Tag Archives: plantains

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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Sweet Plantain and Spinach Pastelón

17 Jul

This is one of my favorite pastelones ever!!!  It’s sweet and savory all at the same time.

I learned that my grandma has a plantain tree in her backyard.  I am super happy because now we have all these awesome and delicious plantains, at a time when plantains are close to $1 each.  Ludicrous!!!

This pastelón is made with very ripe plantains… if you take a look at this picture, the plantain need to be like the one in the bottom or even with more spots than that.  This will ensure the plantain is ripe indeed.  The one on the middle is not fully ripe, even when it looks pretty and yellow.

 

SWEET PLANTAIN AND SPINACH PASTELON

1 sweet ripe plantain
1 cup frozen spinach
4 oz of cream cheese, at room temperature preferably
½ cup Parmesan Cheese, divided
1 tbs butter
Dash of milk, optional
Salt and freshly cracked black pepper
  1. First off, we need to boil the plantain.  So we cut off the ends, make a slit from one end to the other of the plantain and then cut into 4 pieces.  Do not remove the skin.  Drop them into a pot with salted water and let it boil covered for about 20 minutes.
  2. In the meantime, defrost the spinach and squeeze out as much water as possible.  Mix in with the cream cheese and season with salt and pepper.
  3. When the plantain is cooked, drain and remove skin, placing the skinless pieces of cooked plantains in a bowl.  Mash the plantains with the butter and ½ of the parmesan cheese.  Add the milk to the plantain mash now, if using.

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350° F.
  2. In a glass baking dish sprayed with canola oil, spread ½ the plantain mixture in the bottom.  Layer the spinach/cream cheese mixture and finish off with the remainder of the plantain mash.  Top the pastelón with the rest of the parmesan cheese to form a nice crust.
  3. Bake in the oven for about 20-30 minutes, until the cheese on top creates a crust and the flavors meld together.
  4. Leave in the oven for 15 minutes more to allow setting.

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Cinnamon Vanilla Baked Plantains

17 Nov

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Cinnamon Vanilla Baked Plantains

4 ripe plantains**
cinnamon powder
vanilla powder
Liquid margarine

**If ripe plantains are not available, use IQF plantains.  King Crown is an excellent brand. 

  1. Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees F. 
  2. In a baking dish, smear some liquid margarine.
  3. Cut the plantains in diagonal slices and arrange on the baking dish. Sprinkle with cinnamon and vanilla powder.
  4. Drizzle some additional liquid margarine on top.
  5. Bake in oven for 30-45 minutes, until plantains are done. (If using IQF plantains, you only need to bake until the plantains are defrosted completely, about 20 minutes)

I made these plantains together with my Eggplant Parmesan and Pasta with Marinated Tomatoes.  Look them up.

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