Jamaican jerk marinade + recipe + remembering the Caribbean

I made Jamaican jerk chicken the other day and featured it on our daily changing lunch menu. It read: Jamaican Jerk Chicken – Spicy Grilled Chicken Skewer, Caribbean Coconut Peas n’ Rice, Steamed Vegetables,Grilled Banana. I’ll probably make it again this week so I will take a picture then and post it on the blog…

Hot chilies!

Some say the star of jerk marinade are the scotch bonnet chilies of the Caribbean – considered some of the hottest chilies in the world. Although the chilies are important to the marinade, you can use any chili available to give it heat – even dried chili flakes or cayenne pepper! The real key ingredient in jerk marinade is the allspice. In my humble opinion, allspice in combination with other dried spices (nutmeg, cinnamon, pepper and clove) and fresh ingredients (scallion, garlic, ginger, coriander, fresh thyme & the all important chilies) define jerk marinade.

The “nutmeg fruit” from the tree at the botanical gardens in Kingston, St. Vincent. The nutmeg is inside the brown seed covered by red mace. The spice is ready to harvest when the fruit splits open.

I love making this marinade from scratch. It is 100% better than the jarred ones loaded with MSG that you can buy in the grocery store and 1000 times better than the powdered jerk seasoning made with who knows what. My recipe for jerk marinade was one I learned from the Jamaicans I worked with at Amanyara in Turks and Caicos.  The ingredients are rough estimates and should make around a cup of marinade enough for 1 kilo of pork or chicken. Whole dried spices are better to use but if you don’t have them I’ve included the ground spice equivalents. When using whole spices, use a coffee or spice grinder and grind them into a powder.

Jamaican Jerk Marinade

Ingredients

4 cloves garlic, chopped

2 shallots, chopped

3 stalks spring onion, chopped

a handful of fresh coriander/cilantro (leaves and stems), chopped

a 3 inch piece of ginger, peeled and chopped

2-3 scotch bonnet or habanero chillies, chopped (more chili, more spicy!)

3 tablespoons whole allspice, ground (2 tablespoons ground)

5 pieces whole cloves, ground (1/2 teaspoon ground)

2 fresh nutmeg, ground (about 2 teaspoons ground)

1 cinnamon stick, ground (1 tablespoon ground)

2 dried bay leaves

1 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves taken off the stem, chopped (or 1/2 teaspoon dried)

1 tablespoom sugar

the juice of 2 limes

2 tablespoons soy sauce

1/2 cup vegetable oil

salt and black pepper to taste

Procedure

1. Blend everything together to make a thick paste.

2. Pour over chicken or pork and allow to marinate overnight. A Jamaican Sous Chef  I had worked with adds more stems of fresh thyme, rosemary and bay leaves, plus chicken base (or crumbled chicken bouillon cubes) to the marinade and meat.

3. Grill meat over live coals.

Jerk Chicken Breast with Avocado-Papaya Salsa, Guava Dressing

Here’s how we made it at Amanyara back in 2008. A bit posh compared to the real deal … but it works for the lunch menu of a luxury, boutique resort in a tropical island. Here we served it with a guava sauce to play on the islands theme, but many times I’ve had it it was served with some gravy I’d rather not know the recipe for.

Jerk chicken take away at the BVI Emancipation Festival smothered in some unknown gravy

Jerk pork in an oil drum grill

The thing to use for grilling the jerk chicken or pork is an oil drum grill. Here’s a picture of Milton Harris, Sous Chef at Peter Island Resort in the BVI using one to make jerk pork. Milton covers the pork with “piment” leaves (or the leaves of the allspice tree), before shutting the lid and allowing the pork to steam a little bit in the grill.

Jerk prawn skewers on the grill

I love using jerk marinade on prawns as well. Here’s Terry grilling some at the live action station at Deadman’s Bar and Grill at Peter Island Resort during the Wednesday Caribbean Night back in 2010.

At a Jamaican party I went to once in Provo, the cook doused the chickens on the grill with Red Stripe beer, before shutting the lid. That was probably the best jerk chicken I’ve had – the results were so good! The chicken was served with “festival bread” which is a deep fried quick bread, hot sauce and washed with ice cold Red Stripe beer.

