Trinibago Food

Hello again!

Today I'm am sharing my granny's recipe for Pelau. She would usually make a HUGE pot of this on a Saturday and leave it on the stove. As we got hungry while playing, we would come in for a quick bite. I

PELAU

Ingredients:

• 3 tablesppoons vegetable oil
• 1/2 cup sugar for the browning
• 1 chicken, cut up (or just 2-2.5 lbs of chicken cut up)
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 1/2 cups pigeon peas, soaked over night or a can of pigeon peas
• 2 cups rice
• 3 cups water
• 1/2 cups coconut milk
• 2 cups Hubbard squash or pumpkin
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1/4 cup chopped parsley
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 bunch green onions, chopped
• 2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

1. In a heavy pot over high heat, heat oil. Add sugar and let caramelize until almost burned, stirring constantly. Or heat 2 tablespoons store bought browning.
2. Add chicken and stir until all pieces are coated.
3. Reduce heat to medium, add onion and garlic.
4. Cook, stiring constantly for 1 minute.
5. Drain peas and add to pot.
6. Add rice, water, and coconut milk.
7. Reduce heat to low and simmer, covered for 30 minutes.
8. Add squash, carrots, parsley, thyme, green onions, and butter and stir well.
9. Cover and cook over medium heat until veggies are tender, about 20-30 minutes.

Hope you enjoy!
~Amanda

Hello again!

As a follow up to my Black Rum Cake recipe, I wanted to do a non-alcoholic version for you. But that's not really the way my family does it. The family philosophy is usually the more rum the better!

• 4 ounces margarine/butter
• 2 oz shortening
• 8 oz brown sugar
• 12 oz flour
• 6 eggs
• 1.5 cup browning
• Minced Fruits
• 8 oz Prunes
• 8 oz Raisins
• 8 oz Dates
• 8 oz Black Currants
• 4 oz mixed peel
• 2 oz cherries
• 1 tsp cinnamon

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Grease cake tins with shortening and line with parchment or waxed paper – line bottom and sides. Mom likes to use the old Danish Butter Cookie tins, since they have covers for storage after baking.
2. Mince fruits in blender or food processor until as fine as you like it (I like it almost to a paste – I don’t like discernible bits of fruit).
3. Cream butter, shortening and sugar till fluffy.
4. Add eggs one at a time, beat well between additions.
5. Add fruits, mix well.
6. Add browning, condensed milk and cinnamon, mix well.
7. Add flour, about 2 ounces at a time, mix between each addition.
8. At this point, Mom will put a tablespoon of the cake batter on a saucer into the microwave to cook. Taste this to test for sweetness and of course look at the color. Determine if you need more condensed milk or browning, or if you are in a really humid place (more than here? whew) more flour. If you think it has too much flour, addition of a little condensed milk or more browning can help balance it out.
9. Pour the batter into the prepared cake pans.
10. Bake in the oven for about an hour – until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.

Chennette's Halaal (No Rum) Black Cake

Soaking the Cake:


Traditionally, the Black Cake is soaked in alcohol after baking and “topped” up ever so often, which keeps it edible and moist long after the normal shelf life of cake. Mom used to soak her cake in grape juice or apple juice to mimic this process and texture. However, this won’t keep the cake. You’ll have to store it in the fridge.

However, this cake is naturally moist and it tastes better and moister after a few days. In fact, without soaking it stays moist and keeps out of the fridge for weeks. Mom currently has the cake from Eid (whatever’s left) in a container and it hasn’t been refrigerated yet. For safety, you could choose to refrigerate and then just bring to room temperature before eating (if you microwave it before eating it gets a little soft and the sweetness can be a bit over the top – but maybe you like that).

--

So that was Chennette's recipe for Alcohol-Free Black Cake.

Hello all!

I have been thinking about the holidays. And the one thing that is really synonymous with Christmas for me is Black Cake, or Rum Cake as a lot of people call it.

