September 2009 - CaribbeanPot.com

Pineapple glazed grilled chicken.

May 27, 2025September 23, 200916 Comments

This was supposed to be a guava glazed grilled chicken recipe, but like old Mother Hubbard… the cupboard was bare when I went rummaging. My mistake. My sister gave me a bottle of jam she had brought back from the islands her last visit and for some reason I though it was guava jam. After-all, that’s one of the main jams we make on the islands. It turns out it was pineapple jam, so I had to improvise. The final texture of the glaze was a bit different, since the pineapple jam was a bit fibrous and not as smooth and gelatin-like, like guava jam.

I leave for the islands in a few hours (been counting down the hours just like when I was a kid and we had to go on a school trip) so I’ll try to get some homemade guava jam to use when I return on the guava glaze. If all fails, I’ll just pick up some local guava jam in the grocery store.

This is very basic, but adds a new twist on regular grilled chicken. Normally when I do grill chicken breast, it’s usually the ones with the bone and skin still attached. However this time all I had were the skinless variety, but at least it wasn’t boneless. Boneless and skinless chicken breast can become dry very fast on the grill if you don’t know how to control your heat and proper grilling technique.

3 chicken breast
salt
fresh cracked black pepper
1 cup pineapple jam
2 tablespoons orange juice
3-4 table spoons pineapple juice
2 tablespoon Dijon mustard

Remove any excess fat from the chicken breast and rinse with the juice of 1/2 a lime or lemon and water. Then sprinkle with a little salt and fresh ground black pepper.

For the glaze.. put the jam, pineapple juice, dash of salt / pepper, mustard and orange juice and heat on low to medium heat in a saucepan. Using a whisk, blend everything together as it comes to a simmer and allow to form a smooth thick texture (less than 5 minutes). Place this in your metal bbq sauce pan with brush. I use a metal container so I can put it on top of the BBQ as the chicken cooks, so it remains warm.

Grill your chicken as you would normally do, but don’t start glazing until the last 5 minutes of cooking. If you put the glaze on too early, you’ll find that it will burn before the chicken is fully cooked due to the natural sugars in the glaze. I normally bring my grill to between 350 and 400 degrees and cook the chicken (depending on thickness for about 20 minuets or so. During the grilling process I flip the chicken a couple times and turn them on the angle to get the lovely grill marks.

here is the chicken when it’s 5 minutes to being completely cooked…

Here’s the same chicken after I’ve glazed it a few times with the pineapple glaze from the recipe above. I usually turn the heat down a bit on the BBQ and brush the glaze on as I flip the chicken over a few times.

As mentioned above, I’ll be away on the islands for a little under 2 weeks, so I may not have time to post any recipes until then. However, if I become the designated cook during our stay I’ll be sure to give my sister’s kitchen a test drive and post some recipes here. Also check out the CaribbeanPot YouTube channel on a regular basis as it’s my intention to show you a bit of the culinary culture of the islands during my stay! Including street food, markets and anything else relating to food and dining.

A savoury and explosive mango talkari.

May 28, 2025September 20, 200933 Comments

Talkari or talcarie is a term used to describe a curry or side dish on the islands, and is East Indian in origin. Mango talkari (my mouth still waters as I recall my school boy days) or Mango Amchar was sold by vendors just outside the gates of my primary and secondary school. At breaks it would be a mad dash to fork out your 50 cents daily allowance to grab a pack of this spicy mango snack. There were times that the vendor would use too much pepper in it’s creation and you’d be gasping for air with the heat, by the time you’d be back in English Lit class.

Before we get to the actual recipe I’d like to point out that there are different variations of making this talkari. Some people pre-boil the mangoes or you can cook it directly in the amchar massala as I’m about to show you. There’s also a difference in ways you can finish. You can try to keep the mango pieces whole or in my case, try to get it to melt a bit and form a gooey texture.

You’ll need..

