I have a thing for plantains. Specifically, crunchy fried, golden sweet plantains that are just dripping with caramelized brown sugar. Just hand me a plate of sweet plantains and I’m in heaven. So, when I saw Tina’s recipe for BBQ Chicken, Brie and Plantain Wraps I knew it would be a winner. Spicy barbecue chicken with gooey brie cheese and sweet crunchy plantains? Sign me up!

Tina’s recipe calls for a box of frozen sweet plantains, but after searching five grocery stores to no avail, I decided to take matters into my own hands and make my own. I found this easy Tasty Kitchen recipe for Sweet Plantains submitted by Stephanie. It only took about ten minutes and the end result was delicious! (I’ll include that recipe at the bottom of this post.)

Since I skipped a step by not getting packaged plantains, after frying them I sliced them in half to prep them for my yummy wrap!

Then, I set the plantains aside and got to work on my barbecue chicken! Tina used a grill, but I decided to go the grill pan route in my oven instead for convenience. I also used garlic powder plus salt instead of garlic salt. So I sprinkled these guys with a little garlic powder first…

Then I gave them a good pinch of sea salt.

Followed by a healthy dash of cayenne—my favorite!

I cooked my chicken breasts for 25 minutes at 375ºF.

Then poured on my favorite BBQ sauce during the last five minutes of the cooking process.

Once the chicken was done and juicy, it was time to assemble the wraps! I thinly sliced my barbecue sauce-laden chicken breast and placed it on top of my wrap and mixed greens.

Followed by chunks of brie cheese. Doesn’t that look delicious?! Just you wait.

Lastly, I scattered my sweet plantains on top of everything. I’m getting hungry again just looking at this!

The hardest part of the whole thing was rolling the wrap up! But that’s probably just because I have a history of overstuffing my tortillas.

There you have it—lunch is served! I absolutely loved the flavor combination here and have a feeling these will now be my go-to lunch. Thanks, Tina, for this awesome recipe! It was cheesy, smoky, sweet and delicious! (Check out Tina’s blog My Life As A Mrs. for more of her delicious recipes!)

Printable Recipe

BBQ Chicken, Brie, and Plantain Wraps

by Tina (My Life as a Mrs) on May 16, 2011 in Main Courses, Sandwiches May 16, 2011 Main CoursesSandwiches

See post on Tina (My Life as a Mrs)’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 2 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 5 mins

Cook Time: 20 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 4

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Smokey BBQ, creamy brie, and sweet plantain wrap = party in your mouth!

Ingredients

• 1 box (about 11 Oz.. Size) Frozen Sweet Plantains
• 4 whole Boneless, Skinless Chicken Breasts
• 1 teaspoon Garlic Salt
• ½ teaspoons Cayenne
• ¾ cups BBQ Sauce Of Choice
• 4 whole Spinach Wraps
• 1 cup Mixed Greens
• 6 ounces, weight Brie Cheese

Preparation Instructions

Ignore the cooking instructions on the box/bag your plantains. Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with foil and spray with nonstick cooking spray. Lay frozen plantains out in a single layer (make sure none of them are overlapping).

Bake for a good 20–30 minutes, allowing them to caramalize and get that gorgeous chewy edge! They are done when they are nice and golden with dark brown edges. Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly. When cool enough to handle, slice each piece in half lengthwise, and set aside until ready to use.

Season each piece of chicken with a sprinkling of garlic salt and cayenne pepper on both sides and throw them on the grill until cooked completely through (flipping halfway through). Baste both sides with BBQ sauce in the last 5 minutes or so of cooking. Remove from the grill and slice into thin strips.

To assemble, lay a wrap flat and add a small amount of mixed greens. Top with a few slices of chicken, some brie, and a some of the plantains (I like mine with lots of plantains!). If you want to get REALLY crazy, go ahead and add an extra drizzle of BBQ!

Carefully wrap the wrap up (burrito style), place on a baking sheet (seam side down), and put back into the 400°F oven for just a few minutes (3–5 minutes). This allows the cheese to melt a little and the outside of the tortilla to crisp up slightly. Remove from the oven, slice in half, and serve!

Printable Recipe

Sweet Plantains

by Stephanie Deal on April 17, 2011 in Fried, Sides April 17, 2011 FriedSides

See post on Stephanie Deal’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 2 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 10 mins

Cook Time: 6 mins

Difficulty: Easy

Servings: 4

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This tasty dish is really easy to prepare and tastes great with pork chops, etc. It can also just be eaten as a snack.

Ingredients

• 3 whole Plantains, Very Ripe
• 3 Tablespoons Brown Sugar
• ¼ cups Peanut Oil
• 2 Tablespoons Butter
• ¼ teaspoons Salt

Preparation Instructions

Slice plantains into 1-inch slices, put in a bowl and gently toss plantain slices with brown sugar.

