The Inner Gourmet

Guyanese Style Chicken Patties

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:53:00 +0000

These spicy meat filled pastries were a staple in my home as a child. The ironic part is, my mother never actually made them! We would always purchase them from Sybil's Bakery on Liberty Avenue in Queens, NY. Whenever you walked in and said, "I'd like four chicken patties please" the response would always be, "Guyanese or Jamaican style?" By the end of this post you will come to understand that the two styles are truly very different. There was no rhyme or reason as to which type of patty I was in the mood for during my visit to Sybil's, but I do remember always buying a bottle of cream soda to wash it all down! Guyanese pastries are just not complete without the added taste of cream soda in the background.

Chicken patties are about the size of a small apple and are served as an appetizer or can be eaten as a snack. No matter the time, I am always in the mood for one of these savory treats!

Jamaican style patties are flat meat filled savory pastry. They contain food coloring in the crust, curry powder, and a few additional spices. The filling is more of a chunky chicken curry mixture (most popular is probably beef). They are definitely very tasty and also a favorite of mine, the chicken ones of course, since I don't eat beef. Guyanese chicken patties are shaped in a muffin pan using a flaky pastry dough that contains lots of butter, shortening, and a dash of curry powder. They are then filled with a spicy meat mixture and baked until golden. They can also be made to resemble an empanada.

I have received several requests for Guyanese Chicken Patties and after a friend asked me to email her this recipe two weeks ago, I realized how long it has been since I have been promising to post this on my blog. Today I share with you my delicious, tasty, flaky, and spicy little chicken patty recipe. Enjoy friends!

This is about 1lb of chicken breasts, it made 24 patties, you can use about 8oz (1/2 lb) of chicken for 12 patties. Salt and pepper your chicken and sear it in a pan until brown.

Place cooked chicken in a food processor with 1 wiri wiri pepper or 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. Pulse until chicken is minced, forgot to take a picture of that part, but you get the idea ;)

In a saute pan, heat about 4 tbsp of canola oil and throw in 2 beefsteak tomatoes and a 4-5 sprigs of thyme (leaves removed from stems). I usually puree 1 onion with 6 cloves of garlic and keep this mixture in the fridge for use on chicken, rice, and seafood. It gives the meat a really nice flavor and you don't end up chewing onions or garlic in the patty mixture. Throw in about 4 tablespoons of the onion/garlic puree and cook with tomatoes until soft and tender.

Add a few dashes of any browning sauce that you may have on hand, Gravy Master works well too. Add 1 tsp of Emeril's Original Essence, 1 tsp of salt, and 1/2 tsp cayenne pepper. You can throw a dash of curry powder in there too if you like.

After the tomato mixture becomes fragrant, add the chicken and cook it until brown, add more browning sauce if needed and any other ingredients that you like to use when seasoning your meat. If you have Adobo on hand, throw in a dash of that, just watch the amount of salt you put in when using other high sodium seasonings. Add about 1 cup of mixed vegetables and cook into mixture. Set aside and let this cool off.

I made my dough the night before, it helps make the process easier since these will take some time to assemble. You can find the dough recipe here under my Cheese Rolls recipe. That dough recipe will give you 12 patties. You can also use store bought pie crust if you don't have time to make the dough. Just make sure not to roll the dough too thin since we need a thick crust to hold up the meat in these patties.

Cut the dough into 24 small pieces. Round them off into balls and slightly flatten each one with a rolling pin. Spray or rub some oil on your muffin pan and line each insert with the dough. Another way to do this is to roll out the entire dough ball and then use a cookie cutter to cut the dough. I prefer not to do it that way because you will end up pinching the sides of the dough down and then sealing it with a fork so preciseness doesn't matter too much here.

Line pan with dough

Begin to fill with meat filling. Oh how pretty!

Brush the edge of the pies with egg whites then place the top dough layer on and pinch together. Sorry the photo is out of focus, I still needed to include it so you can get the idea...

Dip your fork in some flour and press edges down

Beat one egg and brush the egg wash on the top of the patties, this will give it a nice golden color after baking

Bake for 25 minutes at 350 degrees

Enjoy!

GUYANESE STYLE CHICKEN PATTIES

Yield: 12 patties

Ingredients:

1lb chicken breast (about two small chicken breasts or one large. You can use dark meat as well if you prefer)
1 wiri wiri pepper or 1/2 scotch bonnet pepper
2 large beefsteak tomatoes
4-5 sprigs of thyme (remove stems)
4 tbsp of onion and garlic puree (blend one small onion with 6 cloves of garlic and 1/4 water, blend to make puree)
Dash of browning sauce (such as Gravy Master)
1 tsp Emeril Original Essence
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
Dash of curry powder
1 cup of mixed frozen vegetables
One beaten egg (to brush tops)
One egg white
Dough recipe: Use Cheese Roll recipe for dough instructions (you can also use store bought pie crust for a shortcut, but make sure not to roll it out too thin, we need a solid crust to hold up the filling)

Directions:

Make dough ahead of time, preferably the night before refrigerate overnight. Or make dough 4 hours before and refrigerate until ready to assemble patties.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Sprinkle salt and pepper on chicken breasts on both sides. Pan sear until both sides are brown.
Chop chicken into small pieces and put into food processor with 1 wiri wiri pepper. Pulse until chicken is minced. Set aside.
Puree onion and garlic with 1/4 cup water, set aside. Heat a deep skillet with 4-5 tbsp of oil. Add chopped tomatoes, thyme, 4 tbsp onion/garlic puree, Emeril's seasoning, dash of curry powder, browning sauce, salt and cayenne pepper. Let simmer until tomatoes have turned into a sauce.
Add minced chicken and cook until tomato sauce mixture has been absorbed, let chicken brown. Taste to see if you would like to add any other seasonings of your preference.
Add mixed vegetables towards the end after chicken has browned to your liking, you may also add more browning sauce if needed. Set aside chicken to cool.
Remove dough from refrigerator. Sprinkle your surface with lots of flour. Cut dough into 24 pieces. 12 to line the muffin tins and 12 to seal the tops of the patties. Round off dough balls and roll slightly to fit the muffin pan.
Line muffin pan with dough, fill with meat mixture. Brush edges with egg whites, this will help to keep patties sealed.
Seal patties with top dough layer. Pinch edges together slightly.
With a fork, dip in flour and seal edges.
Brush tops with egg wash.
Bake in oven for 25 minutes at 350 degrees until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Guyanese Cheese Rolls

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Sat, 24 Sep 2011 18:29:00 +0000

Every weekend my family made our routine trip to Liberty Avenue in Queens, NY to purchase our Guyanese baked goods for the week. Our first stop was to the ever so popular and historic bakery, Sybil's. Sybil's has come to be a landmark in our community, one that is easily recognizable by the look and taste of their baked goods. Two of my absolute favorite pastries from Sybil's are their pine tarts and cheese rolls. Usually when my dad purchased a bag of cheese rolls, I would have already eaten one in the car before we got home. It was flaky, cheesy, slightly spicy, an absolutely delicate, so delicate that you could see the crumbs in the bag. I made sure to always wash those scrumptious cheese rolls down with a bottle of cream soda. Oh, the childhood memories...

Baking cheese rolls take patience and focus, the crust and assembly is what will take up most of your time. You can buy yourself some time by purchasing already shredded cheese and using store-bought pie crust (which I have done in the past and works great if you don't feel like spending hours on this), but if you are really in the mood to make it all from scratch then this is an excellent recipe.

Mix 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp curry powder into 2 cups flour.

With a pastry cutter, cut 1 stick of butter and 1/2 cup of crisco vegetable shortening into the flour mixture until you have little lumps of butter/shortening throughout the flour. You don't want to cut the butter too small because the small chunks is what helps to create a flaky crust.

Add enough ice cold water to bring the dough together about a 1/4 cup or more.

Place dough ball on a piece of plastic wrap and flatten dough into a square shape. This is important because it will help you later when cutting the dough. Refrigerate the dough for about 3-4 hours.

In the meantime, mix the cheese. You can season the cheese and freeze it and use it at a later time. Add 1/2 tsp mustard, 1/2 tsp pepper sauce, a shake of dry parsley, black pepper, and garlic powder.

Toss together

Remove dough from the refrigerator and cut into 16 squares. Your squares should be 1inch x 1inch in size, it's okay if it is not exact.

Sprinkle your surface with flour and flatten the square piece of dough. Roll to a rectangular shape. Do not roll very thin.

Reserve 1 egg white for brushing the edges of the rolled dough.

Brush edges

Place about 1 tablespoon of cheese mixture at the bottom of the dough, then fold over. Add another tablespoon of cheese and brush a little egg white on the folded edge, seal and flip cheese roll so the seam is on the bottom. With a fork, pierce sides and cut with a knife for an nice and clean look.

Place all cheese rolls on a baking sheet

Can you see the specs of curry powder in the dough?

Beat one egg to be used for the egg wash

Brush egg wash on each cheese roll. This will give the cheese roll a really nice color after baking.

Ready to go into the oven! Bake at 350 for 15-18 minutes. You can pierce the cheese rolls on the top with a fork if you are nervous about the cheese oozing out while baking.

Remove from oven, cool and serve :)

Guyanese Cheese Rolls

Yield: 16 rolls

Ingredients

1/2 cup salted butter
1//2 cup crisco
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp curry powder
1/4 cup ice cold water
8 oz sharp cheddar cheese (shredded)
1/2 tsp mustard
1 tsp pepper sauce
dash of garlic powder
dash of black pepper
dash of dry parsley flakes
egg whites for brushing edges
egg wash for brushing tops

Directions:

Mix 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp curry powder into two cups all-purpose flour.
Add 1 stick of salted butter and 1/2 cup Crisco vegetable shortening.
With a pastry cutter, cut shortening and butter into flour until small pieces are formed throughout the dough.
Add about 1/4 cup ice cold water to the dough and bring it together to form a ball.
Place ball on plastic wrap, flatten and shape into a square. Refrigerate for 3-4 hours.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Shred cheese and mix in mustard, pepper sauce, garlic powder, black pepper, and parsley flakes, toss and set aside.
Remove dough from refrigerator and cut into 16 squares. Flatten one square and roll into a rectangular shape.
Brush edges of dough with egg whites. Follow pictorial instructions of how to place cheese in pastry.
Place all cheese rolls on a baking sheet and brush the tops with egg wash.
Bake for 15-18 minutes until rolls are golden brown.

