Oxtail

Today I will be trying another Jamaican dish, Oxtail.

Ahhh so who else loves oxtail,rice n peas and fried plantains like me?

This recipe takes a while to cook simply because oxtail is extremely hard and you need it to be very very soft, I mean fall off the bone kind of soft.....

It is often served with rice n peas or white rice, but could be eaten with fried rice, Jollof, mac n cheese.

Ingredients:

• 2 lbs of oxtail
• 3 teaspoons of lime/lemon juice
• 1 onion
• 2 tomatoes
• 2 cloves of garlic
• 1/2 scotch bonnet pepper (Jamaican hot pepper)
• 2 scallions (also known as spring onions)
• 4 teaspoons thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch 
• 2 tablespoons water
• 1/2 teaspoon black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon all spice seasoning salt (I use lawry's seasoning)
• 3-4 cups of water
• 1/2 lb of carrots (optional)
• 1 tin of broad beans (also known as butter beans, optional)

Some people like to add browning sauce to this recipe to give it that extra brown color. If you would like to use that I will suggest using about 2 tablespoons.(but use your own discretion as to how much will be needed)

Method: 

1. Chop all your ingredients (garlic, onion,tomatoes, and scallions)
2. Add the lime/lemon juice and toss
3. Season the oxtail with the scallions, garlic,thyme, seasoning salt and scotch bonnet pepper.

WAYS to BROWN OXTAILS

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F(177 degrees C), sprinkle 1 tablespoonful of oil in a baking sheet, line up the oxtail in the baking sheet and bake oxtail until its brown and tender
2. OR add a tablespoon of brown sugar to a large saucepan, when it browns(almost looks burnt) add the oxtails, constantly stirring so each piece of meat gets evenly coated with the brown sugar or is browned completely
3. Add in your onions, tomatoes,carrots, and water. Reduce the heat for which you are using to cook because this is where the oxtail stays on fire till it's softened (usually takes about 2-3hrs...NO I AM NOT KIDDING), stir it occasionally
4. Mix the cornstarch with 2 tablespoons of water then add to oxtails(this serves as a thickner for the sauce, but you can omit this part if you want)
5. Add in your beans and allow it to simmer for an extra 10mins
6. Serve with white rice with some fried plantains or rice n peas, fried rice or even jollof rice

PS: Please make sure you keep an eye on it, confession: I fell asleep once making this and all the SAUCE DRIED UP.(SADDEST OXTAIL DAY LOL)

Believe it or not this is actually 2lbs of oxtail. Its amazing how small it is but yet so expensive lol

Chopped vegetables on top, seasoned oxtail on the bottom

As you can probably tell this is an extremely fatty oxtail, try to get the kind with little to no fat at all

Before going into the oven for browning

Brown sugar for the other method of browning

Brown sugar

Brown sugar method of browning

Oven browning(sorry for the poor quality picture)



Brown sugar browning method



All ready to continue the other steps

Water,carrots,tomatoes,onions



Ready for the long wait process. 

The white stuff you see is the cornstarch mixture



Add beans and allow to simmer for a while. 

Spicy Buttermilk Fried Chicken

So my friend asked me for fried chicken among other stuff over the weekend and being the good friend that I am(Feel free to nod in agreement here....lol) I decided to make it for her with a little twist. When I posted this on my Instagram page: I had some people text, email me for the recipe so here we go.

First please note that you won't be pre cooking this so it needs to be fried very well otherwise you will be left with well done on the outside and bloody inside chicken.

Ingredients:

• 2-3lbs chicken(I used thighs and drumsticks)
• 3 cups buttermilk 
• 3 tablespoons BBQ sauce
• 2 eggs 
• 2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon hot sauce(optional) 
• 1 tablespoon steak sauce 

 

• 2 1/2 cups flour 
• 1 1/2 tablespoons seasoning salt 
• 1 tablespoon black pepper 
• 1-2 tablespoons paprika or cayenne pepper(optional)
• 1  tablespoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon parsley flakes 
• Oil(Enough for deep frying)

 Ps: Some of the hot spices I wrote optional because some people don't like spicy foods. It will defeat the purpose of the title but you get the point lol.

 

 

Method:

1. Wash chicken very well, removing any hair or fat(for this recipe I kept the chicken skin on),wash with vinegar 
2. In a large bowl mix the milk, eggs, Worcestershire sauce, steak sauce and BBQ sauce.
3. In a separate bowl mix the flour and spices and set aside.
4. Add in the chicken and allow the chicken to marinade overnight or for a couple of hours 
5. Set your deep fryer between 300 or 330 degrees F(depending on your fryer and how fast it gets hot), (if you're not using s deep fryer just pour about enough oil in a medium saucepan......
6. Dip the marinated chicken in the flour mix, when it's all covered in flour add it to the hot oil and let it fry for 10mins until it's golden brown. (I said 10mins because it might look like it's ready once it hits the oil but that's not always the case)
7. Enjoy with some mashed potatoes and gravy, Jollof, fried rice, Mac n cheese or whatever you want. 

 

Ps: If you don't have some buttermilk you can mix 2 1/2 tablespoons of lemon juice in milk, stir it, set aside for about 5mins then that should be a good substitute for you

 

The chicken after soaking for the night alongside the flour mix

Flour coated chicken(yes I saved it from my snapchat lol...no professional camera yet)

 

 

All done and ready to be served

 

 

Served with mashed potatoes, gravy and corn. The empanadas were a bonus...LOL

 

SpagRice (Spaghetti Rice)

Hello lovely people! Can you guys believe we are in November already? Few more days until one of my favorite holidays(THANKSGIVING🍂🍁)..........

Just wanted to share a very quick recipe with y'all!! This is how I like to sometimes cook my white rice when I don't want it so plain.

Ingredients:

2 cups of rice

1 tablespoon olive or coconut oil

1/2 teaspoon thyme

1 tablespoon of salt(I'm not big on salt so you can add more for your preference)

1 small onion(preferably red)

A handful of spaghetti

2-3 cups of water

Method:

1. Chop the onion to tiny pieces, break the spaghetti into 2 or 3. 

2. Add your tablespoon of oil in a medium saucepan on medium heat, add your onions and stir for awhile. After 2 mins add your spaghetti and fry until spaghetti is brownish not burnt! 

3. Add your rice, stir then add in the water and thyme and cook for about 30-45mins or until rice is soft to touch 

Enjoy with some goat meat stew, corned beef stew,curry chicken or anything thing of your choice!!!!

Steps to making the spagrice....

 

Served with corned beef stew,hard boiled egg & fried plantains