Cheddar-Scallion Biscuits

Best on the same day they are made, these soft, savoury, cheesy biscuits with herby scallions are excellent with pats of butter melting into the leafy layers. Yum!

Want to make them? Get the recipe here. Enjoy!

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Barbados @ 50 - Macaroni Pie

In all countries around the world, there is a dish that defines the ability of a home cook. The ingredients and dishes vary from one part of the world to another and from one country to another. In Barbados, that dish is Macaroni Pie (macaroni and cheese pie). There are many definitions, standards, societal and cultural norms associated with the practice of making these particular dishes. Let's just say that pie is a defining dish.

While each country in the region makes Macaroni Pie, particularly as part of the Sunday Lunch spread, in Barbados, Macaroni Pie is sold widely, everyday in eateries across the island. What distinguishes the Bajan Macaroni Pie from others is the use of tomato ketchup and Robert's mello-kreem Margarine/spread with its deep orange colour that gives a signature rich colour and flavour to the pie. Finely minced herbs and sweet peppers are sometimes added.

Disclaimer: The image below of Macaroni Pies was not made with any of the signature ingredients - ketchup and mello-kreem - for a Barbadian version of the pie.

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Herby Mac Pie with Smoked Gouda & New Zealand Cheddar

Macaroni Pie is a weekend and holiday staple on tables all across the Caribbean. Each country and indeed each home has its own recipe for making this dish. With the long Easter weekend coming up, this is a sure thing on the dining table.

Every time I make Macaroni Pie also known as Macaroni and Cheese, I like to change things up a bit. Not so much that diners would raise their eyebrows with scepticism or shake their heads indicating that something is not right. I change the flavours just so that they can nod with approval or say, "This is good pie." One can play around with a lot of things but don't ever fool around with people's macaroni pie. We take it seriously.

I LOVE smoked Gouda and it complimented the herbs very well in this pie. New Zealand cheddar, the brand Anchor is as homemade and Caribbean as one can get. We live for Anchor Cheese and not to be outdone is Australian cheddar. While we get English Cheddar, we certainly prefer the firm, sharp cheddar from New Zealand and Australia.

If you're looking for a side dish to make this weekend, try my Herby Mac Pie with Smoked Gouda & New Zealand Cheddar.

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Cheesy Herby Toasts

It is clear that I am getting older. My tastes are changing. Things I cared little or nothing about when I was younger, I find myself enjoying these days. Like toast! But I don't want the flimsy, super soft bread that you can easily take 4 slices and squish together to resemble a decent slice. No, I want the crusty, hearty artisan-type bread. The kind of bread that you can cut your own thick meaty slices. So, I've been baking bread pretty often the past few weeks. I think that it's some kind of phase though; I know me, in a week's time the month-long bread craze will be over until it comes around again.

I don't have a toaster, but that's okay because my thick-sliced toasts cannot fit into the slender, skinny vents. Don't you dare say my toasts are overweight! :) :) I do have a griddle though as well as a cast iron skillet and tawah so getting crusty toasts is not a problem.

To make these cheesy-herby-toasts, here's what I did.

• Cut thick slices of homemade bread
• Melted some French butter (any good quality butter will do)
• Grated some sharp New Zealand cheddar cheese (use your favourite)
• And thinly sliced a couple of green onions - white and green parts

• I then heated the griddle.
• Brushed one side of each slice of bread with melted butter and added the bread, buttered side down on the griddle. The extra butter, I brushed on the top side of the bread.
• Let the bread toast until it becomes crusty, nicely brown (I don't like my toast very dark) fragrant and nutty from the butter.
• Flip the toasted side up, sprinkle with grated cheese and green onions and let it melt as the other side of the bread toasts.
• When the cheese is melted and green onions embedded, remove from the griddle and transfer to a wire rack while you finish making your cup of tea, coffee or Milo. Grab a couple of the cheesy-herby-toasts and find somewhere comfortable to enjoy them.

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Guyanese Cheese Pies

The cheese pies we make in Guyana is a riff of the Portuguese Egg Tart, pastel de nata. And, in essence, it is like a mini quiche, drawing influence from the British proclivity for custards baked in pastry. I suspect that what we did in Guyana, as is done throughout the world with food that has travelled, is that we adapted the tart and married it with our penchant for English pies and came up with a Guyanese cheese pie.

