This is why I am not a vegetarian.

It's true that I delight in eating a wonderful variety of foods. Fresh fruits, vegetables, grains and pulses, I adore them all. I have even been known to crave a salad on occasion. However, I cannot escape the fact that when I dream, it’s not about chunks of soya. My sleep has yet to be disturbed by a craving for lettuce, or spinach, or pumpkin. Folks this right here is why I am not a vegetarian.


When I dream about food this is what awakens my subconscious.

Doesn't everybody? dream about meat? You don't. Well you should!

Imagine a sweet, slow-roasted, rack of pork ribs. Fork tender meat bathed in a classic, sticky brown-sugar glaze that is just right for a lazy Sunday afternoon with the family.

But it’s the rainy season you protest. Summer may be grilling season in the temperate world but here in the Caribbean it’s the rainy season with the odd hurricane thrown in for good measure. Hauling out the grill at this time of the year is dicey at best.

You’re new here aren’t ya?. Please read here to see my feelings on grilling. No really….I’ll wait.

Yeah I know those early pics were somethin’ awful. What can I say we all have to start somewhere. Have you read it? Are we now on the same page on the issue of grilling?

Alrighty then, so this recipe is brilliant on two counts.
1) It utilizes my favourite cooking implement – the significant other.
2) No grill required.

Isn’t he amazing? My husband not the meat I mean. Okay well that’s somethin' too but really it’s no match for the kind, guy who not only slow roasts you some ribs but is thoughtful enough to do enough to last you well into the week. But surely that’s too much meat? I’ll bet it is - for a normal person but didn’t we start this conversation with me telling you I dream about meat? How normal is that? I’m guessing not very.




Here is the recipe translated from husband’s a dash of this and a handful of that methodology. It really is somethin'

Oven  BBQ  Ribs

Ingredients

4 racks pork ribs

Marinade

1 cup green seasoning.

1 tbsp Worcestershire sauce.

1 tbsp Angostura bitters

3 tsp salt.

2 tsp black pepper.

Classic Barbecue Sauce (makes 3 cups)

 2 tbsp unsalted butter

½ cup finely chopped onion

2 cups ketchup

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup molasses

2 tbsp prepared mustard

juice of 1 lime

1 tbsp Worcestershire sause

8 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

2 tbsp fresh thyme

8 Trinidad pimento peppers

½ tsp salt

5 leaves chadon beni (finely minced)

½ tsp coarse cracked black pepper

Method

Season meat   meat  with green seasoning, Worcestershire sauce, Angostura bitters  salt. and black pepper. Marinate overnight.

Put a large bread pan with 3 cups water on bottom rack below meat in middle of oven. Cook meat bone side side up at 350 degrees F for one hour. Then flip and cook an additional  1 ½ hours. Check tenderness. Lift rack with tongs and it bends then it’s done. Alternatively tug at a piece of the meat with a fork and if it almost falls off easily then it's ready to be basted. Give it some love. I mean baste with barbecue sauce and leave for additional 20 mins -30mins.

 

Sauce

Melt the butter in a sauce pan over medium high heat. Sauté onion in butter until softened, about 5 mins. Add the remaining ingredients and stir. Simmer the sauce for 20 minutes over medium low heat. Store refrigerated, up to two weeks.

Sunny with a Chance of Delicious

Sunny with a chance of Delicious
Confession and apology


Jouney with out maps
Unadventourous advedture

Wey Indian Umami
Destination – wife saving recipes

Close your eyes and think of the Caribbean. What do you see? I’m betting you conjured up clichéd images of perpetual summer, white-sand beaches and cocktails with little pink umbrellas. It’s a pleasant thought, but I’m here to tell you the islands offer so much more.
Take for example our food. West Indian food is really, REALLY great. I mean, I know it hasn’t achieved the celebratory status of some other world cuisines and even has a bum rap of being very heavy on the carbs but I’ll talk about that in another post.

This past week I found myself sitting in one of the many American styled restaurants that have sprouted up all over this island, The menu was uninspiring and consisted of little more that glorified over priced burgers and a few pasta offerings. Cheese was the star flavouring agent. It was over everything – even the shredded lettuce that masqueraded as a salad. I shudder to think that many people who visit our islands might go away with the impression that this type of food is the daily fare of the local population.

Once upon a time it may have been true that people travelling to a foreign destination may have been reluctant to try unfamiliar food. In an effort to make guests feel at home, restaurants sought to make them feel at home by providing them with typical European or American fare. Luckily that is changing and more places are giving local cuisine the prominence it deserves.

