Greedy Girl Eats: Homemade escovitch fish

"Greedy Girl Eats"

What is Escovitch fish? It’s a well-seasoned fish fried crispy and topped with a spicy pickle sauce. The sauce is full of vinegar, onions, pimento, hot peppers and carrots. This sauce can be made and left to soak for months, even years and still be delicious. The longer it soaks the better the flavor. I have spent the last month at various restaurants in Jamaica, testing their versions. I think I have come up with a home-made version that will rival the best seaside fish joint in Jamaica.

Greedy Girl Eats: Border fish

BEST PICKLE 

"Greedy Girl Eats"

Growing up this was the seafood spot we were most acquainted with and knew very well. As a matter of fact it was here that I first fell in love with escovitch fish. We always stopped here on our way to the beach. Border is known for two things Fried fish and bammy. The only other things sold here is soup and maybe festivals (if your lucky) But fish and bammy are the two main items on the list here. Lets see how their escovitch fish rated.

Greedy Girl Eats: Glorias Seafood

BEST CRUNCH (Tied)

"Greedy Girl Eats"

Glorias seafood restaurant is one place that has such a great reputation. Its a spot I have always heard of and wanted to try. The reason why this place has eluded me for all these years is its location. All the way in Port royal; as in Pirates of the Caribbean Port Royal. One evening after picking up my sister from the airport we decided to make a quick stop at Glorias since we were a stones throw away. Lets see how their escovitch fish rated.

Greedy girl eats: Whitebones seafood restaurant

"Greedy Girl Eats"

Whitebones seafood restaurant has been another go to eatery for our family. This is the second of the only two establishment I have reviewed that is not on the seaside. This restaurant is in the heart of Kingston city, or maybe on the outskirts of the heart. Their menu is quite extensive and they even have all you can eat crab Thursdays. However I will be schooling you all on their escovitch fish. Lets see how their escovitch fish rated.

Greedy Girl eats: Hellshire Beach (Bev & Sons)

BEST TEXTURE (delicate and tender)

BEST CRUNCH (tie)

"Greedy Girl Eats"

For this post, I headed over to the South East coast of Jamaica to Hellshire beach. I have never been to this location before. Anytime escovitch of fried fish is mentioned Hellshire fish is always among the places receiving accolades. So I made it my point of duty to try this spot. In particular I visited Bev and Sons establishment which is one of many lining the beach. Lets see how their escovitch fish rated.

Greedy girl eats: Jack Sprat

"Greedy Girl Eats"

This is another one of our favorite seafood restaurants. A number of years ago a bunch of friends and I decided to head down to the coast to try this spot we had been hearing about.We had no idea where we were going, we just drove and followed the signs. We took a few wrong turns but were pleasantly surprised when we arrived to this beautiful spot. The food was great and we have been back there so many times since that I cant even count. Today lets talk about Jack Sprats escovitch fish.

Greedy Girl Eats: Little ochie Seafood Specialist

 

"Greedy Girl Eats"

If you are a lover of seafood this place comes as no surprise. Little Ochie in Alligator Pond is a seafood institution. My family has been dining at this establishment for years. Their menu is extensive and the seafood items available for you to dine on is equally so. My favorite dish here has got the be the brown stew fish with the bammie cooked in the brown stew gravy. But that's for another greedy girl eats. Today I will be reviewing their escovitch fish.

Greedy Girl Eats: Oswald Seafood Restaurant

"Greedy Girl Eats"

Everyone who knows me know that I adore fish. And not just any fish, I adore escovitched fish, it is truly one of my favorites I can never tire of it. For a very long time my boyfriend has been telling me he has a new seafood spot for me to try. One day we were in St Elizabeth and he said there is a place called Oswalds he is going to take me. We went there on the eve of my 30th birthday for dinner and it was great. Since that first night we have been back countless times, as a matter of fact Oswald's number is in my phone.

Greedy Girl Eats: Murrays Fish and Jerk hut

BEST SEASONED FISH

"Greedy Girl Eats"

Ladies and gentlemen boys and girls, it’s another December and time for the second installment of greedy girl eats. December as you may or may not know is the month I dedicate to restaurant reviews. I travel Jamaica and visit different establishment who serve my special chosen dish. This month I will be on a quest to find the best escovitch fish in Jamaica. Then I will culminate the month with a video post of me attempting to make my escovitch fish as good as the restaurants I frequent.

