Jamaican Recipes

Rice and Peas (Red Kidney Beans)
Ingredients:
½ lb. Red Kidney Beans
1lb. Rice
12 oz. Coconut Milk (not water)
1 Stlk. Scallion (Green Onions)
2 sprg. Thyme
2 tblsp. Salt.
1 tblsp. Margarine (optional)
1 Qt. Water

Wash peas and remove any foreign matter, if present. Wash scallion and remove only the outer layer.
Add peas and salt to water and boil peas in a 2-quart stock pot until medium soft, on medium heat.
The water will evaporate during the boiling process, so add more warm water to the pot.
Here is the trick to making this rice and peas nice and shelly.
As you may know, rice is usually cooked using a one to one ratio; equal parts of water to equal parts of rice, or close to it.
So, add the coconut milk, thyme and scallion to the cooked peas and let this combination boil for about 5 minutes, then taste the pot. Add more salt to taste.
Now estimate the amount of water in the pot to the ratio of the rice you have. Try to get a one to one ratio or as close to it as possible.
Add the rice to the ingredients and stir, using a fork.
Add the margarine to the rice and peas and then reduce to a low heat. Wait until the boiling water in the pot sinks just below the top of the rice.
Wet a piece of cellophane and cover the rice then cover the pot with the pot cover. Simmer until rice is soft and shelly.
For a true Jamaican food flavor, put an unbroken whole Scotch Bonnet Pepper at top the pot the same time you are putting in the scallion and thyme.

Stew Peas and Rice

Ingredients:
1lb Red Kidney Beans
1lb. Stew Beef
¼ Salt Beef
½ lb. Flour
2 tblsp. Salt
2 stlk. Scallions
2 sprg. Thyme
2oz. Cooking Oil
3 pints. Water

Soak the Salt Beef overnight, this will stop the stew from tasting too salty.
Wash Red Kidney Beans and remove discolored beans or foreign matter. In a 2-quart stock pot, add beef products and beans.
Cook beans and beef until they are soft (this will take some time; add water as needed).
While the other ingredients are cooking, you will have to make the little dumplings called spinners.
Put flour in a large bowl and add a little water. Knead flour into dough, adding water as necessary, like you’re making bread.
Pinch dough into small pieces, about 2” in diameter. Place pieces of dough into bowl and let sit for awhile.
In the meantime, check on the beans in the pot to see if they are soft. If they are, reduce the fire to medium.
With your palms facing each other, roll a piece of dough between them until the dough looks like a big piece of spaghetti.
Then form the dough so that the middle is wide and the top and bottom are small. This is a spinner. The length of the spinner (dough) should be no more that 4” though. Repeat this process for all the pieces.
Add all the spinners to the pot of stew and cover the pot. Let the spinners cook for about 5 minutes.
Add scallions, thyme, black pepper, and cooking oil. Cook for 3 minutes then taste the stew.
If it taste the way you like it…Mix a solution of flour and water to thicken the stew, then let it simmer for about 10 minutes.
This is usually served with white rice. Can try it with angel hair pasta.

Brown Stew Fish
Ingredients:

2lb. Fish (any type filleted or not)
1 Medium Onion (chopped)
1 Green Bell Pepper(chopped)
1 tblsp. Salt
1 tblsp. Black-pepper
1 sprg. Thyme
1/4 oz. Mushroom Soy Sauce
1/4 oz. Grace Browning
2 cl. Garlic
1 oz Lime Juice
1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper
10 oz. Water
1/4 oz. Ginger Root
 Although There are several different ways to make Brown Stew Fish, the following method is commonly used by the people from the southeastern part of Jamaica.

Wash the fish in a lime juice/water solution. Dry the fish with a paper hand towel or cloth to remove all the juice and water; this will stop any potential hot splashes from the hot oil in the skillet, when the fish in placed into the hot oil later on.
Rub a pinch of salt and pepper on each piece of fish. Heat the oil in the skillet on high for 2 minutes or so, then turn the heat to medium. Carefully place fish into the oil in the skillet.
Pan-fry fish until golden brown. During the frying process, do not move the fish around in the skillet because this will cause the pieces of fish to break into small pieces.
Remove fish from skillet.
Discard the oil and replace with fresh oil. Sauté the onions, garlic and green bell peppers together. Cover the pot for 1 minute, while the vegetables sizzle.
Next add water to the vegetables and allow the vegetables to cook for another five minutes.
Now add the ginger root, mushroom soy sauce, scotch bonnet pepper, thyme and browning.
Cover the pot and cook for 5 minutes, add salt to taste and then add fish to stew and simmer for 3 minutes.
Serve with dumplings, or rice & peas, or white rice, or pasta, yam & banana, or bread.

