PATACONES

Living in New York you know all about the food trucks. The good the bad the ugly and now the vast improvement that has been made on this New York tradition. Now I can say that as a true New Yorker, it is necessary to eat from one of these trucks once in your life. I mean its just necessary and often you won’t have a choice as you do your hustle in the city.
After receiving many bad raps regarding storage or hygiene many of these trucks in recent years are now owned by fledging would be restaurateurs, chefs. specialty cooks who have found their passion in serving up their delicacies right on the street. We now have what’s called the Vendy awards given every year to the most outstanding truck and this has become nationwide.

I’ll stop here as I could go on and on about these trucks because this is really about a sandwich inspired by one of the Vendy 2010 nominees  called the “Patacones”. The truck I took the idea from was Patacon Pisao located at 431 W. 202nd Street New York, NY 10034 between 9^th and 10^th.

The sandwich inspired from them is a delectable melange of flavors that I created with what was available in the pantry.

I started with beef, you could use type of meat or even a great vegetarian warm mushroom salad. The beef is marinated in ginger, garlic, oregano, salt, Pepper, and a pinch of sugar and sautéed quickly.

I roasted the corn right on the stove. It works great but if your kitchen is small use the vent. Use a medium to medium high heat turning frequently. Don’t worry about the popping. The corn will start to smell really good and it will start to brown and char a bit. Gage it to your own liking as even raw it is quite delicious and full of fiber.

The plantains are peeled cut in half and deep fried, mashed and then refried again. You may skip refrying for a more chewy plantain but the second time makes it extra crunchy.

The corn is removed from the cob, fresh cilantro, julienned jalapeños (from the garden), salt, pepper, olive oil and oregano are all tossed together with chipotle mayonnaise .

You make this simply by blending chipotle peppers and mayonnaise to top this off and voila!

The finished project is as delicious as it is messy but so worth the adventure to make! Thanks Patacon Pisao.