4 Levels of Empanadas: Amateur to Food Scientist

[upbeat music]

I'm Steven. And I'm a level one chef.

I'm Alicia, and I'm a level two chef.

Hi, I'm Adriana.

And I've been a professional chef for 11 years.

[upbeat music]

A good empanada with the right amount of filling.

That's gonna be a good snack to get you to the next meal.

I like empanadas

because they fall into my favorite category of food,

which is party food.

So my empanadas are inspired

in Venezuelan traditional empanadas.

They're gonna be fried, super crunchy, and delicious.

First, I'm gonna start with the filling.

And today, I'm making breakfast empanadas.

I'm making a chicken tinga filling.

And chicken tinga is basically a smokey tomatoey sauce

that the chicken is sort of stewed in.

My filling today,

it's gonna be a sous vide spicy pork shoulder.

[Steven] The reason why I like plant-based meat.

It's been a decade since I had meat,

but sometimes I have that urge to taste meat.

This scratches that itch.

First, I'm going to crack my eggs, grab a pinch of salt,

and add some black pepper.

Throw them in the pan.

I'm gonna cook them low and slow

just so they don't overcook.

I'ma put these eggs to the side.

So I'm gonna get started with my aromatics.

I'm just gonna crush my garlic first.

Bay leaf just adds a nice sort of savory flavor

to the water.

Gonna add my black peppercorn.

And last, but certainly not least, the salt.

And now I'm gonna throw my chicken in there

and let it poach for about 25 minutes.

Poaching your meat is totally fine,

but I rather use the sous vide technique

because you can get way more flavor out of this.

The sous vide technique is basically a water bath

that maintains the temperature of the water.

And that way, the meat cooks very evenly.

I'm gonna start making the spice rub first.

I'm going to use a spice grinder.

Smoked paprika, dry oregano, peppercorn, chili flakes,

garlic powder, salt, brown sugar and finally, mustard seeds.

So I'm gonna grind this and I want a very fine powder

that will evenly cover all my pork.

[Steven] I'm gonna add my onions and garlic.

Let those cook a little bit.

Add some of the sausage, then the mushrooms.

Finally, add the spinach.

Season it a little bit. Make sure it's very flavorful.

Add the cayenne. And then I'm gonna add the cheese on top.

What I would like to see is the cheese start to melt,

intertwine with the vegetables, hold hands.

I'm like, oh, okay. We're together in this.

On this journey of empanadas.

[Adriana] So I'm gonna use half of my spice rub

to cook the pork in the sous vide, and the other half,

I'm gonna use it when I cook the pork in the oven.

I'm rubbing the pork with my hands

because I want to get that rub in the pork.

So now that my chicken is fully cooked through,

I'm gonna go ahead and remove it from the liquid,

set it aside, let it cool,

and I'm gonna reserve about a cup of this cooking liquid,

for my chicken tinga sauce.

So now, what I'm gonna be doing is,

to put my pork in the sous vide bag, seal it,

and take all the air out to start cooking it in the water.

The reason why I'm doing the sous vide

is because I want a perfectly cooked pork.

I don't have a ton of space in my New York City cabinet,

so a sous vide machine just isn't worth the real estate.

For me.

It's gonna be so juicy and tender.

I'm going to leave my pork here cooking for 24 hours

at 165 degrees.

I do not want to cook anything for 24 hours.

But I appreciate those who do.

Now that my pork has been in the sous vide machine

for 24 hours, it's perfectly cooked, super juicy.

I'm going to take it out of the bag.

Now I'm gonna go ahead and do the second rub.

And I'm going to bake this at 300,

for about an hour and a half.

Just to get a very crispy and golden brown crust.

So now that my chicken is cooled down a bit,

I'm gonna go ahead and start shredding up the chicken.

Wow. Gloves.

Feeling real lunch lady right now.

I love to use two forks, just like this. It's faster.

[Alicia] So as I'm shredding apart this chicken,

it's almost like string cheese.

I mean, you can also do it with your hands.

So I'm done shredding my chicken

and next, I'm gonna work on my tinga sauce.

First, I'm gonna combine some cored roma tomatoes.

Then I'm gonna add my oil.

I'm gonna drop in my ground cumin, my four garlic cloves.

Chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

is basically like a smoked jalapeno

that's just marinating in this sauce.

I'm gonna drop in three or four of these,

as well as some of the reserved marinade in this can.

Just adding some salt.

So now I'm basically just gonna blend

all these raw ingredients together

and make a nice smooth sauce,

and then I'm going to add that to a pan of sauteed onions

and just kind of combine all of that together.

So I'm gonna let this simmer for about 10 minutes

until it really starts to thicken and reduce a bit,

and then I'm gonna add my shredded chicken.

Now that this is cooked,

I'm gonna put it in the bowl with my eggs that I set aside.

[All] And that's my filling.

I'm using a store bought empanada dough.

I've never made dough from scratch.

I don't think I'm at a place in my life

where I can make dough properly.

I'm gonna be using a puff pastry dough.

I did not make this dough from scratch.