I dare say based on the number of food blogs out there these establishments are headed in the right direction. Travelers today are now looking for culinary adventure along with their vacation package and are a lot more daring. Okay so maybe not everyone is up for a fishy-smelling but chicken-tasting plate of curried iguana à la Andrew Zimmerman of Bizarre foods but I’m guessing that most would love the adventure of sampling local flavous like the recipe that follows.

So here is my challenge to you. On your next vacation to the Caribbean or elsewhere, take a holiday from the food that is familiar. Explore where and what the locals eat. Then along with pictures of your pretty sunburn you’ll take home the aromas of sunny days, tastes of briny seafood, the almost electric heat of local peppers and the delicate intrigue of fresh herbs.

Not traveling to the Caribbean this summer; no problem man. So long as you marinate your fish the night before I can get you there in 10 minutes with this adaptation of a Jamaican steamed fish recipe.

Jamidaian Stew Fish
Traditionally red fish (red snapper) is used but I have an aversion to bones. If can’t find already filleted red fish I use King fish (King Mackerel) which has one central bone through the middle or Carite or Cavali. This dish is actually combines elements of Janaican and Trinidadian cooking and the name is a tribute to my second mom who is Jamaican but has made Trinidad her home. Jamaidadian is how she describes herself.

Ingredients
2/2 – 3 lbs King Fish (King Mackerel or other fish)
3tb spoons Green seasoning  (I don’t mince on my seasoning I like anything from 3 to 5 tablespoons of the stuff.)
1 tsp Angostura Orange bitters
4 tbsp. golden ray margarine (or butter)
1 large onion, peeled and sliced into rings
2 large christophene (chayote), peeled, seeded, and diced

1cup diced West Indian Pumpkin ( calabaza squash) peeled and diced
1 cup carrots (diced)
10–12 allspice berries
4 cloves garlic, peeled and coarsely chopped
1⁄4 tsp. minced scotch bonnet peppers (optional) * absolutely no swapping with jalapenos please the flavour is vastly different. You can subsititute with a ½ to a full tsp of any Caribbean pepper sauce so get your butt in gear and head for your nearest West Indian supplies mart. We’re cooking Caribbean today not Mexican.
1⁄2 tsp. minced fresh ginger

2 stalks lemongrass, trimmed and crushed (this is called fever grass in Trinidad)
Method
Season fish with salt, 2 tbs green seasoning and 1 tsp orange angostura bitters. Leave in the fridge to marinate overnight.
The next day chop all vegetables.
Melt 2 tbsp. Golden Ray margarine (or butter) in a large cast-iron or heavy-bottomed pot over medium high heat and lightly saute, garlic, onions and 1 tbsp green seasoning. Add the chopped veggies. I used christophene (chayote), pumpkin, carrots, ginger, pepper and lemongrass. You have free reign on the vegetables for this one any combo of veggies would work here, broccoli, cauliflower, beans what ever is in season.
Reduce heat to low, cover, and cook, until fish is cooked through, about 7 – 10 minutes depending on thickness of fish slices. Discard lemongrass before serving.
Close your eyes and inhale. Now taste …..well? Are you on the beach yet? The warm warm scent of allspice and subtle zing of citrus should make you feel like you are there. Serve over rice with a sied of stewed beans. (Recipe to follow).

Look at what I found! My mom's old Agostura® recipe book. She has had it ever since I was a little girl. The cover is missing so it is difficult for me to ascertain exactly when it was printed. Coming to think of it, I don’t remember it ever having had a cover but  my guess would be that it was printed in the late 60’s or mid-70’s?  The recipes contained within are for the most part are unimaginative with a few quaint recipes for wild meat like turtle stew, lappe and salami d’agouti. Finally there is a chapter with the amusing title of Wife-saving recipes! I can only imagine the ad campaign...Are you a wife? Are your meals dull and boring? Then you need saving....You need the magic touch that means so much! Alrighty then, so I won't be quitting my day job, any time soon.

Angostura® bitters is known the world over as an indispensable bar ingredient but did you know that in Trinidad, home of this world famous concoction it is a much used cooking ingredient? According to the official website it is also the hallmark of a good cook!

So will you taste the bitters in your food? Does it make your food taste bitter ?

No. According according to the website Angostura® aromatic bitters is not bitter when added to food and drinks. It works by enhancing the flavour of other ingredients without masking the personality of other ingredients; it adds a unique but subtle flavour of its own.

In my experience when you cook or even bake with bitters, what you get is an increase in what the Japanese call umami or the savoriness of the food. This taste has no direct translation except to say that the dish has a level of deliciousness that goes beyond the ordinary. In local parlance, it gives your dish that sweet hand taste. In Trinidad a good cook is described has some one who has sweet han’ (sweet hands) meaning that what ever they cook is “sweet too bad” - sweet here not meaning sugary but lip- smacking go back for second goodness.

