Beef Cheek & Egmont Empanadas

Ingredients

Beef Cheek Filling:

400	gr	Beef cheek
100	gr	Mainland Salted Butter
100	gr	Port wine jelly
300	gr	Crushed tomatoes
100	ml	Water
100	ml	Anchor Blue Top Milk
50	gr	Rosemary, thyme & parsley stalks

Empanada Dough:

Coriander Cream:

Building your Empanada (per each):

Method

Beef Cheek Filling:

1. Seal beef cheeks in a hot frypan to seal in juices, set aside to rest.
2. Combine all ingredients with the beef cheeks in a covered oven tray and slow cook at 150°C for 4 hours. 
3. Remove from oven and remove herbs.
4. Break up the beef cheeks and bind with the cooking mixture. Season to taste ready to fill empanadas.

Empanada Dough:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and sugar.
2. Gently mix the vegetable shortening into the flour.
3. Place the milk and water in a saucepan and heat until almost boiling.
4. Stir the hot liquid into the flour mixture. Add more water (1 tablespoon at a time) if the mixture seems too dry and crumbly, alternatively add more flour if the mixture is too wet and sticky.
5. Knead dough gently until well mixed – do not overwork the dough.
6. Divide dough into 18 portions and roll each piece into a ball. Let the dough rest for 5 minutes.
7. Roll each ball of dough into a 6–7 inch circle.

Coriander Cream:

1. Blend all ingredients together until smooth.
2. Season to taste.
3. Leave to chill and re-set in the refrigerator for 3 hours. Use to drizzle on top or on the side for dipping.

Building your Empanada (per each):

1. Place 30g of cheese & 50g beef cheek filling in the centre of each dough circle.
2. Fold the dough in half over the filling to form a semicircle.
3. Press down firmly along edges to seal, pinch and fold edges.
4. Deep fry at 170°C until golden brown, season with salt and garnish with pickled vegetables & smoked tomato gel or oven bake at 200°C for 12–15 minutes until golden brown and crispy.
5. Serve with side of Coriander Cream dipping sauce.