Tropical Green Tea Honey Ginger Tea Cake

This is a modification of a standard teabread recipe that I use but with the changes I made, it has a more cake like texture. The final product is lighter, and more crumbly than a bread, but not quite a cake. Because of the texture, I cut it in thick slices, and then cut those slices in 1/2 to serve. The flavors are very light, and tropical, and the color is very light due to the fact that it is made with green tea. White tea could also be used for this. I will publish a more bread like version, using the same flavors, at a later date.

Ingredients

2 oz dried apricots + 1 ½ oz dried mangos + 1 ½ oz dried sour cherries, all chopped finely

250 ml strong green or white tea (I use 2 teabags to the amount of water. I like to use Lipton Mango Peach flavored tea).

1 tbsp honey

3 oz sugar

4oz butter (or 1/2 butter and 1/2 coconut oil)

9 oz self rising flour

1/2 tsp ground coriander

½ tsp salt

1 tsp grated root ginger

1 tsp baking soda

  Method

1. Put all the chopped dried fruit in a bowl. Brew 250 ml strong tea and stir in the honey, and grated ginger root. Let all steep for about 15 minutes. Remove teabags.
2. Put the liquid mixture above into a saucepan, and add the butter, sugar, and dried fruit. Bring all to a boil, slowly, stirring continuously. Boil for 3-4 minutes then remove from heat to let cool to room temperature.
3. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
4. In a separate bowl, put the flour, salt, baking soda and coriander,
5. Mix wet and dry ingredients; stir the mix with a wooden spoon.
6. Transfer to a greased loaf tin (I also line the bottom of the tin with parchment paper) and bake for about 1 hour or until a skewer inserted into the cake comes out clean. Cool bread in tin for about 10 minutes then turn out to finish cooling on a wire rack. Cut into thick slices, and serve with butter if desired.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken with Mango Chili Sauce

Ready to plate

Jerk Chicken with Mango Chili Sauce, Pickled Jalapenos, and Vietnamese Do Chua

Because I was very pleased with the National Brand Spicy Tamarind Chutney, I thought I would try to use their Mango Chili Sauce in a similar way. The combination of the very spicy Jerk Seasoning by Walkerswood was nicely offset by the sweetness of this mango sauce.Naturally, both sauces needed a little help with other things!

Some of the ingredients

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken (wings, drumsticks, thighs, bone in, skin on)

Marinade

1 tbsp dry meat seasoning

3 tsp wet jerk seasoning (either Grace or Walkerswood brands)

1 tbsb pickapeppa sauce

1 tbsp Worcester sauce

1 tbsp light or dark soya sauce

1 tbsp thick soy sauce (this is soy sauce mixed with Molasses. It gives the dish a slightly sweet flavor, and causes a nice char when the meat is broiled)

1 tbsp grated ginger

1-2 tbsp cooking oil

Add after broiling

1 300 gram bottle National Mango Chili Sauce (Available from most Indian or Pakistani grocery stores). 

Method

1. Score meat, add marinade ingredients, and refrigerate overnight in a Ziploc bag. Make sure to mix the marinade into the meat well.
2. I use a special broiler pan (see photo) but any type of roasting pan with a rack could be used. I line it with foil to make clean up easy.
3. When ready to cook, place the chicken parts on the rack so that the drippings can collect in the pan. I broil close to the broil element in my stove, turning once when the surface has charred slightly (see photo)
4. Remove from under broiler, and place the partially broiled chicken parts in the roasting pan. Cover with the whole bottle of Mango Chili Sauce. Cover with foil, and bake in oven at 360 degrees F for 45 minutes.
5. Remove from oven, lift off foil, and then put the roasting pan under the broiler until the skin starts to sizzle and char (about 3-5 minutes).

