Pupusas Masa Cakes With Bacon And Cheddar Food

PUPUSAS

Steps:

• Combine tomato sauce, water, cilantro, green bell pepper, onion, crushed garlic, bouillon cube, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook and stir until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. Let salsa roja cool for 10 minutes.
• Fill a blender halfway with the salsa roja. Cover and hold lid down with a potholder; pulse a few times before leaving on to blend. Pour into a bowl. Repeat with remaining salsa roja. Return to saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes more stirring occasionally. Allow to cool completely, about 1 hour, and refrigerate.
• Place cabbage and carrots in a large bowl. Add 4 cups boiling water and let stand for 5 minutes. Drain well. Mix in vinegar, scallions, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Chill curtido until serving.
• Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until almost fully cooked and not yet crispy, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer bacon and grease (if desired) to a food processor. Add tomatoes, quartered green bell pepper, Monterey Jack cheese, and minced garlic. Puree and season the chicharron with salt.
• Mix masa harina and 1/2 cup water together in a bowl by hand. Add the remaining water slowly, about 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition, until dough is moist but still firm. Cover with a wet towel.
• Heat 1/2 cup oil a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Take a golf ball-sized piece of dough and roll into a ball in your hands. Make a hole in the dough ball with your thumb; put a small amount of chicharron inside the hole, close it up, and flatten the ball with your hands into a thick tortilla shape. Place pupusa in the skillet and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining dough and chicharron.
• Serve each pupusa topped with 2 tablespoons of curtido and 1 tablespoon of salsa roja.

HOMEMADE SALVADORAN PUPUSAS

Steps:

• Make the masa dough: in a large mixing bowl mix together the masa harina, salt, warm water, and oil with a wooden spoon. Knead it by hand for about 1 minute to make a smooth ball of dough. It should be soft but not very sticky. Cover and let rest for at least 15 minutes to fully hydrate.
• Divide the dough into 6 pieces and keep covered. Take one piece of a dough at a time and flatten into a thick pancake between your hands, add about 1 tablespoon of black beans or filling to the center of the disk and then add a little vegan cheese and peppers. Fold the edges of the dough over to cover and meet in the center. Flatten it between your hands to make a thick stuffed pancake. See post for photos and video showing detail.
• Place shaped pupusas on a tray (line with parchment paper to help prevent any sticking), and once they're all shaped, heat a skillet or griddle over medium heat.
• Add some oil to the pan or griddle to lightly coat, then fry about 2-4 minutes on each side, until golden with some dark spots. Work in batches as needed until all are cooked.
• Eat hot and topped with curtido or a cabbage slaw and salsa roja.

PUPUSAS RECIPE

Steps:

• In a bowl, combine masa harina with salt. Add water and mix for 2 minutes. Let it rest for 15 minutes to hydrate the mix fully.
• Coat your hands with oil. Form a small ball and with your thumb, create a well in the middle. Fill with cheese and pinch to close. Flatten the ball to create a small disk.
• Add oil to the skillet and heat it over medium heat. Once hot, place the pupusas and cook for 4 minutes per side.

PUPUSAS

Steps:

• Mix the masa harina, water into a dough which is soft but not sticky. Be prepared to add more flour if necessary. If it is too dry, add more water.
• To make a 3 inch round pupusa, take about half a cup of dough and roll it into a ball. flatten with your hand.
• Put the filling in the centre [in this case, cheese, cilantro, salt and pepper].
• Work the edges up over the filling and again form a ball, completely enclosing the filling.
• Flatten each ball to about 1/4 inch or less and cook the pupusas on a hot, lightly oiled griddle for about 3 minutes per side, or until both sides are lightly browned.
• Serve warm.

PUPUSAS DE QUESO (CHEESE-STUFFED TORTILLAS)

Steps:

• Stir the masa harina and water together in a mixing bowl until smooth; knead well. Cover bowl, and let the dough rest 5 to 10 minutes.
• Shape the dough into eight, 2 inch diameter balls. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each ball into 6 inch diameter round. Sprinkle 1/4 cup queso fresco over each round. Place a second tortilla over the cheese, and pinch the edges together to seal in the cheese.
• Heat ungreased skillet over medium-high heat. Place one tortilla into the skillet at a time, and cook until cheese melts and tortillas are lightly browned, about 2 minutes on each side.

