Empanadas and Pastelitos

the gorgon

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No Christmas Eve dinner is complete without them

Article in Listin Diario includes recipe

http://www.listindiario.com/la-vida/2016/12/23/447921/empanadas-y-pastelitos

if anyone decides to use the recipe for the empanada dough in this article, forget using a cup of water plus two tablespoons. that will only work if you are using a flour like Gold Seal, or some other imported brand. if you use Ozama, or Aurora, or Princesa, you will end up with a sloppy mess which you will never be able to roll out. not even if you leave it in the refrigerator for two days.
 

AlterEgo

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I personally buy my dough/masa. Wonderful bakery in San Cristobal sells thin flaky packs, must be 30-40 of them, for 55 pesos.

The filling recipe is pretty much exactly how my suegra taught me. The raisins and hard boiled eggs make the difference*
 

the gorgon

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I personally buy my dough/masa. Wonderful bakery in San Cristobal sells thin flaky packs, must be 30-40 of them, for 55 pesos.

The filling recipe is pretty much exactly how my suegra taught me. The raisins and hard boiled eggs make the difference*

i guess you fry yours, then. i tried to bake some of the store bought shells here, and it cannot work, because they do not have enough butter, and they have too much egg. since the baking powder here is nothing better than chalk dust, the shells come out hard and flat, like a plastic cup.*
 

dv8

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in the last two days i made six types of cookies, today i am making all-white-coconut-layer-cake, tomorrow chroatian burek and venezuelan pan de jamon. i already run out of butter. should i buy some more and go for rugelach? or am i baking mad?

also, i do not recall ever having empanadas or pastelitos for xmas dinner here.
 

Bronxboy

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Jul 11, 2007
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also, i do not recall ever having empanadas or pastelitos for xmas dinner here.

I don't either.

I love them though.........

empandas.jpg
 

AlterEgo

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We've always had pastelitos for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve in Santo Domingo. Not always homemade, there are places who sell delicious ones, but you have to preorder. In NJ, only homemade, but I have seen there are people who make all sorts of Latino foods and desserts for the holidays.

gorgon, I both fry and bake mine, as son avoids all fried foods. Son-in-law despises raisins, so I mark the raisin free ones with a "T" in the dough :) [His name is Tom]

I do bring home some of the masa from SC, but also use the Goya dough when I don't have it. Just need to roll it out a little thinner.
 

bronzeallspice

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We've always had pastelitos for Christmas Eve and New Years Eve in Santo Domingo. Not always homemade, there are places who sell delicious ones, but you have to preorder. In NJ, only homemade, but I have seen there are people who make all sorts of Latino foods and desserts for the holidays.

gorgon, I both fry and bake mine, as son avoids all fried foods. Son-in-law despises raisins, so I mark the raisin free ones with a "T" in the dough :) [His name is Tom]

I do bring home some of the masa from SC, but also use the Goya dough when I don't have it. Just need to roll it out a little thinner.

I love the Goya pre made dough discs. I make chicken and beef fillings.
 

Bronxboy

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Jul 11, 2007
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Son-in-law despises raisins, so I mark the raisin free ones with a "T" in the dough :) [His name is Tom]

I do bring home some of the masa from SC, but also use the Goya dough when I don't have it. Just need to roll it out a little thinner.

I like Tom already!!!!

goya.jpg



gorgon, I both fry and bake mine, as son avoids all fried foods.

patelitos.jpg
 

AlterEgo

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Computer translation of article:

Santo Domingo
It's hard to imagine a table on Christmas Eve in which the empanadas and pastelitos do not appear. They are two classics of the Dominican Christmas menu, so tasty that you have to hide them or ban their tasting before dinner because they disappear as they come out of the frying pan, freshly fried.

One of the advantages of its elaboration is that the ingredients are very easy to obtain and it is enough to mix them to have a good mass.

As both products are made from a dough based on wheat flour, butter and egg, on this occasion we have selected the recipe for pastelitos included in one of the most complete and praised books for collectors of Creole cuisine: Dominican cuisine ( 1992), by Mar?a Ram?rez de Car?as.

Recipe
- Ingredients for 1 1/2 dozen

4 cups wheat flour (sifted)

1 teaspoon of salt

1/2 cup vegetable shortening, margarine or butter (1 stick)

2 eggs at room temperature

1 egg yolk, room temperature

1 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice water

3 cups of hash (for filling

vegetable oil.

- Directions
1. Combine flour and salt.

2. Using two knives or a pastry mixer, mix the dry ingredients with butter, butter or margarine, until the mixture looks like cornmeal.

