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Friday, March 21, 2014

Fried Plantains


This is one of those recipes that is so simple I probably shouldn't be blogging about it but they are just SO DELICIOUS I had to write at least ONE post about them.

My wonderful husband, Shane, grew up having these as a frequent dessert and since we NEVER get to see his parents (that's sarcasm guys, they live about 15 miles down the road) he loves having them to remind of his childhood. 

I find them to be SUPER tasty and quick to throw together so I don't mind making them as often as he wants!  The key here is be semi-decent at pan frying (something I'm working on) and to be very good at buying fruit and letting it rot on your counter (something I'm unbelievably AMAZING at!)

For servings, I find that one plantain is generally dessert for two people but this is obviously going to vary on your dessert appetite.

So, down to the nitty gritty, what you do is you buy a plantain at the store.  It will likely be a mixture of yellow and brown and if you're used to banana's you will assume its rotten.  Its not rotten, in fact, its probably not even ripe yet!  You will then let it sit on your counter for a week or so until you've completely forgotten about it and it looks SO GROSS that you consider throwing it away.



But you don't throw it away, instead you get excited to make fried plantains!  The next step is to peal it much like you would a banana, but be warned its actually a bit tougher to peal that a banana, I recommend making a slice down the middle with a knife to give you a good starting point.

Next you cut slices in various widths, or the same widths it really doesn't matter here they will all be tasty!

Then throw them into a pan on medium heat with a bit of butter and/or olive oil.  I like to use about a tablespoon of each to get some good butter flavor but cut the fat with the olive oil.  Shane likes to use all corn oil because "its more authentic that way" (he really loves things to be "the way they are supposed to be" its kind of an obsession of his...).  It doesn't really matter though since they will all fry up the pretty much the same, below in the white pan is my butter/oil mix and in the stainless pan is the all oil.




Flip them as they start to brown up.




Finally let them drain a little over a kitchen towel and add round 1 of spices.


Then simply throw them on a plate and top with whatever you'd like!  I've topped mine with a "super secret spice" (I've been sworn to secrecy by my Mexican friend Raul...no joke) but I might recommend pumpkin pie spice and a pinch of salt or something similar and then I simply drizzled a bit of sweetened condensed milk on top.  Normally I'd use dulce de leche but I didn't have any on hand and certainly didn't have the patience to wait 3 hrs for it to properly cook/caramelize and really its great straight out of the can.

That's it!  Enjoy!

 

 Fried Plantains

Serves: 2 (-ish)
Prep time: 5 minutes
Cook time: 10 minutes

Ingredients

1 very ripe plantain
1 tbsp oil
1 tbsp butter
pinch of salt
dash of pumpkin pie spice
sweetened condensed milk

Directions

(1) Slice plantain while bringing oil and butter up to temp over medium heat in a medium skillet.
(2) When oil/butter begins to simmer place slices in one at a time making sure not to crowd the pan
(3) Once slices are brown on one side, flip.
(4) Once reverse side is brown, remove from pan and allow to drain on a towel for a few minutes.  Add the first round of spices.
(5) Continue until all slices are cooked
(6) Plate slices and top with a second round of pinch of salt and a dash of pumpkin pie spice
(7) Drizzle sweetened condensed milk or dulce de leche on top.

2 comments:

  1. This looks delicious! Must make immediately...

    If you ever get annoyed with waiting for a plantain to ripen, you can make tostones with unripe plantains! I used to love watching people make them in the Dominican restaurants in my old 'hood. Basically, you fry an unripe plantain...then take a flat, wide metal spatula and SLAP! that plantain with a scraping motion, so it's good and flattened. Then, fry it again, sprinkle with salt, and serve with ketchup. Yummmmmm.

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    Replies
    1. Great advice! I'll have to do another post making them that way, I've had them served that way many times at some sandwich shops in Lowell MA but I've never made them that way!

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