This day we had friends over for dinner and since I’ve been receiving tons of messages for a coconut ice cream recipe and the fact that our guests love ice cream, I thought it was time for me to dust off the ice cream maker we purchased a couple summers ago. Reluctantly I took the maker into the garage, since the sound of the churning was supposedly disturbing them… forget that this was helping me relive one of the most cherished childhood memories

You’ll Need…

4 tablespoon custard powder
4 cups of coconut milk
2 cups heavy cream
1/2 cup sugar
1 can condensed milk (sweetened)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

* I need to mention a few things about the ingredients I listed above.

Coconut milk – the traditional way is to get a couple dried coconuts, husk, grate, add water and squeeze out the milk from the pulp. But to save on time and sourcing “good” dried coconut was hard for me, so I opted for the milk in the can.

Heavy cream – to keep this a bit healthy I used 1/2 and 1/2 which is a cream with a lower fat content. But you’re free to use heavy cream or you can also substitute Carnation milk for the cream.

* If you’re using an ice cream maker that’s not one of the new ones (where you have to freeze the inserts before using) you’ll be required to have ice and some salt for the freezing process.

This is a very simple recipe, but you do need a couple hours of prep time to ensure that the cream mixture cools down in the fridge and you also have to factor in time for the ice cream maker.

Start by making a custard. In a deep pan/pot whisk together (over low heat) 1 cup of the coconut milk, the sugar, custard powder and heavy cream. Keep whisking as this can easily start to stick to the bottom of the pan and go lumpy. The goal is to get  a thick consistency and can take between 5-9 minutes. You’ll notice that it will be thick enough to start remaining on the sides of the pan (see pics below).

Turn off the stove and add all the other ingredients to the pot. Whisk like you’ve never whisked before (or use an electric mixer). It’s important that you break down any lumps that may form and to incorporate everything. Then place in the fridge to cool down for at least an hour.

After it cools, place in your ice cream maker and freeze according to it’s instructions. As I mentioned, we have one of the electric ones that churn away with the  aid of a small motor at the top. I placed the mixture in the ice cream container, attach the hood and then fill the side with ice. I had to purchase ice cubes so they could easily fit without having to break up further. After I packed the side with ice, I poured salt all over the ice and then turned on the machine. Now don’t ask me why I put the salt on the ice, it’s just something I saw my dad would do. Supposedly it’s to keep the ice/water at a constant temperature.Remember to keep adding ice and salt to the sides as necessary.

Normally I’d have pics showing what I mean by placing the ice, salt etc.. but I started making mango margaritas and I kinda forgot about taking pics.. . I do apologize. I’ll sahre the recipe for that treat soon.

Our machine took about 30 minutes to fully firm the ice cream and as I touched on above… the machine will start dragging when the ice cream is fully done. If you like soft serve textured ice cream you can enjoy the ice cream right now. However I like to empty the ice cream into freezer containers and place in the freezer for about 30 minutes to really firm out. This also allows me to keep small batches for when I next feel like a refreshing dessert – like today!

* Tip – If you like pieces of coconut in your ice cream, a quick fix is to purchase some shredded coconut from the grocers and add as a topping. To enhance the flavour of the shredded coconut, toast it on the stove for a couple minutes. I supposed you could also add it to the mixture before freezing… so it’s infused into the ice cream. The choice is yours, as I like my coconut ice cream naked! The pic with the sprinkles above, was for our daughter.

Please leave me your comments below as I’d love for this post go viral on the internet, so others can enjoy this wonderful ice cream. And don’t forget to join us on Facebook – click on the image below to get started.

Though I can’t recall, I was told by my mom that when I was younger I had a special craving for pound cake. However I do still remember the cake I would get every time someone from the islands came up for a visit, that my mom would send especially for me. I’m sure they broke all sorts of customs rules.

You’ll Need…

2 eggs
2 1/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 teaspoon of fresh orange zest
1/2 cup of yogurt
1/2 cup fresh orange juice
1/2 cup of oil or butter
1 1/4 cup of sugar
2 cups of flour

Start by setting your oven to preheat at 375F. Then cream the butter, sugar, and vanilla  together until light; beat the eggs and add to mixture. Then add the orange zest, juice, salt and yogurt. Finally add the baking powder and sift in the flour and mix thoroughly. I used a whisk, but if you prefer you can use a hand mixer or a food processor? Try to get it to a smooth batter.

All I did next was to spray some cooking (non stick) spray into the loaf pan that I was using and poured in the batter. If you don’t have non stick spray (and some people hate using that) grease and dust with flour to ensure that the cake is easy to remove once baked.

Now you oven should be up to the desired temperature. Bake on the middle rack for about 45 minutes or until you can stick a toothpick into it and get it out without any residue.

