Archive | 2008

Baked Plantains in their Skin

29 Oct

Have you ever made baked plantains???  It’s the easiest thing to do when you’re hungry and in a hurry…   My grandma used to tell me that a baked plantain and a glass of milk on the side were a full meal. 

You can make this one of two ways: 

1- On the microwave – I do not usually use the microwave for cooking because of all the radiation it emits onto the food, but I do use it on occasion when I am super duper hungry and there’s no time to wait…

2- On the toaster oven – because it’s sacrilegious, with our current electricity costs, to turn on a whole oven for one lonely plantain

This is not even a recipe… because the plantain is the ONLY ingredient… but this is important, the plantain NEEDS to be super ripe, almost black for this to work…

 

 

BAKED PLANTAIN in its SKIN

1 very ripe plantain

 

  1. Cut both ends of the plantain and make a slit on the plantain skin from top to bottom.

If doing this in the microwave oven…

  1. Place plantain on a paper towel and microwave on HIGH for 3-4 minutes, depending on how large is your oven. 
  2. After time has elapsed, check the plantain for doneness.  If you want, you can turn the plantain on its other side and microwave again on HIGH for an extra 2-3 minutes. 
  3. Wait a few minutes for the radiation and heat to dissipate.  Take out of the plantain, remove it from its skin and enjoy.

               

 

If doing this on a regular toaster oven…

  1. Place the cut plantain on a oven proof dish at 350° F. 
  2. Let the plantain bake in its skin for about 20-25 minutes.  The sweet smell of the sugars in the plantain will let you know when it’s done. 
  3. Turn off the oven and let it finish cooking in the residual heat for about 10 minutes more.  Take the plantain out of its skin and enjoy.

 

This is a great side dish for… anything, in my opinion.  But if you dare try it with a glass of milk, let me know how it goes…  it’s awesome!!!

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Mystery Fruit Solved!!! – Longan Fruits

24 Oct

Thanks you guys!!!  I really appreciate your help in helping me identifying these awesome little fruits are called LONGAN FRUITS.   Here’s my original post with some revisions made to it…

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When I was in NYC recently, a friend from our Yoga Center in Queens brought us a bunch of these mysterious fruits for us to try.   She mentioned the name, but after a little while, no one could remember it.   While we were there, she never came back, so we never were able to ask her again the name of the fruit.

I remember eating this fruit for the first time during a trip to China in 2001, in Suzhou.  My mom was brave enough to buy them off the street and eat them first without knowing what they were.   This was very fitting, now knowing they’re originally from Southern China… 

These LONGAN fruits are sweet.  They have a “crispy” skin you crack with your teeth, milky translucent flesh with a big dark seed in the middle. They resemble a lychee or a quenepa (lemon fruit, as they are known in English), but we know as a fact they’re not either. 

               

I’ve tried to identify it using internet sources, but because I do not know its name or country of origin, I can’t locate it.

Can you help me identify this fruit??

Thanks to the help of you guys, now we know these are Longans.  They are not available here in Puerto Rico, but I am sure you can get them in NYC, most probably in Asian markets.  IF and WHEN you see them, do not be afraid and give them a try.  They’re super sweet and very delicious.

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NYC Veggie Restaurants – Zen Burger

20 Oct

I first learned about Zen Burger by reading the Serious Eats brother blog – A Hamburger Today.  They mentioned how they were a truly vegetarian fast food joint.  I always have my doubts, so I visited their website and even forwarded an email to their management to make sure their ingredients were OK for all types of vegetarians to enjoy.

Their reply confirmed that they only used Vegenaise as their veggie mayo, that most their products were soy based, they also have veggie patties, and none include eggs.  I was sooooo happy. I immediately put them on my TO VISIT list the next time I was in NYC.

You will find Zen Burger in Mid-town Manhattan on Lexington Ave. between 45th and 46th streets.  It looks like a regular fast food joint, but it is so much different than any fast food joint I have visited, starting from the sign at the door.  Love it…

I first visited the place without looking to eat there at the moment.  So I talked for a little while with one of the cashiers (I was lucky it was early and no one was ordering anything at the time…) We discussed the menu, the food, how the food was made and the secret Zen sauce.  She was not allowed to tell me the ingredients, but when I saw it, I just “guessed them” right away.   She was relay nice and gave me reassurance of what I should order.   Here is a copy of their menu for your reference.

                                                       

Inside, you can see that everything has an environmental twist to it.  All the napkins are made from 100% recycled materials and the TV screens communicate messages on the advantages to the environment on eating less meat.  Even the tray liners have educational messages.  They are appealing to the environmentalist in all of us… enticing you to eat vegetarian because it’s good to the earth and the environment… the humane part is just a by-product.  I think it’s a good approach.

But after you get those environmentalists in the door… how does the food taste???  I ordered the Zen Burger with fries and a drink.  The friend I made at the register told me it was their most popular item on the menu and as such it was delivered to me in less than 30 seconds.  I do not kid you.   It’s a soy based patty with onion, pickles, lettuce and tomato and it also has a Zen Sauce – which is like a mayoketchup.  Let me tell you, it tasted like I remember the BK Whoopers.  The looks of it were not the best, but the taste was really good, and the fries were delicious too. 