*If you are nervous about the cheese oozing out of the rolls, you can pierce the tops with a fork to allow the steam to escape while baking.

Roasted Dill Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Thu, 08 Sep 2011 23:22:00 +0000

"Less is more". It applies perfectly to potatoes. Who is responsible for that saying anyway? I want to give him a hug. I love flavorful dishes that require very little work and very little ingredients. It makes your pocket go a long way and helps you focus on the bigger picture, like actually having time to eat with your family rather than spending hours preparing dinner for your family. These potatoes were so easy to prep and cook, that I vowed to make them at least once a week.

I love potatoes because they are easy to manipulate, they just take on whatever flavor you force them to! These red potatoes were scrumptious with the chopped dill, which has more of a tangy taste than most herbs. Dill is best used fresh as it starts to lose its flavor once it is dried. The most popular combination of dill and potatoes would have to be a dill potato salad. Although it can be tasty, I didn't feel like drenching these potatoes in mayo, they have more class than that.

Want to see some other classy potatoes? This one has some serious class, but this one gives new meaning to "class"!

I picked up this fresh dill from the local farmers market. It is way more than we need for this recipe, but that's okay, we'll just have recipes made with dill for the next two weeks.

This was the close-up photo from last week's "Name that herb!" game that we play on my blog's Facebook page. Many of you guessed rosemary, good try though!

Scrub and wash each potato then chop into quarters. Place potatoes in a clean bowl for mixing.

Add 3 tbsp of olive oil, 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp black pepper. Toss to mix

Scatter potatoes on a baking sheet

Bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes until golden brown

Remove from oven and place into a serving dish. How gorgeous are these potatoes huh?

Roasted Dill Potatoes

Yield: 2-3 servings

Ingredients

1 1/2 lbs baby red potatoes
3 tbsp olive oil
1/4 tsp black pepper
4-5 stems fresh dill, chopped

Directions:

Scrub and wash potatoes. Chop into quarters or halves if potato is small.
Place potatoes in a mixing bowl, add salt, black pepper, olive oil, and chopped dill. Toss to mix.
Place potatoes on a baking sheet and bake at 425 degrees for 15-18 minutes until golden brown.

Custard Block: A Guyanese frozen treat

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Wed, 31 Aug 2011 15:17:00 +0000

When I was a little girl I remember my mom making this delicious frozen treat that didn't quite have the texture of ice cream, but one that was more like a block of ice. It took a really long time to melt, but once it did, it was slushy and creamy and simply intoxicating! I recall the outstanding flavors of cinnamon and nutmeg, ones that would always brighten up my taste buds. There was one particular ingredient that made this custard block stand out from any other frozen treat, and that is Bird's Custard Powder.

Want a view of inside the bag?

Bird's Custard Powder is a British product and is used for it's flavor as well as it's thickening properties. It is a cornstarch-based powder that becomes thick once liquid is added and then heated on a low temperature. Many people use Bird's Custard Powder as a substitute for eggs in many dessert recipes. However, I never remembered my mom using this fragrant powder for anything else other than custard block and baked custard.

In one of my earlier posts from last year, I posted a recipe for custard block which was made with heavy cream and eggs. It was just as delicious, but just didn't taste like my mom's. I have chosen to replace that recipe with this one, as this feels more authentic and close to my heart.

Pour milk into a mixing bowl

Add custard powder, vanilla, and almond extract

Add 1/4 tsp nutmeg. You can use ground nutmeg as well

On a side note, I started a new segment on my blog's Facebook page called, "Name That Spice!" I post a close-up photo of any particular spice and everyone takes a guess at what that spice is. So many of you guessed cinnamon, but now you can see that it was actually nutmeg :) To play along, just click the Facebook icon on the upper right part of this blog!

Back to the recipe!

Add 1/4 tsp cinnamon. You may also use ground cinnamon here if you do not have cinnamon sticks

Add 3tbsp sugar plus one more tsp. You can taste the milk as you add sugar, some people like this dessert more or less on the sweeter side.

Whisk all the ingredients together

Pour custard into a large saucepan and continue to stir slowly on medium heat for about 20 minutes or until the custard coats the back of a spoon.

When custard coats the the back of spoon just slightly, then you know it is ready

Pour hot custard into desired dish. My mom used to pour hers into a shallow dish so that it could be cut into squares like an actual block of ice. Some people also pour this into ice cube trays.

Maybe you would like to serve them in individual ramekins for a nice gourmet touch ;)

Or perhaps in a popsicle mold for the kids?

No matter how it's served, it is simply just delicious! I love custard block best when it is slightly melted and slushy like this!

Custard Block

Ingredients

two 12oz cans of evaporated milk
3 tbsp custard powder
3 tbsp + 1 tsp white sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp almond essence
1 tsp vanilla

Directions

In a mixing bow, whisk all ingredients together until custard powder has completely dissolved.
Pour mixture into a deep saucepan and turn heat to medium-low. With a spoon, continue to stir mixture until custard becomes slightly thick. If you walk away the custard will get lumpy and you will have to start over! If it coats the back of a spoon just slightly, then it is ready. See picture above with spoon test to visualize what this is supposed to look like when ready.
Pour mixture into desired dish and freeze for 5-6 hours.

Limewash

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Tue, 30 Aug 2011 02:53:00 +0000

Two years ago my family and I had the chance to travel to Guyana to visit family and friends that we had not seen in years. One of the best parts of the trip was being able to eat my aunty Loreen's "hand-cooking" (as Guyanese people would say) on a daily basis. One thing in particular that I remembered her making was limewash, which is a drink that is similar to lemonade, but made with limes and mixed essence instead.
It is absolutely refreshing and really delicious on a hot and humid day. Limewash is also known as lime drink, lime water, or limeade.

I went grocery shopping a few days ago and saw these key limes on sale and the first thing that came to mind was limewash. I decided to head home and make a large pitcher. I put my own spin on this thirst-quencher by adding a few lemons (which I needed to use up) and using key limes.

Key limes are found predominantly in Mexico and the Florida Keys, hence the name. They are about the size of a golf ball and are more sweet and tart than a regular lime. This is why they are particularly used in key lime pie. When key limes are green they are usually more acidic, once they start to turn yellow, the acidity decreases and the lime actually becomes a lot sweeter. I wouldn't recommend using yellow key limes for limewash because you really need a tart lime flavor to make this type of drink.

Squeeze lime juice into a measuring cup, remove seeds with a spoon

Pour lime juice into pitcher of 8 cups water

Give it a stir...

I had two lemons I wanted to use up so I added them to this mixture. Please note that lemons are not usually used in limewash, but I live in America and this is free country ;)

Add lemon juice to the pitcher

Add 1/4 cup to 1/2 cup sugar. This is all relative, you can add as much sugar as you like, I like to use coarse brown sugar which is known in America as Sugar in the Raw. In Guyana it is simply known as brown sugar :)

Ever see a close up of brown sugar? Take a look...

back to the recipe...add 1 tsp mixed essence or vanilla essence

Slice up any left over limes and add to the pitcher

Give it a good stir and refrigerate until chilled

Limewash Recipe

(makes approximately 9 cups)

Ingredients

8 cups water
20 key limes or 10 - 12 regular limes
1-2 lemons (if you have them handy)
1/4 - 1/2 cup brown sugar (add to suit to your taste)
1 tsp mixed essence or vanilla essence

Directions

Fill a pitcher with 8 cups cold water.
Squeeze juice out of key limes or regular limes into a measuring cup. If limes feel a little hard put them in the microwave for 15 seconds at a time, this will allow the juices to flow and make it easier to squeeze. Remove seeds and add juice to water.
Add sugar and stir until it dissolves. I like using sugar in the raw, but you can use any type of sugar you have on hand.
Add mixed essence or vanilla essence and stir.
Slice any left over limes or lemons and place in pitcher.
Refrigerate until chilled as this tastes best when cold.

A Guyanese Staple : Dhal

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Fri, 26 Aug 2011 00:09:00 +0000

What red sauce is to an Italian, is what dhal is to a Guyanese. It is truly a staple in our cuisine and is probably cooked at least once a week in any Guyanese home. Dhal is a type of "gravy" made essentially from split peas and is commonly eaten with rice or roti. It is topped with almost any type of Guyanese dish from chicken curry to fried fish, to various vegetables such as ochroes or spinach. The simplest and most delicious way to eat dhal for me is with hot paratha roti. Once the dhal has had a chance to soak into the roti, it ends up being a very fulfilling and hearty meal for me.

Dhal is made by boiling water with yellow split peas, onions, garlic, pepper and various spices then using a swizzle stick or some other appliance to make the dhal smooth. In a metal ladel or a very small pot, oil is heated and whole cumin seeds (geera) and sliced garlic are fried until they are almost burnt. This is then added to the already cooked dhal. The burnt garlic and geera gives the dhal a hint of smokiness that is truly delectable and unique. This method is known to many Guyanese as "chunkaying". There are many people who do not like the taste of the burnt geera, but I love it and I feel it really makes dhal tastes like dhal!

My mom cooks her dhal in a pressure cooker and it is usually done cooking within 10-12 minutes. What results is a smooth, slightly thick texture that can stand up to any rice or roti that it is poured on. Because I do not own a pressure cooker (I know, the shame), I use a different method, an immersion blender! Let's face it, not many of us have the time to stand over a pot with a dhal "gutney" or swizzle stick trying to make the dhal as smooth as possible, so if you want to keep your sanity, use the immersion blender!

Growing up in a Guyanese community, you can imagine that I have eaten dhal from many different homes and restaurants, but nothing beats my mom's recipe. She adds just enough spices to develop a flavor that is really like no other. I've made this a few times just to get the measurements correct for you. This will serve approximately four people with some left overs, well maybe, just depends on how many times you go back for seconds!

Rinse split peas, chop onion, garlic, pepper, and tomato

Add to 8 cups of boiling water

Immediately after adding the above ingredients, add spices and salt. I usually like my food a tad bit saltier than most people so you can start with 1 tsp salt and add more as needed

After about 45 minutes of boiling, the peas will become soft and break into pieces, this is how you know the dhal is ready to be blended. If you are using a swizzle stick, you can begin to swizzle the dhal until it gets to your desired texture

This is an immersion blender, it is used mostly to blend soups. It is wonderful because you can insert it right into a pot and blend away!

