Oiled down (also more commonly referred to as ‘oildown’) is one of those truly transcendent West Indian delights. As I wrote, in one of this blog’s first entries:

“Oil Down, is a colloquial Caribbean name for any dish of starchy vegetables cooked in coconut milk until all the milk is absorbed and the ingredients have turned into a creamy mush (or have ‘oiled down’). The two most popular oil downs are breadfruit oil down and cassava oil down. Oil down is really something to experience first-hand, I am not sure that I can convey the creamy, buttery, saltiness that envelops one with each bite. Just trust me, it’s something you want to try for yourself”

The local government here has been trying to encourage cassava production and for this I am glad. Mostly because it means that it can now be found in the frozen section of my neighbourhood supermarket already peeled and cored. Now even though I believe in buying from local farmers markets when it comes to ground provisions any method that I can see what I am getting before I buy it I am all for. Too many times we have bought ground provisions in the market and when you cut it open there are worms or rotten spots that render the useable part of one’s purchase much less than budgeted for (and as a result more expensive in sum). So for the frozen cassava I am eternally grateful.

From Privilege: Cooking in the Caribbean

Cassava (Manioc, yuca, tapioca plant, mandioca, mogo, farine) originated in tropical Brazil. Long irregularly-shaped root – dark brown skin, white starchy flesh. Bitter variety poisonous until cooked. Also used for making laundry starch. Can be made into flour.

Once the cassava is defrosted and chopped (and a few of the inner fibrous veins that still remained removed) this recipe couldn’t be any simpler. And the final result is to die for. It has all the aroma and texture that characterizes oil down. Fragrant theme, buttery creamed coconut sauce, and the cassava? It is rendered melt in your mouth succulent and tender, and absorbs all the aroma and flavour of the coconut sauce.

Meatless Cassava Oiled-Down
From: Angostura.com
Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:
3 lbs cassava
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup chopped onion
4 cloves garlic, chopped
½ hot pepper, seeded and minced, optional
2 large pimento peppers, seeded and chopped
3/4 cup fresh chive, chopped
2 tbsp fresh thyme, chopped
3 cups coconut milk
2 tsp Angostura aromatic bitters
1 hot pepper, left whole, optional
15m l tbsp) (1 cooking margarine
3 teaspoons salt

DIRECTIONS:
1. Peel and cut cassava into 2″ lengths, slice the pieces down the centre and remove the coarse inner vein.
2. In a large heavy skillet heat oil, add onions, garlic, pepper, pimentos, chive and thyme.
3. Sauté until fragrant, about 4 minutes.
4. Add the coconut milk and Angostura® aromatic bitters and bring mixture to a boil, lower heat and add cassava.
5. Drop in whole hot pepper at this point.
6. Add cooking margarine and salt and stir.

7. Cover mixture and simmer for about 25 to 30 minutes until all the coconut milk has been absorbed and the cassava is cooked and tender. There should be only a small amount of coconut oil in the pan.
8. Remove whole hot pepper before serving.

For more West Indian recipes check out the Caribbean Cookbook section of Veni Mangé – the Trinigourmet Amazon bookstore!

This post was originally published on September 13, 2007. It has been updated once since then.

You know one of the unexpected discoveries of having a food blog is realizing how much our parents keep from us about -their- culinary pasts. Before I started TriniGourmet I thought it was reasonable to assume that the foods my parents made were accurate reflections of their respective heritages (Trinidad and Jamaica respectively), and as such included faves from their own childhoods. Not so. It has happened on more than one occasion that a dish I have made here (often for the first time) unlocks a flood gates of “MMMM, I used to eat this all the time as a child”. WHAT?! So how come you never made it for me then? *shrug* “Didn’t seem important” or “Youse forget these things” are the most common variant of reply In that respect being a Caribbean food blogger seems even more important when it comes to documenting and preserving these culinary gems in as ‘authentic’ a format as possible. It really boggles my mind. If many of these recipes have fallen to the wayside in a 100% Caribbean home I can only imagine what is going on in the Diaspora! This recipe for fried eggplant was another of those ‘culinary flashbacks’. My father thanked me for making them and told me that yes, again, he ate this often as a boy. Well I never did as no ever made it for me :crying:

Slivers of seasoned eggplant (or melongene as it is more commonly called here in Trinidad) are floured and breaded before being pan fried. The results are a light flavourful crust with a warm molten center. If you are not traditionally a fan of eggplants, this may be just the thing to turn you into a convert!