So what to serve with jerk grilled chicken, pork or shrimp? Well there’s that festival bread. Recipe here.

Laurel’s peas n’ rice

There’s peas and rice or beans and rice. Here’s one made by the lunch cook Laurel over at Peter Island Resort. I asked Laurel how she makes it, and her response was, “I don’t know… I just make it!” But she then went on to share the ingredients: butter, finely chopped onion, finely chopped red and green bell peppers, finely chopped carrot, long grain rice, pigeon peas, chicken broth (made with chicken bouillon base).  I like to make mine with all of these (real chicken stock when I have it), plus coconut milk, a few bay leaves, a few sprigs of thyme and with pigeon peas or kidney beans.

Breadfruits being roasted on an open fire

And then there’s breadfruit roasted on an open flame. Like this made by my Sous Chef at the Cotton House Mustique, Arris Jacobs, at an excursion to the Tobago Cays in St. Vincent and the Grenadines last year – my favorite islands in the Caribbean!

Me and Arris having a Hairoun in Vincy

 

3 chilled soup recipes from my new gig in Fiji

When it’s warm and sunny at Vomo Island Resort in Fiji (my new gig, http://www.vomofiji.com), we sometimes change lunch venues. Instead of the sheltered wooden deck of our poolside restaurant “Beyond the Reef”, we host lunch right on the beach or at the Rocks Bar on the far end of the island.

Lunch on the main beach of Vomo Island Resort

A private lunch at the Rocks Bar at Vomo Island Resort facing Vomo Lailai (Little Vomo)

Both these venues are sunny, warm and open to the elements.  What better way to start a lunch on the island than with a refreshing chilled soup? Here are the recipes for 3 that I’ve tried since starting a couple of weeks ago. These chilled soups together with cool, crisp salads; lighter grilled fare featuring local caught fish; light sandwiches and wraps; a dessert of the day, fresh fruit and house made ice creams and sorbets make up what we’ve served at Vomo Island’s daily changing lunch menu lately.

Image by Kelly Bradley, http://www.bradleywellness.blogspot.com.au

CREAMY CARROT AVOCADO AND GINGER SOUP

Ingredients

3 cups carrot juice

1 small ripe avocado

½ cup lime juice

2 T guava puree

1 T chopped ginger

Pinch of cayenne pepper

¼ tsp sea salt

Procedure

1. Blend together until smooth and creamy.

Image by iEVA, http://www.gourmantineblog.com

CHILLED BEET ROOT, CUCUMBER AND YOGHURT SOUP

Ingredients

2 cups, diced roasted beetroot*

1 cup English cucumber, sliced

½ small onion, sliced

4 cups plain yoghurt

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

1 tablespoon fresh dill, chopped

1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped

Salt and pepper to taste

Procedure

1. Before starting, make sure that all ingredients are cold. Combine all ingredients (except those for garnish) in a blender and blend until smooth. Season to taste with salt and pepper.
2. Serve in chilled bowls topped with hard-boiled egg slices, diced cucumber, yoghurt and fresh herbs such as dill, parsley or chives.

*To roast beets: scrub whole beets and drizzle with olive oil, salt and pepper. Place beets on a piece of foil, loosely wrap, and roast in a slow oven (140 degrees c) for about an hour or until the beets are soft. Allow to cool in the foil packet. When cool, rub off the skin with a paper towel to peel the beets then dice for the soup.

Garnish

Hard-boiled egg, diced cucumber, yoghurt, fresh dill/parsley or chives

Image by Becky Lawton, http://www.delicooks.com

GAZPACHO VERDE (GREEN GAZPACHO)

Ingredients

2 cups honeydew melon, diced

2 cups English cucumber, unpeeled, diced

2 cups ripe avocado, diced

½ cup green capsicum, diced

½ cup white onion, diced

2 garlic cloves, smashed

2 tablespoons flat parsley, chopped

1 cup white bread cubes (no crust), diced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

¼ cup extra virgin olive oil

water

Salt and pepper, to taste

Procedure

1. Combine everything and allow to marinate for an hour.
2. Blend and adjust the consistency with water.
3. Season to taste.
4. Serve very cold.

