Blog Party #43 is here! The theme this month is “Spice It Up”. According to the event’s host Stephanie of Dispensing Happiness:

The chill of February has definitely gotten to me. I’m cold. I’m tired of being cold. I want warmth…but it looks like the only place I can find that is in the kitchen!

Well there are definitely no chills here in Trinidad, unless you count the damp rainy days we’ve been having here on an almost non-stop basis. Although the rain may be worrying the Carnival die-hards, I find it rather cozy, and there is nothing like grey skies that makes me want to whip up a homey thing or two stoveside.

Something homey like these curried potato chips. Curried potato is a regular side here in Trinidad, but rarely does one see it in chip form. That’s a shame because the flavours are just as lovely when combined with a salty crunch. With my recently purchased Avon mandoline I was able to make wavy chips, something I’ve always wanted to be able to do

To cool things down, I served the chips with some ice-cold basil lemonade. I seem to be on a bit of basil beverage trip recently but as I’ve said before, the flavour really enhances traditionally sweet drinks, mellowing them out a bit and giving them a rounder profile. I’ll post the recipe for the lemonade in a few days, until then here’s the one for the chips! Do note that the amounts can easily be scaled upwards to cater for more mouths

Curried Potato Chips

INGREDIENTS:

2 large Idaho or Russet potatoes
2 cups peanut oil, for frying
1 tsp garlic sauce
2 teaspoons madras curry powder
kosher salt

METHOD:

1. Using a mandolin, thinly slice the potatoes
2. In a large heavy pot, heat the oil to 360F.
3. Fry the chips in batches, draining on a stack of paper towels. Be sure to salt each batch while it’s still hot!
4. In a small bowl, add 2 teaspoons of frying oil with the garlic sauce and the curry powder and salt and stir well.
5. Carefully toss the chips with the oil mixture.
6. Serve immediately.

This recipe is an exclusive TriniGourmet original. Please do not share it or post it to your site without crediting TriniGourmet.com. A link back to our site is not necessary but always appreciated

Another hearty soup that I prepared on a damp, rainy night. It’s so thick and creamy no one will believe it’s also dairy-free! And, I can imagine that if there are kids or adults out there who usually don’t like broccoli this is a great way to sneak it to them as well!

Creamy Broccoli Soup
Source: unknown
Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:

1 1/2 lbs. broccoli cut into small florets
1 large yellow onion, coarsely chopped
1 1/4 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled, cut into 2-inch pieces (about 2 medium)
3 cups vegetable stock
1/2 cup dry white wine
1/4 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 bay leaves
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup soy milk or rice milk
1 fresh lemon for garnish – optional

METHOD:

To prepare the soup: Combine the broccoli, onion, potatoes, chicken stock, wine, lemon juice, bay leaves, salt, and pepper in a large saucepan. Bring the saucepan to a boil. Cover and decrease the heat to low simmering until all the vegetables are tender when pierced with a fork, about 25 minutes.

To puree the soup: Remove the soup from the heat and discard the bay leaves. Ladle half of the soup into a blender along with 3/4 cup soy milk, cover and puree until smooth. Empty the blender into a large bowl. Ladle the remaining soup into the blender with 3/4 cup soy milk, puree until smooth. When finished transfer the pureed soup back into the saucepan. Thin the soup if necessary by adding a little more soy milk until the desired consistency is achieved. Taste and correct the seasonings. Reheat the soup over low heat stirring occasionally until hot, taking care not to boil the soup. Ladle into bowls and garnish each bowl with lemon zest. Serve immediately

Here I am sitting in front of the television watching Wolf Blitzer and his fierce beard interrogating various political pundits. It’s a gorgeous sunny and quiet Sunday afternoon. The kind of weather that we call ‘beach weather’, but I’m indoors. I’ll be heading to the supermarket in a while though to buy some ingredients for my first full day of ‘raw eating’. You see I’ve decided to try and raise my consumption of raw food to at least 50% of my weekly consumption. I’m a little nervous and excited, and you can be sure that I will be sharing my culinary yays and nays as I explore this new form of cuisine that has been pretty much unknown to me.

Cooked food enthusiasts have no fear however, I have not abandoned ye Indeed these curried potato mini latkes that I whipped up especially for Stephanies 41st installment of Blog Party are probably as far from ‘raw’ cuisine as one can get! This time around Stephanie’s theme was Traditions. The holidays for me mean Hanukkah and Eight days of Candlelit Goodness so I thought what better than latkes? But I couldn’t just do generic latkes. No no no. Being Trini I figured where there’s fried potato, curry and chadon beni shouldn’t be too far behind. Did it work? Most definitely! In fact, since this is an original recipe, I liked it enough to also submit it to the Original Recipe Roundup. . To keep them bite-sized I fried the latkes one teaspoonful at a time, and then pierced them with toothpicks for mess-free consumption. Simply use a larger portion of batter to make the latkes more traditionally sized

With latkes like this, forget applesauce or sour cream and head for your favourite chutney. This time around I used tamarind. Yum!
To cool things down from all that spicy goodness a cool bubbly drink was in order. I decided to keep things ‘tropical’ by mixing up a Guava based non-alcoholic cooler.

