Colombian Papas Rellenas Stuffed Potato Balls Recipes

PAPAS RELLENAS (FRIED STUFFED POTATOES)

Steps:

• Place the potatoes into a large pot and cover with salted water. Bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer until tender, about 20 minutes. Drain and allow to steam dry for a minute or two. Mash in a bowl with 1/2 teaspoon salt until no lumps remain. Set aside to cool to room temperature.
• Meanwhile, heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook and stir the onion, green pepper, and garlic in the hot skillet until the onion has softened and turned translucent, about 10 minutes. Increase heat to medium-high, and stir in the ground beef. Cook and stir until the beef is crumbly and no longer pink. Stir in 1 teaspoon salt, cumin, pepper, tomato paste, and vinegar until the tomato paste has dissolved. Scrape into a mixing bowl, and allow to cool to room temperature.
• Line a baking sheet with plastic wrap or waxed paper, and set aside. Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl, and set aside. Pour the bread crumbs and flour into separate, shallow dishes, and set aside.
• Once the potatoes and beef have cooled, form the potato balls: grab a handful of mashed potatoes, and split into two equal portions. Form each piece into a small bowl shape, and fill with the ground beef mixture. Place the two halves together, seal the edges, and smooth to make a round ball. Gently roll the ball in the flour to coat and shake off the excess flour. Dip into the beaten egg, then gently roll in bread crumbs. Gently toss between your hands so any bread crumbs that haven't stuck can fall away. Place the breaded potato balls onto the prepared baking sheet while breading the rest. Refrigerate 2 to 4 hours, or freeze for later use.
• To cook, heat the oil for frying in a deep-fryer or large saucepan to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
• Cook the potato balls in the hot oil in batches, using tongs to roll the balls around as they cook to ensure even browning, until crispy and golden brown, about 3 minutes per batch. Drain on a paper towel-lined plate before serving.

COLOMBIAN STYLE STUFFED POTATOES (PAPAS RELLENAS COLOMBIANAS)

Steps:

• Peel the potatoes and cut them into chunks, put them in a medium pot and cover with water and ¼ teaspoon of salt.
• Bring the potatoes to a boil over medium high heat, then reduce the heat to medium and cook until fork tender about 20 minutes.
• Drain the potatoes and mash with a fork or masher and set aside.
• Prepare the filling, in a large sauce pan, heat 1 tablespoon olive oil over medium heat and add the onion, tomato, scallions, garlic, cumin, azafran, pepper and salt. Cook for 5 minutes or until the onions are translucent, add the beef and cook stirring occasionally about 10 - 15 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• In a medium bowl place all the batter ingredients and whisk until smooth and set aside.
• Divide the potato mash into 10 equal sized portions, about 1/3 cup each, and form each portion into a ball by rolling between the palms of your hands. Flatten into patties and place 1 ½ tablespoons of the filling in the center of each one. Shape the potato mixture with the filling into balls to enclose the filling completely.
• Fill a large heavy pot with vegetable oil and heat over medium-high heat to 360° F.
• Dip the stuffed potato into the batter and carefully place them in the hot oil and fry for about 4 minutes or until golden, turning over halfway through. Remove the potatoes from the oil using a slotted spoon and drain in a plate with paper towels. Transfer to a serving plate and serve with Ají.

PAPAS RELLENAS (CUBAN STUFFED POTATO BALLS)

Steps:

• In a large pot of salted boiling water, boil the potatoes until fork tender, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drain and return to the pot away from the heat. Mash the potatoes or push through a potato ricer. It should be easy to shape into a ball (but don't shape them yet). Allow to set until cool enough to touch.
• Meanwhile, in a large skillet over medium-high heat, cook the ground beef and onion until the meat is browned. Stir in the garlic and onion until just fragrant, about 30 seconds. Drain excess grease. Add the tomato sauce and wine, then lower the heat to medium. Simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in the olives and season with the spices and salt and pepper, to taste. Cook for another 3 minutes then remove from the heat. If the meat mixture is not at the consistency you desire, you can transfer it to a food processor and pulse a few times to hash it up. This is completely optional.
• Scoop 1/4 cup portions of the potatoes and divide each in half. Press a dimple into the middle of each half to form small bowl like shapes. Stuff a tablespoon or two of the meat mixture into half of the bowls, then cover with the other halves and form a ball around the meat. None of the meat should be exposed.
• In a small bowl, mix together the bread crumbs and flour. Dip each ball first into the beat eggs, then into the bread crumbs. Repeat for a crunchier texture. Layer on a lined baking sheet or large platter and refrigerate for 2 to 4 hours before frying.
• Pour enough oil into a frying pan that is enough to cover half of the height of the balls. Heat the oil to 375 °F. Carefully drop the stuffed potatoes in the hot oil and fry on each side for about 2 to 3 minutes or until golden brown. Drain on a plate lined with paper towels and serve immediately.

STUFFED POTATOES - PAPAS RELLENAS, COLOMBIA

Steps:

• 1) Boil the whole potatoes in a pot filled with enough water to completely cover the potatoes. About 30 to 45 minutes.
• 2) Once the potatoes are cooked, take them out of the pot and set them aside on a plate to cool for about one hour.
• 3) While the potatoes are cooling, chop the green onions and tomato into small chunks and saute these in the butter (or olive oil) adding the garlic, cumin, 1 teaspoon of salt and pepper. We call this the "Hogao".
• 4) Cook the hamburger meat in a frying pan with a couple of tablespoons of vegetable oil until it is no longer pink. Do not overcook. While the meat is cooking, add the corn starch, the remaining salt and more cumin if you wish. Make sure that the meat turns out crumbly with no large chunks.
• 5) Thoroughly mix the "hogao" and cooked hamburger meat in a bowl and set aside to cool.
• 6) Cut the potatoes in half. Now we come to the tricky part. In other countries, they mash the potatoes and simply make round balls out of them. We do it the hard way in Colombia. Take each potato half and scoop the middle of it out with a spoon so that you end up with a small "potato bowl". Be careful not too scoop too much out as you may accidentally go through the skin and the potato may fall apart on you.
• 7) Now, take the scooped out potato "meat" and cut through it with a sharp knife. Don't use a fork because it may turn into "mashed potatoes" and the texture will be much better the coarser it is.
• 8) Place the potato "meat" in the bowl with the hamburger and hogao and mix thoroughly, making sure that there are no really large chunks of potato in the mixture.
• 9) Add the cooked rice to the mixture and mix thoroughly once more.
• 10) With your fingers, take some of the meat/rice mixture and fill the middle of the potato bowls with enough mixture to form a dome. In other words, shape the mixture so that it now looks like you have a whole potato again.
• 11) Heat your oil to frying temperature.
• 12) Beat together the large eggs, milk and the flour until smooth. (I add a little salt, pepper and cumin to my batter but it is up to your taste).
• 13) Roll each stuffed potato in the batter until well covered and drop into the hot oil using a slotted spoon. Cook until golden on one side, roll over and cook the other side.
• 14) Remove potatoes from the oil and drain on a plate or platter lined with a thick layer of paper towels on the bottom.
• 15) Enjoy! I like to use squeezed lemon or a mild salsa on my papas rellenas but they are delicious just by themselves.
• Hint: Sometimes, as you deep-fry the potatoes, you may notice that the batter may slide off leaving a blank spot on your potato. What I do, is that I use a teaspoon to pour some of the raw batter over the spot, carefully "slosh" some of the hot oil over it with the slotted spoon to set the batter and roll it over once more to cook the spot.