Fried Eggplant
From: Caribbean Cookbook

INGREDIENTS:

1 lb eggplant
salt and pepper to taste
flour and breadcrumbs
oil for frying

DIRECTIONS:

1. Peel, wash and cut egplant in 1/2 in thick slices
2. Cover slices thoroughly in a mixture of salt, black pepper, flour and breadcrumbs
3. Let stand for about 10 minutes

4. Shake off excess flour
5. Fry in hot fat til golden brown

For this and other Caribbean recipes visit the Caribbean Cooking section of Veni Mangé - The Trinigourmet Amazon Bookstore!

This post was originally published August 28, 2007. It has been updated once since then.

Red-Red is a Ghanian dish I stumbled across quite accidentally while looking at a recipe for Kelewele that was kindly sent to me via my Facebook page by Corinne, a regular contributor. Traditionally served with fried plantain it is a rich, luscious and spicy combination of thick tomato sauce and black-eyed peas which visually lives up to its name. Having never tried it before I used a multitude of online photos and recipes to get a general gist of how the final product should be constructed and appear. The ingredients and method are so deceptively simple that you should be able to repeat it from memory after your first attempt, but don’t tell anyone, it definitely tastes as though you’ve been slaving over the stove for hours!

This post has been submitted to My Legume Love Affair Edition #22. View the host lineup here.

Red Red

INGREDIENTS:

2 tins (14.5 oz each) black-eyed peas, drained
1 tin (28 oz) pureed tomatoes
1 or two vegetable bouillon cubes
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 onions, thinly sliced
3 garlic cloves, thinly sliced
1 tablespoon fresh ginger, thinly julienned
1 hot pepper (your choice)
salt and black pepper

METHOD:

1. Heat oil in a skillet on medium
2. Fry garlic, ginger and onions until golden

3. Add tomatoes, bouillon cubes and pepper (halve for greater flavour and heat. You can use only one half if you want )

4. Simmer for 5 minutes
5. Add black-eyed peas and simmer for 10 more minutes

6. Season with salt and black pepper

NOTES:
Serve with kelewele or plain plantains (fried or boiled)

This recipe is an exclusive TriniGourmet original. Please do not share it or post it to your site without crediting TriniGourmet.com and linking back to this site

This recipe is a staple side dish of mine that I’ve adapted and modified at length through the years. Both colorful and flavourful I think it creates a texturally interesting background for spicy curries and other East Indian flavoured entrees.

Coconut Rice with Lentils and Cashews

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb. basmati rice
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
1 teaspoon stone ground mustard
1 teaspoon urad dhal or brown lentils
1 tablespoon red pepper flakes
1 tablespoon madras curry powder
2 ounces fresh coconut, grated
1 ounce unsalted roasted cashews
salt and pepper

METHOD:

1. Put the rice in a sieve and rinse under cold running water until the water runs clear.
2. Bring 2 cups lightly salted water to the boil in a large pan.
3. Add the rice, bring back to the boil and cook for 20 minutes.
4. Drain and return to the pan, then cover with a tight-fitting lid.
5. In a small pan, heat the oil, add the mustard seeds and cook for 1 minute until the seeds start to pop.
6. Add the lentils, red pepper flakes and curry powder and cook for 2-3 minutes, stirring frequently, until the lentils are golden.
7. Stir in the coconut and cook over a low heat for 3-4 minutes, stirring occasionally.

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

Oops! It almost slipped my mind to let you all know the wonderful dal recipe that I used with yesterday’s Dosas.

This Tridoshic dal comes from a cookbook that I’ve been using for years called The Ayurvedic Cookbook.

I’m always interested in learning about the culinary traditions and philosophies of other cultures. Eastern cuisines in particular often fixates on the concept of warming and cooling foods. Maintaining a balance of the two within a meal, or strategically stimulating or calming ones system where imbalance is detected. This approach to balance and harmony has interestingly enough infused my approach to even Caribbean/Western cooking. I find myself trying to create harmony within dishes, adding cooling tomatoes when using fiery peppers for example.

According to The Ayurvedic Cookbook, all of us fall into one of three doshas or body types – Vita, Pitta and Kapha. (For those who are insufferably curious I am a Pitta ). Not understanding our respective types can cause us to unknowingly indulge in foods that work against our personal chemistry. Interestingly enough when looking at the foods that Pitta is supposed to avoid I saw more than a few that I have instinctively avoided/disliked since childhood!

