JAMAICAN JERK CATFISH SALAD

Jamaican Jerk Catfish Salad

Jamaican Jerk Catfish
2 U.S. Farm-Raised Catfish Fillets
¼ cup vegetable oil
2 tablespoons Jerk seasoning
1 bag salad greens
½ mango, sliced
½ red bell pepper, finely diced
1 plantain, sliced in thin strips and fried, optional garnish

Jamaican Dressing
¼ cup canned chipotle in adobo sauce
1 lime, juiced
1½ teaspoons sugar
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 tablespoons water
¼ cup sour cream
2 tablespoons fresh cilantro, chopped

1. Combine vegetable oil and Jerk seasoning in small bowl. Toss fillets with mixture to coat. Cover bowl with plastic wrap; marinate 30 minutes or overnight.
2. Preheat grill.
3. On hot grill, place catfish serving side down.
Cook 4 minutes, turn and cook another 4 minutes or until done. Remove from grill and set aside to cool. Slice on the bias into 1-inch strips.
4. Place salad greens on plate. Add layer of mango, grilled catfish and red bell pepper. Drizzle with Jamaican Dressing and top with fried plantain strips if desired.

Serves 2

Jamaican Dressing
Puree adobo, lime juice and sugar in blender. Slowly drizzle in oil while running. Next, drizzle in water while running. Add sour cream and blend until smooth. Add cilantro and pulse a few times to blend.

BROWN GRAVY

Brown Gravy

Ingredients

• 2 cups beef broth (you can also use beef dripping from a roast)
• 2 teaspoons garlic powder
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 tablespoon worcestershire sauce (optional)
• ¼ cup cold water + 3 tablespoons corn starch
• salt and pepper to taste

Instructions

1. In a medium sauce pan bring beef broth to boil over medium-high heat. Stir in garlic powder, onion powder, and worcestershire sauce.
2. In a small bowl whisk together cold water and corn starch until dissolved. Pour into boiling beef broth and reduce heat to medium-low. Stir until thickened.
3. Season with salt and pepper. Taste, add more salt and pepper if needed, and taste again to make sure it's just right. Serve hot over your favorite meats or potatoes.

Notes

This recipe makes about 2 cups of gravy and can easily be doubled or even tripled if you use a large sauce pan.

DENVER CHOCOLATE SHEET CAKE

FOR THE CAKE:
16 tablespoons unsalted butter in 16 pieces (plus 1 tablespoon softened butter for greasing pan)
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour (more for pan)
2 cups sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup cocoa
½ cup buttermilk
2 eggs, lightly beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
FOR THE FROSTING:
8 tablespoons unsalted butter in 8 pieces
¼ cup cocoa
6 tablespoons buttermilk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
¼ teaspoon salt
1 pound confectioners' sugar
½ cup chopped walnuts or pecans

PREPARATION
For cake: Place oven rack in middle position; heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease and flour a 9-by-13-inch sheet pan. Combine flour, sugar, baking soda and salt in a large bowl, and whisk well.
Combine butter, cocoa and 1 1/2 cups water in a medium saucepan over medium-low heat; whisk frequently until butter has melted and mixture is smooth, glossy and bubbling around edges. Remove from heat.
Fold cocoa mixture into dry ingredients until just combined. Stir in buttermilk, eggs and vanilla until combined. Turn batter into prepared pan and bake until cake has risen, shrunken slightly from edges, and tests clean with a toothpick, about 25 to 30 minutes. Remove from oven, and cool completely on a rack.
For frosting: Combine butter, cocoa and buttermilk in a small saucepan over medium-low heat; whisk frequently until butter has melted and mixture is smooth and bubbling around edges. Remove from heat and transfer to a standing mixer bowl fitted with a paddle attachment.
With machine on low speed, add vanilla, salt, sugar and nuts, and mix until smooth. (Ingredients may also be whisked into cocoa mixture by hand; if so, sugar should be sifted first.) Pour warm frosting over top of cake, and smooth with a spatula. Allow frosting to become firm before slicing cake.

Chow Chow 

"A way to use all those fresh summer veggies."

Ingredients

• 12 1/2 pounds green tomatoes, chopped
• 8 large onions, chopped
• 10 green bell peppers, chopped
• 3 teaspoons salt
• 6 chopped green chile peppers
• 1 quart distilled white vinegar

 

• 1 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup prepared horseradish
• 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon ground allspice
• 1/4 teaspoon ground cloves

Directions

1. In a large bowl combine tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and salt. Let stand overnight.
2. Drain the tomato/pepper mixture and add the hot chile peppers, vinegar, sugar, and horseradish. Wrap the cinnamon, allspice, and cloves in cheesecloth or a porous bag, and add to tomato/pepper mixture.
3. Boil for 15 minutes, or until tender.
4. Pack tightly in sterilized jars and seal.