Blend for about 1 minute (yes it's that quick!)

After dhal has been blended to desired smoothness, return to a slow boil for about 15-20 minutes. You want some of the water in the dhal to evaporate so that you can achieve a slightly thick texture. If your dhal is too "loose" it will sink to the bottom of your plate and have a watery texture when served with rice.

In a ladel or very small pot, heat oil and add sliced garlic and 1 tsp of whole cumin seeds. Fry until they turn slightly burnt. Immediately add this to the pot and cover the pot as you drop the ladel in because the oil will pitch at you! Now you have "chunkayed" your dhal and are ready to serve.

Dhal

Ingredients

8 cups water
1/2 tsp masala
1/2 tsp curry powder
1/4 tsp tumeric
1/4 tsp ground geera
1 1/4 tsp salt
3/4 cup split peas
5 garlic cloves
1 whole onion
3 wiri wiri pepper
1 small tomato
1 tsp whole cumin (geera) seeds
1 garlic thinly sliced

Directions

1. Bring 8 cups of water to a rapid boil. Rinse split peas and add to the water.
2. Chop onion, garlic, tomato, and wiri wiri peppers (or scotch bonnet) and add to boiling water.
3. Add spices and salt (I usually like a bit more salt in my food so start with 1 tsp and add more if needed).
4. Boil peas for 45 minutes until peas are soft to the touch. Blend with immersion blender or use swizzle stick to achieve a smooth texture. Return to a slow boil for another 15-20 minutes until dhal gets slightly thick. Turn heat off when you have reached your desired texture.
5. In a metal ladel or very small pot, heat oil and fry sliced garlic and geera until they become slightly burnt. Immediately add to dhal, being careful to cover the pot as you add the garlic/geera mixture as the hot oil will pitch out at you since it is being combined with a water based liquid.

A Guyanese Flatbread: Sada Roti

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Sat, 20 Aug 2011 00:39:00 +0000

I remember the days when my mom would come home tired from work and still have to cook a delicious traditional meal for her family. Whether it was cook-up rice, dhal and rice with fried fish, or chicken curry with dhal puri, we always had a filling and healthy meal during the work week.

One particular memory that sticks out in my mind is the overwhelming feeling my mom felt when she had to make paratha/oil roti for dinner on a weeknight. Now, if you are Guyanese and have ever made paratha roti, then you know how labor intensive it can be and can probably sympathize with my mom here. Paratha, sometimes referred to as "oil" roti because of the oil that is rubbed in between the layers when making the dough as well as while cooking the dough, is a flaky, thin, flatbread that is served to compliment many Guyanese dishes. It is delicate and tasty and is worth all its labor!

Sada Roti served alongside fried potatoes is a popular breakfast meal in Guyanese cuisine. "Fry"(as most Guyanese would say),potatoes are sliced potatoes that have been sauteed with onions, pepper and dry seasonings. Unlike it's name, these potatoes are not actually "fried"!

Because my mom knew that she had to have dinner ready by a certain time and a great deal of that time would be spent making this wonderful paratha roti, she sometimes opted to make sada roti instead. Although not as delicate as paratha roti, sada roti has it's own glory and rightfully so. It is a hearty, rustic, and simple flat bread to make. It can be eaten with many different side dishes and is very filling. My dad used to spread peanut butter on his sada roti and have it with a cup of tea for breakfast. Today I share with you my mom's sada roti recipe. Follow this recipe exactly and you will be sure you achieve a soft and hearty sada roti.

Start with 3 cups flour, add salt and baking powder.

Add 1 1/4 cups water and knead to form a dough ball.

Cut dough ball into quarters and follow steps to form into smaller balls.

Rub some oil on the top of each dough ball and cover with a towel. The oil will help prevent a hard crust from forming while leaving the dough to rest.

After about 30-40 minutes you will see dough ball flatten out. This is because the gluten has developed and had a chance to relax.

Flour a surface and roll each dough ball to about 7 inches in diameter. If you like a thicker sada roti, roll it to about 5 inches in diameter which should be about 1/2 inch thickness.

Heat a cast iron skillet to medium-high and place roti to cook. When it starts to form large bubbles, flip roti to cook the other side.

After both sides have been cooked, place roti in microwave for about 3-4 seconds. Roti will swell and may burst due to a concentration of steam. Continue this process for each roti. Enjoy!

Mom's Sada Roti

Yield: 4 servings

Ingredients

3 cups flour (may substitute 1 cup whole wheat flour for healthier option)
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/4 cups water (add more if needed)
oil to rub on top of dough ball

Directions:

Sift 3 cups flour with baking powder and salt.
Add water a little at a time and knead to form a dough ball.
Cut dough into four pieces as shown in picture above.
Take each piece and form into a smaller round dough ball.
Rub a little bit of oil on a plate and also rub a little oil on the top of each dough ball and place in plate to rest for about 45 minutes. Cover the dough balls with a damp napkin.
Flour a surface and roll each dough ball to about 1/8 inch thickness and about 7 inch diameter. If you like a thicker sada roti, roll dough to a 1/4 inch thickness.
Heat a cast iron skillet, pan, or tawa (if you have one) to medium high heat. Place dough on skillet and once you see large bubbles forming on the top, flip to cook the other side.
Once both sides have been browned and cooked, place sada roti on a plate and put into the microwave for about 3-4 seconds. This will cause the roti to swell and create a pocket in the middle. If you own a tawa, you can cook the roti on the edge of the tawa so that the fire heats the edges and allows the roti to swell. This is the way my mom used to do it before she discovered how fast the microwave works!
Serve root hot and enjoy!

Spicy Scalloped Potatoes

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 14:30:00 +0000

To be American is to love potatoes. I am part American and I love potatoes. I cook potatoes quite often and I never get tired of eating them. I love my potatoes mashed, baked, boiled, and even broiled, but my favorite method would be scalloped and then baked. This scalloped potato dish is one that will bring the warm and fuzzies to your tummy.

Beautifully scalloped potatoes that have been dredged in a spicy cream mixture and layered with parmesan cheese, then baked until the top is golden and bubbly is comfort food in it's truest form.

Scalloped potatoes was not a dish that I grew up eating, but one that I discovered as I started looking for different ways to prepare potatoes. Although this dish will take a few extra steps to make, it is definitely worth the time and effort. Enjoy!

Begin by peeling potatoes

To ensure slices are uniformed, using a mandolin will be ideal. Slice potatoes to 1/8 inch thickness

Place potatoes in a deep bowl with cold water to prevent browning.

Begin to prepare the cream mixture. Using good quality cream and parmesan is key to this dish.

Chop your fresh herbs. If you have dry herbs you can certainly use them, however fresh herbs really add to the flavor profile of any potato dish! (Do not use the entire sprig of rosemary, only 4-5 leaves as rosemary is a very strong herb so a little bit goes a long way!)

Chop all herbs together

Finely chop garlic

Add spices and herbs to the cream and simmer on the stove until the cream is warm, about 5 minutes.

Begin layering potatoes

Remove cream from stove top and add a little bit of mixture to first layer

Now sprinkle some parmesan cheese

Continue to layer until all potatoes have been used up

Dash some paprika or cayenne pepper on the top layer for color

Add the rest of parmesan cheese

Bake for 55 minutes at 375 degrees. Broil for 2 minutes for the top to get nice and golden

Scalloped Potatoes

8 servings

Ingredients

2 lbs russet potatoes (about 5 potatoes)
1 1/2 cups heavy cream
1/2 - 3/4 cup parmesan cheese
3 cloves garlic
2 sprigs thyme
2 sprigs dill
2 sprigs parsley
4-5 leaves of rosemary (not the entire sprig)
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (you can add more if you like it really spicy)
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
dash of salt

Directions:

Peel and slice potatoes. You can slice these by hand or use a mandolin which is the easiest way to get uniformed slices. Slice the potatoes to 1/8 inch thickness. Place potatoes in a bowl with cold water to prevent from browning.
Prepare the cream mixture by heating milk on low heat and adding chopped herbs, salt, garlic powder, chopped garlic, cayenne pepper, and black pepper. Let it simmer until for 5 minutes on low heat.
Butter a casserole dish and begin to layer potatoes. Pour a little milk over the first layer and then sprinkle some parmesan cheese. Continue to layer until your milk mixture and potatoes have been used up.
Sprinkle a little paprika or cayenne pepper on the top layer then add rest of parmesan cheese.
Bake at 375 degrees for 55 minutes. Insert a toothpick into the center of the dish to make sure potatoes have cooked all the way through. If the top is not brown enough, turn broiler on for 2 minutes to get a golden brown crust. Keep and eye on it since the broiler works quickly and can burn your potato dish easily!

I took this picture the next day after refrigerating the left overs. It's easier to see the layers when the dish is cold. Enjoy!

My Ultimate Love: Fried Okra

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Wed, 27 Jul 2011 19:15:00 +0000

Known to many in the Caribbean islands as "Ochroes", this underrepresented vegetable is one of my all-time favorites. Growing up in a Hindu home, we frequently had various vegetables for dinner since it seemed we were always fasting for a Hindu holiday that was just around the corner! We were never big meat eaters anyhow so my mother cooked some type of vegetable dish for dinner at least 4-5 times per week. I particularly loved the way my mom prepared her ochroes, they were thinly sliced, fried golden brown, crispy and complemented a plate of dhal and rice perfectly.

My grandmother makes her ochroes slightly different than my mother does. She cuts them a bit thicker and therefore they turn out to be a little softer after being cooked. Although they are prepared differently, I still love them! There is just a unique taste to ochroes that no other vegetable can stand up to. There are a few different ways to prepare ochroes. They can be steamed, boiled (my dad loves them in soup or cook-up rice), sauteed or fried, which is the way I have prepared them today. I served these ochroes alongside pieces of soft sada roti. Enjoy!

During my visit to Florida, my father took me to a friend's house, who had what I like to call, a "Guyanese farm" in his backyard. He grew every type of vegetable that would be easily recognized in Guyanese cuisine! From Kariela to baigan, okra to pumpkin, you name it, he's got it! Here is a picture of the okra tree, who knew they grew upside down!

