Chef Mika Leon, owner of Caja Caliente in Coral Gables, Florida, joined "Good Morning America" on Tuesday to share two beloved classic Cuban dishes.
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Ingredients
1/2 large yellow onion, diced
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 green bell pepper, diced
2 teaspoons sazon completa
1 lb. ground beef (80/20)
10 oz. tomato sauce (I like Goya)
1/4 cup dry, white cooking wine
Salt & pepper to taste
1 teaspoon ground cumin
2 tablespoons capers
2 tablespoons chopped Spanish olives
2 tablespoons raisins
1 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon garlic powder
Store bought empanada dough wrappers for frying
Vegetable / canola oil for frying
Directions
In a large pan over medium-high heat, add 3 tablespoons of olive oil. Then add in your green bell peppers, onion, sazon completa and chopped garlic. This is the base, the sofrito. Let this cook down and stir for about 7-8 minutes over medium heat until the onions are translucent.
Now add your ground beef into the pan with the sofrito. Let the ground beef turn a little brown and push it down with a wooden spoon to break down the meat and make sure it cooks evenly. Let this cook for about 10 minutes over medium heat, stirring every few minutes. Now add in your cooking wine and stir.
Add tomato sauce, chopped olives, capers, and raisins and stir. Add cumin, garlic and onion powder, salt and pepper to taste. Stir and lower the heat and let this simmer for about 15-20 minutes over low-medium heat. Taste for seasoning.
Take your mixture off the heat and let it come to room temperature and then refrigerate for an hour or two until it's very cold.
On a clean surface we are going to place our defrosted empanada wrappers and one by one start filling them. Moisten the outer edge of each wrapper with water and put a spoonful/tablespoon into each wrapper making sure to not overfill. Wrap your dough around the filling to form your empanada. Using a fork, crimp the edges of the empanadas. Set aside.
Heat vegetable or canola oil in a dutch oven or mini fryer to 350 degrees. Once the oil is hot, add one empanada at a time, flipping after about 5 minutes on both sides until golden brown. Once your empanada is ready, take it out of the oil and and place on a sheet pan covered in paper towel to absorb the excess oil.
Plate and serve with your favorite dipping sauce!
Ingredients
Vegetable oil, for frying
1 cup water
4 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
1 cup AP flour, sifted
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
For the coating
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
For the sauce
1 cup dulce de leche
1/4 cup whole milk
Directions
In a saucepan over low heat add your dulce de leche and milk. Let this warm up and continuously mix until you have a nice sauce. Add more milk if you'd like the sauce less thick.
In a small bowl, mix together your granulated sugar and cinnamon. Set aside.
In a large dutch oven or mini fryer, add vegetable oil and heat over medium high heat until it reaches 375 degrees.
To a dutch oven, add your water, butter, salt and sugar ang bring to a boil. Turn the heat down to low and add the flour. Stir this mixture rigorously with a wooden spoon for 1 min. Until a dough ball forms.
Add this mixture to a mixing bowl and after it has cooled a bit, add your egg and vanilla and mix with an electric mixer until it comes together, it may seem like it's going to separate but keep mixing until a nice dough forms. Transfer the dough to a pastry bag fitted with a large star tip attachment.
Pipe 4 inches of your dough straight into the hot oil, making a few at a time but not too much to not lose the temperature of the oil. Cook for a few min. on each side until golden brown and transfer to a wire rack or paper lined plate to remove excess oil then dip in your cinnamon sugar mixture. Repeat with remaining batter and serve with your dulce de leche sauce.
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