As I cleaned up around the house, I ran across one of my seasons of Little House on the Prairie. Which of course got me thinking about Laura and Almanzo, which reminded me of the episode in which Nellie asks Almanzo over for dinner and then asks Laura to cook his favorite food - cinnamon chicken. Which she does - with a hearty sprinkling of cayenne pepper instead of cinnamon.
Love that episode. Love that series.
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| The Kiss of Good Luck! |
Incidentally, Laura's red dress in season 6 reminds me of the dress and pinafore I wore as Josie Pye in Anne of Green Gables.
But back to the point. I have never heard of cinnamon chicken. So of course I decided to try it. I found a simple-looking recipe, made a few adjustments to prevent it from being overly dry, and whipped it up.
But do grilled plantains really go with cinnamon chicken? More importantly, will my husband (who sadly, I must say, was not a huge fan of my baked plantain chips) become a consumer of plantains or will he forevermore steer me in a different direction at the grocery store?
This cannot happen. My plantain creativity must continue.
Naturally, the solution was to use as much sugar as I could in baking the plantains and serve that instead of the healthier grilled version. The result? Plantain baked in a brown sugar/cinnamon/butter mixture.
In my husband's words at his first bite... "Weird....but good!" Once he was more accustomed to the taste, he rather enjoyed it and went back for more.
The sweetness of the sauce brought out the more banana-y flavor, although it still had the unique plantain flavor that is quite indescribable. It went perfectly as a side dish with the cinnamon chicken, which itself benefited greatly from being used as a mop for excess sugary sauce. Dinner and dessert rolled into one. Double win.
The chicken I probably will not make again, but I already have my eye on a different cinnamon chicken recipe - this one breaded. The plantains, both cheap and versatile, I may introduce to guests to expand their taste buds and cultural experiences. :) Here's to another day of culinary experiments!
