Baked plantains

Plantains seem to be the hot new food trend in the healthy circles these days, but for me it's been a staple of my diet since before I can even remember. Plantains were almost a daily staple on my dinner table. Since plantains are so available now, I figure I'd share some of the ways to cook plantains with you.

Plantains may look like bananas on steroids, but they aren't just big bananas. They are starchier and you have to cook them. You can cook them when they are green and unripe or yellow and ripe. (TIP: The more black spots on your ripe plantains, the sweeter they will be.)

Though the usual recipes call for you to fry the plantains, I was looking for something healthier, baked plantains. You can easily make this in the oven, but it's so easy to make in the microwave. This works with ripe plantains. These were a little under ripe for my taste (I like them sweeter), but still worked really well.

Ingredients
~ 1 ripe plantain
~ Oil or cooking spray
Yields 2 servings

1. Peel the ripe plantain. (Use a knife to cut off the ends and score the skin, then peel with your fingers.)
2. Coat lightly with oil or cooking spray and wrap in paper towel.
3. Microwave for 2 minutes (or until soft). (Alternately, you can bake the plantains until tender and caramelized.)
4. Eat as part of your favorite meal.

The plantains are sweet on their own and there is no need to add any sweeteners. This recipe is so easy and so yummy. It makes a perfect side dish for any meal. I really love having sweet plantains with pork or chicken.

Have you tried plantains before?

Pasteles workshop

Last weekend was time for a pasteles-making workshop. We had a pasteles making class (you can get the detailed instructions there) a while back, but a couple of the cousins wanted a refresher course in making them. A small group of us gathered, to share the tips on how to make the yummy holiday dish and the primas that don't know how to make them got a refresher.

Mom got all fancy and wore her chef hat to the festivities.

Patiti had made the meat the night before, so all that was left was making the masa. Luckily, the bananas and malanga were already peeled, so we just needed to process them. Gisela was able to use the ne food processor that Santa brought her to grate up the bananas, while Alina handled the malanga with our food processor.



It was like Iron Chef in Matiti's kitchen, and Yoly "interviewed" the cooks. LOL! Mom and Yoly were the pasteles masters directing how to make them. We made the masa, and added the achiote oil to the mixture to give it some color.

Then it was assembly time. We pulled out the aluminum foil and started putting the masa and the meat into them. Alina finally got a hand in making the pasteles. After a few, I think she got the hang of it.

Grandma and Matiti supervised the whole thing (and ate some of the test pasteles, of course).

Then it got factory-style in the kitchen putting the pasteles together.

Finally, a shot of the photographer!

 

Of course, there had to be a taste test when they were all done. 

And after all those pasteles being made, everyone got some to take home. I think there were about 60 made!

Doing these classes is so much fun. I love getting together and seeing those recipes done once more.

Do you have any special family recipes that others are dying to try?

Weekend at Lanabella's

I spent this past weekend watching over my friend, Jenni's (aka Lanabella) brood, while she went to Key West to spend some time with the hubby and attend on of his ceremony dinners.

The kids and I had a great time at casa Lanabella. I was able to ship out a few orders and then we spent some time in the pool and I caught up on some movies and TV shows. We cooked up a storm, burgers, pancakes, and I even made some arroz con pollo for my Americanitos. I was even able to get in a workout (those Insanity DVDs are no joke!). I had a great time with all of them this weekend, but I'm so glad to be back home with Abuela and Tiffi.

What did you do this weekend?

Happy Mother's Day!

I hope everyone is had a great Mother's Day weekend. Mine has been pretty jam packed.

On Saturday, we had our family Mother's Day lunch. We took the "old ladies" to Benny's Seafood Restaruant. It's a Puerto Rican restaurant that was featured on Diners, Drive-Ins and Dives.

It was a HUGE group of us at the restaurant, and thankfully our waitress was patient in dealing with all these crazy ladies.

We all dug into the typical Puerto Rican dishes, like the alcapurrias and mofongo. It was so delicious. Nothing better than fried pork and plantains!

Then on Sunday, I made dinner for Mom and Abuela (and Pop and Rich and Ang too). I used a few of the printables from Amanda's Parties To Go at the table.

Here's Mom waiting to dig in!

I made salad, turkey meatloaf, roasted asparagus, baked smashed potatoes and bread. It was super yummy. Grandma and Mom loved it and Rich really loved the potatoes.

And Mom brought a flan for dessert. I'm not really a fan of flan, but grandma is and everyone else has a little piece too.

It was a great weekend with Mom and Grandma. I hope all of you had a great weekend with your moms and showed them all the love.

Noche Buena 2011

Noche Buena (Christmas Eve) is when the big dinner is for my family. And it's the typical Cuban/Puerto Rican feast: lechon, congris, yuca, pasteles, pan y ensalada (that's roast pork, black beans and rice--cooked together, yucca, Puerto Rican tamales, bread and salad).

My godfather, Patiti, was doing the pig this year. It was still cooking up in the caja china when we got there. The caja china is a roaster, were you put the pig on a tray and then cover the box and top it with charcoal. This makes a kind of oven and you can roast a whole pork with no problem. Plus it comes out so delicious. While Mr. Piggie kept on cooking, we sat and chatted with the family enjoying some cocktails... some even included my Cranberry-Orange Infused Vokda.

Mom & Pop

Abuela & Me

Tia Erenia & Abuela

waiting for pig time

Finally the pig was ready and it was time to get him out of the box. My brother, Angel, and cousin, Marc, helped Patiti get the pig out and then carve it up. It looked so delicious.

Here's a hint if you're ever at a pig roast. Just go take pics of the pig being taken out and you can sneak a taste when the cooks sneak a taste too. It was super hot, but really yummy.

Inside the house in the kitchen, Mom was peeling up some pasteles she had made. Then the rest of the food made it out to the food table and it was time to eat.

Such a great spread! It also included my Mom's famous mojito (not the drink, but the condiment), to pour all over the yuca and the pork. 

After dinner we had some shots of coquito. Coquito is kind of like Puerto Rican egg nog but coconut-y and with lots of rum. You take it in small shot form, not a big cup like egg nog. (Sorry I don't have pics of it!)

It was another great Noche Buena with family and delicious food.

How was everyone else's Christmas? I hope you all ate well, enjoyed your family and had fun with your presents from Santa!