Cacique® “L.A. Dog” Empanadas
New Yorkers add sauerkraut to them. In Chicago, pickles and tomatoes adorn them. But, in Los Angeles, our iconic hot dog is wrapped in the beautiful, all mighty bacon. The taste of the smoky bacon and wiener alone is something to write home to ma about, but you know us Angelenos, we always want more!
I love walking out of a football or baseball stadium and find the hot dog cart magically appear at night on the sidewalk or near the parking lot. Typically, there’s a small line of event goers cheerfully looking onto the cart’s griddle top of rows of bacon wrapped dogs. On the side of those wieners are all the toppings: grilled onions caramelizing to sweet goodness, bell peppers, and roasted jalapeños. The side of the cart or on a small folding table nearby are squeeze bottles with thick mayonnaise, crema, and for you traditionalists, good or’ mustard and ketchup.
The hot dog street carts are where I took my inspiration for the Cacique® LA Dog Empanada. A spoonful of the creamy and cheesy filling mixed with wieners, crumbled bacon, and of course, jalapeños. We use a combination of Cacique® Queso Enchilado and Queso Cotija. The two kinds of cheese complement each other as the enchilado has a robust flavor that shreds and melts beautifully and the artisan cotija cheese adds a salty full-bodied flavor to the filling mixture. In replace of the mayonnaise, we used the tangy sour cream flavor and creamy Cacique® Crema Salvadoreña.
During football and baseball season, I look for easy-to-make finger foods that are loaded with flavor. These Cacique® LA Dog Empanadas scored big at our last tailgate party, and I am sure they will be a hit with your sports fanaticos as well.
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WHAT YOU NEED
- 12 ounces package bacon
- 1 large yellow onion, diced
- 2 jalapeños, stemmed, seeded and diced
- 8 all-beef hot dog wieners, diced
- 5 ounces Cacique® Enchilado
- 5 ounces Cacique® Cotija
- 1 cup Cacique® Crema Salvadoreña
- 36 empanada wrappers, thawed
- 1-ounce sesame seeds
HOW TO MAKE IT
- Cook the bacon in a large skillet until crispy. Drain on paper towels and then chop or crumble. Reserve 1 tablespoon bacon fat and discard the rest. In the same skillet, heat 1 tablespoon bacon fat over medium-high heat. Sauté onions and jalapeños until onions become translucent and fragrant, about 3 minutes. Add diced beef wieners and sauté 5 minutes. Transfer to a large mixing bowl and allow to cool slightly. Meanwhile preheat oven to 425F. Line 3 baking trays with parchment paper and set aside.
- Grate Cacique® Enchilado and crumble the Cotija. Add the cheese and crema to the bowl and mix all ingredients until well incorporated. Place a heaping tablespoon of filling on one half of each of the dough circles. Wet the bottom edge of the circles with egg glaze to help seal the two halves. Fold over the dough to cover filling and seal off the edges with a fork pressing down along the edges. Repeat with remaining dough and filling. Brush each empanada with egg glaze and sprinkle with sesame seeds. Bake 18-20 minutes.