Trinidadians cook with Angostura all the time. So much so, it has become almost a reflex motion for me to put a dash of it in soups, stews, marinades, on ice cream, in pasta sauce as well as in my drinks. So ingrained is it into our cooking culture that it is rarely mentioned in recipes because it goes with out saying that it’s in there.

So tell me do you cook with bitters or am I the only one who finds it to be almost as necessary as salt? Maybe you use another ingredient to give your dish that magic touch. Do tell. I'd love to know your magic ingredient.

My next recipe will of course feature Angostura bitters. I just hope that my Jamaican readers don’t slay me when they see what it is…. Stay tuned.

Okonomiyaki - Savoury Japanese Pancake

Tomato Eyes

It happens that sometimes

Calypso Rice

What do you know this rice to be becaue like evything else ther are so may versions and people call the same thing by various names

search for a way to transform cauliflower from a discouraging vegetable into a radiant side dish by caramelizing it, we smile at first, and are expected to smile. It is, after all, only caramelized cauliflower. As the search picks up momentum and intensity, however, and we learn how Loiseau began to blanch and strain and purée, we start to succumb to the grandeur of the quest. Why should the search for caramelized cauliflower be any less significant than Ad Reinhardt’s search for the pure-black painting, or John Cage’s for pure silence? But then when we read that Loiseau committed suicide after the failure of his caramelized cauliflower to impress his critics, we rebel again, in shock. It was, after all, only caramelized cauliflower.

doing simple country cooking at a glorified bistro just outside Paris. He was financed by a shrewd promoter named Claude Verger, who saw that elemental food could be popular and still presented to the critics as something new: a variant of the new cooking, or nouvelle cuisine.

That it was simple and not genuinely new does not mean that it was without value; no one had been cooking that way with passion or conviction for a while. Calling plain cooking high cooking was in itself a radical act. Loiseau became a star, and, with money advanced by Verger, he bought La Côte d’Or, a famous old restaurant in the Burgundy town of Saulieu. In the dense, deep-eating days of gratins and casseroles, the place had held three stars in the Michelin Red Guide; by sheer effort, Loiseau built it back up, and the reader cheers with him when he finally gets his three stars, in 1991.

The trouble was that there was no reason to go to Saulieu except to eat, and this made Loiseau particularly, even uniquely, vulnerable to the Guide and its system of stars and inspectors. The Guide no longer had an easy or organic relation to French cooking. The Red Guide grew up with the automobile, and with the idea of the long journey away from Paris that required several stops for

Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/04/04/050404crbo_books#ixzz0klrauhOG


Read more: http://www.newyorker.com/archive/2005/04/04/050404crbo_books#ixzz0klqhrHg0

Great Balls of Meat - Gluten Free

Okay so these are just meatballs, what's so great about that? Well I'll tell you.
It's becoming increasingly difficult to remain optimistic reagrding my son's restricted diet. The prohibitive cost of gluten free products means that I have to prepare something for him separate from what the family eats. These meatballs are an exception. they positively screams “family dinner,” “easy” and “feeds a lot”? Especially he seems to be the only gluten intolerant person in the entire country.

Social events usual involve food and it would be nice to be able to get a break ffrom the kitchen and indulge in the occasional meal out with out fear of it making the spwanlet so ill that we don't sleep at nights.


I cringe whenever some kindly person offers him a bite of something and I have to jump in like the Food Gestapo with a million questions about the ingredients.West Indians love to feed you. we are wonderful like that. Honest just hang about close enough to a river or beach lime and more than likely someone is bound to send a plate of delicious food over your way. Imagine then in the face of such largesse giving someone the 3rd degree about as you seek to find out whether the curry powder, black peepr, worcestershire sause, soy sauce etc were gluten free.
Gluten what? And then you launch into an explanation of what this means and let me tell you it isn't a conversation killer. More and more I just come across Refuse the plate of food and then you just come across as rude.

So that's me thefor now the food refusing mom with a bag of alternative food looking for all the world like the food other people prepare just isn't good enough. How much harder is it going to be for my son. However will we deal with birthday parties and it's minefield of cake, cookies, ice-cream and chips...



These meatballs screams “family dinner,” “easy” and “feeds a lot”? It is becoming increasingly more difficult as he observes others around him eating differnt food than wha's been put on his plate. Whic is why I am jumping for joy that these meatballs worked out so well. Gluten free products though available are expensive. BY swaping out the breadcrumbs with farine creates a meatball that we call all eat. It's economical and in my opinion tastes betters than the traditional bread crum meatball.


