A curry recipe you can try for yourself:

Ingredients: 

2 tablespoon Olive Oil
2 Garlic cloves, minced
1 Onion, finely chopped
2 tablespoon Ginger, fresh, finely minced
4 tablespoon Curry Powder (or to taste)
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 cup Chicken Broth
2 cups Coconut Milk
2 cups cubed pineapple
1½ pounds Shrimp, (fresh cooked peeled)
1 sprig cilantro
1 Lemon wedged

Food prices are rising, and eating out for lunch each day is putting more pressure on your pocket. You can stem the tide of your hemorrhaging purse by brown bagging it.

Now there are so many benefits to taking your lunch to work and they far outweigh the preparation time. It’s not just about counting calories or carbs; it’s about counting your pennies! Packing lunch can save you about $5 a day – which could easily translate to $1,000 a year! Imagine that! It’s like getting your tax returns without the check.

If you have a refrigerator and a microwave at work, then great! But if you don’t, you can still pack your lunch and have a delicious meal. It does take a little planning and getting the right items to prepare your lunch daily.

You will need a lunch bag (a durable one that’s large enough to fit lunch and snacks); some ‘Tupperware’ type plastic containers (different sizes) If you don’t have a fridge at work, pack your lunch with cold compresses… or freeze bottled water and take it in your lunch container. Neat trick, huh?!

Everyone is going green… from TV stations, to big companies and everyone in between, so why shouldn’t you? I know what your mother told you: “You don’t have to do it because everyone is doing it.” What she didn’t tell you is that, if everyone is doing it, and they are benefiting, then maybe you should too…

So, let’s go green… with your diet that is.

Adding green leafy vegetables to your diet will provide many vitamins and minerals your body needs to stay healthy. They have vitamin A, vitamin C, and calcium and are also great sources of fiber. The darker the leaves, the more nutrients the vegetable usually has. But I guess you already know veggies are good for you. The challenge is how to get them to taste good.

Try this warm Spinach salad recipe and you’ll never have to say yuck again!

No matter how many ‘ready made’ cakes we eat year-round, Caribbean people tend to want to bake their own at Christmas, and this is one tradition that may never go away. There are the experts among us who can do it simply by adding a little this, tossing in a little that, a pinch of this and plenty rum… for the rest of us… there is the recipe.

Christmas Fruit/Black/Christmas Cake

INGREDIENTS:
6 ounces or 1½ cups flour
8 ounces margarine or butter
8 ounces sugar
4 eggs
1 pound raisins
1 teaspoon cinnamon
½ teaspoon mixed spice
½ teaspoon salt
4 ounces mixed peel

It’s real country style cooking. The kind you get when you’re in Jamaica and you go to visit your grandmother in the country. The kind you get when you stop at a Jerk pan on the streets while driving from Kingston. But when Jamaica is too far and grandma’s house is nowhere in sight – you can get it at Negril Grill n Jerk in West Palm Beach.

The menu at Negril Grill n Jerk takes the Out of Many, One People philosophy out of Jamaica and incorporates Jamaican Chinese and Indian items on the menu. However, there is a Trinidadian employee who does the roti skins, while the meats/fillers are made by the Jamaican staff.

According to proprietor Sevan Campbell, “oxtail, jerk chicken and jerk pork are the best sellers here.” I had a chance to sample the oxtail and jerk chicken dishes and I do understand why people would file in daily to get lunch or dinner. The oxtail was soft, well-seasoned and melted in my mouth. And, I didn’t have to remove excess fat from the meat – and for that I’m grateful.

The jerk chicken was very tender, succulent seasoned mild for those who don’t like spicy and spicy for those who do. Sevan is among few who can boast that their jerk chicken is actually done on a grill.

“The grill makes a lot of difference – as it’s mostly the steam that cooks it. People don’t have the facility for jerk chicken and it needs to be on the grill,” he said.

It’s the 7^th year in a row and people are lining up for the Caribbean Choice Restaurant/Bakery/Grocery’s Customer Appreciation Day on Saturday, October 6 in West Palm Beach.

According to owner, Don Smith it’s all about the customers. Last year’s event attracted about 600 customers who went to enjoy the food, music and festivities for the entire day. It is also the store’s 7^th anniversary and Smith’s birthday celebration.

