Mexican Recipes from www.EagleKnights.com

          Empanadas de Chorizo con Papas
This is something like a fried sandwich.  They are quite tasty. 

   2      tablespoons   vegetable oil
   6      ounces  chorizo -- crumbled or diced
   1      medium  potato -- peeled, finely diced
   2      cups mesa harina  (corn flour)
   1/3  cup  flour
   1/2  teaspoon  salt
   1      tablespoon  vegetable oil
   1/2  to 1  cups water
   3      cups  peanut oil (for frying)

Prepare the filling by heating 2 tablespoons oil in a skillet over medium-high heat, and sautéing chorizo and potato together until chorizo is cooked and potato is soft.  Set aside to cool.

Mix masa harina with flour, salt, 1 tablespoon vegetable oil, and enough water to make a soft dough.  Knead by hand like a bread dough until smooth and soft.

Pinch off a piece of dough and roll it into a ball about 1-1/2 inches in diameter.  Put the ball between two pieces of plastic wrap, then press flat with a tortilla press (or a heavy flat bottom pan)  to make a circle of dough 1/8-inch thick and 4 inches in diameter.  Do the same with the remaining dough, keeping each tortilla between layers of plastic wrap. 

To fill, take one tortilla and peel off top layer of plastic wrap.  Place about 1 tablespoon of chorizo-and-potato filling on the center of the tortilla.  Fold tortilla in half, enclosing chorizo mix in between the layers of dough.  Pinch the edges shut to make a half moon-shaped empanada, and remove bottom layer of plastic wrap.  Do the same with remaining tortillas.

Heat peanut oil in a deep pot or fryer to 375 F.  Fry the empanadas in batches, without overcrowding them in the oil, until they are golden brown.  Serve immediately.