Untill I prided myself on the fact that we all ate the same things grown As much as I love home-cooking, I certainly also enjoy a nice meal out and the social life that usually accompanies dining outside the home. Since being diagnosed as a celiac disease nine years ago, I've learned to navigate through many restaurants safely and with confidence, yet on the other hand, there have also been many times when the message of cooking gluten-free was not properly transmitted from server to chef, and I've paid the serious price for their lack of awareness via a very sick body.
Chefs are not dieticians but don't you think that everyone who works in a restaurant has a responsibility to be knowledgeabe about food preperation and food allegies? It's and knowlege of ingredients so as to guide inform patrons food choices. I onnec had a friend end up in the Er shelfish allery. There was no shrimp in her dish but that cross contamination occured when the cutting board used to prepare her dish had been used earlier to prep shrimp.
A call to one of the country's ptremier restaurants revealed the extent of
Good evening. Do you offer any gluten free meal options on your menu.
Uhmm gluten free. Everything in this restaurant is gluten free.
Would you please confirm that with the chef for me.
Yes mam please hold while I check that wit the chef for you.
The chef assures me that he doesn't cook with gluten and everything is gluten free. . Do you serve pasta? Yes we do.

I'm frustrated at how little servers know about the food they are serving. I haven't even dined out that often with our little boy, )

You do know that pasta contains gluten
Does it?
oh boy Thanks for your help good evening.



This past incident, however, has made me really angry and that's not like me - but when a restaurant so blatantly goes to great lengths to advertise and serve homemade gluten-free pastas on their menu, in my opinion, they are announcing that they have not only the understanding but the full awareness of exactly what gluten-free food preparation entails - this was so sadly not my experience on that lovely June evening. In fact, I went to great lengths to speak with the restaurant staff, and server five times from when the reservation was made on line, to a phone call, and throughout my meal. What more can a paying Celiac customer do to ensure their safety?

As it turns out, the special gluten-free pasta that I ordered ahead of time was then prepared with a basil cream sauce that was mixed with wheat flour, and then poured all over my delicious pasta and served to me. I instinctively asked the server as the beautiful plate of too-good-to-be-true pasta was placed in front of me, "okay so this meal is 100% gluten-free, correct?"...."Yes, enjoy!"....I was told.

It's this kind of negligence, and lack of understanding about how Celiacs and gluten-intolerant folks truly have to eat to ensure safety, that really incenses me.

I'm sure there are many of you out there who have experienced similar situations, and hopefully survived to tell about it. Our voices need to be heard and in my opinion when gluten contamination of food in a restaurant happens, it's not simply a stomach ache that ensues...there are serious symptoms involved that restaurants all across this nation need to be educated about. It's really a matter of life and death.

Malt vinegar Outcast outsider Please God don't let my baby have celiac disease. Other food allergies Dougnuts, bakery cookies, pies, pastry's, pasta (although wf is not that bad, it's just trying to convinve my parents to eat it), chicken noodle soup, ice cream in a cone, pretzels, raisin bread, sultana cake and basically the freedom of eating out without having to order salad after salad. with themit is understandable that breakfats is a bit of a challenge. It would be nice to break up the monontony of breakfast with the occaisiona l sandwich, or pancake or muffin. i had to look for agluten free bread for sandwiches, pancakes
Dougnuts, bakery cookies, pies, pastry's, pasta (although wf is not that bad, it's just trying to convinve my parents to eat it), chicken noodle soup, ice cream in a cone, pretzels, raisin bread, sultana cake and basically the freedom of eating out without having to order salad after salad.

At 4500 for of flour that yields two breads! Ouch it's a good thing he is the only one eating them Here is my bread lover opinion. Do not expect it to taste like bread. It has anice crust but the tecture The texture is somewhat rubbery.

This is my second attempt at this bread and bothe times the results were tthe same. NOw he eats from the family meals. I have struggled with finding a bread substiturewas especially frustrating since and we have to wait untilmost time

Meatballs ( Gluten Free)
1.56 kg or 3lbs of minced beef
2 eggs
1 cup green seasoning
1 tbs tamarind chutney
1/4 tsp ancovy paste
farine


Mix all ingredients together. Don't add all of the water at one time. Mixture should be moist but not so that the meatballs fall apart.
Shape meatballs to desired size and place on a broiler pan (I wet my hands before shaping each meatball and it helps make a nice meatball.) Broil until outside is slightly brown on one side and then turn and broil the other side. When finished, add to spaghetti sauce and simmer at least 20 minutes.

