Vegetarian

curry pigeon peas recipe (8) The taste and texture is totally different than if you were lucky enough to have fresh picked and shelled pigeon peas, but that’s probably the only thing I’m yet to see selling in the Caribbean specialty stores… even in Toronto, so I have no choice but to use the stuff we get in the can. I must add also that if you were to use the fresh stuff this recipe would not work the way it is, as the cooking process for fresh pigeon peas is a bit different. Especially how long it would take to cook.

In my recipe not only am I using canned pigeon peas, but I’m also using a potato to help thicken the finished sauce. Traditionally when making curry pigeon peas potato would never be used, but instead “tannia” would be the thickener of choice.

You’ll need…

1 can green pigeon peas
1 onion sliced (divided in 2 portions)
1 green onion chopped (scallions)
1 med potato cubed
2 cloves garlic crushed
2 slices hot pepper (habanero) optional
dash black pepper
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon roasted geera powder (cumin)
4-5 tablespoon water
1 1/2 cups water
1 table spoon vegetable oil
1-2 leaves shado beni (optional) chopped fine.
1/4 teaspoon salt (check near complete to add more if required)

Start by preparing the ingedients. I usually drain and rinse the canned peas to remove the brine-like liquid it’s normally packaged in.

curry pigeon peas recipe

curry pigeon peas recipe (6)

In a small bowl add the curry, geera, crushed garlic, black pepper and 1/2 of the sliced oinions. Then pour in about 4-5 tablespoons of water and mix. Heat the oil in a sauce pan and pour in the curry mixture we just made. Allow this to cook on med-high heat until all the liquid has dried up.

curry pigeon peas recipe (9)

curry pigeon peas recipe (11)

curry pigeon peas recipe (3)

curry pigeon peas recipe (12)

At this point get ready to add the peas, remaining onion, slices of pepper. potato wedges, scallion, salt and shado beni if you’ve decide to use it. Stir around so everything gets coated with the cooked curry.. about 3-5 minutes. Now Add the 1 1/2 cup of water and bring to a boil then cover and let simmer on low heat for about 20 minutes (until potato is tender).

curry pigeon peas recipe (4)

curry pigeon peas recipe (7)

curry pigeon peas recipe (2)

After the 20 minutes or so, use the back of your spoon to crush the potato to help thicken the sauce. Remove from the heat and get ready to serve. Remember to check near the end to see if your taste requires more salt. If for some reason you find that it’s a bit salty you can always add a diced tomato to help absorb some of the salty taste.

curry pigeon peas recipe (8)

curry pigeon peas recipe (5)

In the event you’re wondering what tannia is…

English: tannia, tania; yautia, new cocoyam tanier; Spanish: yautía, malanga (Antilles), macal (Mexico [Yucatán]), quiscamote (Honduras), tiquisque (Costa Rica), otó (Panama), okumo (Venezuela), uncucha (Peru), gualuza (Bolivia), malangay (Colombia); Portuguese: taioba, mangareto, mangarito, mangarás (Brazil); French: chou Caribe (Antilles); other languages: queiquexque (Mexico), tannia, taniera (Antilles)

* Be sure to leave me your comments below.

Vegetarian

Delectable French beans cooked in coconut milk.

March 5, 2012July 20, 200935 Comments

caribbean french beans This is another dish I would not touch as a child, but as an adult I can’t get enough. Truth be told I hardly ever cook anything that does not contain meat (I could NEVER survive as a vegetarian), but there are days when I just can’t stand the smell or sight of anything meat related. This is one of those days. Though I used French beans (cheap at Costco) this recipe is also good for string beans and “bodi” which is also known as yard beans in other cultures (long beans in China). I got this recipe over the phone from my mom, as she’s the absolute best at making this. Let’s see if I can do her recipe justice…

You’ll need..

1/2 kilo (about a lb) fresh French beans (trimmed and cut into 2-3 cm pieces)
1 medium tomato (diced)
1 medium onion (sliced)
2 cloves garlic crushed with the side of your knife and minced
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper (fresh ground works best)
2-3 tablespoons of coconut milk (cream)
1 tablespoon olive oil

Wash and trim the beans by removing the tips and then cut into 2-3 cm pieces. Also prepare the onion, garlic and tomato by slicing, dicing and crushing.

french beans recipe

trimmed french beans

french beans

seasoned french beans recipe

In a sauce pan, heat the olive oil on medium to high heat and add a 1/3 of the sliced onion. Allow to cook for a couple minutes, until they’re tender and starting to brown.

cooked french beans

Gently (since the beans are wet from washing, it may splatter when it gets in contact with the heated oil/onion), start adding the beans to the pan. Remember to stir around a bit. Give this a couple minutes, then add the salt, black pepper, diced tomato, remaining sliced onions and the crushed garlic. Set the heat to medium and cover the pan.

trni string beans recipe

trini french beans recipe

cooking french beans

After about 10 minutes, add the coconut cream. I usually get the cream coconut that comes in a block and I just cut a piece off and add it to whatever I’m cooking. But if you have the liquid form, that’s just as effective.

