Dish 4: Platanos Frito

Thursday nights are typically solo nights for me. Hubby is part of a bowling league and Thursday is his bowling night. Usually I pick up take out, order in or cook something I enjoy that hubby doesn't. Today I decided to cook.

One of my childhood favorites is a very simple dish, platanos fritos. My mom would make this on weekends. It's a typical Salvadoran dish. A side of refried beans, queso fresco and crema would complete the meal. I have fond memories of this dish and it always brings back warm thoughts. Anytime I eat this meal I feel like a kid again. It's one of the few dish I can make like mom does.

Platanos fritos are ripe plantain fried in a pan with a bit of oil. You can deep fry them but I prefer to cook them in a pan. Though it's a simple dish its doesn't always come out the way you like. The platano has natural sugars so if you're not careful they will burn. I have had the first few come out beautifully golden brown while the others burnt. Personally, I like them a little burnt because I like it crispy & crunchy. When I would help Mom make this dish I would burn a few on purpose, so I could have them. : ) Shh, that's our little secret.

If you are making this for a family I would use 4-6 platanos, depending on your families' appetite. Since it's just me I'll use 1 platano.

To get started I add 1Tbsp oil to the pan on medium heat so it's waiting for me and not the other way around. I cut the platano in half. Then I cut the ends off. Then I carefully peel the skin off. The skin is thick so I use a paring kinfe to put a slit through the skin then peel. Keep the skin, they will be our "foil" to keep the cooked platanos warm while the rest cook.

The next step is the hard part. You would cut the half into 4 or 5 pieces lengthwise. I take the half in my hand and slice the platanos, with a paring knife, along the lines they naturally have. The slices should be about 1/4 inch or so. Now the platanos are slippery so for beginners I would recommend you use a cutting board and carefully slice lengthwise. Once they are all cut, add them to the oil, careful not to crowd the pan. Check every 2 to 4 minutes to see if ready, what you're looking for is a golden brown. Once the first side is brown flip and wait 2-4 minutes then check for doneness. When ready, transfer to a plate and cover the skins to keep warm. You do this until all the platanos are done. You can serve these platanos with refried beans. My mom would make the beans from scratch. This takes time. It goes from a soup then to refried. Hopefully I'll get a chance to share that dish. When she didn't have fresh we would use store bought. But a specific brand, Ducal Black refried beans. These are the closet to fresh taste that you can get. So delicious. If you have sour cream or crema use as a dip for the platanos. To glide the lily add some queso fresco.

If you want something sweeter you can add sugar to the platanos as they cook. You can even take those "candied" platanos add a little cinnamon and make them an ice cream topping. It's unusual but delicious. 

Platanos make me so happy. They fill my belly and my heart. Pure comfort food.

Buen Provecho!

Dish 3: Stuffed French Toast with "Banana Foster" Compote

Yes, I know it's been 6 days since I last posted. This resolution is not off to the best start. I made it back to the kitchen today, and made breakfast for dinner.

My hubby loves breakfast. No matter the time of day, his preference is breakfast. His favorite dish is eggs benedict. Maybe that dish will makes it's way next week! I knew that this dish would statisfy his breakfast tooth.

I had some old bread to use up so what else to do but make pain perdu, french toast. I've made french toast in the past but never attempted stuffed. I went off the cuff with this "recipe." I took some cream cheese and mixing in some strawberry jam with a little black pepper and salt. I like the combo of black pepper & strawberry. I cut the bread into thick pieces and cut a slit and slathered the mixture into the bread. I drenched the bread into a custard of heavy cream, milk, egg, cinnamon & nutmeg. Cooked them on a griddle with butter. What is better than BUTTER!? So good! While the toasts cooked I added a couple of Tbsps of butter to a pan and added a bit of brown sugar and honey. It cooked up fast, should had it on lower heat, then when it was syrupy I add the sliced bananas. Fried a couple of eggs and breakfast for dinner was done!