Christmas Trifle

"Christmas is coming"

 Recently in Jamaica we had restaurant week November 14th to the 22nd. I made great use of the opportunity to taste as much as I could. I dined at Black orchid, Redbones, A-bar and Regency bar and lounge.  This post is inspired by a delicious dessert my mother and I had at Regency bar and lounge at Terra nova hotel; a perfectly chilled sweet trifle.

Mashed Sweet Potatoes

 "Christmas is coming"
 

If I had to rank potato cooking methods in order of deliciousness, mashed potatoes would be in my top three. A dish of mashed potatoes is one of the best side dishes and sweet mashed potatoes are even more so. And when I say sweet potatoes, I'm not referring to the Jewel or Garnet yams. In Jamaica we have very starchy red skinned fibrous sweet potato, similar to Japanese sweet potatoes (however the flesh is a pale mustard yellow not white). This savory dish is perfect for your Christmas table. This recipe was totally by accident and I'm so glad I stumbled upon it.

Sorrel Glazed Ham

"Christmas is coming"

In Jamaica, Christmas is the most loved holiday. It’s a time where we celebrate Christ and family. Once the Poinsettias start to turn red, you know it’s on and popping! With that the fruits are soaking, the sorrel pods are being harvested and everyone is starting to flesh out their Christmas plans. This ham needs to be at the top of list. It’s so moist and delicious and the sorrel and ginger sauce add the most perfect flavor to every bite.

Classic baked Macaroni and Cheese

 

 "Christmas is coming"

 

Have you ever been to a Christmas dinner without mac and cheese? I can say with a certainty that I have never been to any form of family dinner or special occasion that did not have macaroni and cheese in some form. So here it is, my simple, easy, cheesy and delicious version of the classic. I’m sure you’re thinking, I already know how to make this, but you don’t know how to make it like me :)

Orange Chicken

"Christmas is coming"

I’m always trying to find new and different ways to prepare chicken. Not that Orange chicken is a new thing, but it’s not really an everyday flavor for our home meals. When you think orange chicken you think Chinese take-out. This recipe is very flavorful and has beautiful citrus undertones. The chickens are browned to perfection and baked in the oven in a sweet sauce.

Rosemary garlic cream biscuits

"Christmas is coming"

One thing I have always said every dinner table needs, is yummy bread. It can be a hot crossed bun, some rolls or tender flakey biscuits. For this post I opted to go with the biscuits but not just any biscuits. The easiest biscuits you will ever make in your life. None other than cream biscuits, literally three ingredients needed for the most tender, flakey and soft puffs of love. Now add some garlic and rosemary to the mix and you have got a serious addiction on your hands.

Braised Lamb Shanks with Fennel

 "Christmas is coming"

As Jamaicans we tend not to venture too much into lamb but are very comfortable with their cousin goat. Goat is a prized meat here especially the male ram goat which imparts the most unique flavor to Manish water (goat soup) and to curries. I decided to stray a bit away from tradition for this Christmas recipe and do a succulent braised lamb shank. It has fennel, shallots and herbs cooked in wine and broth, so delicious!

Jell-O No-bake pumpkin cheesecake

“Pumpkin Everythang”

 

Say hello to yours and my new best friend. Despite the fact that I hate cheesecake I wanted to make one with pumpkin but it had to be easy. I have been seeing these jello no bake cheesecake boxes for a very long time on the supermarket shelves. So I figured I would pop a can of pumpkin puree in it and make some pumpkin cheesecake bars. So said, so done.

Roasted Pumpkin cranberry hash

“Pumpkin Everythang”

I’m not going to sugar coat it, this recipe arrived from sheer desperation of something quick and easy for dinner. I was cooking some salmon and ran out to the grocery store leaving my mother to start the rice. As I walked back into the house she said we have no rice. I was not about to go back out the door. All we had were a few 'fluxy' potatoes, flour and pumpkin. So our choices were baked or mashed potatoes, boiled dumplings or baked pumpkin. So baked pumpkin it was.

Asian turkey stuffed squash

“Pumpkin Everythang”

No one told me that during gourd season there were so many different varieties in the grocery store. Usually I’m in Jamaica during this time and we have one pumpkin, green skinned yellow flesh nothing new. However I waltz into stop and shop expecting to pick up a normal slice and the only thing I recognized in the pile was some butternut squash. I mean they had dimples, bumps, weird curves, some were purple, and they truly looked like something out of this world. Even though most are bitter and inedible, all I kept thinking was how hard they must be to peel. I picked up my two squashed and headed home to stuff them.

