Some of the greatest things about food blogging have very little to do with food. I’ve had a chance to meet some absolutely fun and wonderful people over the last several years, and one of those fun and wonderful people is about to have a brand new baby!

My friend Josie, the sweet tea and southern food lover behind Pink Parsley, will soon be welcoming a new baby boy to her family! Since we all couldn’t get together in one place at the same time to celebrate, our friend Annie of Annie’s Eats is hosting a virtual baby shower – lots of food, lots of love, spread out over the country.

I chose to make Pulled Pork Empanadas with Peach-Chipotle Barbecue Sauce. Josie’s love of peaches rivals few and you’ll never come up short of suggestions if you search the word “chipotle” on her blog. We combined the two and ended up with one heck of an appetizer and one completely addicting dipping sauce!

Empanadas are one of our favorite ways to “deal with” leftover pulled pork. (I say it like it’s a chore. It’s most definitely not!) And the sauce? It’s almost a barbecue-sweet & sour hybrid with the expected tanginess from the tomatoes and cider vinegar, smokiness from the chipotles, and sweetness from the molasses and a big helping of your favorite peach preserves.

So head on over to Annie’s Eats and Pink Parsley – run, do not walk – to share some love and see a round-up of the full shower menu. It’s full of amazing food from some very talented (and equally fun and wonderful) bloggers.

And, seriously. We’re really going to have to figure out a way to do this in person next time.

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Pulled Pork Empanadas with Peach-Chipotle Barbecue Sauce

Leftover pulled pork gets a makeover with empanadas and a sweet-smokey-spicy barbecue dipping sauce. Take a short cut and simmer peach preserves with your favorite brand of barbecue sauce or make the sauce from scratch.

Ingredients

• For the empanadas:
• 1 stick of butter, chilled
• 1 1/4 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp paprika
• 1/4 tsp fresh ground black pepper
• 1 egg
• 1/3 cup ice water
• 1 Tbsp white vinegar
• ~2 1/2 cups leftover pulled pork
• For the sauce:
• 2 Tbsp olive oil
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1/4 cup peppers and sauce from canned chipotles in adobo, minced
• 2/3 cup ketchup
• 1/4-1/2 cup water
• 1 Tbsp cider vinegar
• 1 Tbsp spicy brown (or creole) mustard
• 1 Tbsp molasses
• 1/2 cup peach preserves
• Black pepper
• Pinch of salt
• For the egg wash:
• 1 egg
• 1 Tbsp water

Instructions

1. To make the empanada dough, cut the butter into the flours, salt, pepper, and paprika in a large bowl until the butter chunks are pea-sized (I do this in a food processor).
2. Whisk together the egg, water, and vinegar and add to the flour mixture, mixing with a fork until just incorporated.
3. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times before patting into a circle.
4. Wrap the dough in plastic and chill for an hour.
5. To make the sauce, heat oil over medium heat in a medium sauce pan.
6. Saute onions until soft and translucent. Add garlic, stir, and cook for 1 minute more.
7. Add the minced chipotles and sauce to the pan.
8. Stir in the ketchup, vinegar, water, mustard, molasses, and peach preserves.
9. Simmer for 10 minutes.
10. Season with salt & pepper to taste.
11. Transfer to a jar or airtight bowl and store in the fridge (will keep for ~2 weeks).
12. To form the empanadas, cut the dough into 4 pieces and roll to ~1/8 inch thick.
13. Cut ~4-inch round circles from the dough, rolling and cutting scraps (you should get 4 rounds from each quarter).
14. Whisk egg and water together and brush the edges of a dough round.
15. Preheat oven to 400.
16. Toss 1/4-1/3 cup sauce with pulled pork (just enough moisten the pork).
17. Place a large spoonful of pork in the center of the round, folding the top half to the bottom, and lightly pressing to seal.
18. Use a floured fork to press the tines around the edges.
19. Repeat for all remaining dough rounds.
20. Brush the empanadas with the remaining egg wash.
21. Bake 20-25 minutes, until golden brown.
22. Serve warm or at room temp with additional sauce for dipping.

Notes

Yields: ~16 empanadas

Source: Confections of a Foodie Bride, dough adapted from Gourmet

Estimated time: 2 hours