Pistachio marble bread ✨✨ not too decadent for breakfast or lunch or dinner, extremely moist and delicious!

2 cups all purpose flour or whole wheat
2 tsp baking powder
4 tsp cocoa powder (baking cocoa not drinking cocoa)
1/2 cup semi sweet dark chocolate chip morsels (or more if you like)
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tsp vanilla essence / extract (check out @callaloobox for this product)
1/4 cup roasted pistachios
1 egg

1 cup milk
1/3 cup oil or butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven 375F. Grease muffin pan or loaf pan. Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately. Combine thoroughly. Separate batter evenly in two bowls, add 4 tsp cocoa powder to one bowl and thoroughly mix. Alternate pouring batter from each bowl into baking pan. Sprinkle roasted nuts and chocolate chips on top of batter. Place in oven and bake. Loaf 35-45mins or until toothpick is clean. Muffins 25-35mins or until toothpick is clean!
Enjoy ❤️ #yummy #delicious #Homemade #buzzfeast #food52 #nourishnotpunish #hotnjuicy #foodie #foodgasm #instagood #instafitness #potd #bananabread #jerf #foodisfuel #fuel #alwayshomemade #baking #bakedgoods #baking101 #pistachio #chocolatechips

Marble banana bread ✨✨ not too decadent for breakfast or lunch or dinner, extremely moist and delicious!

1.5cups all purpose flour or whole wheat
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp baking soda
5 tsp cocoa powder (baking cocoa not drinking cocoa)
1/3 cup semi sweet dark chocolate chip morsels (or more if you like)
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 tsp almond essence
1/4 cup golden raisins
1/3 cup dried cranberries
1/4 cup roasted mixed nuts (pecans & almonds)
1 egg
3 ripe bananas
1/3 cup oil or butter
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven 325F. Grease muffin pan or loaf pan. Mix wet ingredients and dry ingredients separately. Combine thoroughly, stir in golden raisins. Separate batter evenly in two bowls, add 5 tsp cocoa powder to one bowl and thoroughly mix. Alternate pouring batter from each bowl into baking pan. Sprinkle roasted nuts, cranberries and chocolate chips on top of batter. Place in oven and bake. Loaf 50-65mins or until toothpick is clean. Muffins 25-35mins or until toothpick is clean!
Enjoy ❤️ #yummy #delicious #Homemade #buzzfeast #food52 #nourishnotpunish #hotnjuicy #foodie #foodgasm #instagood #instafitness #potd #bananabread #jerf #foodisfuel #fuel #alwayshomemade #baking #bakedgoods #baking101

This is such an easy recipe that takes approximately 1 hour and 30 minutes from beginning to end….and you won’t regret it!!

Now let’s get down to business….

Ingredients

1 cup pumpkin puree

1 large egg

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp mixed essence (Click link to find this product)

½ tsp cinnamon

½ tsp ground ginger

½ tsp nutmeg (Click link to find this product)

1/3 cup honey

1 ½ cup all purpose flour (unbleached)

¼ tsp salt

½ cup butter (melted)

2 tbsp. rolled oats

 

Method

Preheat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.

Place a folded piece of parchment paper in a loaf pan and spray with nonstick spray. This will help remove the loaf later. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix pumpkin puree, egg, mixed essence, honey and softened butter, mix for 1 minute, scraping down the sides of the bowl.

In a second bowl, add the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, ginger and nutmeg. Mix until well combined.

Make a well in the bowl of dry ingredients and pour the wet ingredients. Mix until fully incorporated (taste batter and adjust to your liking…you might want it sweeter or a bit more nutmeg or cinnamon…completely up to you) and the pour mixture into loaf pan. Sprinkle oats on top. Bake for 55-65 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.

Let cool before serving… Enjoy!

Stewed chicken or “stew chicken” is one of the top comfort foods in Trinidad (in my opinion).  Super easy and flavourful and will definitely impress you friends and family.  Let’s get into my recipe

5lbs of chicken (washed, cleaned and soaked in fresh lemon or lime juice)

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. black pepper

2 tsp. Grace Fish & Meat Sauce

2 tbsp. vegetable oil

2 tbsp. brown sugar

1 bay leaf

2 dried whole cloves

1/2 stick of cinnamon

1 tsp. tomato paste

1 habanero pepper

1 cup fresh green seasoning (I’ll walk you through that step as well)

1 tsp. sweet soy sauce (optional)

1/2 cup water

1/2 cup coconut milk

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1/4 cup diced butternut squash (optional)

1/2 cup diced bell peppers (any colour)

 

Green Seasoning

10 culantro leaves

Ginger (2 inches worth)

10 garlic cloves

1 bundle of green onions

2 shallots or 1 medium onion

5 pimento peppers

Blend green seasoning ingredients and set aside.  If done the day before, store in an air-tight container or glass bottle in the refrigerator.

