Come Taste This!

Some “Hurry Down” Lentils

2012-03-03T02:14:00.000-04:00

Food writer Nigella Lawson once said that a friend of hers described her as “the queen of the frozen pea”, simply because she had so many recipes in which she used them. Now in no way do I compare myself to Nigella (hahahaaa!), but we do share a love for peas and I’ll admit, I do have more than my own fair share of recipes for cooking different types. However, it’s the lentil that gets my top vote for the most used pea in my little kitchen.

Lentils are like my ‘go to’ pulse because they cook quickly and can be used as anything from a meat substitute to a delicious side dish. I like to think that love stemmed from my late Granny’s cooking, because of the special way she used to stew them and she always served them up with some nice macaroni pie… (more on that in another post). Of course, we don’t always have the luxury of standing over the pot and doing the sauté, so over the years I’ve been able to develop an easier way of doing stewed lentils using a pressure cooker.

It’s a pretty healthy way to do them too, because there’s no oil or butter used. All you need are lentils, water, a flavour cube or two, some nice firm fresh vegetables and your favourite local and powdered seasonings and you’re good to go. It’s no wonder I like to refer to these as my “Hurry Down Lentils” because they are really fast and easy, and I’m only too happy to show you how I do them.

First thing I always do is check through the 500g pack of lentils and search for any debris, strange looking grains or stones.

(I cannot in good conscience ever just pour lentils straight from the pack and start prepping, which is why I hardly ever buy cooked lentils on the outside. You never know…)

See what I mean?

The next step was to give them a good wash; after that, they were poured into the pressure cooker.

Next, I got my vegetables. I like to use fresh celery, pumpkin and carrots whenever I can. Luckily, I had these on hand, so I peeled and diced half of a medium sized carrot and enough pumpkin to make 1 ½ cups. I also added half an onion, sliced, 3 stalks of chopped chive, 1 large stalk of chopped celery and a few sprigs of fresh parsley.

Now for the seasonings… I’ll admit I took some anger out on 2 large garlic cloves by flattening them with a knife – and my fist. Gave them a rough chop and added them to the pot, followed by 5 chopped pimento peppers.

In goes 6 cups of water…

A couple dashes of Angostura Bitters…

And a little less than a potspoonful of good tomato ketchup beginning with the letter ‘M’.

Two crushed vegetable bouillon cubes went in. (But if you like, a teaspoon of salt can suffice.) Also put in some crushed red pepper flakes, a couple shakes of ginger powder and a teaspoon of brown sugar.

I didn’t have any bay leaves – normally I’d put a small one in there – so I reached for the stand in… a teeny bit of ground nutmeg.

Gave everything a good stir, and realised I almost forgot something…

A spoonful of home made seasoning. (Cue the angel voices…)

Another stir and my pressure cooker was ready to go on the stove. Placed it on a medium high flame and brought it to a quick boil, then locked my lid closed and cooked it down for roughly 18 minutes, timing it from the moment the top began to spin and make that noise…

And when the time was up and the pressure cooker cooled down, this was the sight that greeted me… voila!

Perfectly stewed lentils, or as we say at my house, ‘Hurry Dong lentils!’

Here's the recipe:

“Hurry Down” Lentils

One 500g pack of dried lentils, picked over for stones and washed

Half a large carrot, peeled and diced

Enough chopped pumpkin to give you 1 ½ to 2 cups

1 stalk celery, chopped

3 stalks chive, chopped

2 sprigs fresh parsley, uncut

4 or 5 pimento peppers, chopped

½ a medium onion, sliced

2 large cloves garlic, crushed with a knife and roughly chopped

2 dashes Angostura bitters

A little less than a potspoonful of tomato ketchup

2 Maggi vegetable bouillon cubes, crushed

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

½ to 1 teaspoon ginger powder

1 teaspoon brown sugar

1 small bay leaf (or ¼ teaspoon of ground nutmeg)

1 heaped tablespoon of home made green seasoning (if you don’t have home made, you can used store bought)

6 to 7 cups water

Method

Simply add all the ingredients to your pressure cooker, pouring on the water last.
Stir everything together and put to boil on medium high heat.
When it begins to boil, lock the pressure cooker lid and let it cook for approximately 15 to 18 minutes.
After cooking, release the steam from the pressure cooker and gently stir the pot; taste the lentils for seasoning and adjust by adding more salt or a little pepper sauce for some added heat.

Serve with rice, stewed meat or fish.

Truth be told, we enjoy our lentils cooked this way so much at home that sometimes we even eat it on slices of bread. Really, this is one of the easiest ways you can do lentils if you don’t want to worry with soaking them beforehand. Cooked under pressure, they get really tender and soft with a nice gravy-like sauce, and eating them like that is nothing short of enjoyable.

Well, time for me to take a little rest, and I'll leave you with the promise that more delicious dishes are going to be featured soon.

Enjoy trying out the recipe my friends, and like I always say, don’t forget to mind the pot.

A Broccoli 'Vaps'!

2012-02-26T12:04:00.000-04:00

Ever since heading to Cost Price Discount Limited in Aranguez and finding out that they had the most beautiful fresh veggies on sale (including squash, zucchini and even shitake mushrooms), I’ve decided to jump in with both feet first and try cooking fresh broccoli for the first time. I'd usually get the frozen kind, but I’ve always wondered if I could handle cooking broccoli from scratch, so I decided to grab it and go for it.

I then asked my foodie friends for some advice on its preparation, but ended up getting really overwhelmed with all the great ideas they gave, so I decided to leave it alone for a while. Then, about a couple weeks ago, I was trying to figure out a side dish to prepare and I remembered I had the broccoli chilling out in the fridge. Then the vaps hit me... 'I could bake this with some potatoes, not so?' And just working from my head, I ended up creating something new that I am definitely going to prepare again, again and again, hahahaaa!

Want to see what went down? (Recipe follows afterward!)

Okay, here’s my fresh broccoli, retrieved from the coldest part of my refrigerator, lol!

I chopped the florets into little 1 inch pieces and placed them in my steamer basket, sprinkled on some salt, covered them and steamed them over boiling water for 5 minutes. I love how the green colour stayed intact.

(Plus I saved the little bits that flaked off for later!)

My potatoes were prepared by cutting them in a large dice. Into a pot of water they went, along with 2 crushed Maggi vegetable cubes. Boiled them for 15 minutes (so they kept their shape), then drained them.