Curry chicken pot pumpkin pie

“Pumpkin Everythang”

I am yet again reminded of how annoying it is to cook food for this blog in a kitchen other than my own. My sister begged me to make this recipe while I was in NY and not in Jamaica, so I obliged. Who doesn’t love a good pot pie? This one is not baked into a corn muffin like my last one, but is full of pumpkin goodness; the filling is much thicker than normal because I used an entire can of pumpkin puree in addition to fresh pumpkins. The curry, the chicken and all the veggies along with the crust makes for a lovely meal.

Jamaican Chicken Pumpkin Soup

“Pumpkin Everythang”

Pumpkin is such a widely used vegetable here in Jamaica; I’ve had pumpkin dumplings, fritters, rice, curry pumpkin, in steamed fish and foil roasted fish. You name it and pumpkin has been there. Now when it comes to soup, there is no way one can make any soup here, without the addition of pumpkin. It’s almost unheard of, an unwritten Jamaican rule. So much so that to make the task of having a pumpkin soup quicker a number of companies most notably Grace, makes a pumpkin soup sachet. The other day I saw a pumpkin and beef and a pumpkin and chicken flavor too; I chuckled.

Pumpkin ricotta cannelloni

 “Pumpkin Everythang”

This month I am definitely on a roll. Every single recipe just gets better and better, don’t mean to toot my own horn……but uhhhh…. beep beep! This is a very subtle, flavorful and delicious dish. Ricotta pairs so well with the garlic roasted pumpkins and the cannelloni pasta is the perfect vessel for this special blend of ingredients.  And it’s so weird because I’m normally not a very big ricotta fan (go figure).

Pumpkin hot chocolate

 

 “Pumpkin Everythang”

I am a lover of hot chocolate, warm, creamy and sweet. There is nothing better on a cold night. For whatever reason I almost always prefer hot chocolate at night than mornings but that’s neither here nor there. The last hot chocolate I made for this blog is by absolute favorite, and if you’re not a fan of pumpkin and rather a more citrusy kick, check out my orange hot chocolate. In the event that you are obsessed with fall and all things rich, creamy and orange, continue reading to get the recipe for the perfect cup.

'Yardie' pumpkin fish pie

“Pumpkin Everythang”

I love casserole dishes, where the meat and carb is baked into one lovely slab of flavor. I had a lot of fun tweaking the traditional fish pie recipe to fit with the pumpkin month theme. And not only that Instead of making the fish pie filling the traditional way, I revamped it to incorporate all the lovely Jamaican flavors of allspice, coconut,  thyme, scallions and scotch bonnet peppers. Its fish pie “yardie” style.

Pumpkin Omelet

“Pumpkin Everythang”

Well hello my greedy guys and gals, welcome to the second annual greedy girl pumpkin month. If you were here with me last year you will now realize that every October I will dedicate the recipes to this one round orange gourde.  Last year I made 9 pumpkin recipes everything from soups to panna cotta.  If you’re like me, you will agree that breakfast is the best meal of the day. This recipe is my attempt to combine my favorite breakfast dish with a not so conventional ingredient. Let’s face it, when was the last time you ever had a pumpkin omelet? 

Garlic Grilled Cheese sandwich

It’s the last day in September and the last post for Lunchables month. Cheese sandwiches, especially ham and cheese sandwiches are another lunch time favorite.  There is something to be said about two buttery crispy pieces of bread with gooey cheese in the center. Just for a little something extra I decided to 'grill' mine in my waffle maker. An interesting twist I think the kids would love.

Avocado lettuce wraps

Lunchables

If your read my last post you will remember that I was a bit sick. I didn’t get a chance to film the weekly recipes on Saturday so the intent was to wake up Friday morning make and post the lunch before heading to work. Come Thursday night and a huge work emergency that required I be out of the house by 7:30am in order to meet a 3pm deadline thwarted all greedy girl plans. So it is with great displeasure I bring to you my non-video post a day late; a simple, seemingly ordinary but extremely delicious combination of vegetables that will delight the taste buds.

Beefy button top mini pies

Lunchables

As you may or may not know, Saturdays are my blog cooking days. Everything I post on a Tuesday and a Friday are made in advance from the Saturday before. However this weekend was a bit different. Not only did I have the flu but it was my cousins birthday weekend and we went to a lovely, quaint cottage by the seaside to relax. I had every intention of coming back on Sunday and preparing the recipes for the week. However the flu was really not allowing my body to do anything I had planned. I was truly on the verge of not making a post at all but felt much better waking up this morning. So this recipe you’re seeing today was actually made this morning.