You may also  use a little white wine in the stew too- just before you add the browning and soy sauce to the pot.

Option 2: You can add bread crumbs to the stew for extra thickness.

Cow Foot

In the old days, the 1600’s and 1700’s,  during the plantation era, the upper classes would take the best parts of the cow  and leave the so called “fifth quarters” (head, feet, tail, internal organs, and skin) for the hired hands and slaves.

Ingredients:

3 lbs. Cow's feet( chopped and cleaned)
1 can. Jamaican Butter Bean
1 sprig Thyme
¼ tsp. Salt
½ tsp. Black Pepper
3 stlk. Scallions
1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper (optional)

Get the cow foot from the butcher shop or grocery store already chopped, cleaned, and ready to cook.

Wash meat in cold water and then put it and the salt into the pressure cooker with about 5 cups of water. Allow the pressure cooker to boil the foot until the pot starts to make that steaming sound. Wait five minutes after the sound starts and then turn off the pot.

Do not remove the pot from the stove as yet. Let the pot cool down a little bit, wait five minutes. You do not want to remove the cover from pot while it’s hot, you can hurt yourself if you do this.

Put the pot under the pipe in the sink and let some water run onto the pot to further cool it down.

Pour out the contents into a saucepan and cook the cow foot some more with all the other ingredients, except the butter bean, if the meat is not already soft. You can skim the fat off the top of the pot with a spoon while the pot boils.

Taste the stew 7 minutes after the seasonings are added. Get a second opinion from someone about the taste of the stew at this point. You could also some spinners to the stew at this point, it’s your choice.

Let the stew cook on medium and then add the butter bean to the stew 5 minutes before removing it from the fire.

You can serve this cow foot stew with bread, white rice, yams, dumplings, or potatoes.

Red Peas Soup

Ngredients:

1lb Red Kidney Beans
1lb. Stew Beef
¼ Salt Beef
4 Irish Potatoes
½ lb. Yellow Yam
1 tblsp. Salt
2 stlk. Scallions
2 sprg. Thyme
Scotch Bonnet Pepper

Soak the salt beef overnight in cold water before cooking .

Wash beef products together and then combine with red peas in a 2-quart stock pot, add water, boil ingredients together until cooked thoroughly.
Peel potatoes and cut into four slices each. Do the same for the yellow yam. Add yellow yam and potatoes to the boiling pot.
While the pot is boiling, add salt to taste. This may not be necessary because of the salt beef, but you never know.

Add scallions, thyme and whole scotch bonnet pepper to suit your taste.

DO NOT allow the scotch bonnet pepper to burst in the soup, or else few can handle that.
Turn the heat to medium; let tthe soup cook slowly.
Soup is be ready when the yellow yam is soft.

Jamaican Oxtail

Ingredients:

2 lb. Oxtail cut to size you prefer
1 Lg. Onion (chopped)
1 lg. Green Bell Pepper (chopped)
1 tbsp Paprika
2 tbsp. Salt or Seasoned Salt
3 Carrots (cleaned and chopped)
1oz. Jamaican Browning
1 can Butter Beans
2 clove Garlic
4 Stlks.Thyme
6 Pimento Berries (Allspice)
1 oz. Vinegar

Before commence making this stew, understand that there are different ways to make Jamaican-style oxtail.

The method presented here is the “seasoned gravy taste.” if you like oxtails  you should invest in a pressure–cooker.

Trim the extra fat from the meat . Wash oxtails in  a solution of cold water and vinegar . Put the oxtails in the pressure-cooker with the browning, paprika, and salt.

Add 4 cups of water to the pot. Place the pot on stove on high.
Allow the meat to cook under this high pressure for a limited time. Here’s how, wait until the pressure builds up to its maximum point (threshold), and use your timer or clock to measure two minutes cooking time at maximum pressure.

Turn off the fire and wait another minute. DO NOT REMOVE THE POT COVER.

Slowly remove the pot from the heat source. You can also put the pot in the kitchen sink and run cold water on it; let it cool fast.

When the pot is cool enough, carefully remove the cover and pour the contents into a saucepan. Turn the fire to medium and cook the oxtails until they are medium soft, or soft.

Taste the gravy, now add salt as needed. If the textures of the oxtails are the way you want them to be, add the rest of the ingredients, except the butter beans.

The butter beans should be added two minutes before you finish making this stew. When the stew is ready, you may serve it with White Rice, Rice and Peas, Pasta, Bread,Yams and Dumplings.

Note : The cooking time for Jamaican oxtails should take about an hour and a half. That’s a lot less than the usual 4 to 5 hours it takes to cook oxtails.

