AIP & Paleo - Empanadas

I was playing with a variety of ideas for a good fried dough, all were not very good. Then one day I was in an AIP forum and someone posted this info! They had fried the tortilla dough in oil to get this glorious flaky empanada! Thank you Patricia Villaverde for the inspiration! These were everything I had hoped they would be, they are flaky, crisp and delicious! 

Ingredients

8 balls of tortilla dough (Recipe Here) Do not roll out and cook the tortillas. 
1 pound of grass fed ground beef
4 cloves of fresh garlic
1 tsp garlic powder 
1 tsp onion powder 
1 tsp dry oregano 
2 tsp dry cilantro 
2 tsp dry chives 
1 tsp dry thyme 
2 green onions finely chopped
sea salt to taste

Directions

Brown your ground beef and drain off excess oil. Add all your seasonings to the meat. Turn heat off and allow it to cool to room temperature. Prepare your tortilla dough. I used a gallon ziplock bag. Cut down the sides to open the bag up, leaving the bottom of the bag connected. So basically you have a long plastic rectangle. Place a single dough ball on the bag and fold the bag over it. Press the dough flat with your hands. I pressed it until it was about the width of my hand. Leave the dough thicker than a tortilla. now peel back the plastic and add some filling to one side of your dough. Instead of trying to peel up one side of the dough to roll it over the other (the dough is easy to tear) just slip your hand under the plastic under the dough and fold the dough over the filling, pressing the edges closed. Peel the plastic back and now carefully crimp the edge with a fork or mold into a ridged design. 

Heat a skillet on the stove and add a good amount of coconut or avocado oil to the pan. Carefully transfer the empanada into the hot oil and fry until golden brown on each side. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.