Chilean Empenadas for Chilean Independence Day (FIESTAS PATRIAS)

Hey Steemians, HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY!!

Well, it is September 18 and that means CHILEAN Independence Day.  Also know as Fiestas Patrias.  To celebrate, I have another food photo shoot for you, and as always, a recipe below.  I will also be adding some history of Chile for you at the end of this post.  And just a quick note for those just tuning in, I am a 20 year old American living in Chile with my crazy family.  We've lived here over three years now and today will be our fourth Fiestas Patrias, VIVA CHILE!

All of these photos were taken with my Nikon D5300 and my favorite Lens, the Nikon AF-S FX NIKKOR 50mm f/1.8G, verification photo below, that's meant to be funny by the way.  All content is mine and original, except for two sourced photos below.

Today Chile is celebrating the day that they declared their independence from Spain on September 18, 1810.  I will post more about this below, after the recipe for the empenadas.

In case you didn’t know, empanadas are like Chile’s cheeseburger. They are a traditional favorite and they are served in every part of the country. 

The fillings vary but usually include meat, hard boiled eggs, and olives or sometimes just cheese.  Really, you can put just about anything you want in them and they do here.

I am a fan of all of these things but I think I may have mentioned before that my family is a little (ahem, a Lot) picky so I went with a very basic filling for these. 

 You must try this recipe. Trust me, you’ll thank me later.  I hope you enjoy!

These are a very festive way to celebrate today. 

RECIPE

Prep Time: 1 hour

Cook Time: 30 minutes

Total Time: 1 hour, 30 minutes

Yield: 6 - 8 servings

Ingredients

For Filling:

• 3/4 lb. ground pork
• 1 medium red onion
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 tablespoon sugar
• 1 teaspoon oregeno
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1/3 cup flour
• 1 cup water

For Pastry:

• 3 cups flour
• 1/2 cup lard or vegetable shortening
• 1/2 cup milk
• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 large egg, beaten
• 1 tablespoon water
• 1 egg plus 2 tablespoons water for brushing on tops

Instructions

1. Cook Pork over medium heat until fully browned. Drain and place in separate dish; cover to keep warm.
2. Cook onion and garlic in 1 tablespoon of oil until soft. Add pork and seasonings to pan.
3. Whisk water and flour in a small bowl until completely smooth then pour over filling. Stir contantly until it begins to thicken then remove from heat. Cover to keep warm until ready to use.
4. For the pastry, melt lard or shortening in a large bowl. Add egg, milk, salt, and water and stir until combined. Add flour and mix until it forms a dough.
5. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Roll dough out on a lightly floured surface until it about 1/8 inch thick. Cut circles with a large cookie cutter or you can use a bowl like I did. You can make them a big or small as you like.
6. Spoon filling into the center of each circle and fold in half. press edges together all the way around and place on a lined baking pan.
7. Brush with eggwash and bake for 20 - 30 minutes depending on size until golden brown.

Notes

Additional add-ins for traditional empanadas include: 1/2 cup raisins, 2 hardboiled eggs, or 1/2 cup olives 

I hope you try these and enjoy them!

Ok, now, for a little Chilean Independence Day History:

SOURCE

This is a HUGE holiday here in Chile, in fact, I'd say it is the biggest, even bigger than Christmas.  It is a minimum of one week interruption to daily life, sometimes longer.  Basically, one week before and after, don’t plan on getting much done.  It’s a holiday that families and friends get together and cook, eat and drink and a lot of it.  There are festivities all over the country, probably the most notable is the national rodeo.  

Here in the South of Chile, it also kicks off the season of Spring.  Everybody is celebrating emerging from Winter. 

SOURCE

A  little about Chilean independence from Spain:  In 1807, Napoleon invaded Spain and sent the king into exile.  Napoleon placed his brother on the throne, probably not the best of his ideas.  As with many other Latin American countries at that time, the local leaders of Chile quickly realized that they no longer had to send tribute to Spain since the king was gone, and there was no way at that time that Napoleon could enforce it as there was no French presence down here.  So, a declaration of independence was made on September 18, 1810.  In the beginning, there was civil strife amongst many different factions.  You still had people loyal to Spain for example.  After several efforts, Spanish troops from Peru took advantage of the infighting and strife to reconquer Chile in 1814, when they reasserted control by winning the Battle of Rancagua on October 12. O'Higgins (considered to be the George Washington of Chile) and many of the Chilean rebels escaped to Argentina.

Side note:  Every city and town in Chile has at least one avenue named O’Higgins 

Spain continued to rule from 1814 to 1817.  In exile in Argentina, O'Higgins joined forces with José de San Martín, whose army freed Chile with a daring assault over the Andes in 1817, defeating the Spaniards at the Battle of Chacabuco on February 12. Chile won its formal independence when San Martín defeated the last large Spanish force on Chilean soil at the Battle of Maipú on April 5, 1818.
 

Chile is an amazing place.  It’s not perfect by any stretch, but it is great nonetheless.  At the very least, you should consider a visit, especially to the South where I live.
 

 AND A HUGE MASSIVE SHOUT OUT TO @rigaronib for designing my logo!!!! 

 I hope you enjoyed today's post? A little history with your food, kinda like a dinner and a show. I am always open to feedback, and would love to know how you feel I could do better and please do not forget to follow me.