Turkey Empanadas
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If you're like us, you can't get enough of turkey and want to see more of it outside of Thanksgiving. Thankfully there are entire cookbooks devoted to turkey, including this one called "The Complete Turkey Cookbook." Here is a recipe for turkey empanadas and empanada filling from that book.
Title: The Complete Turkey Cookbook Author: S.I. Reese Excerpt: Turkey EmpanadasEmpanadas are nothing more or less than the Latin American version of the Cornish pasty or the Anglo-American turnover. They can have sweet fillings and be dessert, or spicy fillings and be - depending on the size - a cocktail snack or a mid-day meal.
Almost any pie pastry will do nicely for empanadas with the addition of 1 teaspoon of baking powder for each cup of flour. Lest you find yourself without a satisfactory formula for same, here's the one I use: |
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Empanada Pastry
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted before measuring
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (Calumet)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
5-6 tablespoons iced water
Combine dry ingredients. Cut shortening in until mixture crumbles into bumps the size of large peas. Remove half the quantity and cut the remainder until it is fine and mealy. Combine the two parts lightly, add water to bind and chill thoroughly.
Divide dough into manageable pieces - perhaps six sections - and roll out to 1/4" thickness on a well-floured board. Cut in rounds with a biscuit cutter for snack-sized empanadas...into 4" rounds for more substantial pasties. Put a small spoonful of filling on half of the small rounds, several larger spoons full on the larger ones. Fold over, crimp edges and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Note: Empanadas may also be fried in deep fat if desired.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, sifted before measuring
2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder (Calumet)
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup shortening
5-6 tablespoons iced water
Combine dry ingredients. Cut shortening in until mixture crumbles into bumps the size of large peas. Remove half the quantity and cut the remainder until it is fine and mealy. Combine the two parts lightly, add water to bind and chill thoroughly.
Divide dough into manageable pieces - perhaps six sections - and roll out to 1/4" thickness on a well-floured board. Cut in rounds with a biscuit cutter for snack-sized empanadas...into 4" rounds for more substantial pasties. Put a small spoonful of filling on half of the small rounds, several larger spoons full on the larger ones. Fold over, crimp edges and bake at 400 degrees for 15-20 minutes.
Note: Empanadas may also be fried in deep fat if desired.
Mild Turkey Empanada Filling
1 1/2 cups leftover turkey, diced
1 tablespoon sweet green pepper, minced
2 tablespoons chives, minced
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup leftover turkey gravy
2 tablespoons gin or vodka
Combine and use to fill pastries as directed above.
1 tablespoon sweet green pepper, minced
2 tablespoons chives, minced
2 hard-boiled eggs, chopped
1/2 cup leftover turkey gravy
2 tablespoons gin or vodka
Combine and use to fill pastries as directed above.
A More Emphatic Turkey Empanada Filling
2 tablespoons oil
2 onions, chopped
2 canned hot green chiles, chopped (see note)
2 cups leftover turkey, ground
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup Sherry
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup chicken or turkey stock
Soak raisins in Sherry 2 hours. Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add onions and cook until golden, add chiles and turkey and blend thoroughly. Sprinkle flour over mixture, add seasonings and stir for 5 minutes. Add stock and cook until liquid is reduced. Stir in raisins and continue cooking until mixture is moist, but not awash in liquid. Use to fill empanadas as directed.
Note: Canned chiles may be ordered from the sources listed in Chapter 7.
2 onions, chopped
2 canned hot green chiles, chopped (see note)
2 cups leftover turkey, ground
1 tablespoon flour
1 cup raisins
1/2 cup Sherry
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
1 cup chicken or turkey stock
Soak raisins in Sherry 2 hours. Heat oil in heavy skillet. Add onions and cook until golden, add chiles and turkey and blend thoroughly. Sprinkle flour over mixture, add seasonings and stir for 5 minutes. Add stock and cook until liquid is reduced. Stir in raisins and continue cooking until mixture is moist, but not awash in liquid. Use to fill empanadas as directed.
Note: Canned chiles may be ordered from the sources listed in Chapter 7.
Stuffed Eggs Jean
6 hard-cooked eggs
1 tablespoon paté de foie gras
1/2 cup leftover turkey meat, ground
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
a tablespoons melted butter
Shell and halve eggs. Combine yolks, turkey meat, liver paté and seasonings. Liquefy in blender with butter. Cool slightly, check seasoning and correct if necessary. Restuff eggs, chill and serve on individual lettuce leaves.
Note: Great change for run-of-the-mill stuffed eggs - in picnic hampers or as hors d'ouevres.
- from "The Complete Turkey Cookbook," by S.I. Reese
1 tablespoon paté de foie gras
1/2 cup leftover turkey meat, ground
Salt
Freshly ground pepper
a tablespoons melted butter
Shell and halve eggs. Combine yolks, turkey meat, liver paté and seasonings. Liquefy in blender with butter. Cool slightly, check seasoning and correct if necessary. Restuff eggs, chill and serve on individual lettuce leaves.
Note: Great change for run-of-the-mill stuffed eggs - in picnic hampers or as hors d'ouevres.
- from "The Complete Turkey Cookbook," by S.I. Reese