Monday, September 18, 2006

Burundi: Plantains and Beans

My mother just called.

"Oh hello sweetheart, guess what? I made that Okra Fried Rice you posted on your blog! It was fabulous!"

"What are you talking about, Mom, it wasn't good at all."

"Well, I omitted the okra."

"Ah."

"Also the soy sauce."

"Ok . . . "

"And I didn't have any fennel seeds, so I added parsley instead."

"Mom?"

"And I used bell peppers instead of onion."

"So when you said you made my okra fried rice . . . "

"It was really more of an honorary kind of thing. Oh! And I'm making your cashew lemon rice tonight!"

Sigh. Here is another strange dish that my mother is sure to mis-cook: Burundian Plantains and Beans.

This was a bizarre dish: filling and satisfying, but not particularly spectacular.

Recipe: Plantains with Beans
Serves 2

2 tsp oil
1/2 onion, sliced
1/2 cup cooked or canned kidney beans
1 green plantain (or a green banana), peeled and sliced
1/2 tsp salt

Fry the onion slices in the oil until they begin to brown, then add everything else and stir until the plantains begin to brown slightly. Add enough water to cover, and simmer over medium heat until the plantains are cooked all the way through. You might need to add more water if all of it evaporates. At the end, you should have a little water let over, but not too much.

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Your mom sounds a little like me :) I tend to do the same thing with recipes "Well I don't have this, that, and I don't like that, so instead I'll use..." Thats what makes the wonderful world of cooking so fun!

Brandie
http://kajismom.blogspot.com/

wheresmymind said...

Considered frying the plantains and adding them afterwards? :)

Anonymous said...

Hi I just discovered your blog and just read your cookie experiments entries and they are very interesting and useful! Will you be doing one for cakes as well? I wonder whether the temperature of eggs matter when making cookies and cakes. (room temperature or from the fridge).

Susan G said...

Just linked to you from "Morsels and Musings" -- I love the connections! You're a find, and I'll be working my way backwards and cooking as I go. Maybe not plantains, but Ascension Island looks like a good place to start. Thanks!

Anonymous said...

My mom calls me all of the time with the same type of dialog! Too funny!

Unknown said...

I ran across your blog at washingtonpost.com. I love those plantains. There's apparently a similar dish in Ghana but with congo peas instead of red beans in a tomato/onion sauce with palm oil (so, not nearly as colourful as yours). I'll have to try your Burundian version some time. It looks delicious.