Moussaka - with Plantains!

Although considered Greek, the iconic Moussaka has its origins in the Middle East and the Mediterranean. According to Greek food expert, Aglaia Kremezi, before the 20th century, there was no Moussaka as it is known today! The first time I ate Moussaka was right here in the Caribbean, in Trinidad & Tobago, and it was made with ripe plantains! Read this week's column for more about this shared dish.

Prepping for the dish takes time but it is totally worth it.

The recipe can be found in this week's column

Here are some Greek experts whose Moussaka recipes you must try:

Peter's Zucchini Moussaka
Ivy's Traditional Moussaka
Sam's Marvellous Moussaka

THIS WEEK ON ABOUT.COM

Delve into a must-have in Caribbean kitchens - Green Seasoning and make your own with this recipe.

It's summer time and tomatoes are plenty! Make a simple salad to celebrate the flavours of the season.

Read more...

Bye-bye Mangoes

When will I see you again? When we will we share precious moments? Three Degrees' When Will I See You Again, kept playing in my head all the while as I wrote this week's column - Bye-bye Mangoes.

Dear Mangoes,

Your season is almost over. Sure, we have a couple of weeks remaining but I am missing you already. Each year you surprise me with your flavour and variety. Each year I marvel at your perfection, Each year, I fall in love with you deeper and deeper. I know that you must leave to regain your strength so that when we meet again, we can fall in love all over again, deeply and madly. Oh how I'll miss you so. Continue reading the column.

How do you like to enjoy mangoes? This is a question I asked a couple of years ago. Here's what many had to say.

Mangoes are delicious on their own when fully ripe but try having them with a little salt and you will be amazed by the heightened flavour and sweetness. My friend Tuty told me about adding some Kecap Manis to the salt and pepper when eating half ripe mangoes. Man, that was another flavour combo discovery - you get sweet, salt and heat in one bite. Glorious!

Among the many things I made was this mango chutney recipe from Shobana. The sweet and savoury combination was one I had never enjoyed this way with mangoes before. I made a large batch and in less than a week, it was all gone. My sister and I could not stop eating it at every turn.

I've also been enjoy some flavour combinations as I made drink with my mangoes such as mango & guava, mango & passion fruit, mango & orange and mango & pineapple. What I can I say? I have been having a thoroughly pleasureable mango season.

To tide me over, I have pureed the pulp of mangoes and frozen it into pre-measured portions to make various mango treats.

Here are some links to various mango treats in which you are sure to delight.

Erica's Shrimp Skewers with Mango Sauce
Carol's Mango Salsa
David Lebovitz's Chicken Mango Slaw
Manjula's Green Mango Drink
Rekha's Mango & Cabbage Chutney
Kevin's Curried Mango Bread
Madhuram's Mango Halwa & Tofu Mango Pudding
Shilpa's Mango Rice
Sailu's Sweet Mango Curry
DK's Mango Lassi, Mango Kulfi Ice Cream, Mango/Coconut Ice Cream, Mango/Banana Smoothie and Mango Nut Bread
Arundati's WBB Round-up of May Mango Madness

THIS WEEK ON ABOUT.COM

Get the recipe for Fried Ripe Plantains, complete with step-by-step photographs. Understand the 4 important things about frying ripe plantains, from choosing the plantain to the pan!

Read more...

Ummm Corned Beef! & A new Gig

A can of corned beef can be found in almost every Caribbean kitchen. It is one of those must-have items that we stock for that just-in-case moment. Just in case I need to cook something quickly. Just in case I didn't make it to the market for vegetables and meat. Or, just in case I have a craving for corned beef. Continue reading the column and for my recipe of Fried Corned Beef & Potatoes.

Check out my good friend Felix's posts on Corned Beef & Cabbage and Curried Corned Beef. He also gives some insight as to how corned beef is thought of in his neck of the woods. Very interesting stuff. Chris over at Caribbean Pot refers to the cooking of corned beef as a classic lazy-man dish.

While there are many dishes that one can make with corned beef. My favourite way is to have it fried with lots of onions and potatoes and eaten with rice. Fried in this case meaning sauteed. Recipe.

THE NEW GIG

I am now a Contributing Writer over at About.com - which is owned by The New York Times Company. I'll be writing about West Indian Food (English-speaking Caribbean) to the Guide site: Latin/Caribbean Food.

Each week on this blog, you will see me post photographs and links to recipes, demos or articles I've contributed. This way, you get more Caribbean food, and insights into the cuisine. This week, I'm featuring my Butter Fish in Butter Sauce recipe. It is quick and easy and can be on your table in about 30 mins. Any white fish will work for this recipe - bone-in or fillet. Of course the cooking time will reduce if you are using fillets instead of bone-in fish. Give the recipe a try and be sure to leave a comment/review at the bottom of the recipe when you do. Thanks!

Have a good weekend everyone!

Read more...

Let the Sun work - Red Pepper Flakes & Dried Limes

It has been so hot these days - but while I retreat indoors with the fans working overtime, I've been letting the sun do some work! Drying hot peppers to make pepper flakes and experimenting by drying limes! Read this week's column to learn more about red pepper flakes and how to go about making your own.

I dried three types of peppers to make 3 sets of pepper flakes, each with varying degrees of heat.

As you know, my love for food is universal. A couple of years ago, I had my first taste of Persian food and fell in love - again. One of the dishes I had was Qormeh Sabzi - an stew of herbs, lamb and kidney beans flavoured with dried limes (more about this in future column). That was my first experience tasting and eating dried limes... and it was heavenly.

Knowing that I would be experimenting with cooking Persian food, I bought a packet of dried limes while on my travels, but that soon ran out. I decided that I'd try drying my own limes. The experiment was successful but I found that it took way too long for the limes to dry - almost 3 months (sun-drying). At the end of the 3 months, I ended up with only half of the number of limes I originally set out to dry. Some of the limes started to rot during the drying process and were discarded. I think I'll buy at least 2 packets the next time so that I'll have enough to last me for a while. Once dried, the limes can last for up to 2 years! I read somewhere that the limes are boiled first then set to dry but I put mine to dry soon after picking.

Tis the season for making pickles, let them cook in the sun too!

Read more...

A Duck Curry Competition

Cooking competitions have only become popular for the past several years in the Caribbean. We are more into food fairs. In countries with large East Indian populations such as Guyana and Trinidad & Tabago, Duck Curry Competitions have become annual events and always draw large crowds. Last Sunday, here in Barbados, we got another taste of Guyana, this time through a duck curry competition. Yours truly was one of the judges! Read all about it in this week's column.

Duck Curry is always cooked as a celebratory meal and often served with dhal puri or rice and dhal. I made Duck Curry to celebrate my birthday.

The cooking device took us back to basics - a coal pot!

Have a look at the album of the day's events. And check out Chris' Trini take on Duck Curry.

To all my USA friends and readers - Happy 4th of July!

Read more...