I purchased two pounds of okra, enough to feed a family of four, but my fiance and I are extreme okra lovers so having left overs of this wonderful vegetable is a must for us!

Chop off the two sides of each okra

If you like your okra to be a little softer then cut it into 1/2 inch slices. I like mine a little more on the crispier side so I cut them to 1/4 inch in thickness

After cutting ochroes, place on a baking sheet and place near the window where there is enough sunlight or you can place baking sheet on your patio, covered with a towel. Leave the ochroes to dry overnight or for about 6 hours. We do this step to dry out the "slime" that is inside the ochroes. If you skip this step, your ochroes will turn out mushy while cooking.

This is what your ochroes will look like after drying out.

Chop onions and wiri wiri pepper.

You can also use a scotch bonnet pepper if you do not have wiri wiri pepper.

Saute onions and pepper on medium-high heat until tender

Add ochroes and turn continuously

After about 10-12 minutes of cooking, add salt. I tend to like a little more salt in my food, so I added 1tsp, but if you do not like too much salt only add 1/2 tsp

After ochroes are done cooking, lay them out on a baking sheet lined with napkins to soak up any extra oil

Fried Okra / Ochroes

Yield: 2 cups cooked (4 servings)

Ingredients

2lbs okra
1/2 cup canola or vegetable oil
2 wiri wiri pepper
1/2 yellow onion
1/2 tsp - 1 tsp salt
Dash of black pepper (optional)

Directions:

Rinse ochroes and dry completely with a towel or napkin.
Cut okra into desired thickness (I cut mine to about 1/4 inch because I like them more on the crispier side. The thicker you cut them, the softer they will be once cooked)
Spread ochroes on a baking sheet (I had to use two sheets) and place near a window where you can get a lot of sunlight. Leave ochroes there for a minimum of 6 hours (I left mine by the window overnight). You can also place the ochroes outside on your patio table covered with a towel. The reason for this step is to dry out the "slime" that is inside the ochroes. The insides of ochroes have a very gelatinous fluid and when you cut into the okra, this fluid becomes more apparent and makes it harder to work with.. If you skip this step, when you try to cook the ochroes, it will become soggy and mushy because of the gelatinous fluid.
Once okra is dried, you will notice that the seeds will look slightly brown, this is how you know it is ready to be cooked!
Use a wide bottomed frying pan so that the ochroes can spread out nicely when being cooked.
Heat oil to a medium heat and add onions and wiri wiri pepper. Saute until onions are tender.
Add ochroes and turn continuously for five minutes. Cover and let ochroes cook for a few more minutes.
About ten minutes into cooking, add salt. It is important to not add the salt too early in the process otherwise you can risk the ochroes turning a little mushy as salt tends to bring out fluids from vegetables. I indicated 1/2 tsp - 1 tsp salt because I usually like a little more salt in my food so if you are like me then use 1 tsp. If you want a little less then use 1/2 tsp and a sprinkle more.
After adding salt, continuously turn ochroes until they start to shrink in size. If you prefer your ochroes softer and not as crisp remove ochroes before they start to turn dark brown. If you prefer them more crisp then continue to cook as desired.

Guyanese Plait Bread

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Thu, 07 Jul 2011 21:18:00 +0000

Changes have been made to this recipe on

August 23rd, 2011 and have been highlighted in red.

The past few months have been a little crazy on my end. I moved twice since April and was really struggling to get my kitchen up and running. Now that I have restored my life to some sort of normalcy, I can finally share this much awaited recipe with you, Guyanese Plait Bread. Plait bread is a type of braided bread (plait, meaning to braid or interweave) and is the most popular and frequently consumed bread in Guyanese cuisine. It is eaten for breakfast with various spreads, dipped in tea, toasted with lots of butter, and completes a wonderful pepperpot breakfast, the many ways this bread is consumed goes on and on. After receiving twenty-seven emails for a recipe for plait bread, I knew there was no way I could just "reply" with a recipe, I knew it had to be a post on my blog and I knew it was going to be feat to achieve that smooth, soft, evenly browned, slightly sweet bread that we all grew up eating.

So in my attempt to reproduce this wonderful commercially baked bread, I decided I was going to put my all into it and report back to you. These past few weeks have been filled with mishaps, inaccurate measurements, unruly temperatures, and discovering how to make ciabatta bread by way of messing up the recipe for plait bread. After many attempts, I have finally figured it out...

The first thing you need to know is a piece of information that I received from my cousin Anna who is a pastry chef and graduate of The Culinary Institute of America. I called Anna explaining my unsuccessful attempts at making this bread three times and failing. She explained that the breads we buy in the store are extremely difficult to reproduce at home. Commercial bakeries are equipped with special types of ovens that help achieve a certain texture and browning.

Anna also explained that there are stabilizers and preservatives in store bought bread that helps to ensure that every loaf is identical. Baking bread at home, without the added chemicals, trying to achieve the same type of results we buy in the West Indian grocery stores is a challenge, but certainly not impossible. Take a look at some of my mishaps over the past few weeks.

Since I was baking bread, I decided to use "bread" flour. Bread flour has a higher amount of protein in it and therefore helps the gluten develop faster. The result is a more stiff and rustic tasting bread. Using this recipe with bread flour resulted in a ciabatta type bread, definitely tasty, but not what I was expecting!

This is what my first loaf looked like with using bread flour.

More of a rustic, hard crust, ciabatta type bread.

In the second recipe, I decided to use 3 cups all-purpose flour and 1 cup of bread flour. The bread turned out to be hard on the outside and soft on the inside, again, not what I was looking for.

This is what my second loaf looked like with using only 1 cup of bread flour and 3 cups all-purpose flour, soft on the inside but hard on the outside. Again, not what we are looking for.

I tried this a few more times changing the ingredients until I finally came up with a recipe that I felt was worthy. This plait bread recipe has a nice give to it, not like some plait breads where it is so soft you think you are eating a dinner roll. I decided to spread some butter on a slice or two and toast it, just like I did growing up. This bread recipe is a keeper for me! I hope you enjoy it!

The winning recipe!
(for me at least!)

Follow these steps to make the plait bread

Start with 1 tablespoon of yeast, this will be 1 pack of yeast plus a little more. Some recipes will say 1 pack or 1tbsp, but I measured it and 1 pack is not equal to 1 tbsp just so you know!

Dissolve the yeast in warm water that is temped somewhere between 100 - 110 degrees then add 1 tsp of sugar. Let this mixture sit for about 5-6 mintues allowing the yeast to "bloom"

After initial kneading, cover dough ball with a thin towel. Set your oven temperature to "Warm" and wait about 15 mintues. Place bowl with dough ball into warm oven. If it is summer time or if you are lucky and you live in Florida year round where there is always some heat, don't warm up your oven, just leave it in there to "proof" or "swell".

Begin to knead the dough in a circular motion where you are turning the outsides of the dough onto the inside. This is the proper way to knead. You will notice the dough ball getting stiffer and it should also get smoother.

This dough ball is still lumpy after some kneading. Continue to knead until it looks smooth...

...like this

Now here is a very important appliance that you will need when baking bread, a scale. You can pick one of these up at your local Walmart or Target for about $15-$20. You don't need anything fancy or expensive here, just something that will work!

Weigh the entire dough ball and then divide it by three. The reason is because you want to have three even dough balls for when you are ready to braid the bread. Even though you may separate the dough balls by hand and they may look uniform and even, the weight may vary and once baked, you will notice your bread will be uneven.

1170 / 3 = 390 still with me?

Ahh nice and even!

Begin to roll each dough ball by hand to make a log shape.

When rolling the log, tuck the dough in underneath itself to create a smooth top. Take a look at this picture, do you see how to tuck the dough under itself in order for the top to be smooth? Use that technique here. Rolling the dough into a log shape will create layers and folds which will result in the crust being slightly tough. I just learned this technique from my aunt this past weekend (August 20th, 2011) and it is not reflected in these pictures as they were taken a few months back.

It is important to measure each "strand/log" to make sure they are just about equal in length, you want to have enough length from each log to braid the entire loaf.

Follow these pictorial instructions on how to braid the bread.

Turn your oven to "warm" for 5-6 minutes then turn oven off (we are doing this to create a moist environment for the dough to proof). Place braided bread on a baking pan and allow it to rise for about 30-40 minutes. I use a non-stick silpat mat to bake, but if you don't have one you can certainly lightly spray your pan with oil or butter. I say lightly spray because the more butter you spray the more crispy the bottom of your bread will be. Leave bread uncovered while proofing.

This picture was taken on August 23rd, 2011 after using a new technique described above in red. After proofing the dough will double in size and possess a smooth top.

Here is a photo of my bread after baking. Picture taken on August 23rd, 2011 after using new technique described above in red.

Here is a photo of store-bought Guyanese Plait Bread for comparison.

Now for some buttery toasted bread!
When I was much younger, I used to always have this for breakfast before I went to school. I started toasting it myself because I liked it a certain way, buttered on both sides and toasted to a golden brown. Yum!

Don't judge me, I don't have a tawa! But I use a skillet which is made of cast iron, just like a taw. I will have to buy a tawa one of these days, otherwise I really can't claim to be Guyanese!

