This post is going to be super short because I have already written about Patacones in the past, I’ll make sure to film the process the next time! I know you can find it on YouTube, but I think my terrible joking and awkward comments will make your frying plantains experience much more interesting… I think =)

I will also share my experience of doing this whole season, 6 episodes of my Food Podcast, crazy amount of hours and so much learning.  I’m happy and proud because if technology has given us something, it has been the resources to share our voices and at least archive it. A non-scholar latina, panameñita Podcast lady, ha!

And though for now I haven’t been invited to any podcasts, nor have my ideas been accepted for me to be a guest, I will continue to study, learn, and share everything I can on this journey. Hopefully a lot of Patacones will be part of the adventure.

—– listen to podcast here —–

—– end of podcast —–

These are other photos of patacones as I mentioned how we eat it with fried fish, ropa vieja, but I don’t have the most common one you can find at any fonda probably: patacones with salchichitas, maybe I should make this for brunch this weekend!

RECIPE on this older blog post (click here)

I’m not recording a new podcast episode for this week, I’m taking a break and it was good timing: I really needed it this pause.

In regards to Patacones, I shall have a whole episode only on my research of plantains in general, but my main wish is for you to plan to give them a try soon and let me know when you do, they’re incredible delicious and I hope we can enjoy a lot of them in 2019.

¡a comer! ahem… ¡a comer PATACONES!

Chef Melissa “La Cooking Diva“,  invited me to one of her classes at the Culinary Arts Academy in Panama, this class was a level 1 for a group of friends who work together, so the fact that it was not a group of students made it very interesting.

I arrived ealier than the Chef  so I went for a walk on that nice area, when I came back Melissa also arrived and showed me the 2 dishes and 1 dessert she was going to work with the students.

This is for the Plantain Pie with Chorizo

Ingredients for the Arroz con Pollo

I really liked her system of writing on the board the dishes and students choosing where they wanted to work, for some reason I ended up with the Plantain-Chorizo Pie & I was thrilled (you all know how much I love plantains)

Everyone going through the Prep List divided per dish

I wish I could have recorded this class and not just done photos, every single student has a marvelous personality, and the little fellow you will see on this next picture, he behaved so well, I mean as well as a kid can behave around knives and kitchen toys haha, trust me if I was him I don’t think adults could have cooked a thing with me around.

The little fellow

Student chopping Pimentón Verde

Chef Melissa & students stirring the pot of the Arroz con Pollo

This is the Sweet Plantain Pie, with chorizo & Queso Fresco

It was amazing all the stories, the jokes the comments mostly on football, you know world cup 2010!

Deboning the chicken for the Arroz con Pollo

The kitchen layout for this class was pretty comfy, huge tables, a nice organized pantry, the Academy provides a good environment for these students, having said that a class with Chef Melissa could be informative & fun at the same time, I wish I could have gone to many others but it will be a must once I go back to Panama.

The delicious Arroz con Pollo

Student using his creative skills, it shows you that cooking is an expression of art

This Pie, was my favorite, the perfect combination of chorizo, the queso fresco & the sweet plantains, it brought me from sweet to salty, quite tasty!

The wonders of Phyllo Dough, just this simple recipe brought so many ideas to all the students, and even the little fellow mentioned how much he wanted cheese & ham inside of  it instead of an apple strudel ha!

It was a lovely happy Thursday night with Chef Melissa and her group, they were really warm and cheerful, I can’t believe they came straight from work, so much energy and enthusiasm, this class is the best therapy anyone can have for stress.  No yoga, no running, no swimming or watching movies, grab a recipe, bunch of ingredients and let your mind and hands do the rest.

You know, some people cook for a living, some because they have to, and some others choose to cook just because, the reason doesn’t matter as long you always, always enjoy your time in the kitchen.

¡a comer!

Follow Chef Melissa on:

Facebook

Panama Gourmet

Pinon (Piñón): A different dish for Sweet Plantains Lovers!

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¡Un plato diferente para los amantes de los Plátanos maduros!

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This dish I found out thanks to my Boy, he mentioned his mom would make the best Piñón, (this is the right way to spell it), ever and I nodded and said “yes I know that dish”, I lied, but how could I confess that me a Panamanian food lover, had no idea what a Piñón was, and later he explained and I fell in love again with him.

