MKMW: Jamaica

This week for My Kitchen My World, we traveled to Jamaica. I actually got to pick the country this week! I was thinking it would be fun to cook Polish food since I have a wonderful Polish husband. Growing up in the state of New Jersey in an Italian family has not lent itself to knowing how to prepare Polish cuisine. But, the thought of cooking pierogis in the hot summer weather just wasn't working for me. Instead I thought it would be fun to make something summery -- why not Jamaica.

I have never been to Jamaica, and probably will never make it there. I prefer the nice cool summer breezes of Vermont to the hot sun of Jamaica. Plus, my husband is so pale that I think he would get serious sun poisoning in a matter of minutes!

But here is my tribute to the Island nation

Jerk BBQ Wings



Jerk Wings:

For the marinade
1 onion, chopped
2/3 cup finely chopped scallion
2 garlic cloves
1/2 teaspoon dried thyme, crumbled
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoons ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup minced pickled jalapeño pepper, or to taste (wear rubber gloves)
1 teaspoon black pepper
6 drops of Tabasco, or to taste
2 tablespoons soy sauce
1/4 cup vegetable oil

Make the marinade:
In a food processor or blender purée the onion, the scallion, the garlic, the thyme, the salt, the allspice, the nutmeg, the cinnamon, the jalapeño, the black pepper, the Tabasco, the soy sauce, and the oil.

Reserve some marinade for other recipes.

In a large shallow dish arrange the wings in one layer and spoon the marinade over them, rubbing it in (wear rubber gloves). Let the wings marinate, covered and chilled, turning them once, for at least 1 hour or, preferably, overnight.

I grilled the wings until brown and crispy. I then basted them with a little bbq sauce that I mixed a bit of the jerk seasoning into.


Salmon with Jerk Garlic Butter
marinate the Salmon in some of the jerk seasoning from the above recipe. Grill over medium heat until cooked through

Jerk Butter:
Mix 1 tsp of jerk seasoning with 2 tbs of butter and 1 clove chopped garlic. Spoon on cooked salmon.


Smooshed Potatoes with Chili and Cilantro


Boil water in a medium saucepan- salt. Add a bunch of small new potatoes and cook until tender. remove from water onto a parchment lined baking sheet. Gently smoosh-- I used the waffle end of a wooden mallet. Sprinkle with oil and salt and pepper. Bake at 450 until crispy and golden brown.

Drizzle with sweet chili sauce and chopped cilantro! Yummy!

TWD: Sour Cream Blueberry Ice Cream

Well this ice cream was a labor of love! I had a crummy day yesterday-- I just received the schedule of classes I will be teaching for next year, and boy does it look crummy. I was in a bad mood and this ice cream made me even more grumpy. I stirred up the berries on the stove, only to discover that I couldn't find the blade to process the berries. For some reason this really bothered me. The more I searched for it the more grumpy I became. Finally I tried to put the berries in my tiny mini food chopper. I don't think it got quite as smooth as it should have.

I found the final product not to be my favorite ice cream. Also, when I scooped the ice cream I found it to be a little crumbly. My husband is eating it right now-- I suspect that he may not be thrilled with it because he has an extreme sweet tooth and this ice cream had a definite sour cream flavor.

My Kitchen My World : China

This week's My Kitchen My World challenge was to prepare cuisine from China. This challenge was perfectly timed with the beginning of the Olympics. I cooked up a meal and made my poor husband watch way too many hours of the opening ceremonies.

For this weeks challenge I made something that both of us would like General Tso's Chicken, Chinese Sticky Ribs and Scallion pancakes. Although these dishes are not authentic Chinese cuisine, they are something both my husband and I enjoy!

I have been holding onto the recipe for the ribs and chicken for awhile now- and when I heard this week was China I knew I had to break them out.

