Making the dough for the turcos is, I will say up front, a lot of work. Next year, however, we will be using my Kitchen Aid stand mixer, and that should help with that. If not, that is a deal breaker for me. The recipe I used belonged to my in-laws, which was lovely, but you-know-who wanted me to double it. All good. Except that is four kilos of flour, one kilo of lard, etc. All had to be mixed, then kneaded by hand. My hands.
The meat was the easy part. Yesterday evening, (actually, the twenty second of December) I boiled 2 kilos of leg of pork, cut into three to four inch pieces, with two large piloncillos, and two large pieces of canela. (Roughly translated, that was brown sugar, and cinnamon). I let that cool overnight, then shredded it this morning.
This afternoon, I fried the above shredded meat in one pound of butter, (I know it sounds like a lot of butter, but that is four and a half pounds of meat), added ground anis, cinnamon, and cloves, then chopped pecans, and raisins. That was the filling for the turcos. I cannot begin to tell ou how wonderful it tastes.
This evening, I got to roll out thirty, four inch diameter balls of dough, fill them with the sweet meat, fold them in half, seal the edges, brush each top with an egg wash, and sprinkle sugar on top. They baked for twenty five minutes, and are, now, ready to give away.
I am thinking, already, to next year. I am also thinking that a puff pasty, bought in the store, would work just fine. Hubs does not agree. He says the dough is supposed to be a little sweet. I also needed to roll the dough out thinner, to which I wholeheartedly agreed. Unfortunately, this is not our home, these are not my kitchen utensils, so I am unable to do some of the things to which I have become accustomed. (Will that excuse work for you)? I works for me. That is really all that matters at the moment.
Post script: I made the above turcos, in the evening, on Sunday, the twenty second of December. Today, I am writing this PS, and it is Christmas Eve. I am having a quite time using my arms, and back. Suffice it to say, I need to get more exercise. This is a prelude to the “day after moving day”. I suspect I will complain of the same muscle soreness as I am today. All for good reason. Family!