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Spin, or anyone- Help!!!!!!!!!!

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JSlot
JSlot Posts: 1,218
edited November -1 in EggHead Forum
Found a great recipe for empenadas (sp?), or meat pies. I'll pass it along as soon as I get the kinks worked out. I'm having problems with the dough for the recipe. The recipe for the dough is for a food processor and contains the following ingredients:[p]4 cups all-purpose flour
2 t paprika
1 t salt
1 cup lard at room temp
½ cup water at room temp (add more by teaspoon if dry)[p]I tried two different times and both times the dough came out dry as heck. The recipe said to put in dry ingredients and mix. Add lard by the spoonful and cut in. Add water and pulse to mix dough. Add more water if dry. Well, I ended up adding almost another ½ cup of water and it was still very dry. BTW, I did use the dough blade on the processor which didn't seem to make much difference. I did make up some pies with the second batch of dough. They came out dry but had a great flavor, sort of like a pot pie. My question is this, should I keep adding water until I get the right consistency, or am I missing something else here?[p]Jim
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  • Smokin' Todd
    Smokin' Todd Posts: 1,104
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    JSlot,[p]Ahhhh empanadas. You're in luck. I live with a Columbian lady and those are a Columbian delicacy. Real empanadas are made with precooked white corn meal(La Venezolana is a good brand)...simply mix with water...roll...add meat filling...then roll over.
    I deep fry them of course but you just gave me the idea of Eggin' them on my pizza stone, which I can not believe I never thought of that before.[p]ST    [/b]
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  • Pakak
    Pakak Posts: 523
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    Judging from the ingredients, you shouldn't be using a mixer for the dough. With the lard and the description "cut in" the meaning is - it's like a pie crust. Overmixing will result in a tough, unsatisfactory crust. To mix, use a fork or pastry cutter. JMHO
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  • Unknown
    Unknown
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    JSlot,
    I'm not a professional at this but I would suggest instead of room temp on water is use ice water instead, all pie doughs always call for ice water and as stated in the other thread, don't over mix
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  • Spin
    Spin Posts: 1,375
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    JSlot,[p]The amount of water needed in any dough recipe will vary for many reasons. I can think of two that may be affecting your pie dough. Lower protein flours soak up less water than higher protein flours. Since you are making a pie crust, I would use the lowest protein all-purpose flour available. White Lily all-purpose light baking flour would work wonderfully for your recipe. The second possibility is that you are using more flour than you think. Measuring by volume can lead to packing the flour. Flour should be weighted (ideally) or sifted into a measuring device and leveled with a straightedge.[p]The amount of water will still vary, but should be in the pallpark of the recipe. Keep adding until the consistancy is right. The method (not the recipe) may benefit with the use of cold water as prepping in the food processor tends to heat the dough. Pie crusts need four and fat cut together, not intimately mixed as is what happens when over mixed and/or when the fat melts (the food processor can quickly do both). I would suggest you try cutting the ingredients together by hand once just to see the difference the technique makes in the final product.[p]Best of luck and I hope I've helped. Looking forward to the recipe.[p]Spin
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  • JSlot
    JSlot Posts: 1,218
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    Thanks for all the replies, guys. I will try cutting in the lard by hand and going from there. I will also weigh the flour. I assume that one cup of flour should weigh 8 oz.?
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  • JSlot
    JSlot Posts: 1,218
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    Can I find that in the local grocery, Todd? I'll look around today. Nothing else to do with Henri dumping the rest of his rain on us over the weekend.[p]Jim
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  • Spin
    Spin Posts: 1,375
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    JSlot,[p]One cup flour equals 5 ounces.[p]Spin
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  • JSlot
    JSlot Posts: 1,218
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    Thanks, Spin. See you in Hotlanta![p]Jim
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  • Smokin' Todd
    Smokin' Todd Posts: 1,104
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    JSlot,[p]Im not sure about the area you live in...do you have hispanic sctions in your area?. Those kind of stores will definatley have them. And being that your supermarket system is different then here in the northeast IM not sure if they will carry them.In my area every supermarket has a good variety of hispanic foods and it's easy to find.
    Good luck and let us know how everything turns out.[p]ST     [/b]
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  • RhumAndJerk
    RhumAndJerk Posts: 1,506
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    JSlot,
    You will know that the dry ingredients and lard are mixed correctly when it looks like coarse corn meal. Then, you add just enough ice water to barely hold dough together. This will produce a very flaky crust.
    I use my K Blade on my Kitchen Aid to cut the lard into the flour. From there, the water is added by hand.[p]Hope this helps,
    RhumAndJerk[p]
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