The Great Plantain Ripening Experiment

I've heard that you can get plantains to ripen faster by placing them in a brown paper bag with an apple.  I've also heard that you can get plantains to ripe faster by placing them in a brown paper bag with an orange.  Maybe I've been working on my research study too much, but I felt like experimenting last week.

the control, condition A (apple), and condition O (orange)

I didn't have any brown paper bags around, so I used these grocery bags from Trader Joe's and stapled closed.

1 week later: not much of a difference between the control and the two conditions

So there you have it.  A failed experiment that left me with nothing but an overripe orange.  In conclusion, you can't alter time.  That only works on Lost.

By Request: Tostones

Happy St. Patrick's Day, everyone!  I'm Irish (shocker, I know) so I will be making Alton Brown's Corned Beef and Cabbage later today, but last night I made tostones!

Tostones are a salty, savory plantain dish.  They're great as a side dish, or to serve with guacamole at parties.  I have mixed feelings about the results.  It was a successful failure...the Apollo 13 of Cuban cuisine, if you will.  I did learn a few valuable lessons, so I will share those with you.  I'll keep experimenting and let you know when I perfect my recipe!  Here's what I did:

All you need are 2 ripe green plantains, canola oil, and salt (and love, love is all you need...sorry, I had to).

First, you have to peel the plantains.  This is something I still struggle with, so I enlisted help.

Dave struggled too.

Valuable lesson #1: if you're experiencing difficulty peeling plantains, use a vegetable peeler (even better if it's ceramic).

Learning.

Next, cut the plantains into 1-inch thick slices.

Heat about 1/3 cup of canola oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Place plantain slices in the pan.  The oil should just about cover the slices.  Valuable lesson #2: do NOT salt the plantains before cooking them.  Salt helps to break down the fruit during cooking and it will make the plantains softer.  This is a great texture for some dishes, but you want these babies crispy.

Cook about 3 minutes on each side.  Remove from pan and drain over a paper towel.

Next, you need to flatten the slices.  Real Cuban cooks use one of these:

Source: Cuban Food Market

This is called a tostonera, and if someone can help me figure out where to register for one I would be eternally grateful!  I McGyvered this up:

 Plastic bag + spatula + force

Place one slice at a time in a plastic bag.  Place spatula over bag and push down.  Valuable lesson #3: don't push too hard!  You want these to end up about 1/4" thick...no thinner!

  The good, the bad and the ugly

Once all of the slices are flattened, return the the hot oil and fry for another minute or two.  Drain on new paper towels, and enjoy!

 

This dish was made by request.  Do you have a Cuban dish you're dying to learn how to make?  Email me at cooking4gringas (at) gmail (dot) com!  Or become a fan on Facebook and post it on there!

By Request: Platanos Maduros

A plantain is a fruit that likes to impersonate a vegetable.  It's kind of like a banana mixed with a potato.  They can be served a million different ways (stay tuned for follow-up experiments), but one of the most common ways is sweet and fried (as though they were after my Southern heart).  They go great with just about everything, and it's guaranteed to dazzle dinner guests by introducing them to exotic flavors that they may not be accustomed to.  The best part is that it's really easy to make!

First, buy some plantains.  There is much debate surrounding yellow vs. green plantains.  I've found that green plantains are more savory and more difficult to peel, while yellow plantains are more sweet and easier to peel.  Regardless of your preference, you need to allow 5-7 days for the plantains to ripen.  The Spanish word maduros actually means ripe.  And we're not talking about a-few-brown-spots-ripe; these ain't bananas.  Your plantains need to be nearly black, like so:

To cook three large plantains, you will need 1/2 cup of canola oil and 1/2 cup of dark brown sugar.  You can make more or less plantains; my skillet just happens to hold three.

 

Next, peel your plantains.  Unfortunately, this isn't as easy as peeling a banana, but slicing off the tips is a good trick to get you started.  Once peeled, slice the plantain into 3/4-inch thick slices, on the bias.

                     

  

Pour the brown sugar into a small bowl and give the slices a toss in there.  You don't have to coat each slice in brown sugar as you would with flour when frying chicken.  Just a little dusting will suffice in order to improve the caramelization process.

Heat your oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat.  Once it's good and hot, gently place your slices in the skillet.  The key to the cooking process is to be gentle.  If your plantains are as ripe as they should be, they'll be very delicate...and you don't want to mess up that pretty shape that you created with your perfect bias slices!  I've found that using plastic tongs helps (metal is too harsh and a plastic spatula is too cumbersome).

As your plantains cook, minimize contact between slices.  That brown sugar is going to make for a sticky situation.  You'll know it's time to flip them over when you can see the crispy caramelized bottom creeping up the sides of each slice.

When you flip them over, they should look just slightly crispy, like this:

 

La perrita gringa recognized this smell and, the eternal optimist that she is, truly believed that today was the day she would finally get to try platanos.  Wrong.

 

Once both sides are cooked evenly, place on paper to cool/get rid of some of the grease.  Make sure it's parchment or wax paper, and not paper towels.  Hey, I'm still learning too!

Have you ever had plantains before?  What's your favorite plantain dish?