Rosalita's Arepas Con Queso

Brenda.'s Note:

From the wonderful cookbook In Nirmala's Kitchen. Arepas can be sweet or savory. This recipe is a little of both.

• Total Time: 35 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 20 mins

Ingredients:

Servings: 6

• ¾ cup whole milk
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 -2 tablespoon unsalted butter (for frying)
• ¼ cup buttermilk
• 1 cup frozen corn kernels , thawed
• 1 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal
• ¼ cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• 1 cup monterey jack cheese , grated
• 6 slices mozzarella cheese (about 6 ounces)

Directions:

1. In a medium saucepan, bring the milk to a boil over high heat. (Watch closely so it doesn't boil over).
2. Remove from heat and let sit for a minute. Stir in the 3 tbs of butter and the buttermilk. Stir until the butter has completely melted. Let mixture sit for about 2 minutes.
3. Pulse the corn kernels in a food processor until just coarse.
4. In a large bowl combine corn, cornmeal, sugar, salt, and Monterey Jack cheese. Stir to combine.
5. Gradually add enough of the hot milk mixture to make a very thick batter.
6. Heat griddle or large skillet over medium high heat, and melt 1-2 tbs of butter until the foam subsides.
7. Drop about 2 tbs of batter into the skillet for each arepa. (They should be about 3 inches in diameter) Cook until underside is golden brown, about 4 minutes, then flip and brown other side.
8. When the arepas are cooked on both sides and the batter is cooked through, sandwich 1 slice of mozzarella cheese between 2 arepas. Reduce heat to low, and continue cooking just until the cheese melts, turning once or twice. Continue filling and cooking the remaining arepas.
9. Best served hot.

Reviews

[CraftScout]

These were different than the last arepas I made. Very sweet! I had a hard time with the milk mixture the first time. I didn't let the milk sit and cool off long enough, so the cold buttermilk curdled as soon as I put it in. :( Luckily I felt like starting over at that point, so I did, this time slowly adding a spoonful of hot milk into the buttermilk at a time to temper it, while stirring the milk and adding bits of butter to cool it. Once the milk wasn't steaming anymore, I slowly poured the warmed buttermilk (plus milk) into the hot milk/butter. This worked MUCH better, and I was able to continue to cook. Thank you for sharing. Made for ZWT5, for the Groovy GastroGnomes.

[**Tinkerbell**]

DS & I really liked these. DH & DD couldn't eat them because of the cheese. DS loved the mix of sweet & savory. On the other hand, since I eat my cornbread with syrup I wanted to add syrup after I put each bite in my mouth. Then I'd bite into the mozzarella cheese & realize that I wouldn't like syrup with my cheese! :) This was a whole new recipe for us & we're really glad we tried it. I think next time I'll play around, making some without cheese for DH & DD and maybe even trying to add some chopped green chilies or red pepper flakes for a little kick. Thanks for sharing, Bren! Made for ZWT5 - Ali Baba's Babes.

[stinkycheesefan]

They were ok. I followed the recipe exactly as written. I thought they were extremely greasy and kind of bland. But I prefer TexMex to true Mexican food.