Chicken turnovers

Filling:

• Soak ¾ cup achote seeds in 3 cups warm water to make achote water; set aside

(Aciote or annatto)

Make 3 cups of chicken stock from:

• 2 chicken thighs, large

• 2 chicken drumstcks, large

• 4 cups of water

• 1 tsp of salt

Bring to a boil and then reduce heat to medium and cook for 30 minutes or until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Remove the chicken from the broth, debone it and cut it into small pieces. Set aside.

• 1 cup oil

• 2 tbsp of garlic, finely chopped

• 1 cup of onion, chopped

• 1 medium-sized bell pepper

• 1½ tsp of salt

• 1 tsp of black pepper

• 1 tsp of MSG (if desired)

• 1½ cups of cream of rice

• ⅓ cups of green onions, chopped

• 2 hot peppers

Saute garlic and onions in oil until tender (about 2-3 minutes). Add celery, bell pepper, salt, black pepper and MSG. Cook for 2-3 minutes. Add achote water and chicken stock. Bring water to a boil. Reduce heat to medium low. Add cream of rice, stirring constantly for 8-10 minutes or until rice is cooked. Add green onions and hot pepper. Remove from stove. Let cool.

Shell:

• 10 cups of Masa harina (Mexican flour)

• 1 tsp salt

• 3 cups achote water from ½ cup of achote seeds

• 3 cups of water

Place Masa harina in a large bowl. Add salt and achote water. Knead the dough until blended and form into 2 inch diameter balls. Press into thin tortillas about 6 inches in diameter. Put one heaping teaspoon of empanada filling on each tortilla and fold. Press along the edges to seal (like turnovers). Heat oil about 2-inches deep in the frying pan about 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Fry empanada for 8 minutes, turning over once or twice.

Makes 45 empanadas.

By Regina Deplata

Editor’s Note: Recipe from Lepblon Fina’tinas Para Guam: Guam Cookbook, 1985.
Reprinted with permission from Congresswoman Madeleine Z. Bordallo, Y Inetnon Famalao’an (Women’s Association), 1985.

Y Inetnon Famalao’an was a women’s organization composed of cabinet wives and women executives in the government of Guam.