All Easy Recipes. Cook all that you can cook. Tiny Deep-Fried Spiced-Beef Turnovers
(Turcos)
 
What You Need:            (To make about: 10 dozen turnovers)
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PASTRY
  • 6 cups unsifted flour
  • 1½ teaspoons salt
  • 1½ cups vegetable shortening, cut into ½-inch bits
  • 1 to 1¼ cups ice water

    FILLING
  • ½ pound lean top round beef, trimmed of excess fat.
  • 2 tablespoons lard
  • ½ cup finely chopped onions
  • ¼ cup finely chopped celery
  • 1 teaspoon finely chopped garlic
  • 3 medium-sized firm ripe tomatoes, peeled, seeded and finely chopped (see chile con queso)
  • ½ cup finely chopped sweet green bell peppers
  • 1½ teaspoons sugar
  • ½ teaspoon ground cumin
  • ¼ teaspoon ground hot red pepper (cayenne)
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • ¼ cup finely chopped pecans
  • ¼ cup finely chopped raisins
  • Vegetable oil for deep frying

    • How To Cook:
    1. First prepare the pastry in the following manner: Combine the flour, 1½ teaspoons of salt and the shortening in a deep bowl and, with your fingertips, rub the flour and fat together until the mixture resembles flakes of coarse meal.

    2. Pour in 1 cup of the ice water all at once and mix with your fingers or a fork until the dough can be gathered into a compact ball. If the dough seems crumbly, add up to ¼ cup more ice water by the teaspoonful until the particles adhere. Wrap the dough in wax paper and refrigerate it for at least 1 hour.

    3. Meanwhile, make the filling. Freeze the beef for 10 to 15 minutes, oruntil it is firm but not solidly frozen. With a large sharp knife, cut thebeef into 1/8-inch-thick slices and then into 1/8-inch dice.

    4. In a heavy 10- to 12-inch skillet, melt the lard over moderate heatuntil it is very hot but not smoking. Add the onions, celery and garlic and, stirring frequently, cook for about 5 minutes. When the vegetablesare soft but not brown, stir in the diced beef, the tomatoes, bell peppers, sugar, cumin, red pepper and 1 teaspoon of salt.

    5. Stirring frequently, cook a over moderate heat until almost all of the liquid in the pan has evaporated. Add the pecans and raisins, mix well, and taste for seasoning. Set a the filling aside to cool to room temperature.

    6. Cut off about one fourth of the pastry dough, shape it into a ball and re-turn the rest to the refrigerator. On a lightly floured surface, roll the ball of dough into a rough circle about 1/8 inch thick.

    7. With a cookie cutter or the rim of a glas, cut the dough into 2½-inch rounds. Gather the scraps of dough into a ball, roll it out as before and cut as many more 2½-inch rounds as you can.

    8. To shape each turco, moisten the edges of a pastry round with a finger dipped in cold water. Place 1 teaspoon of the filling in the center of the round and fold the two sides together to make a tiny half-moon-shaped turnover.

    9. Crimp the edges with your fingers or with the tines of a fork. Repeat the procedure until all of the dough has been rolled, cut and shaped into turnovers. At this stage, the pastries may be wrapped in foil and refrigerated for a day or so, or frozen for up to three months.

    10. To fry the tureos, pour vegetable oil into a deep fryer or large heavy saucepan to a depth of about 3 inches and heat the oil until it reaches a temperature of 375 on a deep-frying thermometer. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to its lowest setting. Line one or more jelly-roll pans with a double thickness of paper towels and place them in the oven.

    11. Deep-fry four or five tureos at a time, turning them about with a slotted spoon for about 5 minutes, or until they are crisp and golden brown. As they color, transfer the turcos to the lined pan and keep them warm in the oven while you fry the rest.

    12. Arrange the turcos on a heated platter and serve immediately.

    		 
    		 
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