Sopa De Platano

My wife's staple is Plantain, so this is a soup I made that even I enjoy now and then. As all soups it is pretty easy to make, and after the first serving, you can add stuff to it and have it transform itself into a totally new taste, until you finally run out of it!

Heat your pot, drop in the olive oil and sweat the onions, carrots , celery and garlic until they become a little soft.
Add the chicken stock, the plantain , cumin and your mandatory bay leaf.
Bring to a boil, turn down to a simmer, and let it go for about an hour or until the plaintains are soft.
Remove from heat, let it cool down a little, if you have an immersion blender, you do have an immersion blender don't you?
They are much better and faster than a blender, less to clean and make a great noise while you swirl away inside the pot. OR you can use it as a light saber if there are any kids around.....
Remove the bay leaf, and puree to your desired consistency. Touch up with salt and pepper to your taste and serve with some of the chopped cilantro. If you use a really expensive serving bowls and zigzag some diluted sour cream or creama it will take a whole bunch better........guaranteed!

Stuff you will need:

2 Large Plantains or Platanos machos peeled and cut into 1/2 rounds.
1 TBS olive oil (without Popeye) Anyone younger than 50 will not get that!
1 large carrot , chopped into 1/4 inch dice
1 small yellow onion, chopped fine
1 cup of chopped celery
5 cups of home made chicken stock, remember the lesson a few weeks ago?
1 handful of fresh cilantro chopped fine, try and remove the thicker stems
1 Bay Leaf (remove the Bay leaf just before you blend the whole shebang)
1 tbs cumin
Salt and Pepper