Barbados @ 50 - National Dish

Cou Cou & Flying Fish is Barbados' national dish. Cou Cou refers to the style of preparation of an ingredient. In the case of the national dish, cornmeal is cooked in water with okras and seasonings, low and slow until liquid dries out and the cornmeal comes away easily from the sides of the pot. The texture is silky from the okras. The hot cornmeal cou cou is transferred to a well buttered dish; the bowl is then swirled around to firm up, shape and mould the cou cou. Served with stewed flying fish with lots of flavourful sauce made with onions, tomatoes and fresh herbs, this is quite a filling meal. Other types of cou cou - breadfruit cou cou and green banana cou cou.

With breadfruit and green banana cou cou, the ingredients are boiled until soft and mashed smooth with butter, a little salt and sometimes a bit of cheese. So good!

 

Read more...

Guyana @ 50 - Porridge

Porridge is a well-loved breakfast food. Hearty bowls and cups of various grains are turned into creamy goodness and spiced with cinnamon sticks or fresh bay leaves. Barley, sago, oats, plantain, cream of wheat, and flour porridge are among the more popular ones. Cornmeal porridge is also known as Cornmeal pap.

Cornmeal Porridge ©Cynthia Nelson

Read more...

A rant: An appeal for the ordinary

I am all for creating new tastes and flavours. And I am all for convenience, but I draw the line when things have reached a stage where I am being told, "We no longer stock (insert the name of an item) in that plain form. We only carry it in the flavours you see on the shelves." Continue to my rant about this flavour frenzy that has gripped manufacturers! All I wanted was a simple can of chunk tuna in oil! Really, is that too much to ask for? You decide.

I'd also be interested to know some of the "ordinary" things you go in search of only be lucked-out because some new flavour is in. We don't have to get rid of everything you know.

My apologies for not posting yesterday (Saturday) as usual, but we were feeling the wrath of weather system Tomas.

This week on About.com, please try these cornmeal dumplings. They are hearty and nutritious, add some ground cinnamon to your mixture and you won't need anything to go with these except a cup of tea?

Have a good week everyone.

Read more...

Giving in & Cornmeal Cou-Cou in 10 - Minutes!

Since White on Rice Couple posted about that very famous Vietnamese sandwich in February followed by Carolyn posting about Momofuku's pork bun/sandwich exactly one week later to the day, I just could not help myself, I gave in because all of a sudden I had some serious cravings for a pork sandwich.

All of a sudden and serious because:

1. Pork sandwiches are not common in my part of the world (though excellent pork is!)
2. You know how I feel about bread
3. It's no secret that eating bread for a meal such as lunch is not my kind of thing

While I was inspired by both posts, I did my own thing creating my own pork sandwich recipe. I went all out for this sandwich by first making my pickle the day before, marinating the pork overnight and baking my bread the following day.

Potted Pork

I used a pressure cooker to make quick cooking of my pork.

INGREDIENTS

1 + 1/2 lb pork belly cut into chunks
2 teaspoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons kecap manis
3 tablespoons chinkiang vinegar (black rice vinegar)
Minced hot pepper to taste
Salt (adjust to taste)
1 tablespoon oil
1 cup water

DIRECTIONS

1. Add the pork, soy sauce, kecap manis, black rice vinegar, hot pepper and salt to a bowl and toss to mix and coat meat. Cover and refrigerate overnight
2. Remove pork from fridge 30 mins before cooking
3. Heat oil in a pressure cooker, when hot, add pork and spread out in a single layer. Let cook until any liquid from the meat dries out
4. When liquid has dried out, add water and stir, scrape the bottom of the pan for any bits stuck there. Cover pressure cooker and let it come up to the first whistle. After the first whistle, lower heat to medium low and let cook for 15 minutes (depending on your pressure cooker, you will not hear the whiltle during this time, just a little hissing)
5. At the end of the 15 minutes, remove pressure cooker from heat, release the value to let out steam and then open pressure cooker. Return to stove on high heat and let cook until all liquid is gone. Drain off excess oil and reserve for other use such as roasting potatoes etc

Carrot & Cabbage Pickle

INGREDIENTS

1 cup pickling liquid (recipe follows)
1 + 1/2 cups shredded carrots
1 + 1/2 cups shredded cabbage
Hot peppers, de-seeded and sliced

For pickling liquid:

3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup white vinegar
3/4 teaspoon salt

1. Add all the ingredients to a saucepot and place on medium heat. Stir with a wooden spoon to dissolve sugar and salt
2. Let mixture come to a boil and boil for 1 minute
3. Remove from heat and let cool completely before using to make pickle

DIRECTIONS

1. Add carrots, cabbage and peppers to a large bowl
2. Pour pickling liquid over carrots, cabbage and peppers. Toss to coat thoroughly
3. Place pickle into a mason jar or vaccum-sealed plastic container and let sit refrigerated for 24 - 48 hours before using

The sandwich totally satisfied my craving and it was worth the effort! My neighbours were thrilled with theirs as well.

