Tomato Coconut Curry
A new found family favourite – this take on a Goa fish curry has filled our hearts with warmth and spice. Once the coconut milk goes in this is a simple “set on low and forget” meal that is solid on it’s own or served …
THE FULL FEED
French Press Coffee
French Press Coffee | Cup of Love
Make a cup of coffee that is consistently eye-opening and invigorating, all while the brain is still waking up.
Equipment
- 1 spice grinder
- 1 kettle/pot
- 1 French Press (Bodum)
- 1 latte mug
- 1 kitchen scale (optional)
- 1 milk frother (optional)
- 1 small pot (optional)
Ingredients
Key Ingredients
- 1 1/2 tbsp fresh roasted coffee beans (medium – dark) (22 g)
- 500 mL water
Flavourings
- 80 mL milk or milk substitute
- 10 g sugar (optional)
- 1/8 tsp Kosher salt (0.5 g) (optional)
- 1 g warm spices (cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, pumpkin pie/apple pie spice) (optional)
Instructions
Preparation
- Assemble all ingredients.
- Assemble all equipment.
Brew
- Add 22 g of freshly roasted coffee bean to a spice grinder and grind to medium, roughly the texture of brown sugar.
- Bring water (500 mL) to a boil in a pot/kettle and let cool for 2 min (195 F / 91 ℃).
- Add the ground coffee to the carafe of the French press.
- Add 1/4 cup hot water (100 mL) to the ground coffee and swirl briefly. Let the coffee stand for 1 min to bloom.
- Add an additional 1/2 cup of hot water (220 mL) to the bloomed ground coffee and swirl briefly. Steep the coffee for 5 min.
- Pour 1/2 cup of the freshly brewed coffee (205 mL) into a mug. Enjoy heartily!
Latte
- Warm cream or a milk alternative (80 mL) on the stove just before boiling.
- Using the milk frother, froth the liquid until airy and smooth.
- Gently pour the fresh foam atop the brewed coffee and serve immediately.
- Dust the froth with cinnamon or nutmeg for added warmth. Enjoy heartily!
Notes
Seasonings (optional)
To the coffee bloom, add 0.5 g Kosher salt, 10 g sugar, 0.5 g nutmeg and/or 0.5 g cinnamon.
French press model used: Bodum x Starbucks
Coffee Beans used: Kicking Horse – Three Sisters or Horsepower 454, or Decaf
If your loved ones like coffee, this is the cup to make their day that much better. Works particularly well with medium to dark roasts. Options for the perfect cup of coffee are endless but I’ve provided a few of my favourite twists. Like everything else, a few salt crystals will activate the taste buds, thus enhancing the wonderful flavours that the coffee bean has to offer. Did you know that coffee beans aren’t even beans? Coffee is a type of tropical cherry and that cherry’s pit happens to make a brew so delicious when roasted that it is the second most popular drink in the world behind tea and water.
Coconut Baked Beans
My partner loves cooking with coconut milk and tomatoes. I’m happy to oblige this flavour combo because I also find it positively delightful, On the hunt for a go-to baked bean recipe that isn’t drowning in molasses – I gleaned some brilliant inspiration from my …
Stew Peas
Stew Peas | Unctuous Overload
Turn overlooked cuts of meat, beans and coconut milk into crave worthy gold.
Equipment
- 1 large pot (3 L or greater)
- 1 ladle
- 1 Large bowl
- 1 can opener
Ingredients
- 150 g dried red kidney beans (soaked and drained)
- 450 mL water
- 1 g baking soda
- 300 mL canned coconut milk
- 300 g salted pig tails (soaked) (chopped)
- 300 g beef shank (chopped)
- 2 onions (diced) (200 g)
- 4 cloves garlic (minced) (60 g)
- 3 Jamaican escallions (green onions) (chopped) (45 g)
- 10 g Jamaican pimento (all-spice)
- 10 g fresh ginger (smashed)
- 1/2 Scotch Bonnet pepper
- 2 bay leaves
- 4 g Kosher salt
- 4 g black pepper (freshly ground)
- 300 g Jamaican dumplings (boiled)
Dumplings
- 200 g all-purpose flour
- 100 g water
- 2 g Kosher salt
Instructions
Bean Prep
- Soak dried red kidney beans (150 g) in water (300 mL) and baking soda (1 g) overnight (12 h).
