Arepas De Queso 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.

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.

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.

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.