Wednesday 29 February 2012

Creamy Cheesy Scalloped Potatoes


























Okay, so my first attempt at this dish (several months ago), ended up in the garbage, lol!! In my defense I would like to say that scalloped potatoes are not regularly consume here in the islands. Nevertheless, I decided to give it another go and the end result was simply amazing. My hubby and I couldn’t get enough of these.

Ingredients
  • 6 medium red potatoes cut into ¼ inch slices
  • 1½ cups grated cheddar cheese
  • 1 slice Kraft American cheese
  • ¾ cup cream of chicken soup
  • ¾ cup evaporated milk
  • ½ tsp black pepper
  • ½ tsp onion powder
  • ½ tsp garlic powder

Directions
  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees.
  2. Cook potatoes in a large pot of boiling, lightly salted water until tender.
  3. Drain potatoes and line in a lightly greased 2 quart baking dish.
  4. In a saucepan combine the remaining ingredients and stir over medium heat until the cheese has melted. (Be sure to leave about ½ cup of grated cheese to sprinkle on potatoes before baking).
  5. Pour cheese mixture over potatoes until fully covered.Sprinkle remaining grated cheese over the potatoes and bake until potatoes are cooked through and the top begins to brown.





Friday 24 February 2012

Mango Coconut Cream Pie



















Here is another one of my original recipes. I decided on yet another tropical pie to use fruits that are commonly grown in my country. This Mango Coconut Cream Pie is both refreshing and delicious. Best of all, there's no baking involved☺ I had tons of fun preparing it and hope you will too.

Ingredients:

Crust:
  • 9” Graham Cracker Pie Shell

 Coconut Cream Filling:
  • 2 cups coconut milk
  • 2 cups grated coconut or 1 package coconut flakes (7 oz)
  • ½ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup corn starch
  • 1 egg yolk

Mango Filling:

  • 3 large mangoes
  • ½ cup sugar (or less depending on tartness of mangoes)
  • ¼ cup corn starch
  • 1 egg yolk


 Topping
  • Frozen cool whip (thawed)
  • Toasted coconut flakes
  • Mango wedges

Directions:
Coconut Cream Filling:
  1. Pour coconut milk in a hard pot
  2. Add coconut flakes (leave enough over for topping).
  3. Stir in sugar, cornstarch and egg yolk
  4. Place pot on medium heat and stir constantly. Remove from heat when mixture begins to thicken.
  5. Pour mixture into pie shell and allow to set.



Mango Filling:
  1. Peel, cube, then puree mangoes
  2. Pour puree into a pot
  3. Mix in sugar, cornstarch and egg yolk
  4. Place pot on medium heat and stir constantly. Remove from heat when mixture begins to thicken.
  5. Pour on top of the coconut cream mixture and place in refrigerator.



Topping:
  1. Spoon thawed cool whip into piping bag (with tip inserted)
  2. Remove pie from the fridge and begin designing. (You don’t have to be a pro at piping, I certainly am not, lol!! Just have fun with it)
  3. Toast remaining coconut flakes and sprinkle over cool whip.
  4. Place mango wedges in desired pattern on top of pie. Slice and enjoy 





Note:      Keep pie refrigerated.



Monday 20 February 2012

BBQ Chicken Sliders































With all of that leftover barbecue chicken from yesterday (see previous post), I decided to experiment with sliders. Talk about quick and easy. They vanished so quickly I didn’t even have a chance to taste one, lol!!

I simply shredded/pulled about two cups of chicken (you may use a fork, I prefer using my fingers), added more bbq sauce, and voila!! The chicken mixture was heaped on dinner rolls and scarfed down by my family within minutes. They said they were delicious☺



Thursday 16 February 2012

Oven Roasted BBQ Chicken
























While my hubby dropped the kids off to school, I decided to prepare lunch early. On the menu today – oven roasted barbecue chicken (leg quarters), with baked macaroni and cheese  (see recipe here) . With my meat pre-seasoned the night before, I began my cooking at 8 am and by 10 am I was done. This left me with approximately 5½ hours to goof off, watch a romance flick and even take a nap before my family arrived home to disrupt my tranquility, lol!!

