Lentil Peas Soup with Green Banana

Its weekend once again, and we all have to eat, in my effort to continue promoting my book, here is another recipe.

This is a very hearty and very good soup. I like to add small cube-sized dumplings and green banana
(green fig). Everyone has his own set of ingredients he likes to add, so I will share my ingredients
with you. If you like some meat in your soup, pig tail or salt beef is always a good option.

INGREDIENTS:
• ½ lb lentils
• 6 cups water
• 3 green bananas (green fig)
• 1 cup flour (for dumplings)
• 3 stalks celery and chive, finely chopped
• 2 small carrots, chopped
• 1 white onion, chopped
• 5 pimentos, chopped
• 3 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tbsp butter
• 3 fresh ripe tomatoes, diced
• 1 bay leaf
• 1 lb elbow pasta
• salt and black pepper to taste

1. Add half of all ingredients except pasta in a heavy saucepan and cook until lentils are tender.
Combine remaining ingredients and let cook for another 20 minutes.
2. Cook pasta separately according to directions on the package.
3. Add pasta to soup and cook 5 minutes longer.

Breadfruit Oil Down

National Dish Of Grenada

A great comfort food which is very filling. Grenadian oil down uses saffron
and callaloo leaves (dasheen leaves, also known as dasheen bush).

Serves about 7

INGREDIENTS:
• ½ lb smoked ham bones, diced or pig tail and salt beef
• 5 callaloo leaves
• 2 tbsp saffron
• 1 tbsp vegetable oil
• 4 large onions, chopped
• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper
• 4 pimentos, sliced
• ½ congo pepper (habanero), seeds and stem removed
• 1 head garlic, mashed
• 4 chives, chopped
• 2 tsp fresh minced thyme, or 1 tsp dried thyme
• 4 cups coconut milk
• 1 large breadfruit, peeled and cut into large cubes
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Place the ham in a saucepan, cover with water, and bring to a boil.

2. Reduce heat and simmer for 20 - 30 minutes, until the ham is tender on the bone, skimming off any foam that rises. Drain the ham and set it aside.

3. If you use pig tail or salt beef, boil the pig tail or salt beef for 15 minutes to remove the salt.

4. Heat the oil and sauté the onions, peppers, garlic, congo pepper, green onions, and thyme for about 5 minutes, stirring constantly. Add the coconut milk, heat, and then add the breadfruit, callaloo leaves, saffron, ham or pig tail, and salt and pepper last. Simmer, covered, for about 30 minutes, or until the breadfruit has absorbed all the coconut milk.

Serve hot.

Cow Cod Soup

Jamaica

This is the basic Jamaican soup

This recipe contains the cod or penis of a bull and includes bananas, scotch bonnet pepper and white rum. Eating the genitals of the bull has been thought to make
males more virile. According to the Jamaicans.com website: “Most Jamaican
eateries serve up cow cod soup on the weekends, a thick pottage of the bovine member cut up into little gelatinous pieces and mixed with roots and herbs selected for their similar therapeutic effects.”
This soup may not be for family on a rainy evening but to some Jamaican men, a full serving of Cow Cod soup on a Saturday night has its benefits.

Serves about 5

INGREDIENTS:
• chopped up cow cod
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 head of garlic, crushed,
• 4 stalks scallion and thyme
• 8 - 10 pimentos, seeded
• 1 large green bell pepper (sweet pepper)
• 1 whole scotch bonnet pepper
• 1 pk chicken noodle or 2 Maggi cubes
• 3 - 6 green bananas (green figs)
• ½ lb yam
• 3 small Irish potatoes
• flour for dumpling
• 2 fresh bay leaves
• 2 chochos (christophene) (optional)
• salt and pepper to taste

1. Wash chopped cow cod. (Normally, the penis and testicles are washed and cleaned, then scalded in
boiling water. The genitalia are then cut into pieces and set aside. If you can not get it already prepared, you can do this yourself).

2. Put in a large pot (a pressure cooker is best) with enough water to cover the meat. Add 3 tsps salt,
pimentos and garlic. Cook on a medium/high stove until meat is tender.

3. Add more water, 1pk. chicken noodle or Maggi cubes and bay leaves.

4. Peel and cut up potatoes and chochos and add to the meat mixture. Peel green bananas (cut off the top and bottom and slit the skin).

5. Add bananas and yam to pot.

6. Add black pepper, thyme, some pimento seeds, scallion, whole scotch bonnet pepper (do not let it burst open) when the soup is almost finished.

Serve hot.

Callaloo

Trinidad and Tobago

Callaloo is considered a national dish in Trinidad and Tobago. It’s a dish originally created by Africans slaves. Traditional Caribbean Cooking gives you the traditional way of preparing callaloo. You can add smoked bone (smoked bone are bony parts from the pig, like the backbone etc), pig tail, salt beef or crab to add flavour. You can serve callaloo as a soup or as a side dish. In Trinidad and Tobago, callaloo is a must have on Sundays for lunch, together with red beans, stewed chicken, macaroni pie, potato salad and Spanish rice topped off with a nice glass of cold homemade

mauby or sorrel drink.

PREPARING THE CALLALOO LEAVES:

Leaves from the dasheen root are used for callaloo. The young curly, leaves are preferable. Cut and throw away the tips of the leaves. Chop and wash the leaves for cooking.

