APPETIZERS TABLE OF CONTENTS

Surullitos De Maiz - Pastelillos (Turnovers )AlcapurriasRellenos De Papa

Surullitos De Maiz - Cornmeal Sticks

These are little finger food appetizers and are brought to your table as a house courtesy in some restaurants. They are great as snacks or as part of a buffet.

2 - cups of cold water

1 - Teaspoon of salt

1 1/2 Cups of yellow cornmeal

1 - Cup of mild cheddar or edam cheese

Oil or shortening for frying

Pour water and salt into a sauce pan and bring to a boil. Lower heat and slowly and cornmeal stirring continuously so as not to create lumps.

Continue cooking on low heat until the mixture separates easily from both the bottom and sides of the saucepan. Remove from heat and add the cheese and blend well.

Scoop up enough mixture to fill a teaspoon and form a ball with the palm of your hand. place on a clean flat surface and roll balls in small cylinders roughly 1/2 in diameter. Continue this process until you have used all the mixture . place on a flat plate or tray covering layers with wax paper and let corn meal sticks rest in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes.

Heat oil or shortening to about 375 degrees in a deep fryer or caldero. Fry until golden brown and allow to drain on a paper towel before serving

Pastelillos - Turnovers

This is a nice flaky snack or appetizer unlike the corn sticks, I haven't found a restaurant that would offer any as a courtesy while you are waiting for your meal to be prepared. If you know of one please let me know.

I wont go into the pastry preparation at this time, because you should be able to find it all ready to go in the Hispanic food section where the frozen food is kept. They are usually called frozen disks, and that is exactly what they look like. Just tell the clerk that you want the disks to make Pastelillos and he should be more than happy to accommodate you. I have found them made of flour and also yuca (A.K.A. Cassava).

Now as for fillings I will give you two one the easy one and that's shredded Cheddar Cheese. and the other a meat and olive filling I think you might enjoy. After maybe you can start being creative and come up with one of your own.

1 - package of frozen disks (thawed in the refrigerator they come 10 in a package)

1 - Cup of shredded Cheddar Cheese ( Use this as a cheese filling only)

1/2 lb. Ground beef

1/2 lb. ground veal

1/2 lb. ground pork (optional For those of you that do not partake of this meat)

4 to 6 Tablespoons of sofrito

1 - Teaspoon of oregano

6 to 8 pitted or Spanish olives sliced

4 - Tablespoons of olive oil

2 to Tablespoons of tomato paste ( Or you can use about 1/4 can of tomato sauce)

Salt and pepper to taste

Oil or Shortening for deep frying

In a large frying pan put 2 table spoons of olive oil and bring up to heat. combine ground meats place in pan and cook thoroughly.

Remove from stove , drain all grease and set aside.

In a pot that will be large enough to hold the meat you have so far prepared add 2 Tablespoons of olive oil and bring up to heat stir in the sofrito and blend well with the oil. add tomato paste or sauce along with the sliced olives and oregano along with salt and pepper and blend all the flavors. Now add your ground meat making sure to mix all ingredient together, now would be a good time to check taste and see if you need more salt.

Your mixture should be nice and moist but not so moist as to have juices bubbling on the top, if so let the mixture simmer on low heat uncovered until you have a moist not dry consistency.

When done set aside and allow mixture to cool.

To prepare the turnovers separate the disks one at a time for each turnover you are filling.

Place on a clean flat surface and spoon in some of the mixture ( a tablespoon is usually enough).

Fold the disk over so that the two ends meet and with a fork gently press down on the edges to seal the dough. Continue this process until you think you have made enough. If you plan to make more than a few at one time. I would advise you to store them in the refrigerator until you are ready to fry them, so that the dough dose not become so soft that it starts falling apart on you.

Place oil or shortening for frying in a deep fryer and bring up to heat about 375 degrees.

You can start by placing one turnover in the fryer and bathing with hot oil by spooning oil over it and fry until golden brown, once done allow to drain on some paper towel, and serve nice and hot. Continue until you have completed all the turnovers.

Use the same procedure for the cheese filling.

If you still have some fill left you can freeze it and save it for next time.

Alcapurrias

When I think about all the fast food restaurants that have come about in the past twenty years or so. It is surprising to me that there has been no mention of the Puerto Rican fast food places that have been with us long before the big Hamburger, and Chicken franchises.

Although they are usually privately or family owned, they have and continue to serve there community. You will find them in shopping areas either in small store fronts or individuals with pushcarts on the corners or in the parks during the spring and summer months.

There you will usually find a vast selection of our type of fast food. Alcapurrias, Pastellios, Bacalaitos fritos, and some will even carry Pasteles among other delicacies.

I said all of the above in order to let you know that we to have been in the fast food business for a long while. We may have not been recognized out side of our own neighborhoods, but we have been there and business is good.

OK enough with me and my op-ed on this subject, let's get down to what this page is really about and that is cooking.

Alcapurrias

Masa ingredients

One bag of green bananas. ( about 2 pounds )

Three green plantains.

One pound of yautia. (tanier)

One large white potato.

One small can of evaporated milk.