2 green mangoes (cut into wedges)
2 tablespoons Amchar Massala
3 tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
black pepper (optional)
1 habanero pepper – sliced thin (or your favourite hot pepper)
3 cloves garlic crushed/chopped
2 tablespoon vegetable oil

Wash and cut the stem of the mangoes and get ready to cut into pieces. I’ve created a short video (see bottom of page) showing you how to go about cutting the mangoes to the required size. Bear in mind that I’m making this mango talkari with the skin and seed still attached. However you can also peel and cube the mango into pieces if you don’t want to be bothered with the time and effort it takes to cut the hard seed of the mango. If you do go this route, it will decrease on the cooking time and chances are you will end up with a more “melted” texture to the mango talkari.

After you’ve cut the mango into 1 cm pieces, wash and set aside to start cooking (be sure to remove the inside white pieces of seed that inside the mango seed itself) . In a heavy bottom pot/pan add the oil and allow to heat. Then toss in the garlic and slices of hot peppers, allow this to cook for a minute or 2 on medium heat.

Now we’ll add the pieces of mango and the amchar massala and stir to coat every piece of mango with the massala. After a couple minutes turn down the heat between medium and low and add the salt and sugar. Cover the pan and allow to cook for about 30-45 minutes. Depending on the type of green mango you used the cooking time will vary, as well as the tartness when you bite into it. Keep this in mind as you taste near the end for salt and sugar… add more accordingly. You’re looking for a taste with a combination of the massala, sweetness, tartness and heat from the hot pepper we used. You’re probably saying in your head “Chris how the heck should we know what you mean?” trust me, once you taste it you’ll know if you need to add more sugar and/or salt. If all you can taste is the massala or a tart taste… you need more sugar and a pinch of salt. BTW, the ideal mango talkari will have a lingering taste of the hot pepper and not be overwhelmed by heat. Unless this is to your liking!

I have a feeling I missed something in the description so let’s recap…

– remove the stem and cut the mango into pieces (wash and remove seed pieces)

– heat oil and cook garlic and hot peppers

– add mango and massala

– add sugar and salt, turn down the heat and cook with pot covered for about 40 minutes or until tender and coated. Stir often to prevent sticking and burning.

* Remember for faster cooking and to avoid having to cut the mango seed.. peel and cube the green mango.

Couple things I’d like to mention before I finish up with this recipe.. be sure to get “full” mango for best results. A full mango is one that’s mature enough to go to ripe soon and will be a yellowish shade when you cut it open (it will be less tart or sour) . The second thing I’d like to mention is that the hot pepper is an important part of this recipe, so even if you can’t handle the habanero or scotch bonnet, you can use a milder pepper. One that you can handle!

Be sure to leave me your comments or questions below.

Happy Cooking!

Smells like Christmas in my house, though it’s September.

May 27, 2025September 17, 200929 Comments

It’s funny how certain scents, music and even tv shows takes you back to a different time and place. Last night as I put together this recipe Tehya came up to me and asked “dad that smells good… what are you making?”. My response was “yea it’s smells like Christmas”. Like “Christmas”? I explained to her that I was making bake pork (roast pork in the oven) and I remembered that smell when her grandmother would make the traditional bake pork leg Christmas eve. To this day I can’t watch repeats of “The Little House On The Prairie or Waltons”, as it brings back a rush of memories. I still remember how we would all sit as a family to watch these shows as my mom would do the weekly ironing of our school uniforms and I miss the fact that we’ve all grown up and gone our separate ways.

Though Tehya didn’t remain wake to sample this amazing roasted pork, I’m sure when she comes home from school today she’ll be digging in. The ONLY approval I need when I cook is seeing our girls enjoy the final product. They are my judge and jury!

So what does Christmas smell like? Let’s get cooking so you’ll experience part of my childhood.

You’ll need…

5 lb pork leg (with bone)
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
2 tablespoon thyme (fresh)
1 sprig of Oregano
1 spring onion with bulb
3 cloves garlic
1 lime or lemon.
1/4 habanero pepper sliced very thin (any hot pepper of your choice)

* When you purchase the piece of pork leg do get the one with the bone and with the skin/fat. Don’t worry, you can remove the fat/skin when it’s done, but we need this to help add flavour and to prevent the meat from drying off while we slow cook it. A pork loin will not give us the desired final product we’re hoping to achieve.

