cook

The Caribbean Show

Island Pork or Chicken
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First thing we do when making this pork or chicken is brine it. Remember brining from last week? We use pork tenderloin and chicken pieces. If you’re using the smaller tenderloins, you only need to brine for about four hours…same with the chicken.

Once its brines, take it out, rinse it well, dry it and put into the following marinade.

½ cup brown sugar
½ cup rum (dark, like Myer’s)
Juice of two limes
Minced garlic
Ginger
Ground cloves
Bay leaf

Cover the pork and/or the chicken and cook as you like. We prefer to use our pig cooker. It kind of smokes and cooks. A regular gas or charcoal grill works fine as does an oven. Don’t worry, how to make a pig cooker is coming up in a few weeks. You’ll be cooking a pig by Memorial Day!

Fiesta Beans ala Caribe
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One chopped onion
Four cloves garlic
One diced yellow pepper
One can Great Northern Beans
One can Black Soy Beans
One can Pinto Beans
One can Aduki Beans
One small can Salsa Ranchera
Pepper/salt/cinnamon/allspice/ginger/chipotle…to taste

Saute onions in olive oil. Add pepper and garlic. Saute. Add beans without liquid. Add Ranchera Sauce(found in the Mexican Section) and spices. Simmer slowly til all flavors meld…about an hour then serve or refrigerate and heat up later.

Coconut Rice
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I love making rice this way, it feels so “islandy”. Make rice your usual way, but instead of water , put in one can of unsweetened coconut milk and the rest water.

If you hate making rice and have never used a rice cooker, get one. The best ones are found at Asian Markets. I thought it was silly and frivolous when we bought it ten years ago. Boy was I wrong! One of our
best purchases ever. Perfect rice every time!!!

Calypso Salad
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Fresh baby spinach
Two Mangoes
Candied Pecans (recipe follows)
Tomatoes
Avocado
Olive oil
Garlic
White BalsamicVinegar
½ grapefruit
Salt/pepper

Put spinach in a big salad bowl. Throw in diced mangoes, avocado and tomatoes. Add pecans and toss with dressing.

Dressing: Mix oil, vinegar and the juice of a grapefruit with salt and pepper. You use twice as much oil as vinegar. Again, the amounts depend on the size of your salad. Make a bunch, its good!

Candied Pecans: Put pecans in a bowl. Add about a tablespoon of oil(olive or vegetable), a tablespoon of coffee liqueur, a tablespoon of sugar and some chipotle pepper powder. Toss to coat and bake on a cookie sheet at 325 for about fifteen minutes, turning often with a spatula so they don’t stick. You may want to make extra, they have a way of walking away when you’re not looking…darn pecans!