It’s definitely starting to feel more festive now! Hope you are also starting to feel some seasonal cheer and, if you are looking for Traditional Trinidadian Christmas recipes, make sure to check out my post In Trinidad, Christmas is Parang!

Sarina’s Curried Potato ‘mini’ Latkes

INGREDIENTS:

5 potatoes, peeled and grated
1/4 cup onion grated
1 teaspoon ginger grated
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 tablespoon curry powder
1/4 teaspoon cayenne powder
1/4 teaspoon cumin powder
1/4 teaspoon garam masala powder
1/2 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
olive oil

METHOD:

1. Combine grated potato with all the ingredients except the oil.
2. Heat 1 tbsp oil in a nonstick pan.
3. Fry the potato latkes by dropping 1/4 cup measures of the mixture into the pan, and flattening them in the pan. (use 1 teaspoon if you are making ‘mini’ latkes as appetizers.)
4. Fry on each side for about five minutes till cooked. Add more oil as needed.

This recipe is an exclusive TriniGourmet original. Please do not share it or post it to your site without crediting TriniGourmet.com. A link back to our site is not necessary but always appreciated

Sarina’s Bubbly Guava-Ginger Ale

INGREDIENTS:

2 cups guava nectar
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cups water
1/4 teaspoon salt
20 oz. bottle ginger ale

METHOD:

1. Combine all ingredients.
2. Strain and chill thoroughly.
3. Just before serving, add ginger ale.

This recipe is an exclusive TriniGourmet original. Please do not share it or post it to your site without crediting TriniGourmet.com. A link back to our site is not necessary but always appreciated

I’m always looking for interesting and creative side dishes. The kind that can be used both formally and informally. This recipe fit the bill. Warm creamy potatoes and sweet pumpkin slices combine to create an unexpected comfort food vibe, while the vibrant notes of fresh basil, make it exciting enough for guests’ palates.

Braised Pumpkin and Potatoes
Makes 6 to 8 servings

INGREDIENTS:
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 ½ lbs. pumpkin, sliced ¾-inch thick
½ lb. Yukon Gold potatoes, peeled, halved and sliced 1/3-inch thick
1 medium tomato, peeled, seeded and coarsely chopped
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
2 teaspoons coarsely chopped basil leaves
½ tablespoon finely chopped basil
¼ teaspoon crushed red pepper
sea salt
¼ cup boiling water

DIRECTIONS:
Heat the oil in a medium saucepan or deep skillet.
Add the pumpkin, potatoes, tomato, onion and red pepper and season with salt.
Cover and cook over moderate heat until the vegetables are barely tender, about 25 minutes.
Add the boiling water, cover and cook until the vegetables are tender, about 12 minutes longer.
Season with salt.
Stir in finely chopped basil.
Serve hot or at room temperature (Garnish each serving with coarsely chopped basil)

Is there a Trini who hasn’t chomped on an aloo pie? It seems that I’ve been eating them as long as I can remember. They were a staple in both my primary and secondary schools’ cafeterias (or as we call them ‘tuck shops’).
They are also easily found in the bakeries and eateries in and around Port-of-Spain should I want a cheap and filling lunch or breakfast.

So what are aloo pies? Well they are simply flat elongated puffy fried pieces of dough, filled with a spicy (and often peppery) mashed potato filling.

Potato. Pepper. Bread. What’s not to love? Forget your blood pressure and cholesterol for a minute and just bite in You’ll be glad you did

BTW, these also freeze and reheat amazingly well

Trinidad Aloo Pies
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Recipe By: TriniGourmet
Serving Size: 9

Ingredients:

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 cups water
4 medium potatoes
1 tsp ground geera (cumin)
1 tsp hot pepper sauce
1 1/2 tsp salt
black pepper, to taste
oil for frying

Directions:

1. Mix flour, baking powder, salt and water and knead lightly
2. Set aside to relax, covered with a bowl or wet cloth

3. Peel and boil potatoes in salt water until tender
4. Mash potatoes well
5. Season filling with salt, black pepper, hot pepper and ground geera

6. Divide dough into 9 loyah (balls)

7. Flatten balls into 4″ circles and fill with potato

8. Wet one edge with water, fold over and seal, enclosing all potato

9. Flatten pie between hands as much as possible without breaking the seal (they’ll repuff when fried don’t worry!)

10. Fry in deep oil until golden brown

11. Drain on paper towels

Notes:

If loyah (balls) are made smaller, 12 medium sized aloo pies can be made

So what is the ‘surprise’? Probably the pack of heat that this recipe delivers I used a whole scotch bonnet this time but would probably reduce that to 1/2 the next time I make this. It was a hit with my mom tho

Unfortunately my digital camera has officially passed away so I have had to use my cameraphone to take shots As I clear out my backlog of recipes you’ll see a mix of cameraphone and digicam pics, so don’t be confused I’m currently trolling ebay, ubid and overstock.com to try and find something reasonable to replace it. If you want to contribute to my camera fund I’d be thrilled (the exchange rate of the TT dollar to the US is very lame )

Eggplant-Potato ‘Surprise’
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Serving Size: 6

Ingredients:

1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 1/2 lb. low-starch potatoes, scrubbed and cut into 3/4-inch dice, about 3 cups
2 medium eggplant, peeled and cut into 3/4-inch dice
3 large red bell peppers, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 poblano or other mild fresh green chile, cut into 3/4-inch pieces
1 medium onion, cut into 3/4-inch dice
coarse salt
6 cloves garlic
1 tablespoon sweet paprika
1 teaspoon ground cumin
cayenne to taste
1/3 cup fresh lemon juice

Directions:

Heat a very large skillet or a Dutch oven over medium-high heat and coat it with about 3 tbsps. of the olive oil; reserve the rest for the sauce. Add the potatoes and saute until they start to brown a bit around the edges, about 10 minutes. Raise the heat to high and add the eggplant, peppers, chile, and onion. Season with a little salt. Continue to saut?ɬ© a few more minutes. Add about 1/4 cup water, cover the pan, and turn down the heat to a vigorous simmer. Braise until all the vegetables are tender when poked with a knife, especially the potatoes and eggplant, 15 to 25 minutes. During braising, be sure to stir and scoop the vegetables so they don’t stick to the pan.

Meanwhile, make the sauce. Using a mortar and pestle or a food processor, smash or pur?ɬ©e the garlic with 1/2 tsp. salt, the paprika, cumin, and cayenne to make a smooth paste. Add the lemon juice and the remaining olive oil.

If any liquid remains in the pan when the vegetables are cooked, remove the cover, turn up the heat, and boil it off. Then turn off the heat, add the sauce to the skillet, and stir to coat all the vegetables. Taste for seasoning and add more salt, lemon, or cayenne to taste. Serve hot.

At the time that I am writing this Passover is a little less than 24 hours away from ending*, and I’m starting to daydream about all sorts of leavened goodness. For those who don’t already know Passover is an 8 day period in the Jewish calender where observers remember and relive the Hebrew exodus from Egypt. Although most attention is spent on the seders (ceremonial dinners) that mark the first 2 nights of the festival, there are dietary changes that accompany the whole eight-day period. Most notable is abstaining from all forms of leavened flour. Although matzah is the traditional stand-in for bread, for reasons long and convuluted, this year I have both sederless AND matzahless. Fortunately being of Sephardic descent I am able to eat rice and corn and beans, items that are sadly (to me) off limits for Ashkenazic Jewry, so I still have plenty of variety but the fantasizing is still there. Bread, bread, visions of bread… sweet sweet bread… and muffins… and pizza crust… and pasta… oh pasta… and mmmmm chinese noooooxdles… *drool*

*ANYWAYZ*

Last night I made myself a ‘Great Garlic Galette’ from a recipe in ‘Cooking with Three Ingredients: Flavorful Food, Easy as 1, 2, 3‘. It is basically a giant garlicky latke I cut it into 8 wedges and dressed each wedge with a different condiment (mayo, dijon mustard, ketchup, mango chutney, etc.). It was sooo good Sorry for the unfortunate pictures (a combo of cellphone and webcam) but the batteries in my digicam died and I haven’t been out to buy new ones

*well it actually ends tonight for israelis and reform jews but that’s another discussion *

Great Garlic Galette
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Recipe By: Cooking with Three Ingredients: Flavorful Food, Easy as 1, 2, 3
Serving Size: 4

Ingredients:

1 lb russet potatoes (about 2) scrubbed
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 cup olive oil

Directions:

1. Grate the potatoes into a bowl of cold water

2. Mix until the water becomes cloudy
3. Drain.
4. Wring out as much water as possible
5. Toss the potatoes with the garlic and plenty of salt and pepper

6. Heat 2 tablespoons of the oil in a large nonstick skillet over medium-high heat
7. Add the potatoes and press down into an even layer.