meatballs and pasta (uk version - metric)
main courses | serves 4 - 6
To make your meatballs
• Pick the rosemary leaves off the woody stalks and finely chop them
• Wrap the crackers in a tea towel and smash up until fine, breaking up any big bits up with your hands
• Add to the bowl with the mustard, minced meat, chopped rosemary and oregano
• Crack in the egg and add a good pinch of salt and pepper
• With clean hands scrunch and mix up well
• Divide into 4 large balls
• With wet hands, divide each ball into 6 and roll into little meatballs – you should end up with 24
• Drizzle them with olive oil and jiggle them about so they all get coated
• Put them on a plate, cover and place in the fridge until needed

To cook your pasta, meatballs and sauce
• Pick the basil leaves, keeping any smaller ones to one side for later
• Peel and finely chop the onion and the garlic
• Finely slice the chilli
• Put a large pan of salted water on to boil
• Next, heat a large frying pan on a medium heat and add 2 lugs of olive oil
• Add your onion to the frying pan and stir for around 7 minutes or until softened and lightly golden
• Then add your garlic and chilli, and as soon as they start to get some colour add the large basil leaves
• Add the tomatoes and the balsamic vinegar
• Bring to the boil and season to taste
• Meanwhile, heat another large frying pan and add a lug of olive oil and your meatballs
• Stir them around and cook for 8–10 minutes until golden (check they’re cooked by opening one up – there should be no sign of pink)
• Add the meatballs to the sauce and simmer until the pasta is ready, then remove from the heat
• Add the pasta to the boiling water and cook according to the packet instructions

To serve your meatballs
• Saving some of the cooking water, drain the pasta in a colander
• Return the pasta to the pan
• Spoon half the tomato sauce into the pasta, adding a little splash of your reserved water to loosen
• Serve on a large platter, or in separate bowls, with the rest of the sauce and meatballs on top
• Sprinkle over the small basil leaves and some grated Parmesan

• 4 sprigs of fresh rosemary
• 12 Jacob’s cream crackers
• 2 heaped teaspoons Dijon mustard
• 500g good-quality minced beef, pork, or a mixture of the two
• 1 heaped tablespoon dried oregano
• 1 large egg, preferably free-range or organic
• sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
• olive oil
• a bunch of fresh basil
• 1 medium onion
• 2 cloves of garlic
• ½ a fresh or dried red chilli
• 2 x 400g tins of chopped tomatoes
• 2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
• 400g dried spaghetti or penne
• Parmesan cheese, for grating

So for those of you who don’t know, Rachel Ray is the American Food channel cook that created a buzz in America around 30 minute meals. She’s perky, she’s cute and she puts together meals in “ just under thirty minutes” with an effervescent smile and words like EVOO and stoup pronounced steuwp. According to Rachel a stoup is thicker than a soup but not quite a stew. Huh?

If there is ever an exa,ple of lost in translation it might ne this. A Trinidadian might me left sctching inis head in befuddlement if any one served him a steup. I coan se my husband now. Honey here is your stoup? What!? Is that like a singular stueps? BTW stewps is just what I feel Like doing each episode when she sayys Hi my name is rachel Ray and I make Neeto. Uhhh huh. 30 minutes really? The way I see it Rachel has two things going for her that make such a claim possible. And a staff to do her on camera prep work for her. In my mind wheteher I do the prep on the DStaurday before I cook it's still time away from other stuff I'd rather be doing so it's cfounts toward recipe time. The 2nd rachel doesn't have kids. Wouldn't you love to see Rachel attempt to make a meal in Just once I'd love to see her attempt an episode with a toddler attatched to one leg, while 2 other kids duke it out in the living room over whose turn it is to choose a tv station? Yeah! I'd tune in for that:-)

Here is a soup that I promise will beat Rachel at her 30 minute game. It takes just 10 mins once you've done it a few times - maybe 15 if you have to wrangle kids at the same time. Pinky promise. But before I divulge this

life changing recipe. You've got to be okay with a ocuple things


My life

I’m a grouch

I hate my job

I’d rather have a chef cook for me anyday of the week

No kitchen staff



Tips

Prep in advance

Cook some stuff on the weekends to carry you over during the week.

Plan all or most of the meals for the week

Rotation of meals

Make your own frozen meals

When all else fails make this soup and don’t feel the least bit guilty that it contains some tinned ingredients. You deserve a break!

