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Pasteles of P.R., Eddie's style.

You can make Pasteles out of chicken, beef or pork, but here we are going to make it out of chicken's meat and we are going to make the pulp/mass of green bananas with out pig's grease so that it will be more healthy.

If you decide to make your Pasteles with beef or pork, instead of using a packet of chicken broth, use a packet of Sason Accent orginal seasoning.

Attn: When I refer to a "spoon" I mean a common spoon you use to eat with, when I refer to a cup I mean a 14 oz. cup.

Recipe for 8 to 12 Pasteles (depends on how big the green bananas are).

Ingredients for the green banana's mass;

 24 green bananas.

2 packets of Sazon Accent with Coriander and Annatto Seasoning.

10 spoons of olive oil or corn oil.

1/4 a cup of milk.

1/4 of a can of tomato sauce.

Adobo or salt to your taste.

 Banana leaves or alumin. foil.

 Cooking paper 12"x12".

Cooking string.

Ingredients for the filling.

4  large thighs or 6 regular thighs of skinless/boneless chicken, cut into 1" pieces.

8 to 12 stuffed olives cut into half.

 1 large onion diced.

 8 pieces of garlic diced.

 2 spoons of Sofrito.

 1 packet/or cube of chicken broth.

1 packet of Sazon Accent with Coriander and Annatto Seasoning

 8 spoons of olive oil.

 8 spoons of white wine.

 1/2 spoon of Basil leaves.

 1/2 spoon of black pepper.

 3/4 of a can of tomato sauce.

 2 large potatos, peeled and diced.

 1 cup (14 oz.) of water

Adobo or salt to your taste.  

2 spoons of Louisiana Hot Sauce (opcional).

Making the green banana pulp/mass;

With rubber gloves on so that you will not stain your hands of the green bananas, peel the bananas and grind them into a pulp/mass.

Attn: The stains of green bananas do not come out of your clothes, use old clothes when making pasteles.

Commerical Grinder used for making lots of Pasteles.

 Mix the milk, the packet of Sason with the tomato sauce in a cup and mix that into the green banana's pulp's mass, then mix in the olive oil or corn oil.

Season with Adobo or salt to your taste.

Clean the banana leaves well with running tap water before using, if you can't get green banana leaves, use alumin. foil.  Cut either the banana leaves or the foil into sheets of of 8"x8".

If your cooking paper comes in a roll cut the cooking paper into sheets 12"x12", if it comes in sheets use it that way with out cutting.

Making the filling;

Put all the filling's ingredients into a large pot, cook/boil and stir once in a while, everything at med. flame until the ingredients starts to thicken a little.  Take filling off the heat.  (make sure you make enough gravy for wetting the banana leaves).

Making the Pasteles;

First put a sheet of cooking paper 12"x12", then put in a sheet of banana leaf cut to 8"x8" and center the sheet of banana leaf in the center of the sheet of paper.

Take a spoon of the gravy of your filling and coat the sheet of banana leaf with the gravy.

Then take a big pot's cooking spoon and spoon on top of the banana leaf your mixed banana mass, spread it out on the banana leaf, (less than 1/4 of inch thick) but not on the paper. 

Then take 3 to 4 spoons of you mixture and place that in the center of your mass, make sure that the filling you put in has a little of everything from the filling including a piece or two of stuffed olives.

 Now take the edges of the paper and fold over everything like you would a letter, take the over lapping paper and fold it like you would fold present paper on a gift, like in this photo.

Wrap your pasteles with cooking string like you would a box or a present, but do not wrap it too tight, the mass will expand a little when cooked.

Like in the photo here, a finished Pastele;

Now your Pasteles are done and can be frozen or cooked.

To cook your Pasteles place them in a big cooking pot with lots of boiling water and cook for a hour, turning them around from time to time.  

Open one or two and serve with white rice and stewed red beans.

Other options; Serve with stewed rice with pigeon peas.  Serve with bread and butter.  Serve with potato salad. Serve with a salad.

Feliz Navidad.

Merry Christmas.

Por: Eddie Ferrer Velez

12/1/09

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