Start off by putting the piece of pork in a large bowl, then squeeze the juice of a lime or lemon over it and add water to wash. Drain and pat dry with a paper towel and set aside.

* if you don’t have the spring onion with the onion bulb part 9I just so happened to have some in my garden) use scallions and a normal cooking onion as replacement.

The next step is to get the seasoning ready to coat and marinate the piece of pork. Chop as fine as you can, the onion, thyme and oregano (use shado beni or cilantro if you don’t have fresh oregano) and minced the garlic. In a small bowl place all the chopped ingredients and add the salt, black pepper and olive oil. Give it a good stir, then paste it all ove the pork leg. Make some small stab cuts into the pork leg (meat side – not the fat) and work some of the seasoning into those cuts. I also try to pull the skin back a bit and put some of the herb mixture under it. If you’re wondering why we used oil in the mixture, it’s to help combine everything and to allow it to attach to the meat.

Allow this to marinate for about 1 hr.

Tip: To get the flavour but not the heat from the habnaero, use the bottom part of the pepper and don’t use any of the seeds.

TIP : I seasoned the pork in the roasting pan I’ll be using so I don’t have to worry about transferring anything when it’s time to cook and any seasoning that falls off the piece of meat will fall to the bottom of the pan and perfume the dish even further as it roast.

Preheat your oven to 375 then place the roasting pan (covered) on the middle rack and allow to cook for about 2 hrs at this temperature. TIP: Place the pork with the fat/skin side up, as mentioned before we’ll be using the fat to keep the meat moist and to add some extra flavour

After 2 hrs, I flip the pork over the pork to allow the meat side to get some of the direct heat and get the browned colour we’ll looking for. At this point I also remove the cover from the pan and allow it to cook for another hour. After the first 30 minutes of the final hour of cooking I flip back the meat with the skin side up and allow that side to get some colour as well. You will notice that the skin will shrink and not look how it did when we first started. A good way to know when the roast is done it to use push on the bone to see if it moves freely.

Allow to cool a bit before slicing and trimming out the fat and skin. My favourite way to enjoy this roasted pork is on a sandwich or on it’s own. I create a simple dipping sauce for it with equal parts ketchup and soy sauce, to which I add some of my homemade hotsauce. Whisk together with a few drops of fresh lime juice and enjoy.

BTW you’ll notice that the herbs we used in seasoning will become dark and give the impression that it’s burnt… that’s just the natural sugars caramelizing. Scoop some of that onto your sandwich as well.. it’s lovey!

Final TIP. You will now have a very dirty roasting pan which can be a bit of a task to clean. I usually get a sheet of fabric softner (static guard) and place it in the pan, fill with water and allow it to soak overnight. Not sure what happens, but all that baked-on grime releases from the pan and cleans up with soap and water.

A chef d’oeuvre macaroni pie.

March 5, 2012September 14, 200976 Comments

I still recall coming back from playing football (soccer) or cricket on a Sunday morning and the house would be filled with the wonderful aroma of Sunday lunch being prepared. Though I was never a fan of it, macaroni pie is an integral part of a Trinbagonian Sunday lunch. For me the rice, stew chicken (or baked), callaloo (or stewed red beans), plantain, sweet potato and salad was all I ever had room for. I saw macaroni pie as a filler that took up prime real estate in my tummy.

Since we’re heading down to visit my parents before they head down to Trinidad for the winter months, I thought I make a batch to share the recipe with you and take some for my dad. I still don’t fancy it and he’s usually stuck with anything we have a hard time finishing.

* You’ll notice in the pics below that I used macaroni the length of spaghetti, but I’m almost positive you won’t be able to find this in grocery stores in North America, so feel free to use the elbow type we usually get here.

* I used cheddar (medium), but feel free to use a cheese “mixture” if you’re buying the pre-shredded variety you can now purchase at the grocers.