 

Ok let’s get into it!!!

Remove all skin and fat off of chicken, wash and soak for about 15mins in water and the juice of lemon or lime.  Ensure that the chicken is completely immersed in water.  You can rub the already squeezed lemon or lime on each piece of chicken to assist in removing any excess of “gunk”.  After 15mins, drain off the lemon/lime water, rinse chicken again until water is clear.  2-3tsps of apple cider vinegar works just as well.

Once chicken is fully drained, pour 1 cup of green seasoning, 2 tsp fish and meat sauce, 1 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp black pepper over chicken and rub into chicken ensure that all pieces are completely covered in seasoning.  Cover and let marinate in refrigerator for 30mins – 2hrs.  The chicken can be marinated for up to 24hrs.

In a deep cast iron pot, heat oil and add brown sugar and allow to caramelize.  Once all of the sugar is melted and golden brown, carefully add chicken (by the handful) Remember this is extremely hot oil and melted sugar so please please please be careful.  Once all of the chicken is added, allow chicken to assume the golden colour of the sugar.  Turn chicken carefully, a couple times until all of the chicken is golden brown.  Add tomato paste, sweet soy sauce (optional), bay leaf, cloves, cinnamon, water, habanero pepper, thyme, 1/4 cup coconut milk.  Bring to boil and turn heat to medium, cover pot and allow to cook for 30mins.  After 30mins, uncover and taste gravy and adjust taste to your liking.

Add remaining coconut milk and allow to cook for 15-20 more mins uncovered.

Once chicken is fully cooked and gravy has a beautiful gloss and consistency, pour diced bell peppers over chicken, turn off heat, stir and cover for 15 more mins.

Additional ingredients, canned pigeon peas or red beans. Either can be added 20mins before the chicken is finished cooking with the remaining coconut milk

Serve with rice, pasta, bread….just enjoy!!!

 

I was pleasantly surprised with my dough since I haven’t made pizza in about 3.5 years.

My crust was perfect (in my opinion) not thick, light and soft. Here goes…hope you try it

For my dough

3 cups of flour, 3 tsp baking powder, 2 tsp #yeast, 1/4 tsp salt, 1 tblsp sugar, warm water and oil

Combine ingredients like you would a bread dough, form into a ball and let rest for 2hrs. Preheat oven to 325F. Divide dough into 2 or 4 even pieces, roll out dough to 1/4 inch thick. Sprinkle pizza trays with cornmeal, place dough on trays and prick holes in #dough using a fork. Bake for 20mins then remove from the oven and top with #sauce, #meat, #veggies and #cheese of your choice, sprinkle with Italian dry #herbs, sprinkle salt and fresh pepper and bake until nice and bubbly! This will yield 4 small (8 slices) pizzas or 2 medium pizzas…#dinner

Ok so this recipe belongs to my lovely niece who asked me to try her muffin recipe and I was pleasantly surprised!!!

Its a basic muffin recipe that you can modify in many ways and make it your very own!  Here goes…

Basic Muffin Recipe

2 cups flour

1 cup sugar (I used 1/2 cup but I think you can use between 1/4 cup to 1 cup depending on your preference)

2 tsp baking powder

1 egg

1 cup milk

3/8 cup vegetable oil ( I used Lemon infused coconut oil but if you choose to use fresh lemon zest don’t use the lemon infused coconut oil)

1 tsp essence/extract (whatever your preference – mixed, lemon, vanilla, banana, pear, coconut, pine etc)

1 cup of any additional/optional ingredient (I used fresh blueberries but dried or frozen can work as well just dust them in some flour before adding)

1 tsp of lemon zest can also be added inside of the lemon coconut oil ❤️

Method

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease muffin pan or loaf pan and set aside.  Mix all wet and dry separately and make a well in the dry and pour in wet.  Mix thoroughly. Dust blueberries or whichever fruit (fresh, dry or frozen) in flour  and add to batter.  Pour batter into muffin or loaf pan and bake.

Muffins – 30mins, Loaf 45mins or until toothpick is clean.

Cream Cheese Glaze

2oz cream cheese (softened)

3 tblsp powdered sugar

Juice of 1/2 of a lemon

 

Whisk the ingredients together and drizzle over cooled muffins or loaf.

 

Hope you enjoy!  A special thank you to my lovely niece for sharing such a lovely recipe, I love you darling

 

 

Fried bakes are one of my favourite foods of all time!

