Mariquitas & Mojo (Plantain Chips & Sauce) by Eddie Rodriguez - from "Cooking at Homeplate with the Arizona Diamondbacks" (2003)

 

RECIPE

MARIQUITAS - Mariquitas is the Cuban name for a crisp-fried green plaintain chip.

4 cups vegetable oil

2 large green plaintains

salt or garlic salt

Peel the plaintains with a sharp knife, slash the skin of each plantain once lengthwise. On each side of the plantain, take the skin off by opening it away from the center as if you were taking off a coat.

Once the plantains are peeled, slice lengthwise as thinly as possible on to a plate. Add sliced plantains to hot oil.

Use a deep skillet. Pour oil and heat to 350 degrees.

Fry the strips until golden brown, turning them. Drain the strips on paper towels. Sprinkle with salt or garlic salt and serve. (They are at their best when just fried.)

4 Servings.

MOJO - Mojo is a Cuban marinating sauce. Can be used for meats and vegetables alike. Mojo is Cuba's national table sauce.

1/3 cup vegetable oil

5 garlic cloves, peeled, thinly sliced or minced

1/2 cup sour orange juice or lime juice

salt and ground black pepper, to taste

In a saucepan add vegetable oil,  garlic, sour orange juice or lime juice, salt and black ground pepper to taste. Bring the sauce to a boil.

Serve warm. 

Makes 1 cup.

Add the Mojo to the Mariquitas to your liking.

Cuban-born Eddie Rodriguez is a long-time coach who has travelled many roads.  After playing as a shortstop in the minor-league systems of Baltimore and California, he went on to coach for the Angels, Blue Jays, the U.S. Olympic Team, the Diamondbacks, Expos and Nationals.  He managed a Mariners' minor league affiliate in 2007, and joined the Padres' coaching staff in 2016.

True to his roots, he submitted this recipe for the Arizona Diamondbacks' 2003 cookbook.  It's a quick method for frying up unripened plantains into a tasty, chippy snack.

The directions tell you to slice the plaintains "as thinly as possible" but I went with a thicker cut.  The end result was less of a crispy chip and more akin to french fries, thick and lightly browned on the outside, soft on the inside. 

The citrus-garlic sauce goes very well as a dipping sauce, bringing all kinds of flavours together: sweet and salty plantains with a hit of lime and garlic.  Fantastic! 

Asparagus Casserole by Mandy Sands - from "A Treasure Chest of Pirate Recipes" (1971)

 

RECIPE

(4 large servings)

14 1/2 oz. can asparagus spears

1 can Campbell's Cream Mushroom Soup

4 squares Kraft Pimento Cheese

2 hard boiled eggs

1/2 stick of butter in chunks

Ritz Crackers (crushed) / or potato chips (crushed)

Put asparagus spears in a row into a medium buttered casserole dish.  Slice hard boiled eggs over spears, dice butter chunks next.  Cover with strips of pimento cheese and finish layers of ingredients with the can of cream of mushroom soup completely covering the casserole.  Top with Ritz crackers or potato chips (crushed).  Place in oven 350F for 30 to 35 minutes - crackers will be browned and soup should be boiling around edges.  It's done and ready to be served immediately.

Charlie Sands' baseball career was short.  He appeared as a pinch hitter and backup catcher for four different teams, and played in 93 major league games spread over six seasons.

He did however have the good fortune to be traded as a prospect from the New York Yankees to the Pittsburgh Pirates in October 1970.  

In his rookie season at 23 years of age, he got into 28 games with the 1971 Pirates, batting .200 and hitting one home run.  He was able to come along for the Buccos' post-season ride, and made one plate appearance in the World Series (he struck out).

Despite his unimpressive record, he got himself a World Series ring, so who cares!

As for Charlie's culinary entry in the 1971 Pittsburgh Pirates cookbook, I'm going to declare this is probably the low point of my year-long effort.  Yes, it's only April, but no, I don't think I'm going to prepare anything as unappealing as this asparagus casserole.

This is vintage mid-century fare.  Canned ingredients slopped together, topped with crumbled junk food, and baked until any nutrients are but a memory.  Also, I was unable to locate any authentic Kraft Pimiento Cheese, so I shredded a small block of Monterey Jack with red chili peppers in its place.

