Thursday, July 1, 2010

Chicken Empanadas

Mom is going to type the blog for now until we get into the swing of things, but Nell will be dictating. :)

The first recipe we chose was Chicken Empanadas. I've never had empanadas, and had never even heard of them, but they looked delicious!

You will need:
1 box refrigerated pie crusts (two 11-inch rounds)
4 ounces cream cheese
2 T. chopped fresh cilantro
2 T. salsa
1/2 t. ground cumin (we left this out)
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. garlic powder
1 cup finely chopped cooked chicken (make sure it's cooked before you start everything else)
1 egg, beaten
Additional salsa (we used ranch for dip instead of salsa)



First, cook the chicken.



Then take the pie crusts out of the box and let them thaw at room temperature for about 20 minutes. Use a glass or a round cookie cutter to create the "bed" for the empanada filling.





Heat the cream cheese, salsa, cumin, salt, and garlic powder in a small saucepan over low heat. Stir it until it's smooth. Stir in the chicken, and then remove from heat.

Preheat oven to 425*F. Place about 2 teaspoons chicken mixture in the middle of each round. Brush the edges with water. Pull one side of the dough over the filling. It will form a half circle. Pinch the edges to seal.



Place empanadas on foil-lined baking sheet and brush with egg.



Bake 16-18 minutes or until lightly brown. Serve with salsa (or ranch!).



Empanadas can be made ahead of time and frozen! Just wrap the unbaked empanadas with plastic wrap and freeze, and then bake for 18-22 minutes. These are good party favors but made a great dinner for us.

This is why it's important to check if there is anything in the oven before preheating. Mom stores her crayon molds inside! Woops!



This recipe got 5 out of 5 stars because everyone in the family gave it a thumbs up, even Gracelynn - who NEVER eats chicken. We tricked her, which is nearly impossible to do. That's me, my sisters, and my friend Zoe.



As soon as we were finished eating dinner, the electric went out!!! I am so glad it waited until we were finished. The oven would not have worked without electric, and I would have been mad. So thank God my first recipe was a success!

Please leave comments and let me know if you have any questions. If you make this dish, I'd love to know if you like it or if you add anything to it! Thanks for reading.

Love,
Nell

16 comments:

  1. What an excellent job!! I think my daughter and I will try this recipe. Thank you for posting this. The pics will really help us when we try this. I am glad the electric waited to go out until after you were done. Once again, excellent job!!

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  2. those look super yummy and i will have to make them for my boys one day soon. thanks for sharing this awesome treat!!

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  3. Looks delicious!! Thanks for sharing :D

    xXxLillithxXx

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  4. Those look so yummy! Great job! My boys would LOVE these :D

    Sweet_Britt

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  5. These look great & maybe I can get my picky eater to eat them too :)
    Thanks for the recipe!

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  6. Awesome job! They look super yummy, my son and I will try these out :)

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  7. Wow that's a great recipe and they look delicious way to go Nell! I might make these tonight for a quick bite at the beach tomorrow!!
    can't wait to see more!

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  8. Looks so good! My son would love this recipe!

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  9. Wow! Great job, I will have to try those for my family. Looking forward to following your blog and trying your recipes.

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  10. Yummy I love empanadas! I can't wait to try this recipe out!

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  11. Sounds Yummy! Can't wait to try it out! You did awesome job!

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  12. Congratulations on your first successful blog meal! Cream cheese and chicken sounds DELICIOUS! Good job kiddo :)

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  13. Cute blog! The recipe sounds so good and it looks so yummy! and its really easy! Will be trying it out soon!

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  14. These look lovely! I think I might have to try this with my left over chicken and veggies....

    Love that you want to be a Chef when you grow up, so does my DD (she is 12). She wanted to be a fashion designer and then one day decided she wants to be a chef, she cooks as much as she can, but I want to let her cook more, I just have to get over my issues with her cooking and let her at it.
    Thank your mom for being so cool to let you cook.

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  15. I'm going to have to try those. Definitely a fan of the ranch for dipping!

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Please leave only nice comments!!