Looking for a good empanada recipe

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Recetas para pescados, mariscos, etc.

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Patricia Diaz Krause
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Looking for a good empanada recipe

Post by Patricia Diaz Krause »

I don't know if I spelled empanada correctly, but I sure would love to get a recipe. My Madrina used to make it all the time and I loved it. I think she put fish in it along with various vegetables. It was the best "comfort" food.
Thanks! :)

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trans. Art

No sé si escribo "empanada" correctamente, pero me encantaría consequir una receta. Mi madrina lo cocía a menudo y me gustaba muchísimo. Creo que lo hacía con pescado junto con varios verduras. Era una comida de "consuelo" estupenda.
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Empanada

Post by Carlos »

Hi Patricia, sorry but perhaps someone can translate my recipe into a good English.

Empanada recipe:

Bueno, yo puedo contarte cómo se eleboraba la empanada en casa de mi familia cuando yo era un niño.

Lo primero es preparar la masa. El tipo de masa de la que estoy hablando es similar a la del pan, pero más densa, menos esponjosa. En las confiterías se pueden comprar empanadas de otro tipo de masa, la llamada “de hojaldre”, pero creo que es más complicada de hacer en casa.

En primer lugar, hay que hacer una masa con harina de trigo, a la que se le añade un poquito de sal. Hay que procurar no formar grumos, es decir, que la harina quede bien mezclada con el agua, sin granos duros por el medio. Si tienes un aparato mecánico que permite batir masa, estupendo. Si no es así, ya sabes: a pelear “a brazo partido” con ella sobre una mesa (espolvoréala con un poco de harina para que no se te pegue). Puede ser de ayuda un rodillo de madera de amasar, pero si tampoco lo tienes, en mi casa se usaba una botella. Para que la masa no se pegara al cristal, untábamos la botella con un poco de aceite de oliva.

Una vez que la masa está preparada hay que añadirle alguna sustancia para que hinche. Antiguamente se hacía con “formientu”, pero como me imagino que eso no lo podrás conseguir, utiliza una levadura industrial. Tienes que conocer exactamente la cantidad que debes añadir, en función del peso de la masa, y también de cuánto quieres que esponje. Normalmente, no se espera que la masa de empanada quede tan esponjosa como la de una barra de pan. En resumen, la masa no debe quedar como la del pan de “hueca”, pero tampoco como una piedra de dura. Puedes hacer una prueba con un pedazo de masa pequeño, antes de estropear una empanada entera con todos sus ingredientes. Sólo tienes que ser cuidadosa en anotar los gramos que pesa y cuánta levadura le echas. Cuando elabores la empanada sólo se trata de mantener la proporción. En mi casa todo eso se hacía "a ojo".

Para que la levadura mezcle bien con la masa, vuelve a “pelear” un poco con ella, removiendo bien. Lo que se hacía en mi casa a continuación era dejarla un rato en reposo, como una hora, tapada con un paño. Al cabo de ese tiempo se supone que la masa ya está levantada. Si te parece que sigue estando muy “compacta”, o bien esperas otro poco, a ver si hincha más, o bien es que calculaste mal la proporción de levadura. De ahí mi recomendación de que primero hagas una prueba con un trozo de masa pequeño, como si estuvieras fabricando un pequeño pan. Si este experimento te sale bien, como la masa no va a ser suficiente para una empanada, lo puedes aprovechar para fabricar un “bollu preñau”: envuelve un pedazo de chorizo en la masa, ciérrala bien, y mete todo a cocer en el horno.

Suponiendo que todo va bien, y que ya tienes una porción de masa lista para una empanada, lo siguiente es preparar el recipiente. En Galicia las empanadas suelen ser redondas más a menudo que en Asturias, pero la forma es lo de menos. En Asturias solían tener forma rectangular, porque ésa era la forma de los hornos de las cocinas de carbón que había en todas las casas. Usa una bandeja que te sirva para hornearla.

Supongamos que tienes una bandeja rectangular. Toma un poco de margarina o mantequilla, fúndela, y unta bien el fondo de la bandeja. En mi casa se hacía eso mismo, pero colocando también un papel entre el metal y la masa. Eso ayuda a que no se te queme por debajo ni se te pegue la empanada a la bandeja.

Una vez que tienes preparada la bandeja, vete extendiendo una capa de masa por encima del fondo, procurando que sobresalga como unos dos centímetros del borde de la bandeja hacia afuera. Esta capa de masa tampoco tiene que ser excesivamente gruesa, digamos que unos 7-10 mm.

