Arepas De Pernil Food

AREPAS DE PERNIL

Steps:

• For the pernil: In a blender, combine the Worcestershire, guava paste, peppercorns, ginger, fennel seeds, cumin seeds, bay leaves, oregano, and garlic. Transfer the marinade to a Dutch oven or other large pot; stir in the malt beverage. Add the pork; cover and refrigerate 24 hours.
• For the mango sauce: Meanwhile, heat the canola oil in a small saucepan over medium heat; add the garlic and jalapeno. Fry until lightly golden, about 2 minutes. With a slotted spoon, remove the garlic and jalapeno; transfer to a blender. Add the mango puree, olive oil, cilantro and papelon; blend until smooth. Refrigerate in an airtight container until ready to use.
• When pork is ready to cook, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Bake until the meat shreds easily with a fork, about 4 hours. Shred the pork; reserve about 1 cup pork and freeze the remainder for another use.
• For the arepas: Before serving, place 2 1/2 cups water in a medium bowl with 1 teaspoon salt and oil; slowly pour the cornmeal into the water. Knead together the cornmeal and water until blended and smooth. With wet hands, divide the dough into 6 even portions. Roll each dough portion into a ball; pat it into a 3 to 4-inch disk, about 1/2-inch thick.
• Heat oil in a cast-iron skillet over medium heat; add the arepas. Cook the arepas until golden brown on both sides, turning once, about 10 minutes. Transfer the browned arepas to a baking sheet and bake until cooked through, 10 to 12 minutes.
• To serve, partially split the hot arepas (not all the way around); remove some dough to make room for your filling. Fill the arepas with warmed pulled pork, 3 tomato slices, and a dollop of mango sauce. Serve immediately.

AREMPAS PABELLóN AREPA

Steps:

• For the Shredded Beef: Cut the beef into small pieces. Add to a large pot along with the green onions and garlic. Add enough water to cover the beef. Bring to a boil, lower to a high simmer and cook until the beef is tender, about 3 hours. (Add more water as needed.)
• Once tender, reserve 1 cup of the cooking liquid and drain the beef, discard the green onion and garlic. Shred the beef and add back to the pot. Add the Sofrito (see recipe below), sazon, garlic powder, Italian seasoning, paprika, salt, cilantro and the reserved 1 cup of cooking liquid. Bring to a simmer over medium heat and cook until most of the liquid has evaporated, about 10 minutes. Set the beef aside.
• For the Plantains: Add enough oil to a large saucepan so it comes up about halfway up the side. Attach a deep fat-fry thermometer and bring to 350 degrees F. Peel the plantain and cut into 1/2-inch-thick slices on the diagonal. Fry batches in the hot oil until golden brown turning as needed, about 3 minutes. Remove with a slotted spoon to a paper towel-lined plate.
• For the Beans: Add the beans, sofrito (see recipe below), garlic powder, Italian seasoning, sazon, salt and cilantro to a large skillet over medium heat. Cook, stirring, enough for the beans to heat and the flavors to meld, about 6 minutes.
• For the Dough: Follow the package instructions on the bag of precooked cornmeal to make enough dough for 6 arepas (see Cook's Note).
• To shape the arepas, grab a portion of dough big enough to fit in your hand and roll it into a ball. Begin to flatten it like the shape and size of a hamburger patty.
• Add enough oil to a large skillet to just coat the bottom. Heat over medium-high. Add as many arepas as you can to skillet without overcrowding. Cook until golden, 5 minutes per side. Repeat if needed.
• Build the arepas: Insert a small, sharp knife into the edge of an arepa and work it slowly to open up a pocket. Once opened, stuff with some shredded beef, then some plantains, then some beans and finally cheese at the very top. Repeat with the remaining ingredients. Take a big bite and enjoy! This is going to be messy but sooo delicious.
• Finely chop the green onions, garlic, yellow onion and pepper together. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the vegetable mixture and cook, stirring, until the onion is soft and translucent. Cool and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

AREPAS DE HARINA (VENEZUELAN FLOUR AREPAS)

Steps:

• Sift the all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour and salt into a large bowl. If bits of flour remain after sifting, dump those into the bowl as well. Evenly distribute the flour and salt with your fingers, if necessary.
• Spread your fingers apart and make a claw with one hand and start circling the flour mixture. Drizzle in the oil slowly with your other hand, while continuing to circle with your fingers to create little pea-sized clumps. Squeeze any larger chunks and separate them with your fingers.
• Pour about a couple of tablespoons of the warm water into a corner of the bowl and mix a mound of flour with your hand, staying in that corner, until the water is absorbed and a clump of dough forms. It should feel malleable but dry. Remove this dough to a work surface and repeat with another mound of flour, until you have a couple of tablespoons water left, each time removing the newly formed dough to the existing pile. When there is just a little flour left, add the water a teaspoon at a time, using just enough to gather most of the flour. You may not use all the water -- it's better for the dough to be too dry than too wet.
• Combine all the mounds of dough into one and knead on your work surface until it all comes together, 1 to 2 minutes. If the dough is too sticky, lightly dust the work surface with whole-wheat flour. If the dough is still crumbly, knead in a couple of drops of water until the dough holds together but is not sticky. The dough should be dry enough that you do not need to flour your work surface.
• Shape the dough into a vertical log and knead the dough a little at a time, starting at the top and working towards you: Fold over 1 inch and knead; then fold over 3 inches, knead again; fold over 4 inches and knead; and so on, until the dough accumulates on the sides, forming a horizontal log. Position the log vertically again and repeat this process 7 more times. Once you are done, the dough should be smooth and uniform.
• Roll the dough into a neat log and cut into 6 equal pieces, each weighing a little less than 4 ounces. Working with 1 piece at a time, knead the edges of the dough into the center, turning the dough a little after each knead until turned 360 degrees. Gather all of the edges and bring them together in the center, then push the center down gently to resemble a flattened soup dumpling that's as round as possible. Flatten it slightly, remembering which side has the gathered ends -- we'll call this side the "tail" and the more smooth side, the "face."
• Heat a medium cast-iron skillet over medium-low heat or a nonstick skillet over medium. Lightly oil the cast-iron with a paper towel. If you have a good nonstick skillet, no need to oil it.
• Roll out each arepa, tail-side down, to about 6 inches in diameter. Cook in the skillet, face-side down, until the face is opaque, 35 to 40 seconds. All we want is a very superficial, even cook on the skin -- it should be mostly pale but a couple of little light brown freckles are okay. Flip and cook until the bottom is completely opaque with some larger golden brown spots, 90 seconds to 2 minutes. A little char is normal. Flip a final time and watch your arepa puff up! If you see a small hole in the arepa, push down with a spatula to trap the air in. When the arepa has puffed up, about 30 seconds, remove to a towel or napkin and wrap to keep warm. Repeat with the remaining arepas and serve immediately.
• For serving, you can cut the arepas into half-moons and stuff them or you can slice them into two rounds and sandwich your filling between the rounds. My favorite fillings are black beans and queso duro (a salty, hard white cheese), or ham, crema and queso duro. I also like to stir together some crema with grated queso duro to spread inside the arepas. We also serve plain arepas as sides for other meals.