My First Empanadas

I have been eyeballing this empanada or little hand pie maker at Bed Bath Beyond for months now. Finally it's all mine! (evil laugh) I have had empanadas with both savory and sweet fillings. I opted for ground beef with onion for mine today.

The dough recipe I got from watching the Cooking Channel and I had a few challenges today. The main one was the heat. My kitchen was really hot! I had to refrigerate the dough because it was becoming very sticky. I used carbonated unflavored water from the Soda Stream in the dough and it made the dough nice and fluffy along with the butter.

Empanada Dough makes 1 dozen small ones

3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1 stick butter divided
1/2 to 2/3 cups carbonated water
2 TBSP lime juice

Use a shortening cutter to cut the cold butter into the flour. Gradually add the carbonated water and form into a ball. You may have to add more water if the dough is too flaky. Let dough rest for one hour before rolling out into 1/2 inch thickness. The bottom of my dough press has a circle on it so I was able to cut out perfect circles that would fit my press.

Ground Beef Filling

2 lbs of ground beef
1/2 onion
1 tsp. cumin
1/2 jalapeno diced
salt
pepper

I let the filling cool and then cut the circles out with the press. Next I stretched the dough over the press and added about 2 tsp. of the cooled filling. I closed the press and it closed the edges. I did however use a fork to make sure the edges were closed.
I heated the oil until it began to ripple. I used vegetable oil. I made two empanadas at a time. They float to the surface and I made sure to turn them with a slotted spoon several times until golden brown.

Each took around 4-5 minutes to fry. I then moved them with a slotted spoon to drain on some paper towel.
I served them with a mango salsa which had two mangos diced, 1/2 jalapeno, 2 tsp. lime juice, a squirt of honey, and a dash of chili powder.