Chookooloonks

Trinidad Stew Chicken

Well, after all that build up, as I’m putting this recipe together, I’m afraid that it’s going to be a bit of let-down. Trinidadian Stew Chicken, you see, is basically the same recipe as Pelau, but without the rice.

Do you feel a bit ripped off, now?

Anyway, it’s a really delicious recipe, and goes beautifully with Macaroni Pie -- serve the two together, and you’ll have a true Trini meal on your hands. End it all with a serving of coconut ice cream, and you might even start talking with an accent.

So without further ado:

KAREN'S TRINIDADIAN STEW CHICKEN

What you’ll need:

- About 10 pieces of chicken
- 3 - 4 cloves of garlic
- Fresh ginger (I use one about the size of a large clove of garlic)
- 1 large onion, chopped coarsely

- “seasoning” (Much like the Curry Chicken & Dumplings, if you’re in Trinidad, use “green seasoning” – if not, use any creole seasoning, such as Tony Chachare’s Creole Seasoning.

- Soy sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- Vegetable oil
- Brown sugar
- 1 cup water
- 1 chicken-flavoured bouillon cube
- Coconut Milk (Again, this recipe assumes powdered coconut milk. If, however, you’re only able to obtain canned coconut milk in liquid form, for the purposes of this recipe, I’d use about 1/2 a can.)
- Salt to taste

For the marinade:

1. Clean chicken, removing any excess fat.

2. Grate garlic and ginger into the chicken.

3. Add onions.

4. Add seasoning to taste.

5. Add enough soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce to fully coat chicken pieces.

Mix well, and let stand for 10 minutes.

To prepare:

1. Place about 2 “potspoonfuls” of oil (the amount of oil it takes to fill up a cooking spoon) in a large pot, and place on high heat.

2. Add 2 potspoonfuls of brown sugar to the oil, spreading it evenly in the oil without mixing

3. Leave on high heat until the sugar starts to turn dark brown, almost black, and starts to bubble, like in the Pelau recipe. Recently, I read an article describing the burning sugar looking like the head of a Guinness – probably a good description, and your signal that you’re ready to add the chicken. Depending on your stove, it will only take a couple of minutes for this to occur.

4. SLOWLY add the chicken pieces to the oil, one by one. WARNING: THE OIL WILL SPATTER, so be careful, so now would be the time to get your little ones away from the stove!

5. Once you’ve got all the pieces in, let the sugar “brown” your chicken, stirring occasionally, to ensure that the pieces don’t stick.

6. After the chicken is browned, add the remaining seasoning (shown below) to the pot, turn the heat to medium.

7. Add one cup of water to the mixture, and stir.

8. Add coconut milk to the mixture, as shown below, and stir.

You’ll notice little flecks of colour in the above picture – this is the addition of peppers called “pimientos,” although I don’t think it’s the same type of pepper that comes in an olive. This Trini pepper SMELLS hot like a chili, but it actually isn’t – it’s completely mild. If you can find a mild pepper, then by all means, add it to taste – however, I don’t think bell peppers would work, as they’re a bit too sweet.

9. Crumble bouillon cube over the entire mixture, and stir, and add salt to taste. Cover the pot, and let simmer until the chicken is cooked, about 30 minutes You’ll want to stir the pot occasionally, and if it looks like your liquid is disappearing (though it shouldn’t), feel free to add a bit more water.

Once the chicken is cooked, your stew is ready. It’ll look something like this:

Again, this recipe is delicious with Macaroni Pie, but it goes well with any other starch – rice, roasted potatoes, etc. Marcus really loves this with couscous – not particularly Trini, but delicious, nonetheless.

So, again, thanks for all your travel tips – enjoy!

Macaroni Pie

"Better belly bus' dan good food was'e":

"It is better to overeat than to throw away good food."

-- From Cote Ci, Cote La: Trinidad & Tobago Dictionary, by John Mendes, © 1986.

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In my Pelau post, I made reference to American friends of mine who would rush home to their parents' houses for Thanksgiving, ready to gorge themselves on turkey and other comfort foods, such as mac-and-cheese. While my family never ate mac-and-cheese at home, we did grow up with macaroni pie, and I suppose it scratched the same comfort-food-itch that my American friends find Kraft® eases. Marcaroni pie is one of those dishes that I rarely make, and every time I do, I can't understand why -- it's so easy and quick to do. The recipe I use is a doctored one of my mother's: traditional macaroni pie doesn't usually include corn, but I find it adds a really nice touch, and I've never heard a Trini complain about the addition.

