Pumpkin and Potato Pie

3 lb pumpkin
3 large russet potatoes
11/2 cups of chopped onions
3 minced cloves of garlic
2 cups of corn
2 tbs of olive oil
2 tsp of dried thyme
2 cups of Monterey jack cheese
salt
pepper

Begin by roasting the pumpkin and potatoes.  Pumpkin must be seeded and halved and potatoes also halved. Roast in a 400 degree oven for one hour. Let cool and dice pumpkin and potatoes into 1/2 inch cubes. You can make the pie dough yourself or buy the already made deep-dish pie-crust. Prepare the crust as indicated on the package. Saute the chopped onions,  garlic and corn in  olive oil. Mix potatoes, pumpkin and saute onion mixture together. Add Monterey jack cheese and dried thyme, salt and pepper to taste. Spoon mixture into pie-crust and bake at 350 degrees for 30-40 minutes.

Curry Shrimp

21/2 pounds of shrimp, cleaned and deveined
2 medium  onions, chopped
1 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2 plum tomatoes, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons of grated ginger
2 cups of chicken stock
2 tablespoons of butter
2 tablespoons of light olive oil
1 tablespoon of fresh lemon juice
½ cup of Jamaican coconut milk
1 tablespoon of grated lemon zest
3 tablespoons of Jamaican curry powder
4 tablespoons of flour
Salt and pepper to taste

In a large skillet, add the olive oil and butter over medium heat. Add the garlic, onions, red bell pepper and Jamaican curry powder. Stir for about five minutes. Add in the  tablespoons of flour.
Pour in the chicken stock, lemon juice, lemon zest, grated ginger, tomatoes and salt and pepper to taste. Bring the sauce to a boil and then reduce the heat. Simmer for 20 minutes. Stir occasionally.
Add the deveined shrimp and cook for about 8-10 minutes. Pour in the coconut milk and stir well.  Serve over rice.

Chocolate Mousse

2 eggs
2 oz chocolate

1. Half fill a small pan with water and allow to boil. Turn off heat.

2. Break chocolate into pieces, and put into a small basin. Place basin over hot water, making sure the basin does not touch water.

3. Carefully separate eggs then place whites in a mixing bowl and yolks on a plate.
4. Whisk whites until they stand in firm peaks.
5. Remove basin from pan. Stir eggs yolks into chocolate.
6. Add chocolate mixture to egg whites, and fold in very lightly with a tablespoon or a knife. If mixed too much the mousse will not set.
7. Pour into dishes. Leave in cool place to set.
When set, a small amount of grated chocolate and a dice cherry may be used as decoration.

Banana And fish Tea

1 doz. green bananas
2 onions
5 lbs. fresh fish
1 hot pepper
Escallion and thyme
Salt to taste
Peel bananas.  Place bananas, fish and other ingredients in boiling water to cover.  Keep pot tightly covered.  Cook for one hour. Serve hot.  Serve 6

Turtle Stew

Two lbs. of turtle meat
One quart of water
Salt
Lime juice
Cinnamon, nutmeg, pepper, ten cloves
One onion
a few tomatoes, parsley, thyme, sherry

Wash the meat well with salt and lime juice and put it into a quart of cold water; then add a stick of cinnamon, a large onion, a few tomatoes, some parsley, thyme, herbs and pepper.
Stew gently for three hours, adding water now and then if it gets too low. About quarter of an hour, before serving, mix tablespoonful of flour smoothly with a little water, sufficient liquid to pour into the pot to thicken the stew. Stir. At the last minute put in a dessertspoonful of sauce and half a glass of sherry; mix well and garnish with slices of lime. Serve with a cut lime to squeeze over the meat.

Oxtail stew

21/2 lbs oxtail
2 tbsp. cooking oil
2 onions diced
1/2 tablespoon allspice
2 cloves garlic- crushed
1 medium tomato -chopped
4 carrots sliced
2 stalks escallions- chopped
2 stalks green onions finely sliced
1 sprig thyme-chopped
1 can butter beans
Water, salt and pepper, as needed.

Remove excess fat.
Pour oil in saucepan and add pieces of oxtail when oil is hot- very hot.
Remove when both sides are brown.
Place oxtail in cooking pot, cover and simmer for approximately 3 to 4 hours or until oxtail is almost tender.
Combine onion, garlic,allspice,carrots,thyme,tomato,escallion,salt & pepper together separately.
When tender, add more water if necessary and add the other ingredients.
Cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes.
Add the butter beans and allow to simmer for just a few more minutes or until gravy is thick.