Guyanese Plait Bread
Yield: One large loaf

Ingredients

1 tbsp yeast (make sure to measure, b/c 1 tbsp is not equal to 1 packet)
1/4 cup warm water (100-110 degrees)
1 tsp sugar
3 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp salt
1/4 cup butter/shortening
1 egg
1 cup water (add more if needed to bring dough together)
Flour for kneading
Scale for weighing dough

Directions

Place yeast into 1/4 cup warm water to bloom. The warm water should be temped somewhere between 100 - 110 degrees, add 1 tsp of sugar. Let it bloom for about 5-6 minutes.
In a large mixing bowl, sift 3 cups all-purpose flour. Add 1/4 cup sugar, 1 tsp salt, and 1/4 cup chopped cold butter/shortening. Mix until you get coarse crumbs.
Add your liquid ingredients. Add water yeast and egg to flour mixture and begin to combine. Knead it until it forms a tight dough ball.
Set your oven temperature to warm for about 5-6 minutes and then turn it off. We need to create an environment for the bread to proof or "rise". A warm oven will provide the moisture in the air that we need.
Lightly spray another clean mixing bowl with oil or butter and transfer dough ball. Cover mixing bowl with a towel and place into warm oven for 1 hour or until your dough ball doubles in size.
After one hour of proofing the dough, transfer dough ball onto a floured surface and begin kneading, you may also knead dough in the same large bowl. See pictures above on how to properly knead the dough. Knead for about 8-10 minutes or until the dough becomes smooth.
After dough ball has become smooth and elastic, weigh entire dough ball on a food scale and divide your number by three. You will be breaking your dough ball into three pieces and they must all equal the same or very similar weight. Be sure to tare your scale when you put the dough ball on it.
Take each piece of dough ball and fold it into itself to make a round smooth ball.
Roll out the dough ball into the shape of a log and tuck the dough under itself so the top of the log is smooth and the bottom of the log has a seam. Use the same technique as in this picture.
Measure the length of each log to make sure they are all the same length. Begin to braid the bread by following the pictorial instructions above.
After bread has been braided, place on a baking sheet that has been lightly greased and allow to proof in oven uncovered for 30-40 minutes. Over-proofing will make the braid come apart.
Remove dough from oven and now turn oven to 315 degrees. Brush some melted butter on top of bread dough, this is what will help to keep the dough soft.
Bake bread for 25-30 minutes. Remove from oven, wait five minutes then place bread loaf in a plastic bag, this also helps to keep the crust soft.

Cassava / Yuca Fries

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Thu, 17 Mar 2011 15:35:00 +0000

If you have never tasted cassava, then you need to find it, cook it, and eat it. It is a root vegetable and it is silky smooth with a slightly sweet and bitter taste. To be honest, there is nothing else that tastes like it. It has the texture of a baked potato and is very fibrous. This is a popular vegetable in Guyana and it is mainly used when making Boil & Fry (a very clean and healthy dish where root vegetables are boiled and then sauteed with onions and hot peppers). It is also the main ingredient in one of Guyana's popular baked goods, cassava pone, you can find a picture here. I am a huge cassava lover so when the idea popped into my head to make these cassava fries, I couldn't wait to share the recipe with you.

I first had these delicious fries at a Cuban restaurant back in New York City near where I was living at the time. I fell in love with them instantly. There is something so authentic about eating yuca fries at a Cuban restaurant in America. Just when you think your dish was accidentally served with potato shoe strings, you take a bite and realize there is no comparison. I hope I have convinced you to try these and if I haven't just take a look at the pictures. Enjoy the recipe for these delicious "ethnic french fries", as I like to call them!

Chop cassava with skin on, into 3 inch widths, make a shallow cut into the skin and gradually work your knife under the pink layer of skin to remove it. OR you could just buy the pre-peeled frozen cassava in the freezer section of your grocery store!

I had to boil my cassava for about 30min, pierce cassava with a fork to check for tenderness. You want the cassava to have a slight give to is when pierced with a fork, if it is too soft, it will fall apart when cutting it into shapes for the fries. Once boiled, remove each piece with a slotted spoon and place on a thick layer of tissues to dry. Remove the thick fibrous part in the center of the cassava.

Follow these directions on how to chop them. For softer fries, cut them slightly thicker, for crunchier fries, cut them thinner.

You do not need to deep fry here. A shallow fry will work just fine, this simply means not having as much oil in the pan as you would for deep frying. Heat to 325 degrees and fry till golden brown, season immediately so that seasonings can stick well to the fries.

Voila! Tender and soft on the inside, crisp and crunchy on the outside!

Cassava / Yuca Fries

Ingredients

3lbs cassava/yuca root (you can also buy the frozen kind to save peeling time)
Vegetable or canola oil for frying
Salt and your choice of seasoning: black pepper, cayenne pepper, garlic powder (I used all)

Directions

Chop cassava with skin on, into 2-3in widths, 3inches is good for longer fries.
Make a shallow cut in the cassava skin and insert knife underneath to lift skin off all the way around.
Rinse cassava and set aside.
Bring a pot with enough water to a boil, add cassava and boil for 20-30 minutes, until cassava is soft, but still has a give when pierced with a fork. You don't want he cassava to be to soft, otherwise it will be hard to cut into sticks.
Using a slotted spoon, remove each piece of cassava from water and place on a thick layer of tissue to dry out (about 8-10min).
Cut into desired size, for crunchier fries, cut them thinner, and for softer fries cut them slightly thicker.
Heat oil to 325 degrees and fry in batches until golden brown.
Season with your desired spices. I served mine with ketchup, but a friend of mine recommended it with mango sour. Delicious!

Fried Channa (Chickpeas) Made Healthier

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Sun, 13 Mar 2011 18:29:00 +0000

I just wanted to let you all know that I am alive! I know it seems I have fallen off the face of the earth these past few weeks but the truth is, things have been so hectic! We are moving and coupled with me job hunting, I just have not had a lot of time to cook. So I really do apologize for abandoning my blog, but I am back now and hopefully will get a handle on posting some new recipes and replying to emails! Here is one of my favorite Guyanese snacks that I could gobble up at any given time of day.

Every Saturday or Sunday my family would make their weekly errands run to Liberty Avenue (Queens, NY) to purchase all of our nourishing vegetables and West Indian baked goods for the rest of the week. During our visit to the West Indian stores, I would always make sure I picked up a pack of fried channa (chickpeas) to snack on in the car. The most popular brand of fried channa would have to be Patsy's, here is a picture of what it looks like. Channa is a popular snack in Guyanese and Trinidadian cuisine, it's not typical to make this at home since it is time consuming and easily accessible in West Indian stores, but if you are feeling brave, give it a try, trust me you will love it!

Since I cannot easily access a pack of Patsy's split channa, I decided I would just have to make it myself to satisfy this craving. If you haven't noticed, I have also been trying different methods to try to make some of our favorite West Indian foods a bit more healthier. Oven-roasting these chickpeas instead frying them definitely saved a lot of calories and to be honest, you cannot even tell the difference in terms of texture! It was just as crunchy and tasty as the fried version.

I used Goya, but you can use any brand of dried chickpeas, make sure it is 1 lb

Soak beans overnight in 6 cups water. You can also follow the directions on the back of the package on how to reconstitute the beans.

In the morning, the beans will change color and also plump up

Drain beans

You can put the beans back into the same bowl/pot that yo used to soak them in

Dry beans thoroughly with a napkin to remove excess moisture

Add these seasonings to the chickpeas, if you do not want them spicy then skip the cayenne pepper!

Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil, you need a baking sheet big enough so that the chickpeas can lay flat and not on top of each other.

Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees, let it cook and enjoy your healthy snack!

Oven-roasted Chickpeas

Ingredients

1 lb dry chickpeas
3 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper

Directions

Soak beans overnight in 6 cups water, beans will swell by morning. Or, you can soak beans in 6 cups water and boil for 10 minutes, then leave for 4 hours to swell.
Once beans are swollen (reconstituted), drain in a colander and dry beans with napkins to remove moisture.
Add oil, black pepper, salt, and cayenne pepper and toss well.
Cover a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spread chickpeas evenly so they are not laying on top of each other.
Bake for 50 minutes at 350 degrees. You can taste one at this point to see if it needs to bake for a few more minutes, you want the chickpeas to be very crunchy.

I leave you with these important words that I have come to really understand over the past year, no matter what you do in life, make sure it is something that you love!

Spicy Red Lentil Soup

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Wed, 23 Feb 2011 04:20:00 +0000

It is still winter here in New York and living in Rochester makes it feel like winter is the only season that exists. When it is so cold outside, all you can do is stare out the window and wish the snow away, but then you come to realize that the snow magically disappearing is just not going to happen, so the only thing left to do is to go into your kitchen and make a hearty bowl of any kind of soup to warm up your body and soul.

I love red lentil soup. Its hearty, filling, and very healthy. I was even surprised to discover how much protein is in red lentils, makes me feel even better about making this soup for dinner! This soup is really spicy, but if you are not a fan of "spicy" then just omit the paprika and cayenne pepper. Everyone makes red lentil soup slightly different. It is common to see this soup as a puree, but I love to chew the little beans so I like mine a little chunky. However you like your lentil soup, be sure to try out this recipe because the flavors blend really well together, trust me, you won't regret it! Enjoy!

I prefer using Goya brand red lentils since some other brands take a big longer to cook.

you will need 1 cup of red lentils

rinse and set aside

32oz/4 cups vegetable stock

Empty stock into a pot

add two cups of water to stock and set aside

1 inch piece of ginger, grated

Wegmans sells this already chopped and prepared, if you don't have access to a pre-chopped soup starter such as this one, then go ahead and chop your carrots, onions, and celery

add 5-6 cloves of garlic, chopped

1/4 green pepper, chopped

When the vegetables are soft and tender, add 2 cups of the stock mixture and puree.

Once soup is pureed, add rest of stock, add lentils and black pepper

add spices to pureed mixture and let soup simmer on low heat

Remove from heat, garnish with a sprinkling of paprika

Spicy Red Lentil Soup

Ingredients

4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups water
2 medium carrots, chopped
2 celery stalks, chopped,
1 onion, chopped
2 plum tomatoes, chopped
1 inch piece of ginger, grated
1 cup red lentils, rinsed
5-6 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 green pepper, chopped
1 green chili pepper (optional)
2 tbsp canola oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp black pepper
1 boullion cube
1 tsp paprika
1 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp cumin
1 tbsp tomato paste

Directions

Pour vegetable stock and water into a pot and set aside.
Peel and grate ginger and set aside.
Chop celery, carrots, onion, garlic, green peppers, and tomatoes, saute on medium heat in a pot, with 2 tbsp canola oil. Add ginger and chili pepper. When vegetables are soft, add 2 cups stock/water mixture to the pot and puree with a hand mixer. You can also pour stock/water and vegetables into a blender to make it smooth OR if you like your soup chunky, do not bother with pureeing!
Once soup is pureed, add rest of stock to the pot along with all the spices, salt and black pepper and red lentils.
Let mixture boil for 25 minutes on low heat to allow flavors to develop and meld together. Add more salt if needed. let lentils boil to desired softness. You will notice the soup getting thicker as it cooks slowly.
Remove from heat and garnish with paprika.

