Pastei Food

PORTUGUESE CUSTARD TARTS (PASTEIS DE NATA)

Steps:

• Combine flour, salt, and cold water in a bowl. Mix with a wooden spoon until dough just comes together and pulls away from the sides of the bowl. Dough should be sticky; adjust with more flour or water to achieve what's shown in the video.
• Transfer dough onto a well floured surface. Dust a little more flour over the top. Knead for a minute or two to form a round. Cover and let rest for 15 to 20 minutes.
• Roll dough into a square about 1/8 inch thick, dusting with flour as necessary; dough should still be sticky.
• Spread 1/3 of the butter over 2/3 of the square using a silicone spatula, leaving a 1/2 inch border. Flip the unbuttered side over the middle of the square and fold the opposite end over it like a letter. Straighten the edges as needed.
• Turn dough with a bench scraper to unstick it from the counter; dust with flour. Flip and sprinkle more flour on top. Roll dough into a 1/8-inch-thick rectangle, carefully stretching edges as needed. Spread another 1/3 of the butter over 2/3 of the dough. Fold into thirds. Transfer onto a lined baking sheet and freeze until butter is slightly chilled, about 10 minutes.
• Sprinkle dough with flour and roll into a square a little over 1/8 inch thick. Spread remaining butter over the dough, leaving a 1- to 1 1/2-inch border on the top edge. Dip your finger in water and lightly moisten the unbuttered edge. Roll dough into a log starting from the bottom edge. Dust with more flour and polish the ends as needed. Seal with plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
• Combine sugar, 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon water, cinnamon, and lemon zest in a pot. Boil over medium heat, without stirring, until syrup reaches 210 to 215 degrees F (100 degrees C). Remove from heat.
• Preheat oven 550 degrees F (288 degrees C). Grease a 12-cup muffin tin.
• Whisk flour, salt, and cold milk together very thoroughly in a cold pot. Cook over medium heat, whisking constantly, until milk thickens, about 5 minutes. Remove from heat and let cool for at least 10 minutes.
• Whisk egg yolks into the cooled milk. Add the sugar syrup and vanilla extract. Mix until combined. Strain custard into a glass measuring cup.
• Unwrap the dough and trim any uneven bits on the ends. Score log into 12 even pieces using a knife; cut through.
• Place a piece of dough in each muffin cup. Dip your thumb lightly in some cold water. Press thumb into the center of the swirl; push dough against the bottom and up the sides of the cup until it reaches least 1/8 inch past the top. Fill each cup 3/4 of the way with custard.
• Bake in the preheated oven until the pastry is browned and bubbly, and the tops start to blister and caramelize, about 12 minutes. Cool tarts briefly and serve warm.

PUERTO RICAN PASTELES

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• Brown the diced pork in olive oil in a large nonstick skillet.
• Add the sweet peppers, chopped onion, recaito, garlic, adobo, oregano, and bay leaf, stirring well. Cook until the pork is no longer pink inside. Remove the bay leaf from the mixture and set aside to cool.
• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large bowl, grate the peeled yautía and the green plantains (or cleaned and peeled yuca). Use disposable gloves, as uncooked plantains will stain your hands and kitchen towels.
• Blend the grated roots in a food processor until creamy.
• Place the masa over a cheesecloth or a fine-mesh sieve for at least three hours so the excess moisture drips out.
• Once the masa is ready, stir in the garlic, recaito, salt, and enough of the achiote oil to moisten the dough and add a little color. You are now ready to assemble and wrap the pasteles.
• Prepare a work surface to assemble and wrap the pasteles. If you have friends helping you, set up an assembly line. Prepare 20 (10 x 5-inch) banana leaves, 20 (8 x 4-inch) rectangles of parchment paper, and 20 (18-inch) pieces of kitchen string.
• For each pastel, lay out a piece of parchment paper, topped with 1 piece of banana leaf. Brush achiote oil in a rectangular shape on the center of the banana leaf.
• Spread 1 1/2 to 2 spoonfuls of masa onto the center of the leaf.
• Add 1 spoonful of pork filling and top with another spoonful of masa.
• Bring the edges of the banana leaf over the top of the pork filling. Then repeat with the other side of the banana leaf so that the masa completely covers the top of the filling.
• Bring the edges of the banana leaf together and fold down over the top.
• Fold the edges of the banana leaf underneath the package.
• Bring the top and bottom edges of the parchment paper over the top and fold or roll down the edges to make a horizontal seam. Tuck the ends under.
• Tie with a string in both directions. At this point, you can freeze any pasteles you are not going to cook and eat right away. Place them in resealable bags, date, label, and freeze.
• Bring a stock pot of salted water to a boil. Place the pasteles in the water, making sure they are submerged. Reduce the heat and simmer for 1 hour.
• Using tongs, remove the pasteles from the boiling water and place them on a plate. Carefully cut the string of each with kitchen scissors and very carefully open the banana leaves and parchment paper. Place the pastel on a serving plate.