You’ll need…

400 grams (14 oz) macaroni
2 large eggs
2 1/4 cups grated cheddar cheese
1 can evaporated milk (370ml – 12.5 oz)
1/4 habanero or scotch bonnet diced fine (optional)
1/2 medium onion diced very small.
fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon butter
paprika (dust onto pie before baking)
1/3 teaspoon dry mustard

In a large pan put enough water to cover the macaroni, to boil. When the water starts boiling, salt and add the macaroni. Try not to overcook the macaroni, so we’ll only boil it for about 5-8 minutes or so. While this boils, we’ll prepare the other ingredients.

Start by dicing the onion and hot pepper as fine as you can. Then in a large bowl, add the diced pepper and onion, dry mustard, dash of black pepper, salt, eggs, butter and evaporated milk. Whisk together so everything is mixed thoroughly. Grate the cheese and add to the mixture, but keep back about 1/2 a cup to spread on top of the pie before baking.

The macaroni should be cooked by now, so go ahead… drain and allow to cool a bit, then add to the mixture we just made. Preheat your oven to 350 F.

Grease a baking dish (fairly deep) as you would if you were making a cake or bread so the pie does not stick to the sides. Then add the macaroni mixture we just made. Using a spoon push down and level off. The final step before baking is to sprinkle the remaining cheese and dust with the paprika. When the oven comes to temperature place on the middle rack and allow to cook for about 30-40 minutes. You’re looking for a firm pie with a golden top. Allow to cool a bit before slicing.

Tips.

1. If you don’t like biting into onions, you also have the option of grating the onion so it’s more fine than you could possibly dice. The other option is to use onion powder. Personally I love the flavour and texture of the diced onions. While we’re still on onion topic, if you can get sweet onions like a Vidalia, try using those as the dish won’t be overpowered with onions. (other types of sweet onions include the Sweet Imperial, the Spring Sweet, and the Walla Walla)

2. To reduce the heat from the diced habanero peppers, avoid using the seeds or close to the stem. The bottom part is usually less potent. The heat from the pepper does give the dish a nice finish so if you can’t stand the heat from the habaneros or scotch bonnet, try using something a bit milder.

3. If you’d like to add some more flavour to this you can always add a crushed chicken bouillon cube to the liquid mixture we made.

Do leave me your thoughts on this recipe in the comments box below and remember to share you own recipe or unique way of making this classic Sunday side dish.

If only I had some stew chicken or beef.

BTW, all my talk about not really liking macaroni pie turned out to be crap. The craving I got while the aroma permeated the house while cooking.. here’s a pic of my plate ( I didn’t even wait long enough for it to cool)

Game day tomato and saltfish?

March 5, 2012September 9, 200933 Comments

It’s tradition whenever the “Soca Warriors” play a game I try to cook up a batch of pelau. Nothing beats watching your favourite football (soccer) team and enjoying one of your favourite dishes. Today the “Warriors” are scheduled to play a very crucial game against the US, so normally by now I’d have seasoned chicken marinating to cook up as game time approaches. But today is a bit different. Lately I’ve been having a craving for ground provisions so I went out and purchased some eddoes. I was about to make some stewed beef to go with the eddoes, but since time is against me I’ve settled for tomato and saltfish. After all it’s fairly quick and easy to prepare and it doesn’t require having to thaw out frozen meat from the freezer.

So I’ve gone ahead and made up a batch of saltfish with tomatoes (which I will reheat later) and about 30 minutes before the game starts I’ll put the eddoes to boil. If you’re not familiar with eddoes, do a keyword search in search box (top right) above.

You’ll need…

4-6 oz of salted fish
1 large tomato sliced
1 scallion sliced
1 medium onion sliced
1-2 cloves garlic sliced thin
2-3 chili peppers (optional) or use whatever hot pepper you have or like
fresh ground black pepper
couple sprigs thyme (optional)
1 teaspoon ketchup
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil

Start by placing the saltfish in a fairly deep bowl, then pour enough boiling water to completely cover it. Allow this to soak from about 25 minutes, then rinse and squeeze out any extra water (remember to make sure the water is cool so you don’t get burn). Then shred the saltfish as we did when we made the saltfish buljol recipe.

