Recipe#10906
Title: Jamaican
Date: Sat, 21 Aug 1999 15:35:05 -0400 (EDT)From: Nyani-Iisha nymartin@netway.com
Subject: The r.f.c archive
Message-ID: Pine.BSF.4.10.9908211533190.96337-100000@shell2.mdc.net
The r.f.c archive
Curry Goat4 lbs goat with bones, sawed into 2 inch pieces
2 large yellow onions
2 medium potatoes
4 tbsp curry powder
1 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp allspice
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
4 tbsp frying oil
4 cups water
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
Mix the goat with 1/2 the curry powder. Peel and chop the potatoes into
1-inch chunks; peel and chop the onions into 1/2 inch chunks.
Heat a large frying pan and brown the meat, in small batches, in the oil.
Place the browned goat in a 10 to 12 quart stove-top casserole and add the
vegetables from the marinade, pan drippings, remaining spices and 4 cups
water; cover and simmer until tender, about 3 hours or so Uncover the pot
for the last hour or so in order to thicken the sauce a bit. Add salt and
pepper to taste. Serves 8.
PEPPERPOT SOUP
1/2 pound callaloo
12 okras
1/2 pound Indian kale leaves
12 cups water
1/2 pound pig's tail or salt beef
1/2 pound shin of beef
3 cups coconut milk
1/2 pound each yellow yam and coco, peeled and sliced
2 scallions, crushed
1 sliced hot pepper, seeds removed
Black pepper
Wash thoroughly and chop finely the callaloo, okras and Indian kale
leaves. Put them to boil in the water with the pig's tail or salt beef and
the shin of beef for 2 hours, or until the meats are tender. Add the
coconut milk yams and coco, scallions, hot pepper and a little black
pepper. Add more water if necessary, though the soup should be fairly
thick in consistency. Simmer for a further 30 minutes.
Yield: 4 to 6 servings
Sorrel
8 cups water
2 cups sorrel (dried hibiscus blossoms. Often sold for use in tea in
places that sell herbs in bulk, such as health food stores)
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1 cup sugar or to taste
Jamaican rum (optional *grin*)
In a 4-quart stainless steel or glass pot, bring the water to a boil. Add
the hibiscus and ginger. Turn off heat, then cover and steep for 4 hours.
Strain and sweeten with sugar to taste. Chill and serve, with or without
rum.
CODFISH FRITTERS
1/2 pound salted codfish
2 cups flour
2 onions
2 plum tomatoes (regular are too watery)
2 stalks scallions
1/2 tsp thyme
pepper to taste
1 jalapeno pepper (maybe. In Jamaica we'd use a habanero, but that's too
hot for American children.)
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 cup to 1 cup water
Oil for frying in a frying pan.
Soak codfish, preferably overnight. Drain, rinse under cold water, flake
the fish, making sure to remove fish bones. Chop tomatoes, onion,
scallion, and jalapeno, if used. Add these and the codfish to the flour,
thyme, pepper, and baking powder, and mix. Add enough water to make a
batter that coats the spoon to a depth of about 1/4 inch---not too thick,
not extremely thin. Fry by teaspoons in about 1/2-inch of oil or deep fat
until golden brown. Drain on absorbent paper. These are best hot, but can
be served at room temp.
FESTIVAL
(a fried sweet dumpling)
1/2 cup yellow cornmeal
1&1/2 cups all - purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 tablespoons sugar
2 pinches salt
1 egg, beaten (optional)
Ice water
Oil for frying
Mix ingredients together and add enough ice water to make a soft dough but
firm enough to be able to shape into dumplings. Knead lightly. Divide
dough into pieces the size of your littlest finger and flatten slightly in
the center. Fry in 1/2 inch deep oil until golden brown and cooked
through. Drain on towels and serve.
