Empanadas!

Last Friday we went to a birthday gathering for Bobby, where we were asked to bring a snack to share. Since I had the day off I wanted to make something new, so I perused the internet and my cookbooks. I came across a recipe for empanadas on Laylita.com. Not only did they look delicious and seem like a good snack food, they also allowed me to use up the crockpot sante fe chicken leftovers. Making the dough was very easy, though rolling it out thin enough was less easy. I rolled out the dough in batches, then used the top half of my OnionSaver as the circle cutter. The cutter made 4" diameter circles, which were large enough for the snacks, but next time I'll make the circles larger so that I can fit more filling inside.

Rather than make a new filling I used the Sante Fe Chicken leftovers from earlier in the week. This was tasty, but perhaps not flavorful enough. When we ate it the first time we served it with cheese, spicy carrots and salsa, so a lot of additional flavor was added. When it's alone inside the pastry it's just lacking a little something. Next time I'll add more seasoning, or perhaps some cheese.

 

After they were filled I wet the edges with water and sealed them with a folded crimp.

 

Then I applied an eggwash over their tops.

Then I decided that the folded crimp may not be enough of a seal, so I took a fork and tined all the edges as well. They definitely held together - success!