Jerk Pork

So I visited Jamaica for the very first time in September to celebrate my 25th birthday and boy was my taste buds grateful for that trip(HAHA). Every single food I tried was just AMAZING!!! So I will be trying out some of the foods I tried out there in an attempt to relive those savory mmhmm moments I had in Montego Bay.

Today we will be trying jerk pork(can use beef or lamb if you don't like pork). The ingredients are quite similar to the Jerk Chicken only difference here is the pork lol.

Ingredients:

• 2- 3 lbs of pork loins or pork chops or ribs 
• 6 scotch bonnet(hot Jamaican pepper, jalapeño can be used as substitute)
• 6 cloves of garlic
• 3 onions
• 2 tablespoons thyme
• 2 tablespoons  all spice
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 2 tablespoons salt
• 2 tablespoons black pepper
• 2 teaspoon ginger
• 1 cup orange juice
• 1 cup white vinegar
• 1/2 cup olive oil
• 1 lime (juiced)

 

Optional Ingredients

• 1 teaspoon cinnamon(optional)
• 1 teaspoon nutmeg(optional)

Method:

1. Wash and chop all ingredients the vegetables don't need to be finely chopped since they will be blended soon.
2. Blend all ingredients with the exception of the pork to make your sauce
3. Season the pork with the jerk sauce and allow it to marinate for about 2hrs(if you are in a rush) or overnight(to get the pork to be well soaked with the seasoning)
4. If you have a charcoal grill this would be amazing on it BUT during winter time(LOL) just preheat your oven at 360 -400 degrees F(depending on how your oven is) and grill the pork until its well cooked. Keep brushing some jerk seasoning over the pork while its grilling/baking
5. Can be served with some dumplings, festival, fried rice,mac n cheese,jollof OR any dish of your choice OR as an appetizer!!

ENJOY!!!!!!!

I used ribs for this particular one and chopped some on pieces 

The stages of making the jerk pork 

Beans stew(Red red)

I remember this was one of my favorite dishes growing up in Ghana. Right after Jollof, and banku & okra lol, I enjoyed it at home and the ones they sold on the streets(which was slightly different than the recipe here). So I decided why not share a recipe. Been a long time coming though lol.

Ingredients:

• 2 cups blackeyepeas 
• 3-4 tablespoons of Palm oil(canola or vegetable oil is fine if you don't have palm oil)
• 2 onions
• 4 tomatoes
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 1 scotch bonnet pepper(Jamaican hot pepper)
• 1 small can of mackerel(optional, I use it because the family love it)
• Spices to taste

Method:

1. Pour the beans in a small sauce pan, add about 4 or more cups of water to it, set on medium high, and cook until it's soft to touch. While that's cooking blend 1 and half onion,tomatoes,ginger and pepper
2. In a separate sauce pan, pour in palm oil with some sliced onions, sauté the onions for about a minute, pour in the blended ingredients, allow that to cook for about 15-20minutes
3. Add in the cooked beans, allow that to simmer for about 5mins, add in your mackerel, let it simmer for another 20mins and serve with some gari and fried plantains

This was served with kaaklo and some gari

Beans stew with gari and fried plantains

Shito (Black pepper)

Shito is basically the main thing most people eat with their fried yams, the banku, kenkey, fried rice and my uncle even eats it with his chinese food lol. So I will say for some of us it is mandatory to have at home. Some of these ingredients are hard to come by in the States but if you know of anyone coming from Ghana you can always ask for some.

• This recipe is for a small quantity of shito. You can increase the quantity of ingredients for a bigger portion of shito.

Ingredients:

• 3 cups of oil
•  1/2- 1 cups of powdered red pepper(or more depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1/2 cup of fish powder
• 1/2 cup of shrimp powder
• 3 medium sized onions
• 1/4 cup of ginger
• 1 jalapeno pepper
• 1 tablespoon of tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon of seasoning salt(I use lawry's as always)
• 2 Maggi or Onga shrimp cubes

Method:

1. Blend the onions, pepper and ginger, in a medium sized pot pour in the oil and heat it up then pour in the blended ingredients, stir for awhile and let it cook for about 5 -10mins, add in tomato paste and let it cook for a while about 15-20mins
2. Add in your dried ingredients, if the oil is disappearing from the shito you can feel free to add more to it.Add your seasoning salt and maggie or onga cubes
3.  Keep stirring and when it turns dark brown it means your shito is almost ready(yayy!) Reduce the heat on the shito and allow it to simmer for awhile(when the oil rises to the top it means your shito is DONE!!!







