I never would've thought about trying to make mofongo on my own until November when one of the girls I work with was talking about how she was making mofongo stuffing for Thanksgiving. My ears perked up and I immediately requested the recipe. Turns out, it's really not that difficult to make (at least that's what I thought while reading the recipe).
I did some research and found so many different ways to make it. They were all pretty consistent with a few things. This is the recipe I took the mofongo from, it's in Spanish but your web browser should translate it for you. I was reading another recipe though and loved the idea of bacon, so I also incorporated that as well.
Ok. First things first, get the plantains. I have never bought these before. I just grabbed three from the store that didn't seem too mushy. Next time, I will actively search for firm ones. I'm not a huge sweets person (when it comes to meals), I prefer savory dishes. The plantains I purchased were a little too sweet for my liking.
Chop them up and let them sit in salted water for 15 minutes. I used season salt.
While they were soaking, I chopped my veggies and chicken into cubes. I also got a pot of water on to boil and started heating my skillet for the bacon.
Transfer the plantains to boiling water after the 15 minutes are up. Boil them for 5 minutes.
I started the bacon before I started boiling the plantains, so it's be done before the plantains.
Add the plantains to the skillet you fried your bacon in. Now, none of the recipes I used called for doing this, but my friend said to so I listened. I used a coffee mug to smash the plantains down while they were frying. Let them fry pretty until you get them nice and golden. Next time, I will use more oil here. This isn't a particularly healthy dish, but it's not one I'll make all the time so I might as well do it right!
In the meantime, I added chopped orange bell pepper and mushrooms to another skillet. I let them cook about 5 minutes and then added 2 cloves of minced garlic. Most of the recipes called for onion, I was out so I skipped it, but I bet it'd be a great addition. They also called for tomato sauce, which I also didn't have, but I did have a tomato. I added 3/4 cup of chicken broth to the pan, the chopped tomato, and the chicken. I seasoned the chicken with adobo, cumin, paprika, chili powder, garlic powder, and onion powder. I also added cilantro and oregano to the pan. I put a lid on it and let it cook over medium high heat while the plantains finished up.
I used my food processor to mash up the plantains. I tore up the 4 pieces of bacon, added 1 T of minced garlic, and 1/4 cup of chicken broth. I threw in all the plantains and let it go until it was a mashed potato-like consistency.
All of the recipes I looked at had it in pretty bowl like forms. I tried to do that, but it kept falling apart. I used my muffin tin and tried to bake them for a bit. I put them in the oven for 15 minutes at 400. They came out pretty good, but when I flipped them over they fell apart :).
I added the mofongo pieces to a plate and ladled the chicken mix over it. All in all, I'm quite pleased with how this turned out. It's a little too sweet for my liking, but I think I can fix that by buying less ripe plantains next time. There will definitely be a next time though.
No comments:
Post a Comment