Arepas! Arepas! December 29, 2012
Posted by nrhatch in Food & Drink, Vegetarian Recipes.trackback
I love the versatility of corn meal ~ perfect for melt in your mouth cornbread, johnny cakes, hush puppies, and . . . Arepas!
Cat in Hat
Ho! Ho! Ho!
Very Funny
I can’t stop laughing
Spicy Arepas!
2 cups yellow cornmeal
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. crushed red pepper
1/4 cup vegetable oil
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place cornmeal in blender or food processor and pulse until finely ground.
In medium saucepan, bring water, salt, and crushed red pepper to boil. Whisk in cornmeal. Transfer to bowl. Cover and let stand for 10 minutes.
Divide dough into 8 patties . . . 3 inches in diameter and 1/2 inch thick.
In large skillet, fry patties (4 at a time) in hot oil over medium high heat until golden brown, about 10 minutes total, turning once while cooking.
Transfer cooked arepas to a greased baking sheet and bake for 5 minutes.
Serve with spicy black beans and cole slaw.
Aah . . . that’s better!
Spirit Lights The Way 
Sorry to sound ignorant but what exactly is corn meal? It sounds tasty and easy to make 🙂
Corn meal is like wheat flour . . . it’s ground up corn instead of ground up wheat. It’s used in the states for cornbread, hush puppies, johnny cakes, etc. In Mexico, it’s used for tamales, arepas, corn tortillas, etc.
It might be called something else in other parts of the world.
Thanks for the info. I will look out for it in the supermarket! We have a heat wave here at present so staying close to the air conditioner today 🙂
I added a link to “cornmeal” . . . it shows different uses around the world, as well as different names for it.
We love corn meal too! Thanks for the shout out.
My pleasure! Your posts are so delicious . . . definitely worth consumiong and sharing.
Sounds good Nancy! Sounds a little like what we call mush. I like “arepas” better! We just polished off some potato cakes.. 🙂 Gotta do something with those left over mashed potatoes.
Oh, yum! Potato cakes are a fave. Arepas are a bit like cornmeal mush . . . or scrapple (without the meat). Also like fried polenta.
Polenta. Yum.
Especially fried up nice and crispy. 😀
Now, I must have potato cakes. Suddenly my peanut butter and cracker isn’t as satisfying. Potato cakes it is. Thanks for the little nudge 🙂
Potato cakes are apt to be on our menu soon as well. We also saw some savory “pancakes” today on an old Julia Child show that looked delicious.
Food is one of the ultimate pleasures of life, eh? 😉
Peanut butter can be very satisfying especially when accompanied by a spoonful of chili.. 🙂
I’m a big fan of peanut butter . . . but it’s an ever-ready treat. Whereas potato cakes are not generally found sitting around our house waiting to be gobbled up. 😀
Oh, yes, I had these in a Colombian restaurant in Florida a few years back. Simple and tasty. Never thought about making them at home, but they would be a breeze to make.
At the local art festival, a food vendor serves Arepas from his small fast food truck. Like you, I never thought about making them at home, until I saw a picture in a magazine of Arepas topped with slaw and sided with black beans.
Oh yum. Every culture has something similar, don’t they? tamales, polenta, grits – love them all.
Met too! I love the interplay between cultures . . . the subtle variations and nuances.
That sounds delicious — will have to try. Recently tried making my own english muffins — you know for eggs benny? — much better than the store bought kind which I have been doing all my life. So, I just might give your recipe a go. Merry Christmas!
Ooh . . . homemade English Muffins. Yum.
We used to buy English Muffin Bread from Delicious Orchards in Colts Neck NJ. Awful, until toasted. Once toasted, stellar!
Hope you enjoy giving this recipe a go.
We call that mealie meal here, but I’ve never heard of arepas. Made into stiff porridge, though, the meal is a staple diet to many.
Is it just me, or does “mealie meal” sounds less appetizing than “corn meal”? 😉
Not only sound, but taste. It has to be one of the blandest food substances on earth. Tolerable with a good strong gravy as a traditional accompaniment to braaied (barbequed) venison.
I expect that’s why most recipes add pungent seasoning . . . like fiery red pepper!
Oooooh, I was juuust thinking this week that I miss eating arepas. We don’t have the pre-packaged ones or the cornmeal here in Oregon. I can order them online though, and I am going to do just that! Yum!
Oh, good! It’s FUN to have our taste buds tantalized to the point that we MUST indulge. 😀
Nice recipe: I’ve never seen cornmeal. Time for a bit of culinary research.
Judging from the comments, I should have included a link to “Corn Meal.” I shall add a link:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornmeal
I must try this recipe. It sounds like a very light simple addition to a meal.
We usually make cornbread to go with chili . . . and now arepas to go with black beans and rice or red beans and rice. I might play around with the recipe by adding corn and red pepper.
This is a new one for me! I’ve always enjoyed anything with cornmeal, and I’m sure I would love this, too! Sounds great! 🙂
Really? With all the Mexican food in L.A., I would have thunk that Arepas would be ubiquitous . . . on every street corner.
Definitely a fun little side especially when there’s no time to make cornbread or hot tamales.
So sorry to hear about your Mom, NR.
Let us know what is happening.
Thanks, Granny. Mom landed in the hospital yesterday after an apparent stroke, but all tests were negative. So no diagnosis yet. We’ll know when we know.
She became quite combative and had to be put in restraints. An aide spent the night with her. Poor mom.
That’s the exclamation point to our year.
Here’s to 2013!
I thought the same thing…2012 not going out quietly.
Nope. On a positive note . . . my niece is in London getting ready to march in the New Year’s Day parade. Perhaps she’ll set the tone for the NEW YEAR!