LOBSTER ROLL

Lobster Roll

Lobster Roll

If you are using live lobsters that you will cook yourself, the yield is about 25%. So for four pounds of live lobsters, you will end up with one pound of cooked meat (give or take a few ounces depending on the size of the lobsters. The smaller the lobster, the lower the yield). Prep time below does not include cooking time for lobster. Cooking times for live lobsters can be found here.

INGREDIENTS

• 1 pound cooked lobster meat cut into bite sized chunks
• 1/3 cup mayonnaise
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup finely chopped celery (use tender inner stalks)
• 1 teaspoon chopped fresh parsley
• 2 teaspoons green tops from a scallion, minced fine
• 1 dash Sriracha hot sauce
• Pinch is salt
• Few grinds freshly ground black pepper
• Split-top hot dog rolls
• 2 tablespoons melted butter
• Optional – lettuce for serving.

INSTRUCTIONS

1. Place the cooked lobster meat in large bowl.
2. In a separate, smaller bowl combine the mayonnaise, lemon juice, celery, parsley, scallion, sriracha, and salt and pepper. Mix and taste for seasoning. Once you have the seasoning to your liking, add to the cooked lobster meat and mix.
3. Brush both sides of rolls with butter and toast both sides in a medium fry pan over medium heat until nicely browned.
4. Divide the lobster salad between each roll per your preference. Some serve lettuce under the lobster salad but we like it without, your choice.

SWEET AND STICKY TOMATO JAM

Sweet and Sticky Tomato Jam

9-10 large beefsteak tomatoes, roughly chopped (at least 3-4 pounds)
1 large onion, finely chopped
½ cup brown sugar
1 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon pepper
½ teaspoon ground coriander
¼ teaspoon cumin
¼ cup white vinegar
1 lemon, freshly squeezed

Wash and roughly chop the tomatoes and add them to a medium-sized stock pot
Add all of the other ingredients as well
Bring the mixture to a gentle boil and allow the soupy-like mixture to boil for 3-4 minutes. Do not leave the pot unattended at this time. You don't want the mixture to boil over! Stir frequently.
Reduce the heat to a gentle simmer
Allow the jam to simmer until it has thickened and looks like jam!
Once done, transfer the jam to sterile mason jars, and using a new seal, lid the jars and allow to completely cool.
Store in the refrigerator for up to two weeks. If you'd like to preserve the jam, consider using your favourite canning method.

MADELINES

Classic French Madeleine Recipe
Makes 24 Cookies / 1 ounce (30g) each.
The madeleine is a traditional small cake from Lorraine region in northeastern France.

Madeleines are simple to make despite what you read about it. There are 2 important things to know though.
1- Incorporate warm butter into the batter; the baking powder will begin to react in the presence of moisture and heat to release gas (carbon dioxide) then it will slow down during its refrigeration period.
2- Preheat oven and baking sheet to high temperature; this technique combines hot and cold. As bread reacts in a very hot oven, the dough will rise up, then half way through the temperature is lowered to finish baking. That is called: ‘cuire à chaleur tombante’ / bake at decreasing temperature.

4 ea. (200g) eggs
3/4 cup (175g) granulated sugar
1.9 cup (280g) all-purpose flour, sifted
1.5 Tbsp (15g) baking powder, sifted
2 sticks (230g) unsalted butter, melted 
3 ea. lemons zests (preferably organic) / Lemon extract and vanilla can be added too.
Softened butter to grease nonstick madeleine baking pan (use butter and flour if using a madeleine metal pan or cooking spray or softened butter and cooking spray instead of flour).

Method
Gently beat eggs and sugar and incorporate the sifted flour and baking powder. Melt butter and add lemon zests; keep warm.
If baking the same day:
Refrigerate batter for an hour (without the fat). Fold warm butter into the chilled batter until smooth. Turn oven on, grease and chill madeleine pan. Spoon cookies into the chilled greased pan and bake immediately.
If baking a day after for best results:
Melt butter and add lemon zests. Gently beat eggs and sugar and incorporate the sifted flour and baking powder. Add the warm butter with zests, cover and refrigerate overnight (12 hours) before baking. The previous method works as well if you want to bake half of the batch the same day and remaining a day after. With this method, there is no need to freeze madeleine cookies before baking.

Baking
Set the oven rack adjusted to the middle position with a baking sheet or a pizza stone.
Bake one cookie sheet at a time (12 madeleines).
Bake in a preheated 500ºF (260ºC) oven for 5 minutes, then lower temp to 350ºF (180ºC) and continue baking for 7 minutes more.
Lower temperature to 25ºF (15ºC) if using a convection oven; baking time might be shortened to 10 minutes rather than 12.

Madeleine batter can be refrigerated up to 4 days before baking. Madeleines are at their best 1 hour after being baked.
Store baked madeleines in an airtight container for a few days. Madeleines can be frozen months as well.
No need to sprinkle powdered sugar on madeleines and they should be served standing up showing off their beautiful bumps!