South American Corn Packets Food

PUPUSAS: STUFFED CORN TORTILLAS

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a large bowl, mix the masa harina with the water and salt, stirring well. Add more water if necessary to obtain a soft dough that does not crack around the edges when flattened.
• Let the dough rest, covered with plastic wrap, for about 15 minutes.
• If using the refried beans and/or the chicharrón, place in a blender or food processor and process until smooth. The consistency should be like a paste.
• Divide the dough into about 6 pieces.
• Lightly oil your hands to keep the dough from sticking to them (just a small amount of vegetable oil will do). Form each piece of dough into a ball, then make an indentation in the ball.
• Place the grated quesillo, beans, chicharrón, or a combination of fillings in the indentation, and carefully wrap dough around the filling to seal.
• Flatten the ball into a disk, about 1/4 inch thick, being careful to keep the filling from leaking out of the edges. This can take a little practice.
• Wipe a very small amount of oil onto the surface of a heavy skillet ( cast iron works well). Heat the skillet over medium heat, and place the pupusas in the skillet.
• Once the bottoms of the pupusas are browned, about 2 to 3 minutes, flip over and cook for another 2 to 3 minutes.
• Remove from the heat and serve warm with a side of pickled cabbage slaw ( curtido ) and tomato sauce ( salsa roja ) if desired.
• Enjoy.

FOIL-PACKET CORN

Steps:

• Lay out 2 sheets of foil. Top each with 3 husked ears of corn, a sprig each of thyme, basil and rosemary, salt and pepper to taste, and 2 tablespoons cut-up butter. Fold into packets; crimp to seal. Wrap each packet in another sheet of foil. Grill over medium-high heat, 15 minutes per side.

SOUTH AMERICAN CORN PACKETS

Steps:

• Carefully shuck corn, individual husk by husk, keeping husks as intact as possible and cutting stem as necessary to release. Reserve husks. (You will need 20 to 25 of the widest husks for making humitas, and about 12 more for making ribbons and lining steamer.) Remove and discard silk. Stand a box grater in a pie plate or wide bowl and, using largest holes, grate enough corn from cobs to measure 2 cups, including liquid. Reserve cobs for steaming humitas.
• Submerge husks in a wide 6- to 8-quart pot of boiling water using tongs, then turn off heat, leaving husks in water until ready to use.
• Mince white and pale green parts of scallions and separately mince 2 tablespoons of scallion greens.
• Heat butter in a 10-inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until foam subsides, then sauté bell pepper, chile, and white and pale green parts of scallions, stirring with a wooden spatula, until softened and pale golden, 3 to 5 minutes. Stir in salt, cinnamon, and grated corn (including liquid) and bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low. Whisk together milk and eggs in a small bowl, then stir into corn mixture and cook over low heat, stirring constantly, until mixture begins to hold its shape and resembles very loose scrambled eggs, 3 to 5 minutes.
• Transfer mixture to a bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and cool to room temperature. Stir in scallion greens.
• Make about 25 ribbons from narrowest husks by tearing husks lengthwise into long 1/2-inch-wide strips.
• Pat 4 or 5 husks dry and arrange, cupped sides up, on a kitchen towel with wider ends of husks nearest you. Put about 2 tablespoons of corn filling in middle of 1 husk. Fold sides over filling to enclose, then fold bottom end up over filling and fold narrower top end down over bottom (narrow end may reach around to back of package). Tie package closed with a corn husk ribbon. Repeat with remaining husks (4 or 5 at a time), filling, and ribbons.
• Lay reserved cobs in horizontal layers in bottom of a 6- to 8-quart heavy pot (do not pack tightly), cutting some in half if necessary to make an even shelf on which to steam humitas. Add enough water to almost cover cobs, then arrange some of remaining husks in a layer over cobs. Stand humitas upright on husks and cover with another layer of husks. Bring water to a boil, then cover pot and steam humitas, adding more water if necessary, until filling is firm and separates easily from husk when opened (test one), about 40 minutes.

HOMEMADE SOUTH AMERICAN AREPAS

Steps:

• Gather the ingredients.
• In a mixing bowl, stir the salt into the masarepa cornmeal.
• Pour 2 3/4 cups of hot water over the flour and mix well with a wooden spoon.
• Stir in the melted butter.
• Cover the dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.
• If you want thicker arepas, separate the dough into 12 pieces. For thinner arepas, divide the dough into 18 pieces.
• Shape each piece into a smooth ball. Add more water if needed-the dough should be moist enough so that you can shape the arepas without the dough forming lots of cracks around the edges.
• Place each ball in between 2 sheets of plastic wrap and flatten gently with the bottom of a pot. Thick arepas should be about 3 inches in diameter and almost 1-inch thick. Thin arepas should be about 3 1/2 inches in diameter and 1/4-inch thick.
• Use your fingers to smooth out any cracks along the edges.
• Place the shaped arepas on a cookie sheet covered with plastic wrap.
• Heat a cast-iron skillet on low heat. Put 1/2 tablespoon butter or vegetable oil in the skillet.
• Place several arepas in the pan, leaving room to turn them.
• Cook the arepas for about 5 minutes on each side. The surface should dry and form a crust. They will brown slightly but do not let them brown too much. They should look like an English muffin. If they are browning too fast, lower the heat. Add more butter or oil for subsequent batches as needed.
• The thinner arepas are done when they have formed a nice crust but are still soft on the inside. For thicker arepas, finish cooking in the oven: After they have formed a crust and are just a bit browned, place them on a cookie sheet and heat for 8 to 10 minutes at 350 F.

HUMITAS - SOUTH AMERICAN CORN PUDDING

Steps:

• Thaw corn and place in food processor.
• Puree corn, milk, eggs, sugar, salt, pepper and chilies.
• Saute onion in butter until soft.
• Add squash and bell pepper.
• Cook over low heat stirring frequently for 20 minutes until squash is cooked.
• Add corn mixture and continue to cook until it thickens slightly about 5 minutes.
• Add cheese, remove from heat and serve.