Broiler pan

Jamaican Korean Spicy Pork Chop

Spicy pork chop with quick stir fry of baby corn and carrot

I have never found Korean Red Pepper Paste by itself to be particularly spicy or interesting. I wondered what a fusion with some Jamaican Jerk would do to it, and whether the two types of seasoning would “play” nicely together. I thought the best thing would be to try it on a pork chop first to see what the result would be. The sauce is very thick, and spicy, made more interesting by the sharpness of the jerk seasoning, and the extra shallot and garlic. I did not know what to call this so it’s just what it is, Jamaican Korean Spicy Pork Chop!

Ingredients

Some ingredients you need

1 8 oz pork chop, ½ -3/4 inch thick

2 tsp Korean Red Pepper Paste (Gochujang)

1 tsp wet jerk seasoning (I use either Grace or Walkerswood brands)

1 shallot

1 clove garlic

3 tsp soy sauce

2 tsp honey

½ inch piece of peeled ginger root

Method

1. Put the pork chop in a Ziploc bag
2. Put all ingredients for the marinade/sauce in a small blender and blitz to a paste
3. Pour paste over the pork chop, and rub over the pork chop in the bag
4. Refrigerate overnight
5. When ready to bake, preheat oven to 425 degrees F. Remove the chop from the plastic bag and wrap pork chop and marinade completely in foil. Bake for 30 minutes.
6. Unwrap the chop and turn it over. Bake uncovered for another 5 minutes.Plate cop and spoon thickened sauce over it.

 

Gold Habanero Ginger Jelly

Most people are afraid to use Habaneros because they are such hot peppers. However, if the heat is tempered with sugar and other spices, it really tones things down a lot. This is my version of a Habanero Jelly that does not make a huge quantity. The preparation time is a little long and tedious but the final result is worth the effort. For most people, it's advisable to wear gloves when handling the peppers but since I've been handling these peppers for most of my life, I do not! Make sure that all the peppers selected are blemish free, and firm. The jelly makes a nice condiment for spicy dishes, and goes well with cream cheese and saltine crackers.
Ingredients

1/3 cup finely sliced dried apricot (you can also used dried Mango or dried Pineapple)

¼ cup dried cranberries or Golden Raisins
3/4 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup finely diced shallot

1 clove of garlic, finely minced

1/2 tsp ground Coriander (optional but I like the Citrus taste of this spice)

½-1 tsp peeled, freshly grated ginger root (depending on your taste and liking for a "gingery" taste)
1/4 cup finely diced Red jalapeno peppers without seeds
1/4 cup finely diced Gold habanero pepper, without seeds  
Method
 

1. Cut apricots into thin slices and place in a non-reactive saucepan or pot with the vinegar, ground Coriander, cranberries(or raisins), and grated ginger. Heat slowly to just below simmer then remove from heat and let sit for 2-4 hours. This extracts the pectin from the dried fruit and helps with the jelling process.
2. Finely dice the shallot, garlic, and all the peppers.Add to pan with apricots. Stir in sugar.
4. Heat mixture to the point just below simmer, stirring constantly until all the sugar is dissolved, and the shallots become translucent. Do not boil as this will boil off the vinegar. Cook for an additional 5 minutes.
6. Remove from heat and immediately stir in liquid pectin, mixing well. You have to work quickly at this stage as the mixture does jell pretty quickly. Stir until all the solids are mixed and evenly distributed in the mixture.
8. Pour into hot sterilized jars before it gets too firm. 
9. Cover with appropriate lids, and refrigerate if you are not going to can.

Fusion Fish Curry

This recipe is more about the sauce, and the fusion of cooking styles, and less about the type of fish that is used. It draws on Malaysian, South Indian, Jamaican and Sri Lankan curry to come up with a unique tasting sauce. The sauce has a lot of ingredients, which gives it tremendous depth and complexity of flavor. The fish should be in small pieces so that it can readily absorb the sauce. I used a whole Red Snapper, cut into 3 pieces, which was not ideal. This recipe could be used with any fish fillet, sliced Kingfish, chunks of fish meat, and even frozen fish fingers for a really quick meal! I’ll try it with Catfish meat next time. 