General Tso's Chicken (Adapted from Cooks Country Magazine)

Marinade and Sauce:

1/2 cup hoisin sauce
1/4 cup cider vinegar
4 tbs Soy Sauce
3 Tbs sugar
2 Tbs cornstarch
1 1/2 cups water
4 boneless skinless chicken breasts cut into 1 inch chunks
1 tbs veg. oil
5 cloves garlic, minced
1 1/2 tbs grated ginger
3/4 tsp red pepper flakes

Coating and Frying:
4 large eggs whites
1 1/2 cups cornstarch
1/2 cup flour
1/2 tsp baking soda
At least 4 cups oil for frying (I used my deep fryer for this)

For the Marinade and sauce:
Whisk hoisin, vinegar, soy, sugar, cornstarch and water in a bowl. Add about 6 tbs. of mixture into another bowl-- add chicken and let marinate for 30 min.

Heat oil in a large skillet on medium heat-cook the garlic, ginger, and red pepper until it is nice and fragrant; do not cook too long or the garlic will become bitter. Add in 2 cups of the reserved marinade (make sure you save a few tablespoons because it will go in the coating mixture). Whisk over medium heat until the sauce thickens-- about 2 minutes. Taste and season as you see fit- I added in more red pepper flakes.

For Coating and Frying:
Whisk egg whites until they are nice a frothy. Combine cornstarch, flour, baking soda, and remaining hoisin marinade. Stir and it will make a coarse meal. Remove chicken from marinade- dip in egg white, and then roll in coating. Fry in 350 oil until golden brown, about 3 minutes.

To Serve:
Reheat sauce if necessary. Add crispy chicken pieces and toss to coat. Sprinkle with some scallions or sesame seeds.

Chinese Sticky Ribs (adapted from Cooks Country)

2 racks of pork ribs (I used baby backs)
1 cup hoisin
1 cup sugar
1/2 cups soy sauce
1/2 sherry or white wine
1 six inch piece of ginger sliced into rounds
8 garlic cloves smashed
2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 cup coarsely chopped cilantro
10 scallions cut into 1 inch pieces

Glaze
1 jar of hot pepper jelly (or apple jelly)
1/2 cup cider vinegar
1/4 cup cilantro leaves minced
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
minced scallion for garnish

For Ribs:
Heat oven to 350. Combine marinade ingredients in a 13x 9 in pyrex pan. Add ribs coat with marinade, then place meaty side down. Cover with foil tightly and bake on middle rack for 2-3 hours. Take out ribs and put on a plate.

Strain the cooking liquid in the pan- skim off the fat. put into a pot. Add in jelly and vinegar-- cook until syrupy and reduced to half. Take off heat in stir in cayenne and cilantro.

Heat the broiler. Place ribs on a baking sheet and brush with glaze. Broil until crisp- make sure to watch the ribs. Flip and glaze- broil again.

Serve and sprinkle with scallions.

Scallion Pancakes

I used this recipe from the King Arthur Blog

Puffy Tacos: My Kitchen My World

This weeks My Kitchen My World challenge was Mexico. I decided that I would make a dish I had seen on Bobby Flay's Throwdown Puffy Tacos. They looked so tasty- puffy fried deliciousness stuffed with taco filling.

The first challenge was to create the puffy taco shells. I thought I would have to buy a tortilla press, but, I couldn't find one at the few stores I stopped at so I figured it probably wasn't meant to be. I decided I would try to roll them out with a rolling pin. I stopped at the New Castle Farmers market, which is a cross between a garage sale, farmers market, and flea market. They had alot of great produce-- especially interesting ingredients that would be great for Mexican or Asian dishes. I picked up some interesting chilis and some Masa and got to work.

I used a recipe from Saveur to make the Puffy Tacos. The first few taco shells I tried to make didn't turn out too well. I tried to fry them in shallow oil on the stovetop and it just wasn't working. I fired up my deep fryer and that worked sooo much better. The heat was regulated and nice and deep so they fried up like a breeze. I rolled out the dough thin and popped it in the oil. The tacos puff up almost immediately, I fipped them one after a few second and them took a spatula and pressed it right in the middle of the Taco to create the dent in the middle. I fry the shells for a few more seconds and them picked them out of the oil and drained them, as the oil tends to pool inside the shells.

I sauteed some ground turkey, onions, garlic, cumin, chili powder, added some tomato paste and stuffed it into the shells. They were so good my husband ate three!