Jamacian me Happy!

Week two of my 22 dishes from around the world. This week is Jamaica. while I doing research Steve was skeptical about the meal. But it all worked out and he enjoyed it and he said we could have this meal again one day.

Some of the ingredients I bought.

Jamaican Jerk Chicken

Can't be to careful.

• 4 tablespoons vegetable oil
• 1/4 cup fresh lime juice
• 2 habanero stemmed, seeded, coarsely chopped
• 3 garlic cloves, roughly chopped
• 2 tablespoons fresh thyme
• 1 tablespoon minced peeled fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon (packed) dark brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp of All spice
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Combine all ingredients and puree. I use the ninja and it did a marvelous job. Set aside about 1/4 cup of the now pureed goodness so you can use while the chicken is actually cooking. 

add the below ingredients below to the remainder puree Jerk seasoning. 

• 2 tablespoons distilled white vinegar
• 2 tablespoons of vegetable oil

Cut the chicken into cubs and place in a freezer sized bag pour the pureed Jerk seasoning onto the chicken and let marinade.

Before I cook the Chicken, I want to create the sides. Tonight we are having Rice and Peas. (which is rice and kidney beans) and Fried plantains. Yum and YUM.

Rice and Peas

This was an interesting go at the recipe i pulled from the website. I tweaked it a bit. 

• 2 cups of rice
• 1can of kidney beans (do no rinse)
• 1 Can of coconut milk
• Pinch of salt
• 2 sprigs of fresh thyme
• 3/4 water
• 1 uncut Habanero

Add all the ingredients in a pot and bring to a light boil and then let simmer for 20-30 mins are until rice is tender. Make sure not to puncture the habenero. You are not using for the heat you are using to get some extra flavor.

Once the rice is just about done get those plantains cooking.. I used Coconut oil in order to fry them. I thought it was fitting. Heat up the oil and start frying. keep a close eye on them don't let them burn. 

Before

After

I let the chicken marinade for about 4 1/2 hours. Though over night would be best. Once the chicken has marinade place on skewers and Prepare the grill. In my case its an indoor grill we received for Christmas!! 

Cook the chicken completely. you can you either uses the extra sauce and slather in on while the chicken is cooking or as a dipping sauce!

 

Before

After

This dinner was an amazing succsess. We both really enjoyed that flavor they pair very well. The rice had a sweetness to it from the cocunt milk and the heat of the chicken! We will definitely be making this again. 

Next week Scotland!

PB & B Oat Pancakes!

This morning I was in the mood for pancakes but not in the mood for something I would regret eating. I'm currently on the path to lose an additional 30 pounds. WOW! So instead of using the box of Bisquick i decided to work of a recipe i found off the one and only Pinterest.

So i made some PB & B Oat pancakes. 

Ingredients 

1 Banana
2 Eggs
1/2 cup of Oat Flour ( we just put some oat in the the ninja to make some oat flour)
1/2 Tsp of Cinnamon
splash of Almond extract or Vanilla
1/4 cup of Applesauce
some globs of Peanut butter. personal preference to how peanut buttery you want your pancakes. 

after adding all the ingredients you may need to add more oat flour to get a more pancake batter consistency 

First Flip... Looking Good!

Since the Peanut butter doesn't mix in completely you get these yummy surprises in the pancakes.

Breakfast was a Success. the batter only made about 9 cakes. which was plenty for the two of us! The cakes are denser than a normal cake due to the oat flour.

Put a little syrup on them and ENJOY!

For the love of Pinterest

I think I heard it best on The mysteries of Laura while watching on Hulu.

If Martha Stewart and Rachel Ray had an orgy at the craft store and posted photos online, pinterest is their beautiful love child.
-Max

You can find just about any thing on pinterest. I usually find something new and exciting to cook for dinner. Lately I have been feeling a bit more artsy. I have found some cool artwork and crafts that I can do to keep myself busy. 

I have painted some art work and made a ton of food! 

Everyone has boards that are filled with hopes and dreams, Flavorfull meals that we never make and clothes we will never be able to afford. this is the year that i make my pinterest come to life. 

I found these on pinterest right around the holidays

One of my progress pictures.

I have so much fun browsing on pinterest, I swear I have seen almost every pin there is to be. I have so many things to cook, to paint, to piece together, to wear! 

I love this picture and totally want it on my wall!

So I decided to try my hand at painting. Don't worry I plan on trying again.

I wont say that my first try at painting with acrylic is going to make me the next Picasso. But it doesn't look like a two year old picked up a paint brush. I will continue to practice, and make new things. Continue my creativity. 

I will try to share some of my favorite recipes in a later posts.  

Keep in touch!

22 dishes from around the world

Since we have been cooking so much since moving out and we both seem to have so much fun in the kitchen. I thought why not have more fun by cooking dishes from around the world. We occasionally cook dishes from around the world but never to this degree.  I have chosen 22 countries that we will make full authentic meals from the country (as much as we can). There will be a new country every week and we will cook on the weekend. Here's the start to some great food!

This week is Mexico!

We actually cook alot of Mexican food, but tonight we are documenting! 

The Menu:

• Carnitas
• Salsa Verde 
• Red Salsa
• Roasted Jalapenos and cebollitas
• Black beans
• Marranitos (Mexican pig cookie)
• I did not make this, I bought it from the mexican grocery store

Carnitas

• 2 pounds fatty pork shoulder, cut into 2-inch pieces ( We used bone in pork shoulder 2 ½ pounds)
• 3 cups water
• 1 medium white onion, thinly sliced
• 
  
  
  1/2 orange, cut into 2 pieces
• 1/4 cup pork lard or vegetable oil
• 8 garlic cloves, peeled
• 3 bay leaves
• 1 tablespoon of white sugar
• 1 tablespoon of non-dairy coffee creamer
• I can of beer (we used miller light)
• 1 teaspoons dried oregano
• 1 teaspoons fine salt

Remove the meat from the bone and cut meat into 1-2 inch pieces. Since we used bone in we got as much of the meat off the bone and put the bone into the pot. Add all of the ingredients and bring the pot to a boil. As the pork and goodness are starting to cook you will notice fat the will begin to foam at the top, simply skim off and toss.. Once the pot is boiling turn down to a low simmer. It will simmer for 2 hours. make sure that you stir the pot every so often. 

Plenty of time to get everything else prepped and made.

After 2 hours of simmering you should find that almost all of the liquid has been boiled off. preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Put all the pork into an oven safe dish and cook for 20-30 mins. until the pork looks encrusted and browned.

Its ready to serve in a wonderful warmed tortillas and topped with onion and cilantro. 

Roasted Tomatillos and jalapeno for the Salsa Verde

For the roasted jalapenos and cebollitas, place onto a baking sheet and spray with pam. Roast until the cebollitas a soft on the inside and the jalapenos are slightly toasted.

Here is the recipes for the Roasted Salsa Verde , The black beans,  and Marranitos.

How can you pass up a yummy cookie/cake shaped like a pig.

I threw together my own red salsa. wasn't the greatest, but it was tasty.  

Bon Appetit

Stay in touch! Next week we are cooking Jamaican!