Onions, garlic, ginger, onga cube and jalapeno pepper






Oil, powdered red pepper and tomato paste



Powdered shrimps

The blended ingredients "frying" in the oil before adding the powdered ingredients + tomato paste

Powdered fish

Process of making the shito, as you can see there is barely oil in the picture in the left

Shito all ready and done to be given away to the family :-)

Shito served with fried rice, grilled chicken, fried plantain and salad

Served with fried yam,fried plantain,fried egg,fish and sardine

Tsofi/Chofi(Turkey tails)

Let me start off by saying if you aren't ready to do some serious cleaning on this meat then please just buy it from the African markets or restaurants  lol because this recipe calls for a lot of major cleaning and pulling lol. The end result is delicious but the process is just draining lol. So here we go. 

Ingredients 

• 1 lb turkey tails
• 1 tablespoon seasoning salt
• 1-2 tablespoons red powdered pepper(depending on how spicy you want it)
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ginger powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder(optional)
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• Oil for frying

Method:

1. Make sure you wash the turkey tails very well, removing all sight of dirt, also removing any straw/hairy like things you might find in them(these really need to come out before anything else) and as much fat off as you can(I say this because there's a lot of fat on this part of the turkey)
2. After you are done washing it well, season with the all the spices and refrigerate for about an hour or 2 or even overnight(if you are not in a rush to make it) 
3. In a medium saucepan, pour in enough oil that will be used for deep frying the turkey tails. On medium heat, heat up the oil and fry till its golden brown.
4. After you are done frying you can enjoy it as it is with some fried yams or you can sprinkle some kebab powder on it(if you have some at hand)

This is how the turkey tail looks before cleaning and cutting into the little tiny pieces. As you can tell it needs a lot of cleaning

Seasoned over night

Top left was plain fried turkey tails, bottom left is when the kebab powder was added, the right pictures a special sauce was added to it. 

Light soup(Pepper soup)

Where the fufu lovers at? This is one soup that MOST people eat with their fufu. Mostly served with goat meat but can be made with chicken as well(but not the overly processed one that's usually too soft and tends to break in the soup so the "live" chicken is the best for light soup). But today's one I will be using goat meat.

Ingredients:

• 2lbs goat
• 3 onions
• 4 tomatoes
• 2 scotch bonnet pepper or Jamaican hot pepper(or more,your preference)
• 1/2 jalapeño pepper 
• Ginger
• Half a clove of garlic
• Dried fish(that's if you have any available,it's optional)
• Spices to taste

You can add 1 tablespoon of tomato paste but it's optional not everyone uses tomato paste in their light soup. I was told some use it because of the bright color it gives the soup I usually don't....depends on who I am cooking for. 

Method:

1. Wash goat meat,remove any visible fat,in a big sauce pan, season with pepper,seasoning salt,and your choice of spices. On medium heat, steam goat meat for about 10-15mins or till it's no longer red/pink
2. While meat is steaming,blend the onions,tomatoes,pepper,ginger and garlic. When meat is done steaming pour in the blended ingredients on, adding about 2-3 cups(or more) of water(you are making soup not stew so it shouldn't be thick at all) I usually add a small can of tomato sauce to it if I have it at home
3. When the soup has boiled for a while, season it with your choice of spices and allow it to cook for 10-15mins. Prepare your fufu and enjoy lol. 

Ps: Will update with more pictures as time goes on. Thank you. Enjoy

1. Seasoned goat meat 2.Steamed goat meat 3.Ingredients to be blended 4. blended ingredients
5.Blended ingredients added to the steamed goat meat 6. Water that was added 

When I talk about dried fish from the african market this is what I am referring to

Shrimp rasta pasta

So I've never been to the famous footprints neither have I ever tried anyone's rasta pasta but the first time I ever made rasta pasta was a big hit so I decided to share the recipe with you all. Because Theedee loves yall lol. So here we go.