Heat peanut oil and butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat until the butter begins to sizzle. Put plaintain slices into the skillet and fry until the plantains begin to turn golden brown, then turn over, and continue frying until they have caramelized, about 2–3 minutes per side.

Remove slices from the skillet and dab onto paper towels. Do not put slices onto paper towels as they will stick to the paper due to the caramelization. Put on a plate and sprinkle with salt before serving.

 
 
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Jenna is a food writer who has worked as a pastry chef and bread baker. Her blog Eat, Live, Run has great recipes, travel stories, and the perfect slogan: “Celebrating life, one crumb at a time.”

 
Every year my spice-lovin’ husband plants WAY too many hot peppers in our vegetable garden. He can’t help himself, I suppose, but our family can only eat so much salsa and Chile Verde.

This year, rather than letting our delicious crop of jalapeños go to waste, I searched Tasty Kitchen for new recipes and could hardly believe my luck when I came across a recipe for Candied Jalapeños (Cowboy Candy) from TK member Rebecca.

Canned jalapeños? Yes please! What could be better than enjoying the fruit of our summer labor on a cold day in February?

After making a batch of Rebecca’s Candied Jalapeños, I know one thing for sure: there is no way I’ve canned enough jars to make it till February.

You may be wondering what Candied Jalapeños taste like. It’s a wonderful mix of sweet and heat. I made my first batch with the seeds and membranes included and it was SPICY! The tangy, savory sweet flavor of the syrup knocked my socks off. In short, Cowboy Candy is delicious and totally addicting.

I’ll be making another batch for my family this week, and one to give as gifts for the holidays. This time around I’ll remove the seeds and membranes (which is where most of the spicy heat is found), so the rest of my family can enjoy their treat without watery eyes and runny noses.

Here’s how to make Cowboy Candy.

Start with fresh, firm jalapeños. As with any canning recipe, the quality of your vegetable (or fruit) is very important.

Remove the stems from your peppers. Yes, I’m wearing gloves, which might seem a bit cautious. But try inadvertently rubbing your eye after chopping a quantity of spicy peppers, and you’ll opt for gloves too.

This would be a good time to core out the seeds and membrane if you like a milder flavor.

Slice the peppers into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices.

Beyond the obvious jalapeños, the ingredients are sugar, cider vinegar, turmeric, celery seed, ground cayenne pepper and granulated garlic. I live in a smaller community and couldn’t find granulated garlic. I chose powdered garlic at half the measurement (1-1/2 teaspoons) as a substitute, since powered is much finer than granulated. Powdered garlic was easy and worked great for me. After reading the comments on Rebecca’s blog, I discovered that she recommends one clove of garlic per 1/4 teaspoon of granulated, if you have trouble finding granulated like I did.

Pour 6 cups of white granulated sugar into a large pot.

Add the vinegar and spices.

Bring to a boil. Reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.

Add the peppers and simmer for exactly 4 minutes. Remove from the heat. Some of the slices looked more cooked than others, but that’s okay.

Using a slotted spoon or mesh skimmer, transfer the peppers into clean, sterile, hot canning jars. Fill to within 1/4 inch from the rim of the jar. You can use half pint or if you have big eaters, go for pint jars. Knowing my husband, I opted for pints and yielded 4 jars.

Return the syrup to the stove, turn up the heat and bring back to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 6 minutes.

Use a ladle to pour the boiling syrup over the jalapeños.

Insert a clean, sterile chopstick to the bottom of the jar several times to release any trapped air. Add or remove syrup if necessary to leave 1/4 inch head space.

Wipe the rims of the jars using a clean, damp paper towel to remove any stickiness. A clean rim is important for a good seal.

Fix on new two-piece lids to fingertip tightness.

Rebecca included recommended canning times on the recipe: 10 minutes for 1/2 pint and 15 minutes for pint jars. However, I live in the Rocky Mountains at almost 5000 feet, so I made a quick call to my local State Extension service for canning times at my altitude. The canning times vary depending on where you live, so I highly recommend making the same phone call to find the right time for you. I processed my pint jars for 25 minutes.

Add your cans to your canner with two inches of water over the tops of the lid. Start timing only after your water has come to a full boil.

Rebecca recommends waiting about 2 weeks before eating your jalapenos, for best flavor. This turned out to be a tall order for our house and my husband broke into a jar in less than a week.

Already we’ve enjoyed them on burgers with jack cheese and on turkey sandwiches.

We’ve also loved them as an appetizer on crackers with cream cheese. I get the feeling we’ve just begun finding ways to enjoy this spicy treat.

Just be sure to spoon some of the syrup onto whatever you are eating! It is the star of the show.

Thank you Rebecca for sharing Cowboy Candy with us. You are truly a genius in the kitchen.

