Cachapas From Venezuela Recipes

Steps:

• Blend corn, milk, egg, masa harina, sugar, and salt together in a blender until the mixture has the consistency of pancake batter.
• Heat oil in a a large skillet over medium heat. Add enough batter to form the size of a taco shell, 4 to 5 inches around. Cook until golden brown, about 2 minutes per side. Repeat with remaining batter.

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 200 degrees F.
• Add the crema, half of the corn, eggs, sugar and salt to a blender and blend until the mixture is evenly combined but still chunky. Add the arepa flour and the remaining corn, then blend until a thick, even batter forms with pieces of corn still visible. Let the batter sit a couple of minutes.
• Meanwhile, heat a large nonstick skillet or a griddle over medium heat until warm and spray generously with cooking spray. Add two 1/4-cup scoops of the batter, spacing them apart, to form 2 pancakes. Smooth each out with the back of your measuring cup to form a 5-inch-wide pancake, making sure the center is thin and flat -- the center takes longer to cook and if mounded will make the pancake much harder to flip. Cook until the bottoms are dark brown, almost black, about 5 minutes. While the pancakes cook, shred or slice your cheese, if necessary.
• Flip the pancakes and top one of them with a quarter of the cheese. Cook until the cheese melts, about 3 minutes, then top the cheese with the second pancake. Transfer to a baking sheet and keep warm in the oven.
• Make more cachapas with the remaining batter and cheese, wiping out the previous oil and spraying the skillet or griddle generously with cooking spray for each batch. Once all of the cachapas are filled with cheese, top each with a half tablespoon of butter and serve with crema on the side, for dipping.

Steps:

• In the bowl of a food processor fitted with the metal blade, puree the corn with milk, sugar, salt, pepper, egg and cornmeal. The batter should be the consistency of a thick pancake batter.
• Heat a large nonstick saute pan over low heat. Add 1 tbsp butter.
• When the butter has melted and is hot, add batter, forming 3 inch rounds. Cook for 2 minutes on each side.
• Repeat process with remaining butter and batter.
• The cachapas may be made 2 hours in advance and kept uncovered at room temperature. They may be reheated in a 350°F oven until heated through.

Steps:

• With a knife, remove the corn kernels from the cobs. Put the corn kernels and the other ingredients in the food processor and process. You must get a pancake-like consistency, not too thick.
• Preheat your griddle or a non-stick fry pan to medium high heat and lightly grease it with oil spray. Measure about half cup of the mixture and spread it with a round spoon over the pan until you get a circle of about 4 to 5 inches of diameter.
• When the surface starts to bubble, turn it over with a spatula and cook it on the other side. Each side takes about 2 minutes, depending on the thickness.
• Fill them with fresh cheese,in Venezuela, we fill them with "queso de mano" which is a white fresh cheese, delicious, but you could use for example a low fat soft white cheese or anything you want like nonfat slices of turkey or ham. Or even non-sugar jam Or no-fat cream cheese, ricotta, -- anything you want.