Garnish

Croutons, diced green vegetables, chopped parsley and/or extra virgin olive oil

Santa’s sea urchins

Santa (real name Eustace)

There’s a fisherman on the island curiously named “Santa”. Why he is called that I have no idea (his real name is Eustace). What I do know is that he has been supplying lobsters to the Cotton House and to other villas on Mustique for many, many  years. He catches other things from the sea too, but his bread and butter are lobsters. Often he would deliver the lobsters alive, fresh from the sea, hauling them from his boat to our fridges still in his wetsuit.

Santa’s sea eggs

Before Christmas, I asked Santa to bring me the white sea urchins (called “sea eggs” in these parts) I sometimes see when I am out snorkeling.  Most of the time I see black sea urchins with their long, sinister, needle-like spines – those are toxic and inedible someone told me. But the white ones have short spines that from a distance look like fur and are good to eat. I told Santa to get me some white sea eggs and that’s what he did. But the first time he brought be some they weren’t “roe-ing” (his words) yet.

That’s all I got after cleaning 25 sea eggs…

As we all know, the only edible part of sea urchins are it’s bright orange gonads or sex glands. Some people find eating the sex organs of spiny sea animals exciting. Personally, it does nothing for me. But I do love eating sea urchins. I’m always the first one to pick “uni” off a sushi boat! The next time Santa brought some – they were ok. A lot more roe for the tedious job of cleaning them.

Fish and chips?

I decided to turn the roe into sea urchin butter to serve with the day’s catch mahi mahi. On the menu it read: Grilled local mahi mahi with fresh sea urchin butter, sweet potato chips, house made Asian pickled vegetables and a lime wedge. A spin on fish and chips our guests liked. Here’s the recipe for the sea urchin butter.

Sea Urchin Butter

Makes about 1 1/2 cups of butter

Ingredients:

1/3 cup fresh sea urchin roe

1 cup European-style butter, softened

1 tablespoon olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1/4 cup onion or shallot, minced

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce

Cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce, to taste

Salt and pepper, to taste

1 tablespoon parsley, finely chopped

1 tablespoon chives, finely chopped

1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest

Procedure

1. In a small pan, heat the olive oil and sauté the garlic and onion or shallot until soft and translucent. Add the lemon juice and Worcestershire sauce. Remove from heat and allow to cool.

2. In a food processor, blend the soft butter and the fresh sea urchin roe until smooth.

Add the cooled onion and garlic mixture and pulse for a few seconds to combine.

3. Season the butter with salt and pepper to taste and some cayenne pepper or Tabasco sauce for heat.

4. Add the parsley, chives and lemon zest last and pulse for another few seconds to combine.

5. With a rubber spatula, scrape the soft butter out onto 2 pieces of parchment or wax paper. Roll into logs and keep in the refrigerator until ready to use. The sea urchin butter will keep for 3 days in the fridge and longer if you freeze it. Just remember to use it within 3 days after it has defrosted.

6.  Serve the sea urchin butter on top of grilled fish or prawns,  or over veal, chicken or pork for a unique spin on surf and turf.

Variation: Replace the sea urchin with 1/4 cup of anchovy fillets in oil for a tasty anchovy butter.

Shrimp and local avocado salad with uni vinaigrette

Another way we used the sea urchins was in a vinaigrette. Here they are  as the dressing to a shrimp and local avocado salad. To make the vinaigrette: combine equal parts sea urchin, rice vinegar and canola oil in a blender and blend until emulsified. Season with salt and pepper and serve.

Mangoes + white chocolate

I miss Philippine mangoes most of all here in the Caribbean. Nothing says you’re on an island more than eating a ripe mango.

Ripe Philippine mangoes – luscious and sweet. And this was off mango season…

Of course mangoes do exist in the Caribbean. They are ok (with all due respect to our suppliers) but the ones readily available to the public can either be very fibrous or very bland. The small ones are the ones that are fibrous when ripe, but they are also very sweet. The giant ones are the ones that are bland but they are quite good when unripe and pickled or in a salad.

We had a good supply of mangoes lately and,  as the mantra on the islands go, “use what you have”. So we did last night for dessert.