 

As you can see from the menu above, they have a wide variety:  they have “chicken nuggets”, fish fillets, BBQ patties and many other sandwiches very reminiscing of other fast food joints, but here you can order without hesitation or reserves that it was made in the same area as other meat products.  I love that…

I mentioned Zen Burger to a friend and she highly encouraged me to eat here.  She is a non-vegetarian and has lunch At Zen Burger frequently thanks to a vegetarian co-worker.  She told me she eats there not only because of the proximity to her office, but because the food is really good.

I encourage you to visit Zen Burger.  It’s a vegetarian fast food joint.  Expect good fast food.  It does not have

I wished I had stayed in NYC a bit longer so I could have tried some other menu options…   I guess I’ll need to plan a trip to NYC sooner rather than later, no??

Tomato Mozz Salad

19 Oct

This salad is a way to rearrange the same ingredients found in a Caprese Salad, plus adding some greens in the form of lettuce to increase the nutrition and the volume.

I first did this salad in this way when visiting my sister when she was living back in Indiana.  She had all the ingredients for a caprese salad – tomato, fresh mozzarella, great olive oil and balsamic vinegar.  The only thing was that the size of the ingredients were not the traditional ones to fix a traditional caprese… we had delicious grape tomatoes and bocconcini mozzarella.  So this is how I rearranged the ingredients to make it work for us…

 

TOMATO MOZZ SALAD

10 – 12 grape tomatoes, sliced in half
4 thick slices of fresh mozzarella or 6-8 bocconcini balls, cubed
6-8 romaine lettuce leaves, sliced and hard core pieces removed
Drizzle of extra-virgin olive oil
Drizzle of balsamic vinegar
Salt and Freshly Cracked Black Pepper
2-3 fresh basil leaves – optional

 

  1. In a small bowl, mix together the tomatoes, mozzarella cheese, olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.  Add now also the basil leaves, if using.  Marinate tomatoes and cheese for about 20-30 minutes.  You can do this first and they can marinate while you prepare the rest of your meal.
  2. In a salad bowl, add the lettuce leaves and mix together with the tomato/cheese marinated mixture.  Toss to combine.  The extra mix of oil/vinegar will dress your salad beautifully.

 

The balsamic vinegar kind of “stains” the mozzarella and it looks “dirty”.  Even if the looks are not the best, the flavors are.  My sister called me once after I had left to remind her of the ingredients because she wanted to make it for company.  That’s how tasty this is…

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NYC Markets – Union Square Green Market

18 Oct

I am a huge fan of the Serious Eats site… because it’s based in NYC, many people talk about the wonderful Union Square Green Market.  I’ve seen sooooooo many pictures and read so many blog posts about it that I knew I wanted to visit the instant I planned my trip to NYC. 

The market is located at Union Square Park on Broadway between 17th and 14th Streets and it’s active every Monday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.   Just take the Subway – 4, 5, 6 – to Union Square Park station.  I’ll be honest, that even when I lived in NYC I did not frequent that area much and on this trip I went 3 times to Union Square and the East Side of 14th street.  It just “reeled me in”. 

The market is beautiful…  it includes stands for organic vegetables, organic fruits, organic  breads and many other baked goods, organic dairy and cheeses, honey, jellies, pretzels made by singing Mennonites…

I was enthralled by the varieties of heirloom tomatoes.  We just can’t get them here like that…

Look at the wonderful colors of eggplants, squashes and baby artichokes.  They even have flowers…

                   

                  

Check out all the varieties of lettuces and salad greens.  We are lucky here if you get a few varieties of lettuces besides American and Romaine.  Although…  I did buy 2 heads of Boston Bib lettuce the other day at Costco for under $4.  I was in shock and I hope they keep bringing them.

                

I liked that all the stands were identified with a sign giving you information of the farm, where they are located and some of their philosophy and culture.  Also, I was amazed to know that as part of the food stamps program, people in NYC get Farmer’s Market Checks to encourage lower income people to buy fresh produce at locally sponsored farmer’s markets instead of just buying canned and processed foods.  I believe this is a great initiative and should be adopted by many more states, including the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico.

                                                   

You know I HAD to buy myself something.  I could not leave empty handed… so I bought myself JELLIES – A Garlic and Rosemary Jelly and a Horseradish Jelly.  You’ll definitely see those in upcoming recipes.  All made naturally with sugar, pectin and whatever the jelly tastes like.  I am planning on making a bruschetta or a salad dressing with the jelly… among many others.  All these were ideas given to me by the wonderful lady in the photo from Beth’s Farm Kitchen who makes the Garlic Rosemary Jelly.   She is at the market on Friday’s and Saturday’s.  When I looked for her on Wednesday, she was not there… just in case.

 

I had read that many restaurant chefs, including celebrities Mario Batali and Bobby Flay, visit the market frequently to make purchases for their restaurants.  Well, I saw a photo of Mario at the Pink Himalayan Salt stand, where the guy told me Mario is a regular client of his.  I did not see Bobby Flay, but I did see several chefs of Tom Colicchio’s restaurant Craft purchasing cart-loads of produce there.  So now you know when the menu reads “market fresh vegetables” or something similar, they were probably at this market making their purchases that same morning.

                                                      

I am telling you – If you live near NYC or just go for a short trip, you need to visit Union Square Market.  These are the things that make me want to move back into NYC again. I only wished I would stay longer and had facilities to cook so I could buy some of that wonderful produce.   One can only wish and hope…

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