The Big Black Banana

Do you ever pick items out at the grocery store that you have absolutely no idea what purpose they will serve in your upcoming meal plans? That's my story. I am a total impulse-grocery shopper. Occasionally I'll know what I want, and successfully leave the store with only those ingredients. But it's not likely.

Which is, as I type this now, how I came to have a covered pot on my stove containing chicken, coconut milk, basil, jalapenos, and ginger. And a big black banana on my counter.

I just peeked in the pot. Oof. It's pretty ugly in there. And by ugly I mean totally nasty looking. I have no recipe for whatever the hell I am doing.

I just hope it ends up tasting good.
I just hope my husband doesn't abandon me for Chinese take-out.

Last night:

"Is that a big black banana in our fridge?" -Nathan
"No, it's a plantain." -Me

The real question here: What exactly did I think I was going to do with a plantain? All I know is that you grill 'em, fry 'em, whatever. Well, I hope they taste ok with this crazy coconut experiment. I'm making a double batch of rice just in case this whole operation goes South.

So, I just checked again, and it still looks pretty gross, but I think the chicken is about done. I shredded it and now its just sort of sitting in this coconut-ginger-basil-jalapeno swamp. Hmm. Alright pot, step aside; I'm going to fry me some plantains...

Well, that was pretty easy. All I did was heat up some vegetable oil in a frying pan and cook on each side of the sliced plantain until golden brown. Let's taste test this chicken... oops, I dropped a piece on the floor, splashing white coconut milk on my black pug. Well, the dogs seem to like it. Me: chewchewchew. Kinda bland. Needs a little salt.

The verdict: It actually turned out okay. I liked it. Not one of my favorites, but good. Nathan liked it. The dogs liked it. This is why I love to experiment.