Creamed Corn Empanadas with Orange-Honey Drizzle
http://www.hispanickitchen.com/profiles/blogs/creamed-corn-empanadas-with
Posted by Joan Nova on July 20, 2011 at 3:00pm
Creamed corn empanadas, popular in South America, are traditionally called empanadas de humitas. I thought it was an interesting party food that would pair well with the wine I had selected. Having never made it before, I looked at a few recipes (they're all basically the same) and chose to follow Rebecca's instructions on From Argentina with Love .
Of course, I switched it up a little bit. Hey, you didn't think I actually "followed" a recipe, did you?
And, with all due modesty, I think the changes I made are what took it 'over the top'. 
Empanada shells can be found in the frozen (ethnic) section of most supermarkets or in Latin markets. Because this was for a cocktail party, I used "copetines from Argentina" which are very small discs (2 bites) and it yielded about 40. You can probably make about 12-15 with the regular size.
Creamed Corn Empanadas with Orange-Honey Drizzle
Ingredients
10 ears of fresh corn shucked
1/2 leek sliced thinly + minced
1/2 onion sliced thinly + minced
2 tsp crumbled bacon
2 roasted piquillo peppers chopped small
1 cup shredded mozzarella (fresh), loosely packed
fresh cilantro to taste
salt + pepper to taste
olive oil
1 egg separated (yolk beaten with a few drops water)
2 tablespoons olive oil
one teaspoon salt, or more to taste
1/2+ cup milk (I used fat-free half + half)
empanada shells (or your own pastry dough)
honey
orange zest
Instructions
Shuck corn and grate on box cutter.*
Run knife along naked cob to get some of the corn milk.
Saute onion and leek in olive oil.
Add bacon.
Add corn and saute for a few minutes.
Add milk and reduce heat.
Cook till mixture thickens (pudding like).
Add red peppers and cilantro.
Adjust seasonings, add extra pepper.
Bring to room temperature and then refrigerate for easier filling of shells.
Separate eggs (white for sealing, yellow for glazing)
Give empanada a light roll out and begin filling process.
Fill each shell with 1 teaspoon of corn filling.
Brush edges with egg white and fold over.
Crimp with fork tines.
Brush exterior with egg yolk.
Layer on cookie sheet covered with parchment paper and chill for about 1/2 hour.
Bake at 400 degrees till golden (about 15 minutes).
Warm honey with orange zest in microwave and drizzle over empanadas.
Notes
*For some reason, every recipe I looked at said it was better to remove kernels with box cutter instead of shaving them down with a knife as most of us do.
A few additional FOODalogue changes from original recipe:
Instead of making my own, I bought prepared empanada shells (discs).
Added leek with the onion.
A little bacon - it just goes so well with corn.
Cilantro.
And, best of all, the drizzle of warm orange zested-honey. It just brought it all together.
I made the empanadas a day in advance and put them in a zip lock bag in the refrigerator. I also put some honey with fresh orange zest in a small container. When I got to the party, I popped the empanadas in the oven and the honey in the microwave. Plate and drizzle...and wait for the compliments.
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