Curry Chicken

Here's an excellent and entertaining little video recipe for Curry Chicken (Trini Style)



Via TriniGourmet

Sorrel

There are a million recipes for the sorrel drink.
This is just one.
My mother in laws Sorrel.
Since The Mister and me married, she has been hurriedly trying to teach me all of her Guyanese cooking secrets before (as she says) "I get dotish, an kyan remember nuttin' no more ". She's still bugging me to learn Black Cake, but I must tell you that with all the hand stirring that goes into the making, it looks like a gigantic pain in the ass. Mummy in law says that the hand stirring is the love you put in the cake, and "a han mixxa kyan give yuh dat!".


For 2 litres of Sorrel, you will need:

Clean glass jars or glass juice containers.
1 oz (or 1/4 of a bag) Sorrel blossoms (dried or fresh..but if you get fresh, you'll just have to dry them...so might as well buy the dried ones)
3 cut rinds of orange
3 whole cloves
1 small piece of ginger, peeled.
1 1/2 cups of sugar (or to your taste)
1 Cinnamon stick (about 3 inches in length)
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 cup of rum (optional, and not added until it's ready to drink anyway)
2 litres of boiling water


Put all the ingredients in the jar. I have two. One for alchoholic sorrel, the other for plain.


Warm the outside of the jar with hot water, and then slowly add the boiling water.
Stir the contents until the sugar disolves.
Leave on your counter to infuse for a couple of days...but a minimum of 4 hours.
Make sure your sorrel is sufficiently cooled before you put the lid on.

When you're ready to drink it, strain it through a sieve, and return it to the bottle.
This is the time to add the rum...and then refrigerate it until it's sufficiently chilled.

When I first tried sorrel, I expected a perfumy taste, which I don't mind since I'm a lover of Turkish Delight which is made with rosewater...but it doesn't. It has a citrus, spicey pleasant taste.
I quite like sorrel.

Maybe you will too.

Shingles

This is a chewy cookie that (as far as I know) is a Guyanese recipe.
They are addictive and easy.

You'll need:
200 gr Shredded Coconut
1 cup of butter (room temp.)
2 cups of brown sugar (packed)
1 tsp nutmeg
2 cups of flour
6 tsp vanilla extract


Mix all the ingredients together with your hands, wetting them every so often until the pastry holds together. Form a ball.


Wrap the ball in clig film, and let it rest for about half an hour.
Then roll it out into a square.
While it's resting, pre heat the oven to 350F


I use a pizza cutter to cut it into small squares, but a knife works just as well.


Like so.


Place on baking sheets about an inch apart.

Bake until edges a re bubbling and crisp looking.
They will spread, but you can separate them while they're warm with the edge of knife.

Spaghetti Carbonara

Here's a nice video instructional on how to make Spaghetti Carbonara from VideoJug

Click the picture for the video.

Almond Coconut Shortbread

Since I was forced to leave my office today due to a computer crash, and Christmas is already all around us...I thought I'd make some cookies.
I'll share them with my staff tomorrow, since the recipe yields more than The Mister could ever respectably consume.

You'll need:
2 cups of butter (at room temperature)
1 cup of icing sugar
1/2 cup of cornstarch
1 tsp Almond extract
3 cups of all purpose flour

Optional: 1 cup of shredded, sweetened coconut


Cream the butter and sugar until it's really fluffy.


Add the cornstarch, and almond extract and whip again. Add the flour one cup at a time and shield your eyes..it will fly.


Whip it until it looks like this...and then wipe down your counter and backsplash..:)


Add your coconut, if you're going to, and stir it in.


Drop onto parchment paper or lightly greased cookie sheets by the teaspoonful.
Bake at 300F for 20 minutes or until the edges are golden.

Cool on rack.

These cookies will melt in your mouth...they should, look at the amount of butter in them!
Yields about 60 cookies.

Cassava & Salt Fish

If you like salted cod, then you'll like this dish.
To be used as a side or a meal.



You'll need:
One or two chopped, and boiled cassavas
One bag of Salted Cod (boned..unless you like picking bones out)...soaked with the water thrown off and refilled a couple of times.
Two or three onions chopped large or fine (to your taste)
Garlic (1 to 3 cloves - your taste)
1/2 cup of butter (or more - your taste)
Pepper (no salt...it's salty enough)


First, melt the butter and fry the onions until translucent, add the garlic and fry for a minute or two.


Throw in the Cod and fry until golden.


Add the cassava and stir, breaking it up until everything caramelizes, and has little caramelized bits throughout. Add more butter if you must.

