If you would like to hear the following things said about the dish you brought to a potluck:

"Where did you buy these?"
"Wow, these are so good!"
"You rock!"
"You made these?"

Then you have to make empanadas. Specifically these empanadas. They're not hard to make, just time consuming. But SO worth every ounce of effort.

When I first read the recipe, it sounded absolutely delicious, but I was bummed. We are a poultry-free household due to an allergy. So initially, I felt it would be cruel to tempt the boyfriend by making something chicken based. However, a Cinco de Mayo potluck (that he wouldn't be attending with me - thanks 30 page paper) proved the perfect opportunity to test the recipe out.

I started the filling the night before, and spent all of the next morning making dough, rolling it out, assembling and baking. The filling leaked on every batch, but parchment paper saved me (and the empanadas). I cooled them all to room temperature, stacked them in a box between sheets of wax paper (how convenient is that?) and took them to the potluck. They were received with rave reviews, which made all the effort totally worth it.

Now I've just got to figure out how to make them with pork and chorizo so the boyfriend can have some too.