I haven’t done any research on Piñón, but looking at the ingredients I am very sure Puerto Rico has a similar dish.  It’s pretty much like a lasagna with cinnamon added to the spices and sweet plantains instead of pasta.

So here we go, if you dont want to use just plantains, eggplants and zucchinis are great to add less starchy or sugary vegetables into the dish. I had some extra boiled yuca so I sliced it and used it for layering as well.

6 servings for this recipe.

Ingredients

2 Sweet (very ripened) plantains (yes the yellow ones, almost black)

1 medium chopped Spanish Onion (any other type of onion works well)

2 medium other vegetables (boiled potatoes or yuca, eggplant or zucchini)

1 cup sliced or shredded good melting cheese (mozarella, quesillo or similar)

1/2 cup finely chopped sweet peppers

1 tbs soy sauce

3 tbs tomato paste

3 finely chopped garlic cloves

salt, pepper, cinnamon, raspadura syrup (optional)

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Yo di con este plato gracias a mi chico, él mencionó un día cómo su mamá hacía el mejor Piñón del mundo, yo asentí y dije “ahh si yo conozco ese plato”, mentí, pero cómo confesarle que no tenía idea de este plato si yo amo tanto la cocina Panameña, así que luego él explico y me volví a enamorar.

No he investigado de este plato, así que en base a la descripción que él me dio y también viendo los ingredientes estoy segura que en Puerto Rico deben tener algo muy similar.  Lo definiría como una lasaña que se le agrega canela y en vez de pasta se utiliza plátanos maduros.

Así que aquí le vamos, si no te gustan los plátanos, utiliza berenjenas o zucchini ya que las mismas también se sienten con menos almidón y azúcar.  Yo tenía una yuca que me quedó del día anterior así que también la utilicé para las capas.

Rinde 6 buenas porciones.

Ingredientes

2 plátanos maduros

1 cebolla mediana amarilla cortadita (cualquier otro tipo también funciona)

2 vegetales cocidos para las capas (yuca, berenjena o zucchini, o 2 plátanos más)

1 taza de quesillo o mozarella en rebanadas o en tiras.

1/2 taza de pimentones cortaditos

1 cucharada de salsa de soya

3 cucharadas de pasta de tomate

3 dientes de ajos molidos o cortaditos

sal, pimienta, canela y sirope raspadura (opcional)

Instructions / Instrucciones 

While you cook the vegetables have your pan hot and ready and  start slicing the plantains like both pictures above.

Make sure the plantains you choose are very dark, not all black, soft but not mushy.  Buy several the first time just to make sure you picked the right ones, or buy zucchinis just in case.

Slice them long wise and cook on canola oil, butter, or any fat that you like and will add no flavor or a soft one.  if you prefer to just steam them and then slice it that works too, but i prefer the sauteed version of them.

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Mientras cocinas los vegetales pon a calentar la sartén y corta las rebanadas de plátanos como muestran las fotografías arriba.

Asegúrate que los plátanos que escojas estén bien oscuros, not completamente negros, suaves pero no aguados.  La primera vez que hagas la receta te recomiendo que compres varios solo por si acaso sale alguno que no te gusta mucho, o puedes comprar zucchini por si las moscas.

Corta los plátanos a lo largo y cocínalos con aceite de Canola, mantequilla o cualquiera grasa que no tenga sabor o tenga un sabor que sea suave y te vaya a gustar en tus plátanos.  Si prefieres hacer los plátanos al vapor y luego cortarlos también funciona, a mí me gusta el sabor de cuando está un poco cocinados a la plancha así que es cuestión de gustos.

About the ground beef, that’s purely a matter of taste, some people like a mixed of pork, veal and beef, some other would rather have turkey or chicken and for my dear vegetarians I’m sure mushrooms with chopped tofu could get the job done.

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La carne molida que uno cocine es cuestión de gustos, muchas personas prefieren una combinación de puerco, ternera y vaca, otros prefieren de pavo o pollo, y para mis queridos vegetarianos estoy segura que los hongos con tofu recortadito sería perfecto reemplazo para la carne.

Spices:  I like to add when I’m sauteeing the onions, at least a pinch of salt, and then when the onions are soft I add the peppers and crushed garlic, no more than 1 minute and you can add the meat.  I use cinnamon, salt and pepper, pinch of sugar, just a touch and taste, taste, taste.

