Hallacas Recipe.
This process belongs to: Scannone, Armando. Mi Cocina: A La Manera de Caracas. Bolsillo, 1986.
Makes about 60 Hallacas.
Ingredients for the Guiso/Stew:
1 lb Cornmeal Dough
7 lb Pork-leg Meat
2 Gens. About 5 lb
3 Limes
1 cup of Oil
3 lb of Coarsely Ground Onion
1 lb of Chopped Leek (the white part)
1 lb of Sliced Green Onions (the white part)
3/4 cup of Crushed Garlic Cloves
1/2 cup of Small Capers
1/2 cup of Broth from the Cooked Hens
1 Kg of Red Bell Pepper, Seedless
2 Kg of Tomatoes, Skinned and Seedless
4 Chopped Sweet Peppers
30 Drops of Hot Sauce
1 270g Jar of Crushed Pickles in Mustard
2 cups of Sweet Moscatel-type Wine
1 cup of Vinegar
2/3 cup of Worcestershire Sauce
550g of Brown Sugar
1 1/2 Tbsp of Ground Dried Red Paprika
1 Tbsp of Ground Black Pepper
5 Tbsp of Salt
2 cups of Broth from the Cooked Hens
3/4 cup Of Mustard.
Ingredients for the Dough:
5 cups of Lard
5 Kg of Corn Dough
3 cups of Broth from the Cooked Hens
5 Tbsp of Salt
6 Tbsp of Annatto Seed.
Other Ingredients (Garnishes):
1 Kg of Red Peppers
3 Tbsp of Oil
1/2 Kg of Bacon
150g of Almonds
1/2 Kg of Small Onions
2/3 cup of Small Capers
2 1/2 cups of Olives
2 1/4 cups of Seedless Raisins
1/2 cup of Chopped Pickles.
Ingredients for Wrapping:
7 Kg of Banana Leaves for the Hallacas
1 cup of Lard Colored with Annatto
Wick to Tie the Hallacas
Water and Salt for Boiling
STEW PREPARATION:
Clean the pig. Rub it with lemon. Rinse under running water and put on the fire together with the bacon that will be used as garnish, with enough water to cover them. Bring to a boil and cook for 7 to 8 minutes. The pig should be pink. Turn off the heat. Allow to cool, set aside the bacon. Cut the pig into pieces about 3 centimeters, removing the fat or any other expendable parts that it still has. Set aside. Discard the liquid. Clean the chickens. Rub them with lemon and wash them well. Put each chicken in a large pressure cooker with 4 to 5 cups of water. Bring to a boil and cook for 35 minutes or until tender, but not too soft. Turn off the heat. Let stand for about 10 minutes. Remove from the pot and let cool. Remove the skin. Cut or shred the meat into pieces. The broth that results from cooking the chickens is allowed to cool and is stored in the refrigerator to be used in the preparation of the stew and the dough. In a large pot, preferably made of stainless steel, put the oil, onion, leek, chives, and crushed garlic with the capers. Bring everything to a boil and cook for about 15 minutes, until wilted. Add the paprika, tomato, sweet pepper, hot sauce, pickles, wine, vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, brown sugar, dried paprika, dried pepper, pepper, salt, 2 cups of broth and mustard. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes. Add the pork. Bring to a boil and cook for about 40 minutes. Add the chicken. Bring to a boil and cook for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Adjust the seasoning, which should be very strong. Finely mash the dough with 1 1/2 cups of broth and add to the pot to thicken or set the stew. Remove from heat and, stirring gently, cook over low heat for 30 more minutes or until the stew thickens, leaving a little liquid on the surface, 1 to 2 centimeters. Cover the pot with a cloth that is not too thick and without covering it too much, let it cool in a cool place until the next day, when the Hallacas are going to be filled.
PREPARATION OF THE DOUGH:
In a pot, put part of the lard, about 2 cups, with the annatto, bring to a boil, cook briefly and turn off. Remove the annatto grains. This butter will be used to color the dough to grease the leaves. On a table or board, place the dough and add the butter, about 3 cups of uncolored butter and 1 cup of colored butter, and the salt. Mix everything together and knead very well. Put it through the grinding machine to obtain a well-united and compact dough. Then add the chicken broth, about 3 cups, and knead again, very well, until it is soft and compact. Put it on a large tray and cover it with a damp cloth.
PREPARATION OF THE DECORATIONS
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spread the peppers with the oil. Put them in the oven and bake for 50 minutes or until they begin to brown. Remove them from the oven. Place them on a damp cloth. They are wrapped and when cooled, the skin and seeds are removed and cut into 1-centimeter wide strips. The bacon, already cooked, is cut into thin strips 4 to 5 centimeters long. The skin is removed from the almonds. The onions are peeled. They are cut into thin slices. The capers and olives are drained. The pickles are drained and cut into small pieces.