Tuna Roll

Lunchables

And then there was tuna; the quintessential lunch time sandwich. I think we can all agree that someone died and left the tuna sandwich in charge and appointed the ham sandwich to be the substitute when tuna is MIA. As a child I sometimes hated getting this sandwich because it was so smelly, you always got the "eww tuna" from other kids.  It was a true love hate relationship because secretly loved the sandwich. This tuna sandwich will make anyone proud to tout this smelly lunch to work or school.

Honey rosemary sausage

Luncahbles

Taking lunch to work is all good and well. But there comes a time when you are in no mood to prepare a lunch from the night before. If you are in need for something quick and simple to prepare, and by quick I mean 10 minutes max then this might be the lunch for you.

Grilled zucchini sandwich

Lunchables

I don’t know if you all have noticed, but I have been trying to include vegetarian dishes into the lunchables month. So each week will feature one meat dish and one vegetarian dish. Today I bring you a sandwich so delicious you won’t miss the meat one bit, a grilled zucchini sandwich.

Sweet and sour chicken with potatoes

Lunchables 
 
If there is one dish that I would have to call my specialty it would be this. Ever since I came up with the idea to use pineapple jam instead of pineapple juice in my sweet n sour sauces the dish has never been the same. This recipe came out extra special, due to the fact that the grocery store did not have any pineapple jam, but had pineapple coconut jam. I was very excited to try this new flavor combo to see how this could make a delicious lunch.

Pesto Pasta salad

  

Lunchables

Sometimes you want an easy lunch you can whip up from the night before. Something you can have hot or cold. It’s filling and flavorful and healthy to boot; that would be this lunch. This salad has an overload of veggies. You’ve got spinach, sweet peas, basil, tomatoes and if you use whole wheat pasta (which I don’t recommend) you have even added fiber to the mix. I love the garlicky pesto paired with the little sweet peas and the refreshing tomato slices, maybe not exactly a child’s dream lunch, but this would certainly make you the envy of everyone in the office.

Guyanese roti

 

Lunchables

I truly love roti, especially with curry or for breakfast as a wrap with bacon eggs n cheese YUM!. I make it all the time but could never manage to get that authentic flaky layered texture we get from the Indian restaurants here in Jamaica.So most times we would buy it from the restaurant in bulk. Interestingly enough It never once occurred to me to search online for an authentic recipe. However when I decided to make curry chicken wraps for my Lunchables month I did just that. I googled how to make Guyanese roti and boy did I find a winner.

Curry chicken wrap

Lunchables  

I was the kid in school who had lunchables envy. My mother absolutely refused to purchase this for us as kids no matter how much we begged and pleaded. She always said it had way too much salt and sugar and was unhealthy. To this day I have never tasted the contents of a Kraft foods lunchables lunch. lets put an end to lunchables envy and make our own. It’s the start of a brand new school year I decided to dedicate this month to great lunch ideas;  yummy foods that both adults and kids will enjoy.

Strawberry lazy-pie

Easy Bake!

The later part of this month, in the midst of blog prepping I was on a mini vacation in NY with my family. So this last recipe really exemplifies the easy bake theme for the past month. On the day I made these I was actually on a time crunch because we were trying to catch the mall before the stores closed. I decided that I needed the fastest method in life to toss the strawberry pie together and set it to bake so we could leave. I wasn’t even sure if it would come out right since I have never made it before. I just let the oven work its magic

Giant Plantain Tart

Easy Bake!

You can’t call yourself a Jamaican if you have never had a plantain tart. For me plantain tarts came in at a solid second place, since as a child my favorite Jamaican pastry hands down was the gizzard. That however would definitely not fall under the easy bake category. In contrast the plantain tart is quite simple, especially If you have the ready-made frozen pie shells.  And to make this even simpler why not make one giant tart that your friends and family can take a slice out of rather than the time consuming job of making individual little bite sized tarts; easy right?

Ginger Peach Roll-ups

 Easy Bake!

This week has been super busy for me. I’m on a mini one week vacation and cooking in a new kitchen. That’s even how I came up with the easy bake theme for this month. Because I knew the last few weeks of the month I wouldn’t have more than 30 minutes to prepare any one dish.  Summer is known for all the yummy fresh peaches available. If you’re a fan of peaches and ginger you may appreciate this flavor combination.

Mini elephant ears

Easy Bake!

You all can thank my boyfriend once again for this recipe. The man absolutely loves elephant ears from Sugar and spice bakery. So I decided that since I was already subjecting myself to a month of baking I might as well make something he loves. These cinnamon sugar elephant ears are by far the easiest recipe for this month. The flaky pastry pairs lovely with the cinnamon and sugar, and it will take you less than 30 minutes to make including bake time.

Not your average Churros

Easy Bake!

