This recipe is a bit fussier than I usually post, but worth it, as an occasional treat, and definitely when you want a good substitute for bread. I used flattened fried plantains instead of the bread. Frying is the other thing I don’t typically do, but honestly I ended up with almost as much grapeseed oil as I started with.
Most people are familiar with plantains as fried chips, but they are pretty versatile to cook with, much like potatoes. They are a the starchy relatives of bananas, and they can be boiled and mashed, cut into chunks and roasted, or if left to ripen, cut into strips and used as the “noodle” in a latin lasagna. One of the previous recipes I did was Crispy Hash Brown Plantains.
You could use anything you want to fill this “sandwich.” I was hungry for an egg sandwich of some kind.
This is yummy, crispy goodness.
Ingredients
- Grapeseed oil or coconut oil
- 1 green plantain, outside washed
- 1 slice cheese
- Pork, ham, or bacon
- 1 fried or poached egg
- Lettuce or arugula (I used arugula dressed with fig vinegar)
- Tomato slice (I used sliced baby tomatoes)
- Mayonnaise
- Salt and pepper
Instructions
- I used a small enameled cast iron pot for this, but any heavy pot will do.
- Heat 1/2" of oil in the bottom of your pan, on about a medium setting, until the oil is about 325.
- While it's heating, slice the ends off the plantain, cut in half widthwise, then cut in half lengthwise (of course, I did it the opposite way!). You'll end up with 4 pieces, and now peel each piece. I think it's easier to peel, after it's cut it into pieces.
- Fry pieces in oil for 5 minutes. I did mine in 2 batches and flipped them at 2 1/2 minutes. Remove them to drain. Raise the heat slightly, so the oil reaches 375.
- I used a tortilla press for the next step, but you can flatten them with something like the bottom of a cast iron pan. They just need to be pretty thin, less than 1/4" thickness. Take 2 pieces, placed very closely together, and squash them together. So, you end up with 2 flattened pieces.
- Fry each piece for about 3 minutes (I had to flip mine halfway through). Remove them to drain. Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
- Place a piece of cheese on one piece (melt in toaster oven, if you need to).
- Stack the rest of the ingredients on.
- Smear mayo on the other plantain half, and sandwich together.