Ingredients

1 lb any kind of firm fish meat or fillet

Grace Caribbean Traditions Fish Seasoning

2 tbsp cooking oil

1 tbsp Jamaican or any type of Caribbean curry powder

1 tsp Garam Masala

½ tsp salt

1 thumb sized piece of fresh ginger root, peeled and finely grated

3 cloves garlic, finely minced

1 medium sized shallot, chopped finely

Few sprigs of thyme

1-2 green onions, only green part, thinly sliced

2 small plum tomatoes, pureed

1-2 tbsp coconut milk

1-2 tbsp water

½ tsp sugar

1 tbsp Pickapeppa sauce or similar Tamarind based sauce

1 tbsp tomato chili sauce

2 tbsp chopped red bell pepper

1-2 tsp finely minced habanero pepper or 1-2 Thai Chili peppers, chopped

Method

1. Season the fish meat liberally with the salt and Fish Seasoning. If you have a good kitchen exhaust fan system, you can opt to brown the fish chunks in oil. I coated them with the cooking oil and put them under the broiler for about 5 minutes rather than frying. The idea is to just brown the outside with the seasoning to flavor the oil. Remove from oil.
2. Saute in the cooking oil, the shallots, garlic, green onions, thyme, grated ginger, curry powder, garam masala, minced Habanero pepper, cubes of red bell pepper, until it starts to smell fragrant, and the seasonings release their flavor. Add the Pickapeppa sauce, tomato chili sauce, coconut milk, sugar and water. Simmer the sauce for about 10 minutes until the coconut milk starts to separate into oil.
3. Place the browned fish pieces in the sauce, cover and simmer until the fish is cooked (about 10-15 minutes depending on the thickness of the fish meat).

 

Refrigerator Pickled Jalapenos

I like to make my own pickled Jalapenos! The ones you buy from the stores are often very soft, have turned a brown color, and really do not taste all that appealing. Naturally, for someone who grew up eating Habanero peppers daily, Jalapenos are considered mild. The Scovill number for most Jalapenos ranges from 2-12 whereas the Habanero starts at about 2000! I have kicked the usual pickling mixture up a notch by adding some spices, garlic, and of course, a piece of Habanero to each bottle. I usually make more pickling mixture than I need.
I have not quantified the number of Jalapenos you need. That's dependent on the size bottle you will be using, the size of the Jalapenos etc. This recipe is only for the pickling brine.

Pickled jalapeno mixture

1 ½ c vinegar

1 ½ c water

1 tsp salt

2 tbsp sugar

1/4 tsp Ball's Pickle Crisp

1 tbsp coriander seed

1 tsp pimento (Allspice) seeds

2 cloves garlic, sliced

1 small carrot, sliced

1 small shallot, sliced

One small slice of habanero to each bottle

1. Clean and sterilize the containers well. Even though this is a recipe for refrigerator pickles (not canned) the same principles of preparing the bottles apply. Use only firm peppers that are nice and smooth with no blemishes. I sometimes add 1-2 red ones as well just for color. Wash the peppers and slice them up. Do the same with the carrots and the shallot. 

2. Bring the pickling mixture, the sliced garlic and the seeds to low simmer, just below boil. Don’t boil. Let it cool to room temperature. 

3. Pack peppers, carrots, shallots in a jar, Pour cool pickling liquid mixture over peppers in jar. Distribute the various seed spices between bottles if you are using more than one. Cover and refrigerate. Because this is a cold pickling method, they take about 2 weeks to mature.

