Recipe Video Pasteles En Hoja Dominican Plantain Pockets

DOMINICAN PASTELES EN HOJA AS MADE BY JULISSA CALDERON RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the Bijol seasoning and cook for 3 minutes or until the oil turns reddish-orange and is aromatic. Set aside all but 2 tablespoons of the seasoned oil and return the pan to the heat.
• Add the red onion, garlic, beef, salt, pepper, and oregano and stir to combine. Cook until the meat is well browned, around 15 minutes.
• Add the tomato sauce and raisins. Bring to a boil, then cover and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 30 minutes, or until all of the liquid evaporates and the meat is tender. Remove from the heat and let cool.
• Make the plantain dough: In a deep bowl, add the plantains, yuatía, chicken broth cubes, Sazón Goya powder, lime juice, some of the milk, Bijol seasoning, and reserved Bijol oil. Stir to combine, adding more milk as needed until the dough is seasoned to your taste, soft, tacky, and light orange in color.
• Lay a banana leaf on a clean work surface and brush the center with Bijol oil. Scoop 3 tablespoons of the plantain dough into the center of the square and top with 2 tablespoons of the beef filling. Fold the banana leaf in half, then roll up and tuck in the ends to seal. Tie tightly with twine to secure. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
• Bring a large pot of water to boil over medium heat and season with salt. Add the pasteles, cover, and cook for 40 minutes. Remove the pasteles from the pot.
• Unwrap and serve with ketchup and hot sauce.
• Enjoy!

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 EN HOJA (DOMINICAN REPUBLIC VERSION)

Steps:

• Cut the banana leaves into 8x8-inch squares wash, pat dry and reserve.
• If using pork or chicken:.
• Place a small chicken (about a 2lbs) or pork loin in a crock pot and liberally sprinkle with adobo seasoning until covered. Set on low for 6-8 hours When done, allow it to cool and shred it with your fingers. Now you can use it for the pasteles.
• If using ground beef:.
• In a bowl combine the meat with the onion powder, oregano, basil, 2 tbsp adobo seasoning.
• In a pan over medium heat, heat up oil and add garlic, onions and pepper. Sauté until tender. Add 1/2 lb of meat.
• Cook until no longer pink and drain. Return to heat and 2 tbsp of water and tomato paste. Cook until all liquid has evaporated. Reserve.
• If using cooked pork or chicken:.
• Heat up oil over medium heat and add garlic, onions and pepper until tender; add 1/2 lb meat. Season with oregano, bay, onion powder, black pepper and salt if needed. Stir until combined. Add 2 tbsp water and tomato paste, heat through, for about 2 minutes or until liquid has evaporated. Reserve.
• Peel the plantains, niame and malanga. Grate the raw niame, malanga and plantain and mix with 1 tsp of adobo seasoning and 1 tspn salt. Add the broth either store-bought kind or the broth made if you slow-cooked the chicken. It will look like a doughy mass. Don't make it too wet.
• For assembly:.
• Put 2 tbsp of the plantain mixture on the center of a banana tree leaf, on top put 1 tspn of meat, and top that with 2 more tbsp of the plantain mixture. Wrap the leaf around it to form a rectangle; about 5-7" in length and 3-4" in width. Wrap another layer of parchment paper over each one. Tie string once around and once the other way to resemble a present, and tie a knot in the middle. At this point you can freeze them by wrapping a third layer of foil over each one and store for up to a month, just remove foil before cooking.
• When ready to make, put half a gallon of water in a very large pot and boil them for 20 minutes. Remove the banana leaf before eating.
• We usually eat them with Tabasco sauce and/or ketchup. Enjoy!