Jamaican Style Chicken Soup

ingredients:

½ Chicken (cut up in 8 Pieces)
2 sprig. Thyme
½ lb. Yellow Yam
2 Irish Potatoes
1 stlk. Scallion
1 pkt Jamaican Chicken Noodle or Cock Soup
4 Pimento Berries (Allspice)
1 tblsp. Salt
1 Cho Cho  (cut up into 1 inch pieces)
2 lb. Pumpkin Squash (cut up into 1 inch pieces)
1 oz. Butter

Method:

In a stock pot, add three quarts of water and then add salt to taste. Bring water to a boil then add chicken, pumpkin, and cho cho together. Boil for 30 minutes.

Peel the skins off the yellow yam and potatoes and wash these root vegetables in cold water to remove the dirt. Cut each vegetable into four slices and then add them to the pot.

You can add spinners (small dumplings) to the soup at this time if you wish.

The fire should be turned to high at this point. Boil for 15 minutes.

Now you can add the rest of the ingredients to the pot, turn the fire down to medium, and cook for another 10 minutes. Then simmer for another 5 minutes.

Check the yellow yam to make sure it is soft. If not, cook until it becomes soft but not mushy.

TIP: You can speed up the time to prepare this Jamaican style chicken soup by slicing the yellow yam in thin slices.

Fried Plantains

Ingredients:

2 Ripe Plantains
4oz. Vegetable Oil

Wash plantains in cold water to remove dirt from plantain. Using a sharp knife, make an incision along the entire length of the plantain.
Slide your first finger along the incision and remove the skin.
Place the fruit on a cutting board and cut it into ¼ inch pieces at a 45 degree angle. Heat oil on high, and then reduce heat to medium.
Carefully place plantain pieces into the warm oil. Let the pieces fry until they turn light brown around the edges. Turn the plantain pieces on their opposite side as soon as the edges turn brown.
Fry plantains for one minute more. Remove from skillet, place on paper towel and allow oil to drain.
Serve as snack or side dish with any main entrée.

Note: Make sure the plantains are over-ripe with dark spots. The more over-ripe they are, the better will taste.

CURRY SHRIMP

1 doz. Shrimp
1 tblsp. Blue Mountain Curry Powder
1 tblsp. Season Salt
½ Medium Onion (chopped)
1 sprg, Thyme
¼ Green Bell Pepper
½ Carrot (diced)
4 oz Oil
1 tblsp. Butter
1 cup Water

Heat oil in a skillet, sauté onions then remove from skillet. Add curry powder to hot oil, stir continuously for about 1 minute or until color changes.
Now add all vegetables, including the sautéed onions, and water to the skillet. Add season salt to taste. Allow ingredients to boil until vegetables are semi-soft.
Add shrimp to vegetables and reduce heat, when the color of the shrimp starts to change, add butter and thyme.
Simmer until gravy develops a body of consistency.

Note: you can use thawed or frozen shrimp (pre-cooked or uncooked) to make this dish. Also, you can add different spices, such as hot peppers, ginger, coconut milk, or even celery to make this taste the way you like it.

Jamaican Fish Tea and also Fish Soup

1 lb Fish Fillet
2 sprig Thyme
1 medium Onion
4 pimento balls (Allspice)
1/2 tbsp Salt
1 tbsp Garlic (minced)
3 stalks Scallion
1 tbsp Butter
1 tsp. Black Pepper
4 Green Bananas
2 Qt. Water

In a stock pot, add fish, onion, thyme, and salt. Cook the fish for about ten minutes. Mean while wash green bananas and then cut each banana into halves.

Next use a strainer to remove the fish from the pot before the pieces get separated. Add the rest of the ingredients to the pot, except the butter. Cook for another ten minutes then check to see if the green bananas are soft. If not, wait until they are and then add butter and fish. Simmer for another ten minutes.

Serve in 8 oz cups.

Fish Soup

If you would like to make this into fish soup, do not remove the fish from the pot as stated earlier.

And add potatoes, spinners, cooking tomatoes, and noodles to the pot. Nowadays you can get fish soup packets from your favorite Jamaican grocery. Add a pack and enhance the flavor of your Jamaican fish soup.

Solomon-Gundy
Solomon-a-Gundy, born on a Monday, christened on a Tuesday, married on a Wednesday, took ill on a Thursday, worse on a Friday, died on a Saturday, buried on a Sunday,  that little rhyme about Solomon-a-Gundy was very popular among children back in the old days in Jamaica. It had its origins in old Europe some long time ago and it referred to pickled fish.

The "traditional" Jamaican Solomon-a-Gundy included salted mackerel and shad boiled together.

Ingredients:

1 lb. Smoked Herring
½ doz. Allspice balls (pimentos)
½ cup Vinegar
1 Large Onion (chopped)
1 Scotch Bonnet Pepper or Habernero Pepper
1 Stalk Scallion
½ tsp. Thyme
4 tbsp. Oil
1 tsp. Sugar

Bring water to boil and then add the smoked herring to the water. This process will remove some of the salt from the fish. Allow the fish to boil for about 15 minutes.