Next, I grated (a little more than) 2 cups of cheese…

Added an egg to 1 ½ cups of milk and beat in some red pepper flakes, dried parsley and a teeny bit of nutmeg. I then tumbled in all the cheese and mixed everything with a fork.

Then I added the broccoli to the still warm potatoes in the pot, then poured in half the cheese mixture, carefully blending it together so the cheese gets to melt a little. I then poured the mixture into my waiting glass Pyrex dish, which I had sprayed with non stick cooking spray.

I spread the broccoli and potatoes evenly across the dish, then poured on the rest of the cheese mixture, making sure I put little blobs of cheese all over. The last step was to sprinkle on some dry breadcrumbs, some Kraft Parmesan cheese and those little broccoli bits from earlier.

Into the oven it went to bake at 350°F for 25 to 30 minutes.

And here it is, my Broccoli-Potato Bake! Smells so gooooooood!!!

So Delicious! Here's the recipe...

Halcian’s Cheesy Broccoli Potato Bake

2 cups fresh broccoli florets

Pinch of salt

5 or 6 medium potatoes, cut into a very large dice

2 Maggi vegetable cubes

1 1/2 cups milk

1 large egg

1 teaspoon dried parsley

½ teaspoon red pepper flakes

A dash of nutmeg

2 cups grated cheese (done on the large side of the grater)

¼ cup dry breadcrumbs

¼ cup Kraft (or any other brand) Parmesan cheese

Here’s how you make it…

Prepare the florets by placing them in a steamer basket (or a rice strainer). Place the basket over a pot of boiling water (making sure the water doesn’t touch the basket) and sprinkle a pinch of salt over them. Cover and steam for 5 minutes until they are tender, but not too soft. Remove them from the heat and set aside.
Next, place the potatoes to boil in 7 cups of water into which the two Maggi vegetable cubes have been crumbled. Cook them for 15 minutes until they are soft. Drain and leave them in the pot, covered.
Place the milk into a bowl and whisk the egg into it. Add the dried parsley, red pepper flakes and a dash of nutmeg and mix.
Add in the grated cheese to the seasoned milk and mix. Set aside.
Drain the liquid from the potatoes (leaving them in the pot they were boiling in) and then add in the steamed broccoli. Stir gently to distribute the broccoli evenly throughout.
Next, while the potatoes are still hot, add in half of the milk and cheese mixture and stir so the cheese melts a little.
Spray a 9 x 13 Pyrex baking dish lightly with cooking spray (or grease it lightly with butter or margarine) and pour in the cheesy broccoli and potatoes; spread them evenly across the dish.
Using a spoon, distribute the rest of the milk and cheese mix over the broccoli and potatoes.
Lightly sprinkle on the dry breadcrumbs, followed by the Parmesan cheese.
Bake uncovered at 350°F for 25-30 minutes or until the bottom of the dish is gently bubbling and golden.

Cool before slicing and enjoy!

Hope you enjoyed checking out this week’s posting and are encouraged to try out my ‘vaps’ recipe. I promise I’ll have something else ready next week that you’re going to be sure to enjoy.

Til then, take care of yourselves and don’t forget to mind the pot!

A Dimanche Gras Beef Pelau

2012-02-19T19:14:00.000-04:00

Hey y’all, it’s Carnival Sunday here in T&T and I am feeling pleasantly tired after making one of our most famous dishes, a tasty beef pelau that my Granny used to call the Dimanche Gras pelau. Why? Well, she would cook this kind of pelau only on Carnival Sunday, and we always had a bowl of it while we sat in front of the TV to watch the Dimanche Gras show, which is where the calypso finalists and the individual costumed Kings and Queens of Carnival Bands would compete for their titles of Calypso Monarch and King and Queen of Carnival, respectively.

Today I decided to opt for a nice beef pelau instead of chicken, simply because I didn’t want to deal with any bones. Hopefully, I'll have enough of this to last us over Carnival Monday and Carnival Tuesday. I must admit, I really had a good time in the kitchen (dancing to some good soca music on the radio from JW and Blaze, Machel Montano and Kerwin Du Bois – just thought I’d throw that in there!). What saved me was doing most of my prep from early Saturday night (starting with the beef), so you know that the seasonings are going to be in there good and proper when you take a bite.

Want to see how it all went down? Well, the night before…

I got roughly 1 ½ lbs of beef and washed it well with some lime juice. Started up the seasoning party just like my Granny used to, with a good 2 capfuls of white rum and some apple cider vinegar.

Now every time I make this, the seasonings are dictated by what I’ve got in the fridge at the time, hahahaa! This time I minced up 2 cloves of garlic, 3 stalks chive and half a medium red onion. I also added a spoonful of the home seasoning, minced up a little bunch of dill, and cut up 2 small tomatoes. Lastly, I crushed up a couple of tomato chicken boullion cubes and added in some red pepper flakes. Mixed everything together and it went into the fridge to sit and marinate overnight.

Here’s the seasoned beef, straight out the fridge, ready to enter the fete. But first…

I had to organize the other contestants, namely the 4 cups of rice that I washed three times and put to soak in some water. I put a little boiled water on top so it would swell and get fluffy – see, it hit the 6 cup mark.

As you can see, the corn, pigeon peas, diced carrots and green peas were waiting in the wings. My next step was to separate the beef from its marinade so I could brown it up.

Prepared ½ cup of vegetable oil and ¼ cup of brown sugar to start the browning process. As soon as it got nice and foamy, in went the beef with that SCHWAAAAAH sound we all know! As soon as they browned up, I transferred the pieces to the waiting pressure cooker.

Poured in 2 cups of water, locked it down and cooked them under pressure for 15 minutes.

Time’s up, and the beef is nice and soft. So I poured everything (including the liquid) back into the same pot they were browning in originally and let the liquid reduce and get a little thicker in readiness for the rice.

(Of course, I couldn’t forget those delicious seasonings now… in they went with the beef!)

Now for the rice. Strained it off and added it to the beef and stirred it well so the sauce would coat it. I found the colour of the rice grains were still too light, so I helped it along with some bottled browning – about a potspoonful went in. (See how the colour changed?)

Here's the fun part… added the diced carrots first, and let them cook for a couple of minutes before adding in the pigeon peas, my special spice mix of nutmeg, a Maggi Ginger seasoning packet and dried parsley and the canned corn.

Aaah, we’re getting closer! In went 3 cups of coconut milk (made from 2 packets of coconut milk powder), a good dash of Angostura bitters and 1 cup of frozen peas.

