Bananas? No, Plantains!

Let's get simple. This recipe is not long, few ingredients, and a very good turn out..... I mean, they are fried. How could it go wrong?  Plantains are part of the banana family, they come from South America in places like Chile. They have a starchy taste something similar to potatoes. I get mine from the local cattle sale but you can buy them at grocery stores.So here yall go, this is very simple.

I use an iron skillet to fry in, I just pour enough oil in to fill the bottom of the pan about 1/4 inch. Before you turn on the heat, go ahead and cut up the plantains about 1 inch thick. For my family of 9 I like to do about 11 plantains. Put all the cut up plantains into a bowl and then set up a plate near your fryin pan. Along with the empty plate go ahead and grease the bottom of a bowl.  These will be used when you squish the plantains. Set one more plate up on the other side of the fryin pan to put the finished plantains onto.

You will need some tongs to flip the plantains when they are in the hot oil. Turn up the heat to about 4 or 5. The more plantains you put in the pan the quicker they will fry. Begin to place the pieces of plantains into the fryin pan. Fill up the pan but remember that when you double fry them they will be much larger. Leave them in there until both sides are a deeper golden color, flipping them so that each side gets fried. Take out the ones that are done and put them on the plate with the bowl. It's difficult to do all this on your own so I use my sisters. When you squish the fried plantain make sure not to make them flat as a flitter, you want them to be round and somewhat thick. Put them back into the fryin pan and double fry them. When you take them out place them onto the 2nd plate. Because they are starchy add some salt to the finished ones.

These are best served hot and quickly. Even after 30 minutes they aren't as good as when you first pull them out. See? Very good and very simple. I hope you try it soon and enjoy!

Fill up the pan about 1/4 inch oil.

The cut plantains are about an inch in width.

Put all the cut plantains in one easily accessible place.

Grease the bottom of a bowl to keep the plantains from sticking.

All the plantains beautifully fried.

Make sure you don't press too hard. 

Putting the fried plantains back in for the 2nd time. 

Our production line, about 4 or 5 areas. 

There's a better pic of it all. 

Here is the finished plantains! Don't they look great?

Okay, so this batch I did manage to burn a little bit, I had the oil too high. So be careful!!

And there is your wonderful side dish. I like mine thicker and most of the family likes them thinner so you just have to try out with them a bit and see what you like best. Thanks for reading and good luck! 

Gabby .V.

CHALLENGE: Don't drop the egg!

   Okay y'all... Who's up for a challenge? 

Recently, I was working in the kitchen, and Gabby came in and suggested we balance eggs on our head. She thinks we're princesses or something with perfect posture.  :) Anyway, we tried... and we succeeded. It is possible and we have pictures to prove it:

                               

                                           Trying so hard! CONCENTRATE!                                                                                                                

   

It's not that hard. Just do a couple of things:

1. Grab an egg out of the fridge our the barnyard

2. Be very careful and balance it on your head

3. Have somebody other than you to take the pic

(That will help reduce the messy egg risks)

4. We wanna see it! Leave comments, and send pictures

through email or comment.

 ! TA-DA !

! YAY !

NOTE: NO EGGS WERE HARMED IN THE MAKING OF THIS CHALLENGE. YOU MAY HAVE A MESS TO CLEAN UP THOUGH.

Anna & Gabby 

Always start out with a larger pot than what you think you need (or knead)

Bread Making 101. More like only successful recipe yet. This is a whole wheat yeast bread recipe that has actually risen correctly and baked correctly! So here it is...

Ingredients: 

                                                                              

                         

Step numero uno, dos, tres, etc.!

Mix yeast in hot water and mix with fork

In a large bowl combine brown sugar or honey (whichever you choose), salt, oil, and yeast water mixture.

Add 3 cups of the whole wheat flour and mix well, then add remainder of the whole wheat flour.

Thouroughly mix in the 3 cups of white flour

Cooking and muscle building?

That's right! Knead the dough for 10 minutes. While kneading, you can add up to 1 cup of flour (I use white)  to keep from sticking.

Let rise for 1 1/2 hours. It should be doubled in size

BEFORE:

 AFTER:

More muscle building...

Punch down the risen dough, then let rise again for another 45mins.

 

Bake at 375 degrees for 30 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and bake for another 10 minutes.

And there you have it. Warm, fresh bread.

This recipe has worked great for me! I have made it with honey and brown sugar, and both were good! 

If you have any questions or it doesn't exactly work for you, email or post a comment and I'll help you out the best I can through words:)

Thank you Mrs. Tammy for the great recipe! 

Anna .V.

"Cooking Rule... If at first you don't succeed, order pizza" Anonymous.

     So.... This past year I have tried multiple styles and recipes. Some successful, and others needed to be traded out with pizza. Anywho, Key lime pie with meringue topping. Don't let this little yellowish green pie intimidate you! It is not that hard. Once you get the hang of meringue (that sort of rhymed), you will be able to do it without looking at any cheat sheet. Just remember that little voice inside of your head saying "You Can Do Ittt!" You really can.

I use make pie crust made out of vanilla wafer cookies, but you can use graham crackers... or store bought.

Crust- (for a 9 or 10" pie pan)

40-45 vanilla wafers

4-6 tbs. melted butter

Pour melted butter into the crushed cookies. Press mixture into the pie pan (go up the sides!) and chill until set.

Key Lime Pie

3 large egg yolks (Keep the whites for meringue!)

1 (14 oz) can sweetened condensed milk

2 tsp. grated lime zest

1/2 c. freshly squeezed lime juice (though it is key lime pie, I have not yet used key limes.  I have only used regular limes)

1/2 c. heavy cream

1 prepared pie crust

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and condensed milk. Stir in the lime zest, lime juice, and heavy cream. Pour the filling into the crust and bake about 30 mins. or until firm. Remove pie from oven.

The color will be yellowish because of the condensed milk unless you add green food coloring.

Meringue

4 egg whites

6 tbsp. sugar

1/2 tsp. cornstarch

1/8 tsp cream of tartar per egg white (1/2 tsp. total)

pinch salt

While your pie is baking, as if you have nothing else to do, in a medium bowl, beat the egg whites on a high speed until soft peaks form. They shouldn't really be liquidy, more frothy/foamy. In a second bowl, combine the sugar, cornstarch, cream of tartar, and salt. 

Add the sugar mixture, a little at a time, to the egg whites, beating after each addition. I personally think this is the most important step to follow with meringue. The reason you want to add it in little bits at a time, I do 1tsp, is so you don't weight down the egg whites back to liquid. 

Continue to beat until the sugar dissolves. Spoon the meringue over the hot pie filling and create peaks. And bake for 10-12 minutes then put on a low broil until the peaks are golden brown. (you can torch it, but I never have.) 

Your pie is done:) Congratulations.... you just made meringue!   

  

Sorry I didn't get any pics of the inside! 

Anna  .V.