Empanadas

2 pounds of ground turkey
2 red onions thinly diced
2 red peppers
2 green peppers
1/2 bunch cilantro (finely chopped)
4 T. minced garlic
4 pimento olives (finely chopped)
3 T. Adobo
3 Bay Leaves
1 T. Cumin
1 cup golden raisins
1 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup Olive Oil
* Note I have also used tofu, morning star veggie crumble, and fish for my empanadas. So I will tell you to experiment. It's a great way to use that left over meat from last nights dinner. Diced potatoes give it that heartiness when using veggie meat.

1 pkg empanada shells (it can be found in your local supermarket freezer in the latin section) but I also attached the simplest recipe that I have tried and it seems just as good.

Every empanada recipe starts with the dough. Here is a simple empanada dough made with flour, salt, water, egg, vinegar and shortening.

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 1 hours, 00 minutes
Ingredients:
3 cups flour (plus a little more for kneading)
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup cold water
1 egg
1 egg white
1 teaspoon vinegar
3 tablespoons shortening

Preparation:
1. In a bowl, beat the water, egg, egg white and vinegar together. Set aside.
2. In a separate bowl, mix together the 3 cups of flour and salt.
3. Cut the shortening into the flour mix with a pastry blender or two butter knives. Make a well in the center of the flour mix and pour the liquid ingredients from the first bowl into the center.
4. Mix the wet and dry ingredients with a fork until it becomes stiff.
5. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface. Knead it just until all the flour is incorporated and the dough is smooth.
6. Wrap the dough in plastic and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, but never more than 24 hours.
Tip: If you want to keep the dough longer than 24 hours, you can freeze it.
Servings: Makes approximately 10 six-inch empanadas.
Filling Preparation:

1. In a large pot saute onions and peppers in olive oil.

2. Once become translucent add garlic cilantro and mojo and stir.

3. Add remainder of ingredients (except for raisins and dried cranberries) cook on medium high until liquid has somewhat dried.

4. Add dried cranberries and golden raisins the last couple of minutes before u turn off the heat.