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Desserts Gluten Free Vegetarian

Grilled Ripe Plantain.

Over the years I’ve shown you how to make Plantain Frittata, Panko Crusted Fried Plantain, Orange Brown Sugar Glazed Plantain and Refried Boiled Plantain, to name a few. The hot days of summer means we’re grilling more, so I felt it was time to share this delicious grilled plantain recipe with you.

3 large ripe plantains (firm)
3 tablespoon melted butter
cooking/baking spray
1 1/2 tablespoon ground cinnamon
1 1/2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 teaspoon sea salt (any flaky finishing salt)

Notes! Please follow along with the video below as much more is discussed about the recipe within. These can be done in your oven or stovetop grill pan, should you not have access to an outdoor grill. Grilling over a wood fire or charcoal will give you a better tasting grilled plantain. If making this recipe gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to ensure they meet your specific gluten free dietary requirements.

Combine the sugar and cinnamon to use as a topping for the plantain pieces.

Peel, cut and slice the plantain (explained in the video).

Spray the cleaned grilling surface with the oven spray, then place the plantain pieces flat side down and grill for 3-4 minutes at 375F.

Now flip them over, brush with the melted butter and top with the cinnamon and brown sugar topping. Close the grill and cook for another 4-5 minutes.

Once off the grill, top with the flaky finishing salt of your choice (this is optional if you’re on a low sodium diet). The brown sugar will caramelize and with the cinnamon, combined for a lovely flavor which compliments the natural flavors and sweetness of the ripe plantain.

Yea we say planTIN in the Caribbean. Now you know!

Tip! Use a spatula to flip the pieces of grilled plantain, as they will fall apart if you applied pressure from tongs.

Gluten Free Seafood Side Dishes

Re-Fried Boiled Plantain.

The perfect combination of sweet and savory with the merger of ripe plantain and salted fish, as we do in the Caribbean. As explained in the video below I always have leftover plantain since I’m the only one in this home who eats it. Frankly, I question if these children are mine every time they refuse my offer for fried or boiled plantain.

You’ll Need…

2 Ripe Plantain (pre-boiled)
‘1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion (sliced)
2 sprigs thyme
5-6 chives
2 cloves garlic (sliced)
1/8 lb salted Pollock (salted fish)
1 pimento pepper (sliced)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper

Notes! Please watch the video below as much more is explained there, especially why I didn’t use any salt and other ingredients you may add to this dish. If doing this gluten free, please go through the full list of ingredients to ensure they meet your specific gluten free dietary requirements.

In doing this dish please consider that I had leftover boiled plantain for the night before dinner. However you may simply trim off the ends of ripe plantain, cut into 2-3 inch pieces and boil for 5 minutes. Drain, cool and remove the skin. Please boil with the skin on, so it holds its shape, especially if they are over-ripe.

Cut the plantain into bite sized pieces and set aside. Then heat the oil (you may use any oil you prefer and butter is also an option) in a saucepan on medium flame.

Unfortunately I couldn’t locate the full assortment of pictures I took, so this post will be lacking of the step by step images.

Once the oil is hot, add the salted fish (use any prepared salted fish you like) and stir well. Turn the heat down to medium/low and cook for 2-3 minutes before adding the onion, thyme (leaves), garlic and pimento pepper. Should you want the dish spicy, add any hot pepper you like and in the amount you can handle.

For the salted fish, you will want to make sure you remove most of the salt, rehydrate it and remove any of the tiny bones it can sometimes have. Basically I used boned (bones removed), which I poured boiling water on, allowed it to soak until the water was cool and squeezed out that water. Then shred it into smaller pieces.

After about 4 minutes, add the cut plantain pieces into the pan and stir well to coat with the flavors of the other ingredients. Here’s where you’d give it a taste and adjust the salt should you want.

You have 2 options here. Cook the plantain until it’s heated through, or crank up the heat to medium high and cook until you get caramelized edges. This will bring out the natural sweetness of the plantain even further.

ENJOY!

Desserts Vegetarian

The simplicity and splendor of fry plantains.

how to fry plantainDad it’s getting black! Yup that’s what I heard the last 2 times I purchased plantains with the intention of sharing the simple recipe for fry plantains. I grew up eating fry plantains as a side to many dishes, but my absolute favourite was making sandwiches with these as the filler. I still recall my mom waiting just until the plantains would be so ripe they’d be very close to going black before she cook them. We were told that the more ripe (or quale) they went, the more sweet they would be. So this is exactly what I was trying to achieve, except with my rather busy schedule I tend to forget about them. Not until one of our girls point them out or when those pesky fruit flies appears, do I remember what I was trying to achieve.

For best results allow your ripe plantains to go a bit dark (it will look discoloured) before frying. In the pic below you’ll notice that the plantains I used were ripe, but were only just starting to go “quale” or discoloured.

You’ll Need..

1-2 ripe plantains
1-2 cups of vegetable oil for frying.
salt – optional
brown sugar – optional

trinidad fry plantain

Start by peeling the plantains. Do so by cutting off the ends and then cutting the plantain itself in the middle (as in the picture below).Discard the ends and get ready to peel off the skin and slice for frying.

fry plantain

Then using a small knife, cut through the skin along the length of the 2 pieces. Don’t go too deep as you only want to cut through the skin. Then peel back the skin and discard. Now cut thin strips (about 1/2 cm or little less than 1/4 inch) along the length of the piece of plantain.

how to peel plantain

sliced plantain for frying

The final step is to fry the pieces of sliced plantain. Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently place the pieces away from you to avoid hot oil splashing onto you. Allow to cook for about 5-7 minutes on each side (medium heat) or until it gets to the colour you like (use a fork to flip them over). The darker you allow it to go, it seems to also enhance the natural sugars in it. You’ll also notice that it floats when cooked through.

This is not a dish for the health conscious, since even though you pat dry on paper towels, the plantain tends to soak up a lot of the oil.

trini fry plantain

trinidad fry plantain recipe

I usually sprinkle a little salt over mine and I know people who does the same with brown sugar… but you can enjoy these just the way they are when they cool a bit.

If you’ve ever purchased a rice dish at a Caribbean restaurant in North America you should have come across fried plantains served on the side. The Jamaican spot where I go for my jerk chicken with rice and peas, knows to give me a good potion of fry plantains with my takeout order.

Remember to leave me your comments below.

Happy Cooking.