Empanadas

Nan and Earl went out dancing every New Year's Eve and still had the energy to host a big family dinner on New Year's day, featuring the  "Sarco Ham." The company Earl worked for gave employees a ham at holiday time, and the ham was the star of Nan's family dinner party on New Year's Day. 

Also on the dinner menu were potatoes (small canned potatoes crisped in a deep fryer and kept warm in the oven,) garlic bread, brussel sprouts, a big oil-and-vinegar salad, Earl's homemade wine, and the last of Nan's Christmas cookies.

Before dinner, Nan served a big shrimp ring with cocktail sauce (little Lauren liked the shrimp ring the best and never left room for dinner.) There might also be oven-baked hors d'oeuvres like her empanadas.

Nan made these empanadas for my spring bridal shower in 1985.

Empanadas 

This recipe makes 5 dozen.

Empanadas can be frozen after baking and cooling, then reheated when needed.

Prepare the filling:

• 2 tbsp. butter or margarine
• 1/4 lb. ground chicken or lean beef
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1/2 tsp. crushed dried chili peppers
• 1 green pepper
• 1 large tomato
• 6 ripe olives
• 1 hard-cooked egg
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1 beaten egg

1. Remove the seeds and finely chop the green pepper.
2. Peel, seed and chop the tomato.
3. Chop the onion, olives and the egg. Set aside.
4. Heat the butter in a pan over medium heat.
5. Add the chopped onion, chili peppers, meat and green pepper.
6. Stir till the meat is no longer pink.
7. Add the tomato. Simmer gently for five minutes.
8. Remove from heat.
9. Stir in the olives, egg, sugar, salt and beaten egg. Cool.

Prepare the pastry:

• 4 cups sifted all-purpose flour
• 2 tsp. salt
• 1-1/3 cups lard
• 1/2 cup ice water
• raw beaten egg (set aside till after assembly)
• coarse salt

1. Sift flour and salt together in a bowl.
2. Cut in lard with a pastry blender.
3. Stir in ice water with a fork.
4. Roll out thin on a floured board.
5. Cut into sixty 3" rounds.

Assemble & Bake: 

1. Put a teaspoon of cooled meat mixture on one-half of each round.
2. Moisten the edge of the pastry with a little water and fold to make a turn-over.
3. Press the edges together to seal.
4. Prick the top of each turn-over with a fork.
5. Place on ungreased cookie sheets and chill.
6. Shortly before serving time, pre-heat oven to 425 degrees F.
7. Beat an egg lightly and brush the raw egg over the pastry.
8. Sprinkle lightly with coarse salt.
9. Bake about 15 minutes till well-browned. Serve hot.
10. To reheat frozen empanadas, pre-heat oven to 450 degrees and bake at least 5 minutes or until heated through.

Texas Beef & Sweet Potato Empandas 

This recipe was posted on texashighways.com, a site I looked at for information about potentially visiting an archaeological site north of Austin, after reading an interesting old National Geographic magazine article about the First Americans and human migration, which is why the kitchen is still a mess....

• 2 refrigerated pie crusts (1 pkg)
• 1 cup sweet potato, peeled and chopped into 1/2 inch pieces
• 1/2 lb. lean ground beef
• 1 cup yellow onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 can (10 oz) diced tomatoes and green chilies, drained
• 1/2 tsp cumin
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp dried oregano
• 1/4 tsp paprika
• 1 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
• 3/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
• 1 egg

Avocado Crema Sauce:

Combine and keep refrigerated until ready to use:

• 1 large ripe avocado, mashed
• 1/2 cup sour cream OR plain Greek yogurt
• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 tsp cilantro, chopped
• 1/2 tsp salt

Preparation:

1. Place chopped sweet potato in a small saucepan. Cover with water.
2. Add 1 tsp salt. Bring to a boil, reduce heat and cover.
3. Cook 5 minutes or until tender.
4. Drain and set potato aside.
5. In a deep skillet brown beef over medium heat, breaking up with a spatula into crumbles.
6. Add onion and stir until cooked through.
7. Add chopped garlic and seasonings. Cook on low heat 5 minutes.
8. Add cilantro, sweet potatoes, grated cheese. Stir to combine.
9. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
10. On a lightly floured surface, cut prepared, rolled-out pie dough into 12 six-inch rounds.
11. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment paper.
12. Lay dough circles out on paper on pans.
13. Place 2 heaping tablespoons of meat filling on each circle.
14. Paint edges of dough with water and fold dough over in half to enclose. Use a fork to press and seal edges.
15. In a small bowl, beat 1 egg and 1 Tbsp water to make an egg wash, then lightly brush the surface of each empanada with the egg wash.
16. Bake in reheated 400 degrees F oven for 25-30 minutes or until golden brown.
17. Serve hot with Avocado Crema sauce.

Nan's Chicken Liver Rumaki

Makes 16

• 8 chicken livers
• 8 water chestnuts
• 8 slices bacon
• onion powder
• 16 toothpicks
• 1/2 cup soy sauce
• 1/2 cup sherry
• 4 ground chilis
• clove of garlic, mashed
• 1/2 tsp. ground turmeric
• 1 slice mashed ginger root

1. Cut the chicken livers, water chestnuts and slices of bacon in half.
2. You now have 16 pieces of each.
3. Sprinkle the liver pieces with onion powder.
4. Put 1 piece of liver together with 1 slice of water chestnut, wrap a slice of bacon around this combination and impale with a toothpick.
5. In a large shallow bowl, combine: soy sauce, sherry, chilis, mashed garlic and ginger root, and turmeric. Marinate the 16 bacon-wrapped liver and chestnut Rumakis in this sauce for 1 hour.
6. Place on a broiler pan and broil until the bacon is crisp, turning once to cook both sides.