- Boil the pig tails (300 g) in 1 L of water for 30 min. Pour off the boiling liquid.
- Pour off the bean soaking liquid in the morning (this helps soften the beans and break down the raffinose sugar known to irritate bowels).
Stew Assembly
- To the soaked beans, add water (150 mL), boiled pig tails (300 g), beef shank (300 g), Kosher salt (4 g), pimento seeds (10 g), black pepper (4 g), onions (200 g), Jamaican escallions (45 g), garlic (60 g), ginger (10 g) and bay leaves.
- Simmer on medium for 20 min, then add 1 can of coconut milk (300 mL) or half a can of coconut cream (150 mL) and 100 mL water.
- Add the Jamaican boiled dumplings (recipe below) and simmer for a final 20 min. The stew will be ready once the dumplings have cooked through and have a firm chew.
- Serve immediately as is or with a side of rice.
Jamaican Boiled Dumplings
- In a large bowl, add all-purpose flour (200 g), warm water (100 g), Kosher salt (2 g) and knead into a firm dough.
- Roll the dough into spinners (dowel shaped dumplings about the size of your middle finger) and disperse them into the peas pot.
“You are the ackee to my saltfish, the pig’s tail to my stew peas”❤️-Oliver Samuels. The depth of this dish cannot be overstated. Something resembling magic happens when beans are boiled down and stewed with salted meats. The sheer combination of the complex carbohydrates and salt cured protein is both mouthwatering and nourishing. The way my mother makes this dish – and now the way that I make it – ultra thick and often served unconventionally without rice.
Rice and Peas
I remember watching a Youtube video of Caribbean mothers competing and sizing up each other’s Rice and Peas and realizing that something so technically precise can be executed very differently. This is how I watched my parents cook Rice and Peas – I’ve yet to …
Protein Yogourt Shake
Most mornings I exercise, get some sun in my eyes, and hug my loved ones. On the days that I exercise, I often turn to this protein shake to replenish and bolster my protein stores. The key to this is the protein power. I swear …
Sorrel
Sorrel | Better than Mulled Wine
The holidays are not complete without this delightfully refreshing brew of varietal hibiscus and warm Jamaican seasonings. Unabashedly kicks mulled wine to the curb.
Equipment
- 1 8 L stock pot
- 7 L Drink Containers/Jugs
- 1 colander or large sieve
Ingredients
Key Ingredients
- 7 quarts water (6.6 L)
- 300 g sorrel (dry or fresh)
- 215 g ginger (1 hand)
- 20 g Jamaican pimento (all-spice)
- 10 g dehydrated orange peel
Flavourings
- 550 g white or brown sugar (sweeten to taste)
- 35 g cinnamon sticks
- 5 g cloves
- 6 bay leaves
Instructions
Brewing
- Bring water to a rolling boil in a large 8+ quart pot with an appropriate lid.
- Add all other ingredients to the water and remove the pot from the heat.
- Tightly seal the pot with its lid.
- Steep the ingredients for 48 h, ideally for 72 – 96 h.
Store and Serve
- Strain the ingredients and keep the liqueur. Bottle the liqueur and chill. Serve 250 mL over ice, neat or with clear alcohol/spirits (30 mL).