Ingredients:

• 1lb raw shrimps 
• 1 tablespoon oil
• 1 stalk of scallions
• 1 packet knorr parma rosa
• 2  tablespoons of jerk seasoning(mild or hot:depending on how hot you want it)
• 2 cups shredded/grated mozzarella cheese or cheddar cheese
• 1 & half cups of milk
• 1 box of  penne pasta
• Bell peppers (green,red,yellow whatever you prefer)

Method:

1. Boil penne pasta until well cooked (about 8-11mins or as instructed on box)
2. Wash shrimps and season as you usually would and then add 1 tablespoon of jerk seasoning. In a small sauce pan cook shrimps until its pink(usually takes about 10mins). 
3. In a large sauce pan, add the tablespoon of oil, with chopped scallions, stir for about a minute and add the remaining tablespoon of jerk season until its fully coated with the onions. 
4. Pour in half a cup of milk and a cup of the shredded cheese, stir for a while, add in half of the  packet of knorr parma rosa, with rest of the milk and cheese, stir for a second then add in your pasta,then add in the remaining Parma rosa. 
5. Add in your bell peppers, if milk seems to have disappeared from the sauce add a little more to it.
6. Serve immediately.......Enjoy

***(You can choose to mix in half of the shrimps while it cooks or just top the shrimps on the pasta when serving.....Look at pictures below)

*** Knorr Parma rosa is hard to find in the local stores but in the big chain grocery stores like Pathmark,stop and shop and food town(for those of you in New York). Can also be found in target and Amazon(if you're not a New Yorker😬). 

--->The sauce on the pasta dries up pretty quick so you can serve immediately when done or make the sauce a lot so it takes a while for it to dry up. Either way it's still delicious☺️

Before and after mixing in shrimps

With and without the bell peppers

Plantain chips

I love plantain chips no it's very serious, everytime someone is coming from Ghana I ask for plantain chips lol so the craving got real and I decided to do it myself. It's not like they sell in Ghana but it's pretty darn close lol!

Ingredients:

• 2 green or yellow plantain(depending on what you prefer)
• 1 tablespoon salt (less if you don't want it overly salty)
• Oil for frying 

Method 

1. Peel and wash plantains. Cut into very thin slices the shape is your choice but make sure you cut it as thin as possible(that gives you the crunchy-ness of plantain chips). You can also use a potato peeler to slice the plantain into thin slices. 
2. I soaked mine in salt water for 15 mins before frying(you can choose to skip this part and just add salt after frying), heat up oil on medium heat and fry until its golden yellow.(see pictures for guidance)..

Stages

Theedee's yummy plantain chips :-D

I used a potato peeler to achieve this style plantain chips

Waffles

I finally got my hands on a belgian waffle maker SO I said goodbye to frozen waffles and decided to make my own. They weren't too sweet or too blah they were just right for my taste buds. GO THEEDEE!!! LOL


Ingredients:

• 2 cups of flour
• 2 tablespoons of sugar(more or less depending on your sugar preference)
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup of butter
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 and 1/2 cup of milk(or more depending on how thin you want the batter)
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 4 teaspoons baking powder

Method:

1. In a separate bowl mix eggs,milk,butter and vanilla. Set aside. 
2. Heat up the waffle iron
3. Combine the flour,sugar,salt and baking powder, then slowly pour in the egg mixture, mix thoroughly and then spray waffle with cooking spray(I used PAM), laddle into the waffle iron(Cook until its golden brown) until there's no more batter left. 
4. Serve immediately with bacon and scrambled eggs, or fruits,whipped cream and syrup whatever your taste buds are in the mood for

Ps: This made about 6 waffles depending on how much batter you put in the iron.

