This dish takes me back to when I first moved to Canada and would hang out with my cousin and her husband. He’s the one who got me into lifting weights way back when. After work they would pick me up and head over to their place where we’d work out in their home gym and my cousin usually had this simmering on the stove for us after we were done working out. Our evenings consisted of working out, having dinner and playing a bootleg copy of Tetris. Good ole days!

You’ll Need…

4 lbs chicken  – cut into serving size pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 cloves of garlic – thinly sliced or crushed
1 teaspoon fresh  ginger – crushed/sliced
2 tablespoon vegetable oil (one that can withstand high heat)
1 medium onion – chopped
1 medium tomato – chopped
1 tablespoon brown sugar
3/4cup water
dash of black pepper
1/4 hot pepper (I used Habanero)
1 green onion or chive (scallion) – chopped
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dried)
1 lime or lemon or 3 tablespoons of vinegar
1/2 teaspoon green seasoning
1 can chickpeas (Channa) 540 ml/194 fl oz

* I used chicken legs since I love the flavor you get from dark meat. If using chicken breast, I would sill toss in a couple pieces of dark meat just to balance things a bit.

In a large bowl place the cut pieces of chicken and pour the vinegar/lime or lemon juice and work between all the pieces of chicken. Rinse with cool water and drain. Then add all the ingredients, except the oil, sugar, chick peas and water. Allow this to marinate in the fridge for at least 30 minutes or 2 hours to get best results.

In a large heavy pot – I used an enameled cast iron pot, as I didn’t want to dig for the iron pot I got in Trinidad a few years back. A heavy pot enables better distribution of heat and makes stewing the meat much easier. Heat the oil on high heat, then add the brown sugar and stir. This is a bit of a tricky process and it’s important you get it right. No worries, I have faith in you. You want the sugar to completely dissolve, then start going frothy and finally it will go to a rich dark brown colour. DON”T let it go black or really dark brown or it will give the dish a bitter taste. Follow with the pics below.

As soon as you get the rich dark brown colour, add the pieces of seasoned chicken and stir so every piece gets colored with the caramel we just made. Use a spoon with a long handle when putting the seasoned chicken into the pot, as the hot oil/sugar combo can cause some splattering.  Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium/low, cover the pot and allow that to cook for 15 minutes (stir occasionally).

If there’s any marinade left in the bowl – keep it. While this cooks, open and rinse the can of channa (chick peas). I like to rinse any canned beans I use as I don’t care for the liquid it’s packed in, plus it’s usually loaded in sodium. After a good rinse, empty it into to bowl with the left over marinade.

By this time the chicken should have a nice rich brown colour. Remove the lid and turn up the heat to cook off all the liquid which developed as the lid was on. The key is to burn off ALL that liquid.

As soon as the liquid burns off, add the leftover marinade and chick peas to the pot. Give it a good stir and add the 3/4 cup of water. Bring this up to a boil, cover the pot and reduce the heat to a simmer. Allow this to cook for about 12 minutes. Stir a couple times during this cooking period. After 10-12 minutes, check to see if the gravy is runny or thick. If you find that it’s too thin, turn up the heat and cook off some of the liquid. For me,, the perfect consistency is like a stew or thick soup as I usually eat this on a bed of rice and love thick gravy.

Give this one a try – it’s loaded with flavour and I’m sure it will be a hit with your family and friends! Please leave me your comments or questions below as it’s always appreciated. Even if it’s just to say hello. And don’t forget to check out the links at the side for the Cooking Videos,  connect with me on Twitter and to join our select group on Facebook. See the images on the right side of the page to get started. And before I go I’d like to invite you to check out our new store, stocked with everyday cooking items. Including the cast iron pot I used in making this recipe. Browse The Caribbean Store. Do check out the huge selection of pepper sauces (Hot sauces) while you’re there!

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)

Though this recipe was not passed down from my mom, the technique and basic principles I did learn from watching her prepare this amazing dish. Quite honestly, this is my favorite dish and it’s cooked at least once a week at home. Served with sliced avocado, cucumber and tomato on a heaping bed of brown rice. Just thinking about it, makes the greedy juices in my mouth flow.

