Battle of the chicken foot.

 OFFAL

Offal was supposed to be September’s theme. However, due to the birth of my first niece, little Victoria, blog posts had to take a back seat. I  was very busy with, feedings, baths, diaper changes and cooking dinner for my first-time mom sister. Not only that, I was in Canada for almost three weeks. I didn’t know the first place to turn to find goat tongue, cow lover or chicken foot. So here we are in October, still doing offal. This time chicken foot.

Cheesy Jack Fruit seed spread

M...eat...less

This is year four of my vegetarian/ vegan month so a girl has ‘gats’ to get creative. It all started with me doing research for another recipe I will be doing later on this month using the flesh of the jack fruit. Come to find out the seed is also edible. People boil it, roast it, all kinds of stuff. This is my first ever time cooking or eating jack fruit seeds. And I decided the easiest thing to make as a beginner in the game was to make a dip/spread

Spicy Buffalo Wings

Fowl 

How about some wings, no way I could do chicken month and not do some buffalo wings. I already shared with you guys the easiest and best ever honey bbq wings so it only makes sense that I complete the duo and drop a recipe for spicy buffalo wings.

Not your mamas chicken roulade!

Fowl 

It’s been a while since I made something fun and crazy. I figured if I’m going to step outside the box chicken month might just be the month to do it. Chicken, juicy sausage and cheese, if you don’t like any of those three ingredients this is not the post for you. Probably the most success I have ever had stuffing cheese into chicken. I usually end up with a deep fryer full of burnt cheese but not today!

Escovitch fish sticks

Potluck

Usually I’m not a fan of escovitch fish that's not a whole fish. We buy sliced snapper and butter-fish all the time but rarely do we escovitch them. To me there is a taste the fish has sometimes that I don’t care for. I rather filet a whole fish myself if needs be (but then who even has the time for that). The day I made this, I was just in the mood for some spicy pickle sauce on fish. And we were completely out of whole fish, and I had a few bags of snapper in the freezer and figured what the heck. Can I tell you how delicious it was?

Deliciously basic honey bbq wings

Potluck

This will be the easiest and most delicious honey BBQ wings you will ever eat. Its sweet, sticky and flavorful. We don’t always have the time to make a hickory smoked BBQ sauce from scratch, and in those moments when you’re strapped for time, but you don’t want to sacrifice flavor, these are your wings. To be honest even if you have the time and 30 ingredients to make a sauce from scratch, don’t bother make these instead!

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.

Shrimp toast

Time for Takeout!

Flavorful shrimp paste slathered on bread and fried to a toasty crisp. That’s all this is, pretty much shrimp croutons if you ask me. Very delicious, the onions, ginger, scallions and garlic add so much flavor to the shrimp. I love the texture difference where the bread is super crunchy with the other side being creamy with a light crisp. Who new home made shrimp toast could be so good.

Mushroom Egg rolls

Time for Takeout!

Who doesn’t love a hot crispy egg roll smothered in sauce? I love fried wontons and I also adore egg rolls. My only issue with the takeout versions is their general lack of flavor. The fillings are usually bland, but that package of soy sauce, hot sauce or duck sauce saves the day. But I dare you to try one of them without a sauce ‘no Bueno’. But these home-made babies right here are full of flavor!

Pork Potstickers

Time for Takeout!

There is nothing more comforting and delicious than dim sum. Next to scallion pancakes, dumplings may be my favorite takeout appetizer. They are crispy yet tender with a juicy and flavorful pork filling. Today I will show you how to wow everyone with the best pork dumplings ever!

Curry Beef Crescent Rolls

"Christmas is coming"

Ground beef always gets left behind at Christmas in favor of the glorious roast chicken and baked ham. But this Christmas you can put your pocket friendly, 80/20 ground beef to good use. This recipe is easy and delicious (aren’t they all). The beef, curry and coconut milk all in a buttery flaky crescent roll…say no more.