White chocolate mousse with local mangoes and toasted pistachio nuts

I am a big fan of simple flavors, simple preparations and simple cooking techniques. I love the Northern California food philosophy (I did train there after all) of standing back as a chef, using good ingredients, and letting the food shine. Of course given that you have really good ingredients to begin with … another challenge on the island. But the mangoes were good yesterday and I have best quality white chocolate (Valrhona) and pistachio nuts in the kitchen.

For the dessert pictured above I diced some ripe mangoes and combined it with a little fresh mango puree and mango jam (made by a local lady, Betty Frederick, on the neighboring island of Bequia). This fresh mango compote was layered in a juice glass with white chocolate mousse and a “crumble” of homemade gingerbread cookies and toasted pistachio nuts.

Here’s the recipe for the white chocolate mousse. I learned this recipe from one of our guest chefs at Peter Island – Richard Farnabe. It is by far, the simplest recipe for white chocolate mousse, but the most delicious. And as simple goes, 4 ingredients are all it takes to make it. This is also my “go-to” recipe now for dark chocolate mousse – simply substituting dark chocolate for white in the recipe.

Easy White Chocolate Mousse

Yields 3-1/2 Cups

Ingredients:

6 ounces white chocolate, cut into small pieces, at room temperature

3 cups heavy cream, divided

3 tablespoons powdered sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Procedure:

1. Heat 8 oz of cream until simmering. Pour hout cream over the white chocolate pieces in a bowl. Stir until smooth. Let the mixture sit for 20 minutes to cool to room temperature.

2. Combine 2 cups of the cream, 3 tablespoons powdered sugar and vanilla in a large, chilled mixing bowl. Use a hand mixer or standing mixer to whip the cream and sugar until stiff peaks form when the beater is stopped and lifted out.

3. Gently fold a third of the melted white chocolate mixture into the whipped cream. Add the second third; fold in, then add the remainder.

4. Scrape mixture into a piping bag and pipe into cups. Chill until ready to serve. Garnish with shaved white chocolate, whipped cream or fruit.

Maja blanca for All Saint’s Day

November 1, All Saint’s Day

I posted this picture and caption on Facebook yesterday:

“Years ago every 1st of November, my mother used to make homemade “suman” (steamed sticky rice and coconut cakes wrapped in banana leaves that she always made with some ginger), “ube halaya” (purple yam jam… stirred for 4 hours!) or sweet pumpkin pudding (lots of butter and condensed milk). Then she’d fix a plate of these homemade sweets and light some candles – one for each relative that had passed away. Instead of spending November 1st at a cemetery like a lot of Filipinos do, our family would stay home and cook and eat all day. Proof that the best way to remember the dead is to enjoy life!

Today, I’m craving those Filipino All Soul’s Day sweets Ma used to make as I light a candle for her and cook to honor this tradition.”

I didn’t have the time nor the energy to make suman, but what I did end up making was maja blanca (a sweet corn and coconut pudding). One of my favorites growing up. Here’s a picture of what I made:

The recipe was adapted from http://www.allrecipes.com. I adjusted it to make a richer, creamier maja blanca, and made a coconut topping for the dessert.

Maja Blanca

Ingredients:

1/2 cup whole milk

1/2 cup cornstarch

2 cups coconut milk (second extraction if using fresh)

1/2 cup white sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup grated fresh corn kernels or canned cream of corn

3 tablespoons butter

For the topping:

1 cup coconut cream (first extraction if using fresh, the thick cream at the top of the coconut milk if using canned)

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 cup vegetable oil

Procedure:

1. Use 1 tablespoon butter to grease an 8-inch baking dish or pie pan. Combine the whole milk and cornstarch and stir until smooth.

2. In a separate saucepan combine the coconut milk, sugar, salt and corn, stir over low heat until the sugar is dissolved. When the mixture starts to boil, add the cornstarch and milk and stir to prevent lumps from forming.

3. Cook the pudding over low heat for 5 minutes, stirring constantly until the cornstach is cooked through. The mixture will be very thick. Remove from the heat and stir in the remaining 2 tablespoons of butter.

4. Pour pudding into the greased mold. Cover and refrigerate until set. Garnish with the coconut topping before serving.

5. To make the topping: Combine all the ingredients in a pan and allow to boil over medium high heat stirring constantly. The mixture will begin to separate and the coconut solids will begin to cook in the coconut oil. Cook the mixture until the solids have caramelized and turned golden brown (be careful not to burn it!). Remove from the heat and allow to cool in another container. Pour out the excess oil and crumble the mixture over the maja blanca.

