Black Bean Empanadas

I was originally going to combine my two vegetarian empanada posts… but that would be such a disservice to their fabulously different flavors!

My husband had to work on Super Bowl Sunday this year. 😦 We don’t usually go to a party, but my husband, kids, and I really enjoy celebrating the big game with a festive menu. I decided that I wanted to be a superstar spouse and deliver a special meal to him at work- just so that he wouldn’t miss everything…

My daughter’s special pig “Honey Pie” – another football fan in our house!

If you read my last post, you know how obsessed I am with empanadas- and so you know what a super-special Super Bowl meal this really was!! These black bean empanadas were the second vegetarian empanada version we had for the big game. This filling had a really creamy texture and a spicy bite that held up well to the dough. Great.

Like my “green” empanadas, these empanadas also star Carla Hall’s famous (famous to me, at least!) Cream Cheese Dough. When Carla was on Top Chef, she seemed to be always cranking out both savory and sweet fillings with this wonderful, tender dough. I am SO happy to have my hands on the recipe!! 🙂 I modified her perfect recipe to incorporate whole wheat flour- pretty daring, I know- but it really worked out. 🙂

I cut the dough into 5-inch circles, and we ate the empanadas as a main course with refried beans and brown Basmati rice. (We had chips and guacamole first, of course!!) If the dough is cut into 3-inch rounds, they would be the perfect size for an appetizer. This recipe was adapted from Carla’s Comfort Foods: Favorite Dishes from Around the World by Carla Hall with Genevieve Ko. I also adapted the baking time to use a convection oven.

I am bringing these tasty morsels to share with my friends at Fiesta Friday #54 over at The Novice Gardener. I am co-hosting this week with my friend Sonal of Simply Vegetarian 777. So exciting!! Join the fun- it is a great way to meet other bloggers and increase the exposure of your own blog! Click here for the guidelines to join the party.

Yield: 9 (5-inch) empanadas

For the Whole Wheat Cream Cheese Dough:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, spooned and leveled
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 3/4 tsp coarse salt
• 9 T cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 6 oz cold cream cheese, cut into 1-inch dice

For the Black Bean Picadillo Filling:

• 1/2 cup golden raisins
• 2/3 cup hot water
• 1 T canola oil
• 1 1/2 cups diced yellow onion
• 2 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 1 tsp ground Mexican chiles, such as ancho
• 2 T tomato paste
• 15 oz can black beans, rinsed and drained
• 1/2 cup fresh or thawed frozen corn kernels
• 1/2 cup shredded sharp cheddar, Monterey Jack, or a blend
• 2 T chopped fresh cilantro

1. Make the Dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the flours and salt. With your hands, toss the butter and cream cheese in the flour mixture until each piece is lightly coated.
2. With the paddle attachment, beat on low-speed until the dough comes together and forms a loose mass around the paddle.
3. On a large piece of plastic wrap, gently pat the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. (Note: The dough can be refrigerated for up to 1 day or frozen for up to 3 months.)
4. Make the Filling: In a small bowl, cover the raisins with the hot water. Let soak.
5. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the onion, garlic, 1/2 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the onion just starts to turn translucent, about 3 minutes.
6. Add the ground chiles and cook, stirring, about 1 minute.
7. Add the tomato paste and cook, stirring, for 2 minutes.
8. Stir in the beans, corn, and raisins with their soaking liquid.
9. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and cool completely.
10. When cool, stir in the cheese and cilantro.
11. Preheat the oven to 400°. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
12. To Finish: On a floured work surface (or between layers of plastic wrap), roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Using a 5-inch round cutter (I used a bowl), cut 9 rounds out of the dough, reshaping and re-rolling out the dough as necessary.
13. Mound 2 tablespoons of the filling on half of the round and fold the other side over to form a half-moon. Press to seal the dough and pinch at intervals to make pleats. Repeat with the remaining dough rounds and filling. (Alternatively, start at one end, pinch one corner between your thumb and forefinger and fold it over the rim. Pinch the dough next to the fold and fold again. Continue pinching and folding to create a decorative rope rim.)
14. Arrange the empanadas on the prepared baking sheets and bake in the upper and lower thirds of the oven for about 20 minutes (on convection) or up to 30 minutes in a standard oven, until browned and heated through. Serve the empanadas warm or at room temperature.

One Year Ago:

• Super Bowl Tacos: Tacos of Creamy Braised Chard, Potatoes, & Poblanos
• Rick Bayless’ Classic Mexican Fried Beans with Onions & Garlic

Two Years Ago:

• Mushroom, Red Onion, & Bacon Quesadillas

“Green” Empanadas

I have such exciting news!! For the first time… I am co-hosting Fiesta Friday #54 at The Novice Gardener this week with (sincerely) my oldest blogosphere friend Sonal of Simply Vegetarian 777. Woo hoo! 🙂 In case you don’t already know- Fiesta Friday is a fabulous blogging potluck party. It is a wonderful way to share recipes (etc.!), network with other bloggers, and to make friends out there in the blogosphere. It’s such a friendly and supportive group- I look forward to our get together every week. 🙂 Sonal and I will be there this week to greet all of the guests!