So, without further ado, the recipe. Seriously, this one is simple -- the next time you crave some comfort food, give Kraft® a break, and try this one out.

KAREN'S MACARONI PIE

What you'll need:

- About 12 oz. macaroni (In Trinidad, the macaroni, while hollow, is long, like spaghetti. I suppose real macaroni pie uses this kind, but I was never able to find it in the United States. I found that other types of macaroni, like elbow macaroni, worked just as well.)

- 2 vegetable bouillon cubes (I use this to add to the water in which I boil the macaroni. I think it just adds a nice flavour.)

- 1 14 oz. can cream-style corn

- Grated cheese -- lots of it! (I use New Zealand white cheddar, mainly because it's the most commonly found cheese here in Trinidad. Outside of Trinidad, however, a medium or mild cheddar works fine. As for the quantity -- seriously, you can't over-cheese this recipe. I'd start with something like 3 cups, and adjust as you see fit.)

- 1/2 large onion, grated

- 2 eggs

- 3/4 cup of milk

- Tony Chachare’s Creole Seasoning, or if none available, salt and black pepper, to taste

- Bread crumbs

- Butter

What you'll do:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farenheit.

2. Boil macaroni until quite soft, adding the bouillon cube to the water.

3. In a large mixing bowl, beat eggs well.

4. Into the mixing bowl, add the drained, cooked macaroni, the grated onion, almost all the grated cheese (reserving about 1/4 cup of the cheese for the topping), the milk, and the seasoning to the eggs. Mix well.

5. Pour the mixture into a casserole dish (I used a 3-quart Pyrex dish). Top with remaining cheese, breadcrumbs, and dot with butter. It should look like this:

6. Bake at 350 for 30 minutes, until nice and bubbly. The finished product should look something like this:

Serve hot, with whatever you'd normally eat mac-and-cheese with. I love this with Trinidadian stew chicken -- a recipe I'll post later.

Enjoy!

Buljol

Buljol:

From the French patois, "Brûlê Gueule," or "burn mouth," a mixture of shredded, de-salted codfish, oil, onion, tomatoes, black, hot and/or sweet peppers, etc. Apparently the original recipe called for really hot peppers -- hence the name "burn mouth."

-- From Cote Ci, Cote La: Trinidad & Tobago Dictionary, by John Mendes, © 1986.

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While we wait for Trish and Carl to arrive, I thought I'd post the long-overdue recipe for saltfish buljol (rhymes with "BULL-y'all'"). This is another very simple dish ('cause I don't do complicated) that I've been making for years -- it's very similar to ceviche, if you're familiar with South American cooking at all. When we lived in Houston, I would often make it as an appetizer, served with crackers before a meal, or as a bring-along-dish to potluck parties; however, to have it the traditional way, serve it with hot roas' bake at breakfast time, with a good cup of cocoa or coffee.

KAREN'S BULJOL

What you'll need:

- A packet of salted codfish When I lived in the States, I could only get salted codfish at international grocery stores. I'm going to warn you here and now: it looks funky --

-- and it smells even funkier -- a really fishy smell. You gotta stick with me on this, though -- I promise, the end result is worth the funk, and the smell goes away once it's been prepared. Just consider it an opportunity to try a new stick of incense, or something. Nag champa is one of my personal favourites.

- Two or three large tomatoes

- One large onion (or two small ones)

- Two bell peppers I like to use one green and one yellow or orange, just to add some additional colour.

- Two hard boiled eggs

- About 1/4 cup of olive oil

- Four cloves of garlic

- Coarsely ground black pepper

- (optional) the juice from one lime

To prepare:

1. "De-salt" the codfish by first putting the fish in a colander, and running under cold water for about 15 minutes. After 15 minutes, take the fish and place in a pot of water, and place on high heat. Right before the water begins to boil, remove from heat and drain in colander, rinsing with cold water.

2. Chop the tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and boiled eggs and place in a mixing boil.

3. Add prepared fish to the mixing bowl, flaking the fish into small pieces (I find it easiest to do this with my fingers). Mix well.

4. Slice the cloves of garlic thinly, and in a frying pan, toast the garlic in the 1/4 cup of olive oil, as shown below:

5. Once the garlic is toasted, pour the olive oil and the garlic into the mixing bowl with the fish/tomato/onion/pepper/egg mixture, and mix well.