Here’s a pic of the one I usually purchase…

coconut milk french beans

Cook for another 10 minutes or so and remember to stir every 4 minutes to ensure that everything get’s coated and cooked in the coconut cream/milk.If you find that the beans released any natural juices (water) while the lid was on, remove the lid during the final 4-6 minutes.

french beans with garlic

caribbean french beans

vegetarian french beans recipe

Let me know your thoughts on this and any of the other recipes found on CaribbeanPot.com in the comments box below or by email via the contact link above.

So where’s the heat? You can spice things up by adding some sliced chili or habanero peppers while cooking.

What happens when you introduce shrimp to butternut squash?

March 5, 2012July 14, 200932 Comments

butternut squash recipe Sounds like a bad combo? Not if you’ve ever tasted my mom’s recipe for pumpkin (butternut squash in this case) cooked until it’s melted and as you turn of the heat you add some cooked shrimp to the mix. As a kid pumpkin and/or squash was one of those things we (my brother and sisters) would never allow to enter our mouth (we had a sentry posted at the entry to REFUSE all pumpkin-like food ) but as an adult the few times we can get our mom to cook it for us, we’re ever so thankful.

Here’s my take on my mom’s recipe for butternut squash with shrimp. Feel free to use any type of cooking (not the carving type you get for Halloween) pumpkin if you wish.

You’ll need….

1 butternut squash (about 2lbs) – peeled and diced
1/2 small onion – chopped
2 cloves garlic – sliced thin or crushed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/8 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 habanero pepper (optional)
1/4 teaspoon brown sugar

For the shrimp….

10 medium shrimp – peeled and deveined
1/4 small onion – chopped
1 clove garlic – crushed
1/4 teaspoon ketchup
1 tablespoon cilantro – chopped
dash of black pepper
dash of worchester sauce
1/2 teaspoon vegetable oil

NOTE: Though adding the shrimp gives it another layer of flavour, vegetarians can abstain from this step.

Start by cutting open the squash and as you would cut a watermelon into slices, do the same (you will need a heavy kitchen kinfe) . It can be a bit tough, but with a sharp potato peeler or as in my case a paring knife peel the skin away. Then using a spoon, scrape out all the seeds and surrounding tissue. Wash and slice into 1/2 inch cubes so it will cook fast.

butternut squash

butternut squash recipe (2)

Then dice the onion, garlic and pepper. After which you can now place a saucepan on med-high heat and pour in the olive oil. As the oil heats and comes close to smoking, add the onion and garlic. Allow to cook for about 2-3 minutes, then add the cubed squash.

how to cook pumpkin

onions ofr squash recipe

phpwlubqLAM

With the heat between medium and low, add the sliced pepper (optional) black pepper and salt, then cover and let simmer for about 20 minutes. While this simmers lets get the shrimp seasoned and cooked.

Place the cleaned shrimp in a bowl and season with the ingredients mentioned above for this step (minus the oil). In another sauce pan heat the oil and add the seasoned shrimp. Keep the heat on high and only cook for about 3-5 minutes. When the shrimp turns changes colour, it’s a good indication that it’s cooked. Overcooking with cause the shrimp to go tough and change the flavour and texture of it. Don’t cover the sauce pan or it will spring a lot of water and stir as it cooks. Remove from over the burner when you’re done or the remaining heat will continue to cook the shrimp.

phpWDLsqlAM

shrimp and pumpkin recipe

trinidad pumpkin recipe

shrimp with squash recipe

Back to the squash. After the 20 minutes the cubes should be tender and melting away, this is when you can add the brown sugar. Using the back or your cooking spoon, press down on the cubes of squash to make into a chunky paste. If it’s a bit runny at this point, allow any liquid to burn off. When the paste like consistency is thick and free from any liquid turn off the heat and add the shrimp we just cooked. Stir it in well to add the shrimp flavor to the entire dish.

vegetarian recipe butternut squash

how to cook butternut squash

butternut squash with shrimp

vegetarian pumpkin recipe

Maybe you have a different way of preparing this dish or one that similar? Leave me your comments below. BTW, don’t forget to taste for salt.

