Abuelitas Empanadillas Recipes

ABUELITA'S EMPANADILLAS

Steps:

• Brown meat well; drain fat. Add capers, oregano, salt, pepper, garlic and vinegar; stir and simmer for 10 minutes. Cool to room temperature. If making hand made dough, see step 6 below. If using wonton wrappers, go to step 2.
• For each empanadilla, place 1 teaspoon meat mixture in the center of one wonton wrapper. Fold in half to form a triangle, sealing edges with the flour paste. You may also crimp the edges with a fork for an authentic Caribbean appearance.
• Make all the empanadillas before starting to fry them, as they cook very quickly.
• Heat oil at least 1 inch deep in heavy skillet, to deep-fry temperature, about 365-370°F. Keep oil hot. Fry a few at a time in the hot oil, turning once, until golden on both sides. It takes about 1-2 minutes on each side; the wonton wrappers take even less time. They will puff up. Drain on paper towels.
• If meat filling runs out before the wonton wrappers, place a small cube of cheese (about 3/4-inch size) in the wrapper in place of the meat. Cook as directed above.
• TO MAKE HAND MADE DOUGH: Mix flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Add water, and stir quickly with a fork until a ball of dough forms and pulls away from sides of bowl. Knead just a few times on a well-floured surface. To make empanadillas, pinch off a piece of dough about the size of a large marble, and roll into a very thin circle about 3-4 inches in diameter. Then proceed with filling as in step 2.
• Makes about 60 appetizers, or serves 6-8 people as a main dish.

ABUELA'S PICADILLO

Steps:

• Cook and stir ground beef in a large stockpot until browned, 5 to 10 minutes. Drain grease.
• Heat olive oil in small skillet over medium heat. Add onion, green bell pepper, and garlic; cook and stir until fragrant, 2 to 3 minutes. Stir into beef in the stockpot.
• Pour tomato sauce, water, cooking wine, and hot sauce into the stockpot. Stir in sazon seasoning, parsley, garlic powder, onion powder, cumin, pepper, and bay leaf. Bring to a boil; reduce heat to low and simmer picadillo, uncovered, until slightly thickened, about 10 minutes.
• Split olives in half with your fingers and stir into the picadillo. Add squash. Simmer until liquid reduces but picadillo is not dry, 45 to 60 minutes. Season with salt.