by Sarah Commerford
8/23/2010

Warning! Blogging, if committed to, will interfere with one's personal/ professional life. I know this to be true. Amidst the 24/7 noise of parenting teenagers, sending my first born off to college next week, my paying job (oh, that), laundry, bills (oh, those) caring for my animals, yada, yada...I find myself having to re-shuffle my priorities as one would an iPod playlist ... but not so randomly or pleasingly. It seems, quite often, the amount of time required to maintain my foodie blog and deal with technical glitches has begun to take obsessive precedence over all but the most important tasks (my family)....guilty.

Now that I've confessed my increasing negligence of most things domestic and mundane, and my unrelenting drive to turn out a quality, albeit amateur, product, what's for breakfast in the Dominican Republic?

Commonly served for breakfast in the Dominican Republic along with Mangu de Plantanos or guava paste, Quesso Fritto is fried cheese that should be eaten hot, straight from the pan. Don't even think about the calories, fat content or cholesterol. Eat it with pleasure and total disregard for your waistline as it's likely far less lethal than anything you could possibly eat at any fast food establishment.

Quesso Fritto (Fried Cheese)

1 package Quesso Freir Cheese

1 Cup Flour

Oil for frying

Cut the cheese into fat slices (about 12 slices per 18 oz package).  Individually place each slice in bowl of flour.  They don’t need to be completely covered -- just a dusting.  Heat 1/4 cup of canola oil in frying pan on high heat.  Place cheese slices in pan (oil should bubble just a bit).  Cook until browned on both sides.

Mangu de Platanos

Ingredients:
4 unripe plantains

4 tablespoons of butter

2 large onions

2 Tbsp. oil for frying onions

1 tablespoon of vinegar

1 cup of cold water

Salt and pepper to taste

Preparation:

Boil the plantains adding 2 teaspoons of salt to the water. When the plantains are very tender turn off the heat.

While the plantains are boiling, heat a tablespoon of oil in a shallow pan. Sautee the onions, add the salt and the vinegar. Reserve.

Take the plantains out of the water and mash them with a fork. Add the butter and the cold water and keep mashing until it is very smooth. Garnish with the onions and serve with scrambled eggs or deep-fried slices of cheese, mortadella or beef salami.

Recipe from http://www.dominicancooking.com/rice-pasta-tubers-bread/1416-mangu-mashed-plantains.html