Okay, there probably aren’t a lot of Latina grandmothers reading the site but maybe some of their progeny are (although I shouldn’t make assumptions). Anyway, I call upon you: empanada dough recipes. I require them. Who wants to share family secrets? Spill ’em.
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Thursday Night Smackdown 
you had to ask this. Empanadas are one of my specialties…my abuela taught me to make them when i was a little kid, and i even make them for money now…lol
except for the dough. I have failed numerous attempts to make the dough, it’s my problem with rolling. I can tell you there is flour water salt and some shortening…but not very much, since you’re not looking for a flaky dough. The empanadas I make are deep fried, not baked.
i always buy the pre-made discs…my grandmother even told me to buy the pre-made discs. hell, they’re about 1.50 for a package of 10, and saves you alot of effort.
check out my flickr food album for some empanada-makin pics
I’m not Latina, but I love Smitten Kitchen’s recipe for empanadas:
http://smittenkitchen.com/2007/04/chicken-revisited-and-enlightened/
I like it best with carnitas in the filling, but then again, I love me so me pork.
I’m not Latina, a grandmother, or the holder of a family empanada recipe, but I am quite excited to see you make these.
Well, wouldn’t you know it. My sister-in-law is a Latina grandmother. (Seriously, she has a son from her first marriage who has a wife and kid. She may not strike one immediately as a grandma type, but she does in fact, have a granddaughter). She makes AWESOME empanadas using a yucca-based dough. I will ask her if she will share.
Rachel? Is she Dominican? thats a really traditional Domiican alternative way of making them, they call them Catabaitas, i believe. One of my grandmothers was dominican, the other Cuban, and she used to make the Yucca ones sometimes. If you can get cassava flour, its easier, but its not always available. otherwise its grating and cooking the actual Yuca
I’m with Vera. My mom used to make her own dough, but now she uses the frozen ones from Goya. We like the ones that have achiote and are an orangy color. (I am Latina and a grandmother.)
I don’t have a recipe but if you need someone to help test these recipes…please give me a call.
Hey yo, I just made these for a party at my house. They are baked, but pretty close to the awesome deep-fried ones that I used to get in Argentina. From Saveur: http://userealbutter.com/2007/08/15/argentine-empanadas-recipe/
Nilda and Vera, she’s Colombian. I’m afraid I’m not very educated on empanadas, so I don’t know the authenticity of her recipe origins.
I’ve used this one:
http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Empanada-Dough-230786
which was really good. Not Latina, not a grandmother, not even extremely experienced in empanada-making, though, so maybe one should not trust my judgment.
Not Latino; not a grandmother; but after looking at the links in the comment area, it looks like the dough is very similar to pierogi dough, which we just made, even though we’re not Polish either. We thought they were stellar.
our pierogi recipe: http://etherwork.net/blog/?p=628#recipe
looking forward to hearing about empanada fillings.
I am a Latina, not a grandmother (or a mother, thank God), but I am the keeper of the empanada dough recipe–which is the same goddamn recipe for making your basic flour tortillas–and your basic sopapillas. And if you fill your empanadas with beans and chile and cheese and then fry them, you will go to heaven. No joke.
I’m not Latina or a grandmother, but I have a recipe from Texas Monthly for cinnamon-pumpkin empanadas. ::drool::
http://www.texasmonthly.com/food/recipefiles/Desserts/2000-02-01/recipe8.php
They turned out pretty good the one time I made them. You could probably adjust the recipe for non-sweet empanadas by leaving out the cinnamon and reducing the sugar in the dough.
hey all, thanks for all the advice. i will mull and then, god willing, will produce some empanadas this coming monday.
Have family in Paraguay. They have told me about fried yucca (cassava)empanadas. Apparently the dough is made with yucca flour. The filling is the same as if you’re making a taco filling except that hard-boiled eggs, olives and raisins are added. I haven’t tried the dough yet since I use the time saving ready-made discos.
I am half Dominican. My mother isnt and she always was able to find them in the frozen section. That was how we made them. Then about 4 yr ago I moved to PA and there wasnt ANY available in the local grocery. So upon looking in an old 1980 Better Homes and Garden magazine, I found the dough reciepe. It is simple to make and comes out great. I am looking now for the yucca version. So I thought I would try and find it for her!! Thanks for the info!!