seafood recipe

Puritans will tell you that you need smoke and fire from pimento wood to get that real authentic Jamaican flavor when doing “jerk” and I’d be crazy to disagree. However, with this recipe in particular… I humbly think you achieve “jerk” greatness on the stove-top. Plus I live in Canada where there’s no pimento wood and our winters are very HARSH to be grilling outside all year!

You’ll Need…

3 lbs Crab (cleaned)
4 cloves garlic (smashed or grated)
1 tablespoon ginger (diced fine or grated)
5 birds eye pepper
1 medium onion (diced)
3-4 scallions (chopped – divided)
2 sticks cinnamon
3/4 tablespoon ground allspice
2 scotch bonnet peppers (chopped)
1 tablespoon soy sauce
1 1/4 tablespoon brown sugar
10 sprigs thyme
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoon water
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup orange juice
1/2 lemon (juice)

Get your fish monger to clean the crab for you or clean then by removing the backs off the crab (discard) and clean the sort of gills.. then rinse with the juice or a lime or lemon (not mentioned in the ingredient list) and water. I’d also recommend cracking the bigger claws, to get extra flavor when cooked.

I’d recommend prepping the other ingredients at this time so when you get started, it would make for easy work. The goal is to keep is simple and tasty.

*Prepped ingredients for the jerk crab.*

Heat the oil in a wide pan on medium heat, then add the onion, garlic and Bird’s Eye peppers (called bird pepper in the Southern Caribbean). Turn the heat down to as low as it will go as we don’t want to burn the garlic. Cook for 2-3 minutes.

Now add the black pepper, diced ginger, scallions (1/2) and thyme and cook on low for a further 2-3 minutes. After which you’ll add the scotch Bonnet peppers. Remove the seeds if you’d like to tame down the heat level a bit. It’s also important that you wear gloves and wash your hands with soap and water immediately after handling such hot peppers. May I also recommend turning the fan on over your stove or open your kitchen window to vent your kitchen.

Give it all a good stir, then add the allspice, brown sugar, cinnamon, soy sauce and salt. Stir well, then add the orange juice and water .. heat still on low.

*The brown sugar will give the jerk sauce a lovely rounded flavor and balance off some of the heat from the spicy peppers we used. BTW jerk is supposed to be spicy!*

It’s now time to add the cleaned crabs to the pot and give it a really good stir. Turn the heat up to medium to bring it to a sort of boil/simmer. To assist, place a lip on the pot you’re using. As you see a simmer, turn the heat down to maintain that simmer and keep the lid on. We’ll try to steam-cook the crabs with all this lovely flavors.

Cook on that simmer for about 8 minutes (with the lid on) and be sure to stir it about 3-4 times during the cooking. Top with the other 1/2 of the scallions, cook for 2 more minutes.. then it’s time to ENJOY!

Probably not your typical way of making/enjoying crab, but I assure you, you’ll be blown away by the flavors of this classic pescatarian dish. Be warned that it may be a bit spicy, but you can definitely tailor the heat level to your liking.

Do you own a copy of my cookbook ?- The Vibrant Caribbean Pot 100 Traditional And Fusion recipes Vol 2

Simple Recipe For Tasty Salmon In The Oven.

December 27, 2014December 27, 20144 Comments

Island life is closely connected to the ocean as well as the land on so many levels. Like the fresh herbs,vegetables and fruits we’re blessed with, the Caribbean Sea is packed with some the most delicious fish and seafood known to man. However when it comes to Salmon, it was more of a Good Friday dish and usually the salmon came in the form of a can (or “tin salmon” as it’s known). But if you’ve ever had stewed or curry salmon (yes the same stuff from the can) done the Caribbean way.. lets just say you’ll be amazed! Living in North America means fresh salmon is readily available in most supermarkets, so this is one of my go-to recipes when Tehya (shes the only one who really deals with the fish and seafood) and I get a hankering for baked salmon.

* You will notice that this is isn’t necessarily a “Caribbean” recipe, but I thought I’d still share it so you have some variety in your fish recipes repertoire. If doing this recipe gluten free do go through the entire list of ingredients to make sure they meet with your specific gluten free dietary needs.

You’ll Need…

2 salmon steaks
1/2 white onion (sliced)
1 cup chopped grape tomatoes
1 tablespoon chopped chives
2 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 sprigs dill
4 slices lemon

* Parchment paper

In a small bowl place the chopped tomatoes, 1 tablespoon of olive oil, salt and black pepper and give it a good mix. Now tear off a large piece of parchment paper and in the middle drizzle on 1/2 the remaining olive oil, then layer on two lemon slices, a few onion rings and a sprig of dill. Place one of the salmon pieces on top of it and pour on 1/2 the tomato mixture we made.

