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Old 02-04-2009, 10:10 AM
 
Location: Denver
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I want them!! I want them!
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Old 02-04-2009, 11:06 AM
 
Location: Arlington Virginia
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Originally Posted by crisp444 View Post
Fried, smoked mozzarella with slow-roasted tomatoes and basil in a balsamic reduction (my recipe for you guys to try!) ...
Thank you for these appealing recipes!
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Old 02-04-2009, 12:05 PM
 
Location: South Bay Native
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Originally Posted by crisp444 View Post
If anyone would like my personal recipes for picadillo, vaca frita (shredded and fried steak with garlic, peppers, and onions), pan-seared chicken, sweet plaintains, or key lime pie, please let me know and I will be glad to post them. These recipes and the ones I have already posted are some of the items that my friends and family most frequently request that I prepare
Please tell me how you prepare your sweet plantains. I have pretty much perfected my preparation of them and they come out like the ones I eat at Havana Mania, but I want to see if I'm doing them 'right'.
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Old 02-04-2009, 12:12 PM
 
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Great job, lets keep posting. I'm almost done typing up the ones I'm gonna post.

Nothing better then eggs over medium and some platano maduro in the morning! YUMMY!
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Old 02-04-2009, 03:44 PM
 
3,368 posts, read 11,651,919 times
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Originally Posted by DontH8Me View Post
Please tell me how you prepare your sweet plantains. I have pretty much perfected my preparation of them and they come out like the ones I eat at Havana Mania, but I want to see if I'm doing them 'right'.
In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of good plátanos maduros is that their skins are BLACK when you peel them. If the plaintain is yellow, it will be sweet, but black plaintains are nice and gooey when you peel them - that gooey-ness causes a plaintain with black skin to caramelize much better than yellow plaintains, whose fruit is more firm. If you can't find black plaintains at your local grocery, buy them yellow and put them in a paper bag for a fews days to a week - they will likely have black skins by then.

Another tip is to make sure they do not burn. Let them caramelize and brown, but keep turning them so that they are evenly cooked on all sides and no side becomes too dark. You can fry them in olive oil (what I do!), vegetable oil (what most people do), or butter (too sweet and don't come out as well, I believe). I have even heard of people frying them in lard (I have never tried). Avoid canola oil, however, because its taste is not compatible with the sweetness of the caramelized plaintains. I can taste when someone has used canola oil on their plaintains immediately.. not a pleasant taste.
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Old 02-04-2009, 03:49 PM
 
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Originally Posted by HighlandsGal View Post
I want them!! I want them!
I'll be back later tonight to post some more recipes.
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Old 02-04-2009, 04:35 PM
 
Location: South Bay Native
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Quote:
Originally Posted by crisp444 View Post
In my opinion, one of the most important aspects of good plátanos maduros is that their skins are BLACK when you peel them. If the plaintain is yellow, it will be sweet, but black plaintains are nice and gooey when you peel them - that gooey-ness causes a plaintain with black skin to caramelize much better than yellow plaintains, whose fruit is more firm. If you can't find black plaintains at your local grocery, buy them yellow and put them in a paper bag for a fews days to a week - they will likely have black skins by then.

Another tip is to make sure they do not burn. Let them caramelize and brown, but keep turning them so that they are evenly cooked on all sides and no side becomes too dark. You can fry them in olive oil (what I do!), vegetable oil (what most people do), or butter (too sweet and don't come out as well, I believe). I have even heard of people frying them in lard (I have never tried). Avoid canola oil, however, because its taste is not compatible with the sweetness of the caramelized plaintains. I can taste when someone has used canola oil on their plaintains immediately.. not a pleasant taste.
I've had mixed success with black plantains. Sometimes they start to mold at one end before they fully turn black - in turn spoiling the whole fruit. If they don't have any good and black ones at the market, then I buy yellow ones and keep them on the counter until they're ready. Before I peel them, though, I boil them for about 30 minutes to make sure the starches break down to their simplest form. Then I peel them, slice them, and fry them. I am going to try them with olive oil next time though! So you don't boil them and they still turn out soft and sweet?
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Old 02-04-2009, 04:37 PM
 
Location: South Bay Native
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I've got lots of recipes for Cocina Peruana if anyone is interested!
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Old 02-04-2009, 05:09 PM
 
2,224 posts, read 3,605,516 times
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DONTH8Me - I've never boiled or heard of anyone who boils thier platano maduros and they are still fantastic. I called my mom in PR just to check and she said she knows of a few people that do, but that the difference is minmal if any. Hope that helps.
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Old 02-04-2009, 07:00 PM
 
3,368 posts, read 11,651,919 times
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Quote:
Originally Posted by DontH8Me View Post
I've had mixed success with black plantains. Sometimes they start to mold at one end before they fully turn black - in turn spoiling the whole fruit. If they don't have any good and black ones at the market, then I buy yellow ones and keep them on the counter until they're ready. Before I peel them, though, I boil them for about 30 minutes to make sure the starches break down to their simplest form. Then I peel them, slice them, and fry them. I am going to try them with olive oil next time though! So you don't boil them and they still turn out soft and sweet?
I agree with speedaddicted - I have never heard of anyone boiling the plaintains. About the black plaintains growing mold; a little mold is not a problem as long as it doesn't go through the skin into the fruit. If you are worried about this, put the plaintains into hot water before peeling the skin and then scrub off the mold before peeling them. This may gross out some people but as long as the skin is not pierced, a little mold is not a problem! Letting them get black is the secret to perfect plaintains, in my opinion.
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