Masa Stuffing Recipes

Steps:

• Combine tomato sauce, water, cilantro, green bell pepper, onion, crushed garlic, bouillon cube, and salt in a saucepan over medium-low heat. Cook and stir until vegetables are soft, about 20 minutes. Let salsa roja cool for 10 minutes.
• Fill a blender halfway with the salsa roja. Cover and hold lid down with a potholder; pulse a few times before leaving on to blend. Pour into a bowl. Repeat with remaining salsa roja. Return to saucepan and simmer for 10 minutes more stirring occasionally. Allow to cool completely, about 1 hour, and refrigerate.
• Place cabbage and carrots in a large bowl. Add 4 cups boiling water and let stand for 5 minutes. Drain well. Mix in vinegar, scallions, oregano, and red pepper flakes. Chill curtido until serving.
• Place bacon in a large skillet and cook over medium-high heat, turning occasionally, until almost fully cooked and not yet crispy, 5 to 7 minutes. Transfer bacon and grease (if desired) to a food processor. Add tomatoes, quartered green bell pepper, Monterey Jack cheese, and minced garlic. Puree and season the chicharron with salt.
• Mix masa harina and 1/2 cup water together in a bowl by hand. Add the remaining water slowly, about 2 tablespoons at a time, mixing well after each addition, until dough is moist but still firm. Cover with a wet towel.
• Heat 1/2 cup oil a large skillet over medium-high heat.
• Take a golf ball-sized piece of dough and roll into a ball in your hands. Make a hole in the dough ball with your thumb; put a small amount of chicharron inside the hole, close it up, and flatten the ball with your hands into a thick tortilla shape. Place pupusa in the skillet and fry until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Repeat with the remaining dough and chicharron.
• Serve each pupusa topped with 2 tablespoons of curtido and 1 tablespoon of salsa roja.

Steps:

• Preheat the broiler. Halve the poblanos lengthwise and remove the stems and seeds. Place cut-side down on a baking sheet and broil until browned in spots, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a bowl, cover with plastic wrap and set aside 5 minutes. Peel off the skin, then roughly chop.
• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Combine the lard, baking powder and 1 teaspoon salt in a large bowl and mix with a wooden spoon until combined. Whisk the masa harina, 2 cups hot water and the broth in a separate bowl; add to the lard mixture and mix until smooth.
• Heat the vegetable oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add the scallions, garlic, chipotles, cumin and orange zest and cook, stirring, until the scallions are soft, about 2 minutes. Add the plantains, roasted poblanos and capers and season with salt.
• Gently stir the scallion mixture into the masa mixture. Line a 9-by-13-inch baking dish with the banana leaves, crossing one over the other, and add the filling. Fold the banana leaves over the filling, tucking them in to seal. Cover with aluminum foil and bake until the filling is set, about 1 hour, 15 minutes, uncovering halfway through.