A bit over a week ago, our Sammic scholar Ruth Selby had her hand at a cooking class for the people of San Sebastián. With one side of her family hailing from the Phillipines, Ruth has grown up with the flavors of this country, so we decided having her introduce them to San Sebastián was a no-brainer.
Above, you have empanadas. Some of the other dishes that Ruth cooked at a local gastronomic society were lumpia, a Phillipine spring roll, and bibingka, a sweet cake.
Another exotic night of cooking, starring our other scholar, Elisha, as sous chef.
Here you have the recipe for these tasty empanaditas.
“These golden pastry bites enclose a rich, savory filling of ground beef, crunchy vegetables and sweet raisins. Very similar to my grandmother’s recipe for empanaditas, this particular recipe is adapted from Memories of Philippine Kitchens, a cookbook by New York City restauranteurs Romy Dorotan and Amy Besa.” -Ruth
makes about 40 pieces
1 recipe Rich Pie Pastry, see below
½ pound dried shiitake mushrooms, rehydrated in warm water, then sliced with water reserved
1 small onion, diced
2 small carrots, diced
1 pound ground beef
1 cup peeled and diced russet potato
3 tbsp soy sauce
3 tbsp mirin
1 tbsp rice vinegar
1 cup diced chorizo (cured Spanish chorizo, not fresh Mexican chorizo)
3 tbsp raisins
½ cup frozen peas
4 egg whites, for sealing
4 egg yolks, for brushing
¼ cup milk, for brushing
4” round cookie cutter
Rich Pie Pastry
4 ½ cups AP flour
1 ½ tsp salt
1 cup plus 2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small pieces, chilled
3 eggs, beaten
Ice water, as needed
1. Whisk together flour and salt. Add butter and cut into flour using a pastry cutter (or pulse in a food processor if you have one) until mixture resembles coarse meal. Stir in the egg until combined. Dough should just come together, with visible bits of butter. If not, add ice water 1 tsp at a time until dough holds together.
2. Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface and pat flat. Divide into four equal parts and shape into ½” thick disks. Wrap four disks in plastic film and refrigerate at least one hour.
Empanaditas
1. Over medium heat, saute the mushrooms, onion, and carrot until soft, about 5 minutes.
2. Turn the heat up to medium-high and add the ground beef, until brown, another 5 minutes.
Add the diced potato, soy sauce, mirin, rice vinegar and shiitake soaking liquid. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook until potatoes have softened, about 10 minutes.
3. Add chorizo and raisins, and simmer uncovered until most of the liquid has evaporated, another 10 minutes. Stir in the green peas and cook just enough to warm through, 2 minutes. Taste for seasoning, adjust with salt/ soy sauce/ rice vinegar as needed.
4. Preheat oven to 375F. Remove pie pastry from refrigerator. Working one disk at a time, roll out to 1/8” thickness and cut the dough into 4” circles, saving scraps to reroll at the end.
5. Transfer circles to a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Spoon 1 tablespoon of filling onto each circle. Brush the edges of the circle with egg whites and seal into a half moon, using the tines of a fork to seal the edges. Repeat with remaining three disks of dough, filling all circles with ground beef mixture.
6. In a small bowl, whisk together yolks and milk. Brush tops of filled empanaditas with egg wash.
7. Bake empanaditas until golden brown, about 25 minutes. Serve warm.