When life gives you platanos, make patacones!

We’ve perfected the art of making patacones and it’s smashing good fun. Literally!

Made from plantain (platano in Spanish), patacones are the French fries of the fruit world so it’s easy to justify eating many of them. They’re also fun to make because you smash them with a board.

We’re staying with a man named Gilbert, whom we met through HelpX, at his country property south of Puerto Armuelles in western Panama. He has dozens of plantain trees, and when you have that many, you get a lot of plantains. So, we’ve had ample opportunity to practise making patacones (also called tostones in other Latin American countries).

“Those platanos are just perfect for patacones,” said Gilbert, referring to a bunch he’d picked a few days ago that were hanging in his workshop. “They’re green but just nearly turning yellow.”

Although you can eat a really ripe plantain, generally you cook them first. Gilbert demonstrated how to make patacones the first time and then Bill and I took over the task. The chunks of plantain are fried twice – much like when baking biscotti – and in between, you flatten them by smashing them with a board. It’s rather fun! After smashing, the round face of the plantain still shows, but is surrounded by a corona of ragged plantain, looking somewhat like a sunflower.

A really ripe plantain – one that’s all yellow – is much like a banana only not as sweet. I made banana bread one day despite not having enough bananas. I subbed in one ripe plantain and about half a cup of ripe papaya. It tasted just like banana bread, but we called it tropical fruit bread instead.

Plantains are usually available in Canadian grocery stores, but they’re with all those other fruits and vegetables that I never really knew what to do with. I imagine that I’m not the only one! But with the recipes I’m sharing below, you’ll know what to do with plantains at least.

Gilbert’s Recipe for Patacones

• One green plantain per person, plus one extra
• Oil (canola or sunflower)
• Long sturdy piece of wood (or something else flat and sturdy)
• Salt
• Ketchup or mayonnaise

Peel the plantain: with a sharp knife, trim both ends and score lengthwise through the skin, then peel it back and away from the fruit inside. Cut the plantain into one-inch chunks.

In a large pot, pour about a quarter inch of oil. Heat until it sizzles when you add a chunk of plantain. Place all the plantain pieces, cut side down, in the oil, with space around each piece. Let them cook until they start to look golden and are a bit soft when you poke them with tongs. Then turn each piece over so the other side cooks.

Here’s the fun part! Remove a piece of plantain from the pot and place it cut side down on a cutting board. Place the piece of wood with one end just over the plantain and smash down on it with your fist. The plantain will flatten out and be about a quarter inch thick. Place it back in the pot to cook again. Repeat for all the pieces. Tip: don’t place a bunch of unsmashed pieces on the cutting board at a time. When you smash one, the others will fly off.

As each piece becomes golden, remove from the pot and place on paper towel to drain. Sprinkle with salt. Serve with ketchup or mayonnaise for dipping.

What else can you do with platanos?

Buttery Plantain Dessert

• One yellow, ripe plantain per person
• Butter

Peel the plantain: with a sharp knife, trim both ends and score lengthwise through the skin, then peel it back and away from the fruit inside.

Slice lengthwise into two pieces. Fry in butter until golden. Cut into bite-sized pieces for serving.

Gilbert’s Special Platano Dessert

• One yellow, ripe plantain per person
• Butter
• Cinnamon
• Rum
• Ice cream

Peel the plantain: with a sharp knife, trim both ends and score lengthwise through the skin, then peel it back and away from the fruit inside.

Slice lengthwise into two pieces. Fry in butter until golden. Cut into bite-sized pieces for serving and place onto a ceramic or metal plate. Sprinkle with cinnamon. Pour about a quarter cup of rum over it and light it. The alcohol will burn off, leaving the sweet rum taste behind. Serve with ice cream.

When life gives you lemons…

Gilbert planted what he thought were four Valencia orange trees, but they turned out to be lemons. Now he is deluged with lemons! We picked some and made lots of lemonade, but couldn’t begin to use them all, so he arranged with a man to come and pick them for sale to a market.

Next baking challenge is to find a recipe that uses a lot of lemons. I have my grandmother’s Lemon Squares recipe but it uses only two tablespoons of juice. I see a lot of lemon squares in my future…