Tuesday, February 17th - Fried Plantains

Breakfast was organic yogurt with cereal.

Lunch, I took a small leftover portion of the barley. I also indulged in a long-standing craving of a Big Turk chocolate bar. It was not at all the way I remember it from childhood and it was better. I've had real turkish delight since childhood. One of the key ingredients in Turkish sweets is Rose Water. No that isn't the water you put your fresh roses in. It is a distillation of rose petals in water. It is very potent and you only need a few drops in any recipe. Turkish Delight is like a jelly and the Big Turk is the jelly dipped in chocolate. mmmmm

Dinner we had the Gumbo from Sunday and I fried a big ass Plaintain. A plantain is of the banana family but much much larger. The one we had was easily a foot in length and a man's grip around. Often in shops, they'll look black and perhaps, unappetising. Don't worry, they go black but it doesn't mean that they're rotten or over ripe. The only way to verify that is by squeezing gently. But generally, by the time they get there, they are no longer on the shelves. They will never ripen like a banana. You need to cook them to eat them. It is a common side in Jamaican cuisine. The classic of Fried Sliced Plantains is often eaten at breakfast. When I was living in Kingston, our cleaning lady used to make them in the morning with our eggs.

Fried Sliced Plantain

Chop off the top and tail.
Gently run a knife down the length of the peel, piercing the skin but not the flesh.
Open it up and remove the peel.
Slice the plantain 1/2 cm to 3/4 cm. Either directly across in circles or on the bias so you have ovals.
Heat a skillet or non-stick fry pan with a decent amount of vegetable oil on medium high.
Have the fan on high.
Have a plate with paper towels ready.
Have salt and pepper and spice of your choice. Recommended is nutmeg, I had allspice. D wanted me to add his all purpose Dean and deLuca Chipotle rub.
Spread out the slices and have a splatter guard at the ready.
Turn when they go a caramel colour. Only a few seconds too long and they will go BLACK. No worries, they still taste fine. But the high starch content will cause the blackening really suddenly.
Turn and cook until caramel in colour. Remove to paper towel. Add more slices until they're all done.

If you like them chippier, then use a mandolin. But you'll want to probably only do that if you have a young plantain with an almost potato texture.

Sprinkle with salt and pepper and spice. Eat while hot.