Seafood Empanaditas

Ingredients

• •1 teaspoon salt
• •¾ cup hot water
• •2½ cups all-purpose flour
• •1 teaspoon baking powder
• •1 teaspoon sugar
• •¼ cup lard at room temperature
• •2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• •3 cups vegetable oil
• •1½ pounds small hard-shelled clams
• •1 cup dry white wine
• •1½ pounds cultivated mussels
• •1 medium onion
• •1 cup scallions
• •2 cloves garlic
• •3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• •1½ tablespoons all-purpose flour
• •1 whole serrano or jalapeño chile
• •½ tablespoon paprika
• •1 teaspoon dried oregano
• •½ pound shrimp
• •½ pound sea scallops
• •1 tablespoon parsley
• •1 piece cookie cutter
• •1 piece deep-fat thermometer
• •1 serving tomato salsa

Cooking Instructions

1. 1.

   Stir salt into hot water until dissolved.

   2 min

2. 2.

   Sift flour, baking powder, and sugar into a large bowl, then make a well in center and add lard and butter. Stir salted water into well with a wooden spoon, melting lard and butter, then stir flour into liquid, adding a little water if necessary, to form a soft and pliable dough. Knead dough on an unfloured surface until smooth and glossy, 3 to 5 minutes (dough will be soft and slightly sticky).

   10 min

3. 3.

   Cover dough with a kitchen towel (not terry cloth).

   1 min

4. 4.

   Cook clams in wine in a medium saucepan, covered, over medium-high heat until just opened wide, about 5 minutes (discard any that remain unopened). Transfer clams to a bowl with a slotted spoon, then cook mussels in same liquid, covered, stirring once or twice, until opened, 3 to 5 minutes (discard unopened ones). Add mussels to clams and strain cooking liquid through a paper-towel-lined sieve into a bowl.

   15 min