6. Add black pepper to taste.

7. Add lime juice to taste.

8. Cover, and place in the refrigerator for at least 4 hours. Buljol should be served chilled, or at room temperature. Once finished, it should look something like this:

In addition to serving this with roas' bake, it's very popular to serve this with sliced avocados on the side.

Enjoy!

Pelau

"I hear better cock dan you crow, an’ still end up in de pelau":

I’ve heard “bigger roosters than you crow” (i.e., “bigger boasters than you talk”) and still end up being cooked in “pelau” (recipe below)

-- From Cote Ci, Cote La: Trinidad & Tobago Dictionary, by John Mendes, © 1986.

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Having spent so much of my life in America, I have a strong understanding of American pop culture, and, indeed, the culinary customs of most Americans, even if I didn’t grow up with such customs in my own house. For example, I get it when my American friends can’t wait for Thanksgiving to rush home to their mothers’ green bean casseroles (even though the attraction of the dish completely escapes me), or candied yams, or mac-and-cheese. It’s about tradition, and home-cooking, and comfort – things I clearly understand, even though my family never celebrated Thanksgiving (or, come to think of it, ate mac-and-cheese. What is the big deal with mac-and-cheese?).

Anyway, having grown up in a Trini home, I have my own ideas of what constitutes “comfort food,” and pelau (rhymes with "pay-NOW") is definitely one of those dishes. It’s basically chicken-and-rice (and-sometimes-peas*), but with a stick-to-your-ribs goodness that I’ve found nowhere else. I’ve been making this dish for many years, but since being in Trinidad, I’ve perfected it a bit. I’m probably going to end up making this on Sunday night (when our good friends Trish & Carl arrive for a quick vacation from Houston – woohoo!), so I thought I’d share the recipe with you here, today.

(*A quick admission for those of you who are Trini: you’ll notice in my recipe, I don’t include pigeon peas. That’s because I don’t like them. However, according to my 99-year-old grandmother, true pelau doesn’t include peas, but “rice-and-peas” does. And I’m sorry, but I’m hardly going to argue with my 99-year-old grandmother, you know? So for the purposes of this post, I’m going to use her as the highest authority.)

So, without further delay:

KAREN'S PELAU

What you’ll need:

- About 10 pieces of chicken
- 3 cloves of garlic
- Fresh ginger (I use one about the size of a clove of garlic)
- “seasoning” (Much like the Curry Chicken & Dumplings, if you’re in Trinidad, use “green seasoning” – if not, use any creole seasoning, such as Tony Chachare’s Creole Seasoning.
- 1 large onion, chopped coarsely
- Soy sauce
- Worcestershire sauce
- Vegetable oil
- Brown sugar
- Rice
- 2 cups water
- 1 chicken-flavoured bouillon cube
- Coconut Milk (As you’ve probably guessed, coconut milk features heavily in Trini cooking. In Trinidad, you can buy powdered coconut milk:

and measurements in this post are based on this form of coconut milk. If, however, you’re only able to obtain canned coconut milk in liquid form, for the purposes of this recipe, I’d use about 1/2 a can.)
- Salt to taste

For the marinade:

1. Clean chicken, removing any excess fat.

2. Grate 3 cloves of garlic and 1 garlic-clove-sized piece of ginger into the chicken.

3. Add onions.

4. Add seasoning to taste.

5. Add enough soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce to fully coat chicken pieces.

Mix well, and let stand for 10 minutes.

To prepare:

1. Place about 2 “potspoonfuls” of oil (the amount of oil it takes to fill up a cooking spoon) in a large pot, and place on high heat. (Note: I use a cast-iron pot for my pelau, and I strongly recommend getting one for yours. I don’t think non-stick pots work nearly as well.)

2. Add 2 potspoonfuls of brown sugar to the oil, spreading it evenly in the oil without mixing, as shown below.

3. Leave on high heat until the sugar starts to turn dark brown, almost black, and starts to bubble, as shown below. Depending on your stove, it will only take a couple of minutes for this to occur.

4. SLOWLY add the chicken pieces to the oil, one by one. WARNING: THE OIL WILL SPATTER, so be careful, and if you have any little ones like Alex, now would be the time to get them away from the stove!