Seafood Vegetarian

A vintage “Trinbagonian” fish broth. The cure for hangovers?

March 5, 2012July 4, 200933 Comments

trini fish broth recipe The love for fish broth (fish soup) I inherited from my uncle B. After a weekend of partying he’d usually make this soup as he claims it’s the best “thing” for a hangover and as his sidekick, I’d be very involved. Though it’s been years since I last had this, I’d have to say that I did his recipe justice. One sip and I was taken back to the age of 6 or 7.

I’ve got to mention a couple things before we start… 1. Though macaroni is an integral part of this dish, I have no love for pasta so I don’t include it im my preparations. But feel free to add any of your favourite “noodle” type pasta near the end of cooking. 2. I used sea bass in my recipe, since this dish is usually made from ‘cheap” fish. The problem with using such a fish is that you will encounter many tiny bones (be careful when eating). My suggestion would be to get any fillet of fish (fresh and from the ocean) so you’ll avoid having to worry about the tiny bones.

You’ll need…

1 fish (about 1 1/2 lbs) I used a sea bass.(cut into pieces)
4 cups fish stock
2 cups water
2 potatoes (cut in 8’s)
3 green cooking bananas (peeled and diced)
1 green onion (scallion) (chopped)
5 small okras (chopped)
1 onion (diced)
3 cloves of garlic diced
2 baby bok choy
1 tablespoon oil
1/4 hot pepper (use 2 pimentos if you have, if not use your favourite hot pepper)
1 tablespoon GoldenRay butter
1 lime
Macaroni (or you fav noodle type pasta)
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon green seasoning
1 tomato
1 carrot
1 stalk celery
3 tablespoon cilantro (chopped)
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Lets start off by preparing the fish. Cut the fish into serving size pieces, wash and season. To season all we’ll use is the green seasoning, salt and tomato. Now set aside to marinate as we get other ingredients ready.

fish soup recipe

seasoning for fish broth

Chop and dice all the vegetables, including the potato, carrot, bok choy, onion, garlic, celery, okra, green banana (I’ll post a short video on how to peel green bananas in a future post) and hot pepper. In a soup pot, add the oil and heat. Then start by adding the onion, then the garlic and cook for a few minutes. Now you can add the rest of the vegetables that we chopped and diced.

Remember to take off the stems off the okra and discard.

okra for fish broth

okra

ingredients for fish broth

This is what the green banana will look like after it’s been peeled and diced…

green banana for fish broth

Here’s how to chop the celery and bok choy.

fish broth

fish soup

trini fish broth

Now we can add the 4 cups of fish stock, the 2 cups of water and worcestershire sauce into the pot with ALL the vegetables. Allow to come to a boil then cover and reduce to a simmer for about 15 minutes. After it’s been simmering for the 15 mins we can now add the fish, the butter and cilantro.

trinidad fish soup

This is what GoldenRay butter looks like if you’re not familiar with it.

trini salt butter

goldenray butter

Let this all cook for another 10-15 minutes or so on a gentle heat. The last 7 minutes is when you can add the macaroni if you wish. You have a couple options with the finished dish. You can squeeze the lime juice directly into the pot or you can slice it and allow your guests to squeeze it themselves in their soup bowl. You can also top this with some chopped cilantro and additional hotsauce.

caribbean fish soup recipe

Tips.

Since we seasoned the fish with salt, used fish stock (contains salt) and added the golden ray (also known as salt butter) you probably won’t need to add any further salt. But do taste at the end and add accordingly.

After you’ve added the pieces of seasoned fish, try not to over-stir the pot or you risk the fish breaking apart.

Final tip for the day… add a couple drops of Angostura bitters near the end for an extra layer of flavour.

Vegetarian

You say guacamole, I say zaboca choka.

March 5, 2012June 25, 200938 Comments

trini zaboca choka Zaboca (avocado) season was one of favourite times of the year when we were growing up on the islands. Now my seasons are reduced to summer, winter, spring and fall. As a kid we enjoyed, mango season, avocado season, plum season.. you get the picture… the fruit dictated the seasons for us. To this day, whenever someone’s visiting Canada from the islands they usually bring me some of those wonderful pears we call Zaboca(providing they’re in season). Sure they’re readily available in the grocery stores here, but they’re the tiny varieties we get from California and Mexico. On the islands we grow some that are just as or even bigger that grapefruits. I was at the supermarket this morning and after my eyes focused on the pile of avocados from California it occurred to me that I haven’t posted a zaboca choka recipe yet. Enjoy!

