With the papers and talking TV heads reminding us that our economy is in a tailspin into the black pit of despair, everyone is decidely becoming thriftier.  I like to think I’m well acclimated to our current market conditions, because for me not much changes.  I’m still broke.

That being said, I tend to think of meals or dishes, either established or made up, that use relatively cheap ingredients.  So a week ago, knowing that I couldn’t spend a lot to make dinner, I decided to make home made empanadas.

Now, normally this is crazy talk.  I’ve never made these before, and I’m admittedly not that great with my masa and I knew it was going to take about 3 hours of prep in the kitchen, but I gave it a try nevertheless.

I braised some pork shoulder in chicken stock I made the previous night, and cooked up some rice and beans.  All in all, food wise I spent $7.00.  I had the rice, chicken stock, onions, butter and masa harina.  All I had to buy was the pork ($2.70), the cheese ($2.99) and the black beans ($.69/can).

Braised Pork Shoulder with Black Beans and Rice - Empanada Mix

This food lasted me 2 days, or about 3 meals and it was damn good.  Now I know that I didn’t account for the food that I already had, but that’s part of the secret of cooking on the cheap.  Stock up on essentials when you’re at the store.  Keeping potatoes, onions, garlic, rice, butter, salt, pepper and a stock of seasonings on hand in your kitchen makes creating cheap meals easy.

Masa Flattening - Best way if you don’t have a tortilla press - put masa ball between two plastic sheets and press down hard with the flat surface of your skillet.

This was probably a little too much mix, because when you fold them, things get tight

You can see the empanada I flubbed on the tray.  I then found the best way to fold your masa into the empanada shape is to use the plastic you flattened it out with.  Folding the masa with your hands is no bueno.

I fried these puppies in some butter to brown them and then threw them in the oven.  You can fry them whole in vegetable oil or shortening to make them crispy but I didn’t want them to be soaked in fry oil.