A continuación coloca encima de la masa el relleno, que puede ser a base de carne (por ejemplo, conejo, ternera) o a base de pescado (normalmente bonito). Conviene que le añadas otros ingredientes tipo sofrito para que quede jugosa y más sabrosa, especialmente pimiento, y sobre todo, muy importante, que no falte la cebolla. Ésta le da un sabor muy rico y además hace que no quede tan reseca. También puedes añadirle tomate, sobre todo si es de bonito. Si la haces de carne, el relleno tiene que estar guisado antes de colocarlo en la masa, como si fuera un estofado de carne, y la cebolla y los otros ingredientes serían parte de la salsa. Los rellenos pueden ser muy variados, por ejemplo con trozos de bacon, chorizo y jamón. Eso también depende un poco de tu imaginación. Las combinaciones que yo te digo son recetas muy tradicionales, pero supongo que en USA nadie te va a pedir pedigrís culinarios.

Una vez que tengas todo el relleno puesto encima del fondo de masa, dentro de la bandeja, tienes que colocar una “hoja” de más masa por encima, que lo cubra por completo, pero ajustándolo al borde interior, sin que lo sobrepase. A continuación toma el borde de la capa de masa del fondo, ese mismo borde que sobrepasaba en 2 cm el canto de la bandeja hacia el exterior, y dóblalo hacia el interior, de tal manera que cubra la “tapa” de masa que acabas de ponerle al relleno. Se trata de sellar los bordes, de modo parecido a como se cierra un sobre, pero por los cuatro lados. Si te sobra un poco de masa, puedes hacer unas tiras alargadas, como de 7-10 mm, haciendo que rueden entre la mesa y la palma de la mano. Estos hilos los puedes colocar sobre la “tapa”, de forma que hagan dibujos geométricos, apretando con los dedos para que se adhiera bien, lo mismo que para el sellado de los bordes.

Ya tienes la masa preparada para cocer. Puedes untarla con un poco de clara de huevo, para que quede brillante al cocer, o bien untarla con un poco de margarina o mantequilla.

Al horno y... ¡buen provecho!

Nota: en casa no solíamos esperar a que enfriara mucho, sólo lo suficiente para que no quemara, pero es bastante común comerla fría. Si te sobra algo de masa, puedes aprovechar para hacer “bollinas”, pero la receta otro día. Voy a ver qué tengo por el frigorífico... ñam, ñam :lol:

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trans. Art

Hi, Patricia, sorry, but perhaps someone can translate my recipe into good English.

Empanada recipe:
[an empanada is literally "breaded", but this is a kind of tasty fish pie]

Well, I can tell you how to make empanadas the way we did in my family's home when I was a child.

The first thing is to prepare the dough. This type of dough is similar to that of bread, but denser, less spongy. In the pastry shops, you can buy empanadas of another type of dough, which we call "puff-pastry,” but I believe that's more complicated to make at home.

First, it is necessary to make a dough with wheat flour, to which a little salt is added. You need to prevent the formation of lumps, which is to say, that the flour gets well-mixed with the water, without any little balls that are hard [dry?] in the middle. If you have a mechanical device to knead dough, marvellous. If you don't, you probably already know what to do: to fight "tooth and nail” with the dough on a table (dust it with a bit of flour so it doesn't stick). A wooden roller can be helpful in kneading, but if you do not have that either, in my house a bottle was used. To keep the dough from sticking to the glass, we used to smear the bottle with a little olive oil.

As soon as the dough is prepared it is necessary to add something so the dough will rise. In the old days it was done with "formientu", but since I doubt that you will be able to obtain it, use an industrial yeast. You have to know exactly the quantity that you must add, depending on the weight of the dough, and also of how fluffy you want the dough to be. Normally, we don't want the dough for empanadas to be as spongy as that of a loaf of bread. In short, the dough must not be as soft as that for bread, but also not be as hard as a rock either. You can test with a small piece of dough, so you won't ruin an entire empanada with all of its ingredients. But you have to be careful to weigh the dough in order to know how much yeast to add. [Note by Art: Americans normally use dry measures to do this, by measuring the flour. Europeans tend to weigh things.] When you make the empanada it is only a question of maintaining proportions. In my house all that was done "by eye."

In order that the yeast mixes in well with the dough, you have to "fight" a bit with it [knead it], folding it in on itself thoroughly [literally "turn over, stir, poke"]. What was done in my house later was to let the dough rest about an hour, covered with a cloth. After this time the dough should have risen. If it seems to you that it is still very "compact", you can wait a little longer to see if it rises more. Or you might decide that you calculated the proportion of yeast wrong. This is why I recommended that you first test with a small chunk of dough, as if you were making a small bread. If this experiment goes well, since the dough is not going to be sufficient for a pie, you can take advantage of it to make a “preliminary roll.” To that, wrap a piece of sausage in the dough, close it well, and put it in the oven to bake.

