This is the recipe of Argentine food
empanadas. Like I said, only for the bold and daring:
Well, as you will see, it takes some work and many ingredients, so maybe if you don't want to stress yourself too much you can plan it with time and do it another day. Here it goes:
First of all, don't just mix up all of the ingredients you named there or throw in what is at hand because the empanadas will have a non-defined flavour. As a first step, you have to define the flavour of the empanadas you are going to make. I would start by the most typical ones, that are the meat empanadas, and maybe add a few of ham and cheese (which are very easy to make) to have some variety.
The potato is a delicate ingredient and using it is really a science. Most people when they use it ruin their empanadas, so I wouldn't use it now and leave it till further on, when your technique is more advanced.
Let's start with the meat empanadas, that take some good work to do, but are the ones that, if come out good, your family will love the most:
To start with, you will most likely have a problem: getting the dough. I'm not sure you can get empanadas dough in the US, and much less one of quality (in my opinion, it is the most important ingredient), but if you get it, it’s a great first step. They are flat round pieces of dough that will close around the content and cover it.
Then you buy ground meat, also of a good quality if possible, to make the stuffing/filling. Other ingredients for the stuffing are: onions (4 mid-size ones per kg. of meat), fresh red pepper (one red and one green per kg. of meat, not the spicy ones), butter (100 grams per kg. of meat), paprika (the sweet one, not the spicy one – 2 spoonfuls), a little bit of pepper if you want, cumin (half a teaspoon per kg. of meat), salt and dry pepper (1/3 teaspoon, not a very spicy one), like this:
Then we have a vegetable that here is called “cebolla de verdeo” (in English it’s called “scallion” apparently) that I’ve been told that you can’t get any of that in the States, but if you are able to get it, put some of it too. It would take 4 or 5 scallions (all of them, the little “onion” at the bottom and the leaves) per kg. of meat.
Chop the vegetables to small, fine pieces. Then you get a big pan, and:
1- light the fire and put it at medium point, not so low at the beginning.
2- put the butter on it.
3- once it has melted, put the chopped onions in the pan .
4- After a while (10 mins approx) put the chopped fresh red peppers (and eventually the scallion, if you are using it). Stir it up so that the vegetables go frying evenly in the butter.
5- After another while (another 10 minutes) you put the meat and stir everything up. Put the cap on the pan, turn the fire low and let it all brown up. If you want you can stir it up from time to time to make sure it browns up evenly
6- When the meat is brown, turn the fire off and open the pan.
7- Add the salt, the paprika, the cumin, the dry pepper and stir it up. When you add the spices to the stuffing (after it has been browned), depending on your taste, you could also add chopped olives and grape raisins to give a bit of a sweet taste to the empanadas. We here love them, but not everyone does
8- Let it all cool down and you have the stuffing right there.
Once the stuffing is ready, you put a bit in the central part of the circles of dough, in such a way that you can bend the dough by the middle and join the borders all along (so that the stuffing is enclosed by dough). Like this:
Before joining the borders, add a slight layer of water on them so that they stick better. Then you have to do little bends on the borders to give the empanada it’s characteristic shape and to make sure it won’t open and let the stuffing out while in the oven.
This takes some experience too, but if you can’t make it, just stick them however you can to make sure it won’t open.
Now, to the oven! You have to bake them 12-15 minutes at a strong fire so that they won’t lose the “juice” (at least, strong fire by our standards… if it’s way too strong, don’t put it at max)..
As for the ones of ham and cheese, it's very easy. You just put those two ingredients inside the empanada dough, close the dough and that's it... to the oven.
There's also the possibility of frying empanadas. They are tasty but also heavier for the stomach.
Well, I hope these advices are useful.