Back to the Blog

I ran into an old acquaintance of mine today and she inquired about the blog and I realized it has been a while since I have had a chance to update it. The cooking has not stopped, but life has a funny way of getting in the way of things you want to do (like experimenting with new recipes and updating your blog) and the things that you should be doing. 

The past few months have been busy both personally and professionally and it has felt pretty non-stop. A fair amount of my limited free time was spent preparing for a 14 mile obstacle race this past September, which I completed successfully.

Enough about me, let's get to the food.

The food of the Caribbean is incredibly diverse, there are as many culinary styles and influences as there are islands. Add to that the fact that while the islands share many common dishes, the ingredients, preparation and names may vary from island to island. 

Both of my parents immigrated from a tiny island (108 square miles) called Antigua, and as the child of immigrants I grew up eating foods from the islands. I also spent a fair amount of time on the island with my extended family and developed a deeper understanding, appreciation and love of cooking. 

One of my favorite dishes always was (and continues to be) curry goat, a rich stew that was often prepared for special occasions.  It is now fairly common to find it on the menus of many West Indian restaurants. I have cooked this dish a few times and after playing with the ingredients for a bit, I feel like I am pretty happy with my version of it. The magic of this dish is in the long cooking time and the flavor that the goat meat and bones impart to it. If you can't easily find goat, lamb can be substituted.

**Remember, I don't often use exact measurement!**

Curry Goat

What you need

• Goat meat, cut into cubes -- 2 1/2 to 3 pounds
• One or two goat shank bones
• Onion, finely chopped -- 1
• Scallions, finely chopped -- 5
• Scotch bonnet or habanero chiles, minced -- 2 to 4
• Lime, juice only -- 1
• Garlic, minced -- 4 to 6 cloves
• Ginger, minced -- 1 tablespoon
• Fresh thyme -- 2 teaspoons
• Allspice berries -- 4 or 5 (very important for an authentic taste!)
• Salt and pepper -- to season
• Oil -- 1/4 cup
• Curry powder -- 3 tablespoons
• Water -- 2 cups
• Carrots, peeled and chopped -- 4
• Medium potatoes, peeled and chopped -- 4

How you put it together

1. In a large bowl, mix together the goat meat, onions, scallions, chiles, lime juice, garlic, ginger, thyme, allspice, salt and pepper. Cover and refrigerate for at least 2 hours, preferably overnight.
2. Remove the meat from its marinade, reserving the marinade. Heat the oil in a large pot over medium-high flame and, working in batches, brown the meat in the hot oil.
3. When the meat has been browned, stir the curry powder into the remaining oil until it darkens in color, about 15 to 30 seconds. Add the reserved marinade and saute for 3 or 4 minutes.
4. Stir in the browned meat and the 2 cups of water and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium-low, cover, and simmer for about 1 hour.
5. Stir in the carrots, potatoes and more water if needed and simmer uncovered for another 30 to 45 minutes, or until the vegetables are cooked through and the goat is tender.
6. Adjust seasoning to taste and serve hot with rice or rice and peas.

Variations

• Adding one or two goat shank bones to the simmering curry will improve its flavor.
• Substitute lamb for the goat meat if you prefer.

I'm back!

After a brief hiatus I am going to resurrect the blog. Look for new posts as I continue to push the boundaries of my cooking, and attempt to learn more.

Apple Cider Pancakes

I had a little creative flash this morning and decided to make up a quick batch of pancakes. 

My recipe is pretty straight forward, but today instead of using almond milk I substituted local apple cider. They were not quite as fluffy, but the trade-off was a subtle and delightful hint of apple. I also chose to omit the sugar/honey as I felt the cider would add a slightly sweet/tart flavor.

Clarence's Apple Cider Pancakes

1 cup all-purpose or whole wheat flour (I prefer whole wheat)

1 tbsp sugar or honey (or to taste)

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup apple cider (local of course!)

2 tbsp oil (I use sunflower)

1 egg

1 tsp each of ground cardamon, ground all spice, cinnamon and vanilla extract.

Optional:

1/2 cup chopped walnuts or diced apples.

INSTRUCTIONS

Combine the dry ingredients. In a separate bowl whisk the liquid ingredients together, add the flour mixture and mix until smooth. 

