Every time I say DJ Pito can we get an Air horn in the Background and like pop some shades on Me and just like a gif of a turntable Just spinning but instead of a turntable They're pusas hi I'm Hamma wh and today We're making Pusas pusas come from El Salvador and Honduras I worked with a cook from El Salvador and another cook from Honduras And they would fight constantly about Whose pusas were Superior it's masarina Or NYX malized corn ground into a flour And dried that is made into a dough with Water and then you fill it with all Kinds of different filling my personal Favorite is just a simple refried bean And cheese mixture you griddle that Until they're cooked on both sides and The center is Bolten and then you eat That with salsa and if you want to keep It tradish they have it with this kind Of vinegary cola mixture known as And also to have a little bit of fun I'm Going to do another variation which is a Spin on one of my favorite quesadillas Which is a squash blossome and wakan Cheese quesadilla so I'm going to take That and shove that inside of ausa which I'm sure will be delicious let's do this We're about to make our Bean filling for The Pusa first things first we're going To Deed and finally dice our jalapeno so
You want to get in with the tip of your Your knife around the top where the stem Would be and you're cutting out All of that white pith and those seeds And if you get your knife in at the Right angle it all comes out in one easy Bit and any leftover seeds that you may Have you can just tap them out and then We're going to cut thin Slices move down as you Slice to mins of garlic thin slices all The way around then you turn it and then Do the same Thing and what you end up is with a grid Sort of deal so that when you cut Across you already have finally minced Garlic without having to cut over it Over and over and over again cuz then Your garlic changes in flavor so I'm Looking for minced garlic not mashed Garlic but again these are your reff Fried beans you can blend them for all I Care just give that a once over And that goes and then we're going to Start preheating our Pan you want to make sure that your pan Especially stainless steel carbon steel And cast irons are sufficiently heated Through to kind of get some kind of Nonstick effect cuz if you go into a Cold pan right now with really anything It's probably going to stick all right Pan's hot oil goes in so you see how it Immediately loosens and kind of just
Flies all over the place and it it's you Get a little little web in the middle And it's really loose that's how you Know your Pan's hot you want that to Happen as soon as you add your oil to The pan and in we go with our Jalapenos season that with a bit of Salt so we just want to cook this until The jalapeno is a little softened it'll Take a couple of minutes so I want to Push down on it if it still feels Crunchy needs a little bit more time Okay our jalapeno Have softened and we're going to go in With our cumin and our garlic we just Want to cook it enough so that we can Smell it till you get like that wave of Toasted cumin and toasting garlic oo I Really smell that garlic and cumin so We're going to go in with our Beans here with a nice pinch of Salt and now we're going to go in with That potato Masher and then we're going to mash up Our beans If you don't have a potato masher you Can get in there with a fork you just Want to break up the beans you don't Want to go too crazy with the salt right Now cuz you're still adding cheese to it I I'm going to taste it again once I mix The filling with the cheese and then Reason it if needed so my reff fried Beans go into this bowl to cool because
Hot filling in a Pusa is not a good idea Really hot filling in anything you can't Hot fill in a banata you can't can't hot Fill a dumpling you can't hot fill pasta So like if this is your filling and it's Going into something else you probably Want it to chill so I'm going to pop This in the fridge until it is fully Cool not lukewarm needs to be fully cool Pusa filling and making can get a little Bit messy so I popped on an apron I'm Going to add my mozzarella to my refried Beans going to stir that In you might need to use your hands to Really get it Incorporated and now I'm going to divide This into four Portions just using my fingers just Cutting Them and then roll them into like a ball And then you can pop them right in the Same Bowl cuz then we're going to put it Back in the fridge to chill some more While we make our Masa man this smells So good can't wait till this gets all Melty and gooey if any balls look a Little bigger than the other just you Know pinch some from one add it to the Other our balls are balls and they're Equal off to the fridge while the Filling chills in the fridge let's make Our masa for the pusas in here I have High quality masarina when you're Starting to make this dough I wouldn't
