Breadfruit Puffs

Ingredients
1/2 breadfruit

1 tablespoon grated onion

1 tablespoon butter

1 pinch nutmeg

1 dash hot sauce

1/4 cup milk

1 egg

Breadcrumbs, for coating

salt and pepper, to taste

Preparation
In a large pot, bring water to a boil.  Add breadfruit and cook until fork tender, about 30 minutes. Once it is fork tender, peel and remove the skin and core the breadfruit. Mash it. Combine breadfruit with onions, butter, nutmeg and hot sauce. Whisk egg and milk. Add to breadfruit mix and stir to combine. Form tablespoon size portions into balls. Roll in breadcrumbs and fry in hot oil until golden brown.  Serve immediately with hot sauce.

Johnny Cakes

Ingredients

4 cups flour

4 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 cup shortening

1 teaspoon instant yeast

1 1/2 cups water (approx)

1 cup vegetable oil (approx)

Directions

If not using yeast, omit step 6. The dough can be rolled out and fried immediately.

Mix together the flour, salt, baking powder and yeast.

Rub in the shortening.

Add sufficient water to the flour mixture to make smooth dough.

Knead dough lightly until smooth.

Cover with a damp cloth and leave dough to relax for ½ hr.

After dough has rested for ½ hour, divide and shape into 12 balls.

Roll each ball of dough on a lightly floured surface, to 1/4 " thick and 3 1/2" round.
Fry in hot oil until brown on both sides.

Caribbean Sunset Rum Fruit Cake

Ingredients

3 C. self-rising flour (or 3 C. all-purpose flour, 1/2 tsp. soda, 2 tsp. baking powder and dash of salt blended together)

1 1/2 C. unsalted margarine or butter

1 1/2 C. granulated sugar

1 tsp. pure vanilla extract

3 eggs

1 1/2 Tbs. grated lime zest (grated pulp and rind)

1 C. heavy whipping cream

3/4 C. dark rum

1/2 C. tropical trail mix (chop dried banana chips into smaller pieces)
1/2 C. dried cherries

1 C. chopped dried apricots

1 C. quartered or coarsely chopped pecan halves

1/3 C. walnut chips

1/2 C. coarsely chopped almonds

powdered sugar for dusting cake

Additional rum for sprinkling cake (optional)

Directions

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine butter and sugar and cream until light and fluffy. Add vanilla and eggs and stir until blended. Beat in the lime zest and then add the rum and mix. Gradually add the flour, alternating with the cream and ending with the flour. Blend mixture until just combined; do not over blend. Add dried fruit and nuts and fold into mixture. Pour batter into a well-greased and floured 10-cup tube pan and bake for almost one hour. Test doneness with a skewer inserted halfway between the sides of the pan and the tube. Cool and turn the cake out of the pan. Sprinkle with additional rum if desired and dust the top with the confectioner's sugar. If you sprinkle with additional rum, let sit for one day to absorb flavor of rum.  It is best to refrigerate this cake because of the cream in the ingredients.

Breadfruit Cake

Ingredients

¾ cup breadfruit, steamed/boiled and mashed

1 cup honey

½ cup butter

½ cup sugar

1 tsp vanilla

2 cups flour

1 tsp baking powder

1 tsp baking soda

¾ tbsp cinnamon

½ cup sour cream

½ cup macadamia nuts, chopped

½ cup raisins 

Preparation

Cream butter and honey.  Mix in breadfruit, sugar and vanilla. Sift together dry ingredients. Add dry ingredients to creamy mixture; add sour cream until well blended. Add nuts and raisins. Pour into buttered or sprayed 8-inch x 8-inch cake pan. Bake at 350º for 1 hour.

Black Eyed Peas and Mustard Greens Salad

Ingredients

1 lb black eyed peas soaked overnight

2 cups sautéed corn kernels (frozen is fine)

1 cup olive oil

1/4 cup vinegar

1 lb mustard greens blanched and choppped

2 red peppers seeded and chopped

1 large red onion cut in half and finely sliced

1 bunch cilantro chopped

1 serrano chili minced

1.5 tsp sugar

1/2 tsp pepper

Salt to taste

Preparation

Combine the soaked beans with a pot of water and simmer covered for 30-40 minutes or until they are just tender. Or skip the soaking altogether and pressure cook them for 30 minutes with three times their dry volume in water.

