Mexican Banana Bake Food

BAKED MEXICAN BANANAS

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375°F.
• In a shallow baking dish just large enough to hold them, arrange the bananas in a single layer.
• In a small bowl, combine the zests, juices, raisins, vanilla, and cinnamon and whisk to blend.
• Pour over the bananas and bake, uncovered, for about 20 minutes or until the bananas are lightly browned and bubbling.
• Use a spatula to put 3 banana pieces in the center of each plate and spoon the sauce from the dish over them.

GRILLED BANANAS WITH MEXICAN CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Steps:

• In a medium saucepot on medium heat, melt the Mexican chocolate with the heavy cream. Whisk constantly until the chocolate is fully melted, and take care not to burn the chocolate. Turn the heat off and reserve.
• Preheat a gas or charcoal grill, or a stovetop grill pan, over medium-high heat.
• In a medium mixing bowl, mix the sugar with the cinnamon until evenly incorporated. Toss the bananas with the sugar-cinnamon mixture until fully coated. Transfer to the grill, flat-side down. Grill until the bananas are browned and the sugar is caramelized, about 2 minutes per side. Transfer the bananas to a serving platter. Drizzle with the Mexican chocolate sauce, sprinkle with some shredded coconut and serve with vanilla ice cream.

MEXICAN BANANA BAKE

Steps:

• Place cream cheese, sugar, rum, half-and-half, and cinnamon in blender.
• Cover and blend on high speed until smooth, 30 seconds.
• Slice half the bananas into ungreased 1-quart casserole.
• Dot with butter.
• Spread with half the cheese mixture.
• Slice the remaining bananas into casserole; spread with remaining cheese mixture.
• Bake uncovered in 325ºF oven until hot and bubbly, about 20-25 minutes.

YUCATAN PORK BAKED IN BANANA LEAVES: COCHINITA PIBIL

Steps:

• Run the banana leaves under warm water for about 5 minutes to defrost. Line a medium baking dish with the banana leaves.
• Combine the achiote paste, garlic, vinegar, orange juice, and salt in a blender until smooth. In a large bowl, rub the achiote mixture into the meat. Place the meat in the prepared baking dish. Wrap the meat with banana leaves. Cover container and refrigerate for 24 hours.
• After meat has marinated, preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
• Add 1 cup water to the baking dish. Bake the meat until fork tender, about 2 hours.
• Serve wrapped meat on a bed of steamed white rice with Marinated Red Onions and Habanero Salsa on the side. Alternatively, remove meat from banana leaves and wrap in fresh, warm tortillas with Marinated Red Onions and Habanero Salsa on top.
• In a dry skillet, lightly toast the habanero chiles. Stem, seed, and roughly chop the peppers. Combine all ingredients in a blender until smooth. Pour into a small serving bowl. Cover and refrigerate until ready to serve.

BANANA-YAM CASSEROLE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Coat the bottom of a 13 by 9 by 2-inch glass baking dish with 2 tablespoons butter. Set aside
• In a heavy medium pot add the yams and cover with cold water. Bring to a boil over high heat. Reduce the heat and simmer until tender, about 10 minutes. (The color of the yams will turn brighter).
• Meanwhile, put the crackers, almonds, cinnamon, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine until coarse but not fully ground. Add 6 tablespoons butter and pulse until the mixture forms lumps slightly larger than peas. Refrigerate the streusel topping until ready to use.
• Spread half of the bananas and yams in 1 layer in the bottom of the prepared dish. Sprinkle with half of the streusel and half of the marshmallows. Repeat to make 1 more layer. Bake until the marshmallows are golden, about 25 minutes. Serve warm.

MEXICAN CHOCOLATE BANANA SKILLET CAKE

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Heat a 12-inch oven proof skillet over medium and melt butter with brown sugar. Add bananas and saute until sugar becomes a syrup and remove from heat. Arrange bananas neatly in pan and set aside.
• In a large bowl, mix flour, cocoa powder, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and chocolate chips. In another bowl, combine egg whites, brown sugar, yogurt and vanilla. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients and mix until just combined. Pour into skillet over sauteed bananas. Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until middle of cake springs back when touched.
• Remove from oven and cool slightly. Invert onto a large plate and cut into 16 slices.

