Plantains Done Right

This weekend I was able to make fried plantains with Weston's mom. She showed me the Cuban way to do it - I found the method really simple and fun, so I hope I can try it myself sometime soon.

First, you need really green plantains - take off the skin and cut them in about 1/2 inch thick pieces. Keep them in water until ready to fry (but be sure to dry them off before frying so the oil won't spit in your face).

Heat about a 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a frying pan until it's hot. Take the pieces of plantains and put them in the oil. Fry until they get a good brown color on either side, then take them out and place onto a brown paper bag.

Using another paper bag on top, flatten the pieces until they are pretty thin.

Place immediately back into the oil and continue frying until they are crisp. Take them out and put on a paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with salt before serving and while they are still hot (the salt sticks to the oil).

Mrs. Bruner made these treats as part of a yummy Cuban lunch in honor of Weston's sister, who was celebrating a birthday. The meal included black beans with rice and Cuban pork tenderloin. I NEED those recipes, so I plan on asking her for them ASAP :)

Just Fry It

The other day my roommate had a leftover plantain and so graciously allowed me to try my hand at frying it. Now, the plantain was ripe, really ripe, so it really should have been boiled or grilled, but I wanted something crispy, so I decided to slice it up and fry it. Normally I shy away from frying things because of the amount of oil you need to use. Probably had something to do with the fact that I worry the oil will seep inside me if I even look at it. But I put all this aside because the desire for a sweet something overpowered my irrational fear of getting fat without actually ingestion. Thank you, Dr. Grider.

I couldn't help it - I had to try the plantain raw - it tasted delicious! I loved how it was a little starchy and had some bite to it. My mom and I share a weird love of under-ripe bananas and mealy nectarines.

So I filled up a deep frying pan with a inch of oil and gently plopped the slices in, being careful (and unsuccessful) to not let the oil splatter onto my skin.

Watch them carefully because they'll darken quickly. Set on a paper towel to drain any excess oil - honestly not much stays if they are allowed to crisp up. Sprinkle with salt to bring out the flavor.