I have an extremely simple recipe that will have your family and friends begging for more every single time….let’s get into it 👇🏽

Ingredients

4 cups all purpose flour

4 teaspoon baking powder

2 teaspoon dry active yeast

1/2 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon shortening

2 cups warm water

Method

Mix all dry ingredients, form a well in the mixture, add shortening and water. Mix together until dough can be formed into a ball. Dough will be soft but manageable. Pour approximately 1 tsp of vegetable oil in the palm of your hand and rub hands together then rub of dough. Cover bowl with kitchen towel and place in warm place to rise for 45mins to 1 hour.

After 45mins to 1 hour, gently punch dough and form back into a ball gently. Clean and sprinkle flour on countertop (I usually cover my counter with wax paper or foil to reduce clean up.) Place dough on countertop and cut dough into half, then quarters evenly. Separate each quarter into 3 even balls. You should get between minimum 12balls or 15- 18 mini balls/bakes

Pour about 2cups vegetable oil into pot (I usually use a wok) and heat up on medium heat (my stove is digital so medium for me is 6). Use a wooden spoon to test oil. If bubbles form around the wooden spoon your oil is hot. Get a pair of tongs, wooden spoon, and a glass dish lined with paper towels ready for when you begin to fry.

Using a rolling pin, flatten each ball to 1/4 inch thick. Test oil using wooden spoon and gently place your flattened dough into the oil.

Using the wooden spoon, gently push some of the oil on to the top of the dough, this will cause the bake to puff up or swell. Turn the bake after 3mins and cook other side. Once golden brown, remove from heat using tongs and place on paper towel. Continue frying

Fried bake can be eaten with anything in my opinion! Fish, chicken, pork, vegetables, cheese, corned beef, salt fish, smoked herring, sardine….whatever you like!!!

Hope you enjoy!

So I kept seeing this creamy, seasoned, cheesy pasta on my timeline and I couldn’t resist!  I’ve read tons of recipes and watched endless videos on this popular pasta and here’s my take on it….not the original recipe…

Ingredients

1 bag/box of penne pasta

250mg coconut milk, or heavy cream or any milk you have at home (don’t brave these COVID19 streets for milk)

1/4 cup low sodium vegetable stock (or water with a crushed bouillon cube or all purpose seasoning)

2 tablespoons jerk seasoning (the wet one that comes in a bottle, if you don’t have jerk seasoning make some fresh green seasoning – garlic, onion, chive, ginger, pimento peppers etc. use 2 tablespoons)

1 cup shredded cheese (cheddar or any kind you have)

1 red bell pepper

1 green bell pepper

1/2 tsp all purpose seasoning

2 cloves garlic (finely chopped)

2 tbsp. butter

4 sprig of thyme

Fresh parsley

Salt and black pepper to taste

Boil pasta (following instructions on packet).  While pasta is boiling wash and slice bell peppers in 1/4″ strips.  Chop garlic finely.

Place 2 tablespoons of butter in a skillet on medium heat and sauté garlic.  Once garlic is tender, add peppers, jerk seasoning or green seasoning and cook, stirring regularly.  Drain pasta and set aside.  Add coconut milk, vegetable stock, all purpose seasoning, black pepper, salt,  and 2 sprigs of thyme and bring to a simmer.  Simmer for about 10mins then add shredded cheese. Add pasta and turn heat to low, combine pasta and sauce until pasta is fully coated, taste and adjust seasoning to preference.  Sprinkle some finely chopped parsley and serve with chicken, shrimp, pork, oxtail or fish!!!

 

I have made so many hot cross buns and been disappointed until this recipe.  Very simple, you probably have most of the ingredients in your pantry so you shouldn’t have to worry about leaving home during this COVID19 pandemic.  Let’s get into this recipe!!!

Hot Cross Buns⠀
⠀
Ingredients
4 cups flour⠀
3 tsp instant dry yeast
4 tsp baking powder⠀
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg⠀
1/2 tsp ground ginger⠀
1/2 cup raisins⠀
1/2 cup dried cranberries
1 egg

1 cup lukewarm milk⠀
1/2 cup brown sugar⠀
1 tsp salt⠀
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon⠀
4 tbsp. softened butter
1 tbsp. lard

1 tbsp orange/lemon zest⠀
1 tsp almond essence
1 tsp vanilla essence

1 tsp lemon infused coconut oil

1/2 tsp turmeric for yellow colour….I didn’t use it because I didn’t have any
⠀
My method

Sift flour in a separate bowl and place 3 1/2 cups of flour in another bowl (if you have a standing mixer you can use it) along with sugar, yeast, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger and salt.  Add softened butter, lard, eggs, zest, almond and vanilla essence and milk.