Carefully wrap the fish as a package and try to seal it so the salmon steam cooks in its own juices and with the flavour ingredients we added to the parcel. If you want you can add additional black pepper and salt on top of the fish before sealing the parcels. Do the same of the next piece of salmon, then place them in an oven proof dish (you can add a bit of cooking spray or veg oil in the bottom of the dish)

Heat your oven to 375 F and place the dish on the middle rack. After about 15-18 minutes the salmon should be fully cooked (depending on how thick they are). Now you can personalize this by adding a bit of scotch bonnet pepper to give it a wicked kick and you certainly cook it longer if you so desire. But salmon (like all fish) can go dry and have a sort of cardboard texture if its overcooked.

There are so many flavors going on here in this simple baked salmon dish, I dare your kids and picky eaters not to enjoy this one. Well, unless they are Indy and Kieana who refuse to eat any fish but their grandmother’s fried King Fish, dipped in ketchup. They’ve been eating that ever since they could eat solids as toddlers.

Seafood

The Ultimate Curry Shrimp.

June 4, 2012December 26, 201133 Comments

Here’s another recipe to add to the “Ultimate” series I’ve been sharing from time to time with you. Curry shrimp is one of those simple dishes to make, but it’s very easy to overcook it and end up with shrimp the texture of leather. In this curry shrimp recipe I’ll show you how to have perfectly cooked shrimp that’s very attractive and full of that unique flavor from the way we cook curry in the Caribbean. Enjoyed with rice, roti or any which way you partner your curry dishes, this curry shrimp will definitely excite your taste buds and make an impression on family and friends.

You’ll Need….

1 lb shrimp (peeled deveined)
1 heaping tablespoon Madras blend curry powder (I like using a Caribbean variety)
2 scallions
1/2 habanero pepper (as much as you like)
1 medium tomato
1 medium onion
3 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon chopped cilantro
1 teaspoon thyme
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon vegetable oil
1/4 bell pepper (sweet pepper)
4 tablespoon water for cooking the curry
1/4 teaspoon black pepper

* you’ll also need a couple tablespoon of lime or lemon juice to wash the cleaned shrimp.

Note: If you have the Caribbean style green seasoning mix, use a teaspoon instead of the thyme and cilantro. If you can source fresh shado beni, that would be ideal instead of the cilantro. Bell pepper is something new to this recipe but I like the added flavor, texture and overall look it brings to this dish. I like using a Caribbean style curry powder as I find it to be unique in it’s depth and flavor.

The first thing you need to do (if it’s not already done as some groceries sell already cleaned and deveined shrimp) is to remove the outer shell of the shrimp and devein them. Then squeeze the lime or lemon juice over it, give it a good stir, then rinse with cool water. Drain and get ready to season so it can marinate for a bit.

Chop the scallion, cilantro, onion, peppers, tomato and garlic… I like using the thyme on it’s sprig for the added flavor. When you’re done cooking you can them remove the sprigs. In a large bowl place the now cleaned shrimp and add the salt, black pepper, chopped peppers (habanero and bell), cilantro, thyme and scallions. Give it a good stir and allow it to marinate for at least 20 minutes.

In a large sauce pan, heat the oil over a med/high heat, then add the sliced onions and garlic. Allow that to cook on a med heat for about 3-4 minutes or until they get soft and edges start going golden. Now add the curry powder, give it a good stir and cook for a couple minutes. The goal is to heat the curry powder so it releases all those wonderful flavors. You will notice that the curry will go a bit darker and it will become very grainy. If you find that it’s burning, turn down the heat as we really need this to cook for about 2-3 minutes.

Now it’s time to add the water and make a sort of curry paste (be prepared for that burst of curry scent). It will be runny at first, but allow it to come to a boil, then reduce the heat to a gentle simmer. This step will cook the curry initially so we don’t get that ‘raw’ curry taste when the dish is done. After 4 minutes, turn up the heat to burn off all that water. you will now have a sort of paste.

Now it’s time to add the seasoned shrimp and give it a good stir to pick up all those curry bits from the bottom of the pan. Add everything in the bowl to the pan and have the heat at about medium. You can jump-start things by placing the lid on the pan if you want… this will cause the shrimp to spring a lot of it’s only natural juices (only keep the lid on for a minute or 2). With the lid open and the shrimp going at a rolling boil, you’ll notice the shrimp will start to curl and change color. All we want to do is cook the shrimp for 5-7 minutes from the time you add them. So if after 5 minutes you notice you have a lot of liquid in the pan, turn up the heat. I like my curry shrimp with a bit of gravy for dipping roti or to put on my rice. But that gravy must be somewhat thick. My mom would never leave gravy and to be honest, if you cook it down all the way… the taste will be a bit different.

Wasn’t that simple? I assure you this could well be the best curry shrimp you’ve ever had.. trust me! In the video below you can follow along in the event I was confusing above in my description.

Before you go I invite you to leave me your comments below.. even if it just to say hello. It’s always appreciated. And don’t forget to join us on facebook and do check out the cooking videos.

Simply Amazing Jerk Crab.

Simple Recipe For Tasty Salmon In The Oven.

The Ultimate Curry Shrimp.

Hi, I'm Chris.

Log In