Caribbean Cruisine: The Caribbean is wherever you are » Cuisine

COLOSSAL CONCH FRITTER

Cassandra — Mon, 07 Jun 2010 00:07:58 +0000

COLOSSAL CONCH FRITTER

How much Conch is too much? I can’t imagine; I say, “the bigger the better.” And, that’s what I got at the Coconut Grove Goombay Festival. How many Conchs does it take to make a big Conch? Well, I bought some Conch at my local fish market so I will let you know. In the meantime, you tell me. What do “you” think is a good Conch – big, small, spicy or mild?

Feel free to share your thoughts on Twitter and Facebook.

(By the way, the photo is “part” of my Conch Fritter from the festival..it was absolutely DELICIOUS!)

A CARIBBEAN DISH FOR LESS THAN $4 BUCKS!

Cassandra — Wed, 02 Jun 2010 00:37:04 +0000

A CARIBBEAN DISH FOR LESS THAN $4 BUCKS!

I’m a huge fan of Pollo Tropical pollotropical.com. It’s a quick, easy and delicious trip to the Caribbean. One of my favorite dishes is their Grilled Tropical Wings. It comes with two sauces -Pineapple Rum Sauce or Spicy Amazon. You can choose from either or do as I do – have both!
For more Caribbean food tips, follow us on Twitter and Facebook.

Boats, Boats, Boats and more Boats

Cassandra — Tue, 27 Apr 2010 01:52:59 +0000

BOATS, BOATS, BOATS and more BOATS

I love all boats: large, small, old or new. Of course you won’t go deep sea fishing in the boat pictured. However, it is a rather interesting Cargo Ship – a dash of antiquity, a pinch of distinction and a splash of Caribbean flavor could make for some cool cruising, albeit not the most luxurious ride.

I do wonder what the cargo is though.

In other Caribbean news, the Caribbean Cruisine chef has an order to find out the recipe to the coffee-rubbed New York strip steak at Greg’s steakhouse in Bermuda. Apparently, it is New York Mayor Bloomberg’s favorite meal there. Coffee-rubbed steak. Sounds yummy. And it sounds like it could be my new favorite dish. What do you think?

JERKED LAMB

Cassandra — Mon, 05 Apr 2010 01:46:22 +0000

JERKED LAMB

Lamb is traditionally the dish for Easter – but we decided to make it Caribbean Cruisine style. It was a slow roast and a perfect time for a long cruise around the bay. For lamb inspiration, we went to one of our favorite books, ”Island Barbecue” by Dunstan Harris.

Jerked Lamb

6-7 pound leg of lamb, boned and butterflied

3 cloves garlic, slivered

1 large bay leaf

½ teaspoon dried thyme leaves

½ cup jerk marinade recipe

Make deep slashes in the flattened out lamb and insert garlic cloves. Place lamb in a large nonreactive blow. Crumble bay leaf and add it and the thyme to ther jerk marinade. Pour the marinade over the lamb, cover, and marinate overnight, turning 3 or 4 times.

Remove lamb from the refrigerator about 30 minutes prior to grilling. Drain and reserve the marinade.

*Grill lamb about 6 inches over medium hot coals in a covered grill for 1 ¼ hours with vents left open. Turn every 10 minutes and baste frequently with reserved marinade.

Transfer lamb to a chopping board and let stand for 10 minutes to reabsorb the juices. In the true jerk fashion, using a sharpened cleaver, hack the lamb into bite-size pieces and serve with Jamiacan hard dough bread and lots of Red stripe beer.

Jerk Marinade

1 teaspoon ground Jamaican pimento (allspice)

½ teaspoon ground nutmeg

½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ cup finely chopped scallions (green and white parts)

*4 scotch bonnet peppers or 6 jalapenos, stems removed and cut in halves, retaining seeds

½ cup distilled white vinegar

¼ cup soy sauce

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

1 tablespoon salt

2 cloves of garlic powder

Combine all the ingredients in a blender or food processor. Process or blend on theliquefy setting for 2 minutes. Pour into a jar and refrigerate until ready for use Jerk marinade will remain good indefinitely as long as it is covered and kept refrigerated.