Just add the entire amount of water from The get-go I would just add half of the Amount of water and then increase it Until you're at the perfect Consistency adding a nice Hefty Maybe Couple of pinches of salt and then I'm Using stiff fingers to kind of whisk Everything together so I'm looking to Get everything moistened and you see how There's a lot of dry spots of of Masa That means that I need more water going To add the rest of my water stiff Fingers some parts are clearly moistened Really well but there's still a lot That's dry so I'm going to give it a Little knead to see how much better I Can distribute the water throughout but It still looks a little crumbly so that Means that I'm going to need more Water it's really helpful to use your Hand when mixing DS like this because It's really important that you feel the Dough that's how you know that it's Hydrated enough or that you've added Enough water this is looking a lot Better I'm kneading it around I want to Make sure that there no pockets of dry Masa stuck to the bowl so now now let's Do a test you want to be able to take a Lump of dough it's moist it's not Sticking to my hand it's leaving a very Fine residue and when I roll it into a Ball and squish it in between my hands There's minimal to almost no cracking
Along the edges so that tells me that When I roll it out and try and fill it And press it together it's less likely To crack cuz it's moist enough to stay Together at this point we're going to Cover It and let the Masa hydrate a little bit More we're going to let it rest for 10 Minutes before portioning it and filling It up and then cooking them off make Sure to keep your water close though Because after resting as the Masa soaks Up more of that liquid you might need Another Splash just to you know keep it Loosey Goosey and easy to form while the Masa us we're going to make another Filling here I have squash blossoms so To clean these you're going to grab the Bottom and then you're just going Gently pull it off while gripping right Underneath the stem and then you'll see This come out this is what you're Removing from your zucchini Blossom Texturally it's not great it's a little Gritty and it kind of throws off what Makes the zucchini Blossom so Spectacular is that it has this delicate Silkiness as soon as warmth hits it and So you don't even need a knife for this Filling you're just going to pull it Apart into strips and then pop it in a Bowl and then we're going to repeat with All of these the reason you're pulling Them apart is because when you pull
Queso Waka apart which is the cheese We're using in this Pusa you do it in The same way it's kind of like the best Version of a cheese stick and it has These strands that you just pull apart Don't be scared about what you put in Your Pusa you can really put anything in There they're just a couple of rules you Want to make sure that your paboa Filling is cold when you fill it and and You want to make sure it's not something Too wet if it's too wet it's going to Make the Pusa feel a little gummy cuz of That extra moisture from the inside it's Not going to cook properly look at how Pretty that Looks we're going to mix this with our Queso Waka just you know fluff it up so You get the cheese distributed Throughout that already looks really Good let's do this so our Masa is rested We have our fillings Made Let's pooa It Up all right look at That dough feels really nice very light Residue no real Stickiness it feels really malleable Squishing it out it's feeling good if at Any point it feels like your Dough's Drying out or cracking too much and you Don't feel like it needs enough water to Add to the dough all you need to do is Moisten your hands and that's enough to Reintroduce a little moisture into your Dough I'm going to eyeball four portions
We're going to make four pusas we're Going to make two refried beans and two Squash Blossoms so I just cut this into four And then I've got my first ball so I Roll it into a ball and then I make a Little divot in the center with my Finger and then with my thumb on the Inside and my finger on the outside I Slowly start making that cavity larger Just like that pottery class in Fort Green that you that you started taking At the beginning of the new year that You probably will stop taking by the end Of February so I got a nice looking Pocket here and then in we Go with a filling from here you're going To start knocking it against your hand And that'll both help the filling settle Into the bottom while raising the edges And then when you have enough at the top To pinch it Shut and then you roll it into the Ball until it seems fully sealed and Then from here we're just going to Gently start pressing it into a disc You're looking for around a/ in thick That looks about right and then just Using the edge of your fingers just Pat The Edge together To keep it all in check now this is Important to note there are a lot of Things that you want perfect perfectly Sealed like a soup dumpling you want
Perfectly sealed cuz if you lose that Liquid on the inside you're losing all Of the fun this is not one of those Things if you see a little bit of Filling peeking out through some cracks That is totally okay because as it Cooks Some of the cheese is going to seep out And crisp up against the pan and that Ends up becoming even crispier than the Regular Pusa so that is something that I Always look for so if I see a little bit Seeping out don't bother trying to pinch It shut don't bother trying to smooth it Over with some more masa it's perfect Just the way it is cracks are okay let Cracks live there we go so I'm popping This on a sheet tray lined with Parchment and with a moist paper towel On top just to keep that dough from Drying out too much and cracking So we got our other one same Deal we're making our little Masa vase Or Vase and then same deal knock it in Press it down we're slowly bring in the Top sealing it rolling it up and then Same deal Press and now I'm going to return the Bean filling to the fridge for later Pusing so the other one was a filling That you could roll into the ball and Just drop in this is more of a dry Filling so it's you're like kind of Stuffing it more cramming it in there
