Stuffed Minced Chicken Pastelle Balls
Chef
Jason loves pastelle and said probably would even eat them all throughout the
year if he had the chance, some of you’ll will definitely agree with him.
Instead of making them in the traditional form, what about if we change it up a
bit and make them into balls with minced chicken stuffed inside them. Hey let’s
try something new.
Ingredients:
1 lb. minced beef
3 Tbsps of Minced Onion
4 Tbsps of Minced Chives
1 Tbsp of Minced Thyme
2 pimento peppers, finely chopped
2 cloves garlic, minced
¼ Cup of
Ketchup
2 Tbsps. capers (optional)
2 Tbsps. raisins (optional)
8 olives chopped finely (optional)
Salt to taste.
4 Tbsp of Oil.
Dough
2 cups yellow cornmeal (very fine)
3 cups lukewarm water
4 Tbsps. vegetable oil or coconut oil
¼ lb. butter
1¼ tsp. salt
Method
In a large bowl, add your minced chicken and all seasonings. Stir
until well combined. In a large sauté pan over medium heat, add four Tbsp of
oil and add the seasoned minced meat and cook until its mealy in consistency,
maybe about six minutes. Remove from pot and let cool.
Meanwhile Lets make the dough. In a large mixing bowl, add the
cornmeal and salt. Mix thoroughly. Ina separate bowl, melt the butter and oil
with the water. Add this liquid slowly to the cornmeal and knead until you get
a smooth soft consistency.
Take about a golf size amount of dough and make a hole in the
centre and fill with about 1 Tsp of Minced Meat. Carefully seal it back and
continue doing this with the rest.
Place pastelle balls into a strainer which is then placed over a
pot of simmering hot water. Cover the Strainer and cook for 15 Minutes or until
cornmeal is cooked through.
When done, served on a platter with chow chow or even pepper
sauce works very well.
Brush the pastries with the remaining egg wash and sprinkle with
sugar. Bake in the center of the oven for 30 minutes, rotating the pan from
front to back halfway through, until the pastries are golden. Let cool for at
least 30 minutes before serving.
These wonderful pastries can be done with any other fillings of
your choice, apple filling works well also. But what he loves mostly about it
is that, if you don’t want to use the puff pastry dough as mentioned for this
recipe, you can simply use fried bake dough. It’s that simple and I know you can do it. So
get cooking.
Photo Credit: mommyhoodsdiary