It seems that more often than not my posts begin with "sorry it's been a while since I've written, I've been busy." Well as a senior in college, it seems to be a pretty legitimate excuse. I was very busy with school up until spring break, then I took some time off in Puerto Rico (which I depicted as much deserved).
Here are some photos of the trip. Needless to say we absolutely fell in LOVE with the island. It was so diverse in landscape, from beautiful beaches to historic Old San Juan to rainforests with seemingly endless hills. And not to mention 80 degrees warmer than Orono, Maine.
Spectacular view from our condo balcony (thanks Airbnb)
Riding bikes to Old San Juan
Cemetery in Old San Juan
Corona Pro Surf Contest in Rincon
Under a rain shelter in our hike up El Yunque
The view from the top!
Our last supper :( The bottom dish is Mofongo which I will mention below (Favorite thing ever)
Snorkeling on Steps Beach - I am freaking out because we swam with a sea turtle!!!
One of countless beautiful beaches - this one we were lucky to have nearly to ourselves in Pinones
I'm sure you can imagine that one of (if not my number one) priority is to truly experience the culture and therefore the food. This is the main reason that I found my Puerto Rico vacation to be much more fit for me than Cancun - which was still amazing. I had not known much about Puerto Rican food until the trip and I can say I fell head over heels for just about every single thing I tried. A main staple in their diet that we don't often use in the states (at least the Northeast, I don't know about you southerners) is plantains. They look like bananas but are less sweet and more starchy, and you don't eat them raw. Instead, you often fry them and they lightly brown and caramelize and basically become the most amazing things on earth. We had them in many different ways, such as: fried crisp as a dipper for ceviche that blew my mind, as mofongo (which is a classic Puerto Rican dish that you need to try absolutely as soon as possible), as a "canoa" stuffed with ground beef and topped with cheese and bacon served with a tomato dip, mashed and rolled into balls stuffed with crab meat, etc etc.
So I'm guessing you see where this post is going. I got home, reminisced about food and realized I needed to make some authentic Puerto Rican food before I cleared my bank account to fly back there just for the mofongo. I was cooking dinner for my family and grandparents (9 people total) so it seemed to be too much to make mofonfo for each person. I decided a Pastelon (accent over the O but I'm not computer savvy enough to know how to insert that) would be perfect instead. It is like a lasagna but instead of noodles, you use sliced and fried plantains. Some people use mashed plantains, I've heard it depends on the region of PR. (It's also naturally gluten free so BOOO-YA!) The recipe is a little extensive compared to most "college friendly" recipes, but it is definitely worth it to create those more authentic flavors. Everyone who tried it was seriously impressed!
(It's also important to mention there are both green plantains and
sweet plantains. The green ones are - you guessed it - green, and the
sweet ones look more like bananas and for this recipe it's good to have
riper ones with more black on the outside.)
Just layer the fried plantains with the beef mixture, top with cheese and repeat!
How I'd like to have a big slice of this right about now.....
I prefer to serve it with hot sauce. In Puerto Rico, many of the local restaurants make their own special hot sauce known as "Pique". It is absolutely the most amazing hot sauce in the world, but I will save the details of that for another post. (Hint- I'm going to try making my own)
I also made rice and beans with a roasted sofrito sauce, which is also for another post. I was really proud of the entire meal because the tastes and smells really brought me back to PR. (You could serve it with a salad instead of rice to lessen the amount of starches) It's so good, everyone is going to be begging for more.....
The pups are just begging to go on vacation now....
My mom brought leftovers to my Grammy and sent me this photo saying "Grammy is loving her Puerto Rican supper and so am I!! Mmmmmmmm." Getting this up at school made my day :)
Overall, the trip was one of (if not THE) greatest weeks of my life, and I am beyond excited to continue cooking Puerto Rican food from home. And of course I plan to return to the island one day! Keep your eye out for roasted Sofrito sauce and PR beans and rice recipes! Maybe mofongo if I get really ambitious!
PS- the recipe below won't make as big of a dish shown in my photos - I was cooking for 9 people!
Pastelon (Sweet Plantain Lasagna)
Ingredients:
1 onion, chopped fine
1/2 cup chopped bell pepper
3 cloves garlic, minced
2 tbsp chopped fresh cilantro
2 bay leaves
1 1/4 lean ground beef or turkey - or both
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp cumin
1/3 cup green olives, chopped + 2 tbsp of brine from the jar
2 tbsp raisins or craisins
1/2 cup tomato sauce
Salt and pepper
4 ripe, sweet plantains (Black dots are good!)
Oil for frying
2 large eggs, beaten
1 tbsp milk
1 1/2-2 cups shredded cheddar or Mexican blend cheese
Directions:
Heat a tbsp of oil in large skillet. Add onions and bell pepper and stir.
Add in minced garlic, bay leaves and cilantro, and cook just a couple minutes until fragrant.
Add in ground beef and cook through, breaking up bigger chunks to small pieces.
Season with oregano and cumin, and add in the chopped olives with brine, raisins and tomato sauce. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
Set aside.
Cut the plantains in half lengthwise and remove the peel. Slice them in half again so they are about 1/4-1/2 inch thick.
Heat oil over medium heat to cover the bottom of a large skillet and fry the plantains until just browned on each side, about 1-2 minutes each side.
To assemble the Pastelon:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Lightly grease bottom of a 9x9 baking dish. Layer plantains, top with ground beef mixture, then top with cheese. Repeat again, and top with plantains. The plantains should be the top layer.
Sprinkle the plantains with cheese.
Mix together beaten eggs and milk and pour over the top. This acts as a binding agent which is important, so don't skip!
Bake for about 35 minutes in preheated oven. Sides should be bubbling!
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