The filling was good but a bit savory, I probably should have added some sugar or honey to sweeten things up. The balance of stuffing and bread were a bit off, next time cut the pieces smaller. The bananas were yummy! Though there was no alcohol in these fosteresque bananas the flavor was still there. I look forward to tweaking this dish and trying different fillings. One of the things I love about cooking, the ability to experiment!


This dish was a hit with the hubby! Love making my man happy!

Buen Provecho!


Recipe Link: where the inspiration came from:
http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/kelsey-nixon/stuffed-french-toast-with-fresh-strawberry-jam-and-blueberries-recipe/index.html

DIsh 2: Fried Mac & Cheese Balls

So today was a day of leftovers and budget meals. I know it's only day 2 of this blog and I'm already doing leftovers. But seeing as if has been the holidays there is food to spare. I did get to spend a bit of time in the kitchen today. The advantage of being on vacation.

Steak & sweet potato hash

Put an egg on it!

 For lunch I took two New Year's Eve leftovers and turned it into hash. A nice piece of New York Steak, grilled to perfection by my brothers, and a sweet potato gratin, my contribution to the new year's eve meal. I cubed up the steak, cut up the sweet potato and fried it up and put an egg on it. It was very yummy. Hash is a wonderful converter of leftovers. Nothing is better than fried meat, carbs and eggs. It's a great comfort food. My hubby adamantly agreed. I mean who can reject a good hash!

For dinner I took another leftover, mac n cheese and made fried mac n cheese balls. Full disclosure, it's leftover mac n cheese from a box. I've attempted to make mac n cheese from scratch a couple of times and both times flops. Hopefully the next time will be more successful. Now back to the fried cheese balls. The first time I had this dish was at California Pizza Kitchen. It was so crunchy, crispy and cheesy! I've being wanting to replicate them for months. The day has finally arrived.

I don't have a fryer so I filled a dutch pan with oil. I don't have a thermometer to test the heat so I used a trick I heard on food network about throwing a piece of bread and if it toasts up quickly the oil is ready. When it comes to frying; timing is everything. This is the area where I'm a little off. Seeing as a plate of fried cheese isn't a complete meal, though I wish it were, I made grilled chicken (seasoned with Montreal chicken seasoning) panini on garlic bread. A bit of naughty & nice on a plate. Timing the chicken and the fried balls was a bit tricky. I ended up placing the chicken in the oven at 200F to keep warm. I dredged the mac n cheese in flour with salt & pepper, egg wash and panko crumbs seasoned with parmesan cheese and parsley.

Frying process

The sizzle of the oil and the sight of these delicious offerings turning a golden brown was enough to make me squeal with delight. Served along with some marina these make a perfect side dish or appetizer. 

Reflection: A joint YUMMY!! This one is a keeper. Not one negative comment. Hubby devoured the meal happily.

Buen Provecho!

Below is a link to the recipe that I loosely based the fried mac n cheese balls, I concentrated more on the technique than the ingredients. I did add a step to the technique. I put the breaded pieces on a pan and put it in the freezer for 10-15 minutes so that they would set so that they wouldn't separate in the oil. As a bonus, the recipe for the sweet potato gratin, courtesy of Michael Symon, I omit the chiles but feel free to add them!

Paula Deen -Deep Fried Mac n Cheese
http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/paula-deen/deep-fried-mac-and-cheese-recipe/index.html

Michael Symon- Sweet Potato Gratin
http://beta.abc.go.com/shows/the-chew/recipes/Thanksgiving-Michael-Symon-Sweet-Potato-Gratin

Dish 1 - New Year Lentils

I love to eat. I get a lot of pleasure out of eating. Food for me isn't simply to provide nutrition but an adventurous experience. From the simplest to the more unusual all is a unique. I'm a true believer of eating with my five senses. The intoxicating smell, the sizzle, crackle & pop, the inviting plate, the pleasurable touch on the tongue and when fortunate the texture against the skin. Food excites me and I'm not ashamed to admit it. They only thing that I regret is not cooking enough. I'm a cookbook collector, food network addict and drool when I see cookware, it's my favorite department, yet I don't spend the time in the kitchen. When I do cook I enjoy it. It's fun and relaxing. As a new year resolution of sorts I want to cook more frequently.