There's already enough going on with this dish,

and pre-made dough works just fine.

I'm gonna start making the dough.

And I'm gonna be using hominy.

Hominy is a dry corn, which is white.

And I'm gonna soak it overnight in water,

and with a little bit of salt, to get it nice and tender.

Then I'm gonna boil it to cook it through,

The process of preparing my dough is strenuous.

[speaking indistinctly]

Good for you.

So now that my hominy it's fully cooked,

it's a little bit chewy.

It's ready and I'm gonna mix it with milk, ghee,

garlic powder, and a little bit of togarashi.

A traditional Japanese spice.

It's not the traditional way,

but I love to add a little bit of spiciness to the dough,

and more flavor.

[food processor whirring]

Wow, that was easy.

[Adriana] Okay, I can tell that my dough is ready

because it's not sticking to my hands.

Next, I'm gonna put all the dough in a bowl

and I'm gonna let it sit in the fridge

for around 20 minutes, so it dries out.

I prefer to use puff pastry

because I think it's buttery and creates a nice flaky crust.

Using puff pastry to make empanadas, it's totally fine,

but I prefer to use hominy,

because that's the way we do it in Venezuela.

Now that my dough is ready,

it's a little bit dry, exactly how I wanted it.

I'm gonna start forming the bowls to make the empanadas.

[Alicia] I'm gonna roll up my puff pastry

because I want it a little bit thinner

than the thickness it comes prepackaged.

So, puff pastry is a laminated dough.

That's basically dough and butter

layered on top of each other,

so that way when it bakes,

that butter helps the dough separate

and create those nice flaky layers in the pastry.

[Adriana] I'm gonna cut it in equal pieces.

I'd like to roll them all first

so I know that they're all the same size.

And then I'm gonna start pressing them.

So I'm not fancy.

I am gonna use a bowl to serve as my perimeter

for my empanada.

I'm gonna use a knife to cut around that.

[Adriana] I like to use a tortilla press

to form my empanadas,

because the dough is gonna be super even.

The plastic bag is gonna make sure

that your dough doesn't stick to the surface

of the tortilla press.

So this gets a very even empanada dough.

[Alicia] And that's my dough.

So now I'm gonna start to form the empanadas.

Now I'm gonna grab the dough, place it on the plate,

grab some filling, place it inside.

Make sure I'm getting enough egg.

I'm using Monterey Jack cheese

because I really like the flavor

and how that balances against the smokiness

of the tinga sauce.

I'm gonna wet the edge of the dough

so that the edges stick together and they don't open up.

Now I'm going to try to close it, make a pocket.

Press on the outsides with the fork.

This is so that it sticks together.

Not for looks. It also looks good.

I'm gonna go ahead and kind of pinch and tuck the edges.

So that way, as it's baking, nothing starts to leak out.

Sometimes when it heats up, it starts to form bubbles.

So I'm gonna poke some holes, just add some ventilation.

You could totally use a fork to enclose your empanadas,

if you're a newbie.

But, braiding it just looks prettier.

And personally, I like doing things by hand.

So I'm making an egg wash to brush over my empanada dough,

so that way, when it bakes,

we get a nice golden crusty situation.

And now I'm going to cut it.

Perfect. Open it.

Make that perfect circle. And that's it.

Who wants empanadas?

I love making empanadas.

Now that the empanadas are ready,

let's put them in the air fryer.

Before I put these in the air fryer,

I'm gonna add a little egg wash, just so it doesn't dry out.

You don't want to add too much of an egg wash,

because then it just starts cooking the egg,

and you just have egg forming,

like moss on the side of a tree.

So I'm gonna bake my empanadas

at 375 for about 15 minutes.

But I'm just looking for them to get nice and golden brown,

and that's when I know they'll be done.

I'm frying my empanadas

because it is the tradition in Venezuela to fry them.

Who doesn't love anything deep fried?

I just think it's a bit intimidating

to set up a whole deep fry situation.

I'm frying my empanadas because the texture,

it really is totally different if you bake them.

With this dough especially, you have to fry them,

so you get that crispiness that I'm looking for.

I'm air frying instead of deep frying,

because my doctor said so.

Pretty much. [laughs]

So I'm gonna put them in the air fryer.

It's a healthy alternative.

I've not worked with an air fryer.

People seem very excited about them.

[Steven] The air fryer is the way to go.

You don't have to work on pre-heating the oven.

We're busy people.

We got other things to do besides watching empanadas grow.

Now I'm gonna turn the air fryer on. 350, 15 minutes.

So I have my oil set up at 350 degrees.

And I don't wanna overcrowd the pot,

because that way, they're not gonna cook evenly.

So I'm scooping a little bit of the oil

on top of the empanadas, so while I'm frying them,

the empanadas are floating,

and there's some parts that are not getting oil.

I'm just cooking the dough

because the filling is already cooked.

So my empanadas have baked for about 15 minutes.

They're nice and golden brown and the dough is puffed up.

[Steven] They're nice and golden.

They didn't crack because we added the egg wash.

So it looks good.

