Tag Archives: recipe

Goodies from Secnarf’s Place

Caribbean, Cooking, International Travel, Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today on Foodie Tuesdays, we are going to meet a local food wizard and learn to make sweet potato pudding.

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Meet Frances! Born and raised on St. Kitts, Frances moved to Saint Martin 30 years ago with her husband, who relocated for work. She can work wonders in the kitchen. I met Francis at a local event, where she was selling delicious meat patties, pies, puddings, and cakes.  She calls her business “Secnarf’s Place,” and you can find her at almost any public trade show or market event.

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As you can see, Frances loves to cook. Before she retired, she worked in a store nearby. Now, she spends a lot of her time in the kitchen, baking for her family or preparing for an event. She told me that she stayed up all night to make fresh-baked goodies for her booth. She doesn’t mind the work, though, because she loves what she does. “I like to use my hands,” she says, “It’s like a work of art.”

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Frances’ culinary skills aren’t limited to the oven. She also makes her own all-natural fruit and vegetable juices. All she adds is a little bit of sugar for flavor, if it’s not quite sweet enough. Passion fruit is her best seller. “It’s so much better than what you can buy in the stores,” she says. No preservatives, no shipping. Just natural goodness!

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I asked Frances what her favorite food is. She thought for a moment before answering, “Sweet potato pudding.” The pudding is actually what sparked Frances’ interest in cooking. When she was a girl, her mother would make sweet potato pudding every year as a special Christmas dessert. As she got older, Frances would help. The rest is history.

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Here is how you can make sweet potato pudding, as described on Jamaican Caribbean Favorites. You can visit their site to learn how to make many more awesome Caribbean dishes!

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Sweet Potato Pudding:

Ingredients:

  • 2 lbs sweet potato, grated
  • 4 green bananas, grated
  • 1/2 cup flour
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1/2 cup grated coconut trash
  • 4 cups coconut milk
  • 3 tsp vanilla
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg
  • 1/2 tsp mixed spice
  • salt to taste
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • raisins
  • rum to taste
  • 2 oz melted butter
  • Greased 9 inch pan

Directions:

  1. Mix grated potato, banana, coconut trash, raisins, flour and baking powder.
  2. Combine coconut milk, vanilla, sugar, butter, rum, salt, nutmeg and mixed spice.
  3. Add milk mixture into potato mixture and batter until smooth.
  4. Pour mixture into greased tin and let sit for 30 – 45 minutes.
  5. Bake at 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) for about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.
  6. Serve hot or cold.

Foodie Tuesdays: Persian in an Hour

American University of the Caribbean, AUC, Cooking, Expats and TCKs, Uncategorized, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Today’s recipe is one of one my most successful food attempts of all time. It is close-your-eyes-and-enjoy-the-moment delicious. My husband told me that this is the best way I’ve ever made chicken and that I have to make it again.

Now, that’s what I like to hear.

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I have honestly never thought of trying Persian food before yesterday. Our neighbor down the hall is leaving the island in a few months, and he offered us the spices, food, and first aid stuff he doesn’t plan to use before he leaves. Do we have the most awesome neighbors ever, or what? Some of the spices he gave us are used in Persian food. He explained their uses enough to me to be able to Google intelligently and find some yummy recipes.

Behold, zeerah polow and chicken.

Zeerah polow is rice with cumin seeds. This and the chicken should take about four hours to make the right way, but I only had an hour before dinner time, so I sped things up a bit. Here’s Zeerah Polow in cut-time.

Gather your ingredients:

  • Brown rice, 3 cups
  • Cumin seeds, 3 tablespoons
  • One chicken quarter or two breasts
  • Olive oil
  • Plain yogurt, one cup
  • Dried mint, 1 tablespoon
  • Garlic powder, 1/2 tablespoon
  • Black pepper, 1/2 teaspoon
  • Paprika, 1 teaspoon
  • Salt, 1/2 tablespoon
  • Flour, one cup

Rinse rice until the water is clear. Boil six cups of water and add rice. Simmer. Scoop rice from the bottom of the pan to the top every few minutes.

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Toast the cumin seeds in a pan. Set aside.

When the rice is done, drain rice and mix with cumin seeds.

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Meanwhile, prepare the chicken. Cut into strips.

Mix garlic powder and yogurt. Let chicken marinate in the mixture for ten minutes.

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Mix flour and rest of spices in another bowl.

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Heat oil 1/4 inch deep in a skillet. Coat chicken in flour/spice mixture and fry in oil until the chicken is cooked and the batter is crispy.

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Serve with limes. Enjoy!

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Caribbean Cooking: Macaroni Pie

American University of the Caribbean, Caribbean, Cooking, Expats, Expats and TCKs, International Travel, Spouses Organization, , , , , , , , , , ,

Meet my friend Aqiyla! Today she is going to teach us to make a yummy Caribbean dish called macaroni pie. Aqiyla hails from Canada, but her family is actually originally from the Caribbean. This is a meal that her grandparents brought from these sunny islands years ago.

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First, gather your ingredients:

-Elbow macaroni

-2 or 3 eggs

-1 1/2 cup condensed milk

-Cheese to your liking

-Oil or nonstick spray

-Salt and pepper

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Next, boil, your macaroni. You want it to be al dente at this stage, so don’t let it get soggy!