N.B. Consider using a pressure cooker to reduce the cooking time. Remember also to
cook beans separately. Broad beans can also be used.

Note also that food browning is sometimes used instead of frying the oxtail brown.

Caribbean Fried Chicken

1 (2 1/2 to 3 pound) frying chicken, cut up
1 lemon, cut in half
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1 large onion, finely chopped
3 tablespoons Hungarian paprika
2 tablespoons pepper
2 teaspoons salt
2 tablespoons dark soy sauce
2 tablespoons Louisiana hot sauce
3 cups all-purpose flour
2 cups vegetable oil
Arrange chicken on a plate in a single layer. Squeeze the lemon over the chicken. Chill chicken for 15 to 30 minutes.
Rub the garlic and onion into the chicken. Sprinkle with the paprika, pepper and salt. Sprinkle the soy sauce and hot sauce evenly over the chicken. Shake the chicken in the flour until well coated. Cook the chicken in the oil until brown and cooked through.
Serve 4-6

Banana Bread

¼ lb. butter
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg beaten
3 large ripe bananas crushed
2 cups flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp. cinnamon
¼ tsp. nutmeg
pinch of salt
½ cup milk
2tsp. vanilla
¼ cup raisins
Cream butter and sugar. Add egg to butter.

Add crushed bananas and mix well.
Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, nutmeg and salt.
Add flour mixture to butter, sugar and egg mixture along with milk and vanilla. Add raisins.
Pour into greased and lined loaf tin and bake at 350° F for one hour or until done.

Beef Soup

2 qt. of water
1 sprig of thyme
1 tablespoon of salt
2 stalks of escallion
1 lb. of pumpkin, cut up
1/2 lb. of carrots, cubed
1/4 lb. of turnips, cubed
1/2 lb. of cho cho, cut up
1 lb. of yellow yam, cut up

1 lb. flour to make dumplings
1 lb. of soup bones
1 lb. stewing steak

Boil the soup bones and stewing steak in 2 qts. of water(about 30 minutes in pressure cooker).
Next add cut up vegetables, yam and cho cho and dumplings. Then add the seasonings to the soup.
Once it starts to boil, simmer uncovered until the yam is cooked and soup is of a medium consistency.
Serves 6

Shrimp Fritters

Mix:
2 & 1/4 cups minced cooked shrimp
3 tbsp. minced onions
1 tsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. chopped parsley
Sift together:
3/4 cup flour
1 & 1/2 tsp. baking powder
few grains pepper
Add:
1 egg, beaten
1 cup milk
Beat well. Add shrimp mixture; mix thoroughly. Drop by spoonfuls into hot fat and fry on both sides until brown. Drain on paper. Makes 14 small fritters.

Fried Ripe Plantain - Caribbean Country Style

2 ripe plantain (best when over ripe)
oil for frying

Preheat oil in a large, deep skillet over medium high heat. Peel the plantains and cut them in half. Slice the halves lengthwise into thin pieces. Fry the pieces until browned and tender. Drain excess oil on paper towels.

Cabbage and Tin Corn Beef

This is simple but delicious

1 large cabbage
salt to taste
black pepper to taste
2 tbsp oil
1 large onion
1 large tin corn beef
Slice cabbage into thin strips and wash thoroughly. Put to steam, along with salt and black pepper in a desired sauce pan under low fire adding small amount of water if needed.
When cabbage is cooked, drain off water and put aside. In a heated frying pan, on medium fire add oil and diced onion, then add tin corn beef. Stir occasionally for a minute or two. To this add cooked cabbage and let it remain on low fire for three minutes stirring occasionally. Enjoy!

