That time we made Tostones on a private tropical island…

Summer is always a fun time for us, and we like to spend as much time as possible outside – poolside, walking the dog, or trying to master our slackline. So that usually means a little less time in the kitchen and a little more time outside!

Fortunately, we have four amazing cookbooks to pick recipes from to share with you. Today we wanted to share a recipe from Gather, The Art of Paleo Entertaining. When people ask us which cookbook we wrote is our favorite, it’s always a toss up between Gather and Make It Paleo 2. Both were labors of love, and we like to think the photos tell that story too.

As a part of the shoot schedule for Gather, we were invited to shoot a menu on a private island in the Bahamas: Kamalame Cay.

It was an amazingly beautiful place, but it also proved to be the most challenging shoot of all the ones we did for Gather. To start, it was in another country, so we had to do some serious planning to get things there that we needed (camera, knives, equipment).

But perhaps the more challenging part was not exactly knowing what we were going to make when we got there. We were there for five days, and shot on the second to last day, which gave us time to sample the local cuisine and incorporate the ingredients they had on hand (like fresh caught snapper, and amazing fruit!)

One dish we knew we wanted to make was Tostones, a classic dish in Caribbean and Latin-American cuisine. We paired it with a Mango Salsa, a bit of an unusual choice.

Traditionally, Tostones are paired with mojo, a type of garlic sauce, which would be fantastic, of course! This pairing gave a bit of a sweet and salty flavor, along with the bright acid of the lime juice. It was very tasty, and a nice twist on the popular dish.

We hope you enjoy this recipe! If you don’t have a copy yet, you can order Gather on Amazon – it makes an amazing gift for any foodie!
Bill & Hayley

Here’s a video of all the great stuff we got to do and see on the island!

Tostones with Mango Salsa

Fried plantains are a staple starchy food throughout Central America, the Caribbean islands, and equatorial Africa. Botanically similar to bananas (which are sometimes called “dessert bananas” in other parts of the world to separate them from plantains), plantains are starchier and can have varying levels of sweetness. That sweetness can readily be determined by their firmness and color. For this recipe, select green plantains that are somewhat firm.

Serves: 8

Ingredients

This recipe is from our cookbook: Gather
1 cup 1 cup 1 cup Mango, peeled, finely diced
1/4 cup 1/4 cup 1/4 cup Red Onion
1/2 cup 1/2 cup 1/2 cup Green Bell Peppers
1/4 cup 1/4 cup 1/4 cup Tomato
1 clove 1 clove 1 clove Garlic, minced
1/8 cup 1/8 cup 1/8 cup Olive Oil, Extra Virgin
2 2 2 Lime, juice
2 tsp 2 tsp 2 tsp Salt, pink himalayan or sea salt
1/2 cup 1/2 cup 1/2 cup Lard
5 whole 5 whole 5 whole Plantain, green plantains
Himalayan Pink Salt, to taste

Process

Note, these instructions are written assuming the standard serving size, since you have modified the number of servings, these steps may need to be modified for best results

To make the mango salsa, peel the skin of the mango, and finely dice the meat. Finely dice the red onion. Remove the seeds from the green bell pepper and tomatoes, and finely dice them as well. In a medium-sized bowl, toss these ingredients together. Add the minced garlic, olive oil, lime juice, and salt. Stir to combine all ingredients, and chill until time to serve.
Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-high heat. Add the lard to the skillet to heat for frying. Peel the plantains, and cut them into large 1-inch chunks. Place the plantain pieces in the skillet, and fry them on each side until golden brown.
Remove the plantains from the skillet, and press down each plantain with a ramekin or flatbottomed bowl to create a small pancake. Fry the plantains again for 1 minute per side.
Remove the plantains from the skillet, and sprinkle them with salt. Serve them topped with the mango salsa