Plantains!

Well, I thought I would try a new fruit and take a plantain to the gym with me instead of banana, but expected it to peel just like one.  Wrong! Broke a fingernail trying though.

Later used a knife to  cut outer peel off but flesh was hard so decided to cook it in microwave for 10 minutes, still hard so went for addition 10 then wondered if it was cooked to long.  Attempted to mash it with brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, low fat sour cream.  It tasted like I was chewing on wood!

This was a green one that I kept for 2 weeks to ripen for eating.  Read recipes on the web but wonder if they can be cooked too long? 

Hmmm.  I have never had a plantain, but it's my understanding that they are more savory than sweet.  Wikipedia says the green-skinned, unripe ones are used a lot like potatoes rather than like normal fruit, and that they have to be cooked before eating.   Ripe ones are yellow- or black-skinned.

Not that wikipedia is the be all-end all, but I am pretty sure that even though it's technically a fruit, a plantain is usually used more like a veg.

I've never microwaved a plantain, so I don't know if you overcooked it or not.  I have cooked them before, though, and they're pretty good.  I cut off the peel, and then slice it into rounds about a half inch thick.  Then I smash the rounds a little, and then saute them in a tiny bit of oil or cooking spray until they've softened and started to brown.  They're really good dipped in chutney or fruit salsa. 

I have eaten plantains before, and I do so very often. As kittybig stated plantains may be a fruit but it is eating more like a veggie, for example, you could replace a baked potato with boiled plantains and put sauteed onions on top, or whatever you like. The ripe yellow/blackish plantains are usually deep fried and make yummy but very fattening fritters.

My dad is Guatemalan, and plantains are everywhere down there.  They are part of some AMAZING dishes--- but not really the healthiest.  We're talking mashed, fried, etc... soooo good though, yum!

Anyway, the way I eat them is slice 'em up, and fry them on a frying pan (could probably do it without all the oil), then eat them with sugar.  YUM.  Artificial sugar would probably work too.

Anyway, that's just how we do it.  :)

I just had plantains for the first time early this week. I read up on how to prepare them.

The green ones are completely unripe and it takes a long time at room temperature to ripe. Then they turn yellow with black spots. Finally, when the skins are totally black, they are sweet and have a 'banana-like' texture.

Mine were slightly yellowish green when I purchased them. I baked them at 350 for about half an hour in their peels. I opened it and ate it plain. It was delicious.

My cook book, "The Joy of Cooking Two" said to bake the green and yellows ones like this. It also told how to peel them raw and then slice and fry. It said they can be boiled mashed like potatoes.

They're not all that low cal, but there's a ton of nutrients in them.  

my friend just got back from ghana and made a delicious plantain dish

you just slice em up, drizzle em with almond oil (palm oil if you can get it) and bake them(use as little or as much as you want, it's mainly just for texture.)

In a pot you saute habaneros, tomatoes, ginger, onions and garlic, then add blackeye peas and rice.

You are supposed to scoop the rice up with the plantain slices and eat it that way. Super delicious, and I liked the plantains with just hotsauce/red pepper. I think we bake them for about 15 minutes, and I didn't have any issues with them being hard or anything.

you can just boiled them and it taste real good that way

The green ones are completely unripe and it takes a long time at room temperature to ripe. Then they turn yellow with black spots. Finally, when the skins are totally black, they are sweet and have a 'banana-like' texture.

That was my problem then. I didn't let it get ripe to begin with.

I may try it again.

[For some reason, any thread that I start does not show up on my profile and I forget to check back for follow up replies.  Sorry.] 

I think that the only way plantains are good, is if they are fried.  I had them prepared in Puerto Rico and it tasted like a I was munching into a candle.  GROSS!  But they are tasty all fried up into chips!!

I love plantains but yes, the riper the better. Here is how I have had them cooked in Brazil and a few other countries:

1.  Thinly sliced and fried in oil - West Africa seems to do these relatively green and they are almost like a sweet potato, Mexico - very ripe with chili (hot pepper) and salt.

2.  Cut into quarters, breaded and fried, then mixed into some kind of rice dish or served alone as an appetizer.

3. Baked as mentioned a couple times above.

Yum!

Grill em for 40 mins ..

Delicous !