Corn soup

We are in full swing for the annual Carnival celebration which culminates in a two day explosion of colour and music as masqueraders take to the streets in sequins, feathers and glittered splendor. At this time of the year gyms are packed to capacity as women prepare themselves for a two day marathon of dancing in the streets. It is something to be experienced. Even if you can't be here to experience it you can still have a taste of Carnival if you make this soup which is sold piping hot by street vendors at most carnival fêtes.

Until now I hadn't given much thought to the fact that this is actually a healthy, high fiber vegetarian meal.  Who really has time to contemplate nutritional value when you are  in a pan yard  listening to the sweetest rhythm of steel drums and craving a cup of corn soup?  At 4:00 am,  tired and hungry after the party, you make a beeline past the guy grilling burgers, the jerk chicken , the fries, and head straight for the corn soup man. Get in the line late and you will find yourself nervously eying the ladle casting about the bottom of that deep silver pot, trying your inebriated best to figure out if you'll secure your Styrofoam cup of soup before the goodness runs out! If you are lucky and make to to the head of the line before the soup is finished you will gratefully burn your tongue because you can't wait for it to cool off sufficiently before 'nyaming' it down.

The fact that Trinidad corn Soup is vegetarian seems fitting for a festival whose name according to one source derives from the Latin carne vale which means farewell to meat. However the deprivation associated with diet food is never on my mind when I indulge in this meatless dish. For carnivores like myself if there is a meal that can satisfy without meat - this is it.  Soup the West Indian way is a heavy and heartyl. This one is thickened with split peas, chuck-full of potatoes, corn, carrots and dumplings. Trust me this fuels thousands of party goers until the wee hours - you won't run on empty after a bowl of this.

A final note  the corn used in this soup is not the American variety of sweet corn that comes in cans or the frozen food section. It is a variety that is starchy more than it is sweet. Also I recommend doing this in a pressure cooker to make quick work of this.


SERVES 6 

Ingredients



2 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 onions, chopped

3 garlic cloves

1 lb potato, peeled and quartered
2 carrots, diced


1/3 cup chives, chopped

1/4 cup celery, finely chopped

1/3 cup fresh thyme, chopped

3/4 cup yellow split peas

2 pimento pepper (optional)

8 cups chicken stock or vegetable stock


1 scotch bonnet pepper,  left whole

1/2 cup coconut milk

6 ears corn, cut into 2inch pieces

8 dumplings (or more)

1/4 cup culantro, chopped (substitute cilantro)

1 tsp salt
black pepper


Directions

In a large soup pot heat oil. Add the onions and garlic and saute until fragrant. Add the split peas, stock,
celery, thyme and pimento peppers and culantro and cook for about 5 mins stirring constantly. Add salt and black pepper to taste. Add the scotch bonnet pepper and coconut milk if using. Pressure cook 10-15 mins or simmer in a covered pot  for about an hour until peas are soft. Use an immersion or ordinary blender and puree soup to a thick and creamy consistency and return to the pot. Add corn and cook for about 20 mins. Add the potaotes and carrots and cook for 10 mins. Finally add the dumplings and cook until they float to the surface. If soup is too thick at any time, add water.


Dumplings 2 cups flour

1 tsp butter
2 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt




Place all the ingredients in a mixing bowl and rub the flour into mixture until it is grainy. Slowly add enough water to knead to a stff dough. Roll dough into a long rope shape. Cut into 2 inch lengths and drop into boiling soup.

All Heart and No Hassle Valentine's Day Breakfast

It's the month of love. Do you love your heart?  You can treat yourself or maybe your special someone to this simple yet  heart-healthy breakfast. I am sure you have heard it saif before that breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Eating a healthy breakfast supoosidly kicks starts your metabolism and helps you shed unwanted pounds. Eating a high fibre breakfast is also supossidly beneficial for people . I am one of those people who struggle with breakfast. Eating breakfast actually makes me feel physically ill. I confess I'm not big on breakfast
Now when Valentine's Day rolls around, Oliver tries to keep things simple—and keep his clothes on (in the kitchen, anyway)—to avoid disaster. Whether you're cooking as a couple or presenting a meal to your partner, a low-key supper is always a safer bet than an elaborate multicourse meal that leaves you feeling stressed and 

low key kep it simple exhausted.

The Quest

TRhe Quest for the perfect chocolate cake.

Wild About Wild Hibiscus.

Here. Eat this.

Nyam nyam nyam....

Do you know what you are eating?

Uhmmm, yeah cheesecake with a blueberry topping.

Cheesecake yes. Blueberry no.

Cherry?

No

Some kind of berry?

No. It's sorrel.

For real?

For REALLY real.

It's good.

Yes I know.

Happy Valentine's Day.