>From Winsome Reid at www.jamaicans.com:
OXTAILS STEW
INGREDIENTS:
1 oxtail about 2-2.5 lb. Cut up
4 tblsp. cornflour
2 tblsp. cooking oil
Salt and Black pepper
4 rashers (slices) Bacon (Sugar cured, rindless)
2 medium onions sliced
1 clove garlic crushed
4 carrots pared and sliced
1 cup peeled chopped tomatoes
1 pint (16 fl. Oz) hot water
2 stalks green onions finely sliced
1 spring thyme
1 can butter beans (Lima beans)
METHOD:
1.Trim away excess fat and place oxtail in boiling water
for 2 to 3 minutes to blanch.
2.Drain well on absorbent paper and coat with cornflour.
3.Sprinkle with salt and pepper.
4.Heat oil in heavy skillet and brown oxtail on both sides
removing when brown.
5.Pour off excess fat.
6.Dice bacon and fry for a few minutes.
7.Return oxtail to pot with bacon, add carrots, onion,
garlic, tomatoes and hot water.
8.Cover and simmer gently for 3.5 to 4 hours or until
oxtail is almost tender.
9.At this stage add more liquid if necessary and season.
10.Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes. Add the butter
beans and allow to simmer for 3 to 4 minutes.
11.Serving for 4.
My recipe for Jamaican Beef Patties.
(for chicken patties use 2 lbs ground chicken, and 1 can chicken stock AND
1 packet chicken boullion or 2 packets. Reduce all seasonings to 2/3 the
original amount.)
Filling:
2 lbs ground beef
1 can beef stock or
1 packet beef boullion
10 sprigs of thyme (or 2 tsp)
1 big onion
2 bay leaves
2 small hot peppers (or 2 tsp powdered red pepper)
2 teaspoon paprika
1 generous tsp black pepper
1 generous cup breadcrumbs
salt, if necessary.
De-seed peppers. Grind in cuisinart with onion, black pepper, and 1 can
beef stock or 1 cup water. Pour into pan and mix beef in really well (no
lumps). Add bay leaves, paprika, thyme (tied together into a spreading
bouquet) and boullion if using. Simmer uncovered until the mixture is
pasty rather than liquidy (i.e., the liquid has boiled off, but the
mixture is still moist-wet). Remove bay leaves and thyme, taste and
correct seasonings. Add breadcrumbs, mix well, and leave to cool.
Pastry:
1&1/4 cups shortening
4 to 5 cups flour
1 level teaspoon salt
1&1/4 cups water
1&1/2 tbsp turmeric
1 tsp rum or 1/2 tsp vanilla
Mix shortening, water, rum, and salt in a saucepan and heat until
shortening dissolves. Mix flour and turmeric thoroughly in a big bowl; add
shortening mixture and stir until a soft sticky dough forms. The mixture
should definitively be a dough rather than a batter; add flour as
necessary to achieve this. Turn into a bowl, cover with plastc wrap, and
refrigerate overnight. Use *cold*.
Assembly:
Roll dough out to about 1/4 to 1/8 inch thick.
Hard but traditional way:
cut dough into circles. Add filling, crimp edges shut with fork.
Lazy way:
cut dough into squares. Add filling, fold dough twice to cover. (Fold the
points inward from the edges. A three-inch square of dough will take 1
level tablespoon and one level teaspoon of filling.)
either way, put filled patties on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at
400 degrees for about 20-25 minutes, until noticeably browned.
Jerk Chicken, three ways.
Recipe #1.
1 whole chicken, cut into 8 pieces, *or* 2 cornish hens, each cut into 8
pieces, *or* 3 to 4 pounds chicken wings, jointed or not as you prefer.
1 heaping tablespoon jerk seasoning (use a good brand such as Busha Browne
Walkerswood Jerk; the seasoning should be a *wet* paste. Avoid any
so-called jerk seasonings that are liquids or powders.)
2 tbsp pickapeppa sauce
1 tbsp oil
1/2 tsp salt.
Blend all ingredients except chicken, then add chicken and coat
thoroughly. Leave to marinate at least overnight. Grill chicken, or roast
it in a 450-degre oven till done.
Recipe #2.
