---------- Recipe via Meal-Master (tm) v8.03

     Title: Great grandma silva's chilean empanadas
Categories:
     Yield: 1 servings

 2 1/2 lb Round steak or boneless rump
          Roast
     1    Garlic clove
     1    Onion stuck with 3 cloves
     1    Carrot, peeled, cut into
          Pieces
   1/2 c  Sherry
 1 1/2 c  Black raisins
     3 tb Olive oil
     1    Onion, minced
     3 ts Oregano
     3 ts Cumin seed, crushed
     2 tb Ground chile (California or
          New Mexican chile
          Powder)
     1 ts Salt
   1/4 c  Slivered almonds
     1 c  Sliced black olives, or 1/2
       c  Sliced stuffed green olives
          Grandma's favorite)
     2 tb Sugar for sprinkling over
          Empanadas (optional)

 PASTRY:

 1/4 cup vegetable shortening 2 tablespoons butter 3 cups all-purpose flour
 1/2 cup + 1 tablespoon water 1 teaspoon salt 2 1/2 cups canola oil for
 frying Cut meat into 6 pieces, place in a heavy pot and cover with cold
 water. Add garlic, whole onion and carrot. Simmer gently for 2 hours. If
 the meat cooks over high heat, it will toughen. When the meat is tender,
 turn off heat and let it cool in the broth until warm to the touch. Reserve
 broth.

 Using a sharp knife, chop meat very finely. You also can use a food
 processor but don't overdo. Grandma always minced her meat in a small
 wooden bowl using a hand chopper with a curved blade, but my ethnicity goes
 only so far...

 Warm the sherry in a small saucepan; add the raisins and let steep while
 you prep the other ingredients.

 Heat the olive oil in a large skillet; add the onion and saute until
 softened. Stir in the oregano and crushed cumin and saute for 1 minute.
 Stir in the chopped beef, ground chile and salt. Cook for 15 minutes,
 adding enough of the reserved broth to make the mixture glisten. It should
 not be soggy, just moist.

 Remove picadillo from the heat, and stir in the plumped raisins, the
 almonds and olives. Taste, and add more salt, orega- no, cumin or chile
 powder, if desired. If the picadillo seems a bit drier than you like, add
 more broth or (better yet) some of the raisin sherry. Refrigerate
 overnight, or up to 3 days.

 The pastry: Using a large fork or pastry blender, cut the shortening and
 butter into the flour until crumbly. Stir the salt into the water. Drizzle
 water slowly over the flour mixture, adding just enough to make a soft
 pliable dough. Knead gently a floured board for 1 minute. The dough should
 be smooth but not overworked. Break off a golf ball-size piece of dough
 (keeping the remaining dough covered with plastic wrap) and roll into a 6-
 inch circle. Place 1/2 cup picadillo on half of the circle. Fold over the
 top half, pinching over the edges; press with a fork to seal. It is
 important to seal the edges well so the filling doesn't leak out during
 frying.

 Heat the canola oil in a 2-inch deep skillet. When the oil is hot enough it
 will ripple. Ease in 1 empanada and spoon hot oil over the surface. After 1
 1/2 minutes, turn the empanada. Total cooking time for each empanada is
 about 3 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove and drain on several
 thicknesses.of paper towel, blotting the surface with more paper towels.
 Sprinkle empanadas lightly with sugar while still warm.

 If you plan to serve the empanadas later, cool, cover, and refrigerate. To
 reheat, place on a cookie sheet and bake in a 350 degree F. oven for 10
 minutes.

 Makes about 12 very large empanadas, or 24 small turnovers.

 PER LARGE TURNOVER: 520 calories, 28 g protein, 44 g carbo- hydrate, 27 g
 fat (6 g saturated), 73 mg cholesterol, 572 mg sodium, 3 g fiber.

 Jacquiline Higuera McMahan writing in the San Francisco Chronicle,
 12/16/92.

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