The pie is simple, it is a mini pie with short crust pastry filled with an egg and cheese custard and baked. That's it. Use only the finest quality ingredients, especially because they are so few in this recipe.

You can find cheese pies at many snackettes and other eateries in Guyana that sell pastries.

GUYANESE CHEESE PIES

Yield: 13 - 15

INGREDIENTS

For Pastry:

2 cups all purpose flour, plus extra for dusting

1 1/2 teaspoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon table salt

2 oz cold vegetable shortening, cubed

6 oz cold unsalted butter, cubed

3 - 4 tablespoons iced water

For Filling:

2 cups grated (sharp) cheddar cheese (get the best you can)

3 eggs, room temperature

3/4 cup whole milk

1/4 teaspoon table salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

DIRECTIONS

For Pastry:

1. Add flour, sugar and salt to the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to mix.
2. Add shortening and butter to flour and pulse until the mixture is coarse with pebbles of butter and shortening. Alternately, cut in the butter and shortening to the flour using a pastry blender or two dining knives or use your hands.
3. Add water and pulse until the dough starts to come together. Do not over mix.
4. Transfer the mixture to a floured surface and bring the dough together in one mass. Pat into a round disk and wrap tightly with plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before use.
5. When you are ready to make the pie, remove the dough from the refrigerator and rest for 5 minutes before starting to work with it. This time will vary depending on the temperature in your kitchen.

For Filling:

1. Add eggs, milk, salt and pepper to a measuring cup (for easy pouring) and whisk together.

For Assembling:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
2. Lightly brush muffin pans with oil and set aside.
3. Flour work surface and roll dough into 1/4-inch thickness. Using a 4-inch cookie cutter or anything with a round 4-inch diameter and cut into as many circles as you can.
4. Arrange each piece of cut pastry into muffin pan. Gather the scraps of the pastry and roll and cut again until the pans are filled. Refrigerate the pans for 10 minutes or until you are ready to add the filling.
5. Remove the chilled pans and fill each muffin cup with cheese.
6. Whisk the egg mixture as it might have settled and then pour in a little of the custard into each muffin cup, just shy of the top of the pastry.
7. Bake pies for 25 - 30 minutes or until golden. Cool pans on wire racks for 5 - 6 minutes then remove pies from pans and continue to cool on wire racks.
8. Serve warm or at room temperature - as is or with a salad.

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Tennis Rolls - A Guyanese Favourite

Each nation the world over has its own signature bread. The same is true for the Caribbean. We have various bread-rolls with their one-of-a-kind flavour and texture. Trinidad & Tabago has Hops Bread, Jamaica has Coco Bread, Barbados has Salt Bread and Guyana has Tennis Rolls. The Eastern Caribbean islands - St. Lucia, St. Vincent & The Grenadines, Dominica etc. each has their own bread too.

These breads, as simple as they may seem, the recipes are not easy to come by and replicating them at home is more difficult than you think. Sure you come close, but there are certain dynamics and methods employed in a commerical bakery that results in a precision that is not always achievable in the home kitchen. Read this week's column about me trying to make Tennis Rolls and for an analyzed result. The recipe for the Tennis Rolls are at the bottom of the column.

Tennis Roll and Cheese along with a cold glass of cream soda and milk is a combo that is still relished today in Guyana. We used to eat this snack in the afternoons when we'd return home from school.

This week on About.Com - the most difficult thing about cooking with salt fish (salted cod), is not knowing how to de-salt the fish. Find out how it is done here and the importance of not removing all of the salt from the fish.

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Baking to avoid work!

People do various things to avoid work - some go for a drive, some go shopping, some to a movie, some clean their homes and vehicles. Me? I bake. Continue reading how I avoided writing this week's column and for a cheese scone recipe.

What do you do to avoid work?

Click here for the scone recipe.

Lately, I've been making a lot of bread pudding and with good results minus the eggs. I've just been using milk, sugar and various spice combos and you can use various dried fruits - raisins, cranberries, apricots (chopped fine) etc. Or, put in some rum-soaked fruits. Whether it is cardamom, cinnamon, all spice, nutmeg or vanilla, you really can't fail with the flavour. The key to a good bread pudding is the time allowed for the bread to really soak up the liquid. An overnight soaking works wonders.