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While the macaroni is boiling, crack 2 to 3 eggs in a bowl and beat them. We used three eggs, but you may only need two. I bought the baby eggs because they are literally half the price of jumbo eggs at our neighborhood Asian market.

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When your macaroni is done boiling, drain it and mix in the egg. Make sure to stir it in quickly, so that you don’t end up with giant chunks of scrambled egg as they cook in your hot noodles!

Also, preheat your oven to 350* F or 170* C.

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After the egg, mix in your condensed milk. Make sure you have enough enough to thoroughly coat your noodles with a thin film of milk left at the bottom of the bowl. This means you’ll need to stir it in a bit at a time and fold it into your noodles somewhat slowly.

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Next, salt and pepper to taste.

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Now, your macaroni is ready to go into the baking dish! Grease your dish and pour in the macaroni.

I used a pot because I don’t own baking dish.

That’s how it goes when you sell everything and start over.

Once you pour it into the dish, sprinkle cheese generously, according to your preference. Yum.

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Put the macaroni in the oven. Let it bake for 30-45 min. When it the cheese looks dark, crispy, and bubbly, it is done!

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Serve and enjoy!

This was a win at our house. It’s simple to make and a good break from the pasta dishes I routinely make for dinner. We’ll be adding this to the recipe box for sure!

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Arab Cooking: Manakish Za’atar

American University of the Caribbean, AUC, Cooking, Expats, Third Culture Kids, , , , , , , , , , , ,

If I’ve learned anything about cooking Caribbean, it’s that Caribbean food is extremely diverse. The people who make up Sint Maarten are from every corner of the world. We come from Haiti, Curacao, the United States, India, Brazil, Serbia, Tanzania, and Syria… we are from across the globe, and we are Sint Maarten.

That being said, this dish is not traditionally Caribbean. It’s Lebanese. Our friend Soubhi introduced it to us about a week ago at a potluck.  I asked him for the recipe, and here it is!

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You need:

  • Naan
  • Za’atar
    • Sumac
    • Thyme
    • Sesame seeds
    • Marjoram
    • Oregano
  • Olive Oil

First, preheat your oven to 250*F (120* C) and prepare your naan. You can buy it, or you can make it yourself.

Second, mix your spices to create za’atar. Rule of thumb is to add them in equal parts and then adjust according to taste. Adding more sumac, for example, will make the mix a bit tangier.

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Mix the spice blend with enough oil to make it spreadable.

Spread the za’atar onto the naan.

Oil a baking sheet and place naan on it. Bake in the oven for about 20 minutes.

Remove from the oven and allow to cool. Cut into fourths.

Enjoy the deliciousness!

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Caribbean Cooking: French Onion Soup (On a Budget)

Caribbean, Cooking, International Travel, Saint Martin/ Sint Maarten, , , , , , , , ,

I love St. Maarten for many reasons– one of them is that “France” is right next door! We get the language, the culture, and the food– oh, and is the food delicious! Of course, you can’t have French food without French onion soup, so I decided to make some at home. This is my budget version of French onion soup.

Step One: Gather ingredients.

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-Two medium onions

-1/4 cup margarine or butter

-Salt, pepper, and parsley (Thyme would be better, though)

-1 1/2 cups of water

-Chicken or beef bouillon to make 4 cups broth

– 3/4 cup white wine

-2 teaspoons of flour

-Cheese

-Bread Bowls

Step one: Slice onions thinly, top to bottom. If you need to have a good cry, this is a great time to do it. You’ll be weeping buckets by the end of this step anyway.

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Step 2: Melt butter in a pan, add herbs, and stir in onions.

Step 3: Stir onions frequently until they are a deep golden brown.

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Optional Step: Become distracted and forget to stir the onions. Burn the bottom layer, scoop the rest into a new pan, and do your best to remove the smell of burned onions from your home.

Step 4: Add flour and stir.

Step 5: Add wine and stir.

I have no idea what kind of wine is best for this, but I chose Lazo Chardonnay because it was cheap and I liked the shape of the bottle.

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Step 6: Add 4 cups of broth, the water, and half a teaspoon of pepper. Turn down to simmer for half an hour and stir occasionally.

Preheat the oven to about 100* C. All you need the oven to do is melt the cheese on top of the soup.

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Step seven: Pour soup into bread bowls.

I baked my own bread bowls from scratch. Because I have that kind of time in my life right now. If you have kids, a regular job, school, whatever, by all means save yourself some sanity and buy them from the store.

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Step 8: Generously sprinkle cheese on the soup. I bought a mozzarella and provolone mix, but to be authentic and fancy, you should use Gruyere and Parmigiano-Reggiano.

Step 9: Put the soup in the oven until the cheese melts. Or don’t.

I put the soup and bowls in the oven to get that melty-cheese deliciousness, but it might be better to do this when the soup is served in actual bowls. Leaving the soup in the bread bowls so long before serving made them a little soggy. But if you like that, go for it!

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Step 10: Serve and enjoy. Yum!

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Adapted from an Epicurious recipe