Caribbean Cuisine in the Kingdom

          One day, I asked my co-worker Cherryl, who is from Guyana, to teach me how to prepare some of the Caribbean dishes that she bring for my lunch sometimes. She said okay and collected the ingredients that we would need. I am from the northeast and grew up amongst a plethora of ethnic groups (i.e. Italians, Puerto Ricans and Germans) but mainly Afro-Caribbean (Haitians, Jamaicans and Trinidadians) folks. So during the dinner hour, my neighborhood would be overflowing with an assortment of aromas; spicy sauces for pasta, pastelons (sweet plantains with pork) or even, apple strudel. But my favorite was the Caribbean cuisine. Cherryl taught me to prepare these dishes and decided to share her recipes.

We started off with the peas and rice. Let me tell you, this is not your ordinary, white rice!

PEAS and RICE (called “cook up rice” in Guyana)

First, pressure cook ox tails and salt meat

Add kidney beans (you can use black –eye peas, split or pigeon pea), 2 cups

Add chopped onions, 1/2 cup

Add coconut milk, 4 1/2 cups

Let simmer 10 minutes

 Add 3 cups of rice (uncooked)

 Add 2 tbsp soy sauce

Add 2 tbsp Worcester sauce

Add quartered tomato

Add quartered green peppers

1 tbsp Basil

1 tbsp Thyme

1 pkg of chicken bullion

Add salt to taste

Stir, cover the pot and allow to simmer for 25-30 minutes or until the rice is cooked. Stir to prevent burning.

Next is one of my favorites…..Curry chicken. I just love the taste of curry!

 CURRY CHICKEN

 Mix cumin, curry powder and water with:

1 onion, cut up

Garlic, minced

Ginger, minced

 Put in pot with hot oil

Add seasoned chicken (lemon pepper, chicken seasoning, soy sauce and Worcester sauce) 

Simmer for 10 minutes

Add coconut milk, 1 cup

Add 1 tomato, cut up

Add potatoes, 3 medium potatoes

Add chicken bullion

Simmer until the potatoes are tender.

If you haven’t had some Jerk Chicken, you are missing a treat. Spicy, but delicious!

JERK CHICKEN

Preheat oven to 350

Rub the Jerk Seasoning (hot spice mixture) into the chicken, add 1/4 cup of olive oil and allow marinating for one hour in the refrigerator

Place the marinated jerk chicken in baking dish

Cover with foil and put in the oven for 20 minutes

Roti is a must, to complement these three dishes!

ROTI

Baking powder, 2 tbsp

Flour, 3 cups

Water, 1 cup (add more as needed)

Mix flour and baking powder together

Slowly mix with water into soft dough.

Let stand for 10 minutes

Add small amounts of flour to firm up batter

Mix ghee (clarified butter) with cooking oil

Divide dough into equal portions

Roll each piece of the dough on a floured surface, brush with the ghee and oil mixture evenly over the surface, make a slit in the center and fold all corners. Let stand for 5 minutes.

Roll out each piece of the dough and place on hot grease roti pan or skillet

Turn the roti on both sides and brush with the ghee and oil mixture.

Remove the roti from the pan or skillet and “clap” immediately.

(“clapping” causes a ripped up, flaky appearance).

Fold and place in a bowl lined with wax paper

I am still trying to get the “clapping” part correct. That roti is hot!!

And there you have it! Loosen the belt on your pants and dig in!

“Big up and walk good”,

GMarie