Jamaican cook-up saltfish

 Belly Full on a Budget

When was the last time you cooked a nice pot of cook up saltfish? If you think you can’t do it, it's time to try again. It does not get any simpler than this. Not to mention it's such a cheap eat and totally delicious. $256 Jamaican dollars per serving and that includes some boiled dumplings on the side.

Jamaican Fried Dumplings

 

Low & Slow

If you want fried dumplings and have little to no oil, then keep reading. It's a very similar recipe to the one I already have posted with just a slight variation. However, this post is special because I filmed it. So you can watch me make it too. All you need is a bit of pre-planning and patience.

Rundown Scalloped Potatoes with garlic potato chip topping

"Quarantine Cooking"

Right now the aim of the game is to cook with what you have and to limit trips to the grocery store as much as possible. Potatoes while they don’t last forever, do give you the gift of versatility. They can be baked, fried, mashed, roasted, boiled and just about any cooking method you can think of potatoes fit the bill. So in an effort to make scalloped potatoes with a Jamaican flair, this recipe was born.

Jamaican Curry Cow foot and Beans

OFFAL

There is just something about this Jamaican dish that is so comforting. Some people love it brown stewed, but today we are making a curry. I know some of you may be reading this and thinking how does one eat a cow’s foot? It's easy once you have a pressure cooker and don’t mind thick, sticky gelatinous gravy, yum!

Gizzada Pie

3.14  

Gizzada is a Jamaican coconut tart. It's usually made in little pastry rounds about the size of your palm. I decided that I would try my hand at a giant gizzada, essentially turning it into a huge gizzada pie. I mean what’s the difference between a tart and a pie anyway, depth?

Savory curry oatmeal bowl with mushroom “bacon” and hash

M...eat...less

You will never look at oatmeal the same again. It does not have to be sweet, or have cinnamon, or be used in a granola. Your oatmeal bowl can be savory and curried. It actually works so very well as a savory dish I’m surprised people don’t do it more often. It would seem this grain has been put in a box and forced to stay there, time to let the beast loose.

Jamaican Sweet potato cornmeal pudding

"JAMAICAN FLAVORS"

Who doesn’t love a warm slice of Jamaican pudding. It’s warm, cozy, sweet and satisfying goodness. I have been trying my hand at pudding for a few week’s now. Slowly getting better and better at it. MY favorite pudding is sweet potato pudding so it’s not a surprise that I would attempt to make one. This one is a little different than your average sweet potato pudding. Get your rum cream ready.

Curry coconut plantain and eggs

"JAMAICAN FLAVORS"

This February is all about Jamaican flavors. Most of the dishes I will cook are probably not very traditional but they embody the flavors of home. Coconuts, all spice, garlic, onion and more coconut. The first dish is something I made up in my hungry state in need of some breakfast.

Jamaican Rice and peas

"Christmas is coming"

I am finally adding a Jamaican rice and peas recipe to the blog. Its flavorful the rice is perfectly cooked and very flavorful. It’s a staple in most households for Sunday dinner and if you eat lunch daily, it’s the side dish most served with every cooked lunch. Coconut milk, allspice, scallion’s, onions and scotch bonnet pepper are used to flavor this delicious side dish. Once you get the hang of if you are sure to make it all the time, especially for the rice lovers.

Pumpkin apple sausage fritters

Pumpkin Everythang!

Jamaican fritters are probably one of the easiest things you can whip up for breakfast that will make everyone happy. They are so versatile, you can basically add anything to them and they will turn out delicious. We generally make sausage, bacon, salt fish or banana fritters. Since its pumpkin month I decided to make some pumpkin fritters.

Jamaican corned beef sandwich aka Bully beef sandwich

'Sammies' 

This is a classic Jamaican lunch. Almost every child has some memory of corned beef sandwich packed in their lunch kit. I love, love, love corned beef, even though I know it’s not good for me. We limit our corned beef consumption to maybe three times a year sometimes less. We always have a can of it on hand in the pantry but we rarely ever use it. Today I whipped out the can of corned beef and made a Jamaican Bully beef sandwich. Even though there may be some debate as to my method.

Jamaican Brown Stew chicken

Fowl 

Finally posting this recipe to the blog, can’t believe it took me this long considering we cook this pretty often. Brown stew chicken is a Jamaican staple. You can find it in every cook shop and restaurant that serves traditional Jamaican cuisine. Everyone has their signature way of preparing it, here is mine.

Authentic-ish Jamaican Mackerel run down

Something Smells Fishy...

This is the final recipe for  seafood month and my first attempt at real Jamaican rundown. I say Authentic-ish because I used canned coconut milk at the suggestion of my mother who said, had I blended fresh coconut milk the mixture would take forever to reduce to the consistency that it should. So I took her advice and here you have it.

Turn Cornmeal two ways

 

M...eat...less

There is nothing more convenient than a meal that can be had two ways. The ‘meal’ I am referring to is Cornmeal.  Today the ingredient of choice takes on two extremely different forms. One is smooth and creamy, the other crispy, both delicious. Turn cornmeal is a Jamaican favorite, even though the sentiment is not shared by everyone. I decided to revamp this common steam fish accompaniment and remake it into something less common in Jamaica, polenta fries.

Jerk Salmon

Something Smells Fishy...

The first time I had jerk fish was on the eve of my 29^th birthday. We went to Oswald’s at alligator pond and as usual I ordered my escovitch fish. We were about to order another when someone suggested I try their Jerk fish. It was spectacular and I have never ordered anything else from them since that day.

Jamaican Fish tea

Something Smells Fishy...

Don't let the name fool you, this is not a sweet fishy tea, its just a soup! I always imagined fish tea came out of a need to use a left over commodity. Just like bread pudding reclaims slate bread, and chicken bones create stock. I feel that fish heads and other parts were used to make a soup so that they would not be “wasted” but that’s just my theory. There has never been a thing wrong with turning trash to treasure. And this soup is quite a treasure.

Cheese patty in a rosemary garlic crust

Juici...and if you don't know, now you know!

The month culminates with a delicious and simple patty, probably the easiest to prepare of all the patties this month. Not only was it the easiest it was the most delicious. Who said a patty has to have anything else in it but cheese? Oh the wonder that is this patty, by far my absolute favorite of the month.

BBQ Pulled pork patty in a rosemary garlic crust

Juici...and if you don't know, now you know!

It is a rare occurrence when pork makes its way into a patty. And I don’t mean bacon, I mean pork; meaty and juicy, the other white meat. For this recipe I wanted to make a jerk pork patty but after thinking about it, I opted for low and slow. And a pulled pork patty is born.

Classic Jamaican Beef Cocktail Patty

Juici...and if you don't know, now you know!

As a Jamaican I can say I know a good patty. And many persons would agree we eat patties a great deal. However we hardly ever make them. I venture to say most Jamaicans have never and will never make a patty. But I’m sure you would be hard pressed to find one that has never eaten one. There are a few places that sell the best patties.

Spicy Bacon & cheddar beef patty

Juici...and if you don't know, now you know!

Ladies and gentlemen, you’ve got beef! My boyfriend is solely responsible for the creation of this patty. About a week ago he went to Mothers (not a typo, Mothers is a fast food joint in Jamaica) and came back raving about how delicious their bacon cheese and beef patty was. A small light bulb went off in my head.  I was already making a beef patty that same weekend, why not make a variation by adding some bacon and cheese. And not just any cheese but fancy cheese.