Greetings, Mystic Meows!

I don’t know about how it is where you are, but here in Sunny California it’s finally starting to feel a liiiiiiittttttlle bit like Fall… 😛 So naturally the way I like to cook and the foods I crave start to change. Lot’s more comfort food on the menu these days around here and this recipe blog is a reflection of that. One of my dear Facebook friends by the name of Joyce sent along this recipe for these delicious and easy to prepare Pork Empanadas! She was kind enough to purchase a set of my Mystic Seasonings trio with Adobo, Sazon, and Jerk last year, and incorporated the first two mentioned into the recipe. And since these also satisfy my Puerto Rican cuchifrito fix, I couldn’t resist making these and am very grateful to her for passing it along to me to try out! So here we are!

Since the empanada dough recipe was so easy to prepare, I decided to try cooking them two ways. Both baked and fried. Of course mama loves those bad boys nice and crispy, but also wanted to see how they’d bake up for a slightly more healthy version and even easier preparation. Although my preference is still to fry them, I liked how they came out when baked in the oven. They puffed up nicely and were quite a decent size!

Now for the filling! Joyce’s recipe insists upon using pork chops for the meat rather than just pork shoulder. I opted to shred the meat with a fork once it was fully cooked and made a few minor adjustments in terms of ingredients. Joyce’s recipe calls for the addition of shredded cheese, either Mexican style or cheddar. I didn’t have that much on hand, but added the little that I had. It added a nice touch to the sauce and will definitely make sure I have more on hand the next time I make them! I also filmed a TikTok video about these that have a bit more detail about the full preparation since I only have photos of the end result, which I thought might be a fun and easier way to post up about these, and something I might continue in the future from time to time, so here’s the link to the actual cooking demo : https://vm.tiktok.com/ZM8YwbuD8/

And now for the recipes!! I was able to get 16 pieces total out of this which is a fair amount! I used about a pound of pork chops and after adding all the ingredients I literally had the perfect amount for all 16 empanadas using about a heaping Tablespoon of the filling per piece. Anything you have leftover can be easily frozen, so don’t trip, chocolate chip, if you feel like you have too many… 😉

For le empanada dough :

3 cups A.P. Flour

3 T. shortening

2 egg yolks

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp.sugar

1/2 to 3/4 cup of cold water

1. Add your flour, salt, and sugar into a stand mixer or mixing bowl, and start to gently blend all together.

2. Add in your shortening until it’s well incorporated into the dough. Then add in your egg yolks, and mix until well combined and then slowly drizzle in the cold water 1/4 cup at a time using more or less water as needed. The dough should start to pull away easily from the sides of the bowl and not feel sticky or tacky to the touch. If you’ve ever made pie dough from scratch this is very similar. Cover the dough in plastic wrap and set it in the fridge to rest. Remove the dough from the fridge about 30 minutes prior to use.

**Side note : Full disclosure on my part… I had medium sized eggs and since they’re on the smaller side, I used the whole eggs rather than just the yolks. I found the result of the dough to be very nice and will try to only use the yolks next time around when I have larger sized eggies to see the difference! 🤪

For Le Filling :

2 Cups cooked pork chops

1 jalapeño pepper seeded and diced

3 cloves of garlic, minced

2 tsp onion powder

1 tsp cumin

1 small potato, cooked and diced

1 cup Mexican or Cheddar cheese

Mix everything together except the cheese. Once it’s all combined, then fold in the cheese!

Now if you don’t have yourself any Mystic Seasonings in your kitchen yet, I highly suggest that you remedy that ASAP! My seasonings are made with 100% organic ingredients and put those store bought spices to shame simply because I make mine to order so they’re as fresh and potent as can be. And they’re freaking delicious!! You can grab them at my Shopify store! https://mystic-seasonings.myshopify.com/

Why the shameless self promotion, you ask? Because, my dear meow… I used my Adobo and Sazon in the recipe along with a few additions. My Sazon already has cumin, as well as turmeric and other lovely ingredients, and my Adobo has everything you need to take this to another level of latin flavored goodness! If you have your own Adobo and Sazon in your kitchen already, I’d definitely use it in this. If not, then follow Joyces recipe to the letter! I also added a bit of tomato paste, cherry tomatoes, sliced green onions, and some diced bell pepper since I had them already and need to be used. Perfect addition to this!

And there you have it, meow meows! If you watch the TikTok video above you’ll see just how easy these are to make and I do hope you give these a whirl! Fun to make with the kids, too! And you can change up the filling by using chicken, shrimp, Beyond Meat, mushrooms, jackfruit, and hell! Try them with fruit and make dessert empanadas! I think I’ll try that next as well… The dough recipe is a goodie and I’m so grateful to Joyce for sharing it with me and inspiring me to make them and be whimsical and creative about it! I love sharing and exchanging recipes with meows and passing on tips and tricks to help jazz things up with the kitchen cooking routine! Until we eat again! Happy cooking and Bone out the meat! 🤣

Cheers, hugs, and meows!

xo Nikki✨🖤😻🔮

Check out my weekly podcast Mystic Meals with Chef Nikki Meow right here! : https://anchor.fm/mysticmeals13

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