But you still start the same Way so we're just going to grab a Handful cram it In and just when you think it can't take Anymore just grab another little pinch And just go for It again roll into a ball I'm seeing Little hints of crack in with this dough Which means that it's starting to dry Out so at this point I'm just going to Wet my hands a bit for this final Part this crack is not too Big I might have moistened my dough just A bit too much you can tell cuz of all The residue that's in my hand but it'll Be okay so these little bits some cheese Will seep out and it's going to get Really nice and crispy it just means we Got to be a little more delicate with it Can pop that down right there so I've Got a 12in cast iron over medium heat I Preheated it so the pan is nice and hot I'm going to add enough oil to coat the Bottom of the pan fully and I'm going to Heat that oil up until it kind of Shimmers and really Glides along the Surface of the cast iron that's how you Know your oil is sufficiently hot Everyone's going to be calling me Dr Pito once we're done over here huh DJ Poito huh the oil feels hot but before I Commit fully I'm just going to give it a Test so I put the edge of my papoa up Against the oil and it's not it's not
Giving me that Sizzle that I'm looking For so I'm going to give the oil a Little bit more time there we go you Hear that kind of Sizzle you're seeing More violent bubbl now I feel ready to Commit Pusa down Pusa is such a fun word To say you're looking for this gentle Bubbl anything that's like too crazy the Outside is going to Brown and cook too Much before the inside gets warm enough So you want to kind of like you want to Coast you want it to take its time you Want it to get crisp you want to get to Get warm throughout this isn't a steak You're not looking for hard seers just Like Gentle o these are these are some goodl Looking pusas DJ Pito strikes again for Something like this I'm looking for Visual cues I want the bottom to be Crisp and when you look along the side You see as it Cooks it looks less Raw The actual Masa changes shade so when The bottom is crisp and golden brown and The cook level looks like it's halfway Through that's when I like to flip to Cook the other side we're getting ready To flip so I'm going to flip look at That nice and golden brown Crisp DJ Poito huh look at that Ooh that is Crisp that's going to be Good the main indicator that they're Fully done is that you can see the
Filling starting to bubble out that Means that the inside is molten just Like in Chef that inside is molten Anyone get that reference I forgot the Name of the chef I was going to say his Name what was his name John Fabro John Freaking favro oo nice and golden Brown I like to keep them on a rack Instead of popping them on paper towels Because that air circulation means that There's no Steam and no steage means no Sogginess so that will make sure that The top and bottom stay crisp Immediately season them with a little Bit of Salt and then I'm going to grab my Acutron for my Pusas all right pusas ready ctio on the Plate Sala ver on the plate I'm going to Start with the classic reff fried bean And cheese I'm really Excited oh look at that solid pull going To try some on its Own pusas are such a fun texture to eat Cuz you get this really thin crispy Shell on the outside and then you get to Fluffy tender Masa then you get to Really flavorful reffed beans and then You get the same thing on the other side M and that's built really well see how Much filling there is in comparison to Masa that's what you're looking for you Know what I'm going to say DJ Pito Strikes again let me get into the
Experiment oh yeah look at that kahaka Is an elite stretchy Cheese cheese is really subtle and Neutri so it doesn't overpower or Overshadow the squash blossoms so squash Blossoms have this really silky texture But they have a hint of zucchini so it's Like you're getting zucchini and cheese In like a really chill really milky Really stretchy way can't go wrong I'm Going to spice it up with a little ctio And some salsa Betterday m the ctio adds just enough Heat and acidity to really lift the Papoa you definitely need the ctio to Help cut it and if you have the two of These you can just pooa and cortito all Day long pusas Huh what a gift to the world thank you El Salvador Honduras you can find this Recipe and others on nyt Cooking spin the Pusa Uh
Have you ever wondered why most of the Vinaigrettes in the grocery store are made with 10, 20, sometimes even almost 30 ingredients? I remember growing up in Provence watching my mother whipping vinaigrettes before every single dinner. She would mix in a giant bowl, delicious extra virgin olive oil, a robust aged vinegar (the flavor would depend on the main dish), sea salt and pepper and voila! I decided to do the same thing for my family and friends more than 20 years ago here in this beautiful country. And Provence Kitchen® was born. Stay tune for more articles and wonderful family recipes..
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