MEXICAN BAKE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4. Heat a non-stick frying pan, add the black beans and fajita spice mix, stir together and cook for 1-2 mins. Add the tomatoes and simmer over a low heat for 10 mins.
• Cut the tortillas in half. Lightly grease a 2-litre baking dish. Spread a third of the bean mixture over the base of the dish, followed by 3 tbsp of the cheese and a layer of tortillas. Repeat the process, finishing with a tortilla layer on top. Sprinkle over the remaining cheese. Bake for 15 mins until golden.

NACATAMALES (ANY BANANA LEAF WRAPPED CENTRAL AMERICAN TAMALES)

Steps:

• Season the pork with salt, pepper,cumin and paprika to taste. Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of the chipotle salsa (depending on how hot you like it) to the pork. Place in a large bowl and pour 1/4 cup sour orange juice over pork. Cover and let marinate for about 30 minutes in refrigerator.
• Place the masa harina, lard,salt, and 2 tablespoons of the chicken knorr in the bowl of an electric mixer. Blend on a low speed to incorporate the fat into the masa harina and give it a mealy texture. You may have to do this and the next step in two batches if your mixer bowl is not large enough to hold all the ingredients without overflowing.
• With the mixer still on low speed, add remaining 1/2 cup of the sour orange juice and enough chicken stock to make a soft, moist dough (about 7 cups added intermitently between mixing). It should be almost like the texture of mashed potatoes but thicker. Increase the mixer speed to medium-high and beat for 2-3 minutes to incorporate some air into the masa and make it fluffier. Cover the bowl and set the masa aside to rest for at least 30 minutes.
• After the resting period, place the masa in a large pot and on medium heat, stir the masa slowly and constantly for about 20 mintues adding 2 more cups of water or chichen stock (1/2 cup every 5 minutes for the 20 mintues of stirring). Remove from heat and set aside.
• Drain the marinade from the pork and set aside. Heat oil in large frying pan on high heat. Once it is heated, add the cubed pork and brown for abour 3 minutes (being careful of splattering oil). Set aside and let cool for about 5 minutes Reserve pan juices from pork in another bowl.
• Place the rice (with the watere still in it) in a microwave safe bowl and cook for about 2 minutes. The rice will be semi cooked. Set aside.
• Assemble all of your filling ingredients and assembly items on a large table or work surface. Gather family and friends to help in an assembly line.
• Lay out a banana leaf square with the smooth side up. Place 1 cup of the masa in the middle of the banana leaf and, using wetted hands, spread it out a little. Put about 4 pieces of pork on top of the masa and sprinkle 1 or 2 tablespoons of rice over the pork. Lay 5 or 6 pieces of potato on top of the pork, add 1 table spoon green beans/garganzo beans, add 1 olive and add a little bit of the pan juices from the pork. Top off with 1 or 2 cilantro leaves.
• Fold the top edge of the banana leaf down over the filling. Bring the bottom edge of the banana leaf up over this. Then fold in both sides to make a rectangular package. Be careful not to wrap it too tightly or the filling will squeeze out. Flip the package over so it is seam side down.
• Set the tamal in the middle of an aluminum foil square and wrap it up tightly the same way you wrapped up the banana leaf. Set aside and repeat with the remaining ingredients to make 10 to 12 nacatamales in total.
• Add 2 or 3 inches of water to a tamalera or pot large enough to hold all the nacatamales. (You may have to use two pots if you don't have one big enough to hold the nacatamales in one batch.) Place a rack in the bottom or toss in enough wadded up aluminum foil to hold the nacatamales mostly out of the water. Add the nacatamales and bring to a boil over high heat. Cover tightly, reduce heat to low and steam for about 3 hours. Add more water as needed to keep the pot from boiling dry.
• Once cooked, drain the water and let tamales rest for atleast 2 hours in the pot so that the masa can become firm.
• Remove the nacatamales from the pot, take off their aluminum foil covering and serve warm. Each diner opens the banana leaf on his or her own nacatamal before eating.
• This is MY family recipe. Nacatamales are a general name used for ANY central American tamale wrapped in a banana leaf, not just Nicaraguan. If you make yours differently, that's great! But keep in mind that there is no authentic recipe so PLEASE do not compare MY recipe to other recipes as I am sure everyones is different. It is very helpful to others if you rate according to your experience and result with this particular recipe. Thanks and enjoy!