Chilean Empanadas
Shared by Sarah (sitm@ne.infi.net)

DOUGH
3 Cups All-purpose flour
1 Teaspoon Coarse salt
8 Tablespoons Unsalted butter -- cut in bits
2 Egg yolks
2 Tablespoons Tarragon vinegar
9 Tablespoons Cold water
FILLING
1 tablespoon Olive oil
1 teaspoon Spanish paprika
1/8 teaspoon Cayenne
2 tablespoons Unsalted butter
2 medium Onions -- chopped fine
1/2 pound Lean ground beef
1/4 teaspoon Dried oregano
2 teaspoons Coarse salt
1 Bay leaf
1/2 cup Beef stock
3 tablespoons Seedless raisins
8 Kalamata olives -- chopped
1 Hard-boiled egg -- chopped
GLAZE
1 Egg yolk
1 whole Egg
1 tablespoon Cold water

Sift the flour and salt into a bowl.  Add the butter, egg yolks, and vinegar and mix quickly and thoroughly with your fingertips until all ingredients are well incorporated.  Add 5 tablespoons of the water and continue mixing, adding just enough of the remaining water, a little at a time, to make a firm dough.  Refrigerate until ready to use.

For the filling, heat the oil and butter in a saute pan.  Add the onions and saute over medium heat until light brown around the edges, about 5 minutes.  Add the beef, oregano, salt, and bay leaf and cook until all the liquid has evaporated.  Add the stock and continue cooking until the stock has almost -- but not quite -- evaporated.  Mix in the raisins and olives. Remove from the heat and let cool.  Stir in the chopped hard-boiled egg. Correct the seasoning with salt to taste.  Set aside.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. On a floured board, roll out the dough about 1/8-inch thick, shaping it into a 16-inch square.  Cut out circles about 5-inches in diameter.  Knead
and re-roll the scraps and cut into additional circles.  Place a heaping tablespoon of the meat filling about 1/2-inch from the edge of each circle.  Brush the border of the circle with juices from the filling or with water.  Fold the dough over to form a half-moon, pressing the edges together with your fingertips or the tines of a fork to seal.  Prick the
top of each empanada once or twice with the tines of the fork.  Repeat this process until all the empanadas are assembled.

Make the glaze by beating the egg yolk and egg with the water. Spread parchment paper on a baking sheet.  Arrange the empanadas on top and brush with glaze.  Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden.  Remove the baking tray from the oven, and transfer the empanadas to a serving platter or individual plates, and serve hot.

Comments:  While many kinds of empanadas are found in Chile, calduda is considered the Chilean empanada.  The meat is slowly cooked in a caldo, or stock, and as the stock evaporates to almost nothing, the meat becomes soft as butter and very moist. The filling, or pino, is sweetened with raisins, which also contrast with the tart taste of the olives.

Pastel de Choclo  (Corn & Meat Pie)
Serves 12.
This is a popular Chilean recipe.

6 large ears of corn, grate the kernels
8 leaves of fresh basil, finely chopped
1 tsp. salt
3 tbsp. butter
1/2-1 cup milk
4 large onions, chopped
3 tbsps. oil
1 lb. (1/2 kg) finely ground lean beef
Salt and pepper to taste
1 tsp. ground cumin
4 hard-boiled eggs, sliced
1 cup black olives
1 cup raisins
12 pieces of chicken, browned in hot oil, seasoned with salt,
pepper and cumin
2 tbsps. confectioners' sugar

Heat the grated corn, chopped basil, salt and butter in a large pot. Add the milk little by little, stirring constantly until the mixture thickens. Cook over low heat for 5 minutes.  Leave to one side while you prepare the meat filling. Fry the onions in oil until transparent, add the ground meat and stir to brown. Season with salt, pepper and ground cumin. To prepare the pie use an oven-proof dish that you can take to the table. Spread over
the bottom of the dish the onion-ground meat mixture. Arrange over this the hard boiled egg slices, olives and raisins. Put the chicken pieces on top, bone the chicken if you like.
Cover the filling with the corn mixture. Sprinkle the confectioners' sugar over the top. Bake in a hot oven 400 Deg. F  for 30-35 minutes until the crust is golden brown. Serve at once. In Chile more sugar is served to sprinkle over the "pastel" as it is eaten. Serve with "Ensalada Chilena".