Pork Empanadas (Meat Turnovers)

This recipe is not as complicatated as it looks. First your prepare the filling which is easy to make and can be used for almost anything else, such as a taco filling. Next make the dough, which is no harder to do than pie dough. Place pork in large pot. Cover with water. Add onion, garlic, 1/2 ts. salt, oregano, cumin, and bay leaves. Bring to boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 1 1/2 hrs. While the pork cooks, prepare the dough. Sift together the flour, Masa, baking powder and 1/4 ts. salt. In a separate bowl, beat together the egg and 1/2 c. milk. Make a well in the center of the dry ingreds..Add the egg mixture and stir with a fork until the dough comes together in a ball. Divide the dough into 16 even-size pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place in a bowl, cover, and refrigerate. After pork has simmered for 1 1/2 hrs, preheat oven to 375 F.. Remove the pork from the liquid. Save the stock for soup if you like. Place pork in a baking dish or Dutch oven. Brush with hot pepper sauce. Bake for 1 hr., or untill meat shreds easily with fork. Remove from oven and shred into small pieces. Combine Red Chile Salsa (see #141) and remaining 1/2 tsp. salt. On lightly floured surface, flatten a piece of dough with the palm of your hand. With rolling pin (actually, a piece of cut-off broom handle works best), roll out the dough to make a 5" circle, abt. 1/8" thick. Place 2-3 tbs. filling in center of the dough. Brush edges of dough with milk. Fold dough over filling. Pinch edges together. Crimp with fork to seal. Place on lightly greased baking sheet. Bake for 20 min.,, or until golden. Remove to rack and cool for abt. 5 min. Serve warm. Can be frozen baked or unbaked. If baking from freezer, do not thaw. Bake in preheated 350 F. oven for 25-30 min. Reheat baked frozen at 350 for 15 min.