Saltfish and Bake

Bake (Makes about 5):
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 teaspoons baking powder
about 1 cup water
1 cup oil for deep frying

Instructions

Sift flour, salt, and baking powder. Add enough water to make a soft dough. Knead for about ten minutes then let rest for half an hour or more.

Cut in pieces and roll each piece 4 to 5 inches in diameter and ¼ inch thick.
Fry in hot oil, turn once, and fry until brown. Drain on paper towel.


Saltfish
1 pkg boned saltfish (unless you like picking out bones)
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tomatoes (chopped)
1/2 red bell pepper (chopped)
juice of one lime
½ sliced large onion
1 tsp minced garlic
1 tsp Italian Seasoning
1 tsp chopped fresh thyme
1 tsp chopped fresh parsley
Black pepper to taste
1 chopped scotch bonnett (make sure you don't touch your eyes or any other sensitive parts afterwards. I used a chopper and made sure I spooned it out without touching it)

Instructions

Break 1 pkg of boned salted codfish in pieces and boil for ten to 15 minutes. Drain. This is to remove the salt: Don't skip this step or it'll be far too salty to eat.

Fry fish in hot oil for about 3 to 4 minutes. Add tomatoes, lime juice, onion, garlic, thyme, scotch bonnett pepper, and other ingredients; cook for ten minutes.

Serve warm with bake.
To eat the saltfish with the bake, open the bake as you would pita bread, fill it with saltfish, and enjoy.

John Bull's Jerk

Did John turn those dumplings without tongs?

"This is how you make Jamaican Jerk Chicken!

Mix quantities of liquids, spices, and vegetables into a salsa-like paste. The exact taste and texture will depend on which you mix to make the paste, but it traditionally always is somewhat hot. Take the spices and associate their flavours with the meat. Various methods include: pounding the paste into the meat, massaging it into the meat, marinating the meat, stuffing it into poked (jerked) holes in the meat, putting it into a sealed bag with the meat, basting it on the meat, coating it on the meat, rubbing it on the meat, etc.

The spices are generally applied anywhere from half a day to three days, depending on the cook. Then grill chicken legs over very low heat for 40-50 minutes. Serve with rice n peas."

Pepperpot (Guyanese Style)

Pepperpot is an Amerindian recipe that is a staple for Christmas Day.
Eaten with bread and butter, it's sweet and tasty.
Cassareep is used in the recipe and cassareep is a preservative made from grated cassava and flavoured with cinnamon and brown sugar. The Amerindians developed cassareep as a way of preserving meats in the days before refrigeration. Pepperpot develops flavour when left over a period of days. If not refrigerated, it MUST be reheated to a boil every day. My mother in law says that years gone by, a pepperpot was always in the kitchen, and more meat was added to it each day, keeping the pot going for years.
The good thing about Pepperpot at this time of year is that it won't take up precious space in your fridge.


You'll need:
2 lbs. stewing steak or brisket
2 lbs. pickled pig tail
2 lbs. ox tail
1 cup casareep
1 one inch piece dried orange or lemon peel
8 or so springs of fresh Thyme
1 one inch piece stick cinnamon
3 heads clove
2 ozs. sugar
1 or two scotch bonnets
salt to taste

Clean meat thoroughly.

Put pig tails in pan. Cover with water and bring to boil. Skim.

When half-tender, add other meats, and hot water to cover. Cook for about one hour.

Add other ingredients and simmer until meat is tender. Adjust flavour by adding salt and sugar.

Serve hot.
Don't forget to bring it a full boil every day if you don't refridgerate it.

Pepper Sauce

You'll need:

One large onion
a bunch of scotch bonnet (however hot you can take it)
sugar (to your taste)
salt
1 tbsp mustard
a piece of fruit (I usually use mango, but I only had apples today)
3 or 4 cloves of garlic
1 cup or more of vinegar
I threw in some tamarind chutney for a bit of sour (you don't have to)



Throw everything into a blender.
I cut the onions into smaller pieces, but I didn't touch the bonnets...not unless I feel like coughing would I do that.
Pulse until it's all blended smooth.


Funnel it into a bottle or jar.

You're done.

Crab and Callaloo

Again, another missing recipe from my Blogger switch over.

You need:
Dasheen Leaves or Calaloo...I prefer dasheen. It's a beautiful large leaf with a velvet like texture. You can find them in West Indian stores or Asian stores.

All chopped: celery, garlic, okra, shallots.

Crab & shrimp

Vegeta (buy it at eastern european deli or supermarket in the ethnic isle)

1 scotch bonnet pepper...just to float and remove (DON'T CUT IT OPEN)



Scald the crab and clean and chop them, as pictured here

Wash and roll the dasheen leaves
Chop the dasheen leaves and vegetables.
Amounts are not important. It's as much of the veggies and leaves as you like.

Put all chopped veggies in the pot.

Pour a pint (or enough to cover vegetables) of boiling water over all the ingredients and cook them until soft.
Add crab and cook until done.

Sometimes I add some salt beef or salt pork and shrimp for extra flavour.

Guyanese Amerindian Garlic Pork

I realized that with new blogger, some of my recipes are missing...so here is an important one. Garlic Pork is a staple at Christmas for Guyanese.
I cringed in horror when I found out that pork pickles on your kitchen counter for 4 or 5 days...but the finished product is delicious.



Start with fresh pork (cut relatively thin), lots of salt, lots of vinegar, lots of sliced garlic, and lots of fresh thyme.



