Caldo de bolas de verde or green plantain dumpling soup

• Meat

  • 1 1/2 lb Beef bones

• Produce

  • 1/2 Bell pepper
  • 4 Cabbage, leaves
  • 2 Carrots
  • 2 tsp Chili or hot pepper, powder
  • 1 Cilantro or parsley
  • 4 tbsp Coriander
  • 3 fresh ears Corn
  • 8 Garlic clove
  • 1 Green bell pepper
  • 1/2 tbsp Oregano, dried
  • 1/2 cup Peas, cooked
  • 4 Plantains, green
  • 2 Plantains, green raw
  • 1/2 cup Raisins - optional
  • 1/2 Red onion
  • 4 Tomato
  • 1 White onion

• Refrigerated

  • 2 Eggs, hard
  • 2 Eggs

• Canned Goods

  • 1 lb Beef, stew style
  • 4 tbsp Broth
  • 10 cups Water/broth

• Condiments

  • 1 Aji hot sauce

• Baking & Spices

  • 2 Salt and pepper

• Oils & Vinegars

  • 2 tbsp Butter or oil

• Nuts & Seeds

  • 3 tsp Cumin

• Dairy

  • 2 tbsp Oil or butter

• Other

  • 1 tsp achiote
  • Llime slices
  • 2 tbs peanut butter or ½ cup raw peanuts, toasted and blended with ¼ cup of broth
  • Red pickled onions or cebollas encurtidas
  • 1 Large fresh yuca, peeled and cut in large chunks – or 20 oz frozen yuca

Found on laylita.com

Description

Directions

• Heat the oil or butter over medium heat in a large pot, make a refrito or base for the broth by adding the diced onions, garlic, tomatoes, bell pepper, cumin, achiote, cilantro, oregano, salt and pepper.
• Add the 10 cups of water/broth, the beef bones, the meat chunks, and plantains pieces.
• Bring to a boil, reduce temperature and simmer for about 30 minutes.
• Add the yuca pieces and continue simmering for another 30 minutes or until the meat is tender
• Add the carrots, corn and cabbage, cook for another 15 minutes or until all the ingredients are fully cooked.
• Remove from the heat and let cool until safe to handle, then remove the bones from the broth and discard them.
• Remove the meat, carrots, corn and yucas from the broth, leave the plantains in the broth until ready to use them – keeping them in the broth will prevent them from drying out and make it easier to mash them.
• Remove the meat and chop it into very small pieces.
• Cut the cooked carrots into small pieces.
• Remove the strings from the yuca and cut them into small bite size pieces.
• Chop the cooked cabbage and cut the corn in smaller slices; reserve the corn, yuca and cabbage for later.
• To make the meat filling for the green banana balls or dumplings make a refrito or base by heating the butter or oil over medium heat, add the onions, tomatoes, garlic, peppers, cumin, achiote and salt.
• Add the chopped meat, carrots, peas and cilantro.
• Mix in the peanut butter and 4 tbs of the broth, as well as the raisins and hard boiled eggs if using, mix all the ingredients well and save the filling until needed.
• Meanwhile remove the plantains from the broth and mix them in the food processor until a sticky dough is obtained.
• Mix the cooked plantain dough with the grated raw plantains, the eggs and some salt and pepper, you can either mix these by hand or in the food processor.
• Using your hands, try to keep them wet or lightly greased, form the plantain dough into medium to large sized balls, stuff each one with a generous spoonful or two of the meat filling.
• Strain the broth and return to the heat until it boils, reduce to a simmer and add the dumplings, cook over low heat for about 10-15 minutes, be very careful not to stir the soup to avoid breaking the dumplings.
• Using a ladle remove the dumplings from the soup and place them on a plate.
• Add the chopped yuca, chopped cabbage, corn slices and any leftover filling back to the broth, cook until all the ingredients are re-warmed.
• Add the finely chopped cilantro to the broth.
• Place a green plantain dumpling or two in each bowl; add a ladleful of broth with yuca, cabbage and corn.
• Serve with lime slices, aji and pickled onions.