Discard the water.

Warm the vinegar with the pimento balls and sugar on a low fire and stir occasionally to help the sugar dissolve. Do not boil the vinegar.

In the meantime, remove the bones from the smoked herring. You may not get to remove all the bones but do as many as you can.

Now add the chopped onion, oil, peppers, scllion, and thyme to the electric blender. Puree for 1 minute.

Make sure that the sugar is dissolved into the warm vinegar and then remove the pimento seeds.

Add the fish and vinegar solution to the rest of the ingredients already in the blender. Puree for another minute and your Solomon-a-Gundy should be ready by now.

It is your choice to make this “dry” or smooth by increasing or decreasing the puree time in the blender.

You can serve this with crackers, bread, or potato chips. A dip can also be made from this by adding mayonnaise or cream cheese…the sky’s the limit on this one.

Blue Drawers

Blue Drawers, Duckunoo, or Tie Leaf are the names that are given to this boiled pudding of West African origin. Jamaicans are very fond of this starchy, green banana-based boiled pudding, which is enjoyed as a snack or dessert.

blue drawers is traditionally made with the banana leaves as the exclusive binder. However if you live in a place where banana leaves are not available, …use aluminum foil.

Ingredients:

2 cups Green Banana (grated)
1 cup Sweet Potatoes (grated)
1 cup Coconut Milk
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 cup Brown Sugar
½ tsp. Salt
1 cup Flour
1 tsp. Vanilla Flavoring
4 tbsp. Raisins
2 tbsp. Cooking Oil
4” x 6” Aluminum Foil Sheets
Twine or Cord.

This recipe calls for grated green bananas and sweet potatoes…please remove the skins from the vegetables before you grate them.

Use a large mixing bowl and add, the grated bananas, sweet potatoes, flour, baking powder, salt, and cooking oil. Use a wooden spoon to mix all the ingredients.

Warm the coconut milk on a low fire. Add the brown sugar and vanilla to the coconut milk and sweeten. Next, add the sweetened coconut milk to the rest of the ingredients and mix everything together until the batter is formed.

In the meantime bring water to boil in a saucepot.

Use the wooden spoon to add four to five spoonfuls of the batter to an aluminum sheet. Bring the two long sides of the sheet together to hold the batter in place. Fold them together to retain the batter inside. Fold the two ends of the sheet and tie the blue drawers with the twine, cut the excess twine.

This takes a little practice, so if you don’t get it at first, big deal. Do it again.

Repeat this process for the rest of the batter and then add all the blue drawers to the pot of boiling water. Let the pudding cook for about 45 minutes.

When the blue drawers are ready remove them from the boiling water and let them cool to room temperature.

Remove them from the aluminum sheets and serve as is or with ice cream. You can also eat them with a little honey and ground cinnamon.

Tripe (and Beans)

The best dish is usually made with the fresh cow tripe, sometimes a day old. However, nowadays you don’t have to worry about the age of the cow’s tripe because everything is mixed up, cleaned, and placed in the refrigerator at the butcher’s shop for sale.

2 lb Cow’s Tripe (honeycomb)
2 sprig. Thyme
½ oz. Lime Juice
1 can Butter Beans
1 tbsp. Black Pepper
1 tbsp. Salt
1 Large Onion (diced)
2 stalks Scallion
1 tbsp. Tomato Ketchup
1 tbsp. Jamaican Curry Powder

Method:

Wash it thoroughly  in a solution of vinegar and water and then remove it from the solution and discard the water. Cut the tripe into small pieces…approx. three to four inches or so. Don’t measure the pieces just estimate the sizes, that way you will get a feel for what you are cooking.

If you don’t have a pressure cooker you will spend a little longer trying to cook this meal.

Now add water and salt to the pressure cooker, and then add the tripe. Pressure it on a high heat for about a half an hour. Turn off the heat and wait five minutes before removing the pot from the stove.

Put the pot under the pipe in the kitchen sink and run the cold water over the top of the pot for another two minutes, this will cool the pot some more and reduce the pressure build up before removing the cover.

Pour everything out into a stock pot . Use a fork to check the texture. If it is not soft enough, not to worry because you can now boil it further if needed.

Barring that, add the other ingredients to the pot with some spinners, except the thyme and black pepper, and cook the stew on medium heat for another ten minutes.

Taste the stew now. If everything seems alright, add the thyme and black pepper and then stir the pot. If not, add more black pepper or salt to taste. Reduce the heat some more to medium low and allow the stew to simmer. When ready, serve in a plate with white rice, or boiled ground provisions.