Chicken Empanadas

The chinese has dumplings, the Portuguese/Indonesians/Angolans have pastel. The Spaniards have empanadas.

I made this little cuties for Christmas entree and boy, were they delicious!!

It took quite a lot of work, nothing too difficult, and if you spread the work over few days, it is very doable.

Recipe courtesy of Crumbly Cookie.

Day 1: The filling
Ingredients:

* 3 large chicken thighs, 3 large chicken drumsticks. Skin on, pat dry.
* 1 tsp salt
* 1/4 tsp black pepper
* 1/4 tsp chilli powder
* 2 large onions, diced
* 2 large cloves garlic, minced
* 2 bay leaves
* 1/3 cup diced chorizo
* 1/4 cup raisins
* 1/2 cup dry white wine (I used chardonnay)
* 1/2 cup chicken broth

How to:
* Season the dried chicken with salt, pepper & chilli powder. Heat up oil in a deep skillet with cover, cook the chicken (skin side down). Do not disturb, touch & turn, until brown. Turn to other side. Once brown on both sides, set aside.

* Onto the same skillet, add the onion, garlic, bay leaves. Cook until onions are soft, before adding the chorizo. Let it cook for 1 min, then add the raisins, wine & chicken broth. Let it boil, while continuing to stir and scrapping the bottom. Add back the chicken and cover. Cook for 30 mins, and turn the chicken only once.

* After 30 mins, the juice of the chicken + broth + wine mixture should be thick and creamy. Turn off fire, and transfer chicken et all to a clean plate to cool down. Once it's cool enough to handle, peel off the chicken skin, de-bone and then roughly diced the meat.

* Transfer meat, sauce et all into a container. Covered and store in fridge for the next day. Fight the temptation to eat it, I know it's really good.

Day 2: Doing the dough
Ingredients:
* 4.5 C all purp. flour
* 3 tsp salt
* 227 gr of butter, cold
* 2 large eggs
* 2/3 cup ice water
* 2 tbsp white vinegar

How to:
* In a large bowl, mix in the flour & salt. Using your hand, incorporate the butter until it turns crumbly (pea size).

* In a small bowl, whisk the eggs, water & vinegar. Add into the flour mixture until just incorporated. The mixture will be extremely wet.

* Onto a lightly floured surface, knead the dough a little. Gently. Cut into 4 of equal portion. Keep on freezer for at least 1 hour before you start working on it.

Day 2/3/4/ .. : after freezing the dough for at least 1 hour
* Preheat oven 200 C

* Prepare the egg wash: 1 egg + 1 tbsp water + a pinch of salt. Whisk in a small bowl.

* Work in batches. Take out 1/4 of the dough from your freezer. Mold into a ball and flatten it. Cut into 8 pieces of equal size. Flatten each piece, scoop 1.5 tsp of filling, and fold.

* Use back of fork to close it. And brush with egg wash.

* Bake for about 20-25 mins till golden brown.