Quick Post: Chicken Empanada

Cross section of empanada, my chicken looks slightly on the chunky side

Today was one of those days when I just couldn't be bothered. I think this is what they call a Monday.

PIC and I were supposed to meet up after work to go to the gym but that great idea quickly flew out the window as soon as I got into my car. So I made my excuses and went to the supermarket instead.

I may not have enough energy to be bothered about work today, but I certainly have enough juice in me to attend to some craving issues. 

If you were born and raised Filipino like me, you would be very familiar with Red Ribbon's Chicken Empanadas. They're like little pies or turnovers that have chicken, potatoes, carrots and raisins in them as filling and these are yum-o! Whenever we were picked up from school whoever's on child-minding duty would usually have a snack ready for us siblings. We always loved it whenever our mom, dad or whoever had a white plastic bag with tiny red ribbons on it with them because it only meant two things -- chicken empanadas and a loaf or two of tai-san (these are like fluffy versions of a pound cake with a sugary outer later; each slice almost melts in your mouth given how light and airy these are and strangely enough, even with the sugary coating, they aren't sickly sweet).

Today, I thought I'd recreate that childhood favorite, the humble chicken empanada. To be honest I would have tried my hand at the tai-san if I could, but my experience with pastry baking with no savory twist to it usually ends in disaster so I'm saving us all the grief.

I doubt you're in my blog hunting for recipes so I wont bore you with the details. Just know that I chopped, I diced, and chopped some more before I started cooking the filling. Well that part felt easy enough, I love to cook so it wasn't too much of a stretch. Now comes the pastry bit... Ugh.... I did as the recipe suggests but no ounce of confidence oozed out of me through the whole process and I was second guessing myself every step of the way. Do I need more water? But the recipe only said 6 tbsps. Did I put too much butter in? Was it baking powder or baking soda??

In the end I managed a decent enough looking dough and I started filling them up. I have yet to master the art of folding them into nice little pockets but at this stage, all I could pray for was an edible output.

25minutes later, out they pop from the oven and so far so good.

Well they looked like empanadas... maybe double in size vs what Red Ribbon would put out, but still ok. When I tried to get one off the pan it stuck a bit (I know I should have greased the pan better) but it was still good -- it didn't crumble, tear, or look funny. So I took a deep breath, closed my eyes, and took a bite.

If this were a movie this would be the part where a chorus of sopranos will suddenly burst into song with "Hallelujah! Hallelujah!" It was a success, and surprisingly close to what Red Ribbon's empanadas taste like too. Another day, another craving conquered. 

Thanks for taking this break with me, we'll be back to the Viva Italia series again tomorrow!