If one cannot find pickapeppa sauce, substitute:
3/4 tsp sugar
1 tbsp ketchup
1 tbsp worcestershire
pinches of pepper and allspice
Proceed as for the previous recipe.
Recipe #3.
If one can't find jerk paste, make it! This recipe was given me by Tamzen
Cannoy; it's from _Island Cooking: Recipes from the Caribbean_ by Dunstan
A. Harris. c. 1988, from The Crossing Press, Freedom CA 95019.
I would use one heaping tablespoon of this in my recipe #1 above.
2 ounces whole Jamaican Allspice, crushed
1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1 tsp ground cinnamon
12 scallions, cleaned and chopped
6 Scotch Bonnet (Habenero) peppers or 12 Jalapenos, halved _with_ the seeds
1/3 cup red wine vinegar
2 TBL vegetabel oil
1 TBL salt (I usually only use about a teaspoon)
! tsp freshly ground black pepper (I probably use more, but I don't really
measure it)
2 TBL soy souce
some rum to taste
Crush the allspice in a mortar and pestal or a coffee grinder or pepper
grinder. Leave it fairly course in good sized chunks. Combine all the
ingredients in a blender or food processor. Process until liquified and
well blended. Pour it in a jar (glass only--it eats plastic) and
refrigerate until you are ready to use it.
This makes about a cup and it's pretty thick. I leave it like that and then
add more oil to marinate the meat when I'm ready. Roughly 2 good, rounded
teaspoons of this, blended with oil to thin it out, will suffice to
marinate 2 full chicken breasts (4 pieces) to a very hot level. It doesn't
need to marinate all that long either, half hour to an hour is plenty, so it
makes an easy quick dinner. It goes a long way and keeps very well in the
refrigerator. If you don't want to make this much, it's easy to just cut
the recipe in half or so.
>From The Frugal Gourmet On Our Immigrant Ancestors:
Rice and Peas
Serves 8-10 as the starch in a Jamaican meal
1 cup dried kidney beans, rinsed.
approx 5 cups water
1 13.5-ounce can coconut milk
4 scallions, finely chopped
3 thin slices jalapeno pepper, chopped (or one scotch bonnet, left quite
whole*)
3 cloves garlic, peeled and crushed
2 tsp dried thyme
2 cups long-grain white rice
1&1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp black pepper
Place the beans and 4 cups cold water in a 4-quart pot. Cover, bring to a
boil,turn off the heat, allow to stand for 1 hour. Drain, and return the
beans to the pot. Add the coconut milk, onion,hot pepper, garlic, thyme,
and 1 cup cold water. Cover and simmer for 30 minutes until the beans are
just tender. Drain the beans and return them to the pot, RESERVING THE
LIQUID. [Emphasis mine, not his. I once had rice and beans that had had
this step omitted. The beans were good, the rice around them bland.] Add
the rice, salt, and pepper; measure the reserved liquid and add enough
cold water to make 4 cups total. Add the liquid to the pot. Cover, bring
to a boil, and reduce the heat to low. Simmer for 15 minutes until the
liquid is absorbed. Add more salt and pepper if desired.
*:My variation, not the Frug's.
And, last but not least:
Ackee and Salt Fish, the National Dish
1/2 pound salt cod
3 tbsp peanut oil
1 large yellow onion, peeled and chopped
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 plum tomato, chopped (optional--how my mom made it)
1 19-ounce can ackee (or, if you're lucky, 2 dozen whole fresh ackee)
1/2 green bell pepper, cored and chopped (optional)
tabasco, if desired, or diced jalapeno to taste.
Rinse the salt cod, soak it overnight, and drain; simmer in fresh water 10
minutes, cool, flake, and debone if necessary.
Heat a large frying pan and add the oil; saute the onion till transparent.
Add the peppers and/or tomatoes and the thyme and black pepper and saute
till heated through, then add the ackee and toss till hot. Add tabasco if
desired, and serve with fried dumplings and/or Hard-dough bread.