The last step (and ingredient) to the pelau? I sank a hot pepper in the middle of the pot.

Covered up the pot and cooked it for just 15 minutes until the liquid evaporated.

As we say in Trinidad and Tobago, “Pot Done!”

A delicious Beef Pelau for you!

So there it is, my special Dimanche Gras pelau. Taking a much needed rest until the Dimanche Gras show, where I hope to be sitting in my chair with a bowl of pelau and a glass of juice, cheering on my choices for Calypso Monarch. If you wish to have the complete recipe, drop me a line at naiclah@gmail.com and I will only be too happy to share it with you.

Enjoy the rest of the Carnival season my friends, and please be safe. Until my next kitchen adventure, take care of yourselves and like I love to tell you, don’t forget to mind the pot!

The Banana Bread Experiment...

2012-02-11T17:49:00.000-04:00

You know how it is when you get a new piece of kitchen equipment... you can't wait to try it out, see how it behaves and learn it's little intimate secrets. It was that way last week when I got myself a couple of new 8 cup mini loaf baking pans from I.A.M. & Co, and they were just beckoning me to do something sweet and familiar, and I chose none other than my banana bread recipe. Now, I have two ways of making this. One is with milk and the other is without, but I promise you that both are winners. The milk free one got to christen one of the pans first, and I can't wait to share how everything came together...

I peeled four ripe bananas and went old school on them with my potato masher. Kept it slightly lumpy since I didn't want them to turn into paste.

Next, I measured out 1/3 cup of soft butter and melted it in the microwave. (You could do it on your stove-top as well if like.)

Then, I beat one egg until just frothy and set it aside.

Poured the melted butter into the mashed banana and mixed it in thorouhgly.

Measured out 3/4 cup of brown sugar, but ended up just using the 1/2 cup instead - remember, the bananas are already sweet. (Gave it a good mix.)


In went the beaten egg, 1 teaspoon of vanilla essence, a shake of cinnamon and a shake of nutmeg, followed by another good mix to blend everything in. After that, I added a pinch of salt and 1 teaspoon of baking soda, which will make the banana bread rise nicely.

Lastly, 1 1/2 cups of all purpose flour went in. I slowly mixed it with my whisk, then used the spatula to scrape and grab whatever flour was sticking to the bottom of the mixing bowl. Now nicely mixed, my batter was waiting to get into that lovely new pan!

My pan was sprayed with cooking spray...


And then I poured the batter in. Looks pretty good in there, doesn't it? Then I popped them in the oven at 350 degrees F for 35-40 minutes until they looked golden and passed the skewer test successfully.

All done, my banana breads look so beautiful! (And you can even see the little chunks of banana in there.)

They look just like little golden banana pillows, don't they? (Come to think of it, they are about the size of a cell phone too, lol!)

So there you have it. Perfectly baked banana bread using just one egg, lots of flavour and minus the milk. Now if you wanted to bake this in a regular 8 1/2 x 4 inch or 9 x 4 inch loaf pan, you can. The baking time may go to 40 minutes tops, but still watch them closely after 35 minutes. Once they're done, let them cool in the pan for about 5 to 8 minutes, then remove them and put them on a cooling rack so the bottoms don't get damp due to condensation.

Needless to say, they didn't last very long... at least I got to taste one! Hahahahaa!

Anyway, folks, you take care of yourselves until my next kitchen adventure, okay? And, like I always say, don't forget to mind the pot!

Strutters! (A Chicken Foot Souse)

2012-02-04T13:31:00.000-04:00

Two shopping trips ago, I picked up a packet of lovely fresh cut chicken feet with the intention to turn them into “strutters”, the local name for one of this country’s famous street foods, the Chicken Foot Souse.

Traditionally made from bits of the pig (trotters, ears, etc,) a souse is a simple kind of… well… a pickle of sorts. It’s got limes, cucumbers, peppers, chives and a whole lot of other goodies in there that make for an almost sweet/hot/sour taste that is truly unique. I know that this kind of thing isn't everyone's cup of tea, but my Grandmother loved making this, especially for the liquid, and it's a taste that's part of my childhood.

Now, I’ve tried and tasted lots of different souses over the years, and much as I love pork, I really prefer the ones made from chicken feet. I know… it sounds weird to snack on feet, but trust me, at this time of year (Carnival Season), it’s a truly popular street food, and the souse vendors love to set up their stalls just opposite to St. James’ most famous bar, Smokey and Bunty.

You know, I’ve even heard rumours that a good souse can even kill the effects of a hangover… (no wonder they're close to the drinking hubs!) Anyhoo, here's how the process went down...

First, the feet were carefully washed in water with the juice of two limes, then drained.

Next, with a very sharp knife, the toe tips were removed, along with the foot pad - Errol came to assist since I couldn't man the camera and do this part, hahahaa!

Now for the fun part… sorting and choosing the vegetables that go into it. Here are 4 limes, 2 or 3 pimento peppers, garlic – used about 3 cloves, 1 habanero pepper, chives, local celery, chadon beni (culantro), 2 cucumbers, an onion and a piece of ginger (which ended up not being needed after all).

I seasoned the chicken feet with lime juice, the 2 chopped garlic cloves, a teaspoon of salt, a tablespoon of chopped chadon beni and a couple dashes of Angostura bitters.

Added about 6 cups of water and mixed everything well, then I let it marinate for about 15 minutes.

I put everything in my saucepan on medium high heat, then I split a pimento pepper in half and dropped it in for some extra flavour. I brought it to a rolling boil (occasionally skimming off the impurities from the top), then scaled it back to a gentle simmer and let it go for about 20 minutes, then checked it for taste and seasoning. I added in a little more salt and an optional teaspoon of sugar, then let it cook for another 10 minutes until the meat changed colour and softened.

While that was happening I got busy chopping and slicing up the rest of the veggies, including the cucumbers - which my boy was busily chopping!

So, after the feet were boiled, I removed them from the pot and placed them in a bowl. (Threw the water out: it did its job.)

In went the sliced onions, chopped celery, chive and chadon beni, plus the sliced pimento peppers.

The habanero pepper was carefully cut, minus seeds, then added to the meat. How much you want to use all depends on your tolerance for it, but I've known some people actually put the whole pepper in there. :-)

My boy poured in 2 to 3 cups of tap water one by one until the water almost covered it up. Then it was seasoned again with some juice from the last lime, a little more salt and then in went the sliced cucumbers.

Gave it a good toss up with the tongs…

Then we let it sit for about 20 minutes so all those flavours could meld together.