Oven Baked Jamaican Fricasseed Chicken

Fricasseed Chicken is a Jamaican staple. The original method involves seasoning the chicken with the onions, garlic etc, and letting it marinate overnight. Then you would have to remove the onions etc before frying the chicken pieces in a lot of oil, and all before stewing it gently in the sauce. This is a new way of making this less greasy. I have also modified the way the sauce is made as I always hated to have to pick out the chunks of onion, green onions, and thyme sprigs in the sauce. All that stuff made it more difficult to enjoy the sauce over the rice unless you removed all the bits and pieces before eating. In addition, because it uses a variety of baking methods (Bake, steam bake, and broil) the flavors are more complex than you get from just stewed chicken. This has the flavors of an oven roasted, BBQ, steamed chicken. It is traditionally served with rice and red beans, fried plantain, sliced tomato and lettuce.

Ingredients

2 lbs chicken thighs or drumsticks, bone in, skin on

Grace Chicken, Dried Jerk, or All Purpose Seasoning

½ tsp salt

1 tsp honey

1 tbsp cooking oil to mix with raw chicken plus 1 tbsp oil to fry the onion etc

1 tbsp Worcester sauce

1 tbsp Pickapeppa Sauce

1 inch ginger root, peeled and finely grated

1 Medium sized onion, cut into wedges

3 Roma Tomatoes, cut into wedges

3 cloves Garlic

1 yellow or red Habanero pepper, left whole

A few sprigs of thyme, use the leaves, not the stems.

4-5 Allspice grains

3 stalks Green onions, both white and green parts

½ cup cubed green or red bell pepper (or both) (optional)

1/2 cup Tomato chili sauce (I use the Maggi brand made for the Indian market)

Method

1. Score the chicken pieces by making one or two cuts on both sides of the chicken down to the bone
2. Season liberally with the All Purpose, Jerk or Chicken Seasoning (whichever one you opt to use). I also add an extra ½ tsp salt as the bottled seasoning, in my opinion, needs more. Rub the seasoning into the chicken, especially into the slashed areas.
3. Put the chicken pieces in a Ziploc bag and add the Worcester Sauce, Pickapeppa Sauce, Honey, cooking oil, and grated ginger. Mix the pieces well by squeezing the bag and marinate in fridge overnight.
4. When you are ready to start making the dish, fry the onion, whole Habanero pepper, tomatoes, garlic and green onions in about 1 tbsp cooking oil for about 3-4 minutes until the onion starts to break apart, and become translucent and soft. This mixture, including the Habanero, flavors the oil and allows it to transfer the flavor to the dish. Remove from heat, REMOVE THE HABANERO WHOLE and put aside. Puree the other things in a food processor or blender. After blending, add the thyme, allspice grains, and tomato chili sauce to this pureed mixture.
5. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F, and place the chicken pieces skin side up in a heat proof Pyrex oven roaster (or any other roaster). Bake at this high heat until the chicken skin is browned, and the seasonings smell fragrant (20-25 minutes). Remove from oven. At this stage you may discard the oil in the dish if you wish. If it’s a lot from the chicken skin, I do that. DO NOT however remove the skin!
6. Pour the pureed mixture of onions, tomatoes, etc, over the partially baked and browned chicken pieces. Place the whole Habanero pepper on top. If you have opted to use the bell peppers, sprinkle over the top as well. Cover the dish with foil, decrease the oven temperature to 350 degrees F, and bake for 45 minutes. This allows the chicken to steam bake in the sauce, and absorb its flavors, and for the sauce to absorb the flavors from the seasonings on the chicken. It also allows the Habanero to flavor the sauce without it becoming too spicy (as it would if you sliced or chopped it up).
7. Remove from oven and take the foil off. Make sure that the chicken pieces are well mixed in with the sauce. Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F, and let the sauce bubble and thicken as it cooks in the oven.
8. Remove from oven, taste the sauce and if needed, season to your liking (rather than adding more spicy seasoning at this stage, I add a chicken bouillon cube, crumbled and mixed into the sauce). Place the roaster pan under a broiler, and broil until the skin on the chicken pieces develops a slight char in areas (as seen in the photo), and the sauce starts to bubble. Enjoy!