The next step is to slice the onion, galric, tomato and scallion. Then in a saucepan heat the oil and toss in the pieces of saltfish. Allow this to cook for about 1-2 minutes so the oil is flavoured with the salted fish. Then add the garlic, pepper and onion and allow this to cook for another couple minutes before adding the rest of the ingredients.

Be sure to add a dash of fresh ground black pepper and stir everything around. Allow this to cook for another couple minutes, then it’s ready for serving. If you wish, at the end you can toss is a teaspoon of Goldenray butter, but you have to be careful that the dish doesn’t go salty. Remember the fish was cured in salt, so it can easily have too much salt by adding the Goldenray butter.

Since I added whole chili peppers and not sliced scotch bonnet or habanero, near the end I use my spoon to crush the pepper in the pot so it releases some of it’s heat into the dish. But as mentioned, the pepper is totally optional.

Not only is this great with ground provisions like eddoes, yam, cassava, green bananas and dasheen, it’s also excellent with roti or fry bake. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong using it for sandwiches as well (just use less oil).

Let’s just hope I can get a link online to watch the game tonight.

Happy Cooking and don’t forget to leave me your questions or comments below.

A Typical Trinbagonian Pholourie Recipe.

March 5, 2012September 1, 200956 Comments

It’s funny how things always seem to get in the way to prevent you from doing things you plan. A few days back when I posted the recipe for mango chutney, I had planned on making a batch of pholourie to accompany the chutney. Afterall they’re like peas in a pod… they go together. Looking back I can’t recall what my excuse is/was for not doing as I planned, but all is not lost as I have the pholouire recipe ready for you below.

A quick call to my mom and I had a recipe waiting to be explored. However she mentioned that there are several versions of this recipe and it’s all about personal taste. Personally she uses yeast in her’s and very little ground split peas, but I didn’t. I was also told that some people usually put a dash of curry powder in the dough. Again I didn’t, but my final product could easily rival any that you’ve ever tasted before. Trust meh!

You’ll need…

1 cup ground split peas
1 teaspoon crushed garlic (about 2 cloves)
1 teaspoon turmeric
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 hot pepper (crushed) – optional but it does add a nice kick to things.
1 1/3 cups water
oil for deep frying

This is so simply you’ll be left asking yourself why did it ever take me so long to make this.

I started off by placing the 2 cloves of garlic, salt and the piece of hot pepper (I used habanero) into my mortar and using the pestle I created a smooth paste. You’ll notice I placed the salt in this, rather than directly into the batter. the roughness of the salt works great to help crush the pepper and garlic into the required paste.

Let’s now prepare the batter. In a large bowl place the dry ingredients (flour, baking powder, split peas powder and turmeric) and whisk together. I like doing this so I can incorporate everything before we add the water. After whisking, I then add the crushed garlic/salt/pepper mixture and water. Mix thoroughly to form a lump-free batter and allow to sit for about 30 minutes (feel free to use immediately if you’re in a rush).

In a fairly deep frying pan put enough oil to deep fry (about 4 cups or more) and heat on med to high. TIP! While the oil heats get a basket or bowl and line with a couple paper towels to place the cooked pholourie to absorb the excess oil from frying. Also get a long handle tongs to help avoid getting burned from any splatter.

When the oil is hot, using 2 table spoons scoop a tablespoon of batter and place into the hot oil. Use the second spoon to scrape the batter off the original spoon. Don’t worry if the first batch turns out a bit deformed in shape, you’ll quickly get the hang of it. You’ll notice that it will easily double in size as it cooks. Using a fork, flip them over so each side gets to cook evenly. You’re looking for a golden brown colour and the pholourie will start floating as an indication that the center is fully cooked. Remove from the oil and place on the paper towels.

Don’t forget to get the mango chutney recipe I posted a few days back to compliment this tasty snack and do let me know if you encountered any snags or have any questions by leaving me a comment in the area provided below. BTW, if you’d like to make this a bit lighter (less dense) and would like to explore the recipe with yeast, let me know and I’ll share that recipe with you.

One final comment… this batter makes about 20-25 pholouire depending how big you make them. Happy cooking!