Run the beans under cold water in a colander until they are cool to the touch. Set the beans aside in a sink to drain for five minutes.

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl and and gently toss together. Salt the salad and serve chilled or at room temp.

Roasted Breadfruit and Fried Jack Fish

Ingredients

1 large Roasted Breadfruit, peeled and sliced

1 lb Jack Fish

Lime or lemon juice

1/4 cup minced seasoning (onion, chive, garlic, thyme)

1 tbsp salt

1 cup Flour for coating (add as desired)

Fry Oil 

For Sauce Preparation (optional)

1 tbsp fry oil

1 medium onion minced

1 clove garlic minced

1 sprig thyme

1 medium ripe tomato sliced

1/2 oz margarine

1 tsp tomato paste or ketchup

1 cup water

Salt and pepper to taste

1 small sweet pepper for garnish 

Preparation

Pierce the Breadfruit with a fork or skewer, before placing it in the oven for roasting, (failure to do this could result in an explosion of the breadfruit causing possible damage to the oven and/or personal injury from the fruit's internal pressure.  Bake the Breadfruit in a moderate oven (250% to 350%) for about 1 1/2 hours or until soft.

Clean Jack fish.  Pour lemon juice over Jack fish and leave to marinate for about 15 minutes.  Rinse and dry with paper towels. 

Add salt to minced seasoning and rub seasoning over fish and set aside

Sprinkle flour on wax paper and coat fish on both sides in flour - remove excess

Heat oil in frying pan on medium heat until very hot but not smoking and fry fish for approximately 4 minutes on each side or until brown

Serve with sliced Breadfruit

Sauce Preparation (optional)

Sautee onion, garlic, thyme and sliced tomato in heated oil until softened

Add margarine & stir until melted

Add tomato paste or ketchup and water

Add salt and pepper to taste

Simmer until slightly thickened

Remove from fire, cool and serve with Breadfruit and Jackfish

Conch Souse

Ingredients:

2 lbs. Conch

1 Onion (medium)

1 Cucumber

2 Limes

Parsley

Celery

Sweet Pepper

Hot Pepper to Taste

Salt to taste 

Preparation:

Clean away slime from conch using salt and lime. Pound conch well, this helps to make it tender. Boil until tender. Prepare pickle using cucumber, onion and other seasoning. Cool conch and cut into small pieces. Put into pickle. Decorate with parsley

Stuffed Cucumbers

Ingredients

4 medium cucumbers peeled.

1 cup cream cheese
1 cup sour cream

1 cup chopped red onion

1/2 serrano minced (optional for those who like heat)

1/2 tsp pepper

1/2 cup minced cilantro
1 cup grated parmesan 

Preparation:

Cut the cucumbers in half lengthwise and, using a spoon, scrape out the middle section of seeds and pulp. You should end up with eight canoe shaped objects.

Now mash together the remaining ingredients for the filling, which is everything but the parmesan and cilantro.

Spoon ample amounts of the filling into each of the cucumber halves, cover and chill until you are ready to serve.

Cut the chilled pieces into serving portions and garnish with parmesan and cilantro.

Sea Moss Punch

Ingredients

1 pack of Irish moss

1 cup rum

250 ml milk

1 cup cream

2 quarts of water plus some to top off

½ tsp grated nutmeg

½ tsp cinnamon

1 tbs. strawberry syrup - (for color)

Juice of 1 lime

sugar to taste 

Preparation:

If dried Irish moss is to be used, soak it for a few hours in water. Otherwise, clean the fresh moss of all other bits of seaweed, and wash thoroughly to remove sand and grit.

Simmer the Irish moss in the water until tender. Then top up the water to the original level and bring to boil.

Strain the liquid through a muslin cloth or fine sieve.

Add sugar to taste, then the rum, milk, cream, cinnamon, nutmeg and lime juice.

Add enough strawberry syrup to make it slightly pink in color.

Transfer the liquid to a glass bowl and refrigerate until it has set.

Remember that Irish moss thickens as it cools, a 2.4oz serving can make 2 quarts of moderately thicken liquid.  So use moderately.