Be sure to check out Rebecca’s Tasty Kitchen recipe box for more of her delicious recipes. You’ll also love her blog Foodie with Family.

Printable Recipe

Candied Jalapenos (Cowboy Candy)

by Rebecca on May 24, 2010 in Canning May 24, 2010 Canning

See post on Rebecca’s site!

4.97 Mitt(s) 34 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 15 mins

Cook Time: 30 mins

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 36

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These little beauties are so addictive: sweet, spicy, and tangy. Once you start eating these, you’ll find all sorts of places to stash them—sandwiches, potato salad, grilled meat, and pasta, just to name a few.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds Firm, Fresh Jalapeno Peppers, Washed
• 2 cups Cider Vinegar
• 6 cups White Granulated Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Turmeric
• ½ teaspoons Celery Seed
• 3 teaspoons Granulated Garlic
• 1 teaspoon Ground Cayenne Pepper

Preparation Instructions

Wearing gloves, remove the stems from all of the jalapeno peppers. The easiest way to do this is to slice a small disc off of the stem-end along with the stem. Discard the stems.

Slice the peppers into uniform 1/8-1/4 inch rounds. Set aside.

In a large pot, bring cider vinegar, white sugar, turmeric, celery seed, granulated garlic and cayenne pepper to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer for 5 minutes. Add the pepper slices and simmer for exactly 4 minutes. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the peppers, loading into clean, sterile canning jars to within 1/4 inch of the upper rim of the jar. Turn heat up under the pot with the syrup and bring to a full rolling boil. Boil hard for 6 minutes.

Use a ladle to pour the boiling syrup into the jars over the jalapeno slices. Insert a cooking chopstick to the bottom of the jar two or three times to release any trapped pockets of air. Adjust the level of the syrup if necessary. Wipe the rims of the jars with a clean, damp paper towel and fix on new, two-piece lids to finger-tip tightness.

If you do not want to can these to the point of shelf stable, you can simply put the jars in your refrigerator and store them there. I prefer to keep the fridge space free so I can them. If you wish to can them, follow the instructions below.

Note: If you have leftover syrup, and it is likely that you will, you may can it in half-pint or pint jars, too. It’s wonderful brushed on meat on the grill or added to potato salad or, or, or … in short, don’t toss it out!

To can, place jars in a canner and cover with water by 2-inches. Bring the water to a full rolling boil. When it reaches a full rolling boil, set the timer for 10 minutes for half-pints or 15 minutes for pints. When timer goes off, use canning tongs to transfer the jars to a cooling rack. Leave them to cool, undisturbed, for 24 hours. When fully cooled, wipe them with a clean, damp washcloth, then label.

Allow to mellow for at least two weeks, but preferably a month before eating. Or don’t. I won’t tell!

 
 
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Calli is truly a woman of many talents, from cooking, sewing, crafts, beautiful photography and gardening. Her blog, Make it Do is a treasure trove of recipes, household tips, crafts projects, sewing patterns … you name it. It’s also peppered with photos of her beautiful kids. Go visit her site, and visit it often. There’s always something new to learn there!

 
I love brie and fruit baked together into a warm, oozing plate of wonderfulness. Blueberries and brie in particular are meant to be together; it is their destiny. The saltiness of the brie and the sweetness of the blueberries can be scooped up with some crusty bread, or even better, you can give them their own crust the way fellow Tasty Kitchen contributor Natalie does it. I knew I had to try this as soon as I saw it!

These are some of the things you will need for the crust: whole wheat flour, sea salt, raw sugar (or honey in my case), eggs, and butter. Natalie also used some crushed lavender which I unfortunately didn’t have access to, but that would be heavenly here if you do have it available.

 
 
 

Natalie showed me something fun in this recipe that I had never done before. Can you guess what?

She introduced me to grated butter! I loved it. Get an ice-cold stick of butter and shave it to help break it up and make a flaky crust.

Next you add an egg to a bowl.

Give it a nice whisk!

Then divide the egg into two bowls and set one aside.

Add a bit of water to one of the bowls.

Next, add your grated butter to the flour and salt. You would add the lavender here too if you have it! And also the sugar if you’re not using honey like me.

Work it together until it has a nice sandy consistency.

If you’re using honey rather than sugar, add it to the egg and water mixture here and stir it around as best you can.

Pour it into the sandy flour and butter mixture…

Bring it together with a fork …

And form a nice disk, which you can wrap and refrigerate if you don’t plan on using it right away.

Meanwhile, sprinkle a bowl of blueberries with some sugar or honey, as well as some lemon juice.

Then roll out your dough on a piece of parchment or silicone sprinkled with flour until you have a nice round circle about 1/8 inch thick. Transfer the parchment or liner to a baking sheet.