Supposing that everything is OK, and that already you have a portion of dough ready for a pie, the next thing is to prepare the container [pan]. In Galicia the pies are usually more rounded than in Asturias, but the form isn't real important. In Asturias they were in the habit of having rectangular form, because that one was the form of the coal ovens that existed in the kitchens of all the homes. Use a large enough pan to bake it.

Let's suppose that you have a rectangular tray. Take a bit of margarine or butter, melt it, and smear it on the bottom of the pan. In my house it was done same, but placing also a paper between the metal and the dough. This helps because the dough will neither burn on the bottom nor stick to the tray.

As soon as you have the pan prepared, spread a layer of dough over the bottom of the pan, so that it extends about two centimeters [a bit less than an inch] beyond the edge of the pan. [This excess will be folded over the second (top) layer later.] This layer of dough doesn't have to be excessively thick either. Let's say that it's approximately 7-10 mm [1/4" - 3/8"] thick.

Later you place the filling on the dough, which can be based on meat (for example, rabbit, or veal) or based on fish (normally tuna). It is good to add other slightly fried ingredients to make the filling juicier and tastier. Green or red pepper is good, but most important is onion. This gives the filling a very rich flavor and in addition makes sure it doesn't get too dry. Also, you can add tomato, especially if you're using tuna. If you make it with meat, the filling has to be cooked before placing it in the dough, as if it was a meat stew, and the onion and other ingredients would be a part of the sauce. There can be many variations in the filling, for example with chunks of bacon, sausage and ham. It also depends a bit on your imagination. The combinations that I've written about are very traditional recipes, but I suppose that in USA nobody is going to ask about your culinary pedigree.

As soon as you have the filling completed, spread it on the bottom layer of dough on the tray. Then place another layer of dough on top so it covers the filling completely, but adjust the edge so it meets the edge of the lower layer without lapping over the lower layer. Next, take the excess dough from the bottom layer of dough (the edge that exceeded the pan by 2 cm) and fold it over towards the center of the empanada, in such a way that it covers the "lid" of dough that you just put over the filling. Then seal the edges, [pressing them so they'll stick] in the way you'd close an envelope, but on all four sides. If you've got a little excess dough, you can cut a few elongated strips, like 7-10 mm [1/4" - 3/8"] wide, rolling them between your hand and the table. You can place these threads on the "lid" of the empanada, so they make geometrical designs. Press them with your fingers so they stick, just as you did when you sealed the edges.

Once you have the dough prepared to bake, coat the top with a bit of egg white in order to glaze it when it's baking, or coat the top with a bit with margarine or butter.

To the oven and ... enjoy your meal!

Note: at home we were not in the habit of waiting for it cool very much, only long enough so it wouldn't burn us, but it's quite common to eat it cold. If you have excess dough, you can make "rolls", but that's a recipe another day. I'm going to see what I have in the refrigerator ... yum, yum! :lol:
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Re: Looking for a good empanada recipe

Post by jomaguca »

La receta qué dá Carlos está bien pero yo le voy a decir qué mi abuela lo primero qué hacía era el relleno ,porqué hechaba un poco más de aceite para luego con ese aceite amasar la pasta ,es importante también hacer en el centro de la empanada un agujero para qué respire ,eso decía mi abuela ,mi abuela desde luego era especialista en empanadas nunca volví a comer una empanada tan rica como la qué ella hacía ,voy a contar una anecdota ,mi Madrina de regalo del ramo sólo quería una empanada ,así qué mi abuela el día antes de llevar el ramo a mí Madrina yá se ponía a hacer la empanada y por cierto le pasaba igual qué en casa de Carlos la hacía a ojo y siempre le salía de maravilla.

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Translated by Art

The recipe that Carlos gave is a great, but I'm going to say that my grandmother made the filling first because [making the filling] throws off a little oil that she would later use to make the dough. It's important, too, to make a hole in the center of the empanada se that it can breathe, according to my grandmother. And my grandmother was an expert in empanadas. I've never since eaten an empanada as delicious as those she used to make. I'll tell you a story. For her Palm Sunday gift from her godmother, my godmother only wanted an empanada, so the day before, my grandmother set about making the empanada, and certainly, just as it was done in Carlos' home, she made it "by eye" and it always turned out marvelously.

