Happy Haitian Heritage Month! Every May I like to share vegan variations on Haitian recipes. Here is last year's roundup of recipes. Today I want to share with you my own Haitian inspired creation. Miami Urban Contemporary Experience had a Vegan Takeover that happened to fall on Cinco De May in celebration of Haitian Heritage Month. I was one of the featured chefs and decided to create something that honored Haitian Heritage and Cinco de Mayo.
A tostada is a Mexican deep-fried tortilla topped with a seasoned mixture of beans, ground meat, and vegetables. The word tostada means toasted. I decided to take different elements from Haitian culinary repertoire to create a Haitian Tostado. Instead of a tortilla, I decided to replace it with banan peze with is twice-fried green plantain. In some Latin countries, they call it a tostanes. There is a slightly different in how we prepare it in Haiti the principles are the same. We flatten and fry a green plantain. I decided to bake the banan peze instead of fry it to so it would be healthier. I then added Sos Pwa, our black bean sauce. It is usually served with white rice. I layered on Pikliz our cabbage pickle. The show stopper was Confiture Anana, Haitian pineapple jam.
For the event, everyone was pleasantly surprised. They are not use to all these things being combined together. But once they had it they wanted more. This recipe was one of my divine downloads. It came out just the way imagined. I think this a great kick-off to my 2019 Haitian Heritage Month recipes.
For those who plan to make it, you can make some of the ingredients in advance like the confiture. This recipe is something I recommend for a special event as it does take time to make.
Haitian Tostada
Ingredients:
Baked Banan Peze (recipe below) (Fried Version)
Sos Pwa (recipe below)
Confiture Anana (recipe below)
Parsley, chopped
Directions:
- To make the tostado create the following layer: banan peze, sos pwa, pikliz, confiture anana and parsley.
Sos Pwa (Haitian Black Bean Sauce)
Ingredients
- Heat the oil in a large saucepan over medium heat. Sauté the onion, garlic and scallions until golden, about 8 minutes. Add the beans and 5 cups of water. Bring the water and beans to a boil over medium-high heat, covered, then boil until the beans are soft, about 1 1/2 hours. (This may take longer depending on your beans.) Add water occasionally to keep the beans submerged, if necessary; keep an eye on them, as you may need to add a fair amount of water, depending on your beans and how tight your pot lid is. (Note you can use a pressure cooker to expedite the cook time or use precooked black beans.)
- In a blender, purée 3/4 of beans and water left in the pot with an additional 1¾ cups water until very smooth. Force the purée through a fine strainer.
- Return the bean purée to the pot over medium-low heat. Stir in the coconut milk, butter, parsley, bouillon cube, salt to taste and black pepper. Push cloves into scotch bonnet and add to the purée. Cook the bean purée, stirring occasionally, until it’s the consistency of a rich gravy. (Adjust with water if necessary.)
Confiture Anana (Pineapple Marmalade)
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups organic Sugar
- 3/4 cups Water
- 3 Star Anise
- 1 large Cinnamon Stick
- 1 teaspoon Almond extract
- Juice of one lemon
- 1 Pineapple - well ripened
- Remove the skin of the pineapple, then cut into small pieces. In a heavy saucepan, boil water and sugar. Sugar water must be clear before adding the remaining ingredients, about 10 - 15 minutes.
- Add pineapple, star anise, cinnamon stick, lemon juice and almond extract. Cover and simmer for 45 minutes stirring often to avoid sticking. Remove from heat and let cool before serving or placing into jar.
Note: If the pineapple is very sweet add less sugar and more if it is not. Use a wooden spoon to better stir the pineapple while cooking.
Baked Banan Peze
Ingredients:
- 3 green plantains
- Juice of one Lemon or Lime
- Salt
- Water
- Cooking spray
Directions:
- Preheat the oven to 400°F. Spray baking sheet with cooking spray or cover with parchment paper to prevent sticking.
- Peel plantains and slice into 1/2 thick slices. Place in a bowl with water, lemon juice, and salt to taste. Let sit for 10-15 minutes.
- Arrange slices on the baking sheet. Lightly coat with oil spray on top and bake for 10 minutes or until slightly brown on the bottom.
- Remove from oven. Using a tostonera (a press), slightly mash each piece to about a quarter of an inch thick. If a tostonera is not available, insert the pieces between a folded piece of parchment paper and press down using a saucer or the bottom of a glass jar.
- Lightly re-spray the baking sheet if not using parchment paper and place the plantains brown side up onto the baking sheet.
- Lightly spray the top and bake for another 15 minutes until golden brown and crispy.