Here’s another picture of maja blanca together with other coconut and rice sweets (kakanin) from the Legazpi Sunday Market in Makati.

Food tripping in New Orleans – part 2

Really and truly (as they say over here in the islands), the best way to experience a city is through it’s food. More pictures from the recent 5 day food trip in New Orleans

Appetizer Trio @ Oak Alley Plantation Restaurant – Almond-crusted duck, Cajun fried catfish and alligator (yes, alligator, and it was delicious! tastes like chicken…), lemon, aioli, Cajun remoulade. I would call this dish “Treasures of the Swamp” but it may not sell so well. This dish captures the bounty and flavors of coastal Louisiana, and true to its Southern roots, everything is fried. Another hit from the restaurant at Oak Alley Plantation – everything on the plate was crisp, hot, not greasy and it came out fast. Far cry from the food and service we had at the Old Coffee Pot restaurant in the French Quarter the night before, but more on that later.

Po boy @ Pecks – the awesome tour guide at the swamp tour was probably tired of hearing us complain about our bad meal experience the night before at the Old Coffee Pot that he recommended this “chain” restaurant for our post-tour meal. The place was bright, clean and served a variety of fried seafood dishes including this New Orleans favorite, the “po boy”. The term supposedly came from free sandwiches served to poor, striking street car workers back in the day, but there is nothing in this sandwich that would suggest plebeian. Stuffed full of fried oysters inside the traditional, crusty-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside French baguette typical of New Orleans , don’t be confused (as I was) when the server asks you if you want it “dressed”. This just means your sandwich will come with lettuce, tomatoes, pickles, mayonnaise and mustard. God, this was a good sandwich!

Hurricanes (from the Turtle Bay bar) @ Bourbon Street – It is without a doubt that the city that invented the Mardi Gras and that has a street named after whiskey is one of the best places to drink in America. Sipping the city’s signature “Hurricane” (made from rum, rum and more rum + fruit juice and grenadine syrup) while walking along the famous (or infamous) Bourbon Street on a Friday night is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I can only imagine what this place is like during Mardi Gras. (Although at the end of the night, having gotten tired of other people’s drunken antics, I supposedly said, “I’m getting too old for this shit!”)

Charbroiled Oysters @ Drago’s Seafood Restaurant – How can I forget these charbroiled oysters we had as a “snack” after a day packed with activities? Someone insisted that we try these oysters (they were grilled with garlic butter and topped with parmesan cheese) and I’m glad that we did. Best in the city!

Abita Amber and the original Hurricane cocktail @ Pat O’Brien’s – Another good bottle of Abita beer and a cocktail at the bar where it was invented. The Hurricane was named after the glass it’s served in (which looks like a hurricane lamp). I must admit though that the version we had at Turtle Bay (made from fresh pineapple and orange juice) was much better, even though  it was served in what looks like a hand grenade turned into a tacky plastic glass. You can buy powdered mixes of Pat O’Brien’s brand hurricane mix in tourist shops all over New Orleans. This version, although heavy on the rum, tasted like it was made from a powdered mix and had too much grenadine (personally, I’m not a big fan of that cough syrup). Go to Pat O’Brien’s for the music by dueling pianists and the lively atmosphere … not the overrated cocktail.

Tabasco Spicy Chocolate @ the Southern Food and Beverage Museum – Weird combination? Not really since the original chocolate that the Aztecs drank was mixed with chili, Mexican mole has chili and chocolate, and both are New World ingredients. Food nerd analogies aside, these candies were great! Not-so-sweet dark chocolate with a spicy finish. Tabasco sauce is made in Louisiana so you can find every version of it in New Orleans.

Crawfish Etoufee @ the Old Coffee Pot – When visiting New Orleans, one must have crayfish (done however) and the classic Cajun-Creole dish etouffee (made with whatever). I recall making shrimp etouffee in culinary school and it was a delicious spicy stew, the sauce made from the classic dark roux, tomato puree and the “Cajun trinity” of onion, green bell pepper and celery, cooked/”smothered” in a pot (hence the name), and served over rice. Why the hell then does this version, from the highly regarded and often recommended Old Coffee Pot in the French Quarter, look like crayfish tempura over rice? A major disappointment early in our eating tour that was redeemed by all the other good meals in the days that followed.