This is how my batter was coz I like my waffles very thick

I put this up to show you what not to do(DO NOT OVER FILL YOUR IRON like I did :(, the cleanup was real) 

Served with strawberries

Served with turkey bacon and scrambled eggs :-) 

Theedee's barbecue chicken wings

My little cousin turned 8 in feb(I know I am so late with this post) and I made these chicken wings for his party. One thing I know from babysitting so many kids in the past is that they love bbq chicken. So that's why I decided to do it. I mixed 2 different sauces for this.

Ingredients:

• 1 bag of chicken wings (usually has about 30 wings in there)
• 1 medium sized bottle original barbecue sauce
• 1 medium sized bottle honey barbecue sauce
• 2 tablespoons seasoning salt
• 2 tablespoons black pepper
• 1 tablespoon ginger powder
• 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper(optional)
• 1 tablespoon thyme

PS: You can make this as spicy as you want, I didn't make this spicy at all because I knew I was cooking for children and 90% of them don't like spicy food lol. 

Method:

1. Wash chicken wings(if you have the kind of chicken wings that has the feathers on them please becareful and remove them all before seasoning)
2. After washing, season with pepper,thyme,seasoning salt, then pour a combination of both honey barbecue and original barbecue sauce on it. Allow it to marinate overnight in the fridge,if you don't have that much time let it marinate in the fridge for an hour or 2
3. Preheat your oven at 370 degrees F(188 degrees C), in a greased baking pan pour out the seasoned chicken, add more of the barbecue sauce to it and bake for 30 mins, add the remaining of the sauces and bake for an additional 15mins. (It's easy for bbq chicken to burn so you can reduce the temperature of your oven if you think its too high)

Will post the process pictures next time I make this. 

All ready to be eaten. Yummy yum!!

Theedee's chicken tenders

Another thing some children love besides nuggets are good ole chicken tenders!! Mmm good tenders lol.

Ingredients: 

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1 teaspoon cayenne pepper
• 1 teaspoon parsley flakes
• 1 cup bread crumbs
• 1 egg
• Oil for frying

Method:

1. Wash chicken breast and cut them into long strips(see pictures below), season with all the spices. 
2. In a medium sauce pan, pour enough oil for frying, and heat up the oil on medium heat.
3. Take one strip of chicken put it in the egg,then into the bread crumbs, then into the oil(Repeat step until theres no more chicken left). Make sure the chicken is well coated with the eggs because that's what allows the bread crumbs to stick to the chicken. Fry until golden brown. Enjoy. 

Ps: You can increase the amount of ingredients depending on how many you want. This was a recipe for 2 people(LOL) 

Steps 

Yummy chicken tenders

Theedee's chicken nuggets

I don't have any babies of my own just yet but I do have little cousins,nephews and nieces who LOVE chicken nuggets. Just add some ketchup and French fries and you will have some very happy children. And I enjoy cooking with my little sweethearts, because they sometimes love being useful in the kitchen. So today we made some small chicken nuggets. It can be fried or baked, depending on what you want

Ingredients:

• 1 chicken breast
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 1 teaspoon seasoning salt
• 1/2 teaspoon parsley flakes
• 1/2 teaspoon thyme 
• 1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper 
• 1/2 lemon
• 1 egg
• 1 cup bread crumbs

Ps: You can increase the ingredients to your preference, this was for a very small group of people. 

Method:

1. Wash chicken breast with lemon, then cut into very small pieces(look at picture below). season with spices then set aside 
2. In 2 separate bowls, break the egg in one bowl, pour bread crumbs in the other bowl(if you have plain bread crumbs mix it with some small cayenne pepper) 
3. If you are going to fry this,it needs to be deep frying on medium heat. If you are baking this preheat your oven to 320 degrees F.  
4. Pick the chicken,dip into the egg then into the breadcrumbs then into the oil(if frying), set aside in a baking sheet(if baking). Make sure the chicken is well coated with the eggs because that's the only way the breadcrumbs is able to hold on.
5. Fry or bake until golden brown, ENJOY! 

Ps:If you don't have breadcrumbs at home, do you have corn flakes(YES THE CEREAL), crush a cup full of cornflakes in a bowl until it resembles breadcrumbs, add a little cayenne pepper and do as it says in step 2. :-) 

Step by step, this was fried but you can also bake yours