Valentine's Day Coconut Cookies

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Fri, 11 Feb 2011 23:36:00 +0000

So how pretty are these babies right? Decorating these cookies is by far the best part and something you can do with your kids as well. When I first decided to make these cookies, I promised myself that they were going to be simple, just the cookie with a drizzling of icing on top. Well, I tried just drizzling the icing on top and for some reason when I looked at them, they were screaming, "we need more decor"! So what did I do? Dipped them all in white and milk chocolate and covered them in red sugar and pearlized sugar beads! I can't be trusted with candy decorations. I found this recipe on another popular food blog, here is the site, Eat Good 4 Life. Thank You Miryam for this wonderful recipe! And I am so sorry that I made it unhealthy by dipping them all in chocolate!

These cookies are SO delicious on their own (without the chocolate and icing) and they are not too sweet either. I really wanted to deck them out since it is Valentine's Day and all. The recipe is really easy and simple, if you have a food processor, please use it for this recipe! Your clean up will be a breeze and it will make the process go faster. Enjoy my friends, and Happy Valentine's Day!

Here are the unique ingredients you will need for this cookie

You can also do this by hand, just cut the butter into all dry ingredients and then add liquid ingredients.

In a separate bowl, mix the liquid ingredients.

add liquid ingredients to the dry, pulse till it clumps together

form into a ball, flatten then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate

covering your cutting board with plastic wrap will make it easy to work with the dough. Put another piece of plastic wrap on the dough and roll.

line your baking pan with parchment paper or one of these awesome silpat mats, if you don't have one, I suggest investing in one (if you like to bake)

it will prevent your baked goods from over browning

Grab your Valentine cookie cutters...

...and cut away!

Into the oven!

Out of the oven!

TIME TO DECORATE!

add some pink food coloring to the white chocolate, pour it into a squeeze bottle and use it to decorate the top of the cookies.

Coconut Cookies

Ingredients

1 1/2 sticks butter
2 cups whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 cup unsweetened coconut flakes
6 tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp coconut extract
A few drops pink food coloring

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
In a food processor add butter and flour and pulse until the butter is in small pieces.
Add whole wheat pastry flour, sugar, and coconut, pulse a few times till everything is mixed in.
Mix all liquid ingredients together and add to the dry ingredients, add liquid while food processor is on.
Let processor form a dough ball from ingredients.
Separate dough ball into two balls, flatten, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10-12 minutes.
Roll dough to 1/4 inch thickness and use cookie cutter to form the shapes you desire.
**Note the baking time is different depending on the size of your cookies.
1-2 inches in diameter bake for 6 minutes (or until edges are slightly golden brown)
3-4 inches in diameter bake for 8-10 minutes.
If you would like to dip these in chocolate, just melt the chocolate and dip when cookies are cool. If chocolate is too thick when melted, add a little bit of vegetable oil or crisco (1tbsp at a time) until you get the consistency you want. Decorate as desired.

Guyanese Style Cook-up Rice

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Tue, 08 Feb 2011 17:40:00 +0000

This recipe is a repost from earlier last year. I decided to update this post with more detailed pictures since its a really popular dish. The amazing thing about one pot dishes is that you can throw in anything you want and it will all come together to a beautiful and unique taste. Rice dishes do just that. In the Caribbean there are many different names for this dish. In Guyana, we call it cook-up rice. Its typically made on Sundays or when there are plenty of mouths to feed! It is a hearty and rustic type of rice dish. The texture of this rice is wet and very moist. People usually include beef, pork, or chicken in it, but other people, such as my aunty Mala, liked to top it with a piece of fried fish.

I must tell you, there is no one recipe for cook-up rice. It is a highly customizable dish in terms of what type of beans and meat you can include. I prefer mine with pigeon peas, but it is also popularly made with black-eyed peas. Since I don't eat beef or pork, I have made mine with nice brown pieces of chicken breasts (since that is what I had available in the freezer!). Here is the recipe, don't be intimidated by the amount of ingredients, its a quick process once you get it all into the pot!

Bring 12 cups water to a boil

dice onions, garlic, and green pepper, you can add scallions here too

I love using fresh herbs remove from stems...

give them a coarse chop

add two peppers, you can use 1/2 scotch bonnet as well

add 2 bay leaves and be sure to remove them later

you will need 2-3 boullion cubes depending on how salty you like your food,

start with 2 and add more later

throw everything in the pot and let it all cook together

add 2 cups coconut milk

add to pot

add 2 tbsp casareep, this will give the cook-up rice a nice brown color

you can add any type of beans you like, but I love cook-up with pigeon peas!

Using parboiled rice is a must here, parboiled rice is stiff and can hold up to the

heavy ingredients in this dish, white rice or any other short grain rice will make this cook-up become soggy.

add rice to pot, sorry the picture is so blurry, there was a lot of steam coming out of that pot!

Cook the chicken

I used 2 large chicken breasts

rice is almost done, did you notice how most of the water has evaporated?

wait till you have it then next day! Even better!

Guyanese Style Cook-up Rice

Serves 6-8 people

Ingredients

11 cups water
1 onion diced
2-3 scallions chopped (I didn't have any on hand which is why you do not see it pictured above)
3-4 garlic cloves, chopped
1 sprig of oregano, coarsely chopped
1 small sprig of rosemary, coarsely chopped
1-2 sprigs of thyme, removed from stem
2 bay leaves
2 wiri wiri pepper or 1/2 scotch bonnet
1/4 cup diced green pepper
2-3 large boullion cubes
2 cups coconut milk (do not use Goya brand as it is not thick enough for this recipe)
2 tbsp casareep
1 tbsp old bay seasoning (trust me, it tastes amazing in here)
1/2 tsp black pepper
1 cup chopped spinach (optional)
1 15.5oz canned beans of your choice or *dry beans
2 1/2 cups parboiled rice (any other type of rice will be too soft to hold up to the heavy ingredients in this dish)
2-3 pounds of your choice of meat (I used chicken breasts)

Chicken:

2-3lbs chicken (or any type of meat you prefer)
season meat to your tastes, but here is an idea of how I seasoned my chicken
2 tbsp of onion and garlic puree
1 tsp casareep
cayenne pepper
black pepper
1 tsp salt
2 tsp oil

Directions

If you are using dried beans:

In a large pot, bring 11 cups of water to a boil. Add dried beans to boiling water.
In the meantime, dice onions, garlic, scallions, and green pepper, add to the boiling water. Add in wiri wiri pepper, fresh herbs, bay leaves, and boullion cubes.
When beans are slightly soft, add coconut milk, casareep, and spinach (if you are using spinach). Let this mixture boil for 15 minutes.
Place rice in a mixing bowl and run the tap water over it on low, until the water goes clear (this method is how we wash rice in the West Indies). Drain water from rice and add to the pot.
Add old bay seasoning and black pepper. Let rice boil until the rice is cooked, you can take one out to feel if it is soft or not. When the cook-up is close to being done, you will see that it is wet and soupy looking, there will hardly be any liquid left in the pot. Now at this point, add your cooked meat and give it a good stir.
Remove from heat and cool. This will taste the best on the next day, trust me!

If you are using canned beans:

In a large pot, bring 11 cups of water to a boil.
In the meantime, dice onions, garlic, scallions, and green pepper, add to the boiling water. Add in wiri wiri pepper, fresh herbs, bay leaves, and boullion cubes. Let ingredients cook for 10-12 minutes.
Add in coconut milk and casareep and spinach (if you are using spinach). Let mixture boil for 7-8 minutes.
Place rice in a mixing bowl and run the tap water over it on low, until the water goes clear (this method is how we wash rice in the West Indies). Drain water from rice and add to the pot.
Drain and rinse beans and add to the pot. Add old bay seasoning and black pepper. Let rice boil until the rice is cooked, you can take one out to feel if it is soft or not.
When the cook-up is close to being done, you will see that it is wet and soupy looking, there will hardly be any liquid left in the pot. Now at this point, add your cooked meat and give it a good stir.
Remove from heat and cool. This will taste the best on the next day, trust me!

Superbowl Party: Phyllo Fruit Cups with Homemade Whipped Cream

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 04:13:00 +0000

You're probably going to have chicken wings, pizza, beer, dips such as this one and this one, and maybe some cake or cupcakes or cookies, the list goes on and on. Everyone loves good comfort food during the Superbowl game, but there is no reason why we can't have a lighter option for those of you who are doing so well with keeping your New Years resolution to lose weight! :)

These fruit cups take no time to assemble, they are crunchy, light, flaky, sweet and really tasty. After all it is just fruit and whipped cream in flaky phyllo dough shells! If you have had baklava, then you have had phyllo dough. Phyllo sometimes even spelled, fillo, or filo, is a very thin pastry dough that becomes very flaky when baked. Athens is the most popular brand that makes this awesome dough. You can buy the ready made shells or the actual sheets of phyllo in the freezer section at your local grocery store. These fruit cups would be an awesome addition to your Superbowl party or any gathering for that matter. Enjoy!

These were 15 in a box for $1.99

Try not to eat them before you top 'em!

before prepping the fruits, place a mixing bowl with the whisk attachment from an electric mixer into the freezer to chill for 20 minutes

dice up 6-8 medium strawberries, set aside

you will need one blueberry per phyllo shell

remove mixing bowl and whisk from freezer and pour in heavy cream

Your whipped cream is done when you tilt the bowl and the cream does not move

place some whipping cream in a zip loc bag to make piping easier

snip off one of the ends, don't make the hole too big, start small, you can always snip off more if you need the piping hole to be bigger

lay shells out on a platter

sprinkle confectioners sugar over the shells

pipe whipped cream into shells

top with diced strawberries

...and blueberries

Phyllo Fruit Cup

Ingredients

Fresh blueberries (you need one blueberry per phyllo cup)
6-8 medium strawberries diced (this will top 30 mini phyllo cups)
Confectioners sugar for dusting
1 cup heavy cream (you can also use cool whip topping or whipped cream in the can if it is easier and more convenient for you instead of making whipped cream)
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp vanilla
Desired amount of mini phyllo dough shells (like this or like the one in my picture above)

Directions

Make the whipped cream. Start by getting a deep mixing bowl (stainless steel, not glass) and place it in the freezer with the whisk attachment from an electric mixer. Let the bowl and whisk chill for 20 minutes in the freezer. Please note that you should make sure your mixing bowl is thoroughly dried before putting it in the freezer, if there is even a dripping of water in the bowl, your cream will not rise or thicken.
Pour 1 cup heavy cream into the mixing bowl after removing it from the freezer. Attached whisk to electric mixer and beat cream on high speed. You will notice after two minutes or so that the cream is really thick, at this point add the vanilla and 2 tbsp sugar. continue to beat until the whipped cream is stiff. You can tilt the bowl, if the cream does not move, then it is done. Place whipped cream in the fridge for 10 minutes while you prep the shells and dice the strawberries.
Place shells on platter and dust with confectioners sugar.
Place a few spoonfuls of whipped cream in a zip-loc bag and snip the end off with a scissor.
Pipe whipped cream into the shells and top with fruit, you can put as much or less fruit as you desire.
Serve immediately. You can also refrigerate some of these for a few hours, but not overnight as the whipped cream will deflate.

