Corn and Poblano Empanadas- CL Aug. 2003

[pbchipses]

These were very tasty! Spicy, but not too hot. I used regular shredded mozzarella, and that seemed fine. As with lots of CL recipes, there didn't seem to be enough dough. I could barely squeeze 2 tbsp of filling into my empanadas, much less 3! Needless to say, I have about half of the filling leftover. Maybe it would be good in quesadillas...

The drawback is that they were VERY time consuming to make. It took me about 2 hours from start to finish (keep in mind that I am a slow cook who was not in a hurry!)!

Another thing to keep in mind, if you are sensitive to peppers, wear gloves! After handling the poblanos, my hands were stinging... not to mention the juice that squirted in my eye while I was chopping them!

I served this as a main course with salad and one of those weird melons they are selling at the grocery stores these days (I believe mine was called a Santa Claus melon! :)) These side dishes helped cool the spiciness.

This is a great recipe to make on a weekend when you have lots of time to play in the kitchen!

[kristalsnow7]

Thanks for the review, Sarah! I thought these looked yummy, and had planned to make them last week, but didn't receive any fresh corn in my CSA box. They're promising for next week, so I'm going to tentatively plan it for Saturday. I'll probably use Chihuahua cheese and serve it with some black bean soup. Thanks for the tips---I'll be sure to wear some gloves. ;)

[pbchipses]

Yeah, I didn't think it was going to be so bad, but hours later my hands burned everytime they were in lukewarm water!

[Terrytx]

I have a couple of questions. Do you think these would freeze all right? Should I double the crust ingredients? I think I will wait to make them until kristal makes them and get more feed-back. Please post after you make them kristal.

[Mimeea]

I made these a couple nights ago (forgot to post a review :o), but I thought they were great! I served them as my starchy side along with grilled chicken and grilled okra with a wonderful fresh strawberry pie for dessert :D.

Mine turned out pretty spicy, but not too bad. I used regular shredded mozzerela, too, which was fine. One note: wear GLOVES! My hands stung from the poblanos for quite a while afterwards.

I really didn't have a problem with the size of the dough at all. Just make sure you roll it out a lot to begin with. I did have a little less than a 1/4 cup of leftover corn mixture, though.

Although this recipe isn't perfect for a fast weeknight meal, I wouldn't exile it only to the weekend. If you prepare the rest of your meal while it cooks, you'll be fine.

Terrytx- I froze two leftover empadas, I haven't eaten them yet, but I think it would be fine.

[jjsooner73]

I made these today and thought they were pretty good. If I think about it, it's something I would repeat. Like mimeea, I didn't have a problem with the dough. I had a little bit of the corn mixture left over, but not enough to save for anything else. My dbf liked them as well-I was afraid they'd be to spicy for him, but they weren't. I could handle a little more spice, but they were fine as tehy were. I might would add a little more salt to the dough next time.

I think they would be good with black beans added to the filling as well.

[sfarler]

We just had these last night and we thought they were delicious. A little time consuming to make, but well worth it!

[sherri]

How funny that this thread just popped up, I am planning on making them this weekend. Hopefully I won't have problems with the dough, like some people did. I was planning on serving these with black beans and homemade salsa, hopefully they will work well together. Thanks for the reviews!

[sfarler]

Sherri,

I didn't have any trouble with the dough. I did roll them larger than the 3" the recipe called for before I chilled them. I probably rolled them to 4+ inches. Then after I refrigerated them (and I probably chilled them for over an hour) I rolled them out to 5+ inches. The dough was very easy to work with.

[sherri]

Great tip, thank you so much.

[JennieL]

I made these with my supper club and we loved them. I had no problems with the dough. The heat of peppers varies widely. Ours were not spicy at all! We had no problem finising them off. I would definately make them again. I don't know about freezing them, but you certainly could make them ahead and keep them in the fridge for a day before baking.

[RebeccaT]

I am resurrecting this old thread because I made these to serve yesterday at my book club... we had read Bel Canto and I decided to serve these to go along with the Central American theme (of course, I realized during our discussion that it was more likely set in a South American country than Central American, but oh well... :o )

Anyway. These were very tasty! They went over quite well, and I think that they would make a great appetizer for a party, especially if you made them smaller (these could easily be rolled into smaller rounds, and be 1-2 bite appys). I thought the flavor was great from the roasted poblanos, and mine weren't spicy at all. I served them with a mango salsa to dip, and the flavors went together very well. A little time consuming, but not too bad.

Thanks for all of the earlier reviews, they are what inspired me to make them in the first place! :)