Chicken Oriental, from Guyana
Serves four
Ingredients
3lb chicken quarters or breasts
Half a cup of soya sauce
2 tbsp brown sugar
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tbsp grated fresh root ginger
2tbsp dark rum
3tbsp white wine
One cup of fresh/canned pineapple chunks (optional)
Peanut (groundnut) oil for frying
Method
Wash and dry chicken pieces and place in a bowl.
Put other ingredients in a saucepan over moderate heat until sugar dissolves.
Allow to cool, then pour over chicken and marinate for two hours or overnight.
Remove chicken and reserve marinade.
Brown chicken in oil, reduce heat and add marinade and pineapple (if using).
Simmer chicken breasts for 20 minutes or if using chicken quarters simmer for 45 minutes, adding extra liquid as necessary.
Alternatively, grill chicken until tender.
Source: Walkerswood Caribbean Kitchen cookery book
Stuffed Baked Paw-Paw/Papaya
Serves 3-6
3-6 semi-ripe papayas, halved and de-seeded
50g/half a cup grated Cheddar or Edam cheese
For the stuffing
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves
500g/1lb lean beef or lamb, minced (use the best cut you can find)
1 egg, beaten
4 plum tomatoes, skinned and chopped
2tsp Walkerswood Jerk Seasoning
1 tsp salt
Pre-heat the oven to 170 degrees C/325 degrees F/Gas Mark 3.
In a large frying pan, heat the vegetable oil and sauté the onion and garlic.
Mix the minced meat with the beaten egg and then fry with the onions until browned.
Add the tomatoes, jerk seasoning and salt.
Cook uncovered until the liquid has evaporated.
Spoon the mixture into the prepared papaya shells and place in a suitable baking dish.
Pour enough hot water around the papayas so that the bottom two-thirds of each shell is submerged.
Bake for 45 minutes.
Sprinkle with the grated cheese and return to the heat of the oven until the cheese has melted.
Serve with a mixed leaf salad and rice.
Source: Walkerswood Caribbean Kitchen cookery book
Blaff
A poached, marinated fish recipe from Martinique and Guadeloupe, served with rice
Serves four
Ingredients
4 whole snapper, tilapia, sea bream or similar fish, scaled and gutted
1 lime, juiced
1.2 litres/5 cups water
2 tsp salt
1 onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
1 tsp Walkerswood Scotch Bonnet Pepper Sauce or Jonkanoo Pepper Sauce
2 bay leaves
1 fresh thyme sprig
1 tsp Walkerswood Allspice
Method
Place the fish in a bowl with half the lime juice, half the water and half the salt. Marinate for about 1 hour.
Drain and discard the marinade.
Pour the remaining water into a saucepan and add the onion, garlic, hot pepper sauce, bay leaves, thyme and allspice.
Bring to the boil and simmer for 5 minutes.
Add the fish, cover and simmer for 5 minutes or until fish is cooked.
Add the remaining lime juice and salt to taste.
Serve hot.
Source: Walkerswood Caribbean Kitchen cookery book
Stoba di Cabrito
Curaçao-style lamb stew
Serves 6
This stew recipe includes a small amount of salted beef, another holdover from “the old days,” when that was the only way to ship beef, and it is an ingredient found in almost all the recipes for this stew. The usual meat for the Stoba is kid (goat or cabrito), but we have substituted lamb. The annatto oil is commonly called ruku.
Ingredients
6 ounces salt beef, covered with water and soaked overnight in refrigerator
4 cups fresh water
3 tablespoons vegetable oil
2 pounds lamb, cubed into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups diced onion
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 medium green pepper, seeded and chopped
1 habanero chilli, stems and seeds removed, minced
2 cups tomatoes, peeled and diced
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
2 tablespoons annatto oil (see note)
3 potatoes, peeled and cut into 1 inch cubes
Method
Drain the soaked beef and place it in a heavy casserole with the 4 cups of water.
Bring the mixture to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer, cover, and cook for 1 hour. Remove the beef from the pot, cube, and reserve; strain the broth and reserve.
Heat the vegetable oil in the heavy casserole, add the lamb, and brown it.
Add the onion, garlic, green pepper, habanero pepper and saute the mixture until the onion is wilted - about 3 to 4 minutes.
Stir in the tomatoes, sugar, lime juice, nutmeg, annatto oil, the reserved cubed beef, and simmer the mixture for 20 minutes.
Add the reserved beef stock and the potatoes and bring the mixture to a boil; reduce the heat and simmer for 30 minutes, or until the potatoes are tender.
Note: Ruku or Annatto Oil
1/2 teaspoon annatto seeds
1 cup vegetable oil
Heat the seeds and the oil in a heavy, small saucepan until the oil is hot. Remove the pan from the heat and let it stand until the oil absorbs the deep orange colour of the seeds. Discard the seeds and reserve the oil.
Source: www.fiery-foods.com
Cuban Fried Chicket (Pollo Frito)
1 whole chicken
5-6 garlic cloves, crushed
1/2 tsp ground oregano
1 onion cut in slices
1/4 cup sour orange juice
1 tbsp dry white wine
Olive oil
1/2 tbsp pepper
salt to taste
2 tbsp Adobo seasoning
Fresh parsley
Juice from 1 lime
Use a sharp knife and separate chicken by parts. Remove excess fat and skin.
Clean with lemon juice and rinse off with hot water.
Combine garlic, oregano, onion, orange juice, wine, adobo and salt. Pour mixture over chicken.
Cover and marinade in the refrigerator overnight or 3-4 hours
Remove chicken pieces from marinade and cook in heated skillet or pan until they are golden brown.
Remove garlic and onion from marinade and sauté them in a separate pan. Place garlic and onion over chicken and add fresh parsley.
Source: www.islandflave.com
A true Caribbean dish
1 Peas ‘n’ Rice – not peas as we would know them, but kidney beans or gungo beans mixed with rice and cooked in coconut milk. Eaten across several islands, but particularly popular in the Bahamas.
2 Jerk meats – a Jamaican speciality where pork or chicken is marinated in spices and barbecued slowly in an outdoor pit. Roadside jerk centres can be seen across the island.
3 Conch – conch is popular across islands such as the Bahamas and the Cayman islands and is eaten several different ways – deep fried, grilled, marinated, curried or raw with salad.
4 Roti – a popular takeaway snack comprising a tortilla-type wrap containing curried meat and potato and meat such as beef or chicken.
5 Saltfish – dried salted cod which is quite popular across a number of islands as fish cakes, steamed in banana leaves or as stews. On Jamaica ackee and saltfish, combining the fruit of the ackee tree with flaked saltfish, is the island’s national dish and generally eaten for breakfast.