Plátanos Fritos

(Fried Plantains)

September 21: International Banana Festival

Fried bananas are a favorite for Islander. Her Mommy used make them as a sweet side dish to sinangag for our family for a Filipino-style morning meal. The type of banana she used was called Cardaba or Saba banana, also known as the Philippine plantain.

After moving to the mainland from Hawaii, Islander had not eaten fried bananas for a long time until befriending classmates and co-workers from the Caribbean and Latin America. At get-togethers in their homes or restaurants, she ate maduros as an appetizer or dessert and sometimes substituted starchy potatoes for plátanos fritos or tostones.

As we like to cook different cultural cuisine for our blog, we fried plantains to observe the International Banana Festival food holiday.

Recipe

Ingredients

• 1 large plantain
• oil for frying
• salt or sugar to taste

Directions

Get a green plantain from the grocery store and let it ripen to yellow for a starchy side dish or snack. Or let the peel turn black for a sweeter and softer dessert-like dish. Cut off an end of the plantain, slit down the sides and peel it open. Cut diagonal slices. Heat the oil about ½ inch high in a skillet. Lower to medium heat and fry the slices slowly until they turn golden brown on each side. Drain on paper towels. Season the starchy-style plantain with salt or sprinkle a little sugar to caramelize the sweeter version. Serve hot.

Notes

• Plantains are a member of the banana family. Read more about the similarities and differences between bananas and plantains as well as get nutritional information about the latter from the Grab’Em Snacks site.
• Search our blog for other banana recipes.

Chicken San Gennaro

September 19: Feast Day of St. Januarius (Gennaro in Italian)

We enjoyed meandering around Manhattan’s Mulberry Street, which is the main thoroughfare of “Little Italy.” On the weekends, when the weather was nice, we would take a 45-minute train ride from New Jersey, where we lived, to New York and explore the ethnic sections of the city. Little Italy was just steps away from Chinatown, so we got to tour (and taste) the best of both worlds!

Little Italy hosts an annual Festa di San Gennaro, an 11-day festival coinciding with the feast day of the patron saint of Naples, in September. The big block party features parades and processions, vendor and games booths, entertainment and food! A sausage sandwich with sweet bell peppers and onions is traditionally sold and served at the festival. But a similar version is made with chicken. We tried the latter at home for a tasty and traditional meal marking the Feast Day of St. Januarius.

Recipe

(Adapted from Cooking With the Saints by Ernst Scheugraf)

 Ingredients

• 4 chicken breasts, skinless and thinly sliced
• salt and pepper to taste
• olive oil
• 2 teaspoons garlic, minced
• ½ cup dry white wine
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 cup onions, sliced
• 1 sweet red bell pepper, sliced
• slices of Italian bread, toasted

Directions

Lightly season the chicken breasts with salt and pepper. Heat a skillet with a little olive oil and saute the garlic over low heat. Turn up the heat and brown the chicken on both sides. Remove from the skillet and keep warm on a lipped plate. In the same skillet, pour in the white wine, scraping the brown bits. Sprinkle the oregano and basil and boil to make a sauce. Pour over the chicken.

In the same skillet, saute the onions until brown and soft, adding a little olive oil as necessary. Remove from the skillet. Saute the pepper until slightly softened but still crisp. On a plate, lay a few slices of toasted Italian bread. Place a chicken breast on top of one slice. Spoon a little sauce over it. Garnish with a side of onions and peppers. Serve as a sandwich.

Notes

• San Gennaro festivals are held where there are large communities of Italian-Americans, such as New York City, Los Angeles and Las Vegas.
• The Feast Day of St. Januarius/Gennaro is celebrated in the West on September 19. But in Naples,  the patron saint is fested on December 16 (this was the day in 1631 that Mount Vesuvius could have had a volcanic eruption but Italians believe that he interceded and spared the city).

Butterscotch Pudding

September 19: National Butterscotch Pudding Day

Sometimes in our school lunch sacks, we would find “snack packs” of pudding in chocolate, vanilla or butterscotch flavor. The sugar rush we got from the creamy confections kept us hyperactive in classes for the rest of the afternoon!

Although we are (much) older, we still have a kid-like craving for puddings once in a while, so sometimes we make them from an instant boxed mix. But when we make a “mature” butterscotch pudding from scratch, we personalize the recipe with Islander’s Hawaiian sea salt and Big Island vanilla and Highlander’s Scotch whisky (Scottish or Canadian)! The latter is an optional ingredient, but why not put the Scotch in butterscotch pudding? It still gives grown-ups a sugar rush and a slight boozy buzz.

Whether with or without the alcohol, homemade butterscotch pudding is pretty good as a snack or dessert, especially on National Butterscotch Pudding Day.

Recipe

(Adapted from Ripe for Dessert by David Lebovitz)

Ingredients

• ½ stick (4 tablespoons) butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar (we recommend C&H brand)
• ¾ teaspoon coarse sea salt (we used Hawaiian alaea)
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 2 ½ cups whole milk, divided use
• 2 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla (we used Hawaiian Vanilla Company brand)
• 2 teaspoons Scotch whisky
• whipped cream, optional
• ground cinnamon, optional

Directions

In a saucepan, melt the butter over low heat. Stir in the brown sugar and sea salt until moistened. Remove from heat and set aside. In a small bowl, mix the cornstarch and ¼ cup of the milk to make a paste.

Whisk in the eggs. Pour the remaining 2 ¼ cups of milk to the saucepan with the brown sugar mixture. Return to the stove top and simmer on low. Whisk in the egg mixture, stirring constantly until thickened. Be careful not to burn the the mixture. Remove from heat and stir in the vanilla and whisky.

If the mixture is slightly curdled, mix in a blender until smooth. Pour into dessert glasses or custard cups. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for about four or more hours or until set. Put a dollop of whipped cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon on top before serving.

Notes

• Thanks to Lisa L. for the Hawaiian vanilla.
• Search our blog for more butterscotch and Scotch recipes.