Empanadas

Empanada jumpstarted my blog a little over a year ago because, strangely, not one of the Filipino cookbooks I own at the time has the recipe for the Filipino empanada, although my Spanish cookbooks have. I searched online for the recipe and found a few sites that mention empanada but not the recipe, one of them is the very funny filipeanut which I have been visiting regularly since. I finally found one site called English Patis and made my first empanada following her recipe. I also found in her blog a list of Filipino bloggers, some I still read at least once or twice a week. I got inspired to start my own blog by one of those Filipino bloggers, which btw I don't visit anymore as often as I used to.

Empanada
pie crust
2½ cups pastry flour
1 stick very cold salted butter, cut into small cubes
1 stick salted butter, sliced very thin or flattened to 7 x 6 inch rectangle (should be very cold)
½ teaspoon sea salt
½ cup ice water

• In a medium bowl, mix salt with flour. With fingers, mix in the cubed butter until crumbly, add water 1 tablespoon at a time. Lightly mix with a fork and form into a ball. Flatten slightly, wrap in plastic film, put in a gallon zipper bag and refrigerate overnight.
• The next day, roll the pastry into a 10 x 8 rectangle, put the flattened butter on the top 2/3, fold the bottom without butter over, then fold again like a letter. Roll and fold, wrap in plastic film and let rest for 1 hour in the refrigerator. Repeat 2 more times before using. You can eliminate the folding and incorporate all the butter at once but the empanada won't be as flaky. Roll into desired thickness and cut into rounds, fill, pinch edges and crimp, brush with egg wash, then bake in a pre-heated 425°F oven until golden brown.

filling
2 tablespoons grapeseed or olive oil
5 cloves garlic, finely minced
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup each potato and carrots, finely diced
2 pounds lean ground beef
1 finely chopped chorizo, optional
1 cup raisins
1 cup canned sweet peas
2 teaspoons sea salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon soy sauce
water

• In a skillet, heat 1 tablespoon oil and fry potatoes and carrots for 4 minutes, set aside. In a medium saucepan, heat the remaining oil and saute garlic and onion for 3 minutes, add the beef and chorizo, cook until beef is no longer pink. Add the potatoes and carrots, raisins, salt, black pepper and soy sauce. Stir fry for 3 minutes, add 1 tablespoon water, cover and let simmer for 30 minutes until all the liquid has been absorbed. Add the well drained sweet peas and mix well. Transfer to a shallow container and let cool completely before using, or refrigerate overnight.

juicy beef filling inside flaky and tender pie crust

photo Neal Oshima

What I am interested to know is the recipe for the empanada with wavy multi-layered crust (like a mille-feuille) that comes from Silay, Negros. (BTW, the Neal Oshima photo below is from my cookbook Memories of Philippine Kitchens by Amy Besa and Romy Dorotan). If anyone has the recipe or knows how to make that distinctive layered crust, please, pretty please let me know.