Arepas de Queso con Morcilla

When I started planning my post-Christmas Columbian feast, arepas kept coming up in my search. I know this is inaccurate, but think of them as thick, stuffed tortillas; they are more like corn cakes, I suppose. We liked them so much, I've already made them again.

In any case, I started with R's Handmade Corn Tortillas and went from there. We stuffed ours with queso fresco and topped them with crumbled morcilla, blood sausage. I had just picked some up from Boccalone in the Ferry Building.

Ingredients makes 16 cakes

2 C masa harina
1 C hot water
1 C hot chicken stock
4 T butter, softened
2 egg yolk
1 C crumbled queso fresco
butter or oil for cooking the arepas
cooked blood sausage, crumbled, for serving
fresh cilantro, for garnish
crema Mexicana or sour cream, for garnish

Procedure
Place the masa harina in a large mixing bowl. Add the hot water and stock. Stir with a spatula or wooden spoon until well-combined. Stir the egg yolk and butter into the dough. Cover with plastic wrap and let rest for 15 minutes.

Separate the dough into 16 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Make an impression in the ball with your thumb. Spoon some queso fresco into the hollow. Then press the dough together into a ball again, trying to keep the cheese enclosed as much as possible. Flatten the dough to about 1/2" thick.

Melt a pat of butter in a large, flat-bottom pan. Cook arepas in batches, adding more butter if needed.

They should cook approximately 5 minutes on each side - till the outside is dry and crusted, but the inside is creamy and soft.

Serve hot, garnished with crumbles of morcilla, crema Mexicana, and fresh cilantro.

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