I'd like to think that no one makes recipes like this any longer.  If so, you have my sympathies.  I know canned vegetables are essential in some places, but fresh asparagus should be available to most people these days, and breadcrumbs would work better than crumbled chips or crackers.

Anyway, I made this dish so you will never have to, to honour a player you have probably never heard of.  I think we're done here.

Grilled Sweet Potatoes by Frank Thomas - from "The Big Hurt's Guide to BBQ and Grilling" (2016)

 

RECIPE

3 or 4 medium-sized sweet potatoes

3 tbsp olive oil

1 tbsp Kosher salt

1/4 cup cilantro, minced

1 tsp cayenne pepper

zest of half a lime

Poke about a dozen holes in each sweet potato.  

Line a microwave-safe dish with paper towels, then place two potatoes on the plate and set the microwave on high for 4-5 minutes.  Do the same with the other two potatoes.

When cool enough to handle, cut the potatoes in half and then into wedges (or simply cut them into 1-inch circular slices).

Preheat grill to high.

Brush the potatoes with oil and season with salt and pepper.  When your grill is hot, cook the potatoes until slightly charred, about 2-3 minutes per side.

In a small bowl, mix salt, cilantro, cayenne pepper and lime zest, then sprinkle over the potatoes.

Thanksgiving in the year 2020 is a very different proposal from what most people are used to.  However that's no reason not to enjoy some food that's traditionally associated with this holiday.

With this receipe, Frank Thomas takes a staple Thanksgiving side dish and gives it an upgrade, making them, in his own words: "crunchy and charred on the outside, sweet and creamy on the inside". 

If you have a microwave and a grill pan, you can make this dish without having to step outside. Finish the sweet potato wedges on a smoking hot grill for a couple of minutes per side and the final result can be seen in the photo above.

Frank's suggestion of finishing with cilantro, cayenne and lime is perfect. So if you are downgrading your Thanksgiving this year, you can still make this quick and simple recipe as part of your meal.

Garlic Mashed Plantains by Ambiorix Burgos - from "GourMets" (2007)

RECIPE

1 tbsp. salt, dissolved in 4 cups of water
3 ripe plantains
1/4 cup milk
3 tbsp. butter
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. black pepper

Bring salted water to boil. Leaving peel on, cut plantains in half and add to boiling water. Place lid on saucepan and boil plantains rapidly for 20 minutes. Drain, peel and place into a mixing bowl. Beat in milk, butter, garlic, salt and pepper until mixture reaches mashed potato consistency.

This is an excellent side dish to accompany grilled steak and baby carrots.

Ambiorix loves this dish.

Ambiorix Burgos' Mets career lasted just 17 games in 2007. He was traded to New York after two seasons in Kansas City, and things went downhill fast. He had to undergo Tommy John surgery and was shut down for most of the season. He never returned to the big leagues and was released by the Mets in 2008.

Things get really dark from there. Burgos' Wikipedia entry is quite the read:

On September 9, 2008, Burgos was arrested for assaulting his girlfriend. Prosecutors say he repeatedly punched her on the back, bit her and slapped her. On March 12, 2009, a jury convicted Burgos for the assault. Sentencing was scheduled for April 3.

On October 1, 2008, Burgos was indicted on charges of hit and run in his native Dominican Republic. Sources say that Burgos struck two women in his SUV and drove off. The women later died of their injuries. Burgos turned himself in to authorities on October 7.

On August 27, 2010, Burgos was accused of kidnapping and poisoning his ex-wife. Police in the Dominican Republic charged Burgos with kidnapping and attempted murder.

Holy hell what a downfall. Not every baseball life ends well.

Let's talk about the plaintains. This was one of the clubhouse recipes provided in "GourMets", and it turned out really good. A sweeter alternative to mashed potatoes. You can add more butter or milk, depending on which consistency you prefer. I used a lot more in the photo above.

With a fresh, hot bowl of plaintains done, I decided to pair them with a pulled beef stew recipe also out of "GourMets". Rolled everything up into burritos. Creamy sweet plus savoury beef, it turned out great.