Black Cake takes FOREVER because after you chop up all of your ingredients it has to sit in the alcohol for a MONTH to cure. So I am getting a jump on this now. This is the first time I will be making Black Cake, so we can try this together lol.

Here is the recipe that I have and keep in mind that my granny cooked for a crowd. I have absolutely no idea how much this is going to make, but from the numbers A WHOLE LOT! Also, I know it calls for a LOT of liquor, but most of will cook off, but not all. About 5% will be left in the cake. I will post a non-alcoholic version of Black Cake later.

**The recipe asks for both raisins and currants, but I've never really seen or tasted much of a difference. According to about.com article, raisins are dried white grapes and currants are dried, black, seedless grapes. I'm not sure how easy it will be to get currants where you are, so if you can't find them, just double up on raisins.**

BLACK RUM CAKE

STEP ONE: The Fruits

Fruit Ingredients:

• 1 lb prunes
• 1 lb raisins
• 1 lb currants
• 1/4 lb mixed peel (see recipe here)
• 1/2 lb cherries
• 1 lb chopped almonds
• 1 bottle of cherry brandy
• 1/4 bottle of rum
• 1-2 tbsp Angostura bitters
• 2 tbsp brandy

 Directions:

1. Chop the ingredients and mix well.
2. Soak at least overnight (1 month preferably) covered in a cool corner.
3. After it has soaked overnight, put it all in a blender and blend until thick and just a little chunky (like a tomato sauce). NOTE: if you choose to soak for a month, you can skip this step. The fruit will fall apart on its own.

STEP TWO: The burnt sugar browning

Burnt sugar browning is hard to do. It takes forever to be able to look at it and tell when its done. I CANNOT do it. I will describe to you how to do it, but honestly its just easier to buy a bottle of it from Fiesta in the Caribbean aisle.

Ingredients:

• 1 lb sugar
• 1 tablespoon of cooking oil
• 1/2 cup hot water

Directions:

1. Heat oil in heavy pot, add sugar and allow to caramelize and turn brown. Be sure not to burn it or it will be bitter. (If using the store bought pre-done browning, just heat up a half cup of browning in the pot.)
2. Add 1/2 cup hot water SLOWLY (You don't want it to splash up and burn you. It really HURTS!)
3. Mix well and leave to cool.

STEP THREE: The Cake

Ingredients:

• 1 lb butter
• 1 lb sugar
• 8 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon lemon essence
• 2 teaspoons each of lime rind, almond essence, vanilla essence, and mixed spice
• 1 lb flour
• 4 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 ground nutmeg

Directions:

1. Cream butter and sugar
2. Add eggs one at a time and stir
3. Add lemon essence, lime rind, almond essence, and vanilla.
4. Mix and sift dry ingredients together in a separate bowl
5. Add dry ingredients to creamed mixture gradually, stirring constantly.
6. Mix in fruit and browning.
7. Put in greased tins lined with two layers of brown paper.
8. Bake at 250 degrees for 2-3 hours or until done.
9. Remove from oven and soak, while hot, with cherry brandy or rum with sherry. (Don’t be surprised if the top of the cake starts to look pale and ‘weird’)
10. Allow to sit for at least a few hours or overnight.

 After a few hours, the cake will darken A LOT and you will understand the name "Black Cake!"

Enjoy and be sure to leave a comment with any traditional Christmas recipes that your family has!
~Amanda

Hello all,

Occasionally you will get a recipe that asks you for "mixed peel." When I first saw this, I had no idea what that was. But it is so simple to make, just a little time intensive. You will need to do this at least 2-3 days before you need it. The process is simple, but long and repetitive, but you get such a good flavor out of it!

