Pan De Yuca Pizza Food

PAN DE YUCA OR CHEESE BREAD

Steps:

• Combine the yuca starch or flour, cheese, baking powder and salt in a food processor, blend to mix well.
• Add the butter and eggs.
• Mix until small dough balls begin to form, if it's too dry add 1-2 tablespoons of water or milk. Add more if needed.
• Remove the dough from the food processor and roll into a ball, you can make the dough ahead and store in the refrigerator for up to a day.
• To make the dough by hand, combine all the ingredients in large bowl, using melted (cooled down) butter, and mix until you have a smooth dough. It's actually very easy to prepare by hand.
• Pre-heat the oven to 500 F.
• Make small round shaped breads with the dough and place on a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
• Bake immediately or store in the fridge until ready to bake. I find that they turn out best if you do let them chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes before baking.
• Once the oven reaches 500F, turn on broiler, place the breads on the middle rack and bake until the breads are golden, about 5-7 minutes. Another option is to pre-heat the oven to 400F and bake at 400F for about 5 minutes and then turn on the broiler.
• Serve immediately, can be served alone or with tree tomato aji.

PAN DE YUCA (COLOMBIAN CHEESE BREAD)

Steps:

• Using your hands, combine all ingredients in a large bowl.
• Knead until very thick and firm, about 5 minutes.
• Turn out onto a dry surface and divide into 4 pieces.
• Shape each piece into a ball and flatten slightly.
• Divide each disc into six pieces.
• Roll each piece between palms to form a 4 inch long cylinder.
• Repeat with remaining discs.
• Rolls can be covered and refrigerated at this point up to 2 weeks.
• Preheat oven to 550ºF and arrange rolls on baking sheets. (The recipe doesn't say if they are to be greased or not so maybe I'll use parchment paper just in case.).
• Bake until brown and crisp about 6-8 minutes. Serve warm.

COLOMBIAN YUCA BREAD (PAN DE YUCA)

Steps:

• Pre-heat the oven to 450°F.
• In a food processor, place the yuca flour, cheese, sugar and baking powder. Process until well combine. Add the eggs slowly while food processor is running.
• Divide the mixture into 12 equal size portions and shape into a ball.
• Place on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden on top. Serve warm.

YUCCA BUNS (PAN DE YUCCA)

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line a baking pan with aluminum foil, and coat with nonstick cooking spray. Set aside.
• Combine the tapioca flour and baking powder together in a large bowl. Stir in the cheese and egg yolks. Mix until the dough forms a ball. Lightly flour a work surface and turn the dough out. Knead the dough with your hands until the dough is smooth, even-textured, and not sticky. If the dough doesn't come together or seems too stiff, then add cream, 1 tablespoon at a time, until it comes together and feels supple.
• Divide the dough into 10 even pieces and with your hands, roll each into a ball. Shape the balls into ovals and place them 1-inch apart on the prepared baking sheet. Bake until the rolls are pale gold (not browned), about 15 to 20 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for 5 to 10 minutes and serve while still warm. Serve with Pineapple Marmalade, if desired.
• Combine the pineapple, sugar, orange zest, orange juice, lemon zest, lemon juice and jalapenos in medium saucepan.
• Bring mixture to a rapid boil over high heat, stirring frequently. Lower heat to medium and continue to cook for 15 minutes, stirring often to prevent scorching.
• Remove from heat and cool before serving.
• Store in refrigerator for up to 1 month or in the freezer for 6 months.

PAN DE YUCA PIZZA

Steps:

• Stir together the yucca starch and baking powder. Add the queso and eggs. Mix until combined.
• Sprinkle starch on a clean surface, and roll your dough onto it. Knead for a couple minutes until smooth.
• Press the dough into a greased baking pan.
• Pre-bake the crust at 350* for about 20 minutes, or until it begins to get bubbly, golden. Remove it from the oven, add sauce, cheese and toppings, and then put back into the oven until the cheese is melted.

PAN DE YUCA

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
• Combine the flour, cheese, egg, baking powder, milk, butter, salt, and sugar in a bowl and knead them together until thoroughly mixed and fairly smooth. Form the dough into about 20 round balls. Bake the rolls on the baking sheet for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Serve warm. To reheat, cover the bread loosely with aluminum foil and heat for 6 to 8 minutes in a 200°F oven.