[see http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtopic.php?t=971 for a description of Palm Sunday and godparents]
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Post by Carlos »

Hombre, Jomaguca, es que mientras haces la masa y ésta levanta con la levadura no hace falta que te quedes mirando para ella, ese tiempo lo puedes aprovechar para elaborar el relleno, si es que hay que guisarlo. En lo que tienes razón es en lo de que tiene que "respirar", eso se me olvidó. Por lo general, lo que se suele hacer es pinchar la tapa en varios sitios con un tenedor, para que escape el vapor de la cocción al hornear, o si no a la empanada le sale un bulto en el centro.
Saludos.

Ah, Patricia, ya nos contarás qué tal te salió. ¿Nadie se anima a hacer una buena versión traducida al inglés? No estoy seguro de que Patricia lo pueda entender con un programa de traducción. :roll:

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Translated by Art

Look, Jomaguca, it's that while you're making the dough and it's rising with the yeast, you don't have to keep watching it, so you can take advantage of that time to make the filling--especially if you have to cook it. You're right in that the empanada has to be able to "breathe," that escaped me. In general, what's often done is to prick the top in several places with a fork so the steam can escape while the empanada is baking in the oven. If you don't, the empanada will end up with a bulge in the center.
Best wishes.

Ah, Patricia, let us know how this turns out for you. Is no one motivated to make a good English translation of this? I'm not sure that Patricia can understand it with a machine translation. :roll:


[Nota de Art: Carlos tiene razón! En Reverso, su palabra "relleno" se converte a "vertedero".
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Art's note: Carlos is right! In Reverso, the word "relleno" is translated "landfill"!]
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Post by Terechu »

In addition to Carlos's and Jose's suggestions, the empanada you mention is "empanada de bonito", which you can probably find online. However, remember that the traditional dough is not puff pastry, but wheat flower with butter or lard. The use of yeast is optional.

If you understand Spanish you can find 117 different empanada recipes at www.Karlosnet.com

The first in the list is the tuna pie, although that one is made with puff pastry, which is some new-fangled stuff.

If you want to use the traditional bread-like dough, then it's farther down under "empanada gallega". That is the traditional recipe with butter or lard and it's worked like Carlos above have indicated.

For the filling: saute one chopped onion and a handful of fresh parsley in a pan with about 6 spoons of olive oil, and when the onion is glassy and soft, take out of the pan and mix with two or three cans of white tuna.

If you don't understand any of them, let me know and I'll be glad to translate one of them for you.
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Siguiendo las sugerencias de Carlos y Jose, la empanada que mencionas es empanada de bonito, que probablemente encontrarás on-line. No obstante, recuerda que la masa tradicional no es hojaldre sino masa de pan hecha con harina y manteca o manteca de cerdo. El uso de levadura va en gustos.

Si entiendes español en la página www.karlosnet.com hay 117 recetas de empanadas. La primera de la lista es de bonito, pero está con hojaldre, que es un modernismo.

La masa tradicional es como la de la "empanada gallega" que trae más abajo, con mantequilla o manteca de cerdo y se trabaja como dicen Carlos y Jose.

Para el relleno: sofreir en aceite de oliva una cebolla picada y un puñado de perejil fresco picado y cuando la cebolla esté blanda y transparente sacarlo de la sartén y mezclar con dos o tres latas de bonito.

Si no entiendes ninguna, avísame para que te la traduzca.

Terechu

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Post by jomaguca »

Carlos,no es por contradecir pero creo qué no me entendiste, es qué mi abuela no hacía la pasta primero, como dije lo primero qué hacía era el relleno ( seguro qué lo qué dices de mirar para la pasta a qué suba lo dices para hacer gracia),porqué hechaba un poco más de aceite para luego cuando estaba el relleno frio sacarlo y usarlo para amasar,también ponía pimientos de lata antes de poner la pasta para cubrir la empanada ,la empanada queda más jugosa,como bien dice Terechu la empanada gallega es la más rica y mi abuela era de LA CORUÑA ,Terechu no se te olvidó poner tomate en la salsa del relleno?seguro qué tú lo entendiste mejor qué Carlos.

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Translated by Art

Carlos, I don't want to contradict you, but I think you didn't understand me. It's that my grandmother didn't make the dough first, as I said above, she made the filling first (of course, what you say about watching the dough rise was meant to be funny). She did this because making the filling leaves a little extra fat. When the filling is finished being cooked, she would pour off the extra oil and use it to make the dough. She would also put pimientos [bottled roasted(?) sweet peppers] in the filling before covering the dough with the filling [Art's note: ?? I'm not sure what's happening here, so I'm guessing]. The empanada will thus be juicier. As Terechu says well, The Galician empanada is the most delicious and my grandmother was from La Coruña. Terechu, didn't you forget to put tomato en the filling? Surely you understood me better than Carlos.
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Post by Patricia Diaz Krause »

Thanks y Gracias to everyone who helped with the empanada recipe and translation. I am going to attempt to make it. I used to love going to my Madrina's house and eating it. It was delicious! I haven't had it in years and years and years. :D

My son, Adam, is now in England and should be in Asturias later this week.