Caesar Salad - Tony Bernazard (Infielder)

RECIPE

1 clove garlic, halved

1/2 cup olive oil

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. dry mustard

ground pepper

1 1/2 tsp. Worcestershire sauce

2 heads romaine, washed and chilled

coddled egg (see below)

1 lemon

garlic croutons

1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese

1 can (2 oz.) anchovy fillets, drained and rolled or cut up

Just before serving, rub large salad bowl with cut clove of garlic.  Add oil, salt, mustard, pepper and Worcestershire sauce; mix thoroughly.  Into bowl, tear romaine into bite-size pieces (about 12 cups); toss until leaves glisten.

Break egg onto romaine.  Squeeze on juice from lemon; toss until leaves are well coated.  Sprinkle croutons, cheese and anchovies over salad and toss.  8 servings.

Coddled egg: place cold egg in warm water.  Heat to boiling enough water to completely cover egg.  With a spoon, immerse egg in boiling water.  Remove pan from heat.  Cover and let stand 30 seconds.  Immediately immerse egg in cold water.

You've got to feel bad for Tony Bernazard. 

Acquired from the Montreal Expos after the 1980 season, Bernazard missed out on being part of the only Expos team to make the postseason (1981). 

He was the regular starter at 2B for the White Sox for two-and-a-half years.  Then, on June 15, 1983, Bernazard was traded to the cellar-dwelling, 102-game losing Seattle Mariners for Julio Cruz, in a straight-up trade of second basemen.  Cruz was considered a speedier upgrade (ouch).  Bernazard literally went from first to worst, while Cruz became a southside hero as part of the AL West Division winners.

(Cruz's mid-season acquisition is why he isn't included in this cookbook, despite being a famous member of the 1983 White Sox.)

According to his Wikipedia entry, Bernazard was famous for his habit of eating nothing but chicken during hitting streaks.  However, he offered up this recipe for a very rich Caesar Salad here.

Did I say rich?  Holy richness.  The recipe calls for pretty much every ingredient you could have in a Caesar Salad.  The spices, the sauces, the cheese, the anchovies, not to mention the egg that you crack on top.  Throw it all together and you end up with a crazy rich salad.

I'm not used to this kind of thing.  There was so much going on here that my mouth was burning from it all.  Sorry to say it, but this Caesar was too much. 

FINAL SCORE - This is the first recipe to which I have to give a thumbs down.  Sorry Tony, bad luck again.

Charro Beans - Jerry Hairston (Outfielder)

 

RECIPE

2 lbs. dry pinto beans
1 medium onion
1 medium tomato
1 small green pepper
6 slices of bacon
6 slices of ham
salt
black pepper

Wash the beans and put them in a large pot to boil in water.  Cut the vegetables in big pieces and add.  Cut the bacon and ham in small pieces and put everything in the pot.  Add salt, black pepper and garlic to your taste.  Cook slowly on low temperature for about 2 hours or until the beans are tender.

Jerry Hairston Sr. is the second of three generations of Hairstons in the majors (his dad played for the White Sox in 1951, and his brother and sons are also major leaguers).

Hairston served as a backup outfielder and pinch hitter for most of 1983.  In fact, he was so good coming off the bench that he retired in 1990 as the Sox' all-time pinch hit leader with 87.

Charro Beans is a dish named after traditional Mexican horsemen (charros).  Is it soup?  Is it beans with gravy?  Somewhere in between? The amount of water you use will determine how "soupy" the dish ends up, but you want to make sure that there's enough water to cover the beans before boiling.

As well, if you don't want your serving to be too soupy, just pile the beans, veggies and meat into a bowl and go easy on the bean broth.

But you won't want to.  As you can see in the photo, I piled everything high, and made sure the bowl got a generous splash of broth.  If serving a group, this makes a nice side dish, but can just as easily be a meal on its own.  Tastes great and freezes well.

On the simplicity chart, this one is effortless.  Look at the recipe - it's five sentences long.  No labour, all flavour (just made that up, and yes, I'm Canadian so these entries will feature all sorts of extra letter "U"'s).

FINAL SCORE - Beans, beans, the magical fruit, etc. etc.  Es un ganador de los medias blancas.