PASTEI

Steps:

• Mix the butter with an electric mixer or a wooden spoon. Keep adding little bits of the water until the butter has absorbed it all.
• Sift the flour, baking powder and the salt all together and add this through the butter gradually. To see if the dough is rollable, press your finger on it and if the dough doesn't stick to it, it's fine. If the dough does stick however, add about 25 more grams of flour.
• Rest pastry for 30mins in the fridge.
• Break off about 1/4 of the pastry and reserve for the top of the pie.
• Roll out the larger piece and put the flattened dough in a baking pan. Press the dough to the corners of the pan so that as much filling as possible can go inches
• Saute the 1/2 the onion in about 100g butter add the chicken and brown slightly. Add the pepper and bay leaf 2 crumbled stock cubes and 1/2 tsp pimento. Cover with enough water and cook for about 30 minutes Cool slightly.
• When cool enough to handle, remove the chicken from the liquid (reserve the liquid) and strip the chicken (discarding the bones) into little pieces.
• Put the rest of the butter in the reserved liquid in which the chicken had been boiled.
• Saute the remainder of the onion and oil in a pan. Add the chicken. After a minute add the chopped tomatoes and the peas and carrots and the remainder of the allspice.
• Add the chicken broth to the pan and simmer until carrots slightly tender.
• Add the chopped pickles. Check seasoning, and add if need be.
• Cool to about luke warm. Or at this stage you can store in the fridge until the next day.
• Preheat the oven to 375°C.
• Fill the prepared pastry pan. Slice your cooked eggs and place them on top of the filling in the pan.
• Roll out the remaining pastry and place gently ontop, sealing the edges with some water and pressing the pastry closed. Slit a couple of steam vents in the pastry.
• Bake for 1 hour. Take out of oven and brush with beaten egg and bake a further 10mins or so to give it a nice finish.

PASTELES

Steps:

