Caribbean Compass Yachting Magazine - December 2021

— Continued from previous page
GARNISH
2 large red bell peppers, sliced into thin strips
300 grams stuffed green olives
100 grams capers
400 grams raisins
ASSEMBLY
Prepare ahead of time the filling and plantain leaves, and set the garnish and
annato oil in bowls on the table. The dough should be prepared just before assembly
time. Then gather your family and friends around the table and make a party while
you assemble your hallacas.
Place a square leaf flat on the table so that the ribs of the leaf run left to right.
Make sure the leaf is dry, then, using the oil-and-annato mixture, liberally moisten
hands and top of plantain leaf so the dough won’t stick. Then take in your hand
enough cornmeal mixture to make a tangerine-sized ball and place it in the middle
of the leaf. Gently press it flat into the size of a tea plate, oiling hands when
necessary. Now, place about three tablespoons of filling in a line in the center from
left to right, allowing a good two inches on either end. Garnish filling with one strip
of red pepper, four olives, two capers and four or five raisins.
Now comes the tricky part. The goal here is to fold the dough over the filling so that
you end up with an envelope-shaped goody sitting atop the plantain leaf. Pick up the
edge of the leaf opposite you and fold it towards you and over the filling, allowing the
dough to separate from the leaf. You may have to help it a little. Then repeat with the
side closest to you. Do the same for either end so that the dough covers the filling. If
you have any filling showing, take a little more dough from the bowl and make repairs,
like playing with playdough. Don’t worry; the bumps will smooth out when it cooks.
The final step is to wrap the hallaca in the leaf and secure it with string. Wrap the
hallaca as you would a parcel, first the long sides of the leaf are folded over, and then
the ends are folded up. The last bit is to place the hallaca at one end of a small leaf,
flap side down, wrapping the leaf around the hallaca so that there are no loose flaps.
Tie it securely with a string, and there you have it!
Before serving, place the hallacas in boiling water and cook for 20 minutes.
Hallacas will store well in the refrigerator for 1 1/2 to 2 weeks, or you can freeze
them for a few months.
Patty Tomasik’s Pan de Jamon
FILLING
Ham, thinly sliced
Bacon, lightly fried (save the drippings)
Whole stuffed green olives
Capers
Raisins (plump them ahead of time in Venezuelan rum)
BREAD
Mix together in a large bowl:
1 1/2 Cups flour
1/3 Cup sugar
2 packets yeast
1 teaspoon salt
Heat in a saucepan to 105°F to 115°F:
3/4 Cup milk
1/2 Cup water
1/3 Cup that is half butter and half bacon drippings (i.e. 1/6 Cup butter
plus 1/6 Cup bacon drippings — yeah, grease!)
Add liquid ingredients to dry ingredients, and beat with a mixer at medium speed
for two minutes.
Add 2 eggs that are at room temperature
Add 1/2 Cup flour
Beat two minutes with mixer at high speed.
Stir in approximately 2 1/2 Cups of flour or enough to make a stiff batter.
Knead six minutes, and then form dough into a ball. Grease lightly with oil, place
in bowl, cover, place in a draft-free place and allow to rise until double in size.
Punch down. Then with a rolling pin, roll out dough into a rectangle 14 by 19
inches. Cover with sliced ham, and sprinkle on olives, raisins, capers and some
strips of lightly fried bacon. Roll up like a jellyroll and fold the ends under to seal. It
will be 14 inches long.
Place pan de jamon on a greased cookie sheet and bake at 400°F for 12 minutes.
Brush with beaten egg, lower heat to 350°F and bake for 30 minutes more. Cool
before slicing.
WWW.RECETASFAVORITASHILMAR.COM
DECEMBER 2021 CARIBBEAN COMPASS PAGE 31
Fenella Hall’s Christmas Cake
This is the moistest fruitcake I have ever tasted and, thanks to the alcohol content,
it will stay fresh and moist for months; we rarely had any left over, but if we did it
lasted well until Easter.
INGREDIENTS
1 1/2 kilo (3 pounds) mixed fruit (e.g. raisins, currants, chopped mixed peel and
red and green glacé cherries)
2/3 Cup sherry, rum, whisky or brandy. You will also need some extra to “feed”
the cake with later on.
1 Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated
1 Tablespoon honey or golden syrup
1 1/4 Cup brown sugar firmly packed
250g (9 ounces) unsalted butter
4 eggs lightly beaten
2 Cups plain/all purpose flour
2/3 Cup self-raising flour or plain flour with 1 teaspoon baking powder added
1 teaspoon mixed spice
METHOD
Grease a two-pound loaf tin plus a one-pound loaf tin (the mixture is too much for
the one tin and it gives you a second smaller cake to save for another occasion). Line
with greaseproof paper/parchment paper.
Put the chopped mixed fruit in a large bowl (put aside several cherries to decorate
the top) and add the alcohol, grated apple, honey or golden syrup, sugar and eggs;
mix all these well and make sure the fruit is all separated. Melt the butter, cool, add
to the bowl and mix. Sift in the flour and spice and mix it all well.
Place the mixture in the prepared loaf tins and decorate the top with cherries.
Bake at 150°C (300°F) for about two hours (keep a good eye on it as it can overcook
or burn). When a toothpick comes out cleanly the cake is done. After removing from
oven, leave the cake in the tin for about 15 minutes and then lift it out carefully. Cool
on a cake rack and then make a few small holes top and bottom and feed it with
some more of your preferred tipple.
Wrap in greaseproof paper and then in aluminium foil and put somewhere cool. If
time permits, unwrap it once a week for about three weeks and feed it again with
alcohol. If not, do it every other day for about a week.
Happy Christmas!
This article first appeared in the December 2017 issue of Compass.
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