It's like a West Indian Colcannon

Butter Tarts

Follow the recipe for pastry from my Strawberry Tarts recipe

For the filling you’ll need:
½ cup of brown sugar (packed)
½ cup of corn syrup
1 egg
2 tsp butter
1 tsp each of vanilla and vinegar
Pinch of salt
Raisins (about 4 or 5 in each tart)


Whisk all ingredients together (except the raisins), but don’t whisk it too much. Little flecks of butter should still be visible.


So that it looks like this.


Throw a few raisins into every pastry tart. I threw in some coconut too…just because. You don’t have to.


This recipe yields exactly 12 tarts…no wasting, yeah!
Bake in the bottom third of the oven at 375F. (The recipe says 450F, but if you have a newer oven, it’ll burn them)

They’re easy and they’re yummy.

This recipe is directly from Canadian Living. The link can be found on my sidebar.

Lemon Meringue Pie

You'll need for the filling:
1 - 9 inch baked pie crust
1/3 cup cornstarch
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups warm water
grated peel of one lemon
1/2 cup lemon juice
4 eggs (separated)
1 tablespoon butter

For the Meringue:
4 egg whites
dash of salt
1/2 cup of sugar

For the pastry:
2 1/2 cups flour
1 cup butter
3 tablespoons of sugar
dash of salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 egg

Start with the pastry:


Mix the dry ingredients with a spoon, add the butter and cut with pastry cutter



Make a well in the dry ingredients and beat the egg and vanilla with a fork.
Pour into the well you've made and mix together until it holds together
as dough, add sprinkles of water if needed. Roll out half....freeze the other half,
or make another pie...the pastry recipe is for a pie with a top crust.
Carefully roll the dough onto your rolling pin...


Roll it over the pie plate, and cut off excess with a knife.
Spear the bottom with a fork so that it doesn't puff up while it's baking.
Bake at 350F in preheated oven until golden. Take out and cool.



While the crust is cooling, mix together on your stovetop for the filling:
1 cup of sugar, 1/3 cup of cornstarch, dash of salt, and turn heat to medium.
Stir in the water, lemon rind and lemon juice, and bring to a boil on medium heat
stirring constantly while it thickens.



When the filling gets thick, and comes to a boil, remove it from the heat,
beat 4 egg yolks with a whisk, add some of the hot liquid to the egg, stir together,
and then add it to the saucepan and return to the heat. Stir until mixture
thickens. Add 1 tbsp butter and continue stirring until butter is completely
melted. Remove from heat and set aside.
Beat the egg whites with salt until stiff peaks form.
Add the 1/2 cup of sugar a little at a time, beating after each adding.


Pour the filling into the crust, and then add the beaten egg whites,
covering the entire filling, making sure to touch the crust. Try to form
nice peaks. For even browning of the meringue, bake at 350F until
nice and golden. Let cool and store in fridge.
Yummy.

Cinnamon Pecan Raisin Loaf

This is a very nice sweet loaf.
It takes longer than I would like, and I notice that many people don't bother making their own dough anymore. You can buy frozen dough and just do the filling, but it wouldn't be the same.

You'll need:

Dough:
3/4 cup of milk
1/2 cup of butter
1/3 cup of sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 warm water
2 packages of active dry yeast
2 eggs (beaten)
4 to 5 cups of flour

Filling:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
raisins & pecans
1/2 cup of melted butter


Scald the milk.
Pour over butter, sugar and salt in a large mixing bowl.
Let it cool to lukewarm.


Sprinkle yeast on 1/4 cup of warm water in another bowl.
Stir softened yeast into milk mixture.


Add the eggs. Stir in a little flour, beating until smooth.


Keep beating until smooth and elastic, adding only enough flour to keep dough from sticking.


Grease a mixing bowl. Put the dough in the bowl, turning once to grease the surface. Cover with a folded kitchen towel. Let rise in a warm, not hot place for about 50 minutes or until it almost doubles in size.


In the meantime, mix 1/2 cup of brown sugar with 1 tsp of cinnamon, put aside a bowl of pecans and raisins (your taste)


When the dough has risen, punch it down once.


Divide the dough up into 3 pieces and flour your surface. Roll it out as seen, brush with butter, spread some of the brown sugar mixture, raisins and pecans down the middle. Fold one side in and seal with the other side using sprinkles of water.


Transfer each piece carefully onto your greased pan.
When you've got all 3 pieces, start braiding your dough carefully.


Brush with butter.
Cover and let rise for another 30 minutes.
Preheat oven to 350F and bake for 30 to 40 minutes and looks nice and golden.