So, I’ve spent the last couple of nights prepping everything I needed to make Pork Arepas!
Tonight! It all came together :-D
Browning pork with a little smoke-infused bourbon brown sugar from a friend in my Lodge, followed by a quick flambe with some rye whiskey before removing. Cooked onions, garlic, and roasted jalapenos in next, cooked down, mixed in some chicken stock, salt, pepper, and bay leaves along with the reserved pork, and them simmered, covered, for 2 hours. . .
Followed by shredding while the liquid/veggies reduced into a thick slurry in the pot. I broiled the pork (the split is due to the layout of my broiler coils) before mixing in the thickened sauce.
In the meanwhile, I prepared some frijoles negros (cooked in bacon fat with onion, garlic, and diced red bell pepper, flavored with cumin, bay leaf, and black pepper) and arroz amarillo (cooked finely minced onion and red peppers in olive oil, then tossed in some Sazon with saffron, then the rice, then poured in boiling water with two chicken-and-tomato bullion pellets dissolved in it. Simmered till fluffy!).
Test batch! The arepas are simple enough–masarepa (which is pre-cooked, re-dried cornmeal), water, and salt, fashioned into a pliable dough and pressed out into discs, then griddled in a little oil. Once cooked through and crispy, split em with a knife like English muffins and stuff. In this case, rice, beans, pork, shredded mozzarella, and a healthy dose of Valentina :-D
These were good, but more was to come. . .