Voila! Chicken Foot Souse!

I know that the presentation isn't all that here in my little bowl, but when you purchase your serving from the vendors on the street, the feet are placed upright in a medium sized Styrofoam cup, then the liquid is poured on and a few cucumber slices rest in the centre of it. (Trust me, it really looks good that way.)

Anyway, time for me to relax and think up some more dishes to show you, so until next we meet, take care of yourselves, and don’t forget to mind the pot. ;-)

Holiday Ham and Eggs

2012-01-22T13:19:00.000-04:00

It's official. The last of the Christmas ham is gone forever...

Last year, as we always do, the Christmas ham was bought and baked on Christmas Eve. The difference was that it was probably the smallest ham we ever brought into the house. Why? I'm the only one in the house that still eats pork, and for that reason alone, it took a little longer to finish. That’s okay. It’s the “other white meat”, right?

And much as I still love the smell of a baked ham studded with cloves (or just on its own) on Christmas day, I also love having it with my scrambled eggs, which is a tradition that my late grandmother started long before I was born. She also loved making stewed pork and sometimes she even cured her own ham and beef. I'm glad that she left me her stewed pork recipe (which I hope to share on this forum someday), but for now, I’m even happier to be able to share this simple treatment of Holiday Ham and Eggs.

Started with the ham by cutting off the remaining meat and I chopped up about a ¼ cupful.

Then I got ½ a shallot (ran out of onions), 1 blade of chive and half a chadon beni (culantro) leaf. I also cut a sliver of red hot pepper (cuz I like it hot).

After cracking and lightly beating 2 eggs I heated a little table margarine in the frying pan, then added all the shallot, half the chive and the piece of hot pepper. In went the ham, then I poured on the beaten eggs.

Started stirring it, then I sprinkled on the chopped chadon beni and the remainder of the chive, plus a little black pepper.

All done. I’m not the type that likes runny eggs at all, so if it looks brown in places, that’s definitely on purpose.

Put it in my favourite dish to cool a bit and worked on heating up some hops bread… yup… gotta eat a breakfast like this with hops!

Voila! Holiday Ham and Eggs on a toasted hops bread with some tomato... perfect! (Don't forget those extra pieces of ham - just for nibbling!)

Bite in… you know you want to!

As you can see, I had to put a little bit on a teeny piece of bread and take a quick taste… Those eggs were so delicious to me, just the right texture, firm yet giving, and the combination of the herby, salty and peppery goodness was just the perfect breakfast taste.

Here’s to great beginnings, my friends. Until next time, like I always say…

Don’t forget to mind the pot!

An Apology, Gratitude and a Promise

2012-01-21T15:32:00.000-04:00

This morning I was about to write a post on Facebook saying that I had so many work based writing assignments to do today. Wistfully, I thought of this little cooking blog of mine that I began in 2011 and how it has given others so many smiles and literal food for thought, and it hit me that it was suffering for some attention.

Beef and Spincah Lasagna with garlic peas and tomato salad.

Imagine, my blog’s anniversary was January 2^nd. What did I do to honour that?

Nothing. *sniff-sniff*

Yes, folks, I have broken one of the many rules of blogging, which is, ‘be consistent, and post regularly’, but not without good reason.

I have been working harder than the Energizer bunny at my 10 to 6 (and sometimes 9 and 10), doing everything that is asked of me; when the weekends come I am too tired to even post. Since starting my new job at the paper, “me time” is being slowly eaten away as I fulfil my duties. Even now, as I have a ton of stories to write and copy to edit, I can’t help but think about the scads of food photos I’ve taken that are waiting to be sorted and edited, but my eyes and brain are needed elsewhere, especially with the upcoming Carnival season on our heels and those special publications continuing to call.

My take on Greek Salad

I will tell you all that it has been a good year for this toddler of a food blogger, and I wouldn’t have it any other way. I met and made friends some wonderful people including Cynthia Nelson of Tastes Like Home fame and become food buddies with the writers of Chennete, Trini Gourmet, Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner and Punch, Simply TriniCooking and Caribbean Pot. I follow the exploits of BITTT (Bring it To The Table) with Baidawi and Quincy and I am thankful and happy for their dedication to showing what's happening out there locally with food competitions and expos. My buddy Marc Muneal, an Assistant Professor at Gordon GA University even included a little excerpt from my posting on callaloo in his guest post Caribbean Creole meets Sub Continental Indian on his friend Roopsi Risam’s Gourmet PhD blog recently. (Thanks again Marc!)

Sharing a smile as I get my autographed copy of Tastes Like Home from fellow food blogger and writer, Cynthia Nelson.

In between, good friends and strangers have written me to ask questions and leave wonderful comments. Some have asked me to do certain dishes for them on this forum and I have promised them that I would, but yet, the time is not there. (I ask that you please forgive me, I have not forgotten you. They will come.)

Preparing dough for my fried fish pies...

The daily grind has turned me into powder. Some days it is coarse. Other times it is fine. But in all this mess, I need to stay whole, and keep my love of cooking at the head of my table. It is funny how the brain works sometimes, because in the middle of all this, I have been brainstorming a couple of new blog ideas. Soon, my dears… I will release them soon.

Marble Bundt Cake

The best thing that has happened in this truly eventful year of food blogging is that my cookbook, my how-many-years-long labour of love, is finally done. The writing part is over and the next phase is soon to begin and I’ll be working on a few drawings now to accompany my treasure.

Chicken Meatballs with Tomato sauce, served on Spaghetti

So, I shall end this, my first unofficial post for 2012 by saying “thank you” to everyone that has come to this spot by way of searching for a solution or are curious about Trini cooking, because I just can’t do this without you – you do know that, right?

I’ll now leave you with the promise that “Come Taste This!” will get going again (very) soon. When, you ask? Well, it could be tomorrow....

*wink*

Until then, take good care of yourselves, and like I always say… don’t forget to mind the pot.

Just under the wire...

2011-12-31T18:00:00.000-04:00

Complements of the Season to one and all.

