Recipe: Party-Ready Empanadas and a Rose-Hibiscus Marg From a Movida Group Chef

For Sarai Castillo, hospitality isn’t just a career – it’s a way of life. She and her husband love to host, bringing friends together for outdoor gatherings year-round, even through the colder months.

“Our house is like the party house,” she says. “Well, not just party. It’s the eating house.”

The Mexican-born chef, who leads the kitchen at Frank Camorra’s Tres a Cinco, is a passionate home cook, while her husband is particularly into barbeque. Between their three outdoor grills and firepit, they’ve created a space designed for gathering around food no matter the weather.

When hosting a crowd, they rotate through different dishes – maybe carnitas or brisket – but one of Castillo’s go-tos is a batch of empanadas inspired by the ones served streetside in Guadalajara.

“In Guadalajara you will find them everywhere at night,” she says. “They call it ‘quesadillas fritas’.”

Traditionally, they’re filled and fried to order, but Castillo has adapted them for entertaining. She prepares a batch ahead of time, then cooks them about 20 minutes before guests arrive.

“They’re easy to premake, so you don’t have to be in the party prepping them,” she says.

While fillings vary, Castillo’s favourite is chicken tinga – shredded chook cooked in an onion-heavy tomato and chipotle sauce.

She fries the pre-prepared parcels once guests arrive, and sets up a self-serve station with shredded lettuce, sour cream and feta so everyone can customise their own. And, of course, drinks are part of the ritual.

Castillo always keeps beer on hand for gatherings – sometimes Mexican imports, other times locally produced Mexican-style beers like Sabroso from Liquorland. For something a little more festive, she’s created a tequila spritz inspired by two of her favourite flavours: rose and hibiscus.

Warming and bright, her take on a Marga Rosa (known to friends as The Sarai) is easy to make for a crowd and can even be prepared as a batch cocktail to serve like punch.

Marga Rosa (aka The Sarai)

Makes 1 serving. Approx. 1.9 standard drinks.

Ingredients

30ml hibiscus syrup

60ml Winton Road Barossa Valley Rosé

45ml El Sueno blanco tequila

Salt, for rimming glass

Hibiscus syrup

1.5L water

2 cups caster sugar

50g dried hibiscus flowers

Method

Add syrup ingredients to a pot and bring to the boil. Stir until the sugar has completely dissolved, then reduce for 15–20 minutes, keeping an eye on it. Remove from the heat and strain out the hibiscus flowers. The syrup can be stored in the fridge for up to a week.

When you’re ready to mix the cocktail, add all ingredients to a cocktail shaker with ice and shake well. Double strain into a salt-rimmed Margarita glass.

Chipotle chicken empanadas (empanadas de pollo al chipotle)

Serves 8–10
Prep time: 2.5 hours, including 2 hours baking
Cooking time: 15 minutes

Ingredients

Chicken filling

4 tomatoes

5 brown onions, sliced into strips

5 garlic cloves

2 tbsp chipotle peppers in adobo sauce

Vegetable oil, for cooking

1kg chicken thighs

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp ground cumin

Pinch of black pepper

Salt, to taste

Dash of white vinegar

Fresh shredded lettuce

Sour cream

Crumbled feta cheese

Dough

2 cups corn masa flour (such as Maseca)

1 tbsp plain flour

1 tsp salt

1½–2 cups warm water

Method

For the filling, slice the onions into strips and set aside. Blend the tomatoes, garlic and peppers until you have a smooth sauce.

Heat some vegetable oil in a large pan over high heat. Sear the chicken thighs on both sides until they’re nicely browned.

Place the chicken in a baking tray. Add the sliced onions, pour the tomato-chipotle sauce over the chicken, and add the oregano, cumin, black pepper, salt and white vinegar. Cover the tray with aluminum foil and bake at 180°C for approximately 2 hours, or until the chicken is completely cooked and tender.

Remove from the oven and allow it to cool slightly. Shred the chicken and mix it back into the sauce and onions. Allow the filling to cool completely before assembling the empanadas.

To make the dough, combine the corn masa flour, all-purpose flour and salt in a large bowl. Slowly add the warm water while mixing with your hands. Knead the dough for 5–8 minutes until it becomes soft and flexible, with a texture similar to playdough. The dough should not stick to your hands or crack when shaped into a ball.

Divide the dough into portions about the size of a golf ball and roll each portion into a ball. Place each ball between two sheets of plastic and flatten it using a tortilla press or a flat plate until you have a thin, tortilla-like disc. Place a spoonful of the cooled chicken filling in the centre. Fold the dough in half using the plastic to help, and gently press the edges together to seal the empanada.

Heat a generous amount of vegetable oil over medium-high heat. Fry the empanadas until golden brown and crispy on both sides. Remove and place them on paper towels to absorb any excess oil.

Serve the empanadas hot with fresh chopped lettuce, a little sour cream and crumbled feta cheese on top.

This article is produced by Broadsheet in partnership with Liquorland.