Call for Recipes: Empanadas Rio San Lorenzo

Kristin Hulme -
"This past December TILife’s copy editor, Elspeth Naismith, presented "Call for Recipes!" The article showed a tea towel that hangs proudly in her kitchen and which provides the ingredients for a "Traditional 1000 Islands Shore Dinner," written by the late Les Cook, renowned Canadian fishing guide.  Elspeth suggested that our River communities have many farmers, restaurants, store keepers, and yes, both year round and summer residents who have favourite recipes that all have special River meanings."TILife’s  "Traditional 1000 Islands Shore Dinner,"
Elspeth wrote:  . . . "Thousand Islands Life" is asking our readers to share their favourite River recipe with us. Tell us about the recipe, why it’s special, and why it reminds you of the River. Is it something that you only make at a specific time of the year? Is it a dish that you only make when you’re on the River?"

Empanadas Rio San Lorenzo

The date inspired me to try something a little different for our picnic. They usually involve sandwiches of one sort or another, chips, some coleslaw or macaroni salad, and cookies or squares. Packed into a big cooler and tote bags, the food is carried down to a park on the north shore of the St Lawrence. The blanket is unfolded and then laid on the grass so that we can sit as we eat and look at the beauty of the Thousand Islands.

I set aside my concerns about an aficionado of Mexican-American cuisine shaking their head in disbelief at my efforts or someone mumbling under their breath about a Canadian appropriating their culture. Jose Revueltas, who was a Mexican writer and political activist, believed that “todo acto de creación, es un acto de amor.” Every act of creation is, in his words, an act of love.

I decided to mark Cinco de Mayo by making a St. Lawrence River version of empanadas. The word comes from the Spanish verb “empanar” and means “to bread.” Empanadas are savoury turnovers that either can be baked or fried. Because this was for a picnic, I opted for the former.

While they are not a ‘uniquely’ or ‘distinctly’ Mexican food, they are hearty enough to withstand any accidents that might be encountered on the trek to the park. Their filling is stodgy enough to not dribble onto T-shirts while being eaten.

Early that morning, using one of my ‘go-to’ recipes, I mixed up the dough and then kneaded it. I also made salsa fresca and some guacamole for dipping. They sat in the fridge while I worked on the stuffing for the empanadas.

The visit of a friend, recently converted to vegetarianism, meant that the filling would have to be something other than chicken or beef. She is a little less strict in her new diet when it comes to eggs and cheese.

I had a red onion and a head of garlic. I looked in the fridge and saw a half-empty jar of hot pepper sauce and some cheddar cheese. In the crisper, I found two aged sweet potatoes that had survived the feast at Easter. There was a half-bag of corn in the freezer. There was also a tin of black turtle beans in the pantry.

Once the filling was cooked, I rolled the small balls of dough out into circles the size of my palm. A soup spoon-sized dollop was placed on each of them. I topped the dollops with some cheese before trying to carefully seal the seams, so that the empanadas resembled half-moons. All acts of creation may be acts of love – but not all acts of creation are things of beauty!

A lazy contentment settled after we had eaten the empanadas, the salsa and guacamole. The talking and the laughing faded after the lids of the mason jars had been screwed tightly shut and the empty bag from the tortilla chips had been balled up and tossed into one of the tote bags.

Leaning back on my elbows, I looked out at the St. Lawrence. It is a mighty River, stretching more than a thousand kilometres (almost 750 miles) from Lake Ontario to the Atlantic Ocean. It is a relatively ‘young’ River, which was created when the glaciers retreated about 10,000 years ago. While its creation may not have been an act of love, on that afternoon on the 5th of May, it was truly a thing of beauty.  

Recipe:

For the Pie Crust
• 2 cups flour
• 3 Tablespoons butter
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 egg yolk
• ½ cup (or so) water

For the Filling
• Fat for frying (butter, oil, bacon fat, or a combination)
• 1 large red onion, diced
• 6 cloves garlic, minced (more or less, depending on your preferences)
• 1/3 cup hot pepper sauce (more or less, depending on your preferences)
• 1.5 Tablespoons coarsely chopped cumin seeds
• ½ teaspoon smoked paprika
• ½ teaspoon chili powder
• ½ teaspoon black pepper
• Pinch of salt
• 2 sweet potatoes, diced (roasted, boiled, or microwaved)
• ½ cup of corn (frozen is fine)
• 1 tin (540g/19 oz) black beans, drained and rinsed
• Grated cheese, cheddar or Monterey Jack

For the egg wash
• 1 egg
• 3 Tablespoons water

Instructions:

  1. Mix pastry ingredients together, adding just enough water so the dough come together, isn’t wet but isn’t too dry.
  2. Knead dough for five minutes. Put it in the fridge to chill while you make the filling.
  3. In a large frying pan, heat oil or butter over medium heat and fry the onion, garlic, hot sauce, cumin seeds, smoked paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper until the onions have softened, 5 – 10 minutes. Once the onions have softened, add the sweet potatoes, corn, and black beans. Stir together, remove from the heat, and let mixture cool.
  4. Divide the dough into about 12 pieces, each the size of a golf ball. Roll out the dough balls into circles the size of your palm (about 4 – 5 inches diameter).
  5. Make the egg wash by whisking together the egg and water in a small bowl or cup.
  6. Place about 1 Tablespoon filling in the centre of the dough and top with a sprinkling of cheese. Do not overfill the empanadas!
  7. Wipe or brush the edge of the dough with some of the egg wash, then fold the dough over the filling to seal it closed, making sure that all the filling is tucked inside. Pinch shut or use a fork to crimp around all the edges. Your empanada should look like a half-moon.
  8. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Place empanadas on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper. Brush them with the egg wash. Pop them into the oven for 20 to 25 minutes. They should be golden brown when ready. Place them on a baking rack to cool.

By Kristin Hulme

Kristin Hulme lives in Kingston Ontario, having moved there in 2000. She is a cook who believes that recipes provide suggestions rather than directions.

Kristin... this editor hopes you will provide more suggestions. This is a good one! And for those reading this for the first time... see our other recipes here!