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Thursday, July 24, 2025

PLEASING PLANTAINS

by

20110924

Plan­tains, they are al­ways avail­able, and they are a main­stay of our West In­di­an di­et. Plan­tain is the name giv­en to the green form of the ba­nana. Al­though they are cousins to the sweet ba­nana they do not ripen in the same way and they cer­tain­ly do not taste the same way sweet ba­nanas do. They can­not be eat­en raw and they are al­ways less sweet. How­ev­er they are in­deed de­li­cious, boiled or fried. Al­though plan­tains are of­ten eat­en fried, they are very ver­sa­tile fruit and can be cooked at the green stage through to ripe.

They are a good source of potas­si­um, fo­late, vi­t­a­mins C and B6, and a good source of vi­t­a­min A. Plan­tains them­selves are not in­dige­nous to the West In­dies but was brought to the is­lands by mis­sion­ar­ies and cul­ti­vat­ed. Slave ra­tions of food at that time were not great but did in­clude some plan­tain. Each slave re­ceived one or two bunch­es as a week's worth of pro­vi­sions. They used plan­tains to make many things for ex­am­ple wine, they boiled them and ate them as you would pota­toes and they deep-fried them.

BAKED PLAN­TAIN WITH BROWN SUG­AR CRUST and NUT­MEG

2 ripe plan­tains, sliced in­to 1/4 inch thick slices, length­ways

1 tbs brown sug­ar

1/4 tsp grat­ed nut­meg

1 tsp An­gos­tu­ra bit­ters

1 tbs lime juice

Pre­heat oven to 375&or­dm;F

Com­bine brown sug­ar with nut­meg

Light­ly grease a shal­low bak­ing dish and arrange plan­tain slices side by side.

Com­bine lime juice with bit­ters, brush on­to plan­tains and sprin­kle the sug­ar mix­ture, bake un­til light­ly browned, about ten to 15 mins.

Serves four

SPICY BEEF AND PLAN­TAIN CASSE­ROLE

2 Ripe plan­tains, peeled and sliced length­ways in­to four strips

1 tbs veg­etable oil

For the fill­ing:

1 lb ground beef

2 tbs fresh thyme

1 tbs fresh green sea­son­ing

1 tbs chopped gar­lic

1 tbs, olive oil

1 onion, fine­ly chopped

1 small green pep­per, seed­ed and fine­ly chopped or 2 pi­men­to pep­pers seed­ed and chopped

1 tin chopped toma­toes in juice

1 tsp toma­to paste

Salt and fresh­ly ground black pep­per to taste

1 cup grat­ed cheese

Pre­heat oven to 350&or­dm;F

Place plan­tains on­to a greased bak­ing tray and bake for ten min­utes un­til ten­der. Re­move from oven.

Sea­son beef with green sea­son­ing, thyme and gar­lic.

Mean­while heat olive oil, and pep­per saut&ea­cute; un­til fra­grant, add ground beef and cook un­til it los­es its pink colour.

Add toma­toes, and toma­to paste.

Stir and sim­mer for about 20 min­utes.

Sea­son to taste with salt.

Lay­er plan­tains with ground beef, in a 9 X 9 greased casse­role dish.

Top with cheese and bake for 20 min­utes at 350&or­dm;F.

Serves four to six

PLAN­TAIN BREAD

2 cups flour

1 tsp bak­ing so­da

1 tsp salt

1/2 cup chopped chives

1 cup mashed ripe plan­tain

2 eggs

1/4 cup sour cream or (1/4 milk com­bined with 1 tsp vine­gar)

Pinch nut­meg

1 tsp fresh­ly ground black pep­per

1/3 cup grat­ed parme­san cheese

Pre­heat oven to 375&or­dm;F

Place flour, bak­ing so­da, salt, nut­meg and chives in a mix­ing bowl.

Beat eggs and com­bine with sour cream, and plan­tain.

Add to dry mix­ture, stir just to com­bine.

Place mix­ture in­to a nine- inch square bak­ing tin, sprin­kle with black pep­per and cheese.

Bake for 30 min­utes un­til risen and gold­en.

Serves six to eight


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