5. Once you’ve got all the pieces in, let the sugar “brown” your chicken, stirring occasionally, to ensure that the pieces don’t stick.

6. After the chicken is browned, add the remaining seasoning (shown below) to the pot, turn the heat to medium.

7. While your chicken is cooking (give it about 10-15 minutes), put 2 cups of uncooked rice in a bowl, and “clean” the rice by adding enough water to cover the rice. This is a Trini thing – I don’t know if everyone does it – but using your hands, stir the rice for a minute or two. Then strain the cloudy water from the rice – this removes most of the starch.

8. Add drained rice to the pot, as shown below. Once added, stir the rice until it’s coated with the liquid from the chicken mixture. Let simmer for a couple of minutes.

9. Add two cups of water to the mixture, and stir.

10. Add coconut milk to the mixture, as shown below, and stir.

11. Crumble bouillon cube over the entire mixture, and stir, and add salt to taste. Cover the pot, and let simmer until the rice is cooked, and the liquid has been absorbed from the rice. You’ll want to stir the pot occasionally, to ensure the rice doesn’t stick.

Once the rice is cooked and the liquid is absorbed, your pelau is ready. It’ll look something like this:

This recipe makes a LOT – enough for 5 people to have a hearty meal -- but for some reason, I think pelau leftovers taste even better than when they’re fresh, so it’s really okay if there’s any left to refrigerate for re-heating the following day. Also, just as a matter of interest, I like eating fresh tomato slices with my pelau -- you might try serving them on the side.

Enjoy!

Roas' Bake

Re-posting of recipe:

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"Johnny-Bake":

A firm, solid, disc-shaped bread, averaging 11 inches in diameter, 2 inches thick, baked in an oven, or cooked in an iron pot which is covered with a metal sheet and upon which live coals are placed. Originally a "journey bake," cooked especially so that it will remain edible on a long journey. More commonly known as roas' bake.

-- From Cote Ci, Cote La: Trinidad & Tobago Dictionary, by John Mendes, © 1986.

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A little over a year ago, around Christmastime, my husband Marcus and I hosted a "Trini Open House" in our home -- complete with Trini music, rum punch, and of course, food. A Trini friend of mine brought some of the most delicious Coconut Roast Bake that I have ever tasted, and it brought memories of my childhood crashing back. As a child on Sunday mornings, there was nothing like some hot roas' bake, some of my mum's saltfish buljol, and a steaming cup of Milo.

A couple of days ago, I begged my friend for her recipe, which she generously sent me immediately, including her tips on how to make it just a bit better.

Yesterday, I made it. While I would never presume to say it was as good as hers, let's just say there's very little of it left.

So here, for your enjoyment, is the recipe for Coconut Roast Bake. I'll post my recipe for saltfish buljol at a later date, but in the meantime, this is best served hot with butter, cheese, ham and/or eggs, on a lazy weekend morning.

Coconut Roast Bake

4 cups flour
3 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. salt
1/8 cup sugar
4 tbsp. butter or margarine
1 13.5-oz can of coconut milk
Extra flour for "bringing in the dough"

1. Sift flour with the baking powder, salt and sugar.

2. Rub the butter into the flour mixture until a fine, granular consistency.

3. Slowly add the coconut milk to make a smooth dough. If necessary, add the extra flour to "bring in" the dough -- i.e., make the dough a similar consistency to this:

4. Shape the dough into a ball, and leave to rise in the mixing bowl covered with a dishcloth for 1 hour.

5. During a second kneading, use a little more butter if desired. Re-form into a ball, and leave to rise for another 30 minutes.

6. Flatten the dough into a 3/4"-1" round on a greased cookie sheet or pizza-pie sheet. Prick all over with a fork, so it looks like this:

7. Bake for about 25 minutes in a 375 degrees Fahrenheit oven, or until golden brown. My mum's tip: if you tap on the top of it, and it sounds hollow, it's ready.

8. Enjoy!

Curry Chicken & Dumplings

Several of you have expressed both appreciation for Petipak and dismay that the recipes have disappeared. Not being one who likes to disappoint, I repost for you here the Trini recipes that were formerly located on Callaloo. Stay tuned for more of them here on Chookooloonks - and as before, they'll be located under the category Razzle-Dazzle.

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"Curry mout'":

A strong urge, liking for curried foods and East Indian culture.

-- From Cote Ci, Cote La: Trinidad & Tobago Dictionary, by John Mendes, © 1986.

