Arepas De Queso Cheese Arepas Food

AREPAS DE QUESO (CHEESE AREPAS)

Steps:

• Combine the cornmeal, warm water, cheese, 1 tbsp butter and salt, mixing thoroughly. Let mixture stand for five minutes.
• Knead with your hands for about 3 minutes moistening your hands with water as you work.
• Form 4 small balls with the dough. Place each ball between 2 plastic bags and with a flat pot cover flatten to 1/2 inch.
• Add the butter to a nonstick pan over medium heat. Place the arepas in the pan, and cook about 3 minutes on each side, until a crust forms or they are golden brown.

AREPAS DE QUESO

Steps:

• Shred 3 ounces of the mozzarella and cut remaining 5 ounces into 1/2-inch cubes. Transfer shredded cheese to a large bowl and cubed cheese to a medium bowl.
• Add cornmeal, 1 teaspoon salt, and warm water to the shredded cheese and mix to combine. Set aside for 10 minutes to allow cornmeal to absorb liquid. The mixture should resemble soft Play-Doh.
• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F (95 degrees C).
• With damp palms and fingers, place 1/4 cup arepa mixture into your palm and flatten into a 2 1/2-inch disk. Place 3 to 4 cubes of the mozzarella into the center. Gently fold edges of dough over to cover mozzarella cubes completely, patting to form a cake. Repeat until all dough and cheese has been used.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat. Add 3 or 4 arepas and cook until both sides are golden brown and charred in spots, 4 to 5 minutes per side. Remove to a parchment-lined baking sheet and season with a pinch of the remaining salt. Place in the preheated oven to keep warm. Repeat with remaining oil, arepas, and salt.

CHEESE-STUFFED AREPAS

Steps:

• Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.
• Stir together 2 1/2 cups lukewarm water and 1 1/2 teaspoons salt in a large bowl. Gradually add the corn meal into the water, using your fingers to stir and combine, until a soft and moist dough forms.
• Divide the dough into 8 golf ball-size balls and pat each into a patty about 5-inches wide and 1/4-inch-thick.
• Put a cube of mozzarella in the center of each patty. Fold the dough over the cheese, making sure the cheese is completely covered and sealed. Pat it back down until 3-inches wide and 1/2-inch-thick (see Cook's Note).
• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-low heat until shimmering. Working in batches, cook the corn patties, until golden brown, about 5 minutes per side (making sure the oil is hot for each batch). Transfer to a cooling rack set on a rimmed baking sheet and bake until the edges are crisp and golden, about 10 minutes.

AREPAS DE QUESO RECIPE

Steps:

• Add 2 cups of corn meal and 2 cups warm milk or water to a large bowl. Reserve the remaining ½ cup to add if you need it later.
• Add 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese.
• Add 2 good pinches of salt.
• Form a ball with the dough by mixing the ingredients.
• Break off a piece about the size of a large meatball.
• Flatten and form a bowl in the cup of your hand.
• Place shredded mozzarella cheese inside.
• Close the arepa in half and seal the edges.
• Form a flat round object.
• Heat skillet to 320 and rub a stick of butter on the hot surface.
• Place arepa on the skillet and sprinkle with salt.
• Once side is getting spotty brown, re-apply butter to skillet and flip. (~4 Minutes)
• Re salt new side.
• Once cheese starts to escape and ooze out and it looks nice and golden brown, it is done.
• Slice the freshly made arepa in half, but only ⅔ of the way through.
• Place filling of fresh avocado and chicken inside.

FRIED MASA CAKES WITH CHEESE (AREPAS DE QUESO)

Steps:

• Bring milk to a simmer in a small saucepan, then remove from heat and stir in butter.
• Combine arepa flour, salt, sugar, and mozzarella in a large bowl.
• Add hot milk and stir until combined. Let mixture stand until milk is absorbed enough for a soft dough to form, 1 to 2 minutes (dough will continue to stiffen).
• Form dough into 12 balls (about 2 inches in diameter) and flatten between palms into 3 1/2- to 4-inch patties (about 1/3 inch thick).
• Heat ‚ tablespoon oil in a large nonstick skillet over moderately low heat until hot, then cook 3 or 4 arepas until cooked through and golden in patches, 6 to 8 minutes on each side. Make more arepas in same manner, adding oil as needed.

AREPAS CON QUESO

Steps:

• Bring the milk to a boil in a small pan. Add butter. Let stand and cool slightly.
• Grind frozen yellow corn kernels in a food processor. You can find arepa flour at many Latin and Mexican markets. If there isn't one near you, grind corn meal 1/4 cup at a time in your blender, and add 1/2 cup of flour.
• In a large bowl, mix the ground corn, arepa flour or cornmeal, salt, sugar, and mozzarella. Make a well in the center and gradually add the hot milk and butter mixture. Stir until there are no lumps. Work the dough until it is smooth and sticky.
• Take the rest of the butter and heat it on a frying pan. Drop arepa mix in rounded tablespoon fulls on to the pan. Fry on each side 3-5 minutes until browned.
• To serve, butter the arepa and dd extra grated mozzarella cheese or queso blanco on top. If you made the arepa slightly larger, you can cut a slit in the middle and stuff them with the cheese. Otherwise, you can take two arepas, add the cheese in the middle and eat them like a sandwich.
• You may also make the pancakes only and store them in the refrigerator or freezer until ready to serve. Just lightly butter two pancakes, put a slice of cheese in between, and heat on the griddle at low heat until the cheese melts.

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.

AREPAS DE QUESO FRITAS

Steps:

• Mix the water and the egg yolk.
• In a large bowl mix the flour and the egg/water mixture.
• Mix and kneed the dough for about 5 minutes until it is compact.
• Cover with a damp cloth and set aside for 5 minutes.
• Meanwhile heat a deep fryer to 170ºC, or fill a frying pan with lots of oil and heat.
• Take a small ball of the dough, the size of an egg and mold into a flat circle, about 1 cm thick.
• Fry until golden brown, turning regularly.
• Turn out onto crumpled absorbent paper and leave to cool slightly.
• Split them open (like a pita bread) and fill with cheese, ham, butter, honey or whatever you wish. (If there is too much "fluff" inside, you can remove it with a spoon, leaving only the outer shell).
• Serve immediately--they don't keep and don't re-heat.

AREPA DE QUESO

Steps:

• Place the flour and salt into a large bowl, gradually add the water, and mix well by hand.
• Add 4 tablespoons melted butter and a quarter of the cheese, and knead for 15 minutes to obtain a slightly sticky dough. Add more flour (if the dough is too wet) or water (if it's too dry) as necessary until the dough is smooth and slightly tacky.
• On a floured work surface, divide the dough into 4 equal pieces.
• Flatten one with the palm of your hand to form a patty about ¼ inch (5mm thick).
• Heat the rest of the butter in a frying pan or on an electric hotplate.
• Brown the 4 patties over medium heat for 5 minutes, turning them regularly.
• Once the arepas are fried, golden and cooked in the center, very carefully cut them in half (to make two equal circles) without breaking them, and fill with cheese.
• Place the arepas back onto the skillet over a low heat to melt the cheese.
• Serve immediately.