Pickled Green Bananas with Onions. (Guineos Verdes en Escabeche)
A: Ingredients for pickle sauce: 2 cups of olive oil, 3/4 cup of clear vinegar, 1/2 cup of water, 12 grains of whole black pepper, ½ teaspoon of salt, 2 Bay leaves, 1½ pounds of onions, cut in half circles.
B: Other ingredients: 10 large green bananas and enough water to cover them.
C: Other ingredients: 8 cups of water and 2 spoons of salt.
1. In a pot with a cover take all the ingredients for the pickle sauce, mix them and cook them at a low flame for 1 hour. After a hour take the sauce off the stove and let it cool completely.
Note: You must follow the instructions on preparing the green bananas step by step, so that the bananas cook right and can absorb the pickled sauce.
2. Cut the points of the green bananas, and make a cut from one point to the other on the green banana's peel, just enough to cut the banana peel. Do not take the banana peel off. Do this to all the green bananas. Take a large pot and put enough water to cover the green bananas, now put the water in the pot to boil alone. Once the water is boiling, carefully place the green bananas in the boiling water, let the green bananas boil with the pot's top on at a low flame for 15 minutes. Drain the water and peel the green bananas.
3. Now in a large pot, put the ingredients mentioned in C: above and boil the water with the salt. Once the water and salt are boiling, place the peeled green bananas into the pot and put the stove on a low flame for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes, put a cup of cold water into the pot and keep on cooking them for 5 minutes more. Drain and let the bananas cool down.
4. Once the green bananas have cooled down, cut them in small wheels about 1 inch wide. Place the cut green bananas in a large glass or porcelain bowl. Now mix in the pickle sauce you made and mix everything together.
5. Cover the bowl with its top and place it in the bottom part of your refrigerator for at least 24 hours, so that the green bananas absorb the flavor of the pickle sauce. Take out of the refrigerator at least a hour before serving.
This plate is usually served with meat or fish alone or as a side dish as a salad with Spanish rice and meat. It is a very refreshing plate and tastes real good, it is one of my favorites, try it once and you will want to eat it again and again and again.