Pastelitos De Carne (central American Meat Pies)

Total Time: 30 mins Preparation Time: 20 mins Cook Time: 10 mins

Ingredients

• 3 cups masa harina
• 1 tablespoon paprika
• 2 1/2 tablespoons powder chicken bouillon
• salt
• 1 teaspoon pepper
• 2 tablespoons lard
• 2 cups warm water
• 1 1/2-2 lbs ground beef
• 1/2 cup rice, cooked
• cilantro, a couple of leaves
• 3 cups oil (enough to deep fry in a large frying pan)

Recipe

• 1 on medium high in a large pan, cook the ground beef and drain extra fat. to the cooked beef, add in the rice, cilantro and salt to taste. cook for about 2 more minutes to heat thru. set aside and let cool for about 7-10 minute.
• 2 meanwhile, in a large bowl, mix the masa harina, paprika, chicken bullion and pepper.
• 3 using a pastry blender or fork, cut the lard into the masa mix until the masa is crumbly and the lard is pea size or smaller.
• 4 add the warm water, 1 cup at a time, to the masa and using your hands, mix well until the water is fully incorperated. the masa should not be sticky or dry. if it is sticky add a little bit more masa (1 tspn at a time) or if it is dry add water (1 tbspn at a time).
• 5 rub a little bit of cooking oil into your hands to make the following step easier. take out about 2 table spoons of masa and roll into a ball. using a tortilla press or a rolling pin, make the ball into the size of tortilla but be careful not to roll out to thin. the thickness has to be twice as thick as a tortilla or about the thickness of a pita bread. if it is too thin, the pies will not hold when you stuff them.
• 6 heat your deep fry oil on a large frying pan on medium high heat (almost high heat).
• 7 place rolled out dough on a flate surface and add about 2 tablespoons of the beef mixture in the middle. close in half (creating the shape of a meat pie or half moon). seal in edges with your fingers and creat small indintations with the end of a fork all around the edge of the pie.
• 8 before frying, test oil readiness by dropping a small piece dough into the oil. if it automatically sizzles and floats to the top, it is ready. carefully slide in meat pies into the hot oil and cook about 3-4 minutes per side or until deep golden brown.
• 9 drain very well on paper towels. you can also slightly press a paper towel against the fried pies to remove excess oil. you can serve whole over a bed of shredded green cabbage or cut in half and serve sarita's all purpose tomato sauce on the side.