Ooh, I just thought to ask you whether or not you have a recipe for pasteles boricua. Do you? Yumm! :op
Since you asked so nicely…Be patient with me, this is another recipe I have written down from watching…
Pastele Filling
3 pounds diced pork
2 large garlic cloves
3 cilantro leaves
3 recaio leaves (mortar together garlic, cilantro and recaio with 3 tablespoons annato oil)
1 medium onion diced
1 green pepper
2 tomatoes
1.5 jars drained olives and pimento
.75 of ham steak diced
salt
Cook all together-pork first, then add the rest of the ingredients and simmer for one hour. In the meantime start the dough.
Pasteles Dough
4 green bananas
2 plantains
2 medium-large potatoes
Peel and puree vegetables in a food processor until well blended-peel plantains separately. Use a small amount of milk to moisten. Add some annato oil to give it some colour (.5 a cup olive oil and .25 a cup of annato achiote in a small pan and simmer 10-15 minutes until colour is released and cool completely).
Have one can of chick peas drained and separate.
Take a piece of pastele paper or banana leaves, rub a small amount of annato oil on it. Put a tablespoon (serving size) of dough mixture and spread as thin as possible. The add two tablespoons of the meat mixture. Add like 3 or 4 chick peas. Fold paper or leaf over so the dough covers the meat. Fold paper up like a burrito and wrap with another leaf or tie with a string. To cook, boil for an hour (or freeze at this point and boil later). I am not lying, my recipe says here “serve with rice and gandules”.