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Especias:  Me gustra agregarle cuando estoy salteando las cebollas un poquito de sal, luego cuando estén suavecitas le agrego los pimentones picados y el ajo molido, no más de un minuto dejas pasar y agregar la carne.  Yo utilicé canela en polvo, sal y pimienta, un poquito de azúcar, solo un poco de todo y probar, probar, probar.

After you cook the meat and you don’t see almost any pink spots around you can add the tomato paste, cook for 1 minute or more until it is well spreaded and then add the water, 1/2 cup at a time until you know it will have a good consistency without getting soupy.  Season again, just remember that when the water evaporates the flavor will get stronger.  Add tbs of Soy sauce.

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Después de cocinar la carne y ya casi no se vean pedacitos rosados puedes agregar la pasta de tomate, cocinar por 1 minuto o más hasta que esté bien revuelto con la carne y luego agregar agua, media taza poco a poco hasta que tenga una consistencia sin que se vea muy aguado.  Agregar poquito de especias de nuevo y recordar que cuando el agua se evapora los sabores se concentran así que mucho cuidadito con la sal.  Agregar cucharada de Salsa de soya.

I had leftoever yuca as I mentioned so I used it along with the plantains to make layers for the Piñón.

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Tenía unas yucas de más en el refrigerador así que las utilicé con los plátanos para hacer las capas para el Piñón.

On some layers I added a pinch of salt to the yuca and a pinch of cinnamon to the plantains.

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En algunas capas le puse pizca de sal a la yuca y canela a los plátanos.

This is the cheese I love to use for melting and mild flavor purposes on Piñón and my Yuca Pie recipe (I will share soon).  It’s a cheese that’s mostly used for pupusas but it works perfect for layered dishes and quesadillas, and frittatas!  If you have mozarella and provolone, queso blanco (the melting type) they all work, just make sure it melts nicely and has mild flavor.

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Este es el queso que me encanta utilizar con sabor no muy fuerte y excelente al derretirse, en mis recetas para Piñón y para Pastel de Yuca (que compartiré pronto).  Es un queso que se utiliza para las pupuas, pero también funciona muy bien para platos con capas, quesadillas y tortas de huevo.  Si tienes provolone o mozarela, o queso blanco del que se derrite, también funcionarán, solo asegúrate escoger un buen queso que se derrita y que tenga un sabor delicado.

This is the first meat layer, as you can see I like cheese on most of my bites, sometimes I can go crazy and just make a whole layer of cheese, so it all depends on how much cheese you like!

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Esta es la primera capa de carne, como puedes ver me gusta que haya queso en casi todo el plato, aveces me puedo volver un poco loca e incluso hacer toda una capa de queso, así que la cantidad de queso dependerá de qué tanto te gusta.

Another layer of plantains, this time no yuca.

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Otra capa de plátanos, esta vea vez sin yuca.

This layer I decided to add cinnamon and Melted Raspadura (Panela, Raw Sugar Cane).

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A esta capa de plátanos decidí agregarle canela en polvo y un poco de sirope de Raspadura.

Raspadura, Panela or Raw Sugar Cane, etc.  Many names has one of my favorite sweeteners (makes the best orange juice), but if you don’t have it just use honey, brown sugar syrup, or nothing, with the cinnamon is enough for the plantains.

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Raspadura, Panela, etc.  Muchos nombres tiene uno de mis endulzantes favorites (para la mejor chicha de naranja), pero si no lo tienes, utiliza miel, sirope de azúcar morena, o nada, en realidad con la canela en polvo es suficiente para los plátanos.

And this is how the layering ends,  then spray non stick spray to a piece of aluminium paper and bake 350 covered for 20 minutes, then 5-10 mins under the broiler so you can get that extra melted texture.

For the final result, you will have to make this dish and see what happens.

¡a comer!

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Y así es como termina la última capa, luego rocear non-stick spray (aerosol anti-adherente) en una hoja de papel aluminio y cubrir el pyrex, hornear a 350F por 20 minutos, luego de 5-10 minutos a 400F para obtener una textura derretida más fuerte.

Para el resultado final tú tendrás que hacer esta receta y ver qué pasa.

¡a comer!