Cook on a lightly greased griddle or in a large heavy frying pan, serve with Vermont maple syrup and butter.

A Quick Note of Thanks!

I wanted to take a sec to thank all of the people that took the time to read my blog. I found it to be a fun and challenging way to spend my winter break. Writing the blog required me to push the bounds of my creativity and to attempt to articulate the controlled chaos that I call cooking.

An additional upshot was that the Wife and I ended up with a ton of leftovers which has lasted us for the past 2 weeks.

Work has consumed a lot of my time and as a result I have not been spending as much time as I would like to in the kitchen.

The blog is not ending but I will be posting less frequently over the course of the next few months.

Please check back regularly and thanks again for the support!

Clarence

A Visit to Shelburne Farms

A few years ago my father in-law gave me a copy of the then newly published Cooking With Shelburne Farms: Food & Stories from Vermont, by Melissa Pasanen with Rick Gencarelli. It has turned out to be one of my favorite cookbooks. The photography is great, the recipes are straight forward and I greatly appreciate the emphasis on local food and agriculture.

I had tried a variant of the lamb sausage and lentils a while ago and really enjoyed it, so when the Wife and I picked up some lamb sausage last week I decided to revisit the recipe this time following the version in the cookbook.

Lamb Sausage and Lentils

2 cups small green lentils, rinsed and picked over for stones

6 cups water

1 tsp coarse salt

2 sprigs fresh rosemary plus 2 tsp minced rosemary

1 lb. lamb sausage (avoid strong flavors like mint!) casing removed

3 tbsp olive oil

2 med. leeks thinly sliced

1 tbsp stone ground mustard

2 tbsp cider vinegar

black pepper to taste 

4 slices of crusty bread, chopped into coarse crumbs

INSTRUCTIONS

In a large saucepan over medium heat combine the rosemary sprigs, salt water and lentils bring to a boil, reduce the heat to a simmer and cook until tender (about 25 minutes), drain and reserve about a 1/2 cup of the cooking liquid.

While the lentils are cooking, pre-heat the oven to 400. In a large sauté add a tsp of olive oil and cook meat until it starts to color add the leeks and cook until meat is browned and leeks are golden.

Distribute the drained lentils into a shallow 2 or 3 qt baking dish. Add the sausage and leeks, mustard and cider vinegar. Stir and add the the reserved lentil liquid to moisten, adjust the seasoning to taste.

Toss the bread with the remaining olive oil and minced rosemary, strew over the top of the lentils and sausage. Bake for 20 minutes until bread crumbs are crisp and golden.

Viva Italia

I decided to use two recipes from the December issue of Saveur magazine for our meal last night. I stayed true to the recipes with the exception of adjusting them to serve 2 people.

It is pretty common to find whole roasted or fried fishes in west indian culture so I was really excited to come across this recipe for a branzino stuffed with fennel, onions, thyme and rosemary. I chose the recipe for braised artichokes to go along with it and I rounded out the meal with pan fried potatoes and greens beans tossed with shallots and a little butter.

Image by Todd Coleman, for Saveur Magazine

Whole Roasted Branzino with Fennel and Onions, serves 8–10

½ cup plus 2 tbsp. olive oil
3 lb. yellow onions, sliced
3 lb. fennel, sliced, fronds reserved
¼ cup white wine
3 tbsp. finely chopped thyme
Zest and juice of 1 orange
Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste
6 2-lb. whole branzino, cleaned


INSTRUCTIONS
Heat oven to 350°. Heat ½ cup oil in a 12″ skillet over medium-high heat. Add onions and fennel; cook until soft, 8–10 minutes. Add fronds, wine, thyme, and zest and juice; cook for 5 minutes. Season fish with salt and pepper; stuff cavity with ¼ cup fennel mixture; tie fish closed with kitchen twine. Put remaining fennel mixture in a roasting pan; top with fish. Drizzle with remaining oil; bake until cooked through, about 30 minutes.

