El Autentico Diablo Clubhouse Empanadas
Contributed by Lesley Hendricks

Ingredients:

2 lbs. ground chuck
1/2 lb. ground pork
1 large onion (chopped)
2 cloves garlic (chopped)
2 tbsp Wesson oil
Salt and Pepper (to taste)
2 jalapeno peppers or 2 habenero peppers (chopped very fine)
1 tbsp chile powder
3 tbsp Arturo sauce or Tomato paste
2 egg yolks
Tabasco or your favorite designer hot sauce

Your best pie crust recipe (for a 2 crust pie) made THREE times; or because it's the nineties, 3 boxes pie crust mix (Pillsbury and Betty Crocker are my mixes of choice--Jiffy is not as flaky and light) .

Directions:

(Heat oven to 350 degrees) Heat oil in large pan and saute onion and garlic until it is translucent. Add the ground chuck and ground pork and keep stirring while it is cooking so that it is not lumpy. After the meat is cooked, drain off all the liquid that has accumulated. Then stir in the chopped peppers, chile powder, and tomato paste, salt and pepper. Let this mixture cool off or you'll mess up the pastry. While this is cooling, make the pastry. [If you doing it from scratch, make it THREE separate times or it won't turn out right. If you opt for the nineties method, make one box at a time.] Divide each ball of dough in half, so you will have six balls of dough. Keep the ones you are not working with covered with a dish towel or it'll dry out. What you have to decide now is what size empanada you want. For an appetizer size, I use a mug with a 3" diameter. For the normal size you'll want something that's either 5 or 6 inches. I have used a saucer for this and cut around it. Roll each ball out to the thickness for a pie crust. Cut out your circles and stack them.

Assembly:

In a small bowl or cup, mix the egg yolks with 1 tbsp of water. On one half of the circle spoon on some of the meat mixture. Moisten the edges with water and seal with a fork. Brush the tops with the egg yolk. Place on a non-stick cookie sheet (If not a non-stick, rub a little Crisco on the pan). Bake for 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown. Makes approx. 4 dozen appetizer size or approx. 2 dozen of the other size. These freeze great and since you have to be in kitchen anyway, make a lot and then you'll have plenty to enjoy at a later time!. The Tabasco gets sprinked on the empanada as you munch away.

Presented by CZBrats
October 7, 1998