Unwrap your brie and cut it into slices lengthwise.

You could take off the outer casing or leave it on depending on whether or not you like the flavor of brie skin (that’s a technical term). I love brie skin myself.

Arrange brie slices in the center of the dough, leaving a 2-3 inch border.

Spoon the blueberries over the brie …

Then fold up the edges of the dough around the filling with the center fruit still exposed. You can use a dough scraper or a spatula if it sticks. Then place any remaining blueberries in the center opening.

Brush the remaining egg over the crust …

And sprinkle some raw sugar (or honey!) over the galette.

This is the kind of thing I could eat in one sitting. But it would also make a great party food, don’t you think? What I like about it is how you can slice it like a pie and eat it with your fingers.

Thanks so much to Natalie for this delicious recipe! And check out her blog Perry’s Plate for other fun crowd pleasing recipes.

Printable Recipe

Blueberry Brie Galette

by Natalie | Perry's Plate on July 20, 2011 in Desserts, Pies July 20, 2011 DessertsPies

See post on Natalie | Perry's Plate’s site!

5.00 Mitt(s) 1 Rating(s)

Prep Time: 20 mins

Cook Time: 25 mins

Difficulty: Intermediate

Servings: 6

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A cheesecake-like galette with a lavender-scented crust.

Ingredients

• FOR THE CRUST:
• 6 Tablespoons Frozen Butter
• 2 Tablespoons Ice Cold Water
• 1 whole Egg, Divided
• 1 Tablespoon Raw Sugar
• ½ teaspoons Crushed, Dried Lavender
• 1 cup Whole Wheat Pastry Flour (or All-purpose), Plus More If Necessary
• ½ teaspoons Salt
• FOR THE FILLING:
• 6 ounces, weight Brie Cheese
• 2 cups Fresh Blueberries
• 1 whole Lemon, Juiced
• ¼ cups Raw Sugar, Divided

Preparation Instructions

To make the crust:
Grate the frozen butter onto a small plate with a coarse cheese grater. (Don’t use a microplane.) Place grated butter in the freezer until ready to use.

Measure 2 Tablespoons of water from a glass of ice water and place in a small dish.

In a separate small bowl, beat the egg with a fork. Place half of the beaten egg (about 2 Tablespoons) into the ice water, setting the remaining egg aside for later. Beat well. Place the cold egg mixture in the fridge until ready to use.

Place the raw sugar and dried lavender in a small food processor or mortar and pestle. Grind until combined, then place in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Whisk in the flour and salt. Add the frozen grated butter and, using your hands or a pair of forks, thoroughly blend, breaking up any clumps of butter. Add the cold egg-water mixture and work the dough into a ball, adding more flour or cold water to achieve the right consistency. (Not sticky or too crumbly, but holds together well.) Cover the dough with plastic wrap and refrigerate if you don’t plan on using it right away.

To assemble:
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice the rind off of the brie and cut remaining cheese into 1/2-inch strips.

Place blueberries in a bowl with the juice from one lemon and 2 Tablespoons of raw sugar. Toss to combine.

Place your dough on a piece of parchment paper or a silicone liner, sprinkled liberally with flour, on your counter. Roll out the dough until it’s about 1/8th of an inch thick (like you would for a pie crust). Carefully transfer the parchment/liner to a baking sheet.

Arrange brie slices in the center of the dough, leaving a 2-3 inch border. Spoon 2/3 of the blueberries over the brie, then fold up the edges of the dough around the filling with the center fruit still exposed. (Use a dough scraper or a spatula if it sticks.) Place the remaining blueberries in the center opening.

Brush the remaining egg over the crust and sprinkle the remaining 2 Tablespoons of raw sugar over the galette.

Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes or until the filling is bubbly and the crust is golden brown.

Allow galette to sit for about 10 minutes before slicing. Serves 6.

 
 
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There’s so much to say about Georgia, we don’t know where to start. Leaving Wall Street for the French Culinary Institute, followed by a stint at the Gramercy Tavern and La Chassagnette in France, her passion for food and food traditions are evident and inspiring. Visit her site at Georgia Pellegrini, where you’ll find more recipes, photos, learn all about her wonderful book Food Heroes, and enjoy her latest adventures.

I’m a firm believer that a runny egg goes with everything. Whether it’s a bowl of pasta, atop a piece of toast, or accompanied by a drizzle of Hollandaise sauce, it’s simply perfect. Is there anything more attractive than a runny egg? I think not.  That’s why when I saw this Baked Eggs in Spicy […]

Over the course of the summer, I typically receive five or six phone calls from friends inquiring about my well-being. Their voices fraught with concern, they ask, “How are you doing in this heat, Dara? You’re drinking lots of water, right?” After years of watching me practically melt in the summertime heat, they know better […]