This month we are featuring plantains. I usually don’t do this, but I’m featuring how I screwed up waiting for the plantains to ripen and how I totally screwed up frying them. This is not a pretty kitchen success story, but maybe we all need to admit failure once in a while.
According to the links I am sharing, you can cook plantains when they are still green or wait for them to ripen. Ripening allows them to sweeten a bit. Different recipes call for different levels of ripeness.
I bought my plantains and put them out with my other fruits to ripen. After a couple of weeks I noticed they had barely changed, so I decided to use them. They weren’t the beautiful banana/potato-like fruits I’ve used in the past. They were grainy and hard. They smelled okay with no signs of mold – a test according to the internet that will determine if you plantains are safe to use.
I probably bought a couple of duds, but I decided to press on. Both recipes call for the Plantains to be pan fried. I burned the first ones. You really have to watch them in the oil, so no pictures of plantains with Cuban Black beans.
I managed not to burn the next plantain, but it refused to turn the luscious golden brown most plantains turn when cooked in oil. The plantain chips tasted like plantains, crunchy on the outside and soft inside. They just weren’t pretty, and plantains are supposed to be pretty in recipes.
I coated half of my surviving plantain chips in cinnamon and sugar. Tasty, but not pretty. The other half I slathered in garlic tabasco. Again, tasty, but not pretty.
It’s amazing how the same fruit can taste so differently depending on what it’s served with. Hot and spicy or sweet and still delicious.
I considered trying again with plantains that weren’t duds, but my grocery store did not have plantains when I went back. So, the moral of this story is that sometimes you mess up. The next time I see plantains, I will buy them again, and hopefully do them justice.
Here’s to my first kitchen failure in a long time. I promise to bring my “A” game next month.
I’m sharing the links to the two delicious links I selected. They are great, so please try them,
https://eatthegains.com/fried-sweet-plantains/ and Cuban Black Beans and Rice with Roasted Peppers and Plantains
The Twelve Months of Fruit (2025)
January – Fruit salad with strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, and grapes (No recipe link)
February – Pears - https://jessicainthekitchen.com/cinnamon-baked-pears-vegan-video/
March – Plantains - https://eatthegains.com/fried-sweet-plantains/ and Cuban Black Beans and Rice with Roasted Peppers and Plantains