Thanks to my friend, Emily (who just started a food blog titled Joy of Cooking), dinner tonight was very easy! I used a recipe from her site called Green Chile Beef Empanadas and made a few changes to my tastes. Instead of beef, I used taco flavored shredded chicken (store bought in a tub). It is the same chicken I use for my Easy Chicken Enchilada's . And when I served the finished product, I topped it with a dollop of sour cream and salsa.
One change I would make... the dough was not cold enough so it was difficult to transfer the sections to the baking stone (yes..once again I used my stone). Next time I will make sure the dough stays refrigerated until I'm ready to make it. I really had no choice tonight because I stopped at the grocery store on my way home from work... so the dough wasn't refrigerated for about 45 minutes.
My empanada also took longer to bake than the original recipe. I had mine in for 13 minutes. Maybe because I was using the stone.
If you didn't know... and empanada is essentially a stuffed pastry. 🙂 And, Emily found this recipe from Robin Miller on the Food Network.
Green Chile Chicken Empanadas
Ingredients
2 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crusts
2 cups cooked shredded chicken - taco flavored (I used Lloyd's brand in the tub)
1 cup shredded Mexican 4-cheese cheese (or Monterey Jack)
1 (4-ounce) can diced green chiles
Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
Unroll pie crusts onto a flat surface. Top each quadrant of crust with ¼ of the chicken, ¼ cup of cheese and about a tablespoon of chiles, making even layers and spreading ingredients to within ½-inch of the edges. Top with second pie crust. Using a pastry cutter or sharp knife, make an X across the circle, making 4 equal sections. Pinch around the edges with a fork to seal.
Transfer empanadas to a baking stone and make small slits in the top of each one to allow steam to escape during cooking. Bake 13 minutes, until crust is golden brown.