Procedure:
In an oven heated to 350 degrees I baked six (6) chicken leg quarters for about 1½ hours. (My oven is not as fast as it used to be, so it may take you less time). In the final 15 minutes of baking, I slathered the chicken with my semi-homemade barbecue sauce. Turn oven off, cover chicken and allow to rest for a few minutes before serving.

Sauce:
  • 2 cups bbq sauce
  • 2 tbsp yellow mustard
  • 2 tbsp brown sugar
  • 1 tsp onion powder 
Mix all ingredients for sauce in a bowl and heat in microwave for about 30 seconds to a minute.




Friday 10 February 2012

Guava Meringue Pie



This is a recipe that I dreamed up, but was a bit hesitant to make because at the time guava season was long over and I did not have any frozen guavas. I reluctantly purchased a can of guava shells from the local supermarket thinking it would be flavorless at best.

To cut a long story short, when my pie was completed, I was completely blown away! The guava flavor was impressive; it tasted just like fresh guavas and the crust wasn’t too bad either. If you want to give it a try, here’s the recipe:

Ingredients:

Crust
  • 1 stick cold unsalted butter (cubed)
  • 2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 6 tbsp. ice water

Filling
  • 2 cups guava shells in syrup
  • 2 tbsp. guava jam
  • ¼ cup sugar
  • ¼ cup corn starch
  • 3 egg yolks
  • ½ cup water
  • 2 tbsp. lemon juice
  • 1 tablespoon butter

Meringue
  • 3 egg whites
  • 5-6 tbsp. sugar
  • 3-4 drops red food coloring

Directions:

Crust
  • Place flour, salt, and sugar in a large bowl and mix.
  • Add the butter and use fingertips to rub flour into butter until mixture resembles bread crumbs. (A food processor may also be used).








  • Add ice water one tablespoon at a time and mix until the dough begins to form a ball.
  • Place on a floured board and roll into a ball. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about half an hour.

  • Remove dough from refrigerator and roll on a well-floured board. Roll from center to edge until a 10” circle is formed. Be sure to turn and flour the dough so that it doesn't stick to the board.

  • Place dough in pie shell, trim off any excess. Design edge of crust with fork impressions or finger pinches.

  • Prick holes on the bottom of the pie crust to prevent it from bubbling up as it bakes. 
  • Bake pie crust at 375 degrees for about 15 minutes, until it starts to turn light brown.
  • Remove from oven and allow to cool before pouring in filling.

Filling
  1. Puree guava shells and jam.
  2. Combine the sugar, cornstarch, pureed guava and lemon juice in a heavy pot. Stir in the egg yolks, and then add the water. 
  3. Heat these ingredients until they are just barely boiling. Then let them simmer over medium heat for about five minutes, stirring constantly. 
  4. Remove the mixture from the heat, and stir in the butter. Pour this into the baked pie shell.


Meringue
  • Beat the egg whites until they are stiff, and then stir in the sugar. 
  • Fold in food coloring.

  • Spread meringue over the guava filling, using a spatula to form peaks.
  • Bake the pie at 400 degrees until the meringue begins to brown.
  • Allow the pie cool before serving. 


Note: Refrigerate uneaten portion


Thursday 2 February 2012

Conch Salad





Ever heard of Conch Salad?! If you’re in the mood for something light and refreshing, yet appealing to the palate, then you have to try our conch salad.  No trip to the Bahamas is complete unless you’ve had our “official salad.”


Ingredients:
  • 4 – 6 skinned conchs
  • 2 freshly squeeze limes/lemons
  • 1 freshly squeezed orange
  • 1 diced ripe tomato
  • 1 diced small onion
  • 1 small green bell pepper, diced
  • Salt and hot pepper to taste (hot pepper is optional)

Directions:
  1. Clean conch thoroughly with salt and water, rinse well (you may also use lime or lemon juice in the cleaning process).
  2. Cut conch into small cubes
  3. In mixing bowl, combine conch with remaining ingredients.
  4. Cover and let the conch and vegetables marinate in refrigerator for a few minutes.
  5. Mix, serve and enjoy.