Wait, someone else is taking pictures??? Thanks Mindy!  The debut of a new food blogger!

I have been studying cooking demonstrations for over a year in the hopes that someone would ask me to do one.  I have seen Nick Stellino rock a stage like no other, I have been part of a demonstration as an assistant during last year’s Festa Italiana (click),  I have seen The Chef In the Hat and Ethan Stowell work seamlessly together and feed off each other throughout a demonstration (click), and I have also seen some pretty brutal chef demonstrations…..those are the ones where I learned what not to do (TALK!!!!! DON’T JUST STAND THERE AND COOK!!!! TALK!!!!!)

Well, my day finally came yesterday as the Queen Anne Farmers Market was nice enough to invite me and give me a chance to do my thing.  I chose the date a few months ago with the expectation of having a few of my market food favorites being available….tomatoes, peppers, onions, and garlic.

So what to cook?!?!? I tossed a few hundred ideas around and I finally came down to something that I hope will become a little more normal around the Seattle area…..plantains!  I know, plantains aren’t something you can buy at a farmers market in this area but in Puerto Rico you can so this little Puerto Rican guy decided to bring his two worlds together in order to make something that is very near and dear to him.  Tostones!

If you go to any Puerto Rican restaurant you’ll see tostones on the menu but what I don’t like is that a lot of people don’t realize how easy they are to make.  I think plantains are great.  They cook like potatoes and their flexibility allows them to be cooked in many different culinary methods…..fry, braise, saute, bake, etc…. The green ones are perfect for frying and doing a light sear then braising in the oven.   The yellow ones are good for desserts….easy dessert, wrap a yellow plantain in foil and bake until the plantain is completely soft then remove and place on a plate for a sweet explosion of flavor…how easy is that?!?!?

(Leave the chef jacket at home…..wear normal clothes….just hang out and cook something)

I packed up my stuff and headed to the market.  I was ready for anything and had two escape dishes just in case the power wasn’t working or something else popped up….I was ready! I planned on deep frying at a farmers market…..it’s crazy but it’s very fitting in my mind…..if you ever go to Puerto Rico then you’ll see what I’m talking about.

What I planned on making was a simple dish with no fancy ideas attached to it….just food that I grew up eating and something I wanted to share with people that normally don’t eat this type of food.  Sure, they’ve probably had something like it but this is the real deal!

Fried Plantain Cups with a Market Sofrito and Mangalitsa Bacon!!

First off I started by chopping up a few market vegetables that I found at the market.

Sofrito Ingredients:

• Mangalitsa Bacon Fat, as needed
• Mangalitsa Bacon, as needed
• 1/2 Walla Walla Onion, medium dice
• 3 Italian Purple Garlic Cloves, crushed
• 1/2 red bell pepper, medium dice
• 1/2 green bell pepper, medium dice
• 1/4 ivory bell pepper, medium dice
• 1/2 beefsteak tomato, seeded, and quartered
• Two thyme sprigs, whole  (Mindy Rivera Farms)
• Three oregano stems with leaves on (Mindy Rivera Farms)
• Two Fresh Bay Leaves (Mindy Rivera Farms)
• Adobo, use this like your salt and pepper…I have my own but you can find Adobo at many grocery stores in the Hispanic section

Procedure:

1. Heat up bacon fat in a pan then add the garlic and let it toast lightly.
2. Add onions and bell peppers and saute until the onions are translucent.
3. Season and add tomato and cook until tomato breaks down.
4. Add fresh herbs and bacon and cook on low heat.
5. Check seasoning and serve

Next up is preparing the plantains for their double fry action.   Cut the ends off of the plantain then slice the plantain vertically about 1/4 inch deep in order to remove the peel.  Once the peel is removed cut the plantain into 2 inch sections.  Have a deep fryer set up at around 360-370F.  The reason I have it set so high to begin with is that the more things you put into the deep fryer the more the temperature will drop.  The ideal fry temperature is between 350-360F.   Anything less will lead to a greasy nightmare and much more will cook the item too fast on the outside and will leave the inner part raw…. I keep a thermometer inside the oil so that way I know when I’m overloading the fryer….if the temperature is dropping the just give it some time to recover and you’re all set!

Place the plantain until it starts to turn a golden color (about 1-2 minutes) then remove and place on a paper towel.   At this point you can make a cup out of it using a cup molder or you can smash it flat to make tostones.  Also, at this point you can freeze them for later use which I recommend because then you can enjoy plantains throughout the week!

If you decide to go for the second fry then after you have molded the plantains place them in the fryer again and wait a minute or two and wait until they turn crispy then remove and place on a paper towel and salt or use adobo to season them.    Once they are seasoned then top them with whatever you want! Try the sofrito recipe above first.

That’s a quick how-to on working with plantains.   Thanks again to everyone who showed up and to the Queen Anne Farmers Market for inviting me (click).

Eric