Project simplify toss out stuff from your cupboard

Deep Pan Pizza - Gluten Free

Anyone who knows me knows how I hate to knead dough. I have a bread maker for that. I hate cleaning it out from under my nails..so this was the recipe for me. Must not contain strange ingredients that are not readily availabel agar agr poder xanthum gum read more like a science project than a recipe

First bites - Callaloo

Slow-Cooked in a Hurry

Cormeal Rosemary Cake with Pine Nuts and Orange Glaze

This is me trying my hardest to be a lovacore and not succeeding! If you are interested in learning more about the local food movement then I highly recommend that you read the book Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver. This is an entertaining account of how for one year her family only ate seasonal  food that they grew themselves or that was produced in their neighbourhood.

Eating locally does make sense. It's a way to build a more self reliant economy. It is also better for the environment  since imported food uses more fossil fuels to transport it supermarkets than locally grown produce..

After reading the book I immediately became a convert to the church of Barbara. I ran outside and planted a herb garden. I bought vegetable seedlings and manure from the agri depot. Yes. I was going to do my part  to prevent global warming and rising food prices.

I started thinking, maybe I could  raise chickens, start and apiary, rear cows - no wait I'm afriad of cows. Then goats. They give milk from which I could make my own cheese. I'd have the additional benifit of not having to  mow a lawn, the goats would take care of that. I shared these admirable thoughts with my saner other half. who patiently reassured me that it was indeed a noble dream. BUT he pointed out, we live in an aprtment complex - not a farm. Besides, I already have a job that makes it a challende to rear a family far less for goats.....Hmmmm all valid points. Bummer, don't you just hate when the voice of reason rains on your parade.

Not content to do nothing at all, surely every little bit counts. I pressed ahead with  my herb garden now dead dormant  because of the current drought.  I vowed no more  purchases of strawberries, or cherries. Easy enough since they are too expensive to be anything more than a rare extravagence  the way one treats oneself to an expensive box of chocolates. But how do I wean myself off apples and grapes? These imported fruits are readily available and so affordable. We must have survived before them since I remember when I was young they were only special ordered at Christmas time.

My righteous local sustainable food supporting zeal was further tested when I stumbled across this recipe in an old issue of  a Fine Cooking Magazine.  Pine Nuts are definately not local and not even sold here.  My baby sister has the good fortune to live on an island that imports pine nuts. I do not. So I immediately posted a message on her facebook wall. Send nuts. She was kind enough to mail me four small packs.  I justified my weakness by rationalizing that  plane that brought my package no doubt was already on it's way here with the mail. Additionally even  Ms Kingsolver admits that there were some imported items like coffee and spices which even she couldn't live without.

While I may not be able to live an auteres a lovacore lifestyle as did Barbara Kingolver, she has given me food for thought about where my food comes from and how I can be a more responsible citizen of this world.  I am currently taking a good hard look at my shopping habits with a view to making some improvements. So tell me is there any imported food that you just can't do without and  do you support the local food movement?

* adapted from the Best of Fine Cooking (Fall) 2007
yeild: one 9 - inch cake
The Cake
1 1/2 cups all - purpose flour
3/4 cup cornmeal
1/3 cup toasted, coarsely chopped pine nuts
1 Tbs fresh rosemary, finely chopped
1 TBS finely grated orange zest
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2/3 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
4 large eggs
1 1/3 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup (1/4 lb) unsalted butter, melted

THE SYRUP
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
2-3 tbs sugar

THE GLAZE
1 sprig fresh rosemary
1 1/2 cup sifted confectioner's sugar
2 tbs fresh orange juice
1 tsp, finely grated orange zest


Make the cake: Butter a 9 X 2 inch round cake pan. Line the bottom with a round of parchment paper. Butter the parchment paper. Position rack in the center of the oven. Pre-heat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a medium bowl, mix the flour with the cornmeal, pine nuts, rosemary, orange zest, baking powder and the salt.

In a large bowl, use a hand mixer and whisk the cream cheese to soften it. Add the eggs one at a time, beating at medium speed to combine. Add the sugar and mix until smooth. Using a rubber spatula, fold half of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Then fold the rest of the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients. Mix until smooth. STill using the rubber spatula stir in the melted butter until blended.

Scrape batter into prepared tin. Bake for 40 - 45 mins until the cake is a nice golden brown or until a skwere inserted in the center comes out looking a bit moist and the sides have begun to pull away from the pan.

Mae The ORANGE SYRUP
While the cake is baking mix the orange juice and sugar in a small saucepan over medium heat and cook until the sugar dissolves. Use 1, 2 or 3 tablespoons of sugar depending on the sweetness of your oranges and to your taste. Remove from heat.