Jamaican Yellow Yam croquettes with honey escovitch sauce

"Christmas is coming"

Is it an appetizer or a side dish?  You decide. This is a delicious ball of carbs; Crunchy exterior soft and flavorful filling, perfect with a sweet tangy dipping sauce. No matter if you love Jamaican yellow yam or if you hate it, these croquettes will be a hit with everyone.

Blooming Onions Fried not baked!

Summa Summa Summa time!

The seemingly unattainable suddenly is. How many times have you seen this on the internet or at a restaurant and thought “how cool would it be if I could make that” Well today the wondering stops. It may look complicated but its absolutely not. And with this home-made version you have the control of your ingredients to create a delicious appetizer, snack or supper side dish. Ditch the onion rings!

Fried Broccoli & Cauliflower bites

M...eat...less

Fresh out of the fryer and slightly cooled, crispy, flavorful, aromatic and delicious. That is how these fried broccoli and cauliflower bites can be described. The idea to dip broccoli in a batter and fry it just never occurred to me. Yes I know what a tempura is and I’ve had shrimp and asparagus tempura several times, I’ve even deep fried okra. However the thought to batter fry broccoli had never etched a place in my brain until now.  This all occurred a few weeks ago while I was being thoroughly entertained by watching Auntie Fee. When she did her fried broccoli recipe, a light bulb definitely went off.

Fried Calamari

Something Smells Fishy...

This is one of those recipes that I always eat at restaurants and never ever make at home. I always enjoy restaurant calamari. It’s the one thing that a restaurant almost never spoils, at least I personally can’t remember having bad calamari from any restaurant (thankfully).  This recipe is flavorful and well-seasoned.  The squid rings are tender and the dipping sauce, toasted sesame seeds and scallion all come together for one delicious bite.

Grilled shrimp on pineapple chow

Something Smells Fishy...

A few weeks ago I was on facebook and I saw a friend post a pineapple in a plastic bag with some green ‘stuff’ on it, the tag read pineapple chow. I was like what’s that? A little bit of research led me to several Trinidadian sites detailing how to make the soaked or marinated pineapple. I thought it very interesting that they soak fruits in a marinade of garlic, pepper, salt and chadon beni. The next thought that crossed my mind was how awesome this would be with grilled shrimp….and that’s what I did.

Cocoa maple grilled wings

"Feast of Saint Valentine"
 

Every chocolate month I attempt to combine chocolate with a protein. Last year I did a chocolate raspberry ribs which were quite nice.  However this year, these wings were an even bigger hit. They are sweet and salty and Smokey and lovely. All the ingredients go so well together. I will definitely be making these again.

Jerk sausage pinwheels

Breakfast is served

Can I tell you how I made my own smoked jerk sausage? It was by far the most tedious thing I’ve ever done.  I chopped the meat; ground it seasoned, stuffed it into casings then slowly hot smoked them on the grill for three hours. They didn’t come out to bad for a first timer. Now I’m using the sausages I make to make some yummy jerk sausage pinwheels. You are free to use any store bought sausage you like. I will be sharing my sausage tutorial in the coming weeks as a curious class... but on to the pinwheels.

Crispy fried okra

M...eat..less

I never really considered making Crispy fried okra before.  Last week my Grand Uncle gave us some okra from his garden. They were very large beautiful okra’s, however they sat in our refrigerator for a few days because no one likes okra. We tolerate it in steamed fish, but even then we hardly ever include it because of the slime. My mother began dropping little hints about fried okra. I was hesitant to try this recipe but in truth, I needed an extra recipe for this month. When she began to really pressure into making it and then even threatening to make it herself, I easily caved.  It’s quite yummy, still a little slimy but not bad at all and this is coming from a person who hates okra. 

Garlic and herb egg puffs

Appetizing...

This recipe just screams weekend brunch. These garlic herb scrambled eggs in a flaky puff pastry shell are sure to open appetites. The garlic and herb compound butter gives the scrambled eggs more pizazz, it’s not every day someone has garlic eggs. I really love when a dish looks complicated but ends up being extremely easy, and this appetizer is one of those dishes.