Bananas are not just for monkeys or desserts.  Since they take a good amount of time to ripen on the stalk from a starchy green to the more commonly recognized yellow fruit, its not too surprising that a lot of tropical cultures enjoy them in the green stage as a potato substitute.  Green bananas boil to fork-tender in about 15 to 20 minutes and they are a great canvas for infusing piquant and savory flavors.

My neighbors gave me half a hand of green bananas over the weekend so rather than make fried chips for a snack or boil them in coconut milk and eat with panfried grouper, I opted to make this vinaigrette marinated salad.  It will last a couple days or more and actually taste better the longer it marinates.  My lettuce patch is teaming with fresh baby greens and when added to this dish really made it a luscious salad.

In case you’re wondering how to peel those green bananas, check out this YouTube video…

How to peel green bananas

Try this the next time you have pea-pod green bananas or plantains and serve as a starter course or side dish.   

Ingredients:

• 5 or 6 green bananas (unripe)
• 1 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup white wine vinegar (rice wine vinegar may substitute)
• juice of half lime
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 garlic clove, minced
• 1/8 tsp cayenne pepper or small fresh chile of choice, minced (Scotch Bonnet or jalapeño if you like it hot)
• 1 onion, sliced in half-moon strips (red onion adds more color)
• 1/4 cup each red and green bell pepper strips
• 1 Tbsp capers
• 10 pimiento stuffed green olives, chopped
• 1/4 cup cilantro, chopped

Method:

1. Scrub bananas under cold running water.  Remove ends from each banana.  With a pairing knife, score a line the full length of each banana skin just deep enough to cut through the skin.  Cover bananas with cold water and bring to a boil over medium high heat.  Cook for 15-18 minutes or until fork tender.  Drain.
2. Remove skins of bananas and slice into rounds 1/4-inch thick.  Place in a bowl and toss with lime juice, salt and pepper to taste.
3. In a small bowl, whisk together oil, vinegar, cayenne and garlic.
4. Add remaining ingredients to bowl of bananas and toss with oil/vinegar emulsion.
5. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.  Serve on a bed of baby greens and garnish as desired.  Cherry tomato, pickled beets, and carrot strips add color and texture.

The wrappers are called Plantillas and they are made of masa harina, the same dough used for tamales and corn tortillas.  Corn tortillas are not a substitute.  The other option is wonton wrappers,West Indian Meat Patties dough or pie dough.  Plantillas are available in most supermarkets and Latin/Caribbean markets.  The 4-inch rounds (18 per package) make 2  empanadas each.  The 8-inch or 10-inch rounds can be quartered.

Frying empanadas is quick and they won’t taste greasy if the oil is hot enough before frying.  I use an olive oil/sunflower oil product made in Spain. Heat just enough oil to cover the bottom of a non-stick skillet 1/4-inch deep.  The oil should not be smoking hot but rather wavy on the surface.  You’ll have to watch closely once the frying begins.  These empanadas crisp up very fast, less than a minute per side.

Chorizo is a Spanish or Mexican sausage full of spices and Spanish paprika or achiote (annato powder) which gives it the reddish color. Choose the chile content you prefer.  Some like it HOT!  Its essential to render the fat from the meat to mix with the sofrito, black beans and tomato paste. 

I know your guests will rave about these little pillows of flavor from the Caribbean.

Ingredients:

• 1 pound chorizo of choice, casings removed, and chopped
• 1 can black beans, drained and mashed
• 1/4 cup sofrito (click here for authentic recipe)
• 2 Tbsp tomato paste mixed with 1/4 cup water
• 1 package Plantillas 4-inch size
• oil for frying

Method:  

1. Saute chorizo until caramelized and oil has been rendered.
2. Add mashed black beans, sofrito and tomato paste mixed with water.  Stir until combined.  Set aside to cool.
3. Cut each Plantillas in half if making hors d’oeuvres or leave whole for larger size.
4. Place a spoonful of filling in center of wrapper leaving 1/4-inch space around edges.  Fold edges over to make a triangle (or moon for the larger size) and crimp edges together with the tines of a fork.
5. Heat oil in a non-stick skillet until surface is wavy.  Place empanadas in hot oil taking care not to crowd them.  Fry until crisp, about 30 seconds on each side.  Remove to paper towels.