The following is not an exact recipe so work based on your own taste and willingness to experiment.

1. You'll need some day-old bread (cubed), whole milk, sugar, ground spice or spices of your choice and dried fruit. I generally eye-ball the amount of milk depending on how much bread there is. A 1:1 ratio should work just fine.
2. Dissolve the sugar in milk (taste and adjust accordingly).
3. Stir in the spices.
4. Add the bread and stir to mix.
5. Cover and refrigerate overnight.
6. Before baking, take out the mixture, stir in the fruits and bring the pudding to room temperature.
7. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
8. Bake for 40 - 45 minutes or until a skewer inserted comes out clean and the top is nicely browned.
9. Let cool on a wire rack.
10. Serve warm or at room temperature - as is, with ice cream or amaretto liqueur

THIS WEEK ON ABOUT.COM Make these easy Cheese Straw Wafers for your next party, tea or coffee gathering or to just snack on. They are addictive so be sure to make them when you have company! Get the recipe here.

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A quick bread

We hear about quick-breads all the time but what exactly is a quick bread? Answer: a bread that can be made quickly. Duh! Hold on, not so fast! Yes it can be made quickly but did you know that quick-breads have three methods of mixing? Did you know that the dough/batter consistency varies resulting in different textures? Read this week's column to find out more.

Waking up hungry led to me making this Cheese & Herb Quick Bread. The recipe can be found at the bottom of the column. Enjoy at anytime!

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What is Wheat Germ? & It's HOT in here...

If you tell me to go into a health food store to buy a food item or product, I'll roll my eyes. Given this fact, how then do I end up talking about wheat germ, and what is it anyway? Click here to read this week's column and to find out how to use this super-health product.

And now for some heat. If you're not into spicy hot food, don't be put off by these dishes because the heat can be adjusted to suit your tastes. But, for chilli heads like me, this is as good as it gets.

First up, Pepper Roti. Here's the recipe with a step by step demo. And here are my important cooking notes on making this dish.

Next up is Scent of Spice's Roast Chicken with "Bajak" Chilli Sauce. The link includes the recipe.

The Hindu community the world over will be celebrating Phagwah (Holi) this weekend and I'd like to wish everyone a colourful, joyful and peaceful festival.

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Cheese-Batter-Bread

I always like to check the package of certain ingredients where they suggest recipes. That is how I came across this Cheese-Batter-Bread, it was written at the back of one of my Fleischmann's yeast packets. Generally speaking, I can quickly judge a recipe by it's ingredients and method and decide if it's worth trying. The taste judgement I always hold off on until the dish is finished cooking, although regular cooks will tell you, judging from the ingredients, one gets an idea of how something is going to taste.

The ingredients for this bread were straight forward and so was the method. We get really delicious cheddar cheese here that comes primarily from New Zealand and England so I knew right there and then that this bread would be a winner. I've been making it now for more than 5 years and it never fails to impress when served for breakfast, brunch or just before dinner. The great thing about it also is that it is not necessary to eat it with anything and it becomes gourmet when used to make a sandwich.

Recipe - Cheese Batter Bread

Yields 2 loaves

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups grated sharp cheddar cheese
2 tbsp granulated sugar
2 envelopes rapid rise yeast (instant yeast)
1 1/2 tsp salt
1 cup whole milk
1 cup water
2 tbsp butter or margarine
1 large egg

Method

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F
2. In a large bowl, combine 1 1/3 cups flour, cheese, sugar, un-dissolved yeast and salt
3. Combine milk, water and butter and heat until very warm
4. Gradually stir the wet ingredients to the dry ingredients
5. Mix for 2 mins at medium speed of your electric mixer, or by hand
6. Add the egg and 1 cup flour
7. Mix thoroughly at high speed (stir faster by hand)
8. Stir in the remaining flour to make a stiff batter
9. Cover batter and let rest for 10 mins
10. Turn the rested batter into two greased 9 x 5 loaf pans
11. Cover and let rise in a warm place for about 1 hour or until doubled in size
12. Bake in oven for 20 - 25 mins or until done
13. Remove from pan after 5 mins and cool on a wire rack

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