I’m guessing that nearly everyone has been doing their do regarding Christmas and are probably feeling the after effects of some ‘overdoing’ as well. Yours truly is feeling some the latter’s after effects, but in a different way – being extremely tired from cooking on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day. What really got me pooped was the usual tradition of pastelle making. Because of the different diets I have to deal with in my house, I make both meat and vegetarian ones. I used to do a soya version, but I have been crafting my lentil pastelles for a while and they have now replaced the soya ones in my household. Even though I went all out with the pastelle making this year, there still wasn’t enough to go around. Oh well…

Now that Old Year’s Day is here, I am still unable to cook as I’d like, because of sinus trouble. You see, I had planned to do the same Christmas meal that my Gran always made us on Christmas Day, which was green peas, macaroni pie, Shake n Bake chicken, roast beef, potato salad, bread stuffing, boiled plantains and her special meat sauce. (I’m still wondering when that meal is going to come, hahahaaa!)

Small thing. Today, I'm going to share how I made my lentil pastelles, which are my daughter's favourite version. As you'll see, they are not quite as complicated as they sound. Enjoy reading! :-)

One 400g pack of lentils was picked over for any stones, washed and put to soak for three hours in 6 cups of water mixed with 1 teaspoon of baking soda.

I chopped up about 5 ounces or so of pimento stuffed olives.

(Forgot to snap a separate pic of the chopped vegetables), which were 5 pimentoes, 1 small carrot, 1 stalk of celery, 1/2 an onion, fresh thyme, 2 leaves chadon beni 2 stalks chive and 2 cloves of garlic, which I just smashed and added to about a potspoonful of olive oil. I also dropped in a 'crossed' pimento - one that was crossed with a hot pepper - to flavour the oil a bit before adding the chopped up veggies.

Tumbled in the strained lentils - didn't wash them from the water they were soaking in - and stirred everything up. Next I crushed in 1 garlic onion and 1 vegetable bouillon cube and stirred in 2 cups water and let it cook (covered) for 10 minutes. I checked after 8 minutes to make sure the water didn't dry out. Added another cupful just in case, and let it go again.

Next, a packet of Maggi's Pork and Ginger seasoning went in (it's vegetarian spices, no meat whatsoever). You can also use a teaspoon of fresh or powdered ginger. Also added a tablespoonful of brown sugar, a dash of Angostura bitters and a dash of ketchup. The lentils were softening up nicely, so I let it cook a couple minutes more.

Time was up. The lentils were soft and delicious (of course I had to taste), and there was no more liquid, which is exactly what I was going for.

Took the lentils off the heat for a few minutes, then put half into my food processor and pulsed it until it looked like mince. Then it was mixed together with the other half so it would have some 'body'.

Back into the pot on a low flame, I added in the chopped olives (and a couple teaspoons of the juice), a cup of raisins that were soaking in a little warm water (strained off that liquid), and 3 heaping tablespoons of sweet pickle relish. You're not seeing capers here because no one in my family likes them, so I always do pastelles without. But if you like them, you could add in 1 to 2 tablespoons or so, according to your taste preferences.

Cornmeal time! Had my banana leaves all ready and got to the cornmeal mixing. A 500g pack of Promasa corn meal was placed into a bowl. Into 6 cups of warm water I mixed in 1/4 cup Blue Band butter, 1/4 cup Cookeen and 3 vegetable bouillon cubes. Mixed until the butter melted, then poured it into the cornmeal and mixed that until incorporated and it was firm enough to be shaped. Measured out 1/4 cupfuls and rolled them into balls; got about 22.

Out came the pastelle press and I got to flattening. Placed a ball on a banana leaf, covered it with another, then pressed it flat.

Put a couple spoonfuls of the lentil mixture onto the pressed corn meal, then folded it over. Closed the banana leaf over it and made a neat little parcel.

I know most use string to tie their pastelles, but not me. I wrap mine in foil. After that, I put some water to boil and popped them in to cook the cornmeal for 25 to 30 minutes.

Out they came, and they were looking absolutely wonderful! As you can see, I couldn't wait to taste the first one!

They say the last bite is always the sweetest.

Well, with this Old Year's presentation, I just want to say many thanks and lots of love to everyone that has either left a comment, asked for a recipe, called, emailed, Skyped me or simply shared some good vibes with me. Thank you for everything, my friends. I also want to give special thanks to my fellow food lover Cynthia Nelson for her love and support and her encouragement to keep the cookbook dream alive… speaking of which… I’ve finally finished it. Yep. All done. Over 150-plus recipes from my mom, granny and me. Thank God! And I can already feel that the next year is going to be one that will keep me extremely busy in the world of food (and of course, readying my new book for publication).

So, let's ring in 2012 with love. I always believe that if you have love in your heart, everything else will follow.

Take care of yourselves, and like I always say, doh forget to mind the pot.

Pineapple Upside down Cake

2011-11-19T16:57:00.000-04:00

Months ago, I had delved into a recipe for pineapple upside down cake. Today, with all the mid morning rain that was banging down, I recalled that lovely pineapple-scented mix of vanilla and cinnamon and wanted to wrap myself in it again like a nice, warm blanket.

Mmm-hmmm...

The kitchen and oven beckoned, and I searched in vain for the two cans of pineapple slices (I knew) I had tucked away in my food bins for just such as occasion… but, as we say in Trinidad, the tins said ‘where yuh see me, take me.’

The mystery was solved when the question on their whereabouts was asked… my family had opened them up and devoured the contents a few days ago, hahahaa!

Oh, well… at least I still have the memories from last time, right?

First off, I had sifted 2 ½ cups of flour, 2 ½ teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt together.

Next, I measured out 1 cup of brown sugar to a half cup of butter.

On to a medium flame they went; the butter got heated first, then the brown sugar was added all at once. I stirred it all together until the grains melted.

Now for the fun part! While still warm, I gently poured out the melted sugar and butter into a 9 inch rectangular baking pan. I drained off my pineapple slices (keeping the juice for the batter) and spread out a layer of 12 slices neatly in the shiny coating of sugar.

My daughter did the next part, which was putting a maraschino cherry into the centre of each slice. All we had to do again was set it aside until the batter was made…

Batter time… I softened up ¾ cup of butter with my hand mixer before adding 1 ½ cups of sugar. I beat in 3 eggs, a capful of vanilla essence and a dash each of cinnamon and nutmeg.

Remember the juice we kept back? Just ¾ of that, plus ½ cup milk was mixed together and I brought back the flour mix. With the hand mixer on low, I alternated between mixing in the flour (divided in three), then the milk and pineapple juice (divided in half), ending on flour.

Poured it in… gently, of course.

Smoothed it off. Not to worry if the sugar creeps up the sides of the pan. Remember, this pan isn’t one that’s greased or floured beforehand, so it acts as an easy replacement.

Into the oven it went to bake for 25-30 minutes at 375°F.

