I wasn't sure what to make for this challenge since we've had such good Chilean food made by professionals. Back in 2015, I made a Chilean butternut squash casserole for a challenge meal, which was tasty and reminded me of a vegetarian pastel de choclo, which I really like, but I didn't want to make that again. Completos weren't a great option since hot dogs are a choking hazard, and sandwiches (if I made chacareros) wouldn't be the easiest thing for a toddler to eat either. In the end, I decided to circle back to pastel de choclo, one of the first Chilean dishes I remember eating, to give that a try.
After looking around, I found a recipe on The Spruce Eats that sounded good, so I started there but knew I was going to need to make some modifications. First, I don't cook much beef at home, so I needed a replacement for that. I wanted to use Impossible Burger, but Trader Joe's was sold out of it on our last two visits before making this, so I ended up going with their beefless beef. Second, hard-boiled eggs were not going to be part of our casserole, but the internet said extra firm tofu mimicked the texture of hard-boiled eggs so I went with that. Lastly, the recipe used fresh basil, but I used dried. Considering all the grocery issues lately (especially with vegan options; they had no Impossible Burger or tempeh at the time we shopped for this meal), I wasn't sure when we were going to make this, and it seemed like a better idea since basil can go bad really quickly.
The ingredients for our version of pastel de choclo were:
- 2 onions ($1.50)
- 1 tbsp olive oil ($0.10)
- 1 package of beefless beef ($2.99)
- 1 tbsp cumin ($0.10)
- salt and freshly ground black pepper ($0.03)
- 16 oz bag of frozen corn ($1.29)
- about 1 cup whole milk, divided ($0.30)
- 4 tbsp butter ($0.36)
- 1 tsp sugar ($0.04)
- 2 tbsp dried basil ($0.15)
- 2 small boxes (1 oz size) of raisins ($1)
- 2.25 oz can of sliced black olives ($1.49)
- 16 oz package of extra firm tofu ($2.49)
- 1 can of chicken ($2)
- about 2 tsp powdered sugar ($0.05)
The whole dish cost about $13.89, which was lower than I thought it would be, considering it had three different proteins included. If it had been Impossible Burger, it would have been over $18, and if it had been ground meat of any sort, it would probably have been at least a couple dollars more. Fresh basil would have tacked on another couple of dollars too, so I guess we made the budget version of pastel de choclo!
To make the pastel de choclo, here's what I did:
1. Prep - chop the onions and tofu.
2. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil and then add the onions, cooking until translucent. Then add the beefless beef (or whatever meat/protein you're using), cumin, and some salt and pepper, and cook until done (whatever that means for what you're using). Remove from heat and set aside.
3. In a food processor, add the corn (came out to just under 4 cups) and about 1/2 cup milk, and process until all the corn is blended. [The original recipe used 1/4 cup of milk and said that it would appear creamy, but ours just looked like powder, even after adding another 1/4 cup of milk. I figured it was getting cooked more anyway, so just went with it as it was.]
4. In a small saucepan, melt 4 tbsp butter, and then add the corn mixture, a sprinkling of salt, and about 1 tsp of sugar, along with 1/2 cup of milk. [The original recipe had 3/4 cup but it seemed like enough with 1/2 cup, getting a little bit watery, plus it came out to the same total as the recipe just split differently.]
5. Simmer the corn mixture until thick, stirring constantly for about 5-10 minutes. Then add the basil and remove from heat.
6. Preheat oven to 375 degrees, and grease a casserole dish. [The original recipe said 3-4 quarts for the size of the dish. That seemed a little big for our finished product, but not sure if the next size down would have been too small.]
7. Add the components to the casserole dish in layers:
- beefless beef and onions on the bottom
- raisins, olives, and tofu
- chicken
- corn and basil mixture on top
- sprinkle of powdered sugar over the top
[The corn was supposed to fully cover the whole thing, but despite using almost a cup more corn than the original recipe, it barely made it.]
8. Bake for about 30 minutes until the casserole is bubbling and hot, and the top is golden brown. [Our corn was white, so it was more golden than golden brown. Funny story, the week before, I made arepas, and the corn flour we bought was yellow while Venezuelan arepas often use white, and here we had white corn, while every pastel de choclo we've had has been yellow.]
With all our modifications, how was the pastel de choclo? Really tasty! The flavor probably would have been richer if we used Impossible Burger (why is TJ's often out of stock?!), and actual eggs would have added something different than tofu as far as taste, but the finished dish was really good. I think if we made this again, I'd want to try it with the fresh basil for a more potent basil flavor (and of course, with Impossible Burger if we could get it), but we really liked how this turned out. I might also add another box of raisins, because the raisins were B's favorite part and I'm sure he wouldn't mind more. I also might try using a smaller casserole dish in the future. I don't know how often we would be making this though, considering it had three different proteins (beefless beef, tofu, and chicken), which would normally turn into three separate meals for us, but it could be good every once in a while!
No comments:
Post a Comment