The idea for Kitchen to Mesa (Mesa is Spanish for table; seeing as I'm Salvadoran I thought it would be appropriate) stems from my love for food.  I want to get in the kitchen and get my creative juices flowing; giving myself a challenge and experiment. To start, I would love to get in the habit of cooking a least one dish a day. Sweet or savory. It doesn't matter. The point is to cook. Hopefully I can maintain this resolution and writing this blog is my accountability partner.


So here are the guidelines. My intentions are to cook a dish a day. Mainly dinner, but others meals can come into play. The weekends will be flux days, meaning we could go out or stay in,  I'll plan accordingly and report my results. The challenge I intend to face are the everyday occurrences, best laid plans and all.  I'm hoping that this food adventure will make food & cooking exciting for my family, right now its just hubby & me, but you get my point. I want him to share my passion and appreciation for the culinary arts. Let's begin, from kitchen to mesa. 

Today's dish is New Year Lentils from Rachael Ray. I figured I'd start with a dish name after the day. I've never cooked lentils before, so this was going to be a fun learning experience. I must admit that I tend to treat a recipe as a guideline, so if I have to change something I don't panic too much about it. However there are moments when concern steeps in.

  

 The recipe called for white wine. We don't really drink in our house. No real reason we just didn't grow up with it. My mom would occasionally have it to cook but not often. Occasionally I'll try some just to see if I'll like it, but its rarely worked out. I didn't want to spend money on something I won't use later. Then I remembered I had a bottle of red mascot. A friend had given me a bottle for Christmas, one of the few wines I actually liked. It's a dessert wine if I'm not mistaken. I didn't know how it would work but seeing as I didn't have any other choice I substituted it for the white wine. The other sub I had to do was for speck. I knew it was similar to pancetta which is the cured cousin of bacon, so I used bacon. I knew it would change the flavor because bacon is smoked, but I like a little smokiness. It all worked out well, the only thing I need to keep in mind next time is the time it takes to cook the lentils. It took about 40-45 minutes for the beans to soften. So we ate dinner later than expected. Hubby didn't mind he was busy playing Xbox. The extra time also allowed me to make fresh whip cream for the first time.

  I had a beautiful lemon pound cake, baked by my talented cousin Michelle, and I thought a bit of strawberry & whipped cream would be perfect. I had heard it was easy but never really believe it. Without a recipe I attempted this treat. I took 1/2 cup of heavy whipping cream and whipped it by hand. When it started to form soft peaks I added powdered sugar to taste. I couldn't believe how easy it was. No need to buy Redi whip anymore. I didn't realize how much whipping I had to do. My arm got a little sore. Next time for a big batch I'll use the electric mixer.

Reaction: Lentils were flavorful and delicious. Hearty and warm. A great winter stew with crusty bread. Hubby's reaction wasn't as favorable. He thought the broth was good but the texture of the lentils threw him off. It's a good time to mention that Hubby is a picky eater. So there will be hit and misses. 


Buen Provecho!



Recipe below: New Year Lentils

1/4 cup EVOO (extra virgin olive oil), 4 turns of a pan
1/4 pound speck, chopped
4-6 garlic cloves, chopped
1 bay leaf, fresh
1 large onion, chopped
2 carrots, chopped
4 celery hearts with their tops, chopped
3-4 sprigs rosemary or 2 tablespoons chopped
3 Tbsp tomato paste
1/2 pound lentil beans
6 cups chicken stock
1 small bunch kale, shredded

Heat EVOO in a soup pot over medium-high heat. Add pancetta and crisp until golden brown. Add garlic, bay leaf, onion, carrots & celery. Cook to combine and soften the vegetables, about 5-6 minutes. Season with rosemary, salt & pepper.  Add the lentil beans and chicken stock; stir thoroughly. Cover and bring to a boil. Uncover, reduce heat, and let simmer for 45-50 minutes until the lentils are tender. For the last 10 minutes of cooking, add the shredded kale.