Three tablespoons of Achote.

1/8 cup of vegetable oil, lard or shortening. ( which has been heated with the achote until it has reached a deep red color )

Three tablespoons of sofrito. ( look in the foundation page for the recipe)

Salt and pepper to taste.

Meat filling

You will find the meat filling recipe under the Pastelillos recipe on this page. Notice the meat combination of beef, veal and pork. You can leave out the veal and pork if you wish.

1- Cut off the ends of the green bananas and with a paring knife make a slit length wise, making sure not to cut to deep, you just want to penetrate the skin.

2- Place the bananas in a pan with hot water from the faucet and salt. This will make it easier to peel the skin off the banana.

3- Once you have completed this stage, you will notice that the skin has started to come away from the banana.

4- Take your knife and just move from side to side in a rocking motion. Do this the length of the banana and notice how easy the skin comes off .

5- Place the peeled bananas in a pot with cold water and salt making sure that they are completely covered in water and set aside.

6- Follow the same procedure with the green plantains and set aside.

7- Peel the yautia and place in a pot with cold salted water.

8- Peel the white potato and place in cold salted water.

9- If you have or can get hold of a large deep roasting pan it will help you with the next step, and that is the grating part of this recipe. That's right we are going to have to use a grater. If you want a true Alcapurrias we are going to use some elbow grease, no blender or food processor.

10- You can start by grating the green bananas right into the roasting pan, followed by the rest of the other vegetables except for the potato, leave that for last. The potato has always been used to clean and remove the residue of the other vegetables.

11- Once you have completed the grating add the sofrito and mix thoroughly. Add 1/2; the can of evaporated milk and continue mixing. This would be a good time to add salt and pepper to taste. Now finally you can add the achote colored oil making sure to strain the oil so that none of the achote seeds fall into the mixture. Make sure that the mixture has completely absorbed all of the seasonings. The best way to this is to make sure that your hands have been washed clean and work the mixture like if was a piece of flour dough.

12- Once you have completed the mixing of the masa put it in a large covered bowl and allow to rest in the refrigerator for at least four hours or preferably over night.

13- When you are ready to fry the Alcapurrias, fill a deep fryer or caldero with enough oil or shortening for deep frying and heat to about 360 degrees.

14- Make sure to wash your hands and then scoop out level kitchen spoon full of the mixture and place it on the palm of your hand. Add a teaspoon of filling in the center and then fold and roll into a cylinder shape making sure that the filling is well encased into the mixture. Set aside until you have at least two or three to fry at a time.

15- Fry the Alcapurrias bathing the top parts by spooning the hot oil over them until golden brown. Don't raise the heat anymore than you have to you want them to fry slowly so that they will cook completely inside.

16- Once they are done remove from the fryer and allow them to drain on a paper towel. Alcapurrias are best eaten while they are still hot. Remember this considered finger food so dig in and enjoy.

Rellenos De Papa

Rellenos de papa is another one of our favorite fast foods. This can be found in any restaurant that sells what we call Frituras ( fried foods). I have even seen street vendors cooking them in parks during the summer.

Even though these are known as snacks, one or two rellenos de papa along with a beverage is enough to serve as a lunch that can be very filling.

The rellenos de papa is made with mashed potato stuffed with a seasoned chopped meat mixture shaped into a ball and then deep fried until golden brown.

Ingredients:

1. 2 pounds of white potatoes (Peeled washed and cut up into quarters.)
2. 1/2 stick of salted butter.
3. Salt and pepper to taste.
4. 2 eggs beaten.
5. 1 tablespoon of cornstarch.
6. 11/2 cups of meat filling (the recipe for the meat filling can be found in the appetizers page.)

Preparation:

1. Place potatoes in a pot with a teaspoon of salt and cold water make sure that the pot is large enough so that the water will cover the potatoes.
2. Bring to a high boil and then reduce heat to a simmer. Allow to cook until the potatoes can be pierced with a fork easily.
3. Drain all the water and mash potatoes.
4. Blend in butter, cornstarch and eggs.
5. Place mixture in a clean bowl, and cover with a clean towel allow to rest and come to room temperature.

Now comes the fun part, just make sure that you have washed your hands and that they are dry.

1. Dust your hands with a little cornstarch.
2. Place a kitchen spoon of the potato mixture on the palm of your hand.
3. Make a pocket in the center of the mixture and put a tablespoon of the meat mixture into the pocket.
4. Fold the mixture over and then shape it into a ball, making sure that the meat filling is completely covered.
5. Remember to keep your hands dusted with the cornstarch this will keep the potato mixture from sticking all over your hands.
6. Continue making the balls and set aside, it would be a good idea to place them in the refrigerator so that they wont get soft and mushy.
7. Place enough oil or shorting in a deep fryer to cover the balls for deep-frying.
8. Bring the deep fryer up to heat and place balls one at a time. Make sure not to crowd the fryer, you need enough room to be able turn the balls so that that they will not break while frying.
9. Fry until golden brown, remove and allow to drain on a paper towel.
10. Serve while still hot.

Well I hope that you will try this dish and enjoy it as much as I do bringing you these recipes.