Wednesday, July 11, 2018

Hump-Day Quickie: Those weird things that look like bananas

Have you ever eaten plantains before? They're like bananas, only bigger, harder to peel, and you have to cook them first. I hadn't ever tried one until a Cuban friend sliced some and put them in a frying pan. You know what's weird? They taste more like bananas than actual bananas! Imagine if you will artificial banana flavoring, only with no fake taste to it.
This got us thinking.... is there a way to do these when we're too lazy to push things around a frying pan?

Plantain Chips
1 plantain
Salt
Cooking spray

Slice the plantain into quarter-inch pieces. Sprinkle with salt if desired. Cook on a well-greased waffle iron until soft all the way through, like you would a baked potato.

Indeed there is! Furthermore, since these are getting heat pressed onto them on both sides, it's actually faster than doing them in a frying pan! And these are so, so good.

Happy Wednesday!

2 comments:

  1. The story I've heard with regards to artificial banana flavoring is that it's based on a breed of banana no longer sold in the United States, the Gros Michel. So the story goes, the Gros Michel (also known as Big Mike) used to be the primary cultivar sold in the United States until a huge majority of the orchards were devastated by disease. It wasn't commercially viable for them to be sold overseas any more, so they switched to a new banana breed, the Cavendish, which is what we're more familiar with today.

    Either way, I bet these make delicious pies.

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    1. Do you know, I have never ever thought of making plantains into a pie! And it seems so obvious now that you mention it. I must try this at once- and also putting them in banana bread.

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