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I was a small boy growing up in rural Kansas when the cooking bug bit me. The smells of chicken and catfish frying. The buttery goodness of mashed potatoes slathered with white gravy accompanied by flaky biscuits or golden sweet cornbread made Sunday dinners the main event of the week. From the first batch of green beans, I was smitten. I would hang close to my grandmother’s elbow watching intently as she fried up bacon and magically whipped up golden brown pancakes. I inhaled the deep, rich, sweet aroma of melting sugar, as she made syrup from scratch. Later in my life, those memories became the foundation for my own culinary exploration. I took Grandma’s recipes and made them my own. And today those recipes and my newer culinary discoveries have led to many of the original products served up in Don Clark’s Kitchen. My products begin with the best freshening ingredients possible. I make only small batches to ensure a rich, bold old fashioned flavor that takes you on a nostalgic trip back to grandma’s house. My jams and jellies are reminiscent of the spreads grandma used to make. All of them are made from fruits picked at the height of their growing season. My Island Comfort hot sauces take you on a trek through the Caribbean. Sweet mango, tangy tamarind, and tart pineapple marry some of the hottest peppers in the world, grown right in my own garden. Our unique blend makes our hot sauce more than a watery condiment, but an irresistible partner for all kinds of foods. In Sweet Alex’s Sweet Shop, I serve baked goods to die for. From Red velvet cakes, to double chocolate chip cookies, my original recipes like sweet plantain and mango bread will surely hit the spot. And my customers just can’t get enough of my rum cakes soaked in rum glaze. Whether it’s a spicy pork rub, fresh ground basil or oregano, or ketchup designed just for the kids, the products in DonClark’s Kitchen change with the seasons. Catch them when you can. But don’t worry we’ll let you know what’s coming with constant product updates. You won’t know what you’re missing until you visit DonClark’s Kitchen.
SMASHING: What, you don’t make tostones? Well, you should. They’re great with grilled meat. Basically, they’re green plantains, peeled, sliced thick, fried, then smashed and refried. Season with salt. And for more kick, garlicky mojo or hot sauce.
The tricky part is the smashing. You’re dealing with a hot item and don’t want to burn your hands. Enter the tostonera, two slabs of wood fastened together: You put the fried plantain slice in between and — smash! You’re ready to refry.
Tostobueno® modifies the original by giving you indentations in which to place the plantain slice. The result is a perfectly round tostón. On the other side are deeper holes for elegant, cup-shaped tostones, suitable for filling.
The budding gourmet in your home will adore you even more if you reward her or him with The Ultimate Tostonera®. Gadget-geeks and foodies alike love the culinary contraption, a sleek, “nearly indestructible” bamboo plantain presser that takes all of the hassle out of making tostones the old-fashioned way. The beauty of this little number is that you can mash up to three at a time – three flats or three for stuffing.
When we were doing the photography for “Three Guys From Miami Celebrate Cuban,” we got the idea to make several tostones cups to dress up one of the plates. We tried to do it the old fashioned way — cutting a fat plantain and hollowing it out with a knife. Our results were not very photogenic, and we scrapped the whole idea.
If only we had the new Tostobueno® tostonera! This ingenious plantain smasher actually mashes and forms the plantain into a perfect little cup, suitable for stuffing. You cut the plantains to fit the bottom slot on the Tostobueno® and take them through the first frying step as you would a flat tostón.
Then you place a now softened plantain chunk in each of the two cups and close the lid. Special dowels on the opposite side of the masher press against the plantain and form it into a cup. Then fry the cups once again in hot oil — just as you normally would — until the cup is golden brown.
We were very impressed with the quality of the Tostobueno®. Unlike many tostoneras we’ve used in the past which tended to be made with cheap pine, the Tostobueno® is made with bamboo, a very smooth and hard wood that should last a long time in your kitchen.
