Some recent eats and treats.

Eats Romano’s Macaroni Grill. Credit C.K.

It "speaks" for itself. 😀

It’s been quite some time since I last posted an article on my frantic adventures in cooking and feasting. My responsibilities for charlieuniformtango and my relocation to Seattle among other pressing issues prevented me from doing so.

I intend to fix that immediately! Lol, I have amassed a extensive collection of foodie pix that will need to be touched up before they go live, especially since I have the most recent version of Photoshop again to bring more life and lighting to these dishes (it was either going to be Photoshop or a brand new camera).

But I won’t bore you with those minor details. When July rolls in, I hope to share with you a visual buffet of summer snacking compliments of watching episodes of Rachael Ray, Cupcake Wars, Chopped!, The Next Master Chef, Hell’s Kitchen, The Next Foodnetwork Star, Top Chef and Top Chef Masters.

Cheers,

Anthony

Bajan Steamed Flying Fish.

Steamed Flying Fish and Coo-Coo by Anne-Marie Whittaker.

As Anne-Marie Whittaker mentions on CaribSeek Recipes, “Steamed Flying Fish and Coo-Coo is the national dish of Barbados. No visit to that island would be complete without a taste of this treat.”

I whole-heartedly agree. Although Bequia and Young Island (two of the many islands of St. Vincent and the Grenadines) aren’t exactly Barbadian, I had the pleasure of eating flying fish in both locations. Flying fish is a staple you will find in many dishes throughout the Caribbean.

Quail Scotch Eggs (via Trissalicious)

I’ve had quail, eggs, and Scotch all on separate occasions, but “Quail Scotch Eggs” as a combination? 😀

I was introduced to Scotch Eggs by Rie, a dear family friend.  I met her through my older sister who was in the same mother’s group and over the years we’ve come to think of her as a sister too.   She took the scotch eggs to a dinner hosted by my sister one night and  I couldn’t help but think that whoever invented them was genius.  Here was a lit … Read More

via Trissalicious

Bajan Chicken or Caribbean Chicken? Both!

Bajan Chicken is a dish that hails from, well, Barbados – an island-nation famous for its beautiful white-sand beaches, world-class resorts, and of course, international superstar Rihanna. Funny enough, Rihanna actually has a soup named after her, the official title being Rihanna’s Spicy Bajan

Caribbean Chicken Wings

Chicken Soup. I’ll dig up the link for that before the conclusion of this post.

But Bajan Chicken isn’t the only favorite form of poultry in these parts. I shouldn’t forget to mention Caribbean Chicken, which is generally a spicier meal, but that all depends upon the interpretation of the cook who is preparing it.

For Caribbean Chicken, I’ve read and seen various ingredients that included mango, lime, ginger, rum, coffee, orange juice, pineapple, and jerk sauce.

The recipe below steers clear of the coffee, rum, and the like, but delivers just as much if not more of a tangier punch to the mouth for those of you pining for spice over sugar. Bajan or Caribbean, baked or fried, I found myself loving both of these dishes just as equally. Perhaps you’ll come upon the same conclusion. 😉

Caribbean Chicken. Courtesy of the Food Network.

Caribbean Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon allspice
• 1/4 cup red onion, chopped
• 1/2 cup green onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/4 cup orange juice, fresh
• 1 tablespoon lime zest
• 2 tablespoons soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons freshly chopped thyme leaves
• 2 tablespoons jalapeno, seeded, diced
• 2 teaspoons freshly grated or chopped ginger
• 1 clove garlic
• Salt and pepper
• 4 chicken breasts, bone and skin on
• Lime wedges

Directions

Puree all ingredients except chicken in food processor. Add marinade and chicken to re-sealable plastic bag, mix thoroughly and let marinate, refrigerated, for 4 to 8 hours.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat grill to high, remove excess marinade from chicken and place on grill. Grill each side of chicken for 3 to 4 minutes then place on a pan and finish in the oven for 15 minutes.

Squeeze a lime wedge over each piece of chicken and serve.

(Recipe courtesy of the Food Network.)

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And as an added extra, here’s the recipe for Bajan Chicken…

Bajan Chicken

Ingredients

• 1 (4-pound) chicken, cut into 10 pieces
• 1 tablespoon whole allspice
• 1 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• 1/2 cinnamon stick
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 2 red bell peppers, chopped
• 4 scallions, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 scotch bonnet or habanero pepper
• 4 fresh thyme sprigs
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice, about 5 limes
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus 3 tablespoons for frying
• 1/2 stick unsalted butter, softened
• Kosher salt
• Cilantro leaves, for garnish

Directions

Rinse and dry the chicken pieces and put them into a shallow glass dish.

Put the allspice, peppercorns, and cinnamon stick into a spicegrinder and grind to a powder. To a full sized blender add the onion, peppers, scallions, garlic, scotch bonnet, thyme, lime juice, olive oil, butter, and ground spices. Blend to a puree; add some water if it is too thick. Pour this over the chicken, cover, and refrigerate for at least 4 hours or overnight. Remove the chicken from the refrigerator 1/2 hour before you cook it.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees F.

Put the remaining 3 tablespoons oil in a large, oven-proof saute pan over medium-high heat. Remove the chicken from the marinade and season it with salt. Brown the chicken on both sides, then place the pan in the oven and roast until the chicken is cooked through, about 20 minutes. Serve garnished with cilantro leaves.

(Recipe courtesy of the Food Network.)

 

Rihanna's Spicy Bajan Chicken Soup.

Rihanna!

P.S. Here’s the link to Rihanna’s Spicy Bajan Chicken Soup and a complimentary photo of the sultry singer. There’s no way I could leave this out of my post.

A Near Nightmare with Liat Caribbean Air.

Image courtesy of The Hide-Out.

I am even more disappointed in Liat Caribbean Air and the airport authorities in SVG (St. Vincent and the Grenadines) after reading this email from my Dad.

What a horrible experience!

To note, I didn’t mention fairly similar problems that I encountered last October most likely because I was too exhausted to type/write it down.

Sadly, my parents and aunt ran right into the same sloppy and careless behavior from this company and the bumbling airport authorities.

What a shame.

I still haven’t forgiven them for taking away my super spicy habanero hot sauce! My dad’s email begins now…

August 19, 2010

Greetings All,

The trip was uneventful up to Barbados; we discovered soon enough that our luggage was missing.

So we filed a claim with the baggage department and we were told the luggage would arrive that night, and it would be on a flight the next morning. We continued our travel on to St. Vincent on a flight that was not our scheduled flight, which was greatly delayed, possibly even canceled.

We were not there to find out.

We eventually arrived at the St. Vincent airport safely and proceeded to process through customs. This is where some troubles started began. The airport authorities requested the address of the relatives that we were going to visit.

We did not know it.

We were asked their phone number.

We did not know their home number or cell numbers after which we were promptly told by one official that “your relatives will check again for you later.”

With no further apparent assistance being rendered and not being able to leave our confined area, we were beginning to get a bit frustrated.

We began to imagine spending the night in that terminal with just barely a place to sit. One of the officers  finally made two calls for us after we finally got a phone directory from the customs reps office.

There was no response from either number. Finally, your mom ask one the male officers to find someone outside to locate your uncle Randy.  Everyone knows who he is, except the female reps that pretended they did not know.

The young officer promptly went outside and found a taxi driver that was willing. Of course, there was a $50 reward for his efforts.

Not long after that, your cousin and uncle showed up and we were rescued.

We did get our bags the next day in the afternoon. Well, I’m going to stop for now and with that I’m leaving out quite a bit of detail.

The important thing is that we are fine.