AUGUST 23, 2009 10:56PM

'dicea does pupusas

Rate: 7 Flag

I'd never heard of them before, but someone mentioned them on a Food Network show this afternoon during lazy time.  So, I had to go do a little research.  Masa meal, water, cheese, beans, dry griddle... I had everything on hand.  

Black beans got soaked.  Celery, green pepper, and onion went in with a bit of reserved bacon grease to get loose and wild.  Beans joined in with some boiling water and some tasty herbs.  This just gets to cook down forever to become something tasty and good.

Masa and water danced together in my bowl until I figured that I had the right consistancy.  I'm not up on what the corn meal doughs should feel like, so I tend to stop and do a lot of experimentation.  Eventually I'll know the feeling and it'll be a much quicker job.  For now, it takes me a while to get things where I want them.  Rolled the dough into a log and cut it into eights.

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I am MasaBorg One of Eight!

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A thumbprint makes a deep space for the filling.

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shredded cheese is packed into the space, and the edges are gently wrapped up around to completely surround the filling.

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Patting the stuffed dough into a flat cake was easiest if I only just started it with my hands, then placed it between two layers of plastic wrap and squished it flat from there.  The wrap helped keep things together and kept the insides from busting out.

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The flattened little yummy was just under a quarter inch thick and golden browned up nicely on a dry pan over medium heat.  A minute or so on each side and the off to a plate and dressing.

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Some of that super tasty bean mess, some salsa, and a bit of extra cheese to hold the rest on.

This dish surprised me by being so very tasty and flavorful.  It was quick to make (or will be when I get the feeling for corn meal dough) and would be a fun hanging out in the kitchen party kind of dish.  

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Enjoy!

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Wish I had a few now - I'm starving!
I'd ship you out some leftovers... but there wasn't a crumb left over.

Someday, when we have the OS Cookbook, we can do a cooking club. Like a book club, but everyone tries the same recipe at the same time and then discusses results and experiences.

That might be fun.

Thanks, Duane.
Damn, those look good! Seriously . . . may have to try something like that soon.
All of a sudden I'm noticing foodies on OS!...I think there needs to be a whole new OS brand! -- Salon's Open Kitchen!.... Where everyone blogs about food and cooking and gets to throw verbal knives! (Or, more politely, exchange recipes?)
Who's your photographer? Just joking.

Looks Great!!! Award winning! Massa Flour is my favorate flour ... does great to thicken Chilli. But us (me) single guys need short cuts ... like NOT cooking beans from scratch ... soaking etc. Got a short cut version for us'n (me'n)? My tummy will thank you.
Never heard of them until now. Damn, they look and sound great.

I love masa flour. My favorite and usually ONLY sweet thing I eat is carrot cake. My wife made one for me a few years ago and grabbed the masa flour I had in the pantry by mistake to make the cake.

She was appalled by her mistake, but it was actually quite good, strangely enough. She still thinks I was just being kind, but I truly liked it.
Thank you, Owl. You'll know from now on that when you don't see me leaving my stamp around OS somebody's getting fed.

Moo
Crabby G, foodies are all over OS, it's great. I don't think I'm really a foodie, I was just raised by a Daddy who understood or sought to understand the chemistry and physics of food. My family also thrives on the delusion that our friends do not ever actually eat unless we are feeding them. So maybe more of a Foodist than a Foodie.

I'd love to see someone keeping track of the kinds of recipes and ideas that we tend to want to share about food here.

Thank you for your kind words.
Thank you, Robin. Love and kisses right back atcha.
Rod, my photographer is this crazy lady who lives in my head. Every once in a while I take her to the zoo in the hopes of ditching her when she won't leave the hyena exhibit.

Mmmm shortcut for the beans, eh? Depending on what kind of a short cut you want, that can be just what I wrote or coping with making more faster and then having leftovers to eat. If you set a handful of dry beans in a large bowl and pour several cups of boiling water over them and cover them, they can soak in as little as an hour, then take as little as an hour to cook to tenderness after they are added to the vegbits and more boiling water and allowed to boil.

If you want to start with a can of black beans, you can chuck a whole green pepper (diced) and a whole onion (diced) and a stalk of celery (diced) into a bit of reserved bacon grease or olive oil. Then when the veg are sweated and glowing, drain the syrup off the beans, toss in the whole can full, and top over with boiling water by about an inch. Check every fifteen or ten minutes or so and stir regularly as it simmers. It's gonna take a little time to let the flavors mingle. Use what you want for the first night, then store the rest in the fridge (in an airtight sealed container) and use it through the week on sandwiches, with nacho chips, or just cold out of the container on a spoon while you prop open the fridge with your hip.

My favorite thing to do with a black bean mess like that is chuck it in a bowl with some easy rice and a serving of microwave frozen corn kernels, then toss a little salsa on top. Don't even need to dirty a spoon that way, I just stick my face in the bowl and NOM NOM NOM.

Let me know if that was not yet clear enough and I'll try another approach. Thank you for the compliments, Rod.
Boomer B,

I understand totally, I'd never heard of them until yesterday afternoon. Watching "The Best Thing I Ever Ate" and this lady was all, "These have a funny name! They taste good! HA HA HA HA HA!" and I was not going to be happy until I had one in my hands.

Ooooh, a corn flour carrot cake would be yummy naughty tasty good. Super moist and rich with flavor. Thank you for the inspiration!
"Foodist" - brilliant - that's a term that needs much wider circulation!
Owl, you're giving me naughty ideas. I'm thinking we should find the basic tenants of Foodist belief in the Four Noble Truths, and the Eightfold Path.

Thank goodness, it's lunch time. Something good to think about while I start the pork neck bones in the oven for soup later.
:) enjoyed - you made me feel hungry in the middle of the night
I like the way you think . . . I'll never be a good Foodie - for example, I don't know the first thing about olives (except that I rarely like them in or on anything) or wine (except that I like some kinds) or food pairings (some stuff tastes good together - I get that part).

But a Foodist . . . I think I could become a Foodist, if I'm not already!
Mmmm, way to get me thinking, Owl. Let me take a break and play with Mr. Darcy for a while and I'll see if I can write up some thoughts about being a Foodist. I'd like to hear more about what you have to think about foodism, too.
We could make it into a religion, actually . . . just think of the possibilities for "Bread of Life."
Wouldn't it be nicer to have it be a little bit of a philosophy... something simple... something practical.

"Cook with what you got. Share with who you find."
Yes, that would be much better actually. And far more in line with where my heart really is. I'm kind of anti-religion, and pro human spirit. Besides, simple is almost always better!
I'm all for an OS cookbook. These look great, and the photos just add to the flavor.