Though you may have heard that “browning” the meat can be difficult, this is a very simple and easy recipe to follow. With the aid of pictures I’ll show you how easy it is to brown or caramelize the chicken, so everything turns out perfect

You’ll need…
1 (4-5 pounds) whole chicken, cut into pieces
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon ketchup
2 cloves of garlic – thinly sliced or crushed
1 teaspoon fresh/bottled ginger – crushed. (use 1/2 if it’s ginger powder)
2 tablespoon vegetable oil (one that can withstand high heat)
1 medium onion – chopped
1 medium tomato – chopped
2-3 tablespoon cilantro (or 2 tbs Trinidad green meat seasoning)
2 tablespoon brown sugar
1 cup water
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 hot pepper (only if you like your food spicy)
1 green onion or chive – chopped
2 sprigs of fresh thyme (1 teaspoon dried)
1 lime or lemon or 3 tablespoons of vinegar

Lets get started…

Preparing the chicken. Cut or ask your butcher to cut the chicken into serving size pieces. In a bowl empty the cut chicken and squeeze the lime or lemon (or vinegar) onto the chicken, then add some water from your tap to cover the pieces of chicken. Now wash each piece individually, removing skin and any fat (we’ll try to keep this a bit healthy). Now rinse with a new batch of water and drain.

Now in the same bowl with the freshly washed chicken you’ll add ALL the ingredients EXCEPT the oil, sugar and cup of water, we’ll be using those to cook the chicken. Here’s what it should look like (remember to mix everything around and let it sit (marinate) in the fridge for about 1hr before cooking.

FYI, you’ve just seasoned the chicken. After about an hour or so it time to get things moving. It’s best if you could find a solid or heavy pan/pot, like a dutch oven for the actual cooking process. The heavier the pan, the better the oil will heat evenly and the chicken will caramelize for you. On high heat, add the oil to the pan. Just before the oil starts to smoke, add the brown sugar. TIP – be sure to have the seasoned chicken handy, use a long handle spoon (it will get hot) and oven mitts to hold onto the pot to turn the pieces of chicken to get it evenly coated. It’s important that you keep an eye on things and be ready to act fast. Next tip – it can get a bit smoky with the high heat at this point, so you may want to turn the exhaust fan over your stove on or open a window in the event you have smoke detectors installed.

Here’s a pic of adding the sugar to the hot oil.

Move around the sugar in the pot (remember to use a dry spoon with a long handle), until it starts to melt. Now keep a close eye on things here, since you’re looking for the sugar to go a bit foamy, and change color to golden. See pic below. Notice the bottom left of the picture where the sugar appears a bit darker? That’s the exact color you’re looking for before adding the chicken.

At this point you can start adding the pieces of chicken into the pot with the caramelized sugar. Try to be quick, since you don’t want the sugar to go much darker than in the picture above. Be sure to coat every piece of chicken so it “browns” evenly. Now cover the pot and let simmer for about 5 -10 minutes. you’ll notice that the pot will now have some excess water in it.

Remove the lid and turn the heat back up to high. Let’s get rid of that water that formed earlier.We’re ensuring that all the pieces of meat is nice an golden brown at this point. Ensure that there’s no water left in the pot.. it will seems as if it’s starting to stick or burn.

Now add the cup of water to the bowl that contained the seasoned chicken. Swish it around so you get all the seasoning bits that were left back. Add this water to the pot so you can continue cooking the chicken for another 25 minutes or so. Turn the heat back down to a simmer and let cook until the water thickens up to a nice gravy like consistency.

Couple points..

Salt – be sure to taste near the end to add extra salt as to your liking.

Sauce – my mom hates allowing any form of sauce with her stew chicken, she like it to “fry down” so it dry. Makes for a more unique and traditional flavor. But I like to leave it with sauce or gravy so I can put it on a bed of brown rice.

Questions? Leave me a comment below and I’ll try my best to help you as best as I can.

Maybe you have a different version of this recipe? Feel free to submit your recipes – let’s make you a famous online chef