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Once we moved into our new place, on the recommendation of a good friend, I contacted a lovely woman named Celeste to assist me with housekeeping and to watch my daughter, if ever I needed to run a few errands. Celeste is doing an admirable job, but her real gift is cooking. Once I discovered this, as any smart person would do, I decided to brazenly exploit her gift for my own benefit.

“Celeste,” I said, “I need you to teach me how to cook real Trini food. While you cook, I’m going to take notes, photograph what you do, and I may even put it all on the Internet.”

“No problem,” she said, in her usual affable manner.

So a few days ago, I got her to show me how to make a Trini classic, Curry Chicken and Dumplings. Indian food features heavily in traditional Trinidadian cuisine, and curry chicken is one of my favourites. Like most good cooks, Celeste doesn’t measure any of the ingredients precisely; as such, most of the measurements shared here are approximations. And don’t let the length of this post fool you: the wordiness is more due to my propensity to go on and on, not a testament to the complexity of the meal – it’s actually a very simple dish to make.

And so, without further ado:

CELESTE’S CURRY CHICKEN AND DUMPLINGS

What you’ll need:

- About 10 pieces of chicken
- 9 cloves of garlic (Celeste says, “De garlic is de t’ing self!” Translation: “The garlic is what makes the dish special.”)
- 1/4 large onion (or 1/2 a medium onion, or 1 small onion) chopped coarsely

- fresh ginger (We used two pieces, each about the size of a single clove of garlic)
- “seasoning” (This one is tricky. Trinidadians usually make a homemade green seasoning, which I didn’t have. Instead, we used Tony Chachere’s Creole Seasoning, which I had from the States, and it turned out fine. In the event you don’t have any green seasoning, I’m sure any commercially-bought seasoning powder – particularly if it’s “creole” – will do)
- Mild curry powder
- Vegetable oil
- 2-2/3 cup of water
- 2-1/2 cups flour
- 1 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/2 tbsp salt
- Chicken-flavoured bouillon cube (If you`re not in Trinidad, Knorr`s bouillon cubes are great, but if you are in Trinidad, clearly only Maggi`s will do!)
- Coconut milk (Either powdered or canned will do, but if using powdered, DO NOT DILUTE, but use in pure powdered form)

For the marinade:

1. Clean chicken, removing any excess fat.

2. Grate 6 cloves of garlic and 2 garlic-clove-sized pieces of ginger into the chicken.

3. Add onions

4. Add seasoning and salt to taste

5. Add 2 tbsp of curry

Mix well, and let stand for 10 minutes.

”Choonkaying” the garlic: (I have no idea what this word means. When I asked Celeste, she responded, “I eh know, aw Gaw, just choonkay!” When I asked her how to spell “choonkay,” she said, “I doh no how to SPELL it, but you go see how to DO it.”

Indeed.)

1. Place about a “potspoonful” of oil (the amount of oil it takes to fill up a cooking spoon) in a large pot, and place on high heat.

2. Peel and flatten 3 cloves of garlic. Once the oil is hot, place flattened garlic in oil, and toast until golden brown.

3. Add 2 potspoonfuls of curry to the pot, and stir rapidly until the curry turns a cinnamon brown colour (apparently, this signals the end of the “choonkaying” process).

4. Add seasoned chicken pieces, occasionally stirring to ensure pieces don’t stick to the pot.

5. Add about 2/3 cup of water, adding it by pouring along the sides of the pot, rather than in the centre of the pot. Reduce heat to medium-low, and cover, allowing to simmer for about 15 minutes. While simmering, prepare dumplings.

For the Dumplings:

1. Mix together flour, sugar and salt.

2. Slowly add 1 cup of water, kneading constantly, until the consistency of a stiff dough.

3. Roll out into a thin tube, about 1” diameter, and cut into 1/2"-thick discs.

4. Discs are then flattened to about 1/4” thick, or, in the alternative, turned into smaller tubes, as shown.

To finish:

1. Add dumplings and remaining cup of water to simmering chicken.

2. Add 1 tbsp. Brown sugar to the entire mixture and stir.

3. Add 1 potspoonful of coconut milk to the entire mixture, and stir.

4. Add chicken-flavoured bouillon cube, crumbled into the entire mixture, and stir.

5. Add salt to taste.

6. Simmer for 10 more minutes, and serve!

Enjoy!