Check out this recipe video from Harvesting Eating

Black Bean and Chorizo Empanadas 

This recipe was created on-board my first yacht charter out of St. Thomas, USVI in 1986. The charter guests went diving for spiney lobsters and came back with conch as well.  It was pretty obvious I had to come up with a conch dish to celebrate their catch.  The inspiration for this recipe came from salmon patties.  I simply made a kicked up version of salmon patties using the conch meat.  The galley on that charter didn’t have a grinder so I minced the conch meat by hand, truly a laborious job with a knife.  From then on I took my own grinder with me on every charter.  This appetizer was a real pleas-er and several of my charter guests wrangled the recipe out of me, including then CEO of General Motors who had to have the recipe for his chef back home.  

Back in the day, I called them fritters but they are not battered and deep fried so technically they are not a fritter nor a croquette.  I find them far more tasty and less greasy than a fritter when coated in bread crumbs and fried in butter and olive oil.  The Spanish word for conch is caracol and I finally found the title this recipe deserves…bolas de caracol…which sounds a lot more sophisticated than conch balls.  Conch is a mollusk of some density and once the dark flesh is removed the edible part is pearly white.  The flavor is very mild yet sweet and reminiscent of abalone, steamer clams and cockles.     

But, unless you live near a warm tropical paradise with conch riddled waters, you won’t find fresh conch meat.  However, some fish mongers, Asian markets, Italian markets and gourmet supermarkets do carry freshly frozen conch meat or you can order online from Fresh from the Boat  or Wholey  in 5 pound packages.  The more affordable option and certainly more convenient is La Monica (Italian brand) Scungilli conch meat, available in 6.5 ounce cans (about $6.00) at your better gourmet shops, Gourmet food Express or even Amazon.com.  So there is no reason not to try this appetizer recipe.  If you like seafood you’ll enjoy this and so will your guests. 

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds conch meat, cleaned and minced
• 6 slices of day old bread, crusts removed, cubed
• juice of 1 lemon
• juice of 1 lime
• 1 Tbsp  Suzanne Steak Sauce
• 1 medium onion, chopped finely
• 3 stalks celery, chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 egg, beaten slightly
• 1/2 tsp Tabasco sauce (or to taste)
• 1 tsp Jane’s Crazy Mixed Up Sea Salt
• 1/2 cup bread crumbs to coat balls before frying
• 1/4 cup butter
• 1/4 cup olive oil or peanut oil

Method:

1. Mince slightly frozen conch meat using a grinder or food processor.  Add day-old bread, onion, celery and garlic to help push the meat through the grinder.
2. Add lemon and lime juice, Suzanne Steak Sauce, egg, Tabasco Sauce and Jane’s Sea Salt.  Mix well.
3. Form balls (about 2 ounces each).  Roll balls in bread crumbs.  Set aside until ready to fry.
4. In a non-stick skillet, melt butter with oil over medium heat and fry conch balls until golden brown on all sides.
5. Serve with seafood cocktail sauce or tartare sauce.

Callaloo is synonymous with Caribbean cuisine as lu supo (loo soo-poe) is fundamental to Polynesian cuisine.  Both soups are made with taro leaves and while Caribbean cookery uses other varieties of leaves, all of which are referred to as callaloo, Polynesians from the Hawaiians to the Tongans use only taro leaves.  In the South Pacific, each island nation has their own taro varieties cultivated for their particular soil, popularity, exportability, and weather patterns.