8. Cover the pan and cook about 15 minutes, or until the potatoes are well-browned on the bottom
9. With the cover still on the pan, grasp the lid with a pot holder and flip the pan so that the galette falls from the pan onto the lid
10. Remove the pan and return to the heat
11. Add the remaining oil to the pan and slide the galette, brown side up, back into the pan
12 Cook uncovered 10 minutes, or until the second side is brown

13. Slide onto a plate and serve, cut into wedges

I expanded this one dish meal from a recipe in one of those little checkout aisle booklets that my mom has held on to from the 70′s

We served it with a crisp vegetable salad on the side. I think it’s a pretty flexible recipe and if there are chopped vegetables you want to use up and throw into the layers you should totally do that, I know I will

Tuna-Potato Casserole

INGREDIENTS:

4 large irish potatoes
7 oz can tuna, drained and flaked
1 medium onion, thinly sliced
1 cup evaporated milk
1/2 cup milk
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp paprika
sea salt
black pepper

METHOD:

1. Put potato slices, tuna and onion slices in alternate layers in a greased casserole dish ending with a layer of potatoes. (Tip: before starting a new potato layer sprinkle the dish with sea salt and freshly ground black pepper, also if using additional vegetables place those in a separate layer )

2. Combine evaporated milk with milk, salt and paprika and pour into casserole.
3. Sprinkle top with some salt.
4. Bake in 400 degree oven for 35 minutes

5. Sprinkle top generously with coarse sea salt and freshly ground black pepper upon removing from oven

I used this very colorful pre-filled pepper mill sent to me by a reader

Today’s Blog Party theme was Hollywood (Lights! Camera! Action!). So, inspired by the movie “A Passage to India” I decided to make a batch of Aloo Tiki. But I didn’t know what alcoholic beverage to serve them with. I had read that beer goes well with Indian food however I’m not a huge fan of beer, and further more beer isn’t a cocktail (which is a requirement for Blog Party participation). Then I got the idea of a shandy, and that was when my imagination went wild! I knew I wanted a citrus vibe, to accompany the tang of beer and to also cut through the potato taste. I think the concoction I came up is beyond sublime. I’ve already drank the whole pitcher!

Aloo Tiki (with Mango Chutney)

The trick to this recipe was leaving the heat and pan to do their thing. Patience patience patience. Because these patties have no binder besides breadcrumbs patience is of the essence. I found I got the best results by not flattening the balls but simply letting the heating process allow them to spread and thin out of their own accord. Approximately 10 minutes per side at medium-high heat did the trick on my side. Anything less and they fell apart

I think this is also a great Sephardic style Hanukkah dish as well

Ingredients:

6 medium potatoes
2 stale whole wheat buns
1 tbs chopped ginger
1/4 tsp (hot) pepper sauce
juice of 1 lemon
salt to taste
1/2 cup oil
1/4 bunch of fresh chadon beni (cilantro)

Directions:

Boil potatoes and let cool. De-stem the coriander and chop. In a food processor grind the bread into dry breadcrumbs. When the potatoes are cool, break them up into small lumps with your hands.
In a bowl mix the potatoes, the coriander leaves, and white bread with the all the rest of the ingredients except the oil.
When the mix is well mixed, heat oil and add to mix and re-mix. Separate the mixture into 15 to 20 small balls and them flatten them into little patties.
To finish heat a frying pan with oil, enough to shallow fry the patties until they are golden brown on each side.
Serve with mango chutney.

Sarina’s Sparkling Ginger-Lime Shandy

Ingredients:

1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1/4 cup sliced ginger
2 limes
1 bottle beer
1 20 oz. bottle Sprite

Directions:

1. Bring ginger, sugar and water to a boil.
2. Take off heat and let steep for an hour
3. Add the juice of 2 limes
4. Strain into a pitcher
5. Add ice cold Sprite and beer

Appetizers/Snacks

Toasted Pumpkin Seeds

Salads

Creamy Coleslaw with Peppers and Sour Cream

Main Courses

Banana and Rice Stuffed Chicken (with Angostura bitters)
Teriyaki Turkey (with Angostura bitters)
Cardamom-scented Lamb with Mashed Sweet Potatoes

Side Dishes

Caribbean Stuffing (With Angostura Bitters)
Pumpkin Soup (with Angostura Bitters)
Roasted Spiced Sweet Potatoes
Whipped Sweet Potatoes with Cardamom
Scalloped Potatoes
Carrot Moulds (with Angostura Bitters)
Healthy Sweet Potato Casserole

Desserts

Mango Lassi
Regina Schrambling’s Almond-Cranberry Cookies
King Arthur Flour’s Fudge Pudding Cake
Banana and Toffee Tarts (with Angostura bitters)
Brioche Bread and Butter Pudding with Lime Marmalade (with Angostura bitters)
Mango Fool (with Angostura bitters)
Carrot Pudding (with Angostura bitters)
Coconut Cake (with Angostura bitters)
Island Style Bread and Butter Pudding (with Angostura bitters)
Banana Pie with Angostura?Ç¬Æ Sauce