Out of the oven and it smelled absolutely heavenly. (Passed the skewer test with flying colours too.) Took a knife and just passed it along the sides of the pan to loosen, then let it cool for about 10 to 15 minutes.

Flipped it over – I confess that I was so nervous I asked my daughter to do it for me!

Success! The Pineapple Upside down cake in all it’s glory!

(As you can see, my daughter wasted no time and went for her favourite corner piece with gusto!)

So there it was... memories of a delicious cake, that I sadly couldn't recreate today. But, at least we have these memorable visuals!

I promise that more kitchen adventures will come for the month of December, so don’t worry... Christmas dishes will be starring in a big way!

Til then, take care, and like I always say, don’t forget to mind the pot!

Fish, fish in a Dish...

2011-10-30T19:40:00.000-04:00

I’m always amazed whenever Errol does a little ‘something’ in the kitchen, simply because he makes it look like he can do it in his sleep.

Maybe the inspiration came from our recent trek to Harry’s Water Park: our posse became amateur fisher folk and tried to catch some tilapia using conks as bait. The fish were biting, but, according to Errol, they now have degrees in “How not to get ketch.”

Small thing. My boy had a back up plan (it would seem), because out of the fridge came three cro cro fish.

“Where you find that?” I had said.

His reply: “Scotty from work… he got them in Guayaguayare. They nice, eh?”

And with that, he grabbed the biggest bowl, a knife and proceeded to the front step to wash and prepare them…

The 3 cro cro were scaled, split open and the guts, gills and eyes were removed, along with the fins and tails. We hadn’t any fresh limes, so a little molasses vinegar was used to thoroughly wash the fish.

With that done, the seasoning began. It was simple. About 2 or 3 leaves of chadon beni, ½ an onion, 2 pimento peppers (1 red and 1 green, de-seeded), a small bunch of chive, some celery, a large garlic clove and a small tomato were chopped and added to the bowl.

Next came the extras; a little Maggi fish seasoning, some salt, some brown sugar and a little ketchup.

All were gently mixed together.

With his spoon and a knife, my boy stuffed that same seasoning into the cavity of the fish… even the head got some.

They were left to marinate for 20 minutes, covered.

While that was happening, Errol put some green bananas, potatoes, pumpkin and carrots to boil with a little salt.

Marinating time is up! A cro cro is gently lifted from its bowl and placed on a square of aluminum foil.

He wraps up the fish…

And places them in an ovenproof dish to be baked at 350 degrees F for about 30 to 35 minutes.

The boiled provisions were checked and taken off the fire to be cooled and peeled.

He used the remaining seasonings to make a killer sauce… I can’t remember everything that went in, but there was olive oil, a Maggi garlic and onion cube, barbecue sauce, some ginger powder and some water… I think.

Out came the fishes! My boy opened one up and took a taste and said, “Mmm-hmm!” then fixed up his plate one time! (And he didn’t forget the zaboca (avocado) either!)

As for me, I followed suit. Here’s the finished product. Errol’s baked cro cro with provisions and veggies!

De boned and ready!

He was so into his lunch and Sunday Sports that I had to beg for a photo, lol! (Thanks Errol!)

So, there you have it, easy baked cro cro. Tasted absolutely wonderful and though the flavours of the fish itself were subtle, they packed a ton of flavour. Truth be told, we all wished we had more! But that’s okay. As my Granny used to say, “Eat little and live long.” :-)

And here’s where I say my farewells until the next kitchen adventure, my friends. Take care of yourselves and like I always say, don’t forget to mind the pot!

A Pancake Breakfast

2011-10-23T02:54:00.001-04:00

Guys, last week I had a huge yen for pancakes. Not the instant ones where you just add water, but the old school, made from scratch kind that I love doing. Only thing was, at the time I didn’t have a single egg in the house. Thankfully, I do now. *grins like a Cheshire cat*

This particular pancake recipe has been shared with many of my friends and work buddies over the years, and I remember one special Valentine’s Day breakfast in particular (at my former place of work) where I made over 45 pancakes. You see, we had decided to stage a special Valentine’s Day brunch and among the menu items were my cinnamon pancakes and syrup, scrambled eggs, toast, turkey bacon, cheese and other little titbits. Took me a couple hours, but it was worth it a million times over to see everybody enjoy our collective spread.

Today, with all my chicks in the nest, the vibe was just right. So, I surprised the homestead by whipping up some of my tried and true cinnamon pancakes. Did some scrambled eggs and sausage too…

The party began with 1 cup of sifted all purpose flour, 2 teaspoons of baking powder and 1 teaspoon of salt. Next, I melted 1 teaspoon of butter in the microwave (but you can also use a teaspoon of vegetable oil in a pinch). I also cracked open an egg and poured out a cup of milk.

To mix, I simply dropped the egg and milk into the flour and mixed those up with my whisk. Then, I added the melted butter slowly while gently stirring everything together until I got this smooth, pourable batter. (No need to beat it like crazy, trust me.)

Next, ¼ cup of brown sugar gets sprinkled on and whisked in gently, and then a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg entered the dance. Whisked that in and boom, batter was done… or so I thought. I just needed to stir in a tablespoon more of milk to ‘loosen’ the batter up a bit.

My special little non-stick frying pan was placed on a medium low flame. I had previously cut up some tiny pats of butter to cook the pancakes, so when the pan was hot, I added one and let it bubble, then I poured in just a ¼ cup of the batter. Now, my trick to get a round pancake every time is simple; just pour the batter in the centre of the pan and it will spread out by itself without you having to tilt or shake the pan.

Once poured, I kept a close eye on the pancake as it cooked. Little bubbles began forming on the surface and the edges started to firm up. That’s when the pancake tells you it is ready to be flipped (which I did with my trusty spatula).

The underside cooked up in a matter of seconds.

All I needed to do was just slide it off to the plate and repeat the process until all my batter was used up. (Kept my rubber spatula handy to scrape up those last bits of batter as well.)

Voila! My pancake breakfast is complete with some scrambled eggs and cooked sausages. Deeeeelish!

All in all, I got about nine regular sized pancakes (plus the teeny little ‘baby’ you saw on my plate). The strange thing was that no-one requested any pancake syrup. My daughter said simply, “Don’t need it, the eggs have plenty flavour!” Not too long afterward the house just got really quiet, which meant one thing… the "itis" had kicked in.

Felt really good about that, hahahahaa!