You need a large clean glass jar (this one was $12cdn @ IKEA and used exclusively for garlic pork).



Start with lots of salt (don't be stingy), lots of sliced garlic, and lots of thyme on the bottom of the jar.
Lay pork chops on top. Then you start to layer.



Salt, garlic, thyme. Lots of all three. Keep layering until you get to 3/4 of a full jar.



Last layer should be salt, garlic and thyme.
Fill jar with vinegar and push meat down to make sure there are no air bubbles trapped in between.


Cover top with plastic wrap to seal, and put lid on.

Leave on your counter for 4 to 5 days.
Every day open the jar and and lift pork around the outside to make sure that the vinegar is getting in between the chops. You will absolutely love the aroma.

After 4 or 5 days..


Put pork in pot of water with some of the garlic and thyme from the jar.
Boil the pork until cooked. About 3-5 minutes at a rolling boil.




When pork is cooked, pat meat dry on paper towels.


Fry in olive oil, turning until meat is golden on both sides.


Finished product...it's fabulous.

Trinidad Saltfish Accra

I found this recipe for Trinidad Saltfish Accra at TriniGourmet.com and decided at the last minute to make it tonight for The Mister's Super Bowl get together, since I had all the ingredients and it's easier, and less labour intensive than my favoured Cod Fish Balls.

It's awesome!
It's settled, I'm adopting Sarina.
Now, I just have to convince her to move to Canada from Trinidad.
It'll be a hard sell, people.

INGREDIENTS: 1 egg
1 small onion, finely chopped
1/2 lb boneless saltfish
1/2 cup water
1 tablespoon pepper sauce
1 1/4 cup flour
1 tsp vegetable oil
3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup water (inc. to 1 cup for gluten-free version)
1/4 cup finely chopped spring onions
1 tsp italian seasoning
Freshly ground black pepper
Pepper and salt to tast

Oxtail Soup

Just like most West Indian recipes, there are a million versions of Oxtail Soup.
This is my Mother in Law's extended version.

You'll need:

About 4lbs Oxtail (cut Small)
1 large onion (chopped into med sized pieces)
1 or 2 cloves of chopped garlic
2 or 3 stalks of celery (chopped)
1 small cassava (chopped)
1 yam (chopped)
2 small potatoes (chopped)
1 or 2 carrots (peeled and chopped)
1 scotch bonnet to float
Salt
Pepper
about 8 springs of fresh thyme
a little grated nutmeg
about a tbsp of curry
a couple of tbsp of cassareep.


First rinse and clean your oxtail with lime


Then place on a baking sheet and broil until browned on both sides, turning over the pieces once.


Take out of the oven and set aside for a moment.


brown the onions in olive oil and when they're translucent....


Add the oxtail, garlic and juices and brown a few minutes more.


Add the 2 or 3 stalks of chopped celery, chopped cassava, chopped yam, chopped potatoes , chopped carrots, scotch bonnett to float, salt, pepper, a little grated nutmeg, about a tbsp of curry, a couple of tbsp of cassareep, 8 or so springs of fresh thyme, and cover with water.

Bring to a boil and then lower the heat to medium low and stew for hours for the best results, stirring occasionally, until meat is tender checking for flavour. Add salt if needed.

I love this with rice, but it's really "stick to your ribs" food.
It's not light fare.

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.

Cheese Straws

This is a spicy and savory cheddar pastry based cookie.
It's a staple when people come over and stays quite nicely in an airtight container.


Combine the dry ingredients:
2 cups flour
2 cups grated cheddar
1/2 tsp salt
1 or 2 ground up scotch bonnet peppers (optional...but certainly gives these the kick they need)
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup of butter (2 sticks)

Cut butter into dry mixture, until it's the consistency of large peas.



In a separate bowl, combine the following:

3 egg yolks
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 tbsp of cold water

Add the wet to the dry mixture, and gently mix.
Don't handle the dough too much, and don't kneed it.
Mix just until combined sprinking more water until the dough holds together.



Form a ball, and wrap in cling film and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.


Preheat oven to 375F.
Roll dough out into neat square, and cut into strips. I use a pizza cutter, but a knife works just as well. You can also cut into cookie shapes, but sometimes I just find that too tedious...and it requires handling the dough too much which makes it less flaky.


Place strips on ungreased cookie sheets or save yourself some washing and use parchment paper.
Bake at 375F for about 10 minutes or until the butter starts bubbing from the straws.
Turn the oven off, but leave the cheese straws in for another 10 minutes.
Cool on rack and store in airtight container.

Curried Goat

Take 3 or 4lbs goat, cut into cubes, and cover with curry powder.
Cut one and a half medium sized onions into nice medium sized chunks.
Add some corn oil to a skillet or dutch pot, and brown the meat with with some garlic and onions.


When the meat is browned and the onions are soft, add just enough water to cover the meat, and bring to a boil. Add fresh thyme,vegeta (my addition), some garam masala, ground cumin, some more curry, and some dried tamarind.
Stir, and lower heat to medium low.


Partially cover and forget about it for a couple of hours, only stirring occasionally as it simmers.


After a couple of hours, add chopped potatoes, and let it continue to simmer. check to make sure there's enough salt. Add more salt or vegeta. If it gets too dry looking, add some water and stir, bringing it to a boil, and then lowering the heat again.
Cook until meat is tender, and falls off the bone.
Serve with white rice and salad or roti