PUPUSAS CON CURTIDO (MASA CAKES WITH SPICY SLAW)

Steps:

• Combine vinegar, sugar, oregano, chiles, carrots, onions, and cabbage in a bowl. Season with salt; toss; let chill.
• Put masa harina and 1 3⁄4 cups water into a bowl; stir to form a dough.
• Pinch off a 1 1⁄2 oz piece of dough; roll it into a ball. Pat dough into a thin disk.
• Squeeze 1 1⁄4 oz cheese into a ball. Press cheese into center of dough; cupping dough, stretch edges of dough around cheese and seal.
• Pat dough to form a 3 1⁄2" wide disk. Repeat to make 12 pupusas in all.
• Heat a 12" nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Working in 3 batches, cook pupusas, turning, until golden, 10-12 minutes. Serve hot with slaw.

SALVADORAN STUFFED MASA CAKES

Steps:

• Toss together cheese, beans, pork rind, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl with your hands, then press mixture firmly into 16 (1 1/2-inch) balls (for filling).
• Combine tortilla flour, water, and 1/2 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and knead with your hands until a uniform dough forms, about 1 minute. (Dough should be moist but not sticky. If necessary, knead a little more tortilla flour or water into dough.)
• Flatten 1/4 cup dough between moistened palms into a 4-inch disk. Wrap disk around a ball of filling, enclosing it, and form into a smooth ball. Reflatten between your palms into a 4-inch disk (1/2 inch thick; filling should remain hidden). Put on a tray lined with plastic wrap and cover with plastic wrap to prevent drying. Make 15 more pupusas.
• Heat a comal or large (2-burner) griddle over medium-low heat until hot, at least 2 minutes. Brush lightly with oil, then cook pupusas in batches, turning and pressing lightly with a metal spatula every 2 to 3 minutes, until crusty and browned in spots (some cheese may ooze out), 10 to 12 minutes total per batch. Serve immediately.

PUPUSAS (MASA CAKES) WITH BACON AND CHEDDAR

Steps:

• 1. Gather your ingredients.
• 2. Put the bacon in a pan.
• 3. Chef's Note: The pan should be big enough to cook the Pupusas.
• 4. Cook the bacon until lightly browned.
• 5. Place on a paper towel to drain, and reserve the pan with the bacon grease.
• 6. Combine masa harina, salt, and water in a mixing bowl, along with 2 to 3 teaspoons of the bacon grease. The bacon grease is optional... good, but optional.
• 7. Knead to form a smooth, moist dough with a play dough-like consistency... Remember play dough?
• 8. Chef's Note: What is Masa Harina? Masa harina is the traditional flour used to make tortillas, tamales, and other Mexican dishes. Literally translated from Spanish, it means "dough flour," because the flour is made from dried masa, a dough from specially treated corn.
• 9. Divide the dough into six equal portions and roll into balls.
• 10. Chef's Note: The balls should be about 2 inches in diameter. I suspect you will get from 6 to 8.
• 11. Using your thumb, poke a nice hole in the center of each of the balls.
• 12. Fill up the hole with bacon and cheese.
• 13. Wrap the dough around the filling, and seal. Make sure that there is no leakage.
• 14. Pat the dough between your hands until you have a nice round disk about 1/4 to 1/2 inch thick.
• 15. Add the vegetable oil to a pan (just to cover the bottom), and bring the heat up to medium high, and then add the Pupusas.
• 16. Cook for several minutes per side (about 2 or 3) until each side is golden brown.
• 17. Chef's Tip: I went crazy and used the same pan that I cooked the bacon in... So, I cooked them in bacon grease (I think I have a death wish). If you don't want to use the bacon grease, just wipe out the pan and use the vegetable oil.
• 18. Serve warm with a nice runny egg or two. Enjoy.
• 19. Keep the faith, and keep cooking.

HOW TO MAKE PUPUSAS

Steps:

• Add the Maseca and salt to a mixing bowl and mix well.
• Slowly add the warm water to the bowl and mix with your hand until you have a moist and soft dough.
• Divide the dough into 6 even sized balls.
• Cut through the sides of a ziploc bag making a flap. Then put one of the dough balls inside the bag.
• Use a heavy pot to flatten the ball.
• Put as much cheese that will fit on top of the flattened ball.
• Fold the dough as if making an empanada. Use the plastic bag to help you do this.
• Shape it back into a ball. Use the bag to help you do this.
• Put the flap back over the ball and flatten again. It shouldn't be thin like a tortilla. They should be thick.
• Heat up a skillet over medium heat.
• Coat the pot with enough oil to keep the pupusa from sticking.
• Once the oil is hot add the pupusa and cook for 3-4 minutes. Then flip and cook for an additional 3-4 minutes or until the pupusa is nicely browned and cooked through.
• Transfer the pupusa to a paper towel lined plate and repeat the above steps with the remaining five balls.
• Add more oil as needed to keep the pupusas from sticking.