Black Navy Bean Salad
Canned beans are a dream when a cook is in a hurry. Protein-rich, sustaining carbs, deep and luxurious flavour. Gently coated with a lemony-oregano oil, accompanied with cherry tomatoes and cucumbers that scream summertime bliss. How to make beans more accessible? Cultures across the globe …
Fried Plantain
Plantain, eggs, and toast – this was the go to breakfast when I needed something filling, quick to prepare, and effortlessly palatable at 6:00 am. The trick to excellent fried plantain is the waiting game with the natural ripening process with the produce. Similar to …
Jerk Chicken
Jerk Chicken | Not for the Faint of Heart
Spices and herbs in every nook and corner, a scintillating base of aromatic onions and garlic, the awakening pungency of the Scotch Bonnet pepper and Jamaican pimento.
Equipment
- 1 oven or grill Preheat to 425 F / 220 ℃
- 1 roasting pan
- 1 Meat cleaver (optional)
- 1 large mixing bowl
- 1 blender or food processor or mortar/pestle
Ingredients
Meat
- 2 lbs dark chicken meat (legs and/or thighs) (bone-in or de-boned) (900 g)
Vegetables
- 3 large yellow onions (chopped) (500 g)
- 1 bunch green onions or Jamaican escallions (100 g)
- 2 Scotch Bonnet peppers (habanero) (30 g)
- 1 bunch fresh thyme (40 g)
- 6 cloves fresh garlic (90 g)
- 75 g fresh ginger
Seasonings (dry)
- 4 tbsp Kosher salt (60 g)
- 2 tsp freshly ground black pepper (8 g)
- 1 tbsp Jamaican pimento (all-spice) (15 g)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon (8 g)
- 2 tsp cloves (8 g)
Seasonings (wet)
- 3 tbsp vinegar or citrus juice (45 mL)
- ¼ cup olive oil (60 g)
- 1 tbsp butter (15 g)
- 1 tbsp tomato paste (15 g)
- 2 tbsp Walker's Wood Jerk Seasoning Spicy do not substitute, only omit if not found (30 g)
- 4 tbsp Pickapeppa sauce (60 g)
- 2 tbsp Worcestershire sauce (30 mL)
- 150 mL Grace browning
Instructions
Assembly
- Preheat an oven and roasting pan or grill to 400 F / 200 ℃.
Marinade
- Peel onions and garlic, chop roughly and add to a large bowl.
- Remove the roots of the green onions and chop roughly. Add to bowl.
- Wash the thyme and add to bowl whole.
- Carefully halve the peppers and remove the stem, seeds and veins. Add to bowl.
- Chop ginger roughly and add to bowl.
- Transfer bowl contents to blender with oil and pulse to combine.
- Add brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves, all-spice, salt, browning, Worcestershire sauce, Pickapeppa sauce, and WW jerk seasoning to the blender. Blend until smooth adding up to 75 mL water, if necessary, to achieve a smooth consistency.
Roasting
- Coat the dark chicken meat liberally with marinade and massage. Sprinkle with salt and black pepper to taste.
- To the pre-heated roasting pan, add butter and coat the bottom.
- Add chicken skin side up and roast for 25 minutes at 400 F until the top reaches a charcoal brown colour. Reduce heat to 360 F and cover. Continue baking for 35 minutes or until internal temp reaches 165 F.
- Serve with your favourite starches and veggies. Enjoy!
Jerk. A name of infamy and not for the faint of heart. I’ve likened a house Jerk marinade to Mexican mole or Italian bolognese. Easily comprised of over 20 ingredients, whittled down, pored over and reiterated to exhaustion. Spices and herbs in every nook and corner, a scintillating base of aromatic onions and garlic, the awakening pungency of the Scotch Bonnet pepper and allspice. Traditionally, slow-smoking over pimento bark charcoal locked in every ounce of flavouring into the tender protein du jour. Chicken, pork and fish are all fair game. In modern times, roasted in a conventional oven with remarkable results. Chicken, pork and fish are all fair game. More modern affairs have tried their hand at tofu, beef and goat. Truly the G.O.A.T. in my estimation, jerk is not something to be trifled with as a mere sauce or spice blend. Jerk is a culture, an homage to harmony, an exclamation of the bold that sings flavour as much as it bellows heat.