MIXED PEEL

Ingredients:

• Rind from 1 orange
• Rind from 1 lemon
• Rind from 1 grapefruit
• 1 1/2 cups of sugar

Directions:

1. Peel fruit, leaving the white pith on skin.
2. Cut peel into 1/4 inch strips, then into 1/4 inch cubes.
3. Put chopped peel into saucepan
4. Add enough water just to cover fruit.
5. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes, drain.
6. Put fruit back into saucepan.
7. Add enough water to just to cover fruit.
8. Bring to boil, reduce heat, simmer 10 minutes, drain again. This time reserving 1/2 of the liquid.
9. Put the reserved liquid, 1/2 cup water, and 1 cup sugar into saucepan.
10. Stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved.
11. Bring to boil.
12. Remove from heat, pour over fruit and let stand overnight.
13. The next day, put peel and liquid and 1/2 cup sugar in saucepan.
14. Stir over low heat until sugar has dissolved.
15. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, simmer 15 minutes.
16. Remove from heat and drain well.
17. Cover a wire rack with greaseproof paper.
18. Spread peel out on this and allow to stand overnight to dry, moving the peel occasionally with a fork to separate.

 I know all this seemed really long and labor intensive, but I promise its a simple process!

Enjoy and Happy Cooking,
~Amanda

Hello all!

Trying to get some more recipes on here. Haven't made this one yet, so no pictures. But I plan to make it this weekend and put up my results!

Pigeon Peas and Rice

Ingredients:

• 2 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups uncooked brown rice
• 1 teaspoon olive oil
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 1 cup chopped onion
• 1 clove minced garlic
• 2 tablespoons finely chopped green onions
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 can of green pigeon peas (or if you're like me and really LOVE pigeon peas, add 2)
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh parsley

Directions:

1. bring water to a boil in a medium saucepan
2. Add rice, 1 teaspoon oil and salt
3. Cover, reduce heat and simmer for 20 minutes or until liquid is absorbed.
4. Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large nonstick skillet over medium heat
5. Add onion, garlic, and green onions
6. Cock 10 minutes until lightly browned, stirring occasionally
7. Stir in rice, cumin, pepper, and peas
8. Cook eight minutes or until thoroughly heated
9. Stir in parsley
10. Garnish with green onions, if desired.

Enjoy and if you make it let me know or send me some pictures: Trinibagofood@gmail.com
~Amanda

Hello Everybody!


I know, I know. "WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!?!" So sorry I haven't posted anything in forever. I was sick and just plain didn't feel like cooking or blogging or anything. I'm starting to feel a little better, but it was a pretty serious illness.

Enough pity party, lol. ON TO THE RECIPE! I decided I wanted to make a rum cake, but didn't want to spend FOREVER doing it. So I decided to cheat a little and customize a box mix.


QUICK MANGO-RUM UPSIDE DOWN CAKE

Ingredients:

• 1 cup peeled and cut mango cubes (or fruit of your choice)
• 1 (18.5 ox) box of Golden Cake Mix
• 1/2 cup of rum plus water to make 2/3 liquid (or just 2/3 water)
• 3 eggs
• 1/2 cup pureed ripe mango or fruit of your choice (replaces the 1/2 cup butter the box asks for)

***If you are going to substitute a different fruit for the mango, make sure you choose a juicy one, and you may have to put just a bit of the butter back in. Experiment with it.***

Direction:

1. Spray bottom of pan with non-stick vegetable spray.
2. Arrange mango cubes (or fruit) in bottom of pan.
3. Blend cake mix, rum/water mixture, eggs, and pureed mango in large mixer bowl at low speed until moistened.
4. Beat at medium speed for 4 minutes.
5.  Pour batter into prepared pan adn bake immediately at 375 degrees for 40-45 minutes or until wood pick inserted in center comes out clean.
6. Cool for 20 minutes in pan.
7. Loosen and remove from pan onto serving plate. (Makes 10 servings)

I'm typing this at work, so no pictures yet. Going to make it when I get home. I'll post pictures after that!

Hope you  enjoy!
~Amanda