Cool cake in pan for 5 minutes before turning it out onto a plate. Remove the parchment paper and invert cake again onto a cardboard round or another cake plate. Poke ho;es all over the top of the cake with a wooden skewer or toothpick. While the cake is still warm brush it with the warm orange syrup. Give the syrup time to soak into the cake. Use up all the syrup. Let the cake cool completely.

Make the Glaze.

Boils a small saucepan of water. Get a small bowl of ice water ready. Put rosemary in boiling water for one minute to blanch them. Remove with a slotted spoon and set them in the ice water. Drain and spread them on a paer towel to dry.

In a bowl whisk the confectioner's sugar and orage juice until smooth and then mix in the blanched rosemary and the orange zest.

When the cake is cool transfer to a wire rack set over some wax paper. Pour glaze over the cake. or glaze over the cake then tranfer to a cake plate.

Bolliche Relleno STuffed Eye of Round Roast

 

* 5-6 lbs beef eye round
* 10 garlic cloves, mashed
* 2-3 teaspoons ground oregano
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cumin
* 2 bay leaves
* 3/4 cup sour orange juice (If you don't have mix 3/4 parts orange juice with 1 part lime juice)
* 1 lime, juice of
* 1 cup dry white wine
* 3 teaspoons salt, to taste (optional)
* 1/4 teaspoon fresh ground black pepper, to taste (optional)
* 3 tablespoons capers, chopped
* 3 tablespoons pimento stuffed olives, chopped
* 2/3 tablespoon goya con azafran seasoning, divided
* 2 tablespoons goya adobo seasoning, divided

* 1 (1/4 ounce) package badia cilantro, divided
* 1/2 lb ham, cubes or thick slab bacon
* 1 carrot, sliced
* 1 medium onion, chopped
* 1/2-3/4 green bell peppers, cut in medium size pieces
* 1/2-3/4 red bell peppers, cut in medium size pieces
* 2 chorizo sausages, casings removed, chopped
* 1/4 cup olive oil or vegetable oil
* 1 1/2 cups chunky tomato sauce (Muir Glen)
* 4 pieces butchers kitchen twine

Directions

1.
1
Clean the meat by trimming excess fat.
2.
2
With a knife make a deep cut along the center of the beef, leaving both ends uncut.
3.
3
Place the meat in a large pot.
4.
4
Line with plastic liner - so as to be able to mix the marinade and roast.
5.
5
To prepare marinade, mix garlic, oregano, cumin, bay leaf, bitter orange juice, lime juice, wine, 1 packet of Goya con Azafran seasoning, 1 tablespoon Goya Adobo seasoning, 1/2 of the cilantro, salt, if using, and pepper, if using.
6.
6
Add 3 tablespoons of the marinade to the opening inside the meat.
7.
7
For best results, marinate for 3 hours or up to overnight, refrigerated.
8.
8
In food processor container mix the stuffing: ham or bacon, carrot, onions, bell peppers and chorizo, 1 packet of Goya con Azafran seasoning, 1 tablespoon Goya Adobo seasoning, olives, capers to a fine grind.
9.
9
Mix the contents with the marinade in a bowl.
10.
10
Loosely stuff mixture into the cavity of the roast by pressing it with a long handled spoon as far into the cavity as possible.
11.
11
Tie stuffed roast closed, tightly.
12.
12
Add the rest of the marinade to the outside of the meat.
13.
13
Preheat oven to 350°F.
14.
14
Heat a large frying pan that can be used on stove as well as in the oven, add olive oil.
15.
15
When olive oil is heated and begins to "smell fragrant", add the roast and brown on all sides, turning with a large fork several times.
16.
16
Add the remaining marinade, cover and place in oven.
17.
17
Roast for approximately 3 hours. (Keep checking about every 45 minutes to 1 hour).
18.
18
Discard bay leaves.
19.
19
Remove meat to a separate dish and allow to cool, at least 30 minutes, before slicing into 1/4" slices using a very sharp knife, so that roast doesn't crumble (approximately 20 to 24 slices).
20.
20
Combine the chunky tomato sauce and remaining Badia Cilantro with the marinade that remained in the pan and simmer for 3 minutes.
21.
21
Pour over sliced meat.
22.
22
Cover meat with aluminum foil and reheat if necessary (approximately 15 minutes), be careful not to dry out!
23.
23
Can be served with roasted potatoes, a vegetable, an avocado salad, good warm Cuban bread to sop up the juice and a lovely wine.
24.
24
Que les aproveche!

Chistmas clean out those spices

Keeping the old and making it new - Happy New Year.