For full disclosure I have to tell you that for dinner, I sought something else, you know that there is no way I would be eating bread for lunch and dinner! (lol)

And now on to this week's column.

Cornmeal Cou-Cou is half of the dish that makes up Barbados' national dish. One of the reasons many people complain about making Cornmeal Cou-Cou is the time it takes to be cooked - 90 minutes! Well, guess what, a friend of mine who is rather adept at cooking told me how to make excellent Cornmeal Cou-Cou in 10 minutes! In the microwave! Read all about it here, where you will also find the recipe.

Read more...

Anatomy of a Food Label - Part 2

When you look at the Nutrition Facts Table on food labels, do you know what it means when you see calories from fat? What about Percent Daily Value (% Daily Value)? Do you understand that? It's explained in this week's column. Many of us make decisions based on the Health Claim or Nutrient-Content Claim of food labels... what are those? Read this week's column where that and much more is discussed. Does the label on your Canola or Vegetable oil bottle say: Cholesterol Free? If it does, it is a sales gimmick! Read why in the column. This concludes the 2-part series on the Anatomy of a Food Label. The column is full of tons of easy-to-understand information that I am sure you will be copying and saving.

Just one important note - click here to see and read an enlarged version of diagram mentioned in the column. Once there, dependenting on your browser, you may have to click open or download to view the diagram. Sorry for the inconvenience.

********************************

As many of you know, I am not really a breakfast person but for the past few months I've been trying to eat breakfast because I know that it's an important meal of the day. During the week, I eat oat bran and alternate with cornmeal porridge with a sprinkling of cinnamon and then on weekends, when I have a little more time, I prepare a meal-like breakfast such as the one shown after the cornmeal porridge.

CORNMEAL PORRIDGE

Ingredients

• 1/3 cup finely ground cornmeal
• 1/3 cup room temperature water
• 1 cup water
• Sugar and milk to taste
• Dusting of freshly ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Add cornmeal and 1/3 cup water to a bowl and let soak for 5 minutes
2. Heat 1 cup water and bring to a boil on medium heat. When the water comes to a boil, pour in soaked cornmeal (scrape the bowl to get everything)
3. Stir with a whisk immediately to avoid lumps. Reduce heat to low and let cook for 4 - 5 minutes
4. Sweeten with sugar and milk to taste, pour into a bowl, dust with ground cinnamon and eat hot

FRIED PLANTAIN & EGGS

Ingredients

For fried plantain:

• 1 large green plantain
• Oil for shallow frying
• Salt to taste

For scrambled eggs:

• 2 large eggs
• 2 tablespoons whole milk
• 1 tablespoon oil
• Sliced green onions (white & green parts)
• Sliced (or minced) chilies to taste
• Salt to taste
• (use a non-stick pan & flat rubber spatula)

Directions

For fried plantain:

1. Remove the top and bottom tips of the of the plantain (about 1/2 - 1 inch both sides), peel the plantain, cut in half (crossway), then slice down the middle (lengthwise) and then cut in half lengthways to create wedges
2. Heat oil in pan on medium-high heat until hot but not smoking. Fry plantains for about 5 - 6 minutes turning once. Remove from pan, drain on paper towels and immediately sprinkle with salt. Set aside in a warm place

For scrambled eggs:

1. Crack eggs in a bowl along with the milk and whisk to mix. Do not over beat the eggs, you just what to break up the yolks and mix the yolks, whites and milk together
2. Add oil to cold pan on medium - low heat; pour eggs into cold pan and let start to cook. You will need to shake the pan and stir and break up the eggs as they cook gently. Tip: I ususally remove the pan from the heat at various intervals and then put it back over the heat, this is to ensure that the eggs do not over cook or get scorched.
3. When eggs are about done, season with salt and then toss in the green onions and chilies. Fold to incorporate
4. Serve hot with fried plantains and a huge cup of tea or coffee

Before I go, I want to thank all the readers of my blog and column for understanding what it is that I do. Thank you very much. Have a good weekend everyone!

Read more...