Knead dough for about 5mins.  The dough will be sticky.  Add raisins and cranberries (if you don’t have dried cranberries that’s fine add more raisins), knead the fruit in and then add the remaining 1/2 cup of flour and knead dough for another 5 mins.  At this point the dough should be soft, and able to form into a ball.  Grease ball with lemon infused coconut oil and let the dough rest for 1hr 30mins in a warm place.  I usually place my dough in my oven (which I would have warmed up previously to 175f and then shut the oven off)

Punch dough gently and light knead dough back into a ball.  Cut dough into 12-18 even pieces.  I made 12 gigantic buns…I think this dough can yield a max of 18 ladylike, kid friendly rolls.  Roll into balls and place in a 1grease pan or glass dish.  Balls should be close to each other but not touching.

Cover with plastic wrap and let sit for another 45mins until fully risen.  Preheat oven to 350F

Remove plastic wrap and bake buns for 30mins (if you made 12 huge rolls) 20mins (for ladylike, kid friendly rolls).

Glaze rolls with sugar (mix 4tbsp sugar to 2tbsp water mix and brush onto rolls)

Let cool and then add icing (I used a tube of icing I had in my refrigerator.)

 

I could wait….at ate one 10mins after coming out of the oven and it was amazing…will be great with cheese for sure!!!  If you hear me breathing heavily in the video, its because I can never make a video without being interrupted by the LOUD tv that you hear in all of my videos and my family asking questions Ahhhhhh!!!!!

Curried crabs and dumplings are a labour of love.  Crab requires a lot of love and attention.  Crab must be “gutted” and scrubbed thoroughly to ensure that the guts, dirt, barnacles and hair is removed.  It’s the least pleasant part of the process but absolutely worth it.  The dumplings on the other hand are quite simple but still require a loving hand to ensure a soft enjoyable texture.

So here’s my process from start to finish as best as I can explain…

Ingredients

6 blue crabs

10 garlic cloves

3 sprigs scallion

ginger (1inch piece)

1 medium onion

8 pimento peppers

4 sprigs of fine thyme

1 bundle (15-20 leaves) chadon beni (culantro)

2 cups all purpose flour

2 tbsp. sugar

2 tsp salt

2 tbsp. oil

2 tsp curry powder

2 tsp ground geera

1 lemon

2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1 can coconut milk

Clean crabs thoroughly or to your liking.  Some people cook these crabs with the back on and eyes in so it is completely up to you.  I posted a brief video of the beginning stages of our cleaning process above.  Below is a video of the gunk and barnacles that we cleaned off

Kinda yucky right??!!! Now the cleaning process continues with a (brand new) toothbrush and some seriously vigorous scrubbing until it looks like this….(forgive the endless videos but cleaning crab is a big deal to me

Add 2 tsp of apple cider vinegar into this bowl as well and let the crab sit for 20 minutes or so.  Give each crab a once over with the toothbrush again and rinse.  Drain and place crabs in a clean bowl.  Finely chop (use the electric chopper or processor) all of your garlic, onion, scallions, ginger, pimento and chadon beni.  Put half of the herbs (seasoning) on the crab along with a tsp of salt, a tsp of curry powder and a tsp of geera. Combine and let sit for 35mins.

Set the rest of your seasoning aside and lets make some dumplings!!!

Put about 8 cups of water to boil.  No need to add salt at this point.

Quick and easy! Combine flour, sugar and 3/4 cup water.  Mix together until mixture forms into firm but soft ball.  Line your counter with some aluminum foil, sprinkle some flour and flattened dough into a rectangle about 1/4″ thick using a rolling pin.  Using a moist knife cut dough into bitesize squares.  Once water is boiling place a few pieces of dough into the boiling water.  Once the dumplings float they are cooked.  Using a slotted spoon, remove cooked dumplings.

Once all the dumplings are cooked.  Sauté 2 tsp of your freshly chopped seasoning in some oil/butter for about 2 mins.  Add the cooked dumplings and toss them in the oil/butter mixture.  At this point you can choose to add salt or not.

Now onto the curry!!

In a pot add 1tsp oil, 1 tsp tsp of your freshly chopped seasoning, sauté.  Mix 1 tsp curry powder, 1 tsp geera and 1/3 cup water, add to pot and cook until the mixture becomes a paste.  

Add crab

 

At this point I add chili garlic sauce, 1/2 can coconut milk, turn the heat to medium and cover for 15 minutes.

Uncover, taste for salt and leave uncovered to allow sauce to thicken.  At this point if you feel you need more coconut milk go ahead and add some more it will only make the sauce better.  More pepper?? Why not, its your food, your belly!

 

Once the sauce is thick to your liking, remove from heat and make yourself a hearty plate of crab and dumpling!!!

Get some water or juice, napkins or paper towels and an extra plate for crab shells!  Find a quiet space and dig in.