Thursday, June 3, 2010

Beer Bread and Jalna's Pastele Stew

Coworker Jason gave me this Trader Joe's bread mix which he picked up on a trip to Seattle. I finally got a chance to make it today. I loved how it came out even though I screwed up. How did I screw up when it only calls for three ingredients? You'll see.

First you combine the beer and the mix together. Then you put the dough into a loaf pan and pour 1/2 block of melted butter over the top.
Now, do you see where I went wrong? The loaf pan is waaaaay too small. When the dough started rising, the butter spilled over into the oven, burning in the process and filling the kitchen with smoke.
It still came out looking good though.
Unfortunately, I can't say the same for my pastele stew. It was so unappetizing looking that I almost wasn't gonna post it. The taste was okay though and I already took the pictures so here it is.

First, I defrosted this Costco Carnitas and threw it in the microwave. Soooo my style, yeah.
I love this carnitas. It's so easy and fast to make and it's ono too.
I also defrosted these homemade pasteles that Landon (or Wendell . . . I forget) got from a friend.
I sauteed half an onion and a few cloves of chopped garlic in some olive oil.
I added about half of the carnitas (saved the other half to eat plain).
Then I threw in one can of beef broth, one can of tomato sauce and one can of stewed tomatoes.
Finally, I added the pasteles.
It ended up looking like this. So gross yeah!
It tasted okay . . . like mashed up pasteles and carnitas.
At least the bread was good. Thanks Jason!!

13 comments:

Kim said...

Hi! A few months back, you were tagged in our chocri Blog Race and won a bar. (This isn't a spam comment, I swear!) Your blog was one of the few without a Twitter account or contact link, would you like your bar? If you'd like to claim it, send me over an email- it's kim -at- chocri.com. And like I said, I'm totally not a robot!

If you don't want yours, I'm totally calling dibs on it because it looks delicious.

+ Milk Chocolate
+ Blueberries
+ Organic Salt Pretzels
+ Macadamia Nuts

Thanks!

Betty Townsend said...

What are pasteles? I've never seen them or had them before. I think the stew looks fine!

I've seen that bread mix in our Trader Jo's but haven't tried it mainly because there's no beer in this house. :) It does look good.

KitTKat said...

MMMMM. I love pastele stew, but the ones I eat never look like that. LOL!

jalna said...

Hey kissyboots, I forgot about that chocolate race. Thanks for contacting me, but I think I'll pass.

Betty, they're kinda like a tamale. It's made with banana and pork. Wendell really liked the bread.

That's soooo funny Kat.

Leslie's pics said...

it still looks ono...I've seen worse! hahahaaa! Your bread story was hilarious...that's soo something I would do.

jalna said...

Thanks Les . . . what a pal.

K and S said...

looks great from here!

Dd said...

Betty, In Dd's Table Talk II (page 168) there is a recipe for "oven baked" pastelles...normally they are individually wrapped and steamed. Also check our page 114, "gandule rice" is a normal side dish that goes with this.

jalna said...

Kat, maybe cause you're so far away! Hahahaha.

Thanks for all your help Didi. I never did that rice . . . didn't wanna screw up anything else.

Erick said...

I never know you can cook, oops I mean prepare Mexican food. Everything looks so ono! Funny I just made carnitas a few months ago, it takes hours, but so good. Nice food shots.

jalna said...

Wow Erick, sounds like your carnitas was ono . . . anything that takes hours to make must be good.

Betty Townsend said...

Thanks Didi. I will look at those recipes. Need to get some of those carnitas too from Costco. I see them, just never think to get some. We love carnitas. Wow, Erick, you made some. Its a lot of work. Carnitas makes me think of kalua pig. :)

Dd said...

Here I thought perhaps you were in the market shopping for dinner, but guess you were already at home