The Credit goes to

My Neighbor's parents who went back to China.
They planted and grew peppers and tomatoes and herbs.
I loved that.
They also sang in the walkway every day.
So I ventured out and looked at it all.
I really like looking at different gardens, no matter how makeshift they are.
This morning I saw an infomercial for a hydroponic garden that you can keep in your kitchen.
Of course there is less devotion to one of those than to the ones you have to dig the dirt for, but I suppose if you don't have the time or inclination for dirt.....

Spice Traders

I went to the Old Florida Spice Traders store in St. Augustine
Inside was like an alchemy shop.
I expected the traders to look like monks in robes. I loved it there seeing the spices in glass jars and barrels.
The owners were so nice to me and stood there answering questions and measuring out the peppercorns I bought.
I got the corns and the mini peppermill.
I love those buys.
I love that store!
Check them out HERE at www.oldflaspicetraders.com

THE BOOK

The Naparima Girls Diamond Jubilee Cookbook is a local favorite that we use to get our local dishes done.
I haven't used mine much but I am going to keep it.
I am making this post because I feel ashamed that Nikki uses her book and I do not!

Sorrel

Bear got the dried stuff and I am scared I won't do it justice.
I am used to fresh sorrel.
So I am thinking I will make the sorrel and taste it.
If I hate it I wont let bear get any at all.
If a foreigner gets turned off of sorrel it is hard to get them back, so I want to do it right. I have to formulate my methodology hahaha

Percolating

I don't drink coffee so I don't have a clue as to how to make it.
I have this percolator now because I had guests who drink coffee like it was water :(
The percolator I have seen before when I was younger and in Tobago on the farm for holidays.
I am not sure that they had the percolating mechanism on the inside or if it was just a tall pot for boiling water.
But it looked just like this thing here sitting on my tiny gas stove :)
Well maybe it was more antique and rusty looking.

This ended up being

A great salad
MMMMM...Bear made it and I helped.
See the big chunks of Feta that I cut up? hmmmm annoying :(
Then the spinach and other greens :)
Then we added raisins and dressing and anything else we wanted. Remember what I said about the raisins (they make everything taste better).

Whole and Crumbled

Feta Cheese
No comparison
Use the pre-crumbled for salads.
The whole, you have to cut then TRY to crumble and then it never looks quite right. You have to LIFT the block of cheese OUT of the container and just so much handling made me just a little bit annoyed.
If you want to have the feta on a cheese spread for a wine and cheese thing then of course the whole is perfect (except that bits of it crumble on you but whatever).
Take your pick.

Currently Trying Out

LITE HOUSE Red Wine and Olive Oil Salad Dressing.
I usually make my own dressing but Bear got this at the store.
It's alright.... I mean It's not my favorite dressing for the amount of calories per serving.
It is 130 calories per 2 TBSP.
Even though the bottle says Olive Oil, the ingredient list shows that Canola oil is the largerst quantity of oil in there.
I wasn't pleased about that at all.
I love canola oil but I wondered if this was a misrepresentation for commercial reasons :(

Microwave the cake

I like cake. it's become my favorite dessert. I was a donut freak for a while but now it's all about the cake.
The thing is that when you low carb it for a while, cake tastes like a kitchen sponge...so you have to plow though it.
This is my favorite though 1 minute and ten seconds of chocolate heaven in the microwave hahahaha. This is the right serving size too!
I can make a whole cake but then I have to freeze what I don't eat etc etc....

Coffee liquer

Copa de Oro
I like this one a lot.
24% alcohol. I don't drink coffee but this stuff is good!

Valentine Food?

So about two days or so after christmas, the Christmas gift aisle went away at Walmart and now the Valentines Day aisle is up.
I had to buy something from there to show the commercialism of it all.
I got the body pens.
They come in chocolate and Strawberry.
You write on your body parts and I assume someone else licks it off of you.
I thought it would taste nasty, but the strawberry one tastes like Strawbery QUIK!
I think I will just eat it straight from the pen hahahah :)

Thai and Kaffir

Kaffir Lime Leaves are very important in Thai cuisine.
I have some which I have frozen till I am ready to cook with it.
A co-worker brought some in and distributed to upward of 10 people who requested it.
I am going to add some to an asian chicken dish I am going to make, AND maybe to a new dressing I will devise for salad.
The aroma of the leaves fades in the freezer till they are thawed and crushed.
I just love the limey pungency.
I think I will try to grow this when I have some yardage :)

Tilapia

I jerked it.
That means I used the Jamaican Jerk Seasoning in the bottle. I added ONLY 1 tbsp of canola oil to cover the skins of the fish. Then I baked it at 350 F for 38 minutes covered and then 10 minues at 400 F uncovered for that browny crust to form.
I used the whole fish because I like the bones.
Americans have to be careful though, because I think they are more used to bonless fish fillets.
A bone in the throat is not a nice thing to have to deal with.