Each recipe in The Ayurvedic Cookbook lists whether it is aggravating, calming or neutral where each dosha is concerned. Dals like this one, being tridoshic, are ideal for all body types, which is wonderful because it tastes soo soo good. Aromatic with chadon beni, coconut, geera (cumin) seeds, and pumpkin. This is currently my dal of all dals. For my own personal tastes I added a tad more coconut than would qualify as a ‘garnish’, and I also used an immersion blender at the end to partially puree the liquid. Give it a try and let me know

From The Ayurvedic Cookbook:

Dals are always prepared with something sour in the vagar (mixture of spices and ghee)
to stimulate digestive fire. In [Mumbai], tamarind is often used, while in the Gujarati province, lemon, lime or amchoor add this stimulating sourness. It must be added in the early stages of cooking for best effect.

Want to learn more?

Find your doshic type (chopra.com)
Ayurveda on Wikipedia

Tridoshic Dal
Source: The Ayurvedic Cookbook
Preparation time : 1 hour
Serves : 6

INGREDIENTS:
1 cup split mung dal
8 cups water
2 cups summer squash, in 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices
1 cup carrots, in 1/4 to 1/2 inch slices
1/8 teaspoon hing
2 tablespoons sunflower oil or ghee
1-1/4 teaspoons turmeric
1 tablespoon lime or lemon juice or 1 tablespoon amchoor (dried mango powder)
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 tablespoon fresh ginger root, minced
1 small hot green pepper, chopped finely or 1/4 cup prepared salsa (omit for Pitta, and easy on this for Vata)
1-1/4 tablespoon cumin seeds
1/2 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon black mustard seeds

Garmish ; Fresh coriander leaves, chopped and shredded unsweetened coconut

METHOD:

Wash dal until rinse water is clear. Wash and chop vegetables.

1. Warm 1 tablespoon oil or ghee in large heavy saucepan.
2. Add hing, turmeric, and lemon juice and saute for 30 seconds over low heat (be careful, it is easy for turmeric
to burn).
3. Stir in the beans and saute for another 1 to 2 minutes.
4. Add the chopped vegetables and stir another minute or two.
5. Add water, salt, ginger, and pepper (if you are using it); bring to a boil on high heat. Then cover and reduce heat to medium-low.
6. Let soup simmer for 45 minutes or until beans have dissolved.
7. Warm remaining tablespoon of oil or ghee in a small skillet, add cumin and mustard seeds, heat until the mustard seeds begin to pop.
8. Add to soup, which is now ready to serve.
9. Garnish with fresh chopped coriander leaves and coconut.

Mom first made this recipe last year and it was a hit! Plantain is rarely showcased this formally on dinner tables and it really is a shame. In this case, lengths of ripe plantain are oven-baked with orange juice and zest. The result is creamy, with a slightly caramelized exterior.

My personal suggestions with this recipe are to 1) make sure the plantain is adequately ripe i.e. that the skin has become almost completely black. The dish isn’t as appealing when the plantain is too firm. Similarly, rather than topping it with orange zest (as suggested by the recipe), try topping it with some additional brown sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. The orange zest can tend to get bitter in the oven. Of course, play around to suit your own personal preferences. Even as I am typing this I am thinking that maybe a blend of zest and sugar may be the perfect compromise. Looks like I’ll be trying this recipe again in the near future

Plaintain (or Moko) Baked In Orange Juice
Source: Naparima Girls High School Cookbook

INGREDIENTS:
2 ripe plantains or moko
2 tbsp. honey
1/2 cup orange juice
2 tbsp. grated orange rind
1/2 tsp salt

METHOD:
1. Peel and slice plantain in any way one prefers, lengthwise or crosswise
2. Place in a greased baking dish
3. Mix juice, honey, rind and salt
4. Pour over plantain
5. Bake at 350F until nicely browned and cooked (15-20 minutes)

Note: Sweet potatoes could be done in this way. Parboil potatoes, peel and slice in dish, pour syrup over and bake until potatoes are cooked (25-30 minutes)

Don’t you just love vague ‘ethnic’ recipe titles? Coming from the American Turkey Federation I’m not sure exactly how ‘Arabian’ this recipe actually is, but I despite that grey area all you really need to know is that it is good!

Arabian Vegetable Medley
SERVINGS: 16
SOURCE: National Turkey Federation

INGREDIENTS:

2 Pounds eggplant, Cut in 1-1/2 cubes
2 Tablespoons olive oil, divided
4 cups sliced onion
2 Teaspoons minced garlic
1 Teaspoon salt
1/2 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 Teaspoon pepper
2 Cans (1 pound each) tomatoes, undrained and coarsely chopped
1 Can (16 ounces) chick peas, rinsed and drained

METHOD:

1. In large non-stick skillet, over medium-high heat, saute eggplant in 1 tablespoon oil 10 to 12 minutes or until lightly brown and crisp-tender.
2. Remove eggplant from pan; set aside.
3. In same skillet, over medium-high heat, saute onions in remaining oil
6 to 8 minutes or until lightly brown and tender.
4. Stir in garlic, salt, cinnamon and pepper and cook 2 to 3 minutes.
Fold in eggplant, tomatoes and chick peas; bring to boil.
5. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer 30 minutes or until eggplant is tender.
6. Remove cover and cook 15 minutes or until most of the liquid is absorbed.

