Today’s the best office party of the whole year: the one at the big boss’s house where there’s lots of beer and food. Plus it starts at 3 p.m., so I get two hours off work for free. It’s a potluck thing (my friend Ken told me today that Baptists don’t have potlucks because nothing is luck, it’s all Providence–hilarious. They just have shared dinner events), and I invented a dish for the occasion. It’s a variation on my special pork burritos in tomatillo sauce, but this is more of an appetizer-type thing.

Empanadas de cerdo en salsa verde (fancy-talk for little pork turnovers in green sauce)

INGREDIENTS:

• enough pie crust for 4 9-inch crusts (I cheated and bought frozen)
• half a pork loin, about half a pound, cut into small cubes (hint: this is easier to do if it’s semi-frozen) (you could also use chicken or garbanzo beans)
• 1 Tbsp olive oil
• 24 small pieces (about .75 inch x .75 inch x .25 inch) Monterrey jack cheese (I wanted queso fresco but didn’t see any at Hy-Vee)
• 1 egg
• paprika
• 1 tsp cumin
• 1 small container sour cream
• 1/2 cup fresh cilantro, finely minced
• 1 cup tomatillo sauce (see recipe below)

METHOD:

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. In a frying pan, heat the olive oil on medium. Sauté the pork until it is cooked through.
3. Add the tomatillo sauce and stir. Heat through. Reduce heat to a simmer.
4. Roll out the pie dough to about 1/8 inch thickness. Using a round cookie cutter (I used a glass that was about 3 inches in diameter), cut out circles.
5. Moisten your finger with some water and run it around the outer edge of the circle. This will help it adhere to itself once it’s stuffed.
6. Place a piece of cheese in the center of the circle. Place two pork cubes on top of the cheese.
7. Fold the circle into a half moon, sealing along the edges. Place on a cookie sheet.
8. Repeat, occasionally picking up the scraps of pie dough and re-rolling them so you don’t waste it. You should be able to make about 2 dozen or so.
9. Beat the egg and use a basting brush to give the empanadas an egg wash. Sprinkle generously with paprika (chile powder would be good too).
10. Bake for about 25 minutes, or until golden brown. It’s ok if they burst a little.
11. While they’re cooking, mix the cilantro, sour cream, and cumin. Serve it in a pretty bowl to use as a topping or dip.

Tomatillo Sauce: This is slightly labor-intensive, so I’m glad I had some in the freezer. This is good on burritos or enchiladas.

INGREDIENTS:

• 2 lbs. tomatillos (they look like little green tomatoes, but they’re actually different)
• 2 cans green chiles
• 1 cup fresh cilantro, loosely packed (use more or less depending on how much you like cilantro. I myself love it)
• 1 medium yellow onion, chopped
• several cloves of garlic, coarsely chopped
• 2 whole jalapeños (fresh), coarsley chopped (1 if you’re a weiner)
• 1 Tbsp ground cumin
• 1/2 cup sour cream
• 1/2 cup chicken stock

METHOD:

1. Rinse the tomatillos and peel off the papery husk. Using a kitchen torch (aka fire squirter), squirt fire on the tomatillos one at a time until they are scorched and blackened all over. You could also do this over a gas stove, or you can do it in a pan, but the pan method takes forever and makes the kitchen smokey. I recommend the fire squirter method.
2. If the tomatillos are large, cut them in half. Drizzle some olive oil into a large pan and saute the tomatillos, half the onion, the garlic, and the jalapeños over medium heat until the tomatillos are dull green and squishy.
3. Put the contents of the pan into a blender. Blend until relatively smooth. Add the green chiles, cilantro, the cumin, and about 1/4 cup of sour cream. Blend, adding chicken stock a little at a time until it is a sauce consistency. Add salt and pepper to taste.