Carlos, I gave him your cell phone number and told him to contact you.

Here's his e-mail address: deltron07 AT hotmail.com. He's had access to the internet and has written me a couple notes. Please feel free to contact him. He's love to hear from you.

I'm sure he'd love to hear from anyone in Asturias. Our relatives live in the Tamon area of Asturias. I am so excited that he will get to meet them for the first time.

Thanks for everything!
Patricia Diaz Krause :D

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Translated by Art

Gracias y thanks a cada uno que ayudó con la receta para empanadas y la traducción. Voy a intentar hacerlo. Solía gustar ir a la casa de mi Madrina y comerlo. ¡Era delicioso! No lo he tenido durante años y años y años.

Mi hijo, Adam, es ahora en Inglaterra y debería estar en Asturias más tarde esta semana.

Carlos, le di tu número de teléfono móvil y le dije ponerse en contacto contigo.

Aquí está su dirección de correo electrónico: Deltron07 ARROBA hotmail.com. Él ha tenido el acceso a la Internet y me ha escrito una pareja de notas. Por favor siéntase libre de ponerse en contacto con él. Le gustaría tener noticias de tí.

Estoy seguro que él gustaría tener noticias de alguien en Asturias. Nuestros parientes viven en la zona de Tamon de Asturias. Estoy entusiasada que conseguirá encontrarlos por primera vez.

¡Gracias por todos!
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Empanada recipe, for both tuna and veal pie

Post by Terechu »

Patricia, I translated an empanada recipe for you. If you have any problems with it, let me know.

Ingredients
For the dough
500 g wheat flour
10 g bread yeast
1/2 tsp salt
some water.
100 g of butter or lard
2 eggs

For the filling
1/2 kg Tuna fish
1 onion
1 green bell pepper
1 red bell pepper.
2 cloves of garlic.
Salt and olive oil


In a large bowl, mix the salt with the flour and make a vulcano. Add the yeast which must be dissolved in some luke-warm water, add the melted butter and the egss. Mix thoroughly with your hands until the dough is smooth and forms a ball. Let it rest for about 30 minutes covered with a kitchen cloth.

In the meantime slowly sauté an onion, a green and a red bell pepper, cut in thin strips, together with the garlic cut in thin slices. Once it’s done (onion should start to get brown and peppers should be soft) add the tuna flakes (it’s best in flakes rather than chunks, use a fork to separate them). Cook together for another 3 or 4 minutes.

Divide the dough in two. Roll out with rolling pin. Oil oven-proof pan and line with ½ the dough. Pour the filling onto it and cover with the remaining dough. Hold a few strips of dough for decoration.Baste the edges with beaten egg to seal the pie. Decorate with some dough strips and brush entire surface with egg. Make some holes to allow steam to escape. Place in the oven at 350º F for about 30 minutes more or less.

Alternatively, you can make this with a veal filling, and the recipe is in the Meats section of this forum, under the name "Carne guisao". Personally, I prefer the meat version - "empanada de carne".

Que aproveche!
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Art
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Post by Art »

To help translate this into quantities that Americans will be familiar with, I've posted some equivalents for measurements here: http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtop ... =2223#2223

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Para ayudar traducir este a cantidades con las cuales los americanos estarán familiarizado, he puesto algunos equivalentes para medidas aquí:
http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtop ... =2223#2223
Last edited by Art on Wed May 12, 2004 11:06 pm, edited 2 times in total.
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Veal Pie - Empanada

Post by Bob »

I have posted my grandmother's recipe for veal pie (empanada), using American style measurements, at http://www.asturianus.org/forum/viewtop ... =2226#2226
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Re: Looking for a good empanada recipe

Post by germanherrero »

Patricia Diaz Krause wrote:I don't know if I spelled empanada correctly, but I sure would love to get a recipe. My Madrina used to make it all the time and I loved it. I think she put fish in it along with various vegetables. It was the best "comfort" food.
Thanks! :)

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trans. Art

No sé si escribo "empanada" correctamente, pero me encantaría consequir una receta. Mi madrina lo cocía a menudo y me gustaba muchísimo. Creo que lo hacía con pescado junto con varios verduras. Era una comida de "consuelo" estupenda.
En mi casa se hace a menudo la empanada, mi madre la hace y mi abuela la hacía. Esta receta de empanada de pulpo te podría servir de inspiración.
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