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Arepas & Sausage Balls with Marcela & Michael

Between the two of them, Michael and Marcela made three different recipes coming from both of their families. Marcela’s arepas come from Colombia, where she grew up. Cooking them here, and teaching her partner Michael how to make them, allows her to bring her family’s foods with her to a country that she is relatively new to. They use ingredients that are easy to find in Colombia, like masa and potatoes. In the Springs she is also able to get what she needs as well, though she has to settle for an unfamiliar brand of masa. Marcela sees food as medicine as in Colombia she worked as a physician and observed how the fresh, local food and limited processed foods had an effect on the communities overall health. Though she no longer has access to as many locally grown fresh foods, that doesn’t stop her from finding substitutes and ways to make her culturally significant foods found in Columbia.

Michael’s sausage ball recipe comes from his grandmother via his mom. He was in the kitchen with his parents early, learning to cook by helping out and being allowed to experiment. The sausage dish is on that can be eaten for breakfast, lunch, or dinner, but was most often prepared around Christmas as a snack to eat while decorating Christmas cookies. It is a favorite of Michael’s dad’s, who even made a video explaining how to make it one year. The recipe, and the recipe card his dad sent in preparation for the interview, connect Michael to his mom, who passed away in 2021. “It means a lot to me to be able to see this recipe card that she wrote with her handwriting,” he shares.

Though he has a written recipe from his mom, Michael likes the experiment in the kitchen and has changed and adjusted the dish over time. He switches out the regular sausage for a maple sausage, and instead of cheddar cheese he uses mozzarella because he likes it better. Overall the recipe is not complex, and that is by design as his mom “liked to keep it simple.” Coming from two different food cultures, Michael and Marcela both love to cook and to be adventurous in the kitchen. Sharing recipes, finding new ones, and preparing food together is something they constantly bond over.


Arepas Recipe

Servings: 10
Time: 60-75 minutes


Ingredients:

  • 3 cups masa
  • 1 cup of butter
  • warm water as needed
  • salt to taste
  • optional fill with cheese, chilies, meat or beans


Instructions:

  • Begin by melting the butter.
  • In a bowl measure out the masa and salt.
  • Add butter to the bowl of masa.
  • Using your hands knead the dough until it can hold together and add warm water as needed. The consistency should be like playdough and not stick to your hands. This process is a labor of love and the kneading helps in achieving the proper consistency.
  • Once the dough is ready, form into balls about the size of baseballs. If you are adding a filling, begin by flattening out the dough, place the filling in and form the ball around the filling by pulling up the sides.
  • In a pan, heat with a generous amount of oil. Once the oil is hot, slightly flatten the dough into a disc shape. Cook until it starts to brown on both sides.
  • Place on a paper towel to absorb excess oil and briefly cool
  • Serve warm!





Sausage Balls Recipe

Servings: 6-8
Time: 45-60 minutes


Ingredients:

  • 4 cups pancake/biscuit baking mix (such as Bisquick®)
  • 2 pounds shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 pound maple breakfast sausage
  • 1 cup whole milk
  • fresh to taste to taste


Instructions:

  • Preheat the oven to 300 degrees. Grease baking sheets.
  • Begin by cooking the maple breakfast sausage in a skillet, being sure to break it down into smaller pieces.
  • Mix baking mix, mozzarella cheese, sausage, milk and parsley.
  • Form sausage mixture into 1 1/2-inch balls; arrange on the prepared baking sheets.
  • Bake in the preheated oven until the balls are browned on the outside, 25 to 30 minutes.
  • Great served with BBQ sauce.