Image by Todd Coleman, for Saveur Magazine

Braised Artichokes, serves 6–12

½ cup olive oil

2 cloves garlic

½ cup white wine

4 large artichokes, outer leaves trimmed, and halved lengthwise

3 lemons, halved and juiced

Kosher salt, to taste

4 tbsp. unsalted butter, cubed Freshly ground black pepper, to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oil in an 8-qt. saucepan over medium-high heat. Add garlic; cook until golden brown, about 3 minutes. Add wine, artichokes, lemon juice and spent halves of the lemons, salt, and 10 cups water; boil. Reduce heat to medium-low; cook until artichokes are very tender, about 30 minutes. Transfer artichokes to a serving platter and keep warm. Discard all but 2 cups cooking liquid; return pan with liquid to medium-high heat. Add butter; cook until sauce is thickened, about 15 minutes. Season with salt and pepper; spoon sauce over artichokes to serve.

Pan fried Potatoes

4-5 medium yukon gold potatoes washed, dried and cubed

2 tbsp. olive oil

1 tsp. dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

INSTRUCTIONS

Heat oil in a heavy saucepan (preferably cast iron) over medium-high heat. Add potato; sprinkle the thyme, salt and pepper over them and cook until golden brown.

Green Beans with Shallots

1 lb. green beans washed and trimmed

1 small shallot minced 

½ tsp. lemon juice

1 tbsp. butter

salt to taste 

INSTRUCTIONS

Steam the green beans until bright green in color, I prefer mine to still have a bit of a crunch. Remove from the heat and drain. Return the pot to the stove top and melt the butter on medium, once the butter has melted add the shallots and cook until soft. Return the shallots to the pot, add the lemon juice and toss to coat well. Season with salt if needed.

Cooking on Christmas: Part II, Putting it all together

After all of the morning prep work was done we opened presents and relaxed for a little while.

We jumped into the cooking around 6pm and started with the cocktails.

Kaffir lime infused vodka with ginger simple syrup (makes 2 drinks)
1 cup of kaffir lime vodka
1/2 cup of ginger simple syrup
1 fresh lime
Seltzer or sparkling water
Ice

In an iced filled cocktail shaker combine the vodka, syrup and the juice of the lime and shake vigorously, pour into an ice filled glass and top off with seltzer.

Freshly grated ginger

Kaffir lime infused vodka

Ginger simple syrup

Tasty cocktail

The Appetizer
10/20 count dry sea scallops
1 tablespoon garlic rosemary butter
Splash of olive oil
1/4 cup dry white wine
big pinch of salt
1/2 fresh lemon
Fresh basil roughly chopped

Wash and pat the scallops very dry sprinkle the salt over them. In a medium sized cast iron pan melt the butter and olive oil on medium high, once it starts to brown slightly put the scallops in. Don't move them around, let them cook on the initial side until almost cooked through, flip them over and finish cooking them on the other side. Be careful not to over cook as they will be rubbery.

Remove the scallops from the pan and reduce the heat to medium, add the juice of the lemon the white wine and a little more butter. Cook for 5 or so minutes until reduced slightly, stirring constantly to avoid burning. Turn off the flame add the basil stir for another minute.

Place the scallops on a warmed plate and pour the sauce over the scallops, enjoy with a fresh crusty bread and a glass of white wine.

Festive Scallops

Brussel Sprouts
1 lb brussel sprouts trimmed and washed
Salt and pepper
Pinch of sugar
1/4 cup hazelnuts
1/4 unsalted butter
few drop of lemon juice

Bring a large sauce pan 3/4 full of water to a boil add a few large pinches of salt and sugar boil the sprouts until the are bright green and tender. drain and rinse under cold water.

Toast  the hazelnuts in a dry pan stirring until the skins char and begin to split. Remove from the heat and place them in a clean kitchen towel, tool around until most of the skins are off. Place them on a cutting board and chop them roughly. Heat the butter and in the sauce pan and add the hazelnuts cook for 3 minutes turn off the heat and return the brussel sprouts to the pan, toss them with them butter and nuts. Put them in a bowl and keep them warm.


The Filet
The filet's can either be grilled, broiled or pan seared. I chose the the latter method, since it was a little to chilly to fire up the grill. I cooked them until about medium removed them from the heat and let them rest while I plated everything up.

The final dish that I put together was the basil and garlic mashed potatoes. I like the taste of fresh finely minced garlic in the cooked potatoes, although not everyone will. Once the potato was cooked and mashed I added finely chopped basil and the garlic and seasoned with salt and a little pepper to taste.

I served dinner with a bottle of tempranillo that complemented the filet really well.