For Side dishes, we threw in some red & white potatoes and a green salad.

Garlic, Bay leaves & Thyme

Red & White Potatoes with Carrots Lamb Marinating

Piercing the Lamb

Inserting the garlic cloves

Rolling the Lamb

Almost there

Topping with Thyme and Bay leaves

DELICOUS!

*I added 8 scotch bonnet peppers! Also, we roasted the lamb instead of grilling. Either way is fine.

What’s your favorite Caribbean Lamb recipe?

THE FLORIDA KEYS COOKBOOK

Cassandra — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 20:46:25 +0000

THE FLORIDA KEYS COOKBOOK

I love this book. It’s big, colorful and a great coffee table accessory. An extensive cookbook saturated with love for the Keys, this book also shows an eye for informative, low-key illustration using historical photos in ingredients sections like “The Dooryard Garden,” which notes that home gardens were, for much of Keys history, the main source of fresh produce because of local soil conditions and infrastructural isolation from the mainland.

Faithful to Key West perspective on food, the drink section comes first. First in that section is Calomondin Brandy (Vodka with Calomondin oranges). If you feel weary to lookup what the heck a Calomondin is, fear not. Each recipe has a sidebar section explaining ingredients, history, or offering charming trivia relevant to the dish. A common them in these informative snippets are the challenges Keys residents traditionally faced in obtaining ingredients plentiful on the mainland and ethnic origins of dishes and ingredients imported from nearby islands or faraway realms.

This book, in short, will make you an expert in “Conchfusion” cuisine, without ever visiting.

The Florida Keys Cookbook:
Recipes and Foodways of Paradise, Author: Victoria Shearer

DORINDA’S TASTE OF THE CARIBBEAN

Cassandra — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 20:42:38 +0000

DORINDA’S TASTE OF THE CARIBBEAN

Organized by island, this book represents Dorinda Hafner’s effort to examine the influence of African cuisine throughout the Caribbean. A native of Ghana, she assures us that the influence endures, as does innovation of the polyglot peoples who have crafted unique traditions.

Each island-chapter has several glossy close-ups of dishes and is prefaced with a brief island history. The islands chosen for her research are: Cuba, Jamaica, Guadeloupe, Dominica, Trinidad & Tobago, Curacao, and Jamaica.

Recipes are prefaced with facts, anecdotes, and tips, often noting the African ancestry of dishes when relevant. This is one of the more interesting cooking books for traditional Caribbean dishes. The dishes are truly authentic.

Dorinda’s Taste of the Caribbean:
African-Influenced Recipes from the Islands, Author: Dorinda Hafner

ISLAND COOKING

Cassandra — Sat, 27 Mar 2010 20:33:49 +0000

ISLAND COOKING

Written by a Caribbean goods importer, this book fits in the genre of Caribbean cooking books looking to document some of the best traditional dishes throughout the region. The book is organized by type of dish (soup, salad, etc.) and every recipe has a short explanation of origin and place of the dish in Caribbean cuisine. A standout section in the book a drink section with many enticing rum concoction I have not seen elsewhere. I have to admit I’ve had a lot of fun sampling many of them.
Also, in case you have trouble locating some of the ingredients, the book has a helpful list of Caribbean food importers that may come in handy for obtaining Caribbean ingredients.

Good Caribbean eating – wherever you are

Island Cooking
Author: Dunstan A. Harris

HAPPY HOLIDAYS CARIBBEAN CRUISINE STYLE

Cassandra — Wed, 23 Dec 2009 08:58:00 +0000

Our Holiday dinner: Suggestion, be honest with yourself: How much do you really want to work entertaining? Chopping onions and garlic will maim the merriness in your eggnog. Sure, making the shrimp and pumpkin bisque, an outstanding dish we made for Thanksgiving as well, sounds lovely, but it requires shrimp shelling and steaming the Seminole pumpkins harvested this fall. Both of these tasks consumed a lot of time.