Egg rolls with "A Sauce"

Ok I make my stuff my OWN way.
So I made BEEF eggrolls and Pepper Cottage Cheese eggrolls.
THE SAUCE is the special thing.
I start with Mango Amchar, which in and of itself can be used as a side but a lot of people don't really find it THAT appetizing.
So I changed it into a chutney by boiling the amchar in water with sugar and garlic.
I also add Apple Jelly for an exotic type flavor.
It is soo good. I like my chutney jus slightly runny, but thick enough that it stays on the eggroll when you dip it.
That is what we will have for lunch today! :)

The Holiday Food

We cooked early so we could sleep in tommorrow hahahah
The turkey is done.
We seasoned it UNDER the skin and in the cavity yesterday with a special seasoning mix that we made.
We baked it with the foil on the breast to seal the juices in and when we were all done, the meat was falling off the bone.

We made the christmas pastries stuffed with seasoned ground beef and raisins...YUM

The Stuffing is also done.
Although it looks a little dry, we did that on purpose because tommorow we add turkey drippings and reconstitute it! hahah

Of course our fried eggplant is ready and waiting.

Sis is making the chocolate cake (low carb be hanged for tommorow)

The vegetables, we will do tommorow.

Today for lunch and dinner we may have salad and fish :)

Fried Eggplant

This is a really good way to cook eggplant.
When people don't really care for eggplant that much and you want to cook for them but have something you like yourself, then fried eggplant is the way to go.
Cut the eggplant into thin strips (1/4 inch thick), salt them and leave them to drain. The salting and draining I did for one hour but longer is ok too!
I wash off the salt quickly then squeeze each of the strips to get excess liquid out. You will see a lot of liquid coming out, looking a little brown in color.

They crumple but don't fall apart.
Dip into a seasoned egg wash and some breadcrumbs (VIGO BRAND) and fry till golden brown or a little past that.
They get all crsipy and goooooood.
One eggplant (large) serves 4 people

Of course the shake

With Irish Cream and Ben and Jerry's neopolitan icecream :)
Yeh it's goooooooddddd

The Cream of Irish Creams

I know that everyone likes Bailey's Irish Cream. That is all we ever really hear about. So I decided that I wanted to be different and try O'connor's Irish Cream.
I tried it and it is JUST as heavenly as Bailey's.
It's 17% alcohol by volume (hahahahha)
AND most importantly..a FRACTION of the cost of the same size bottle of Bailey's.
It was 8.99 for the O'Connors and 21.99 for the Bailey's!!!!!!!!!
Guess branding really makes a difference. :(
So for future reference everyone, here goes.
I highly recommend O'Connors for Taste, Alcohol content, and price.
YEAH!!!!!!!!

Six Moments that Changed my Foodie Life in 2006

Thanks Nikki (Trinigourmet) :)

Guidelines: My thought in this meme is food items or events that changed your foodie life. Not some “oh, it’s the first time I didn’t put jelly on a peanut butter sandwich and used bananas instead” sort of change, unless you truly feel that affected you profoundly. That’s the key - it affected you profoundly, in some manner. A moment you can look back at and say “that was a defining moment”.
The questions are simple, the answers might be harder - an item, person, event, or place that had that effect on you, and why.
They don’t have to be big splashy things - sometimes it’s something very small and simple that changes the way we view the world - the famed “butterfly effect” (and I’m not talking about the Aston Kutcher movie). So, to those who want to participate, copy this and pass it on (and, if you’re so inclined, do a trackback to the originating post). Here are your categories:

1. An ingredient
2. A dish, a recipe
3. A meal (in a restaurant, a home, or elsewhere)
4. A cookbook or other written work
5. A food “personality” (chef, writer, etc.)
6. Another person in your life

1. An Ingredient
Ok I discovered this in the Dollar store and it is an absolute all purpose seasoning. You can use it in Fish, Meat, eggs, rice, anything savory!
It is Clover Valley Soul Food Seasoning. I highly recommend this.
I have it always in stock, and at 50 cents a bottle, I can always buy in bulk. I always use this to season meat, to add to boiling, bubbling dishes etc.

