Salvadoran Empanadas :)

Ingredients:
10 ripe Fair Trade Certified Plantains
½ cup of Fair Trade Certified Sugar
2 sticks of Fair Trade Certified Cinnamon
½ tea spoon of Fair Trade Certified Vanilla Extract
2 cups of Organic milk
8-10 table spoons of Organic Cornstarch
Canola Oil

Directions:
STEP 1
Wash the plantains with a lot of water.
Cut each plantain in 4 pieces.
Pour 5 cups of water onto a pot.
Add the plantains, sugar, vanilla and cinnamon.
Cook this mix on medium heat for about ½ hour or until you feel the plantains are cooked.
Let them cool.

STEP 2
In a separate pot, add the milk.
Slowly add the cornstarch and stir until it has fully dissolved into the milk. NOTE: make sure you don’t add too much cornstarch at once. Add it little by little while the milk is still cold.
Add a bit of sugar to this mix, but don’t make it too sweet.
Add a bit of vanilla extract at your discretion and taste.
Add a hint of powdered cinnamon to this mix at your discretion and taste.
Put this mix on medium heat, making sure you are constantly stirring to avoid it from getting too thick.
When it starts boiling, turn off the stove.
Remove the milk mix from the stove and let it cool.

STEP 3
Now that the plantains are cool, mash them into a doughy consistency.
Take this plantain dough and flatten it on your hand, like a small, thick tortilla.
Create as many as the dough allows you to, and put them on a plate.
The milk mix should already be cool and very dense.
Put a couple of teaspoons of this milk mix on the little tortillas.
Fold the tortillas up, enclosing the dense milk mix inside. Press on the edges to make sure the milk mix is secured inside. These are now your empanadas.

STEP 4
Pour the oil on a frying pan and heat it up (without burning it).
Drop the empanadas on the hot oil, making sure they are completely covered in the oil.
Cook until they are golden.
You may spread some sugar on them after they are cooked.

There are several ways in which you can increase the Fair Trade experience of making these empanadas.
- Write this recipe in a Fair Trade leather journal.
- Bring your Eco Shopper to the grocery store to bag your purchases.
- Accompany these empanadas with some Fair Trade Certified Coffee.
- Eat them on a Fair Trade placemat .
- Wipe your mouth with a recycled paper napkin or even a washable cloth napkin.