So, thus ended my pancake adventure, which I hope to repeat again soon. Til my next kitchen foray, take good care of yourselves, and like I always say… doh forget to mind the pot.

Love and hugs!

Hazel's Sweet Hand...

2011-10-05T00:10:00.000-04:00

It’s always good when college girlfriends can get together and reminisce over some good food, isn’t it?

My girl Hazel and I have been doing the reminiscing part each month-end when we meet to go grocery shopping, so you can imagine how excited I was when she invited me over to spend the weekend with her and her family in San Juan recently.

“Don’t worry about food; I handling yuh!” she had said with a smile. My excitement grew when she mentioned that our menu would include something I hadn’t tasted in a long time… cow heel soup.

Now many Trinis love their cow heel soup with lots of provisions such as green bananas, dasheen and flour dumplings, but not us. Hazel’s cow heel soup was all about the spicy liquid and long before my arrival, the soup was already in production in her slow cooker, and the smell was intoxicating. Her recipe is secret, but I do know that carrots, potatoes, split peas, seasonings and some canned corn all had a delicious role to play in that pot.


And yes, I had to include a pic of said pot, hahaha!

I'm not ashamed to say that this was my bowl. It's so biiiiiiiig!


"Wait... did you just take my picture?" (Everyone, meet my girl Hazel!)

And meet her bowl of cow heel soup too, lol!

The next morning, breakfast was a True Trini classic, bread and some tasty saltfish buljol studded with sweet onions and tomatoes, served with some sliced hard-boiled eggs on the side.

We washed it all down with some orange carrot juice. There were a few zabocas (avocadoes) on the table as well, but they weren’t ripe yet.

(But just imagine that they were and smile at the thought… mmmmm…)

Instinctively, I reached for the butter bread and ladled on the salty goodness and topped them with the slices of egg. For the finishing touch, a sprinkle of pepper sauce which complemented everything perfectly.

Later in the day, my girl picked some pommecythere (golden apples) from the tree outside her house, peeled them and produced a hot and delicious chow in no time with just the right amounts of garlic, hot peppers, chadon beni and salt.

I don’t have to tell you that by the time I spun around, the bowl of chow had
dwindled to just one lonely tenant.

My girl said, “No problem. He will go in the pepper sauce I'm making,” and coolly grabbed him and began to cut him up to put in her blender of garlic, chopped hot peppers, vinegar – and a couple other secret ingredients!

Sistren even hooked me up with a bottle as a lovely parting gift! Yaaaaay! :-D

My fellow foodies, it's easy to see that I had a great time chilling with my homegirl. Everything she prepared was so delicious, and I was truly happy to share her kitchen. Of course, I'll never forget the taste of her cow heel soup. She even laughed when I told her that with the first taste of her soup, I heard angels singing. (It's true!)

So, I'd like to say thanks for checking out my new posting, and Hazel girl, keep massaging that sweet hand of yours.

And, like I always say, don’t forget to mind the pot!

Strawberry Jammin'!

2011-09-14T23:55:00.000-04:00

Hi everyone! I’m back again, and I have definitely missed postingmy food adventures. As you can see, I’ve changed my layout a bit and embracedmore of a minimalist slant. Hope you like it too!

Well, I’ve just finished having a very interesting tea thatincluded toast and strawberry jam. Not store bought, mind you, but my own homemade version. Kinda strange, right? I mean, being Trini, we all know about guavajam, sorrel jam, mango jam... traffic jam… Even Granny used to make a wickedguava jam back in the day, and it went deliciously well with her home madebread.

However, this strawberry adventure began when I received somedelicious strawberries from my friends at Market Movers (Thanks guys!). Myintent was to bake them into something equally delicious, but after washingthem and seeing them looking all deliciously red and plump, the vaps came andkicked me hard to make some jam.

Mind you, I hadn’t made jam in “donkey” years, but likeriding a bike, I never forgot how.

So, I carefully washed these lovely fresh, firmstrawberries, removed the tops and cut them into fours.

I measured exactly four cups of the fruit. You can see therewere a few half ripe ones in there, but that’s fine. (By the way, I also put asaucer in the freezer… you’ll see why later.)

Transferred the strawberries to my cooking pot. Next I addedin some lime zest, the juice of half the lime and a cup of sugar.

Put my flame on medium high and watched it closely as itcame to a foamy boil. Once it started bubbling away, I began stirring. You see,the thing with jam is that you have to keep your eye on it and stir it constantly. It’s notone of those things that you can walk away from once you start. Jam can burn inthe blink of an eye. Trust me.

After about 8 to ten minutes of stirring the contents while ata rolling boil, the strawberries were nice and soft, but not falling apart. So,I took my potato masher and gently crushed them. Because I like my jam chunky,I only did it a few times before giving the mix a quick stir with the masher torelease any stuck on fruit.

Next came the skimming part. This is where I removed thefoam from the top of the jam – it gets rid of impurities and the end product doesn’tget those strange looking white streaks when you bottle it. After skimming andstirring some more…

I put in a teaspoon of vanilla essence and kept that jammoving with the flame on medium. By now, the entire house was smelling sweet and deliciously cosy… mmmm...

Remember the saucer in the freezer? That’s my tester. I tookit out and put a little blob of jam on it and left it for a bit. Poked it withmy finger and… it wasn’t setting. Solution?

Let it cook some more. Upped the fire slightly and stirredit for all I was worth for nearly five minutes. Soon, the jam thickened up considerablyand actually looked like what it was supposed to be (on my toast).

One more test with the plate. This time another blob wentdown and I ran my finger through it. The blob stayed separate, telling me it was at thesetting point. I was definitely there.

So, I turned off the flame and let it cool for a couple of hours and then poured it into a clean, sterilized bottle.

And there you have it. Strawberry Jam.

I really had fun making this, and the texture was just how Iwanted it, with the pieces of fruit easily seen (and enjoyed). This amount(roughly 2 ¼ cups) should last me about a couple of months; of course, I keep minerefrigerated, but it’s not really necessary once your bottles are clean and sterilized.(See, I recycled too, hahahaa!)

And so, another fun food adventure comes to an end. Lookforward to my next one soon, and until then… doh forget to mind the pot! :-)

De Neighbour Caused a Fry Bake…

2011-08-20T14:36:00.000-04:00

My friends, I don’t know if this is just a vaps or last night’s hunger operating here, but I have just finished munching on a classic Trini staple, fried bake and cheese.