Jerk Pork (Oven Baked)

1/2 cup ground allspice berries
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 to 8 garlic cloves
4 to 6 Scotch bonnet peppers
1 tablespoon ground thyme or
3 tablespoons fresh thyme leaves
2 bunches green onions, greens included,
trimmed and chopped into 2-inch pieces
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons kosher salt
2 Tablespoons soy sauce to moisten
6 pounds pork picnic shoulder roast
Place allspice, brown sugar, garlic, scotch bonnet peppers, thyme, scallions, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt, pepper, and soy sauce in a food processor and blend until smooth. With a sharp knife, score the thick fat on the pork shoulder into a diamond pattern, but do not cut into the meat. Using gloved hands, press and massage a thick coating of the jerk sauce on the exterior of the pork so it is completely covered with a thick coat. Place in a roasting pan and cover with a lid, foil or plastic wrap. Refrigerate to marinate at least 24 hours or up to two days. When ready to cook, let pork sit at room temperature at least one hour, then preheat oven to 450 F. Roast for 30 minutes at this high heat, then lower temperature to 300 F. Bake an additional 3 to 3-1/2 hours. Let roast rest at least 30 minutes before carving.
Serve 8 people

Stewed Saltfish

1/2 lb. saltfish
2 tomatoes, escallion, onion and pepper to taste
1 tbsp. cooking oil
1 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. flour
about 3/4 pint (1/2 glass) water
about 1/4 tsp. curry powder to colour
Scald salt fish, remove skin and bones and cut into 1-1/2 inch pieces. Heat oil and butter and lightly fry seasonings. Stir in the flour, then add fish and enough water to make a good sauce. Cover and stew until fish is tender, about 20 minutes.

Escoveitched Fish

Use either King Fish, Snapper, Jack, Cutlass, Sprats, or Goat Fish

3 lbs fish sliced in 1/2" thick slices
2 cups cane or malt vinegar
(white or brown)
4 tsp. black pepper combined with 4 tsp. salt
2 or 3 limes or lemons
1/2 scotch bonnet pepper cut in strips or
1/2 tsp. dried Tabasco pepper
1/2 cup oil for frying
1 tsp. pimento seeds (whole allspice)
2 large onions sliced
1/2 tsp. whole black pepper grains.

Wash fish thoroughly in water to which juice of the limes or lemon have been added. Dry thoroughly.
When dry, coat the fish both sides with the combined salt and black pepper and set aside on paper towels.
Heat oil in frying pan to boiling point and fry fish on both sides until nice and crisp. set fish aside in a dish.
In a saucepan combine vinegar, sliced onions, peppers, pimento seeds, whole black pepper grains, and bring to a boil. Simmer until onions are tender and remove from fire and cool. Pour over fish and leave steeping overnight.

Codfish Fritters

1/4 lb. raw codfish
1/4 lb. flour
1 medium sized tomato
1 medium sized onion
1 small clove garlic
1 tsp. paprika
2 stalks escallion (or leeks)
1/4 tsp. hot pepper
Soak fish for at least 3 hours. Boil and dice or shred finely. Chop very fine the onions, garlic, escallion or leeks, hot pepper and tomatoes.
Place the codfish in a mixing bowl and to this add the flour and sufficient water to make a thin batter, similar to that of pancakes, stirring until smooth. Add chopped seasoning.
Have a skillet well heated with oil for frying using a moderate amount of oil.
Spoon the batter into the skillet as you would for pancakes, but use a knife to spread each fritter thin. Fry until golden brown and crisp on both sides.
Drain on paper towels and keep in a dish in a warm oven until ready to serve. Best when served hot.

One Pot Delight

1 and 1/2 lb carrot
1 lb Irish potato
1 oz. chocho
10 ozs. green peas
7 rashers bacon
2 ozs. raisins
1/4 oz. butter
2 oz. flour
8 ozs. cheese
Peel and slice Irish potatoes thinly and cook in boiling salted water. Peel and dice chocho and carrot and cook conservatively with fat or butter. Boil green peas conservatively. Fry bacon and strain. Make white sauce using bacon fat from bacon and flour. Line the bottom of a casserole with some of the vegetables and a few strips of bacon. Put over this a layer of sliced potatoes. pour over that a little sauce. Add remaining vegetables and sprinkle with grated cheese. Add another layer of potato slices and cover with bacon strips. Cover with white sauce then grated cheese. Bake in moderate oven 350°F

Mashed Potatoes With Tin Corned Beef

4 medium sized potatoes
1/2 tsp. salt 3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. mayonnaise
31/2 tbsp. chopped onion
1 tin corned beef
1 tin green peas
pepper to taste
Put 1/2 tsp. salt in water, bring to boil and cook the potatoes until tender. Mash potatoes with butter and mayonnaise. Heat corned beef, chopped onion, and pepper in a sauce pan for about five minutes stirring occasionally. Add this to mash potato along with green peas. Enjoy!