• Make the sofrito: Place the chiles, bell peppers, onions, culantro, cilantro, garlic and pimentos in a blender and process until the mixture is fully puréed, scraping the sides of the blender as needed. Refrigerate until ready to use: This can be made up to 3 days in advance and refrigerated.
• Make the masa: Peel the bananas and plantains: Prepare a mixing bowl or large pot with water. Cut off the ends of the fruits, then use a knife to score and peel off the skin. Place the bananas in the bowl of water as you go so they don't discolor. (The skins can stain, so be careful as you handle them, or wear plastic gloves.) Remove the skin of the yautia with a vegetable peeler and add it to the water.
• Remove the bananas, plantains and yautia from the water and process until smooth: First, in a food processor fitted with the grating disc, shred each ingredient separately, dumping them into a large bowl as you go. Mix the ingredients together in the bowl, switch to the blade fitting, and process the mixture in batches until smooth, stopping to scrape down the sides of the work bowl as necessary. The end result should look soft and fluffy like a purée. (Alternatively, you can grate everything by hand on the smallest holes of a box grater.) Transfer the masa to a large mixing bowl. At this point it can be refrigerated for a few hours, covered, while you prepare the pork, or frozen for up to 3 months.
• Prepare the pork: Cut the pork into small, rough chunks about 1 inch long by 1/2 inch wide, trimming away excess tough fat as you go. Place the pork pieces in a large stockpot or Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Stir in the reserved sofrito, making sure all of the pork cubes are coated. Let the pork cook, stirring almost constantly, until it starts to release some liquid, about 5 minutes. Add the olive oil and let it cook for a minute or two, then stir in the seasoning packet.
• Let the pork cook for another minute or two, then stir in the olives and their brine, the tomato sauce and the chicken stock or water, and a pinch of salt. Let the liquid come up to a simmer, then cover the pot and reduce the heat. Let the pork cook at a simmer for 30 minutes, or until the meat is cooked through, stirring occasionally. There should be plenty of liquid in the pot at all times, so the mixture looks like soup, not stew. If it looks dry, add stock or water as needed.
• While the pork cooks, make the annatto oil: In a small saucepan, heat the oil and the annatto seeds over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally, until the oil begins to bubble. Lower the heat slightly and let the seeds cook in the oil until the liquid turns a bright pink-red. Turn off the heat and let the seeds sit in the oil until it cools. Strain the oil through a sieve or slotted spoon into a small mixing bowl, discarding the seeds. Set the bowl aside. (If the liquid does not immediately begin to turn red, your annatto seeds are too old.)
• When the pork is done, taste for seasoning, and add more salt if desired, then turn off the heat. Take 2 to 3 cups of the liquid from the pork and stir it into the masa until it is the consistency of thick oatmeal, soft but spreadable. You will still need about 2 to 3 cups of liquid to make the pasteles, so if your pot looks dry at this point, stir in a little water or stock so that you still have plenty of liquid, and taste for seasoning again.
• On a large, clean work surface, set up your pastel-making station: You will need the banana leaves, parchment paper, string, the annatto oil, the pork and its liquid, and the masa. To make each pastel, start with a piece of parchment paper in front of you, one long side closest to you. Use a soup spoon or a pastry brush to paint a very thin smear of annatto oil on the parchment paper, leaving a 2-inch border on the top and bottom and 4 inches on the sides. (This does not have to be perfect: It's just to keep the banana leaf from sticking.) Lay the banana leaf down on top of the oil, long side closest to you. Paint the banana leaf very lightly with the annatto oil. Spread 1/2 cup of masa on top of the banana leaf about 3/4 to 1/2 inch thick. The masa does not have to be a perfect shape: It can overlap the leaf in places and does not have to cover it completely.
• Spoon a scant 1/4 cup of pork pieces along the length of the masa in a straight line. Your goal is really a line of pork chunks along the center of the masa, so that each bite of pastel has a bite of pork. Add 2 olives to the masa, one near each end. Use a spoon to drizzle on a little more liquid as needed so that most of the masa is covered by a very thin layer of liquid. Don't overdo it: About a tablespoon or so of liquid per pastel is about right.
• To form the pastel, fold the parchment paper in half, from the bottom up, over the masa and filling so the 2 long edges meet. Fold those edges down to meet the edge of the pastel farthest from you. Press the paper down and crease the top edge. Fold the parchment in half again lengthwise from the top down, so it covers the pastel. You now have a long thin pastel wrapped in a tube of parchment, with multiple layers of paper on top. (This needn't be exact, as long as the paper forms a neat little package.)
• Working carefully, use the side of your hand to press and slide the masa on either side of the package into the center to give it a neat edge. Fold in 1 inch of the paper on the left and right sides to create small hems. Then fold both sides over the pastel. (If you have a few leaks, it's O.K.)
• Set this pastel aside, flaps facing downward, while you make its partner: Repeat the process above to make a second pastel.
• When you have 2 pasteles, stack them together so they line up, flaps facing inward. Use 1 piece of string to tie the pasteles together the same way you would a package, looping the string once across the long way and at least once across the short way. Make sure the string is tight and the pasteles are tightly tied together. Repeat this process with the remaining pairs of pasteles. At this point they can be frozen for several months, refrigerated for a day or two, or cooked and eaten immediately.
• To cook them, bring a large pot (or a few pots) of salted water to a boil and add the pasteles, either fresh or frozen, in a single layer. Let cook for 1 hour, or an hour and 10 minutes or so if they are frozen. Repeat with the remaining pasteles, then unwrap and serve right away.

