Arepas, Colombian Corn Cakes

My favorite breakfast, over easy egg and arepa smothered in siracha

My husband is Colombian and grew up eating arepas for breakfast, lunch and dinner. What's an arepa?  It's a Colombian corn cake that is cheesy, crispy, buttery and the best thing since sliced bread! In our house its a once week love affair that we don't plan on changing. We mostly eat them for breakfast with an over easy egg, but we have been known to get crazy and stuff them like a pita pocket for lunch or dinner...mmmm!!  In my opinion the sky's the limit with these suckers, they are good with anything!

I know that my blog is about healthy eating and you are saying to yourself "butter...cheese...isn't that bad for you?" Well there are many studies out there that say that butter is actually not that bad for you; here is a link for a website that talks about the misconception of butter being unhealthy: http://www.westonaprice.org/food-features/why-butter-is-better. I know that its not a bowl of spinach and shouldn't be eaten every day but, I consider small batch local dairy (including cheese and butter) to be healthy in moderation.

This recipe makes three large arepas, and can be doubled without any problem.

Ingredients 

1 Cup Goya Masarepa (This is usually available in the ethnic food section of your grocery store)

3/4 Cup warm water

1/4 tsp sea salt

1/2 cup pasture raised, whole milk cheese, Monterrey jack is our favorite but any melting cheese will work.

3 Tbsp organic, pasture raised butter, each Tbsp cut in half.

Masarepa, cooked cornmeal

Directions

Turn oven onto lowest setting and place cookie sheet in the oven to keep cooked arepas warm.

Heat a cast iron pan or griddle over medium-high heat, a non-stick works as well but I prefer the cast iron.

While the pan heats, mix Masarepa, water, salt and cheese in a bowl till combined and forms a sticky "dough."  If your mixture is too sticky or watery, don't panic just add more masa till it looks like this:

Your dough won't come together in a ball but should resemble wet sand

Form mixture into 3 equal size cakes.

Place on parchment so they don't stick, till you are ready to cook them

Place one piece of butter in the pan and when melted cook arepa till browned, about 5 to 7 minutes.  Lift arepa out of the pan with a spatula and add in another piece of butter to the pan. Flip arepa and cook till brown on the second side about 5 to 7 minutes. Remove from pan and place in a warm oven.  Repeat with the other two arepas using one piece of butter for each side.

Serve immediately with eggs or eat as is! Buen provecho amigos!

Perfection!

“You have to be a romantic to invest yourself, your money, and your time in cheese.” 
― Anthony Bourdain, Medium Raw: A Bloody Valentine to the World of Food and the People Who Cook