Enjoy… (allow to cool before slicing)

Don’t forget, if you know why my cake splits at the top, please do leave me a comment below. And don’t forget to enter this months contest, for the free magazine draw.

You’ll Need…

4 1/2 cups flour
4 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups granulated sugar
1 cup mixed fruit (cherry, orange peel etc)
1/2 cup sultana or raisins
3 cups coconut, grated (not dried or sweetened)
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, ground
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, grated
2 eggs, well-beaten
3/4 cup evaporated milk
2 teaspoons almond essence
1/2 lb butter (2 sticks) melted and cooled.

* If you don’t have the mixed fruit, use: 1/2 cup chopped maraschino cherry and 1/2 cup mixed peel.

In a large mixing bowl put the flour, salt, nutmeg, cinnamon and baking powder… using a whisk, work a few times to incorporate the dry ingredients.

Then add the mixed fruit, grated coconut, raisins and sugar and whisk together. It will become a bit lumpy as the mixed fruit will be a bit wet.

The final step is to whisk the 2 eggs in a small bowl and add the milk as well as the melted butter and almond essence, then pour into the main bowl with everything else.

While we work the mixture preheat your oven to 325 degrees. Now using a cooking spoon or fork, work the batter until everything is incorporated into a batter (it will be almost cookie dough like) and not like a cake or bread batter. Don’t try to knead like you would normal bread. I really wish I had a pic to show you what the dough would look like, but my camera’s battery died and I couldn’t allow the dough to sit. It will be wet, heavy, sticky and very hard to work with the spoon.

Now all we need to do is grease your bread pans and pour in enough mixture about 3/4  the depth of the pan. You’ll need 2 pans. When your oven is ready place the 2 pans on the middle rack and allow to bake for about 60 minutes. At about 50 minutes I would recommend that you do a toothpick test by placing a toothpick in the middle of the bread and removing. If it’s clean when you remove it, the bread is cooked in the middle. If you find that the toothpick comes out with dough stuck to it, it means you’ll have to cook it a bit longer.

To add a nice touch, remove from the oven when done cooking all the way though. Then in a small bowl combine 1 tablespoon warm water and 1 tablespoon sugar to form a glaze. Using this glaze, brush the bread and then sprinkle the top with some sugar and place back in the oven from about 5 minutes.

Remove from the pans and allow to cool before cutting. When you cut the coconut bread you will notice that it will not cut clean and will crumble.. this is natural!

Tip 1: When the coconut sweetbread is cooled, I would recommend that you wrap with plastic wrap to seal it off from air or it will dry up and become very crumbly.

Tip 2. Since there’s fresh grated coconut this bread can go bad relatively fast. I would leave it on the counter for about 3 days and after that store in the fridge for a few days more. However, I’m sure you’ll find that this bread won’t last long as your family will devour it very fast.

* I was tempted to use the shredded coconut you can get in the baking section of the grocery store, but was advised against it. As I was told the end product would not be as good as using fresh grated coconut. However if you do use the store bought shredded coconut and use it for this recipe, I’d love to know about your end results. BTW, make sure you use the finest shred you can get if this is your only option. (maybe you can pre-soak the shreaded coconut in the milk if you don’t have access to fresh grated coconut.)

Happy Cooking.

Chris…

]]> http://caribbeanpot.com/how-to-make-coconut-sweet-bread/feed/ 19 http://caribbeanpot.com/the-simplicity-and-splendor-of-fry-plantains/ http://caribbeanpot.com/the-simplicity-and-splendor-of-fry-plantains/#comments Mon, 02 Nov 2009 21:09:49 +0000 admin http://caribbeanpot.com/?p=1464 Dad it’s getting black! Yup that’s what I heard the last 2 times I purchased plantains with the intention of sharing the simple recipe for fry plantains. I grew up eating fry plantains as a side to many dishes, but my absolute favourite was making sandwiches with these as the filler. I still recall my mom waiting just until the plantains would be so ripe they’d be very close to going black before she cook them. We were told that the more ripe (or quale) they went, the more sweet they would be. So this is exactly what I was trying to achieve, except with my rather busy schedule I tend to forget about them. Not until one of our girls point them out or when those pesky fruit flies appears, do I remember what I was trying to achieve.

For best results allow your ripe plantains to go a bit dark (it will look discoloured) before frying. In the pic below you’ll notice that the plantains I used were ripe, but were only just starting to go “quale” or discoloured.

You’ll Need..

1-2 ripe plantains
1-2 cups of vegetable oil for frying.
salt – optional
brown sugar – optional

Start by peeling the plantains. Do so by cutting off the ends and then cutting the plantain itself in the middle (as in the picture below).Discard the ends and get ready to peel off the skin and slice for frying.