Another time thief: guava glaze for turkey. Tip: use beer. Guava jelly in guava glaze takes a long time to reach a temperature that will melt the jelly into the sauce. The original recipe in Eat Cuban! calls for water, but not much. Of course, using a lot of water risks making the sauce watery. Beer does not have this danger. And more liquid (in this case beer, but let us know what else you tried) gets the jelly warm faster. Furthermore, with more liquid there is less chance of what happened the first time we tried this recipe: burnt sugar on the bottom of the jelly cube. Even at a low-medium heat, sugar will caramelize and blacken on the bottom, yet the jelly cube will look happy and pink on top. So easy on the heat! Easy on the heat means it can take a long time to melt, even if you chop into several small pieces. In summary: have no fear with the beer.

Regarding shrimp bisque: no shame in using store bought shrimp stock and pumpkin puree. If, however, you get a special air about you because you did it yourself, in your garden, in your soil, like we do, then we suggest doing tedious tasks in larger batches and freezing. Save your shrimp shells over several months, and make a copious amount of shrimp stock. Same goes for pumpkins: steam, puree, and freeze. Done and ready! Stock and steaming are mundane tasks you can do while checking email or any other task worthy of semi-divided attention. You don’t want to go back to work un-rested, under–eggnogged, and over-basted, do you?

One time-smart thing we did do, however, is cook only part of turkey. You get the tradition without the toil.

The standout dish turned out to be the Key West Shrimp in Keys Cuisine. The biggest question surrounding this recipe was: does mace have a place with shrimp? Will the flavors in marinade outdo the flavor of shrimp itself? Will the paint destroy the canvas? None of these fears were merited. The spices were subtle and popped on the palate in succession. Sweet, tangy, smooth and you could still taste the shrimp all the way through. Spectacular. The black beans were fantastic but we are not convinced there is much point in chopping so many vegetables. A few hot peppers, garlic, Madeira and smoked turkey; sauté; dump in crock pot. Done. We doubt this would come out much inferior to the intricate process called for in the original recipe. Also the original recipe calls for ham and bacon, but turkey necks seemed healthier and equally flavorful….flavor doesn’t always require much sacrifice.

The coconut relish was nice company, but not marriage-worthy. Furthermore, cracking a fresh coconut and grating is not worth the effort in terms of flavor. If, however, you want to show off your hammer in front of guests, then go for it… but relish would be just as good without coconut. The cumin butter was a dud. It may be because we used sherry instead of white wine and not enough butter. But really, the beans and shrimp are outstanding on their own. Cumin butter is gratuitous. The full recipe name is: “Key West Shrimp on Toasted Cumin Butter with Black Beans and Chile, Pineapple, and Coconut Relish.” Also, why doesn’t the relish call for pineapple as an ingredient if pineapple is in the title? If you run into Linda Gassenheimer, please ask her and let us know what she says. One last tip on this one: marinade will be left over. It could be boiled, then simmered, reduced, and spooned over rice (with a bit of butter).

We took great care in researching many coquito recipes. Some call for coconut milk, some for cream of coconut. Apparently, a common cream of coconut product is offered as Coco Lopez Cream of Coconut. In our experience, you are more likely to find Coco Lopez in a liquor store than a grocery store. We opted for a style of coquito that involves poaching spices in water before mixing with three milks: condensed, evaporated, and coconut. We feel that equal proportions of condensed and evaporated, as some recipes suggest, will be too sweet if the condensed milk is sweetened. As for poaching, don’t waste white rum in the poaching like we did. The real advantage is allowing the flavors in the poached liquid to blend evenly throughout the concoction without the coarse texture of ground spices. We used half of a vanilla bean and whole sticks of cinnamon. Cloves might have been interesting. Some recipes call for it. We were a bit skeptical and too anxious for relaxation time for modest experimentation at that point. Some recipes call for eggs; it is our understanding that eggs are used in ponche, common in Venezuela, but less so in Puerto Rico. We have no healthy suggestions for Coquito except to lower consumption by adding more rum and having fewer servings. Also, guilt is not good for your health….so enjoy!

