question-blanching?

June 9, 2007

I found this recipe on Gourmet Garden of Spicy Veg. Eating, but

there's one part that I don't know exactly how to do. One of the

ingredients is " 4 green plantains, blanched until they turn black and

then cooled and peeled " , but what does that mean to blanche it?

Thanks..

Here's the recipe:

Patacon Pisao (spanish)

1/4 pound dried red beans

1 bay leaf

1 onion, cut 1/4 " dice

4 garlic cloves, minced

1/4 cup olive oil

2 tablespoons ground cumin

4 tablespoons dried oregano

1/4 cup tomato paste

4 green plantains, blanched until they turn black and

then cooled and peeled

1/4 cup corn oil or about 1 " deep in frying pan

8 eggs

1 cup grated cotija cheese

Boil beans in water to cover with bay leaf until

tender; drain.

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add

cumin and oregano; cook for 2 minutes.

Add tomato paste and cooked beans. Puree in a food

processor.

Fry cooked plantains in a skillet at 300 degrees until

tender.

Place between 2 wet towels and roll to 1/4-inch

thickness with a rolling pin to create a round " dough "

of plantain.

Return to pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side or

until edges are crisp.

To serve, spread puree over plantains. Scramble eggs

in a non-stick pan, and place on top of plantains.

Sprinkle with cheese. Serves 4.

June 9, 2007

Maybe I can help a little and I find this recipe intriguing. One thing I can

tell for sure it is

not spanish, they have no plantains in Spain. This recipe is from some latin

American

country, my guess would be Colombia? They call fried green plantains patacones

in

Panama, where I lived for 10 years. The exact same thing is called tostones in

PR I think?

or is it Peru?

Plantains can be eaten either very green, or very ripe, not too many people eat

them

somewhere in the middle. When they are ripe, their skin is dark yellow with

black

splotches. In the extreme the skin is completely black. They are easy to peel,

and you can

slice them, fry them in oil or butter and can serve them with cinnamon and

citrus rind, or

simply eat as is but they are very sweet.

When they are green the skin is dark green (the greener the better) and hard to

peel. You

have to score lenghtwise slits and peel that way. Usually they are fried or

sliced in rounds

and thrown in soup or stew. When they are fried you do so in hot aoil until not

quite done,

remove them, press them and fry again.

It sound like what they are doing here is getting the texture of the ripe

plantain from

green plantains, because when green they are not sweet at all (potato like but

yummier)

and the sweet ones would taste weird in this recipe. So by placing green ones

in boiling

water for a few seconds (this is what blanching means) the skin apparently turns

dark,

they are easier to peel and mush since they are slightly precooked, but they do

not have

the sweet taste, only the savory taste. So this way they can make a 'sheet' of

mashed

green plantains. Very creative.

Anyway, I hope this makes sense. Good luck with it.

, " Jackie " <playfullycute2000 wrote:

>

> I found this recipe on Gourmet Garden of Spicy Veg. Eating, but

> there's one part that I don't know exactly how to do. One of the

> ingredients is " 4 green plantains, blanched until they turn black and

> then cooled and peeled " , but what does that mean to blanche it?

> Thanks..

> Here's the recipe:

>

> Patacon Pisao (spanish)

>

> 1/4 pound dried red beans

> 1 bay leaf

> 1 onion, cut 1/4 " dice

> 4 garlic cloves, minced

> 1/4 cup olive oil

> 2 tablespoons ground cumin

> 4 tablespoons dried oregano

> 1/4 cup tomato paste

> 4 green plantains, blanched until they turn black and

> then cooled and peeled

> 1/4 cup corn oil or about 1 " deep in frying pan

> 8 eggs

> 1 cup grated cotija cheese

>

> Boil beans in water to cover with bay leaf until

> tender; drain.

> Saute onions and garlic in olive oil until tender. Add

> cumin and oregano; cook for 2 minutes.

> Add tomato paste and cooked beans. Puree in a food

> processor.

> Fry cooked plantains in a skillet at 300 degrees until

> tender.

> Place between 2 wet towels and roll to 1/4-inch

> thickness with a rolling pin to create a round " dough "

> of plantain.

> Return to pan and cook for 3 minutes on each side or

> until edges are crisp.

> To serve, spread puree over plantains. Scramble eggs

> in a non-stick pan, and place on top of plantains.

> Sprinkle with cheese. Serves 4.

>

June 9, 2007

Thank you very much for the information on plantains. I've always wanted to

try them but didn't know anything about them. Now I have an idea on what to