Wendy Ra­hamut

Plan­tains, can we ever tire of them? Tru­ly a main­stay among our Caribbean fruits, it is used in its en­tire splen­dour by our Span­ish Caribbean neigh­bours.The great­est at­tribute of plan­tains, notwith­stand­ing their de­li­cious­ness, lies in their ver­sa­til­i­ty; we can en­joy them at any stage, from green to ripe, and they are avail­able all year.They're great when made in­to chips and en­joyed with a zesty sal­sa, pound­ed and fried they be­come great car­ri­ers for a spicy shrimp saut�, or a sal­sa. When baked in fresh­ly squeezed or­ange juice with a grat­ing of nut­meg they be­come an ir­re­sistible side dish. Al­though we tend to most­ly en­joy plan­tains boiled or fried, en­joy­ing them pre­pared in dif­fer­ent ways dur­ing their dif­fer­ent stages al­most makes them ad­dic­tive!

PI­O­NONOS

2 ripe plan­tains, peeled and sliced length­ways in­to four strips

1 tb­sp veg­etable oil

1 egg, light­ly beat­en

For the fill­ing:

12 oz minced beef

1 small green pep­per, seed­ed and fine­ly chopped

1 onion, fine­ly chopped

2 cloves gar­lic, minced

1 tb­sp fresh thyme

2 small toma­toes, skinned and chopped fine­ly

1 tb­sp olive oil

1/2 cup fresh bread crumbs

1 tsp Worces­ter­shire sauce

Salt and fresh­ly ground black pep­per to taste

Method

In a large fry­ing pan heat veg­etable oil and fry plan­tains un­til gold­en brown on ei­ther side, about sev­en min­utes.

Drain on pa­per tow­els and set aside.

Mean­while heat olive oil, add onion, gar­lic and pep­per; saut� un­til fra­grant, add ground beef and cook un­til brown.

Add toma­toes, thyme and bread crumbs. Add Worces­ter­shire sauce.

Fold in beat­en egg and sea­son to taste. The mix­ture should just come to­geth­er when stirred.

Curve the plan­tain slices in­to rings and se­cure with tooth­picks.

Place the plan­tain rings in­to a but­tered bak­ing dish and pre­heat oven to 375F.

Fill the rings with the meat mix­ture and sprin­kle with any un­used bread­crumbs.

Bake in pre­heat­ed oven for about 15 min­utes un­til the top is crusty.

Serve hot.

�2 Makes 12 Pi­o­nonos

TO­STONES

2 green plan­tains, peeled and sliced width­ways in­to two-inch thick slices

Veg­etable oil for fry­ing

Method

Heat oil in fry­ing pan, fry plan­tain pieces on ei­ther side un­til light­ly browned. Re­move and drain on pa­per tow­els, cool slight­ly.

With a meat pounder light­ly pound plan­tain pieces to about 1/4 inch thick­ness.

Re­turn pound­ed plan­tains to hot oil, and fry on both sides un­til gold­en brown.

Re­peat for all plan­tain pieces.

Drain and serve warm as a snack.

Or as a hold­er for bean or toma­to sal­sas.

�2 Makes 8

BAKED PLAN­TAIN WITH OR­ANGE JUICE AND NUT­MEG

1 ripe plan­tain, sliced in­to 1/4 inch thick slices, length­ways

Juice of one or­ange

1/2 tsp grat­ed nut­meg

1 tb­sp Olive oil

Method

Pre­heat oven to 375F

Light­ly grease a shal­low bak­ing dish with oil.

Arrange plan­tain slices side by side. Sprin­kle with nut­meg and or­ange juice.

Turn and re­peat.

Bake un­til light­ly browned, about 10 to 15 min­utes.

�2 Serves 4

GRILLED PLAN­TAIN CAKES

2 ripe plan­tains

2 cloves gar­lic minced

1/4 cup chopped chives

Salt to taste

2 tb­sps olive oil

Method

Boil plan­tains un­til ten­der, about 10 to 15 min­utes.

Mash plan­tains with a pota­to mash­er.

Add chives, gar­lic, and salt, stir to com­bine.

Pre­heat grill.

Make plan­tains in­to two-inch pat­ties.

Brush with olive oil.

Grill un­til browned on each side.

�2 Serves 4

CRISPY PLAN­TAIN STICKS

2 green plan­tains

Oil to fry

Salt

Method

Peel plan­tains and slice length­ways in­to 1/4 inch slices, cut in­to three inch strips.

Heat oil in a fry­ing pan and add plan­tain strips. Fry un­til gold­en and crisp. Drain on pa­per tow­els and salt.

�2Serves four as a light snack