Alcapurias Recipes

ALCAPURRIAS RECIPE BY TASTY

Steps:

• Make the sofrito: Add the cilantro, culantro, bell pepper, garlic, onion, adobo seasoning, garlic powder, and pepper to a food processor and pulse until the vegetables are broken down and the mixture has the texture of a chunky salsa. Reserve ⅓ cup (75 G) for the filling, then set aside the remaining sofrito for another use. It will keep in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks, or in the freezer for up to 4 months.
• Make the filling: Heat the vegetable oil in a large, high-walled skillet over medium-high heat. When the oil is shimmering, add the reserved ⅓ cup (75 G) sofrito and cook, stirring frequently, for 1-2 minutes, until fragrant.
• Add the ground beef, olives, adobo seasoning, garlic powder, pepper, and Sazón Culantro and Achiote seasoning. Cook until the beef is no longer pink, 5-6 minutes.
• Add the tomato sauce and stir to combine. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the filling to a large bowl and set aside.
• Make the masa: Add the bananas, plantain, and yucca to a food processor and pulse until completely smooth, stopping the push the larger pieces to the bottom as you go. Transfer to a large bowl and add the garlic powder, salt, and Sazón Culantro and Achiote seasoning. Mix well to combine.
• To assemble, grease an 8 x 12-inch (20 x 30 cm) sheet of parchment paper with nonstick spray. Add about ⅔ cup (155 G) masa to the center of the parchment paper. Using a rubber spatula, spread the masa into an oval about ⅓-inch thick, leaving a 1-2-inch (2.5-5 cm) border of parchment around the edges.
• Scoop ⅓ cup (75 G) beef filling onto the center of the masa, leaving a 2-inch (5 cm) border of masa around the meat. Lift a long edge of the parchment paper up and over the filling to enclose with the masa, then repeat with the other side, then the short edges. The masa should stick to itself. Patch any holes with more masa, then use the parchment to gently roll the alcapurria from side to side to seal, making sure the filling is completely enclosed. Repeat with the remaining ingredients.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large, high-walled skillet to 350°F (180°C) over medium heat. Working with 1 wrapped alcapurria at a time, lower a long edge of the parchment into the oil and very gently roll the alcapurria off so it sits flat-side down, being careful not to splatter the oil. Add another alcapurria and fry for 2-3 minutes per side, or until golden brown and crispy. Use tongs or a slotted spoon to transfer to a paper-towel lined plate to drain and cool slightly while you repeat with the remaining alcapurrias.
• Serve immediately with hot sauce for dipping.
• Enjoy!

ALCAPURRIAS(PUERTO RICAN STUFFED FRITTERS)

Steps:

• 1. Pino Filling: 1.heat the oil in a sauté pan over medium flame. Sauté the onions until they are translucent, 3-4 minutes 2.Add the garlic, paprika, cuminseed and oregano and sauté 1-2 minutes more 3.Add the ground beef, salt and pepper and sauté, breaking up the beef until it is cooked through, 5-7 minutes. 4.Stir in the water or stock, raisins and olives and bring to a simmer. Sprinkle flour over all and stir in well. Simmer for another 5-8 minutes, or until lightly thickened. Adjust seasoning, remove from heat and set aside to cool.
• 2. 1.Peel the yautía and grate it on a fine grater into a large bowl 2.Next peel the green bananas and grate them into the same bowl 3.Add the sazón and salt and mix together well 4.Place the masa, or batter, in a food processor and pulse until the batter is fairly smooth. 5.Cut a banana leaf or a piece of wax or parchment paper into a round slightly larger than your hand 6.Put about 1/2 cup of the batter onto the round and spread it out a bit 7.Place 2 to 3 tablespoons of the pino filling in the middle of the batter 7.Using the round, fold the batter up and around the filling, completely enclosing it 8.Form the batter into a smooth, oval round and set it aside. 9.Continue with the remaining batter and filling until it is used up. 3.Heat about 2 inches of oil in a large pan or deep fryer to about 370°F. Drop a few of the alcapurrias at a time into the oil and fry until well browned on one side. Flip and brown well on the second side. Remove to a paper towel-lined plate and repeat with the remaining alcapurrias. 4.Serve hot with a hefty dash of hot pepper sauce.
• 3. Please Note: •"Green bananas" does not mean bananas that are slightly underripe. It means green green. So green they are a little hard to peel. They can be found in this state at many Latin and Asian markets, but you might have a hard time finding them at most mainstream supermarkets. Ask the produce section people if they have any in the back. Otherwise, use unripe plantains instead. •Raw yautía can irritate some people's skin. You might want to wear rubber gloves when peeling and grating it.
• 4. Variations: •Filling Variations: Try using crabmeat, shrimp, lobster chopped chicken or chopped turkey simmer with a little sofrito. •Masa Variations: Besides yautía and green bananas, try using plantains, yuca (cassava) or potatoes in your masa. Some cooks add a little vinegar to the dough. It both flavors it and probably helps to keep it from browning too much. Chilling the masa first makes it easier to handle. •Alcapurrias freeze well. Place them on a baking sheet and put in the freezer until they are frozen. Then transfer them to an airtight bag and return to the freezer. Drop frozen alcapurrias directly into the hot oil to cook.