3. In a separate bowl, mix the ice water with the eggs and egg yolk and gradually add the butter and flour mixture.

4. Knead until smooth.

5. Let the dough stand for half an hour at room temperature.

6. On a floured table, spread dough to 1/8 inch thickness. Cut into circles three inches in diameter.

7. Place one tablespoon of hash on the center of each circle.

8. moisten the edges with water, place another circle on top and press them with your fingertips to seal them. Secure them by gently pressing them with a fork. Repeat the procedure with the rest of the circles and hash.

9. Fry the pastelitos in an inch of hot oil until golden brown on both sides.

10. Drain and allow to dry on absorbent paper.

11. Serve hot.

How to make mincemeat
Remember, as it comes to tastes and flavors, or picadillo filling for cakes and pies can do with the ingredients of your choice. If you need a guide, Ram?rez de Car?as also teaches you how to make the typical Dominican relleno, which, he says, includes hard-boiled eggs, raisins, olives and capers. This is the recipe.

Ingredients for six servings
1 1/2 pounds of ground beef

1 tablespoon cooking oil

1 cube of chicken broth (dissolved in 4 tablespoons of hot water)

1 medium red onion (grated)

1 small green pepper (finely chopped)

2 garlic cloves (crushed)

2 1/2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon capers (chopped)

1/2 tablespoon stuffed olives (sliced)

1 cup water

1 tablespoon raisins without seed

1 egg hard (chopped)

Directions:
1. Mix all ingredients except raisins and boiled egg.

2. Cook this mixture over medium-high heat until the cooking liquid has almost completely absorbed. Move occasionally.

3. Add raisins and cook over low heat for 10 minutes.

4. Add the hard-boiled egg and mix carefully

5. Serve hot.

[I own a copy of this cookbook, OOP for years, and very pricy if you can even find an available copy. For that matter, Aunt Clara's Dominican Cookbook is also OOP. Glad I bought 4 copies when it was available, now they're in the hundreds of dollars too]
 

the gorgon

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in the last two days i made six types of cookies, today i am making all-white-coconut-layer-cake, tomorrow chroatian burek and venezuelan pan de jamon. i already run out of butter. should i buy some more and go for rugelach? or am i baking mad?

also, i do not recall ever having empanadas or pastelitos for xmas dinner here.

if you had spoken earlier, i would have been able to spring you a dozen. let me see what i can arrange tomorrow. i will pm you where to pick them up if i can make them.
 

bronzeallspice

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Mar 26, 2012
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from what i have heard, they are great. they just don?t have them here. my dough is better...ha.

I've been making empanadas using Goya pre-made dough for years.I stopped making them from
scratch ever since I tried the ready made ones. It's that good.
 

the gorgon

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I've been making empanadas using Goya pre-made dough for years.I stopped making it from scratch ever since I tried
the ready made ones. It's that good.

i have a demon dough for empanadas, but i would love to try the Goya discs. my buddy is going to NYC next week, and i will have him bring me back a pack. if only i could get a clone recipe for the Goyas.
 
May 29, 2006
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Several homes here moved their production to their front patio. We made somewhere around 60 or 70 empanadas de hoyas yesterday using a mash of yucca, platinos and auyama with seasoned beef as the filling. When I make tamales in the US, I use 6x6 squares of aluminum foil instead of banana leaves or corn husks. No need to tie them closed. I put a scoop of dough on a square, cover with a piece of saran wrap then press with a plate. I like the mash they use here more than the masa harina I'm used to.
 

the gorgon

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Several homes here moved their production to their front patio. We made somewhere around 60 or 70 empanadas de hoyas yesterday using a mash of yucca, platinos and auyama with seasoned beef as the filling. When I make tamales in the US, I use 6x6 squares of aluminum foil instead of banana leaves or corn husks. No need to tie them closed. I put a scoop of dough on a square, cover with a piece of saran wrap then press with a plate. I like the mash they use here more than the masa harina I'm used to.

those sound more like pasteles, Peter. empanadas are just turnovers with either a sweet or a savory filling.
 

the gorgon

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I thought the same, that he means pasteles en hojas

.???

yes. AE. those sound like pasteles en hoja.

i offered to drop off a care package of my empanadas for dv8, but she never replied. ah, well. she *has to wait till next week...
 

bronzeallspice

Live everyday like it's your last
Mar 26, 2012
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yes. AE. those sound like pasteles en hoja.

i offered to drop off a care package of my empanadas for dv8, but she never replied. ah, well. she *has to wait till next week...

If I would've been in the DR, I would've taken the care package off your hands.Gladly :D