I love Pasteles! It is the one food I look forward to every year. We always enjoy making them at home. Right now we have about two dozen in the freezer all ready for this Thanksgiving. All we have to do is place them in a big pot of water, boil for about 45 minutes, unwrap and viola! Some nice, hot, delicious Pasteles. Yes, making them at home can be very time consuming, but it is all worth it at the end.

What do you need to make your own batch of Puerto Rican Pasteles at home?

• Vegetables – If you are planning to make them traditional, you will need green bananas, tarot root, pumpkin and potatoes for the Masa (dough). Some people also like to add green plantains.
• Dough – In order to make the Masa for the Pasteles, you will need to grate the vegetables. You can use a regular food grater but we prefer a food processor instead. It will save you a lot of time!
• Protein – We like to use pork or chicken for the filling, but you can make it meatless if you prefer and substitute with another protein of your choice. For the seasoning we like to use Sazon with Achiote, Adobo, Salt, Sofrito, Annatto, Olive Oil, Green Olives (if you like them) and a tiny bit of evaporated milk.
• Some Wrapping – Parchment paper and banana leaves are preferred, but you can use aluminum foil instead of the banana leaves. You will also need string to tie it all together.
• Scissors – To cut the string.
• A Large Pot With Salt – To cook those wrapped goodies in.
• Ketchup – Even if you are team no-ketchup, there is always someone who cannot eat them without ketchup. Make sure to always have one around and/or hot sauce.
• A Radio – Who doesn’t like to hear some nice Salsa music while working?
• Helping Hands – This is a must if you are planning to make a dozen or more Pasteles by hand. If you aren’t able to find any helping hands, no worries. There are supermarkets who sell the dough frozen.

I hope you found this information helpful. Buen Provecho!

The post What Do You Need To Make Puerto Rican Pasteles? appeared first on Positive Mensajes.

I love Mofongo! So much so that I don’t mind peeling a bunch of plantains and getting dark stains on my fingers. Anything for my Mofonguito!

Mofongo can be somewhat unhealthy, depending on how you cook it. In Puerto Rico, the plantains are usually fried in cooking oil than mashed with “Chicharron” (pork grinds) and other yummy ingredients. This can become a problem for your waistline if you love to eat this traditional dish as much as I do.

No worries, one easy solution is cooking the plantain pieces in water instead of frying them. The plantain will still taste great and there will be no hot oil splattering on you or your clothes. Ouch! Make sure to not overcook the plantains. Doing so will cause the plantains to get “mushy” and we definitely don’t want that. You want the pieces to be tender enough to stick a fork and form into a bowl or cylinder.

You can also make it without the pork grinds and get all the flavor from the protein. Garlic and extra virgin olive oil will be your best friend when seasoning the plantain. Stay away from anything fried or high in fat like pork. Stick with lean meats, vegetables or seafood. Pair it with a nice salad, snap a pic and you are good to go! Buen provecho!

The post How To Make Mofongo A Little More Healthy appeared first on Positive Mensajes.