tablespoon salt dissolved in 2 cups of warm water
Assemblage
3 hard cooked eggs
36 raisins
24 olives
1 egg yolk mixed with 1 tablespoon of water (I'll explain at the end..jejeje)
Preparation:
Pino
Heat in a large skillet with olive oil over medium heat...add the onions and stir until soft -but not brown!..next, add the garlic, paprika, cumin, oregano, salt, and cayenne....(stir for about 5 mins)
next, add the meat...leave to cook...sprinkle some flour over the meat..(leave covered)
Next, add the broth, and stir all the juices (now uncovered) and leave for 10-15 mins until the entire skillet is moist but no longer runny..add salt and peper to taste as you are doing this..
Dough
Add the dough mix and the vegetable shortening and butter... with some salted water...start
flattening the mix (pizza style) until it is stretched ...once this is done...start to pre-heat the oven 400F (250C)..
Shape the dough into a large sausage and slice into 12 equal pieces...work with one piece at a time..with each round piece...add about 1/4 cup of the pino..1 egg quarter...3 raisins...and 2 olives...and then fold...facing towards you...then fold the left side and the right side (like a square) and the middle to finish...with your thumb making a deep inprint on every corner! (signature mark) jeje..
Now...brush each empanada with the egg yolk mixture..(gives it a tan look) and with a toothpick, pick 3-4 holes in each empanada to prevent it from opening up while baking...Bake 15-20 minutes...until it is nicely brown on the outside...
Serve with a sprinke of powdered sugar on the inside..(another charming secret)...
and please have it with a nice tinto...
One of my favorites...Caballo Loco (Valdivieso)...hmmm!!! Le joie de vivre...smile!!

-Jos