ALCAPURRIAS - STUFFED YUCA FRITTERS

Steps:

• For the Filling: Step 1 Heat oil in medium skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork. Cook, breaking up pork with wooden spoon, until no longer pink, 5-6 minutes; drain off and discard excess oil. Stir in olives, Sazón and Adobo. Cook, stirring until combined, about 1 minute more. Transfer pork mixture to bowl; transfer to refrigerator until chilled. For the Dough: Step 2 In medium bowl, stir together yuca, Sazón and Adobo until combined; set in refrigerator until chilled. To make the Fritters: Step 3 Scoop ¼ cup yuca mixture into palm of hand. Form into flat oval disk. Scoop 1 tbsp. cooled pork filling into center of dough. Fold dough over filling to enclose; roll dough in hands to form cylinder about 3" long. Place on clean work surface; repeat with remaining dough and filling (you may have some pork left over), until you have 12 yuca cylinders. Step 4 Heat 2" oil in heavy, deep pot over medium-high heat until oil registers 350°F. Add 3-4 yuca cylinders, taking care not to crowd pan. Cook, flipping with slotted metal spoon, until outside of fritter is crisp and dough inside is cooked through (internal temperature of 165°F), 7-10 minutes. Transfer fritters to paper towel-lined plate to drain. Serve warm.

BAKED ALCAPURRIAS

Steps:

• Heat oil and annatto seeds in a saucepan until the oil changes into a red-orange color.
• Strain the annatto oil and set aside.
• Add all the ingredients except ground turkey into a skillet and stir well.
• Saute for 3 to 5 minutes. Place ground turkey into skillet and coat evenly with the seasoned tomato-oil based sauce.
• Stir the meat frequently to obtain a minced texture and avoid any clumps from forming. Cover skillet with lid and cook over medium low heat for 20 to 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
• Grate the taro roots and green plantains, using the super fine blade of a box grater.
• Place grated dough into a bowl and add salt and annatto oil. Stir dough until color is uniform.
• Spread ½ teaspoon of annatto oil on a plantain leaf.
• Place ¼ cup of dough on top of plantain leaf.
• Make a well in center of dough and place 1 heaping tablespoonful of meat mixture in the center of dough lengthwise.
• Cover meat filling completely with dough with a spoon.
• Lift plantain leaf with both hands and roll the alcapurria from side to side for a round cylinder shape, approximately 4 to 5 inches long, 1-½ to 2 inches wide and ½ to 1 inch thick.
• Brush a small amount of annatto oil on top of each alcapurria.
• Wrap each alcapurrias in the plantain leaf, folding both sides lengthwise.
• Place wrapped alcapurrias on a baking sheet. Bake in oven for 30 minutes at 350°F.
• Partially unwrap each one, exposing the top part of the alcapurrias. Bake for an additional 5 to 10 minutes to brown on top if you so desire.
• Serve warm.