2. A dish/ recipe
Well since I started my Low carb Lifestyle I would say any low carb casserole including Eggplant. Eggplant gives that Umami that I really enjoy.

3. A meal
One day I went to Carrabas (italian restuarant), before I started to low carb.
I had some pasta meal but the bread and dipping pil with the seasonings...O. M. G.

4. Cookbook...
I like Jamie Oliver's mainly because they show him in prep stages.
A good cokbook to me means great pictures and Jamie's book delivers.

5. A food Personality
GORDON RAMSAY..Stressful but fun to watch.
I really like him a lot hahahh

6. Another person
I would say Bear.
He enjoys food so much and is so willing to try new things, that it inspires me to try out different recipes.
He even had me do a booklet for him so he could follow the low carb lifestyle! YEAH!!!

The process

The dough (easy buy at Publix)




The Sweet Peppers (Tip: you can freeze what you don't use, till you are ready for it)
The Sauce (secret we use medium heat chunky salsa and a dash (one TBSP) of sugar/honey)



The Pineapple (get the smaller bits. These chunks are large so we have to cut them further)



The Cheese (a mixture of cheeses..very cheap)











The sausages (This is a hot and spicy smoked sausage I use from the breakfast meat section)

Quick Dressing

If you don't know how to cook, and you are making a salad on your own, here are a couple ideas.

Marsha's Sweet Tart Dressing
Makes One- Two servings

2 Tbsp (6 caps full) Lemon Juice concentrate
2tbsp canola oil
1 tbsp Italian seasoning
1 tsp chili powder
1tbsp sugar or honey
1/2 tsp black powder

Mix thoroughly by whisking all ingredients in a small bowl. Ingredianets should all blend in thoroughly. Taste to see if needs a pinch of salt.
Pour onto salad.


Modified Sweet Tart
Replace 1tbsp Lemon juice concentrate with 1 tbsp of blasamic Vinegar

Pizza is EASY

Once you can buy the dough at publix and roll it out at home hahah.
Add the tomato sauce, hot spicy sausage, sweet peppers and pineapple!
Voila!
A great pizza.
That you can't eat much of because you are doing a low carb lifestyle hahahah

BAOZI

We call it POW in Trinidad, so when I looked it up, there was nothing to be found.
I asked Nikki (The Trinidad Gourmet) and she is writing it all out for me and promised to have it on her site by midnight. I have only ever eaten ONE BAOZI ever in life. I love it but nver wanted to buy it very often because it looked a little bit unappetizing.
It is so white that it looks like uncooked dough from afar.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
It is like a steamed bread with a filling which can be meat or vegetables or anything you could possibly want really.
I want to try to make it.
I am still low carbing so I may not eat much but I stilll want to try it.
The Trini way is different of course.
The POW/BAO/BAOZI looks like bread, not dumplings. More like the second picture.


THANKS NIKKI!!!!!!!

Pow
1 pkg dry yeast
1 cup warm water
1/2 cup sugar
2 tbsp vegetable oil
1 tsp salt
about 3 1/4 cup all purpose flour unsifted
melted margarine

Filling
1 1/2 lbs meat cut into 1/4 - 1/2 inch cubes, season with 2 cloves crushed garlic, 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger, 2 tbsp sugar and 2 tbsp soy sauce.
Fry meat and seasoning in 1 tbsp oil over high heat (about 8 minutes), add 1 chopped onion and cook 2 minutes. Stir in Cornstarch mixture (see below) and cook stirring until sauce thickens.

Cornstarch Mixture
Combine 2 tsp sugar, 1 tbsp cornstarch, 2 tbsp soy sauce, 1 tbsp sherry or 1/2 old oak rum and 1/2 water and 1/4 up water

Method
1. In a large bowl, dissolve yeast in water
2. Blend in sugar, oil and salt
3. Let stand in warm place until bubbly (15 min.)
4. Add flour and mix until dough holds together
5. Place on lightly floured board and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 min.)
6. Place in greased bowl, cover and let rise until doubled in size (about 1 hour or more)
7. Meanwhile prepare filling
8. When risen, turn dough on a lightly floured board and knead for 1 minute
9. Divide into 12 equal pieces
10. Roll each in 4 1/2 diameter, with outer edges slightly thinner
11. Place 2 tbsp filling in centre of each circle. Pull edges around and twist to seal
12. Place each bun on a piece of foil. Cover and let rise until puffy (30 min)
13. Cover and steam for 12-15 minutes. If a steamer is unavailable use a colander over boiling water.
Serve warm or cold.
Freeze if desired.