PASTEIS DE NATA (CUSTARD TARTS)

Steps:

• Make the pastry.
• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade, pulse the flour, salt and sugar to combine.
• Add the butter and pulse until the flour resembles coarse, uneven cornmeal, about 10 1-second pulses.
• Drizzle 5 tablespoons of the ice water over the mixture.
• Pulse several times to work the water into the flour.
• Add the remaining water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and continue pulsing until the mixture develops small curds.
• Turn the dough out onto a work surface, shape it into a disc and cover with plastic wrap.
• Refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll half the dough to 1/16-inch thickness.
• Cut out 6 (4 1/2-inch) circles.
• (If you don't have a cookie cutter, a wide-mouth jar works well.) Ease the dough circles into a 12-cup (4-ounce capacity) nonstick muffin tin, pressing out any overlapping folds.
• Repeat with the remaining dough.
• Place the tin in the freezer for 5 minutes.
• Remove and trim any overhang with the back of a knife so that the pastry cups are flush with the top of the tins.
• Line dough cups with cupcake papers and fill with dried beans or pastry weights.
• Bake at 350°F (180°C) for 8 to 10 minutes to set.
• Make the custard.
• Dissolve the cornstarch in 1/4 cup of the cream in a medium bowl.
• Add the remaining cream and sugar, and stir until the mixture is smooth and the sugar dissolves.
• Check for sugar granules with a spoon; none should remain.
• In a small bowl, blend the yolks with a fork until smooth.
• Add the yolks to the cream mixture, stirring gently to combine.
• Ladle the egg mixture into the partially baked pastry cups, filling to 2/3 capacity.
• Bake in at 350°F (180°C) until the edges of the custard are puffed and middle is still jiggly, about 20 to 25 minutes.
• (The custard will continue to cook.) Cool completely in the tin.
• The pastéis are best when eaten the same day.

PASTéIS DE NATA (PORTUGUESE CUSTARD TARTS)

Steps:

• Using a pastry brush, grease eight individual pastry tins generously with the melted butter, then chill in the fridge. Put the butter between two sheets of baking parchment, then bash and roll into a large rectangle roughly the thickness of a £1 coin. In a large bowl, mix the flour with 150ml water and a pinch of salt using a wooden spoon. Tip the dough onto a clean surface and knead for 5 mins until smooth.
• Shape the dough into a rough rectangle, cover with cling film and rest in the fridge for 20 mins. If your butter is getting too soft, put it in the fridge to chill too. Roll the dough out into a large, thin rectangle at least twice the size of the butter. Put the butter in the middle of the dough, fold all the edges up over it to encase it, then fold the dough over itself in half.
• Roll out the dough to roughly half its original size, then fold in half, then half again to make a rectangle a quarter the size of the original. Repeat this process once more, flouring your work surface if you need to. Don't worry about being too precise here, or if the butter starts breaking through some of the layers. Cover and put the pastry in the fridge to rest for 20 mins.
• On a floured surface roll the chilled dough into a thin A3-sized rectangle, then roll it up lengthways into a tight sausage shape. Divide the pastry into three, the middle section will make your perfect looking tarts, then wrap and freeze the rest for another time. (It would also make delicious palmier biscuits if you roll it out and sprinkle with sugar.)
• Slice the pastry into 8 discs. Work the discs into the tins with your fingers, pressing and stretching them to fill the tins. If the layers start to come apart, press them back together. Chill while you make the custard.
• In a pan, warm 150ml milk with the cinnamon stick, lemon peel and half the butter until just simmering and the butter has melted. In a large bowl, sieve the cornflour and flour into the remaining milk and whisk to form a thin paste. Pour the warm milk mixture over the flour paste and leave to infuse for a few mins. Sieve the custard back into the pan, heat gently and keep stirring for 3-4 mins until it reaches the consistency of double cream. Take off the heat and blend in the remaining butter.
• Put the syrup ingredients in a frying pan and stir over a medium heat for 5 mins until you have a light, fragrant caramel. Take the pan off the heat and carefully pour in 100ml water. Return the pan to a low heat until the sugar has melted again into a syrup. Strain into a bowl.
• Slowly add half the syrup to the custard and whisk until completely blended. You can store the custard in the fridge from this point, but don't add the eggs until just before you are ready to cook the tarts. Heat your oven to 260C/240C fan/gas 8 or as high as your oven will go. Put a baking tray on the top shelf of the oven to heat up. Whisk the egg yolks in a small bowl, then incorporate into the custard. Pour the mixture into the pastry bases.
• Put the filled tin on the hot baking tray. Put the tray in the middle of the oven and bake for 5- 8 mins, or until the custard starts to puff up. Once the custard has puffed up, turn the oven onto its grill setting and transfer the tarts to the top shelf. Grill for 1-2 mins or until caramelised - the darker the better. Remove from the oven and brush with a little of the remaining syrup. Let the tarts cool slightly in the moulds before turning out onto a cooling rack.

PASTELES

Steps:

• add oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the annatto seeds and heat for one minute to release their orange color.
• Remove from heat and drain the oil into a separate container.
• Discard the seeds and return half of the oil to the skillet.
• Return the oil to medium-high heat and add the pork and bacon. Brown for about 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Add the garlic, onion, bell pepper, small green peppers, tomatoes, culantro, and oregano, and sauté for another 5 minutes.
• Stir in the chickpeas and olives (with their respective liquids), capers, and raisins.
• Cover and simmer over low-medium heat for 40 minutes. When done, uncover and allow to cool.
• Drain the broth into a separate container and set aside.
• Make the dough by peeling the plantains and the bananas, first cutting off the ends and running a knife tip lengthwise along one or more of the ridges.
• Insert and run a thumb just beneath the cut peel to lift and remove it. Peel the yautia.
• Place plantains, bananas, and yautia into a large bowl of salted cold water to prevent discoloring.
• You can grate them using the fine side of a hand grater, or instead, cut into 1/2- to 1-inch pieces for the processor.
• Fill 1/3 to 1/2 of the food processor or blender container with the cut vegetables, slowly adding broth to form a smooth, porridgelike mash. It should not be runny.
• Transfer the purée to a large bowl. If you run out of broth, substitute water as needed.
• Stir in the salt and the remaining annatto oil.
• Place a banana leaf on a sheet of parchment paper.
• Drop a scant 1/2 cup of the dough onto the center of the leaf and spread it several inches all around with the back of a spoon.
• Drop 2 tablespoons of the filling a bit off center. Fold each long side and then the ends toward the center.
• Slide the encased leaf toward the long edge of the parchment and wrap again.
• Fold end flaps over.
• Tie two pasteles together, with folded edges facing each other.
• To cook, put a batch (4 to 6 tied bundles) into a large kettle of salted boiling water and cook semicovered at medium-high heat for 30 minutes.
• Turn the bundles over and cook 40 minutes more.
• When done, drain them well, remove the strings and wrappings, and serve hot.