You’ll need…

1 tablespoon minced sweet onion
1 clove garlic crushed
1 teaspoon fresh squeezed lemon juice
dash of salt (less that 1/8 teaspoon)
1 med-large avocado (ripe)
1 teaspoon minced cilantro or shado beni
1/4 habanero or your favourite hot pepper

Start by crushing the garlic, hot pepper and salt. Place these ingredients in a bowl or mortar and crush to a fine paste. The salt will help break everything down.

zaboca choka

avocado choka

Peel and slice the avocado in pieces, then place in the same bowl with the crushed pepper and garlic, now crush this as well. You can also use the back of a fork to crush the avocado as well. I have a wooden pestle that I use for instances like this.

dip recipe

avacado dip recipe

Mince the onion and cilantro (or shado beni) and add to the mixture. If you don’t like the texture of minced onions, you may also grate the onion into the mix instead. Now add the lemon juice, stir and taste for salt. In the past I’ve also added a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil to the mixture. This is up to you.

trinidad zaboca choka

avacado dip recipe

trini zaboca choka

Serving Suggestions.

– as a dip for your favourite corn chips or crackers

– as a spread on sandwiches

– as a spread on tortilla type wraps (I would add a bit of water cress or lettuce with this on a wrap)

– as a filling for pita bread

and… with hot roti or fry bake as I enjoyed as a kid. This morning I enjoyed mine on sourdough bread sandwich.

Leave me your comments below.

Drinks Seafood Side Dishes Vegetarian

Were we making ceviche all along?

May 27, 2025June 4, 200949 Comments

oyster

I think I was about 9 years old the very first time I had the opportunity to sample one of the Friday night rituals in Marabella. A small town, known for it’s vibrant weekend market and the hub for oil workers after work on a Friday evening. That ritual being “oyster cocktails”. A spicy drink made from oysters harvested that day in the Gulf Of Paria (eastern shores of Trinidad). You’d go over to the stall that sold it and had to choose how spicy, how large and what type of additional seasons you wanted as you placed your order. Street food at it’s best!

The stalls would be lined up around the same area (Marabella round-about) that had people also selling doubles, roast corn, black pudding and many other delectable delights! The hardest thing was deciding which option to go with. However, the Oyster Cocktail was merely used as an appetizer… as far as I knew. Later on I learned that the older folks considered it an aphrodisiac and those with “plans” would stop by here first before going on their mission.

It’s been more than 20 years since I last had this, so what you’re about to experience is all from memory and what I could recall tasting (ingredients). I’m sure you may have a different version and I do encourage you to post yours in the comments box below.

You’ll need…

2 large oysters

3 pieces of chives (sliced thin)

1 clove of garlic (crushed, then minced)

1/2 large tomato – diced

1 large lemon (juice)

1 lime (juice)

1/4 cup cold water

1 teaspoon ketchup

dash black pepper

dash salt (as to your liking)

1 teaspoon soy sauce (optional)

3-5 leaves of shado beni or (3 tablespoons of cilantro minced)

1 habanero pepper (or your fav hot pepper)

Start by taking the oyster flesh from within the shell… if you notice there’s liquid in the shell, do keep that. Pour the oyster and any juices into a small container.

pepper-oyster-drink-trinidad

open-oyster

oysters

Now start by mincing all the ingredients into very small pieces. (garlic, chives, tomato, shado beni and habanero – include the seeds for that extra PUNCH!)

garlic-for-oyster

minced-garlic-for-oysters

minced-tomato-for-spicy-oysters

Place all the minced items in a bowl.

oyster-cocktail-recipe

oyster-cocktail

Go back to the bowl you have the Oysters in and place in on a cutting surface. Like everything else, you want to mince the 2 oysters as well.

sliced-oysters

Add everything into the bowl. Remember to get the oyster juice from the original container you had the oysters sitting in before you minced them. Now all the other ingredients, including the juice of the lime and lemon. Don’t forget the water and to taste for salt.

oyster-cocktail-ingredients

spicy-oyster-cocktail-recipe

Mix everything around and allow to marinate a bit. I usually place it in a plastic container with a screw type lid into the fridge. How to serve? Get out those fancy “shot” glasses you’ve been collecting and fill each with a shot of this spicy aphrodisiac, then just before dinner serve chilled.

p60202861