You see, last night I was chilling out in my room as usual when I heard some activity and noises coming from the back house next door. Then I smelled what the activity was all about. Fried bakes were sizzling. The smell alone… people… it pelted me back to my Granny standing in front our old mustard coloured Consol stove (humming away) as she delicately turned her bakes over with a fork.

Funny enough, because she made bread so often, she would always run out of yeast by the time she felt for a fried bake, so the one I remember well is her baking powder version, which I loved because they were flaky and soft. (Don’t worry, I appreciate a chewy bake as well!)

So, into the kitchen I went to make my own noise. I wonder what my neighbour will think when she begins to smell my own? Hmmmm!

Started with just 2 cups of flour, which I sifted.

Added two teaspoons baking powder and one of salt, then whisked all together.

Got 4 ounces (about a half pack) of Cookeen margarine, chopped it up and added it to the flour. (As a side note, I should mention that my Granny sometimes used half margarine and half regular butter (2 ounces each) in this.)

(My daughter Leja took over photography duty at this point, lol!)

Sprinkled on a teaspoon of sugar and used my fingers to break down the margarine until the flour looked like breadcrumbs.

Next, I got my potspoon for the mixing, then added less than a cup of (room temperature) water. Remember, there’s no yeast, so you don’t need to have warm water going in this. I stirred it with the spoon until it came together – sticky – then sprinkled on a ¼ cup more flour so I could start kneading it lightly.

Keeping the bowl steady, I gathered the dough and folded it on itself, then just pushed it off with my palm, over and over again.

As the flour worked itself in, the dough got less and less tacky, so just a little more flour was needed for the final bit. As you see here, the dough got even smoother and the sides of the bowl were cleaned. All that needed to be done was to just smooth out the ball of dough and set it in the bowl.

Sprayed the top of it with a little cooking spray (so it doesn’t get hard) and then covered it with a kitchen towel and let it rest for about 15 minutes to half an hour. It won’t really rise, but wondrous things will be definitely be taking place!

Rolling out the dough was simple. I just shaped it into a long sausage, cut it in half, then cut each half into four to get 8 bakes. If you like, you can just pinch off bits of dough instead and roll them into balls.

Next, I took a ball of dough and flattened it with my fingers. Added some flour to the board and then rolled it to about a 5 to 6 inch wide circle with about a ¼ inch of thickness.

Heated about 2 cups of oil in my pan (medium flame) and put my bakes on standby.

Into the hot oil they went. In no time at all, they puffed up like little balloons and when the bottoms became golden brown, I turned them over. When shallow frying like this, I tend to keep the pan moving so they puff up even faster. You can even use a spoon to baste the top of the bake as it cooks.

(And yes, the smell in my kitchen was heavenly!)

As we say, “in two-twos, the fry bake done”!

How do I enjoy my bake? With cheese and some home made local pepper sauce! Yummy!

Breakfast was BESSSSS! The bakes were nice and flaky and the cheese just melted into them… wow. Those fried bakes had me feeling like Granny was right there with me in the kitchen again… no lie. *smiles warmly*

It really felt good to go back in time with this one, even if it took sniffing my neighbur’s cooking to do it, hahahaa!

Thus ends another cooking adventure and I look forward to sharing even more kitchen hi-jinks. Take care of yourselves in the meantime and don’t forget to mind de pot!

Obsessed with Shrimp balls!

2011-08-15T16:24:00.000-04:00

Recently, my daughter and I attended a wedding with a difference.

It was very small and intimate, and there was hardly a dry eye in the house. It had taken place at Jaffa at the Oval. The food (in my opinion) was truly delicious and though I didn’t put many things on my plate, I fell in love with the Grouper en Croute, Chicken Cacciatore and a true favourite of mine, a savoury pineapple chow.

However, I was particularly fascinated with one of the hors d'oeuvres served before dinner. It looked simple and unassuming enough, sitting there with its plastic sword skewer. When I picked one up and dipped it in the silver bowl of ruby and amber coloured dip and took it to my lips, the flavour combo woke up every taste bud in my mouth. They were shrimp balls, paired with a sweet, hot dipping sauce (that I learned later was a type of chilli paste). Even as I met with Chef Joe Brown afterward to thank him for his lovely spread, I neglected to ask about the recipe, but all was not lost. I think my daughter and I had sampled enough for our foodie brains to figure out what went into them.

After scribbling down some of my own notes and making sure I had what I needed in my fridge and food bins, I was ready to experiment with making my own shrimp balls. Let the games begin!

First, I got about 40 raw shrimp that needed to be cleaned, peeled and de-veined. I wish I could have photographed the step by step, but with hands in wet shrimp, it was next to impossible to wield my trusty camera. So, here’s the before and after.

Next, I opened up a small can of pink salmon and added a little apple cider vinegar to it.

I cut some seasonings (onion, chadon beni, parsley and thyme) and put them in the food processor, followed by the shrimp and the salmon. Everything was pulsed to a nice paste.

Next up were an egg white, 5 tablespoons of cornstarch, a teaspoon each of sugar and salt, a tablespoon of grated ginger, some onion powder and a couple tablespoons of cooking wine. Unfortunately, I hadn’t any garlic or garlic powder in the house – that’s why the onion powder came to the party.

(Of course, we couldn’t forget the ‘magic touch’!)

Everything was blended together well; and now, on to some frying action!

Got my medium saucepan and poured about 4 cups of oil into it for some deep frying. I carefully dropped heaping teaspoon sized balls into the hot oil, where they sank to the bottom at first, then happily floated upwards. I kept them moving with my spoon and turned them over from time to time so they cooked evenly (about 2 minutes). When they got to a nice golden brown, I pulled them out, and began another batch.

However, I noticed that as they cooled, they shrank a bit, but that was to be expected; this mix doesn’t have flour or baking powder in it. Still, they looked delicious, and I was done in no time!

Here you go; Halcie’s Shrimp (and Salmon) balls!

Gave myself a lovely reward!

And that was that. My shrimp obsession was satisfied, at least for the time being. The smell alone brought out the rest of the household and these shrimp balls were eaten for lunch, snacked on and… well, let’s just say I have to wait until my next grocery shopping day to get myself some more shrimp. The best part was that taste wise, they were at least 89 per cent close to the ones I had at Jaffa at the Oval, but I’ve promised myself to continue my shrimp experiment over time, possibly trying out ones with baking powder and even try making an oven baked version as well.

So, thus ends my latest adventure and I look forward sharing more of my cooking experiments with you. In the meantime, take care and like I always say… don’t forget to mind the pot!