{"id":45483,"date":"2024-11-14T15:58:08","date_gmt":"2024-11-14T15:58:08","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/familiakitchen.com\/?p=45483"},"modified":"2024-11-15T03:13:42","modified_gmt":"2024-11-15T03:13:42","slug":"lilianas-pavochon-with-meat-raisins-almond-stuffing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/familiakitchen.com\/es\/lilianas-pavochon-with-meat-raisins-almond-stuffing\/","title":{"rendered":"Pavochon de Acci\u00f3n de Gracias de Liliana con relleno de cerdo, ternera, pasas y almendras"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Pavochon is what Puerto Ricans make when they want to go big on Thanksgiving. And yes, unlike other Latino countries, Thanksgiving is a holiday Puerto Ricans celebrate: Both back on the island and here in the States. But we typically do it our own way, and this is where pavochon comes in.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What’s pavochon, some of you may wonder? It’s a uniquely Boricua way to prepare the big bird. A mashup of the words pavo<\/em> (turkey) and lechon<\/em> (roast pork), pavochon is a whole turkey that is marinated with lots of adobo, sazon and spices like a holiday pernil<\/a>, to give it flavorful, super-rich-tasting oomph.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Pavochon is also this: The best tasting turkey you will have in your life, promises Liliana M. Molina of Los Angeles. <\/p>\n\n\n

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This Thanksgiving plate is loaded with Boricua holiday classics: sliced pavochon; stuffing made with two types of meat, raisins and almonds; pasteles<\/a><\/strong>; and arroz con gandules<\/a><\/strong>. Plus, lots of coquito<\/strong><\/a> and mojitos<\/strong><\/a> to wash down all that delicioso comida. <\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Cooking turkey this way adds a ton of juiciness and Latino-style sabor, says Liliana, a Puerto Rican film\/TV director and longtime script supervisor. I met Liliana by chance on a plane last December, when both of us happened to be sitting next to each other on a flight to San Juan. We discovered we were both going to visit our moms back on the island \u2014 and that both of us love cooking in general and Puerto Rican recipes in particular.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

And so it was that we talked turkey for most of the flight. Liliana had just made her famous 24-pound pavochon the previous week. Every Thanksgiving, she invites about 18 friends in Los Angeles to her home for a Puerto Rican feast. The pavochon is the star, but her table is also piled high with these Boricua traditional holiday essentials: pasteles<\/a><\/strong> (the P.R. version of tamales, made with a yautia-plantain-green banana masa; wrapped in banana leaves; and boiled), arroz con gandules<\/a><\/strong> (rice with pigeon peas), green salad <\/strong><\/a>\u2014 and lots of coquito<\/strong><\/a> and mojitos<\/strong><\/a> to wash it all down.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Liliana M. Molina, a film\/TV director and longtime script supervisor, hosts a Thanksgiving fiesta for about 18 Puerto Rican friends in her Los Angeles home every year.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

How Is Pavochon Different Than American-Style Turkey?<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

if you\u2019re one of those people who find turkey dry and bland, this is the Thanksgiving recipe for you. Because of the way pavochon is marinated in sazon, adobo, garlic and olive oil, starting two or three days ahead and draped in raw bacon slices when roasting, this preparation will explode any ideas you have about what turkey tastes like. Plus, when you stuff pavochon with a picadillo<\/a>-like Puerto Rican filling, you have an island-style flavor bomb of delicioso.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dI\u2019ve been making this pavochon for Thanksgiving at least 30 years, whether I\u2019m in L.A. or back in Puerto Rico,\u201d says Liliana, who grew up in San Juan. She got this recipe from a friend decades ago, and has been tinkering with it ever since. \u201cI love my turkey and my filling really juicy, bien mojaito. That\u2019s why you use the butter and the bacon. The butter is very important.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Liliana cross-hatches her pavochon with bacon slices to keep both the white and dark meat extra juicy when roasting for 4 to 5 hours.



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Another key difference in Liliana\u2019s turkey: Traditionally, most cooks stuff pavochon with a plantain-based monfongo<\/a> stuffing. Not her.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201dI don\u2019t like mofongo stuffing. I think it\u2019s too dry,\u201d says Liliana. \u201dI like my pavochon stuffing to be a little bit sweet and really jugoso.\u201d Her go-to (and always-requested) stuffing combines equal parts of ground pork and beef and adds sweet raisins, sliced almonds, sofrito<\/a>, adobo and spices traditionally used in Puerto Rican cooking. The result is a savory sweetness that brings depth and sabor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Liliana says she makes sure to prepare lots of extra stuffing each year, so she can use use the leftovers to make empanada-like Puerto Rican pastelillos<\/a> in the days after Thanksgiving. She buys frozen pastelillo discs, adds a scoop of stuffing mix in each, and bakes (instead of fries) them to make them healthier. Liliana also uses the extra meat filling to make lasagna. This is truly the stuffing that keeps on giving, she says.<\/p>\n\n\n

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After roasting for 4 to 5 hours in an oven-roasting bag, Liliana\u2019s pavochon and stuffing are both crispy and still juicy. This Boricua-style bird is ready to carve for her Thanksgiving party.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

One final cooking tip: Liliana is all about roasting her turkey in an oven bag. “It comes out so, so, so juicy. I wouldn\u2019t make it any other way. But you do have to have a friend come over to help you lift the turkey into the oven bag. It gets so<\/em> heavy when it\u2019s stuffed with the meat and raisin filling.\u201d Bonus: Using an oven bag also knocks off about an hour of roasting time, she adds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ready to taste Thanksgiving Puerto Rican-style? If you\u2019re not lucky enough to score an invite to Liliana\u2019s annual Los Angeles Boricua T Day party, here is the next best thing: Her pavochon and savory-sweet stuffing recipe.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

How to Make Liliana\u2019s Pavochon for a Puerto Rican Thanksgiving<\/h2>\n\n\n
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Liliana\u2019s Thanksgiving \u00a0Pavochon with Pork, Beef & Raisin & Almond Stuffing<\/h2>\n\n
\n \t\t \t\t\tRecipe by Liliana M. Molina<\/span>\n \t\t\n
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