I am bringing a special dish for this special occasion… vegetarian empanadas! I have been obsessed with empanadas for some time. When my husband and I lived in Chicago, we attended many potluck parties with his co-workers- many of whom were South American. We ate SUCH good food!! (I have absolutely NO memory of my contribution to these potlucks either… ) The two stand-out dishes were empanadas and tortilla espanola. mmmmm…. I have been saying that I really needed to make empanadas ever since. I don’t know what I was waiting for… (as that was long long ago- and this was my first attempt!)

So… I recently revisited my love for empanadas in New York City on my son’s birthday. We went to look at sofas (to sit on them- you know that you can’t buy a sofa if you have never sat on it!) on his actual birthday- it sounds terrible but I assure you that the rest of the day was full of much more fun events!! We also told him (bribed him…) that we hoped that the empanada truck would be near the Pottery Barn on the Upper West Side. When we arrived it could not have been better than if we had planned it- the empanada truck –and a grilled cheese truck for my daughter!- were parked RIGHT outside of the store. So lucky- what great fortune! TONS of varieties of empanadas too- absolutely delicious!!

I put empanadas back on the top of my “to do” list but searched for vegetarian versions (my preference). For my first filling, I adapted this wonderful recipe from Food and Wine, contributed by Mauricio Couly and Piero Incisa Della Rocchetta. The original recipe had a paprika dough for which I substituted a whole wheat cream cheese dough. I also modified the greens as well as the herbs and seasonings in the filling. The dough was adapted from Carla’s Comfort Foods: Favorite Dishes from Around the World. I incorporated whole wheat pastry flour. Easy, tender, and FABULOUS!!!

Please join us for Fiesta Friday #54 at The Novice Gardener this week!! Click here for the guidelines to join in the fun.

Yield: 9 (5-inch) empanadas

For the Whole Wheat Cream Cheese Dough:

• 3/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour, spooned and leveled
• 3/4 cup all-purpose flour, spooned and leveled
• 3/4 tsp coarse salt
• 9 T cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch dice
• 6 oz cold cream cheese, cut into 1-inch dice

For the Filling:

• 10 ounces spinach, stemmed (I used a combination of spinach, baby kale, and chard)
• 1/2 cup shelled fava beans (thawed if frozen)
• 1/4 pound trimmed green beans
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 medium yellow onion, thinly sliced
• 2 garlic cloves, minced
• 1 cup frozen peas, thawed
• 2 tablespoons chopped cilantro
• 1 tablespoon chopped fresh thyme or 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• coarse salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Make the Dough: In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix the flours and salt. With your hands, toss the butter and cream cheese in the flour mixture until each piece is lightly coated.
2. With the paddle attachment, beat on low speed until the dough comes together and forms a loose mass around the paddle.
3. On a large piece of plastic wrap, gently pat the dough into a 1-inch thick rectangle. Wrap it tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm, about 3 hours. (Note: The dough  can be refrigerated for up to 1 day or frozen for up to 3 months.)
4. Make the Filling: In a saucepan of boiling salted water, cook the greens for 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon or an Asian spider skimmer, transfer the greens to a colander. Drain.
5. Add the fava beans to the boiling water and cook until bright green, 1 minute. Using a slotted spoon or an Asian spider skimmer, transfer the fava beans to a plate.
6. Add the green beans to the boiling water and cook until tender, 4 minutes. Drain and finely chop the green beans.
7. Peel the tough outer skins from the fava beans.
8. Squeeze the excess water from the greens, then coarsely chop.
9. In a large skillet, melt the butter in the olive oil. Add the onion and cook over moderate heat, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 10 minutes.
10. Add the garlic and cook until fragrant, about 3 minutes. Stir in the greens, fava beans, green beans and peas and cook, stirring, until heated through, about 2 minutes.
11. Stir in the cilantro and thyme and season with salt and pepper.
12. Preheat the oven to 400°. Line 2 large baking sheets with parchment paper.
13. To Finish: On a floured work surface (or between layers of plastic wrap), roll out the dough 1/8 inch thick. Using a 5-inch round cutter (I used a bowl), cut 9 rounds out of the dough, reshaping and re-rolling out the dough as necessary.
14. Mound 2 tablespoons of the vegetable filling on half of the round and fold the other side over to form a half-moon. Press to seal the dough and pinch at intervals to make pleats. Repeat with the remaining dough rounds and filling.
15. Arrange the empanadas on the prepared baking sheets and bake in the upper and lower thirds of the oven for about 20 minutes (on convection) or up to 30 minutes in a standard oven, until browned and heated through. Serve the empanadas warm or at room temperature.

One Year Ago:

• Jose Garces’ One-Pot Arroz con Pollo

Two Years Ago:

• Guacamole
• Spicy Lentil Chili

Movie Night Pizza

Every Sunday night, we have a movie night with the kids.  We always have pizza before the movie.  My daughter usually orders a corn pizza (fresh when in season!), and we usually eat something that involves a lot of garlic and onions.  My son wants EVERY topping that is offered.  I make the pizza dough earlier in the day, in the bread machine.  It is draft-free, and then the dough is ready whenever I need it.

• 1 cup warm water
• 1 pinch of sugar
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 1/2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 cup whole wheat flour
• 2 cups bread flour
• 2 teaspoons bread machine yeast

I cook the pizzas one at a time, on a pizza stone (on the lowest rack), in a 500 degree oven for 5-6 minutes.