ALCAPURIAS

Steps:

• In a small saucepan heat 1 tablespoon of the olive oil with the annatto seeds until the olive oil changes color; it should be a mild orange/red. Strain and set aside.
• Using a food processor, process the yautia and green plantain on medium speed until nice and smooth; add the salt and strained annatto oil. Now you have a fresh masa; place in the refrigerator.
• Preheat a large Dutch oven on medium-high heat. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil and sofrito. Stir-fry for 1 minute and add the ground beef. Brown the beef and add the Latin seasoning mix, garlic powder, onion powder and oregano mixing well. Add the beef stock and simmer on medium-low for 10 minutes. Remove the beef from the heat, strain the raisins and add them to the beef mixture mixing well. Set aside to cool.
• Remove the masa from the refrigerator and using 1 to 2 tablespoons (depending on how large you want them) scoop out of the bowl and into the palm of your water moistened hand patting into a round disk to prepare it for the filling (the masa can be a little too pliable; if you notice that you can't form a round disk, place the masa in the refrigerator to firm it up before proceeding). Add a teaspoon or more of beef mixture to the center of the masa and using a patting motion (as if you were making a snow ball) pat the masa around the beef to form a ball being very careful not to let the beef stick out of the plantain. Continue forming the balls until both mixtures are finished. Leftovers of either can be saved for your next meal (I'll show you what to do with them in a future recipe).
• Preheat a large Dutch oven on high and add enough oil to comfortably fry the Alcapurias (about 2 to 3 cups). (Heat the oil to 350 degrees F if you are frying them fresh; if frozen, lower the temperature to 325 degrees F.) When the oil has reached the desired temperature, carefully add the alcapurias 1 at a time making sure not to crowd the pan. Remove and drain on a thick bed of paper towels; transfer to a cooling rack once drained and store in a warm oven until you have completed frying them all.
• To serve: Alcapurias can be placed on a dish and passed around to your guests or on a serving platter and placed on your buffet. They do not require a sauce, topping or dip of any kind. Their unique taste will carry them on your buffet all on their own!

ALCAPURRIAS

Steps:

• For the meat: Place a skillet over medium heat and add the canola oil, onions and sofrito. Cook 1 minute, then add ground beef, tomato sauce, adobo, salt and olives. Mix well and let cook until brown, about 6 minutes. Set aside to cool.
• For the fritters: With a knife, cut the skin off the taro root and peel the bananas. Grate the taro root and bananas on the small holes of a box grater. Mix them with the annatto oil, adobo and salt in a bowl. Refrigerate for 1 hour, since the chilled dough is easier to assemble. (This is optional.)
• To assemble the fritters, use wax paper as your base. Cover the center with some annatto oil. Take a heaping 1/4 cup dough and set it in the center of the paper. Spread thinly, then add 3 tablespoons ground beef mixture to the center. Wrap both ends of the paper over each other to make a cylinder-shaped fritter. Push down on the dough to seal the meat inside the fritter. Make sure the dough is sealed completely on both ends and the center. If there are holes, seal them with extra dough, using your finger.
• Heat several inches of canola oil in a Dutch oven or deep-fryer to 350 degrees F.
• Slide the fritters into the hot oil for 5 to 6 minutes. Place them on a plate with a paper towel so the grease is absorbed. Serve immediately with hot sauce if desired.

ALCAPURRIAS

Steps:

• Peel the green bananas and place in a bowl of cold salted water.
• Peel and wash the yautías and place in a bowl of cold salted water.
• Grate the bananas and yautías. Add 2 teaspoons of salt and mix well. Set aside.
• Filling
• In a deep pot or frying pan, brown the ground beef. Drain off the fat.
• Add sofrito, alcaparrado mix, and salt and pepper to taste.cook uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove from heat and allow to cool for a few minutes.
• Put it together on a piece of wax paper, spread out 1 to 2 tablespoons of the masa mixture and make a shallow well in the center. You can also use the palm of your hand instead of wax paper.
• Put 1 to 2 teaspoons of the filling into the well and cover it with some more masa mix. Use the back of spoon to smooth the masa all around the filling so no meat is showing.
• You can freeze the alcapurrias at this point for eating later.
• Heat enough oil, in a fryer or deep frying pan, to cover the alcapurrias when frying. The oil should be heated to about 360 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Add the alcapurrias, being careful not to splash the oil or crowd the fryer. Fry until crispy and golden, from 5 to 7 minutes.
• Drain the alcapurrias on paper towels and allow to cool before eating.