PASTELES DE YUCA

Steps:

• Prepare the achiote oil: In a saucepan, gently simmer the achiote seeds in the oil until the oil turns dark red. Remove from heat. Let cool. Strain the seeds from the oil and discard the seeds. Keep the cooled oil in a covered jar or other container. You can leave it out, or refrigerate it. You will use this oil in the "Masa", in the filling, and for wrapping the pasteles. (on Day 2).
• Prepare the Masa: Cut the yuca into pieces that you can comfortably handle- about the size of a stick of butter. Carefully cut each piece lengthwise to reveal a woody stalk in the center of the yuca. It's roughly the width of a toothpick, and runs the entire length. Cut it out by making a 'V' cut, and discard- we want our masa to be smooth!
• Feed the pieces a little at a time into a food processor with grating blade- any stubborn pieces that hang around will be dealt with in the next step.
• Remove the grated yuca from the processor, switch the grating blade to the regular cutting blade, add the yuca back to the machine and pulse for about 2 - 3 minutes to create a moist, finely grated mixture that is the consistency of grated parmesan cheese- just a little wetter.
• Place the masa into a strainer that is lined with a cheesecloth. (If you have a very fine strainer, you don't need the cheesecloth). Place the strainer with the masa over a bowl (to let the yuca masa to drip into), then cover with some plastic wrap, and place into the refrigerator until the next day when you are ready to finish the pasteles.
• Remove the masa from the refigerator. It will have dripped several ounces of its liquid in the bowl- discard the liquid.
• Prepare the filling: Wash the pork meat with vinegar. Cut the meat into ½ inch cubes (about the size of a small broth cube).
• In a saucepan, use 2 ounces of the achiote oil that you prepared, and simmer the 2 ounces of sofrito in it on low heat for 3 -5 minutes.
• Add the rest of the filling ingredients (except the last 3 ingredients: the olive oil, the olives and the red peppers) to the saucepan, bring to a boil, lower the flame.
• Simmer for approximately 1 - 1½ hours on low heat, covered. Take care that the water does not completely evaporate- if the sauce gets too thick, add a couple ounces of water.
• The meat should be cooked, but it should not fall apart when done, so check every 15 minutes once an hour has passed.
• When the meat is done, remove from heat and let cool. You should have some gravy left with the meat, but it shouldn't be too watery. If it looks dry, add 2 ounces of water. In either case, now add the olive oil that was part of the last 3 ingredients.
• While the meat is simmering, you can start seasoning the masa, but be sure and go back to the previous step to finish up the meat!
• Season the masa: In a medium saucepan, on medium heat, use 2 ounces of the achiote oil that you prepared, and simmer the 1 cup of sofrito in it for approximately 5 minutes. It should be sizzling slowly, not just steaming a little.
• Add the 2 ounces of water and the rest of the ingredients listed (except the masa!). Simmer another 5 minutes, then remove from heat.
• In a large saucepan, bowl, or tray, add the masa that you had removed from the regrigerator. Now add the sofrito that you just removed from the heat, and mix well.
• Add a half cup of the achiote oil to this, and mix again. Your masa should now have some color, and should have a good taste! If not, review the steps carefully- you might have missed something.
• If you haven't finished the last part of the meat, do so now. Otherwise, you're ready to wrap the pasteles!
• Wrap the pasteles: Use twenty bundles of plantain leaves.
• Note: If you can get the plantain leaf, do use it! It adds a world of a difference in taste to your pasteles!
• With a knife, remove the central ridge of the plantain leaves to give greater flexibility to the leaves. Divide leaves into pieces, about 12 inches square. Wash and clean leaves with a damp cloth and toast slightly over an open flame (such as the stove burner on low). This makes the leaf more pliable.
• You should still have about ½ cup of achiote oil left. Place 1 tsp of the achiote on the leaf, or the parchment paper. Spread it out to the size of a postcard (4" x 5"). Next, place 3 Tbsp of the masa on the leaf (or paper) and spread it out thinly over the oil that you just spread out.
• Place 1 ½ - 2 Tbsp of the meat filling in the center of the masa.
• Place 2 olive halves on top of the masa.
• Place strip of red pepper on top of the masa.
• Fold the leaf (or paper, or leaf on top of paper) one long half over towards the other. It won't actually get to the other end, but you have created a top and bottom layer of plantain leaf and enclosed the contents in it.
• Now fold both of those back towards the end that you first started from (making the crease at the far edge of the masa inside), while keeping in mind that you are sort of duplicating the shape of the rectangle of oil that you first made!
• Fold it once more, if you need to use up some paper. Then fold the right and left ends of the leaf toward the center.
• Tie the pasteles together in pairs (or alone), with a string, placing the folded edges facing each other. They should be tied from both sides, to prevent them from opening.
• This recipe yields approximately 12 -14 pasteles.
• Cook the pasteles: In Large pot, bring to a boil 5 qts of water with 1Tbsp salt. Add 12 pasteles and boil, covered, for one hour. Halfway, turn over pasteles. After the hour, remove pasteles from the water at once, and place in a strainer.