I’m a huge fan of soups, especially thick creamy soups, so this butternut squash bisque was right up my alley.

It’s sweet and savoury, all in one, and so so smooth. As with most soups I find that slow cooking the vegetable components until they deeply caramelized ensures the most flavourful result, and don’t be afraid to salt the vegetable base in between additions as well. It really helps to heighten the overall profile and bring the flavours together. To add an additional level of panache, garnish each serving with a dollop of creme fraiche, some slivered basil or cilantro (or your favourite herb) and a drizzle of olive oil.

This recipe has been submitted to Souper Sundays, hosted by Deb of Kahakai Kitchen

Butternut Squash Bisque
Servings: 4
Source: O, The Oprah Magazine

INGREDIENTS:

1 medium butternut squash (about 2 pounds)
1 Tbsp. olive oil
1 yellow onion, cut in half and thinly sliced
1 celery stalk, thinly sliced
1 carrot, thinly sliced
1 teaspoon fresh rosemary leaves
2 cups vegetable stock
3/4 cup milk or cream
1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

METHOD:

Peel squash and remove seeds. Cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks and set aside.

Add oil to a 4-quart saucepot and place over medium heat. Add onion, celery, carrot, and rosemary, and cook until onion begins to brown, stirring occasionally, about 15 minutes.

Add squash, stock, and 1 cup water. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer and cook until squash is tender, about 15 minutes. Turn off heat and let soup cool slightly, about 8 minutes.

Using a standard or immersion blender, puree soup until smooth. If using a standard blender, puree in small batches to prevent spillage. Transfer to a clean pot or storage container. Soup can be refrigerated for up to 2 days or frozen for up to 2 months.

When ready to serve, reheat. Add milk, salt, and pepper; stir well. Add additional milk or stock if soup is too thick; simmer 5 minutes. Adjust seasoning to taste, and serve warm.

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)

This concoction came up on a whim. I’m always looking for ways to invent and reinvent rice-based side dishes. Sauteed garlic, scotch bonnet peppers and sweet peppers create a hot and savoury medley. The piece de resistance however is the inclusion of fresh thyme which makes each mouthful unexpectedly fragrant. It made a wonderful complement to this year’s Emancipation Day menu. Give it a try!

From About.com:
Origin, History, and Mythology: Gaius Plinius Secundus, (circa 23 – 79 A.C.E.), better known as Pliny the Elder, said that when thyme is burned, it “puts to flight all venomous creatures.”

In mythical folklore, thyme flowers were full of perfume and nectar for the bees, traditionally the messengers of the faery world. The bower of the Fairy Queen Titania in Shakespeare’s “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” is described as being in “…a bank where the wild thyme blows, where oxlips and the nodding violet grows…”.

Thyme is native to the Mediterranean, and historical records attribute, in part, the naming of the thyme plant to Theophrastus, 3rd century B.C.E. Greek philosopher and naturalist. Ancient Greeks believed thyme and its extracts could restore vigor and mental acuity. They burned it as a religious incense to give them courage. It was an ingredient in ritual altar fires, to purify the sacrifices to the gods. Thyme was burned as an incense at funerals and placed in the coffin of the dead in the belief that the soul of the deceased took up residence in the flowers of the thyme plant, and that thyme assured the passage of the deceased into the afterlife.

Note: This entry has been submitted to Weekend Herb Blogging, hosted this week by Zorra at Kochtopf

Calypso Rice
Makes 6 servings

INGREDIENTS:
2 cups rice
4 cups water
2 tsp vegetable oil
2 cloves garlic, chopped
2 teaspoons salt
1 chopped scotch bonnet
1 small red sweet pepper (sliced)
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves

DIRECTIONS:
1. Saute garlic, hot pepper and sweet pepper in vegetable oil over medium heat until garlic turns golden. Set aside.

2. Cook rice until rice grains are almost soft
3. Add sauteed pepper mixture
4. Stir gently with a fork
5. Cover and steam 10 minutes to finish
6. Pour into serving dish
7. Sprinkle with thyme leaves

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