Blackened catfish + cold slop @ the Old Coffee Pot – We had to try something blackened so the catfish on this combo plate caught our attention when we read it off the menu. Too bad it came an hour and a half after we had ordered it and the green beans were ice-cold (no wonder they were still so green). Needless to say, it went back to the kitchen and we cancelled the order. We could see through the open kitchen that there was only one cook that night (poor guy, someone must’ve called in sick that day). However, people’s expectations are high in a “food city”, and the Old Coffee Pot has a good reputation, and “the show must go on” regardless of whether there was only one cook in that night, so the plate above was unacceptable. 😦

But to end this post on a sweet note:

Bananas Foster @ Crescent City Cooks – Bananas foster, first served at Brennan’s Restaurant in the French Quarter, and voodoo are two things (among others) that people think about when visiting New Orleans. Here, the demo chef at Crescent City Cooks attempts to make us think of both as he sprinkles cinnamon over the flaming rum, bananas and caramel in the pan. He said the sparks makes one think of a voodoo ritual. Okaaaaaay……. This excellent version was served straight from the pan over vanilla ice cream.

Rambling about tiramisu

In the late 90’s, right around the time I started cooking professionally, I went on a mission to find the best tiramisu in Manila. I don’t remember the first time I had tiramisu, I may have just seen a recipe or a picture of it, but once I started on my mission I was hooked. Back then good mascarpone cheese was hard to come by in the Philippines, so the first ones I tasted were (I know now) made from half cream cheese and half cream. They tasted more like cheesecakes than tiramisu. Some were topped with cheap shaved dark chocolate, some were dusted with so much cocoa powder it made me cough violently as I inhaled the bitter dust through my mouth eager to get to that first bite. Most were annoyingly too sweet.

The best tiramisus I had during those years were the ones from the Tivoli at Mandarin Oriental Manila and at Margarita Fores’ Cibo. I trained and took on my first job at Mandarin Oriental so I may be biased, but The Tivoli’s tiramisu was made with real mascarpone cheese infused with a bit of lavender (but not too much) and it had just the right amount of sweetness. The lady fingers were perfectly soaked with espresso and kahlua and the dessert was dusted with just the right amount of the best quality cocoa powder. I worked there for a year and never got tired of eating that dessert. For me, back then,  it was perfect…

My next favorite was Margarita Fores’ version served at Cibo and at her catering events. I liked it because it was tiramisu with a delicious twist. Instead of lady fingers, she used a cookie similar to palmiers soaked in espresso. The filling was made with real mascarpone cheese and eggyolks – but sweeter than that of Tivoli. And where others put cocoa powder, she puts big shavings of dark chocolate (a good quality one!) on top of the dessert. So sinfully decadent. More than a decade later, I still make it a point to have one at Cibo whenever I am home.

So fast forward 14+ years, I still love tiramisu and have the love handles to prove it. I’ve had many, many more versions of it through my travels, but I’ve never been to Italy yet to have the real, REAL deal. I work now at a resort where an Italian restaurateur serves as a consultant and my sous chef is Italian. I said to myself when I started surely I can get a good tiramisu at this place. And I was right. Our pastry cook made it one night and I was again hooked! We run tiramisu as a dessert special maybe 4 times a month. And the recipe for it, THAT precious recipe, is one I do not want to forget. Hence, this blog post.

Tiramisu

2000 g mascarpone

350 g sugar

200 g egg white

400 g egg yolks

Lady fingers

Coffee, kahlua

Cocoa powder

I copied this recipe in verbatim from our pastry chef’s notebook. The amounts are huge but it can be divided into half or a quarter. The procedure is as follows:

1. Divide the sugar into 2. Combine the egg yolks with half of the sugar and beat in a mixer until pale. Add the mascarpone cheese and continue to beat until the mixture is smooth. Scrape the mixture into another bowl.