INGREDIENTS:

• ¼ cup pumpkin, peeled and chopped

• 1 bundle dasheen bush (callaloo leaves)

• 1 hot pepper (optional)

• 1 green sweet pepper (bell pepper)

• 7 okras, chopped

• 2 cups coconut milk

• ½ cup full cream milk

• 1 small onion, peeled and chopped

• 1 sprig chive, finely chopped

• ¼ cup celery, finely chopped

• 1 pimento, finely chopped

• 2 sprigs thyme

• 1 tsp parsley, finely chopped

• salt to taste

1. Sauté the chopped onion and garlic in vegetable oil. Add chopped and washed dasheen bush to pot.

2. Add remaining ingredients and pour the milk over it. Add whole hot pepper. (Do not cut the hot pepper).

3. Cook on low heat until the bush is softened. Mix and ensure there is enough liquid in the pot.

4. Season with salt and Maggi cubes if desired.

5. You may add more water if the liquid dries up. Also, if you like it more like soup, add more water. When all the ingredients, especially the dasheen bush, are cooked and soft, remove from heat.

The traditional way to complete the process is to whisk the callaloo with a swizzle stick, but you can use your processor or blender if you wish.

Note: Before you whisk or blend, remove the whole hot pepper.

If you cooked the crabs or pig tail with the callaloo, make sure to remove those too. Add them again after the mixture has been blended or whisked.

Cream of Mushroom Soup with Champagne and Tarragon

Use fresh tarragon if you can get it; fresh herbs contain potent essential
oils that have much greater potency than dried ones. Also,
you can serve the same champagne you cook with while the dinner
is being prepared; after all, when champagne sits open too long,
the bubbles go away!

INGREDIENTS:
• 10 oz sliced white or Baby Bella mushrooms
• 3 - 4 shallots
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 cup champagne (or sparkling wine)
• 1 cup water
• 1 cup milk
• ½ cup fresh cream
• salt and pepper
• fresh tarragon
• sour cream or yogurt
1. Melt butter in heavy saucepan or soup pot.
2. Chop shallots and sauté in butter until translucent.
3. Add mushrooms and two sprigs of tarragon and sauté until soft.
4. Add champagne (or sparkling wine).
5. Simmer for a few minutes until steam rises.
6. Add water and milk and simmer soup for 10 minutes.
7. Remove three quarters of mushroom mixture and purée in
blender; add back to remaining soup. Turn off heat.
8. Add salt and pepper to taste.
9. Add cream and stir gently.

Serve with a pinch of finely chopped fresh tarragon as

Roasted Pumpkin and Garlic Soup with Almonds

This is a tasty vegetarian soup. This soup does take some time, so prepare it a day ahead of time and refrigerate.


Serves about 5


INGREDIENTS:

• 1 ½ lbs pumpkin, skin on, seeded,

cut into large chunks

• 2 ½ cups vegetable stock

or 2 - 3 cups water

• 1 onion, peeled and quartered

• 1 tsp soy sauce

• ½ tsp vegetarian or regular

Worcestershire sauce

• 2 heads garlic

• 1 tsp olive oil

• 3 tbsp ground almonds

• 1 ½ tsp dried rosemary

• salt to taste

• 1 loaf French or other chewy bread




1. Preheat oven to 425°F.

2. Brush cut surfaces of pumpkin and onions with oil, and place, cut sides up, on baking tray.

4. Prick garlic several times with a skewer, and place on baking tray.

Sprinkle rosemary over all.

5. Roast vegetables until tender for about 45 minutes. (Pumpkin and onion should start to look scorched around the edges.)

6. Cut garlic bulbs crosswise in half and squeeze roasted flesh of one head into bowl of food processor. (Protect hands with towel.)

7. Scoop pumpkin from skins and add to processor.

8. Purée vegetables until smooth, adding a little of the stock, if necessary, to help the process.

9. Transfer purée to a large pot. Add stock, soy sauce, Worcestershire sauce, almonds, and salt.


Heat to a low simmer.

Traditional Soups and Appetizers

A comfort food that includes a meal prepared at home means you need not complete all the courses before moving on to the dessert, Having a leisurely meal is a custom and an art seemingly lost to us in today’s busy world. Remember, comfort food is a great stress reliever, but stress is not normally conducive to healthy eating.

Dominican Chicken Noodle Soup

(Caldo de Gallina)

Every culture has its version of chicken soup. When you feel a need for comfort food or a light meal, try this tropical twist on an old fashioned favourite. This soup recipe is also great for using up leftover chicken. This recipe uses calabaza (West Indian pumpkin). If you can’t find it locally, try hubbard or acorn squash as a substitute.

Servings about 6

INGREDIENTS:

• 1 tbsp olive oil

• 2 lbs cooked chicken (skinned, boned,

cut into small pieces)

• 2 chicken bouillon cubes

• ½ cup celery stalk (chopped into cubes)

• 2 cloves garlic (peeled and minced)

• 1 tbsp dried cilantro (if not available,

substitute dried parsley)

• 1 tsp salt (or to taste)

• ½ tsp white pepper (or to taste)

• 2 cups calabaza (peeled, seeded and cubed)

• 10 cups water

• 8 oz angel hair pasta

1. Heat olive oil in a soup pot.

2. Add chicken, bouillon cubes, celery, garlic, salt, pepper and dried cilantro.

Sauté for 3 - 4 minutes.

3. Add the water and calabaza. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat to medium.

4. Simmer over medium heat for 15 minutes. Break up the angel hair pasta and add

to the pot.

5. Stir frequently until noodles are tender. Remove from the heat and serve.