In Tonga, lu (taro leaves) is cooked in soups, side dishes, and main dishes with meat or fish.  Coconut milk is added to nearly all traditional island cooking, especially lu.  The stems and veins of the lu leaf have needle-point raphides (calcium oxalate) which, if not well cooked, will cause your throat to constrict and your tongue to itch.  This malady is cause to claim “the cook is lazy” since removing the stems and large central vein, as  well as thoroughly cooking the leaf, requires a bit of time and effort.

Since taro is difficult to find in areas outside of the tropics, the best substitute is a mix of large leaf spinach and Swiss chard.  Kale or collard greens can also be used successfully.  Collard greens are a gift from our African ancestors just like callaloo was a gift from African slaves brought to the Caribbean in the 1700′s.

The fungi dumplings, another Caribbean dish, frequently served in the callaloo soup, was originally made of cassava (manioke) meal but has been replaced with yellow cornmeal in the last 50 years or so.  Cassava meal is still used in some Polynesian cooking as corn is relatively expensive and not indigenous to Polynesia.  Cassava is a subject for another post.

This soup is teaming with flavors from the chili spiked kale, okra, meat, crab and fungi dumplings.  It can be made vegan simply by eliminating the meat and adding pumpkin, yam or sweet potato.  If you like greens, you’ll enjoy this nutritious and filling soup.

Ingredients:

• 4 oz salt pork, 1/2-inch cubes (or 6 strips of bacon)
• 1 onion, chopped finely
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 bunch Kale, about 1-1/2 lbs, washed, stems removed, chopped
• 6 cups chicken stock (fish stock or vegetable stock may be used)
• 4 whole cloves
• 1 fresh thyme sprig (or 1/4 tsp dried thyme)
• 1 Scotch Bonnet chili, deveined, seeded and minced (habanero chili)
• 4 oz corned beef brisket (or1 small can corned beef)
• 1/2 lb crab meat – fresh, frozen or canned, pick clean of shell debrise
• 1/2 lb okra, sliced rounds
• 1/2 cup coconut milk
• sea salt and fresh ground black pepper
• 1 recipe fungi dumplings (recipe below)
• 4 scallions sliced for garnish

Method:

1. In a Dutch oven over medium high heat, fry salt pork to render fat.  Reserve browned pork cubes for garnish.  Reserve 2 Tbsp of fat. 
2. Saute onion and garlic in the reserved fat until translucent and fragrant.
3. Add kale, chicken stock, cloves, thyme, chili and okra.  Bring to a boil.
4. Rinse corned beef brisket in fresh water, cut into 1-inch cubes.  Add to Dutch oven,
5. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes or until corned beef is fork tender.
6. Process soup in batches in food processor just enough to retain some chunky texture.  Return soup to pot.
7. Add crab and coconut milk.  Heat through.  Taste for salt and add salt and black pepper to taste.
8. To serve, place 1 scoop of fungi in a serving bowl, ladle soup on top, garnish with sliced scallions and reserved pork cubes.

Fungi Dumplings – Ingredients:

• 4 cups chicken stock
• 1 tsp salt
• 4 okra, sliced or chopped fine
• 3 cups cornmeal
• 1 Tbsp butter

Method:

1. In a 2-quart sauce pan over medium high heat, bring chicken stock, salt and okra to a roiling boil.
2. Slowly whisk in cornmeal in a steady stream until thick and creamy.
3. Add butter and beat with a wooden spoon until cornmeal leaves the side of the pan.  Remove from heat immediately.
4. Keep warm in a bain marie or double boiler.
5. To serve, use an ice-cream scoop to form balls, place ball of fungi on serving dish and ladle sauce or soup on top.  Garnish as desired.

Note:  Fungi is also a great served with coconut chicken, coconut fish, chicken fried gravy or turkey gravy.  Use in place of toast for creamed tuna, or creamed eggs.  Cooled fungi maybe sliced and fried in olive oil and butter like polenta, or toasted and topped with tapenade or chili jam and cream cheese for appetizers.