Superbowl Party: Spinach Artichoke Dip

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 00:07:00 +0000

We can thank the fast food dine-in chains such as Applebee's or Chili's for making this dip so popular. The first time I had this dip was when I was in college at St. John's University in Queens, NY. There was an Applebee's nearby and I remember always ordering this dip to share with friends. Its creamy, decadent and amazing with pita bread. I always wondered what gave this dip its tangy taste, and realized later that it is the parmesan cheese that is mixed in. If you want this dip to taste superb then I recommend spending a few extra dollars and getting some REAL parmesan cheese, not the store brand stuff in the package, we need real, imported cheese from Italy here! If it's one thing I've learned over the years from cooking, its that you should always use the best ingredients available to you, it makes a world of a difference to the end result.

That being said, this is yet another dip that your guests will LOVE. I am having around 6 people over for a small Superbowl party, but if you plan to have more 8 guests, I recommend doubling this recipe. Enjoy!

Here are the main ingredients you will need to prepare the dip

Strain the spinach and use a spoon to help press out any excess water, it makes a big difference, we don't want soggy dip, we want creamy dip :)

You will need about 15oz of artichoke hearts, I like to use the ones in a jar instead of the can.

Chop artichokes to about the same size as the spinach

Pour cheese into a mixing bowl, add spinach, chopped artichokes, and garlic, toss with your hand

In a separate bowl, add cream cheese, sour cream, mayo,

a few dashes of black pepper and cayenne pepper. Mix thoroughly

Add spinach mixture to the cream cheese mixture and mix well.

Cover with foil and pour into a baking dish and bake at 350 degrees for 20 minutes.

Remove foil and bake again for 15 minutes.

Don't you want to just stick your face in there? Well you'd probably burn your face, but still, I wish you could smell this dip, the aroma is killing me! Somebody pass me a tortilla chip...Quick!

Spinach Artichoke Dip

(serves 6-8 people)

Ingredients

1 10oz package of frozen chopped spinach
15oz artichoke hearts (I used two 7.5oz jars)
2 cups shredded parmesan cheese
1 tsp minced garlic
1 8oz package of cream cheese
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup mayonnaise
Couple of dashes of cayenne pepper and black pepper

Directions

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees.
Thaw spinach and drain excess liquid, use a spoon to help press out extra liquid.
In a mixing bowl, add cheese, spinach, chopped artichokes, and garlic, set aside.
In another mixing bowl, blend, cream cheese, mayonnaise, and sour cream together. Add black pepper and cayenne pepper.
Add spinach mixture to cream cheese mixture and mix really well.
Pour into a baking dish, cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil then bake again uncovered for 15 minutes or until top get golden around the edges.
Serve hot with pita bread slices or tortilla chips.

Superbowl Party: Buffalo Chicken Dip

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Mon, 31 Jan 2011 02:22:00 +0000

The Superbowl is to Americans what World Cup is to the rest of the world. Americans and even non-Americans (like my family), gather on Superbowl Sunday to watch the game, enjoy the half time commercials, have fun with friends, and most importantly, (according to me) enjoy the party food!

The men in my family have been living in the United States for 20+ years and have become avid sports fanatics, not to mention their team loyalty. I will not mention which teams, but I will say, they have become passionate New Yorkers, you get the idea ;) Whether it be baseball or football, when the World Series or Superbowl came around I knew my house was going to filled with loud, beer-drinking, chip-eating, angry men. The best thing we could do was make sure there was enough food around, that last thing we wanted was a hungry man watching his team lose. My house was filled with lots of Caribbean appetizers during the Superbwol, but now that I no longer live at home, I have been exploring the idea of new and tasty appetizers that are not necessarily West Indian.

The first time I had this dip was at a bar here in Rochester, called Jermiah's. It was so delicious and such an awesome variation of the famous buffalo chicken wing. Buffalo chicken wings and dip are staples here in upstate New York. You're bound to see this dip at many local eateries since the buffalo wing was founded in neighboring city, Buffalo.

Cook the chicken and set aside

Make the sauce and set aside

Chop chicken finely and add to the sauce

Bake the dip

Serve with tortilla chips and enjoy :)

Buffalo Chicken Dip

Ingredients

2 (8oz) packages of cream cheese
1 cup of ranch dressing
3/4 cup Franks Red Hot Sauce
10-12 oz of chicken (you can use the breasts from a rotisserie chicken as well)
Desired amount of shredded mozzarella or cheddar cheese

Directions

Pan sear chicken, add salt and black pepper to taste, set aside to cool down.
Make sauce by beating cream cheese and ranch dressing till smooth, add hot sauce. Set aside.
When chicken is cool, finely chop the chicken and then add it to the hot sauce mixture.
Pour into a dish and bake uncovered for 20 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove and sprinkle mozzarella or cheddar cheese on top and bake again for 10 minutes.
Serve dip warm with tortilla chips.

West Indian Pepper Sauce

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Thu, 27 Jan 2011 16:09:00 +0000

I never realized how incomplete my life was without this condiment until I moved away from home and did not have easy access to it any longer. Growing up, this pepper sauce was a staple in my home, much like in every West Indian home. I consider this sauce to be the "Tabasco" of the Caribbean islands (and Guyana) because it is a condiment that is added to almost any type of savory food for flavor as well as for spiciness. The type of peppers that are used to make this pepper sauce are usually wiri wiri peppers (also known as cherry pepper) or scotch bonnets. They are both very hot peppers and when made into a pepper sauce, usually need to be flavored and seasoned to bring out the tastiness. Different countries in the West Indies might have slight variations of this recipe, but in the end, the result is similar, a spicy, flavorful condiment that your meal can't be without!

I had no idea the amount of work that goes into making this pepper sauce until I went to Guyana in 2009 to visit my family. My grandfather is the anointed pepper sauce making guru in my family, so one hot day during my vacation to Guyana, I sat in my hammock and attentively watched as he made pepper sauce to be bottled for us to bring back to NY/FL. The aroma filled the entire bottom house, and made us cough as if we all had bronchitis, somehow, he was able to withstand the smell and continued to grind the peppers. The dedication I tell you, just for some Caribbean Tabasco!

He used a mill like this one to grind the peppers for the sauce. It was all done manually, all 10 pounds of pepper! I used only 2 pounds of wiri wiri pepper, so as you can imagine, this was definitely a huge feat for him! Now back in NY and unable to find anything close to my grandfather's pepper sauce, I made a phone call to Guyana to get the recipe for this pepper sauce. Pepper sauce is not just about being spicy, its also about the texture and the flavor. I don't particularly care for watery pepper sauce, I like it smooth and thick. I used the blender to make my sauce, it was much easier since I do not own a grinding mill. The texture was exactly the same and so was the taste. Another family recipe has been made, tasted, and documented! This recipe comes to you all the way from Grandpa Roland in Guyana...enjoy!

There is 2lbs of pepper here. Make sure you use a glove when removing the stems, otherwise your skin will get burned!

How about a closer look?

peel and dice one green mango and 1 head of garlic

Since it is so much pepper, blend a little at a time so your blender doesn't flow over

add green mango and garlic

It is not pictured here, but for 2lbs of pepper you will need 1/2 cup of

white distilled vinegar. Add a little bit of vinegar at a time and blend

till the sauce looks smooth and you don't see very many seeds.

West Indian Pepper Sauce

(makes about 4 cups pepper sauce)

Ingredients

2lbs wiri wiri pepper or scotch bonnet peppers (stems removed)
1 green mango or 2 large cucumbers, peeled and diced
1 head of garlic, peeled
3 tsp salt
1/2 cup vinegar

Directions

Rinse peppers and remove all stems
Add about 1 cup of peppers to a blender with a little bit of mango or cucumber, a little bit of vinegar and garlic, blend until smooth.
Repeat process until all ingredients are used up and sauce is smooth and not watery (it should have a tomato/pasta sauce texture).
Store sauce in a mason jar.

Chickpea Salad

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Tue, 25 Jan 2011 02:56:00 +0000

In my family there are many vegetarians, my mother, my grandmother, a few of my aunts, the list goes on and on. If you go to one of their houses you will notice that at any given meal, you are bound to find a chickpea dish laying around. In Guyanese cuisine, chickpeas are prepared in various ways. They can sometimes be sauteed with onions and tomatoes among other spices and served as a breakfast item. It can also be an addition to aloo or potato curry and eaten with rice or roti. Another popular way of preparing it is by shallow frying a batch till crisp and having it as a snack like this. Chickpeas, also known as garbanzo beans, is a really delicious type of bean. It is my favorite type of bean and I always try to find new and exciting ways to prepare them.

I am not sure if I told you, but in my efforts to be more healthy this year, I have been trying to eat a salad before dinner each night, now if you are of Caribbean culture then you know that that sentence just does not make any sense since our cuisine is so rich in carbohydrates. Nonetheless, I have found ways to make this easy for me and I have come to realize that it doesn't always have to be green and leafy and boring, it can be exciting and flavorful and EASY. So here is a flavorful and easy-to-make salad that I know you will enjoy since it tastes just as great as it looks!

First off, did I ever tell you about this colander?