The rub in the turkey guava recipe in Eat Cuban! is, by itself, a winner. We used leftover rub on some shrimp. Excellent. We would recommend deglazing at the end with some white wine and butter, which we did not have on hand at the time. Oh well.

Key West Shrimp On Toasted Cumin Butter with Black Beans and
Chili, Pineaple and Coconut Relish

Pan-Fried Turkey Breast with a Piquant Guava Glaze
Caribbean Tabouleh

I’m off to listen to some Holiday Tunes:
John Holt’s Reggae Christmas Hits Album I love his white Christmas version. For dinner, I suggest Luis Villegas’ Guittarras De Navidad.

Feliz Navidad and Caribbean Love

A CARIBBEAN CRUISINE THANKSGIVING

Cassandra — Fri, 27 Nov 2009 04:04:53 +0000

A CARIBBEAN CRUISINE THANKSGIVING

MANY of the ingredients in an American Thanksgiving are common in the Caribbean as well, such as squash. The most common variety of squash is referred to as “calabaza,” which translates literally as “squash.” In our dinner we will be using Seminole pumpkins,indigenous to Florida. Like calabaza, it is has a sweet succulent flavor and grows very well in hot summers. The Seminole pumpkins came from my Caribbean garden.

Appetizers
West Indian Pumpkin Soup with Spice-Scented Whipped Cream
Shrimp and Pumpkin Bisque
Entrees
Pan Fried Spiced Turkey Breast with Piquant Guava Glaze
Jerk Cornish Hens
Spicy Shrimp with Mango, Avocado and Chardonnay
Sides
Roasted Pumpkin with Mint and Honey
Cassandra’s Chocolate Shrimp Boil
Broccoli Con Mojo
Drink
Pineapple and Sage Mojito

Thanksgiving Day Meats

West Indian Pumpkin Soup Shrimp and Pumpkin Bisque

Pan Fried Spiced Turkey Breast Shrimp Jerk Cornish Hens Spicy Shrimp with Mango, Avocado and Chardonnay

Roasted Pumpkin
Broccoli Con Mojo Cassandra’s Chocolate Shrimp Boil

Pineapple and Sage Mojito

GUAVA DELICIOUS

Cassandra — Sun, 15 Nov 2009 02:06:09 +0000

GUAVA

BECAUSE guava comes from the distinguished Myrtaceae family, you may already know some of her cousins. They include: allspice, arrayán, feijoa, eucalyptus, and cloves. Myrtles are often fragrant and sport an attractive trunk. Guava seeds are small enough to crunch through undeterred, but large enough to be less than charming -like eating shrimp with the shell. For this reason, guavas are often strained of seeds for their pulp.

Although, I have never had one, the bright color and perfume of Guavas makes them a good candidate for a sorbet…Has anyone out there made or consumed a guava sorbet? I have had them as a fresco, a fruit juice plus pulp plus sugar plus water that is common throughout the tropics. A generic term might be “fruit-ade” (like in “lemonade”).

Also, the pinker the better seems to be a good rule of thumb for the different varieties of guava. The inner core is more gelatinous and sweeter –and has the seeds. The outer core is grainier, has no seeds, and is more acidic.

Let’s go back to the scent. Even if you cannot figure out how to use guavas, just letting them rot in your kitchen is pleasurable…but I digress.
There is a solution: buy a guava jelly.

If your city of residence has even one denizen of Cuban origin, you can find it, somewhere. Gourmet versions are also available online. The Cruisine Team has not tried any of these, but I suspect the subtle distinctions may not matter once you add chilies, lime, and beer into a slow simmer to coat meat. Guava jelly is the perfect medium for a sweet, spicy, and savory style of food. Like fig jam, it is a fine foil for funky cheese as well.