Empada de Frango com Catupiry

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •18 small empada molds or 1 standard 12-cup muffin tin
• •3-liter pot for cooking the chicken
• •Wide skillet for the filling
• •Rolling pin
• •Baking sheet
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Start the dough

   Stir the flour and salt in a large bowl. Add the cold butter and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until you have sandy crumbs with some pea-size pieces left. Stop there. Those little butter pieces melt in the oven and give the shell its tender crumble; rub them all away and the dough turns heavy.

   Cold butter is not a detail. Warm butter smears into the flour, and then your empada loses that delicate, crumbly bite people fight over.
2. 2

   Bring it together

   Beat the egg with 3 tablespoons of ice water, pour it over the flour mixture, and squeeze the dough together with your hands. Add more ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, only if dry flour refuses to join the party. Divide the dough into a larger piece for the shells and a smaller piece for the lids, flatten both, wrap, and chill for 30 minutes. Don't knead it like bread. Too much work builds gluten, and gluten gives you a tough shell instead of massa podre.

3. 3

   Cook the chicken

   Put the chicken, water, bay leaf, and 1 teaspoon salt in a 3-liter pot. Bring it just to a boil, then lower to a gentle simmer and cook until the thickest piece is no longer pink and reaches 74 C or 165 F, about 15 to 20 minutes. Pull the chicken out and save 1 cup of the cooking liquid. A hard boil tightens chicken; a gentle simmer keeps it moist, and that liquid is flavor you already paid for.

4. 4

   Shred it warm

   Let the chicken rest for 5 minutes, then shred it with two forks into short, juicy threads. Warm chicken shreds easily. Cold chicken fights you, and if you chop it to punish it, the filling turns pasty instead of generous.

5. 5

   Build the refogado

   Warm the oil in a wide pan over medium heat. Add the onion and cook, stirring now and then, until it goes soft and see-through, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic for 1 minute, just long enough to smell it, then add the tomato and colorau and cook until the tomato collapses and the oil turns warm orange, about 3 minutes. This is the foundation. Onion first, garlic second, because burnt garlic is bitter and it will follow you through the whole tray.

6. 6

   Thicken the filling

   Add the shredded chicken, olives if using, and black pepper to the refogado. Sprinkle in the 1 tablespoon flour and stir for 1 minute, until the chicken looks lightly coated. Pour in 1/2 cup reserved cooking liquid and stir until the filling is creamy and thick enough to hold a line when you drag the spoon through it. The flour and caldo bind the filling, so it stays juicy without leaking into the pastry and making the bottom sad.

7. 7

   Add Catupiry

   Turn the heat low and stir in 1/2 cup of the Catupiry until the filling looks creamy and glossy. Fold in the parsley, taste for salt, then spread the filling on a plate to cool for 20 minutes. Save the remaining 1/2 cup Catupiry for little pockets inside the empadas. Hot filling melts the butter in the dough before the oven can do its job, and then the shell slumps. Anota aí: cool filling, happy pastry.

8. 8

   Shape the shells

   Heat the oven to 190 C or 375 F. Grease 18 small empada molds, or use a standard muffin tin for slightly larger ones. Pinch off pieces from the larger dough and press them into the bottom and sides of each mold, about 2 to 3 mm thick, leaving a small overhang. Patch cracks with your fingers. This dough forgives you. Keep the walls even so the shell bakes at the same pace instead of giving you a thick raw corner and a dry rim.

9. 9

   Fill and seal

   Spoon in enough chicken filling to come just below the rim, add 1 teaspoon of the reserved Catupiry to each empada, and cover with a little more filling if there is room. Roll the smaller dough piece on a floured counter to about 3 mm thick and cut lids slightly wider than the molds. Lay a lid over each empada, press the edges to seal, trim the extra dough, and poke one tiny slit in the top. Overfill and they'll leak. Seal without a slit and the filling pushes back. The pastry is not being dramatic; it's physics.

10. 10

    Bake until gold

    Mix the egg yolk with the milk and brush the tops. Set the molds on a baking sheet and bake until the lids are deep golden and the edges pull slightly from the molds, about 25 to 30 minutes. Let them cool for 10 minutes before unmolding. Hot shortcrust is fragile, and the filling needs a minute to settle so it stays inside when you bite.

Chef Tips

• •Use real Catupiry or a thick Brazilian requeijão cremoso that holds its shape on a spoon. If yours is runny, chill it first and use a little less. If all you have is cream cheese, it will work, but the taste will move away from the Brazilian snack-shop filling a gente knows.
• •Leftover chicken from yesterday's pê-efe is a good Tuesday shortcut. Shred it, use water or homemade caldo to loosen the filling, and keep moving. What you don't need is a bouillon cube pretending to be dinner.
• •Cool the filling before shaping. I know waiting is annoying. Hot filling melts the dough's butter before baking starts, and then the pastry loses its crumble.
• •Don't overwork the dough. Press it together, chill it, patch it when it cracks, and trust it. Empada dough is supposed to be tender and a little crumbly, not smooth like bread dough.
• •For picnics, bake them fully, cool completely, and carry them at room temperature the same day. For make-ahead comfort, freeze them unbaked and brush with egg wash right before the oven.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be made up to 2 days ahead and kept wrapped in the fridge. Let it sit 10 minutes before shaping if it feels too firm.
• •The chicken filling can be made up to 2 days ahead. Keep it covered in the fridge and use it cold or just cool, never hot, when filling the shells.
• •Shaped unbaked empadas freeze well for up to 2 months. Freeze on a tray until firm, then bag them. Bake from frozen at 190 C or 375 F, adding 8 to 10 minutes.
• •Baked empadas keep 4 days in the fridge. Rewarm in a 180 C or 350 F oven until the crust feels crisp again, about 10 minutes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 90g)