Pasteles De Masa Green Banana Meat Pie Recipe 415 Food

PASTELES DE MASA CON CERDO (PUERTO RICAN TARO ROOT & PLANTAIN PORK POCKETS)

Steps:

• Combine all filling ingredients in a pressure cooker. Set to cook for 30 minutes. Let it come back to pressure naturally without releasing it.
• Uncover and set to brown/simmer for 15 minutes. Let cool and store in airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to use.
• Using the fine shredder blade on your food processor or a manual grater, grate the plantain, green bananas, yautia, and pumpkin. Depending on the size of your food processor you may have to work in batches.
• Change out the shredder blade for the chopping blade. Working in batches process the shredded vegetables until the fine and pasty.
• Add remaining masa ingredients and mix until well combined. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate.
• Heat 1 1/2 - 2 cups of vegetable oil, add 6 tbs of annatto seeds to the oil. Allow the seeds to simmer until the oil reaches a bright red color.
• Strain the seeds from the oil and discard the seeds. Allow the oil to cool and store in a sealed container until ready to use.
• Remove the ridge from the leaves. Cut the banana leaves into 12 x 12-inch squares and wash the banana leaves under warm running water.
• Working in batches microwave the banana leaves for 1.5 to 2 minutes, this helps make the leaf more flexible.
• Set up assembly station with masa mixture, filling, achiote oil, banana leaves, paper for pastels, and butchers twine.
• Stack the pastels paper and banana leaves, alternating them starting with the pastel paper. Spread 1 tsp of achiote oil on the banana leaf. Scoop 1/2 cup of the masa mixture onto the banana leave and spread out into a rectangle.
• Place 2 tablespoons of filling down the center and top with pimentos if you like. Using the banana leaf fold the masa over the filling.
• Bring the leaf ends together. Fold over twice to create a tight seal. Tuck the ends under, if the banana leaf splits a little don't stress we are going to fold it again in the paper. Do the same wrap and fold with the paper. If you use only pastel paper I recommend double wrapping.
• Tie the pastel with butchers twine like a present. At this point, you can boil them right away, or you can freeze them until ready to use. When ready to cook bring a large pot of water to a boil, drop in pasteles and boil for 45 minutes for fresh and 1 hour for frozen. They can also be cooked in the pressure cooker for 30 minutes with 1 cup of water.
• Using a pair of tongs pick the pastel out of the water by the string and place on a paper towel. Cut the string and gently unwrap. Enjoy!

PUERTO RICAN PASTELES DE MASA

Steps:

• Cube up the chicken or pork into small cubes, about 1-2 inches in size. Season the meat with adobo, sazon, garlic powder, and Italian seasoning. Drizzle one teaspoon of olive oil over the meat, then stir up the mixture to get everything well coated with the spices.
• Add the remaining two teaspoons of olive oil to a sauce pan, and heat to medium heat. Once the oil is warm, add in the sofrito and stir for 30 seconds. Add the meat, bay leaves and tomato paste. Stir the mixture to combine. Add in the olives, chicken bouillon cube and chicken broth. Bring the pot to a boil, then reduce to a simmer, cover and cook for one hour. Cool in the refrigerator before filling the pasteles.
• Using the fine shredder blade on your food processor or a manual grater, grate the plantain, green bananas, yautia, and pumpkin. Depending on the size of your food processor you may have to work in batches. Change out the shredder blade for the chopping blade. Working in batches process the shredded vegetables until they form a finely-grained paste. Add remaining masa ingredients and mix until well combined. Mix the sazon oil into the masa thoroughly. Transfer to a bowl, cover and refrigerate.
• Cut the banana leaves into about 8-9 inches in length. Remove the hard rib located on one side of the leaf.
• Cut the parchment paper into 12 inch squares.
• To build the pasteles, smear about 1 tablespoon of liquid from the stewed meat onto the banana leaf.
• Then, spread 1/2 cup of masa into the middle of the banana leaf. Place 1/4 cup of filling into the center of the masa, making sure to drain any excess liquid.
• Fold into parcels. Stack two pasteles together, with the tucked ends facing inwards. Tie the pasteles together using butchers twine.
• If storing, place them in a gallon sized freezer bag and freeze for up to 6 months.
• If cooking them, bring a pot of salted water to a boil, then boil for 45 minutes to an hour. If you're cooking them from a frozen state, cook for 75-90 minutes.
• Drain the cooked pasteles, cut the strings, and unwrap to enjoy. Serve hot.

PASTELES DE MASA (GREEN BANANA MEAT PIE) RECIPE - (4.1/5)

Steps:

• DOUGH: Boil the green bananas for a few minutes until the peel begins to turns black. Then you can just pull off the peel and grate the bananas in the food processor. Make sure you don't leave them in the pot too long. Peel the rest of the vegetables, rinse them and grate in a food processor. Add milk, oil, and salt. Mix well, cover, and refrigerate for at least one hour. It is best to do this the day before actually putting the pasteles together. It makes for easier handling masa. FILLING: Heat the oil in a caldero or other high-sided pan/pot and cook the meat and ham for about 5 minutes over medium heat. Add the rest of the ingredients. Cook on low for approximately 25 minutes until the pork is completely cooked. Cool. WRAP: You can use either the banana leaves or aluminum foil. If using leaves: Use 10 bundles of plantain leaves. Remove the central ridge on each leaf. Divide leaves into pieces, about 10-inch squares. Wash and clean leaves with a damp cloth and blanch them (toast them slightly over gas stove flames). If you have just a few plantain leaves cut them in small pieces and add a piece to each pastel for more flavor. If using foil: Use aluminum foil with butcher paper or plastic wrap on top to make a wrapper. You may add a piece of banana leaf (if available) right on top. ASSEMBLE: Cover the kitchen counter with newspaper or parchment paper for easier cleanup time. Grease center of the wrapper - using the back of a spoon dipped in achiote oil. Use a ½ cup measuring cup to scoop dough (this helps keep the pasteles the same size). In the center of the wrapper place ½ cup of dough and thinly spread it not more than 5 inches long and about 4 inches wide. Keep a small ruler handy to determine size until you can eye-ball it. Use a 1/8 cup measuring cup to scoop the meat filling and fill just a bit over the brim. That should measure 2½ tablespoons. Place 2½ tablespoons of meat filling on the masa, a bit off the center. Fold the wrapper in half to close the pastel. If using foil, fold the edges over until tightly sealed. If using leaves just fold one over the other until completely sealed. Tie the pastel. (You may skip this part completely if you are using foil paper - simply make sure the folds are pressed securely.) Tie the pastel with string to hold it together. Make one run of string lengthwise and two runs crosswise. This will hold the banana leaves secure. Cook the pasteles for 1 hour, turning them once half way through cooking. Freshly cooked pasteles taste much better. If freezing for later, freeze before cooking.

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.

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.