Fried Plantain, or, The Giant Slightly-Sweet French Fry

Plantains- they're ridiculously tasty, and because they aren't as common on the North American table as they are in South American cuisine, you can fancy-up your next meal if you serve these as a side dish instead of potatoes. I'm picturing perfect peppery grilled flank steak, home made tortillas, fresh salsa, and fried plantains.

Here's what I did, it's so easy: After peeling them, I split the plantains down the middle, lengthwise. I heated a good sized blob of butter over medium-high heat in a non-stick pan and I put the plantain slices in, flat side down first, and cooked them for three or four minutes until they were brown and toasty. Then I carefully flipped them and cooked them another three minutes or so on the other side. (As long as you don't actually burn them, I don't think the exact time matters as long as you have nice browning and they are cooked through.)

I served them with a generous sprinkling of salt and pepper and a drizzle of a very simple spicy mayo sauce. For the sauce I mixed two rounded tablespoons of Best Foods mayo with one level tablespoon of sriracha chili sauce, and one teaspoon of sugar.