I bought it for $5! You know all these beautiful white dishes that I own are usually pretty inexpensive, I just try to look for unique items that don't look the cost ;) and it's ceramic too!

drain and rinse two cans of garbanzo beans, set aside

dice up one whole cucumber, and make sure to take the seeds out, set aside

dice up half of a red onion, you can add more or less if you like, set aside

grab a few sprigs of fresh parsley

give it a coarse chop, and yes, it is my kitchen ;)

I just love that damn cutting board! You can read all about it here

Make the dressing:

this is simple stuff with ingredients that I'm sure you have in your kitchen

now combine all the ingredients you set aside and toss together

Chickpea Salad

Ingredients

2, 15.5oz cans garbanzo beans
1 cucumber diced
1/2 red onion diced (you can use as much or as little onion to suit your taste)
2 tbsp fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 cup olive oil
2 tbsp white distilled vinegar
1/2 tsp black pepper
1/2 tsp salt

Directions

Drain and rinse garbanzo beans, place in large mixing bowl.
Dice up cucumber and onions, set aside in the same bowl as garbanzo beans.
Chop parsley and add to beans, cucumbers, and onions.
Make the dressing by whisking together oil, vinegar, black pepper and salt.
Pour dressing into bean mixture and toss.
Refrigerate for 1 hour before serving if you want it very cold.

Vermicelli Cake

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Thu, 20 Jan 2011 00:16:00 +0000

It was only until I started tasting other people's cooking that made me realize that my mom really knows what she is doing in the kitchen. She has a touch for the right amount of seasonings and an instinct for the right amount of flavor. I have tasted many a vermicelli cake in my lifetime, some bland, some tasting like bare sugar and noodles, but none have ever been like my mom's.

I have received a few emails for a vermicelli cake recipe so I decided I would finally make it today. Vermicelli cake, also pronounced vam-a-zelli in any given Guyanese home, is a dessert made from vermicelli noodles that has been simmered in milk flavored with cinnamon, nutmeg and other spices or extracts. Once the noodles are cooked and the mixture resembles a pudding like texture, it is poured into a dish and left to firm up. Once it is firm, it is cut into squares. I must note here that Trinidadians make a very similar dish and it is called Sawine. The only difference is the dessert is removed from the heat once the noodles are cooked. This results in a sweet noodle soup like dish! My friend Anjy also described a dish called Paysum (which is the South Indian version) to be very similar to Sawine and in Pakistan it is known as Seviyan. This is what it looks like:

My mom used to make this during Hindu holidays and any special occasion in our home, it was truly a treat and one that I will always love. I called my mom for this recipe and naturally, she gave me a recipe that indicated a dash of this and a pinch of that along with 2 pot spoons full of sugar. I said mom, "no one measures sugar that way". So because you are all so wonderful, I decided I would try to make this easy for you and measure out two pot spoons of sugar. It turns out that it is equal to a half cup. I'm so nice to you aren't I?

Well here are the pictorial instructions for this really delicious dessert. If you can help yourself, try to eat it in moderation, it will taste better that way ;)

I used 200g of vermicelli noodles

chop up 14 maraschino cherries, you can add more if you like

melt 1/2 stick butter and parch noodles till some of them become brown then add the milk

add one can evaporated milk plus 3 1/2 cups whole milk, sugar and vanilla

add 1/2 tsp almond essence, nutmeg, cinnamon and stir everything together in the pot

when the mixture becomes thick (about 20 minutes) and heavily coats the back of the spoon,

remove from heat and pour into a dish

this dish is 2 inches deep and my vermicelli came up 1 1/2 inches

which is a good thickness for vermicelli cake

after it firms up, cut a piece...

serve and enjoy!

Vermicelli Cake

Ingredients

200g (1 pack) vermicelli noodles
14 maraschino cherries, roughly chopped
desired amount of currants (I used 1/4 cup)
4 tbsp salted butter (1/2 stick)
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp almond essence
1 12oz can evaporated milk
3 1/2 cups whole milk
1/2 cup water (not pictured above)

Directions

Melt butter in a deep pot on low heat. Add vermicelli noodles and parch it until some of the noodles become brown, this will happen fast so do not walk away from the stove.
Once some of the noodles are brown, add all the milks, extracts, and spices, add the water.
Keeping the stove on low heat, let the noodles boil in the milk until they start to soften up, add cherries and currants.
About 15 minutes in, the mixture should start to clump together (everyones stove temperature is different so if it has not reached this stage as yet, just wait until it starts to look like a really thick pudding).
Mixture will look dried out, the liquid would have absorbed, if the mixture coats the back of a spoon thickly without dripping, then remove from heat and pour into a dish that will allow your vermicelli to be about 1 1/2 inches in thickness.
Let this sit out for about 2-3 hours to firm up, or you can put it into the refrigerator to firm up faster. Cut and enjoy.

Asian Sesame Salad with Grilled Chicken

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Sun, 16 Jan 2011 16:55:00 +0000

If you frequent my blog, then making the assumption that I prefer desserts over salads might be a good one. Don't be fooled though, I do enjoy a good salad and I mean a really flavorful salad, not just lettuce tomatoes and dressing. Growing up in a Caribbean home, salad was not usually a part of our daily diet. Caribbean food is seriously carb intensive, but as I got older I started to realize that to maintain a healthy weight, incorporating a salad is not such a bad idea. One of my favorite salads is the Asian Sesame Chicken Salad from Panera Bread.
I love the sesame flavor and especially the crunchy lettuce. Buying prepared salads from restaurants can get to be quite expensive so I decided to make one at home to satisfy this craving.

The dressing is really delicious, it has hints of ginger and honey in it and has a nice tang to it, the way dressing should. It turns out to be around 2 cups of dressing once you are done making it. I stored mine in a clean spaghetti sauce bottle and kept it in the refrigerator. This is a quick dish to make especially if you buy the lettuce already chopped up and have already made this dressing ahead of time. If you decide to make this salad, do not omit the Chinese noodles, they make all the difference, it adds really great texture to the salad and makes it really tasty as well!

Chop the lettuce and set aside

Make the Dressing

3 main ingredients for the dressing

in a mixing bowl whisk together the following ingredients

peel and grate a small piece of ginger and add it to the dressing

pour into bowl and set aside

Grill the Chicken

I love adding balsamic vinegar to marinate my chicken before grilling

This is 4 pieces of thinly sliced chicken breasts. I usually rinse my chicken with a little lime juice and vinegar to remove any slime. After washing, make sure to dry the chicken thoroughly, this way you can ensure your seasonings stick well to the chicken

Marinate the chicken with olive oil and balsamic vinegar then place chicken onto a plate

add desired amount of black pepper and salt to both sides of chicken

On a grill pan, or George Foreman, grill chicken until the juices run clear or until your thermometer reads 165 degrees or above. Rotate chicken to achieve criss cross grill marks

While chicken is hot, place on a cutting board and chop into strips

Get Ready to toss and plate the salad

First grab some sliced almonds and toast them...

...in a frying pan for 7-8 minutes on low heat or in the oven for 4-5 minutes at 250 degrees

These Chinese noodles are to die for, you have to make sure you add these, trust me you won't regret it.

Place desired amount of lettuce into a mixing bowl and pour a couple of spoonfuls of dressing on it. Mix it with your hand or a spoon. Toss in the sliced almonds and Chinese noodles.

Add the chicken and then sprinkle more sesame seeds on top. Enjoy!

Asian Sesame Salad with Grilled Chicken

Ingredients

3 parcels of hearts of Romaine lettuce (or just chop desired amount of lettuce)
Chinese crispy noodles
sliced almonds, toasted

For the Dressing:

(yield: about 2 cups)

3/4 cup canola oil
2 tbsp soy sauce
2 tbsp honey
2 tbsp sesame oil
1/3 cup rice vinegar
1 tbsp dark brown sugar
2 tbsp roasted sesame seeds
1/4 tsp freshly grated ginger
1 tsp salt

For the Chicken

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2-3 tbsp olive oil
desired amount of salt
desired amount of black pepper

Directions:

In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients for the dressing and whisk together rapidly or put all ingredients into a blender (except sesame seeds) and blend well. Add sesame seeds last and mix in with a fork or whisk. Set dressing aside in the refrigerator.
Wash chicken according to your desire. I usually clean my chicken with lime juice and vinegar to remove any slime. Pat chicken down with tissue after washing to remove excess water.
Season chicken with balsamic vinegar, olive oil, salt, and black pepper. Set aside while your grill pan or George foreman heats up.
Cook chicken and let it sit for a few minutes to keep in all the juices and seasonings. Chop chicken into strips
In a separate mixing bowl, place desired amount of salad and salad dressing and toss with your hand. Add desired amount of almonds and Chinese noodles, toss.
Place salad on a plate and top with grilled chicken, shake some sesame seeds over the salad for a finishing touch.

A Gift Like No Other...

noreply@blogger.com (Alica) — Thu, 13 Jan 2011 16:29:00 +0000

As we go through life we sometimes meet people that help us to become better individuals. People that bring out the best in us and accept and love us for who we are. Most of the time those people are our family members, but sometimes they come to us as strangers who become amazing friends.

How amazing is this engraving?

I can't get over it!

When I first moved to Rochester, I have to admit, I was a little nervous, I didn't know anyone except my boyfriend and I really wondered if I could make this place a home. The first few months here were a little lonely and then I met a girl that lived next door who was also from New York City. We chatted a bit down in the laundry room and made plans to hang out. We discovered that we had a lot in common and slowly let our friendship develop. It's been two years and counting now and since then she has become one of my very best friends.

We discovered as our friendship evolved how insanely similar we were and how we had faced some of the exact same challenges in our life. It soon became clear that us being neighbors and becoming great friends was not a coincidence. God seemed to have a plan for us. My life here has been so much happier with friends like Anjy and her boyfriend Jeff. I thank God for sending them to me because they have truly helped me to become a better person.

Yesterday, this BEAUTIFUL and truly unique cutting board was given to me as a gift from Anjy and Jeff. I couldn't believe my eyes. I mean I didn't even know you could engrave a cutting board!!! It was really shocked and so happy to be receiving something so thoughtful.

and the back of the board has grips!

You may think that the title of this post is about this cutting board and although its so unique and personalized, the gift that is like no other is my friendship with Anjy and Jeff. Thank you both so much for this thoughtful gift, it will truly be put to good use! I love you both so very much!