Jamaican Rum and raisin vanilla bean ice cream

"Christmas is coming"

On a Sunday evening, you will find most Jamaicans on the hunt for their ice cream fix. The classics rum and raisin and grape nut ice cream are sure to be on the list of top choices. I am a little surprised that I don’t already have a rum and raisin ice cream on the blog. It’s not like I have never made it before. I guess I just forgot to post it. Its never usually my go-to choice for ice cream but growing up we always had it on hand because it was my father favorite.

Honey Jerk spiced ham

"Christmas is coming"

I find it interesting that we don’t jerk hams, well I’ll take that back. I have seen a few companies sell jerk seasoned ham. But in the grand scheme of holiday hams, jerk is not on the top of recipes you grab for. Today that may all change. I made a very simple jerk rub, quite similar in flavor and texture to the Walkers wood variety. I added my favorite honey to the mix and made a pretty good ham.

Pumpkin Garlic Knots

“Pumpkin Everythang”

Garlic knots are a staple at every pizzeria I’ve ever been to. They are almost always delicious, warm, salty and garlicky. Sometimes the garlic can be a little too harsh and sometimes they whole thing can be way too oily. So let’s take it to the kitchen and what we get is a recipe for the best garlic knots ever; sweet, salty garlicky, buttery ,everything that’s right about the world comes full circle in one bite of these.

Pumpkin Pork Lasagna

“Pumpkin Everythang”

And the nominees for most comforting food are (drum roll please) mac n cheese, fried chicken, soft baked chocolate chip cookies and none other but lasagna. Who would win that battle? I can say that if this pumpkin pork lasagna was in the running it would be a tight race. It’s loaded with flavor and cheesy, meaty goodness.

Pumpkin chocolate fudge brownies

“Pumpkin Everythang”

Moist and delicious are the perfect words to describe this brownie; chocolate fudge brownie swirled with pumpkin puree. I love feeding people veggies hidden in desserts. Yes the nutritional value is almost nonexistent. But it just feels good to eat a whole brownie knowing that there is pumpkin in it. Makes you feel like you had at least one serving of veggie, as if this guilty treat is not so guilty.

Bacon wrapped Pumpkin stuffed chicken breast

“Pumpkin Everythang”

The moment I knew this recipe was good was when my cousin (who hates pumpkin) grabbed one of these like a hot pocket and ate it with her hands, no knife no fork.  It’s a very simple and easy dinner, great way to get the persons who don’t like pumpkin to eat it.

Beef and rice stuffed pumpkin

“Pumpkin Everythang”

This is delicious beef seasoned rice baked in a sweet Jamaican pumpkin. The most beautiful pumpkin I have ever made, stuffed with rice, beef, raisins and so much flavor. It’s so easy and it looks so posh and sophisticated. This is how everyone needs to serve rice on thanksgiving. It’s such a statement. And who doesn’t love edible bowls?

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.

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? 

Pumpkin gnocchi with white wine cream cheese sauce

  

 "Pumpkin Everythang”

I’ve always wanted to make gnocchi. In my early days of cooking, when I was mostly a spectator (that is watching food network) I decided to try these little Italian dumplings, however I purchased the prepackaged ones in the pasta section and needless to say it was not good. It deterred me from ever trying or attempting to make gnocchi again. That was years ago, and I know better now. Its always better to make your own than to do store bought if you can. So one fateful jet blue flight from Kingston to JFK about two months ago, I was watching food network on my little mini screen. I saw a really quick video with Mario Batali and Mark Bittman making gnocchi and as usual the light bulb went off.

Pumpkin Sausage & Raisin Rice

"Pumpkin Everythang”

So here is part two of the main course, the delicious rice that stuffed my Cornish hens from last Tuesdays post.  It is very simple and delicious. The stock added an amazing rich flavor that the rice soaked right up, coupled with the sweet pumpkin, sage, sausages, raisins and veggies, it went very well stuffed in the citrusy fowl. The reason I separated the dish into two post is because this rice is a side dish all in itself, you can use it to stuff the fowl as well as serve it on the side. When stuffed in the hen the rice gets the ginger and citrus flavor imparted on it, however on its own, the sage, sausage and pumpkin flavor are more prevalent.

Boneless Citrus ginger Cornish hens stuffed with Sausage pumpkin rice

  "Pumpkin Everythang”

The words thanksgiving and turkey are almost synonymous. Normally you don’t find one without the other, but personally I’m not a fan. This large bird needs the right amount of TLC to be delicious. My late grandma was one to apply that perfect amount of TLC to yield an awesome turkey and an even more awesome turkey salad in the days to follow.  Now-a-days whenever we are in New York for thanksgiving, or when we have thanksgiving dinner in Jamaica (Jamaica?? Yes I know.. My mother just loves any excuse to set the table) we always do another type of roast poultry, out of sheer laziness and the plain fact that Jamaicans generally don’t like turkey. What better substitute than a Cornish hen.

Warm Kale and Pumpkin salad

"Pumpkin Everythang”

Pumpkin salad surprisingly has been my biggest challenge so far. In trying to conceptualize the dish I made a few decisions very early on...

•  I’ve never been a fan of warm salads, but this had to be one, because raw pumpkin es no bueno
• Texturally pumpkin gets mushy no matter how it’s cooked, so I needed a way to prepare it so it would maintain its shape for the most part.
• I didn’t want it boiled
• I didn’t want it roasted
• I didn’t want a pumpkin dressing

Pumpkin Coconut Leek soup

"Pumpkin Everythang”

Like clockwork  the day I decided to make a lovely pumpkin soup here comes the rain, perfect timing. I had originally wanted to make a pumpkin wonton soup. However when I got to the grocery store they were all out of wonton skins, and ‘aint’ no way I’m making that dough from scratch, so plan B. A few isles down I spotted some leeks and figured, they probably taste like onions or scallions, so they should pair well with pumpkin, not to mention some coconut milk.