This post is a lesson in determination. I have always wanted to make churros. From the first time I ever had them at Costco, it was love at first bite. The crunchy sweet cinnamon sticks with that super soft inside. Churros are actually very simple to make and the ingredient list has a grand total of 5 ingredients. All you need is the dough, hot oil and you’re good to go.....I know they are not baked, but they are easy

Apple Apple-pie

Easy Bake!

One thing I can appreciate about this recipe is its perceived level of difficulty. Once you serve this people will be wondering how on earth did you make it. Little would they know that the dough is store bought and there are only 6 other ingredients needed in addition to the dough. I will admit it’s not a simple as the pear oatmeal crumble,  but it’s still pretty easy. Anyone can make this.

Pear oatmeal crumble

Easy Bake!

I know I said this was easy bake month, and while this recipe has a little bit more than  5 ingredients and took a little longer than 30 minutes, its still just as easy as can be. I think pears are the most amazing fruit to have warmed. Their flavor is perfect with cinnamon, sugar and butter. Not to mention the texture of the pear itself very velvety, I’ve always said I much prefer pears to apples, and this recipe is a shining example of why.

Dan-ish

Easy Bake!

This pastry is as ad-hoc as can be. Ugly little buggers, I really didn’t even know what to call it. It’s not really a tart, not a croissant, it’s kind of like a danish…get it dan-ish?  I literally walked into the kitchen grabbed the three ingredients and went for it. Cheese, jam and puff pastry; three ingredients one would expect to be a winning combination.

Quicky-berry Cobbler

Easy Bake!

I have gotten so comfortable with the easy drink recipes of last month that I had to ease my way back into the normal routine. Not to mention the fact that for half of this month I will be away from my kitchen and utensils, so I’m dubbing August easy bake month. I will be whipping up some super easy dessert pastries using store bought and homemade items to create easy and delicious items everyone will think took hours to make. First up a blueberry cobbler that will be ready in less than 30 minutes!

Stolen Mango Moscato

Cool it down

My sister and her boyfriend went to 689 in Kingston and returned raving about two things. A drink they had and oxtail lasagna. She knew I was in the middle of drink month and demanded I recreate the drink they had and loved. She made sure to ask the bartender what the drink consisted of, and the rest was left to me to figure out. So I have never tasted the original and I blindly attempted a copycat recipe of a drink I didn’t know the name of…turned out pretty good.

Apple Kiwi Kooler

Cool it down

I was glancing at the drinks this month on my Instagram account. It got me thinking I’m missing blue and green drinks. Since I had no intention of wasting money on a bottle of blue curacao that I would never finish blue was immediately ruled out.  I figured I could definitely make a drink that was green. The first two fruits that came to mind were apples and kiwis. Now you can tell from the image above that this drink is not green, why? Because I could not find Kiwi juice, I searched all four grocery stores in my area to no avail. And I was far to lazy to make some from fresh kiwis. Thankfully I found a kiwi juice blend. This drink is green in spirit

Strawberry Mint Daiquiri

Cool it down

The moment you drink a strawberry daiquiri it’s officially summer. I don’t think any other drink reminds me of summer and the beach more than a strawberry daiquiri, not even a Pina Colada. My sister and her best friend love this drink so much. I find it to be a lovely drink but ultimately most versions I’ve had are way too sweet and the flavor is a bit one note. So I decided to add some mint to see if I could give this drink a refreshing makeover.

My Milestones frozen peach bellini

Cool it down

About four years ago, which feels like a really long time ago , I went on a trip to visit some friends in Toronto. They took me to dinner at a restaurant called Milestones, really good food, but what got my attention was the most delicious drink in life. A frozen peach bellini, I can’t even describe the deliciousness, I have always wanted to replicate the drink but never had a reason, until now!

Jamaican Lemonade

Cool it down

 I remember as a child I figured out how to make lemonade by accident. I was thirsty and mixed a little sugar in a glass of water, I thought it tasted a little boring and squeezed the juice of a lime in it. I remember exclaiming, wow this taste like lemonade! And my mother replying; how do you think they make lemonade? This is the way lemonade is made in Jamaica, with limes and brown sugar, one of the most refreshing drinks.

Pina Colada Mojito

Cool it down 

Home alone one Saturday I created this concoction. A hybrid of two drinks, pina colada ( my mother’s favorite) and my go to drink the mojito. It was a no-brainer that I had to figure out a way to incorporate the amazing cocomania coconut rum into something this month.  A few days after I purchased the bottle, two small but sweet pineapples were picked from the yard and the light bulb went off immediately.