Then using a small knife, cut through the skin along the length of the 2 pieces. Don’t go too deep as you only want to cut through the skin. Then peel back the skin and discard. Now cut thin strips (about 1/2 cm or little less than 1/4 inch) along the length of the piece of plantain.

The final step is to fry the pieces of sliced plantain. Heat the oil in a frying pan and gently place the pieces away from you to avoid hot oil splashing onto you. Allow to cook for about 5-7 minutes on each side (medium heat) or until it gets to the colour you like (use a fork to flip them over). The darker you allow it to go, it seems to also enhance the natural sugars in it. You’ll also notice that it floats when cooked through.

This is not a dish for the health conscious, since even though you pat dry on paper towels, the plantain tends to soak up a lot of the oil.

I usually sprinkle a little salt over mine and I know people who does the same with brown sugar… but you can enjoy these just the way they are when they cool a bit.

If you’ve ever purchased a rice dish at a Caribbean restaurant in North America you should have come across fried plantains served on the side. The Jamaican spot where I go for my jerk chicken with rice and peas, knows to give me a good potion of fry plantains with my takeout order.

Remember to leave me your comments below.

Happy Cooking.

]]> http://caribbeanpot.com/the-simplicity-and-splendor-of-fry-plantains/feed/ 8 http://caribbeanpot.com/an-energizing-mango-smoothie-with-a-tinge-of-orange-juice/ http://caribbeanpot.com/an-energizing-mango-smoothie-with-a-tinge-of-orange-juice/#comments Sun, 16 Aug 2009 02:48:33 +0000 admin http://caribbeanpot.com/?p=1033 Looking back at my childhood it puzzles me as to what was our facination with imported fruits like apples, pears and grapes? It’s funny how when you move away from home you crave the things you took for granted. Like off-the-tree mangoes and oranges. Mangoes with such names as Julie, long, hog, dou dous (sp), belly full, Princess Town starch, calabash, donkey st*nes and turpentine to name a few. Today I’m stuck buying  the flavour less stuff we get in the supermarkets. Mangoes that were picked green so they could last the journey to North America and still have some shelf life.

I’m sure this will taste much better if I had the mangoes that grew in our yard as a kid, but you got to use what you have.. right!

You’ll need..

1 Cup diced ripe mango
1 cup yogurt
1 Orange (juice)
6 ice cubes
1 teaspoon honey

This is so simple! Dice one ripe mango into cubes and set aside in the freezer for about 1 hour. Then in you blender, food processor..or the magic bullet that you kinda stole borrowed from your dad, combine the ingredients mentioned above and blend (puree) for about 1-2 minutes.

This is so refreshing after a long summer’s day as you’re about to hit the hot tub to unwind!

BTW – I placed the diced mangoes in the freezer so I didn’t have to water-down the smoothie with too much ice. This way I was still able to keep the temperature of the finished drink/dessert chilly! If Tehya wasn’t having some of this with me, I’d add a shot of dark rum or Cointreau just for good measure

Do leave me your thoughts in  he comments box below. Almost forgot.. I didn’t have plain yogurt so I used a vanilla flavoured one which turned out to be awesome.

You’ll need…

410 g can mangoes in light syrup, drained well and finely chopped

1/4 cup (25 g) flaked almonds

large pinch ground cinnamon

2 tablespoons demerara sugar

2 sheets ready-rolled puff pastry

8 teaspoons ready­made custard

1 egg, lightly beaten

milk, to brush

Let’s get started….
Preheat the oven to hot 220°C (425°F/ Gas 7). Lightly grease two baking trays. Pat the mango dry with paper towels and place in a bowl with the flaked almonds, cinnamon and half the sugar

Cut the pastry sheets into quarters on the diagonal to make eight triangles. Place one eighth of the mango filling in the center of each triangle, then top with 1 teaspoon custard.

Brush the edges with egg, fold in half and use a fork to seal the edges. Brush the pastry with a little milk and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Place on the prepared trays and bake for 10 minutes, or until puffed and golden.

Serve each person two turnovers with mango ice cream, if desired.

Note: If fresh mangoes are in season, finely chop 2 mangoes and use them instead of the canned mangoes.

You’ll need:

1 ripe pineapple

2-3 tablespoons of dark rum

1 teaspoon of granulated sugar

1/2 cup of whipped topping (try to avoid the canned stuff.. get some whipping cream and make your own – musch more tasty)

1/4 cup of shredded coconut.

Peel pineapple and cut crosswise into 6 slices. Place in a bowl and drizzle the rum and sugar over the slices. Mix around so every piece gets coated (would be nice to let it sit for about 3-5 minutes – covered so the rum does not evaporate). On a medium hot grill, place the slices for about 10 minutes, turning once. Remember to watch closely since the sugars can burn and become overly charred.

Top with the whipped cream and shredded coconut… feel free to add a nice heaping scoop of your favorite ice cream.