2. In a clean mixer bowl, beat the egg whites and sugar together until soft peaks form. Fold this egg white mixture into the mascarpone mixture as if you were making a mousse. Chill until ready to use.

3. Soak a few lady fingers in a mixture of espresso and kahlua. Place the soaked cookies in a glass serving dish. Spoon the filling over and dust the dessert with cocoa powder – but not too much! Or grate some good quality dark chocolate over the top.

4. Eat and enjoy!

The best adobo recipe is my mother’s

I think every Filipino who has lived away from home has made this dish with a tear and a smile (to borrow from Kahlil Gibran – one of my mom’s favorite poets). This recipe is one of the first dishes I learned how to make. I make and eat this all the time – at home by myself, when friends wanting to know more about Filipino food eat at my house, and, like tonight, at work where I can serve it as a special and get away with charging top dollar for it. On our menu tonight at the Cotton House it read:

“Southeast Asian Soy-braised Cornish Hen served with Coconut Jasmine Rice, Tomato-Red Onion Salad, and Local Green Papaya Pickles”

Left out from this description was the crisp toasted garlic I put on top of the rice and the char-broiled eggplant I mixed in with the tomato salad. Whether I serve it in high-style with Cornish hen on Villeroy and Boch china or at home with chicken or pork on my crap dinnerware while eating it with my fingers it’s still the best adobo I’ve had. At least to me.

Ma’s Adobo Recipe

– To 1 kg (2 lbs) of chicken pieces or pork cut into 2 inch cubes (any kind of pork stew meat will work especially pork belly!) or both combined, add 1/3 cup vinegar (Datu Puti coconut vinegar if you can find it or any white, cane or rice vinegar), 1/3 cup dark soy sauce (Silver Swan if you can find it, Kikkoman works), 3 bay leaves, 10 whole peppercorns, half a head of crushed garlic and 2 cup of water. Marinate for a few hours, or even better, overnight.

– Drain the meat from the liquid and reserve the marinade. Heat 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil in a heavy pot. Brown the pieces of meat in the hot oil (you may have to do this in 2 batches depending on how big the pot is). Add the marinade back to the browned meat in the pot and allow to simmer over medium-low heat until the meats are tender. Keep in mind that chicken breast cooks the fastest, followed by dark chicken meat, followed by the pork. Remove each piece of the braised meat from the pot once it is tender – a tedious technique but worth doing.

– The braising liquid left in the pot will most likely be thin and soupy. Turn the heat up to high and reduce this liquid by half or until it is dark and slightly thickened. Return the braised pieces of meat back in the pot and allow to simmer for a few minutes in the reduced sauce. At this point you can simmer the adobo even further for a “drier” dish.

– Serve the adobo hot with steamed rice and a vegetable side dish such as tomato, red onion salad with salted duck egg or char-grilled eggplant. I like to garnish the adobo with crispy slivers of fried garlic.

Local snapper crudo

Spent last week changing out the menus at Tradewinds with Chef Lisa and William, our new Sous Chef. Lots of interesting items on a 6-cycle daily changing menu.

There is a local fisherman that comes to the resort to sell his catch (mostly snapper and grouper, occasionally wahoo and mahimahi). The supply is good and consistent enough that we’ve put in a number of grouper and snapper dishes on the new menu. Grouper and snapper anyway are the 2 seafood most commonly associated with the region. That and lobster and conch.

Here’s my favorite snapper dish from last week: local snapper crudo, braised celery root, preserved lemon and harissa. I think the best way to have fish this fresh is to serve it raw. The celery root, preserved lemon and harissa provide just enough flavor (saltiness, acidity and spice) to the dish but the fresh flavor of the fish shines through. Extra virgin olive oil (leftover from braising the celery root) and some micro cress are the finishing touches.

Here’s a shot of a couple of grouper that came straight into the kitchen from the fisherman’s boat. They were huge!

And here’s that same grouper on the plate for dinner: Pan-seared grouper in a coconut-curry sauce with local saffron rice, green beans and crisp plantain chips.

More pics and recipes of dishes from our new menu to follow…

Coffee: island style

Strong, fresh brewed Caribbean coffee (Cafe Bustelo) with ice and milk, the view I wake up to on my patio, sunshine on a day off, going diving later in the day. Life isn’t so bad.