[Adriana] Once I see that the empanadas are golden brown,

and they're fully cooked, they're ready to take them out.

So now I'm getting started on the sauce

and I'm making guacamole.

Guacamole? Always.

It's a good pairing.

You don't want just empanadas by itself.

It needs something and it's always guacamole.

So I'm making like a lime, herby crema.

And I think that that herbiness

is gonna have balance the smokiness of the chicken tinga.

I'm gonna be making a smokey chimichurri.

A chimichurri is basically a sauce made with herbs, citrus,

and a little bit of spiciness.

[Steven] So first, I'm gonna cut open the avocados,

mash them up in a bowl.

Then I'm gonna work on the onions, dice them up.

Then I'm gonna grab the tomatoes, cut those up.

I like my guac spicy so I'm gonna take the whole jalapeno.

Just feel so terrified to cut off my thumb. I need my thumb.

Use this lime squeezer. I'm gonna grab some of the cilantro.

So now I'm gonna mix it up and then it's gonna be ready.

[Alicia] So first, I'll start with my sour cream,

some mayonnaise,

just to kind of help balance some of that tanginess

from the sour cream.

And my cilantro.

And I'm using both the leaves and the stems because why not?

So now I'm gonna go ahead and grate my garlic

into the food processor.

Every time I grate,

I am worried that I'm going to grate off my fingertips.

I'm gonna zest the lime and I'm gonna juice the lime.

The lime zest will add a nice pop of color to the sauce.

I'm just gonna sprinkle in some salt

to help bring out some of these flavors.

I love to use a mortar and pestle,

because it really releases all the flavors of the herbs,

and the shallots, and the garlic.

So I'm gonna start smashing this mixture of herbs.

I have parsley, shallots, and garlic.

I'm gonna add all my spices, the vinegar, and the olive oil.

The smoked paprika, chili flakes, dry oregano,

virgin olive oil, and red wine vinegar.

So I'm gonna let these sit for 10 minutes

so all the ingredients can really combine

and boost the flavor.

So now I'm gonna blend up all these ingredients

until it's nice, smooth, cohesive sauce.

All right.

And that's my lime herb crema.

All the juices are out.

The flavor, it's concentrated and it's delicious.

So I'm gonna change it to another bowl.

And in this case, for me,

it's very important to add different levels of acidity.

So I'm gonna finish it with lime and lemon zest and juice.

And this is my smoky chimichurri.

So now that the empanadas are out of the air fryer,

I'm ready to plate.

[Alicia] I'm gonna get my empanadas down on the plate

and I'm gonna add my sauce.

And these are my breakfast empanadas with guacamole.

And these are my chicken tinga empanadas,

with my herby, lime crema.

And these are my pulled pork empanadas,

with a smokey chimichurri.

[gentle music]

[Steven] I see a crispy outside, so I'm gonna hear...

As I eat.

Nailed it.

I mean, everything about it says, bite me, eat me.

I'm gonna be yummy.

Oh my God.

Worth the pain. That's some really good guac.

Juicy in the inside, crunchy in the outside.

And the chimichurri is the perfect sauce

that balance up all the flavors.

The herby creamy sauce

really is complimenting the smokiness of the chicken tinga.

And the sauce really slaps.

Empanadas are a Spanish and Latin American treat.

Let's see how each of our three chefs made theirs.

Steven made a vegetarian filling

using Beyond Meat plant based sausage.

It contains a proprietary blend of pea and rice proteins,

with coconut oil pieces to replicate animal fat.

It's a tasty and good approximation of real sausage.

Adriana used a sous vide technique.

The meat is seasoned and then vacuum sealed in a pouch

which is submerged in water held at a constant temperature

by an immersion circulator.

The idea is that the meat will never exceed

the temperature of the water.

So it's a slow cooking method,

which allows proteins to hydrolyze, fat to melt,

and some of the connective tissue

to convert to the softer gelatin.

There are no browning reactions with this method.

So she baked it so that the radiant heat of the oven

aided in browning the outside of her pork shoulder,

also known as a picnic roast

that comes from the shoulder area of the hog

above the four legs.

Alicia used prepackaged laminated puff pastry.

Laminated doughs are flaky

because solid cold fat is covered with flour

and rolled to flatten the layers,

forming sheets of fat and flour.

For a traditional puff pastry, butter is used.

Butter has enough water in it

to form steam when baked in a hot oven,

thereby raising the laminated sheets,

giving puff pastry its characteristic flakiness.

Adriana made a dough from hominy.

Hominy is corn with the holes removed

by soaking it in an alkaline solution.

It's very high in starch.

She soaked it to soften it before cooking it to a paste

through the process of gelatinization.

Starch molecules start to vibrate when heated.

Hydrogen bonds break

and allow water to combine with starch fractions,

making the mixture swell and thicken.

Corn doesn't contain gluten,

so the starches are responsible for the cohesive structure

of Adriana's empanada dough.

There are so many options for dough, filling, cooking,

and sauces, when it comes to delicious empanadas.

Next time you are in the mood to make them,

we hope you'll take some of the tips

from our three fabulous chefs.