The Restaurant Business

Smith told CNWeekly News he has been in the restaurant business for the past 17 years, seven of which are at the location in West Palm Beach. He operated four other Caribbean Choice restaurants in New York before he decided to move to Florida. According to the restaurateur, “It was time to put a cap on it and move.”

Opting for West Palm Beach, Smith said he had checked out Atlanta, Georgia as well as Miami and Fort Lauderdale, but realized he could have a bigger impact there since there were “only one or two Caribbean businesses in the area.”

He started out renting one suite that housed the take out section and later expanded to include the restaurant and the grocery.

But Smith is no stranger to grand ideas about the restaurant business. In fact, he is the one who introduced the food concept to Golden Krust Inc. who in 1999 wrote him a letter of appreciation engraved on a plaque. He recalled telling Lowell Hawthorne, CEO of Golden Krust Inc. “Patty and bread along can’t pay bills”.

Trinidad & Tobago’s cuisine is a mix as unique as the blend of ethnicities in the twin island republic. East Indian and Africans make up the majority of the population and as such their cuisines dominate.

According to proprietor of Ram’s Roti Shop in the Oriole Plaza on State Road 7, Frankie ‘Ram’ Ramsook, with the integration in Trinidad, the foods go across ethnic lines and racial barriers.

Ram’s Roti Shop has been around for eight years and although they serve predominantly East Indian Trini foods his clientele is mostly non-East Indian, about 85 percent. He used Pelau (a one-pot rice based dish with spices, herbs, meats etc) as his way of explaining how the cultures have combined to create foods that no longer belong to any one ‘ethnic’ group.

But to help us understand what each culture brings to the country’s cuisine, Ram told CNWeekly News the obvious difference between the two would be that the East Indian community uses a lot more curry in their dishes while the African community has more dishes that are produce based, such as dasheen bush boiled with chicken foot or cow heel.

Other foods like oil down, bake and shark and goat dishes are from the African community, while the Indian community uses more vegetable based dishes like choka which is made with tomato roasted with garlic and bagie (a spinach-like veggie) with lots of rice and roti.

However, on a Sunday, across homes in T&T families enjoy macaroni pie, potato salad and stew chicken, despite ethnicity.

Back in Florida, at the roti shop, Ram serves authentic Trinidadian foods made by Trinidadians with spices and ingredients from Trinidad. With items on the menu such as doubles – a vegetable sandwich made with channa (chick peas) and cooked with kelantro and chutney; bake and saltfish; chicken roti and many others, Ram’s Roti Shop is as Trini as it gets.

Ram also mentioned that Trinidad was featured on Andrew Zimmern’s Bizarre Foods on the Travel Channel and that the host sampled some of Trinidad’s most bizarre foods like iguana, manique (possum) and raw oysters.

As T&T celebrates its 45^th anniversary, one can expect to see families and friends gathering and there will be music, their will be dancing, but most of all, there will be food!

Besides reggae music, the most popular thing Jamaica is known for is its food. The unique blend of African, Indian, Chinese and so many other cultures make up the culinary delights of Jamaica. Here are some of the culinary delights of Jamaica.

Ackee & Saltfish (The National Dish)

INGREDIENTS:

1/2 lb. Saltfish (codfish)
1 dozen ackees
1 small onion
1 teaspoon black pepper
1 sprig thyme
1 crushed garlic or 2 teaspoons garlic powder
3 slices hot scotch bonnet pepper
1 small red/green sweet pepper
cooking oil

Here are some fish recipes you can try!

Grilled Salmon

INGREDIENTS:
4 salmon steaks, good quality, about 1-inch thick

Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce or tamari
1/4 cup cooking sherry
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice plus 1/2 teaspoon zest
1 small clove garlic, crushed and minced
3 tablespoons olive oil

PREPARATION:
Arrange fish in a shallow, non-reactive dish. Whisk together marinade ingredients in a small bowl; pour over steaks. Cover and refrigerate for 1 to 1 1/2 hours, turning frequently. Place fish on a well-greased grill or grilling basket and grill over medium coals for about 3 to 4 minutes, basting frequently with marinade.

Turn and cook for 3 to 4 minutes longer, or until fish is nicely grilled on the outside but still pink in the center./ southernfood.about.com

Strawberry Banana Crush Smoothie

Makes 4 Servings

2 ripe bananas
1 doz. Medium sized strawberries
6-8 ice cubes
¼ cup orange juice/flavored water (optional)

Method:
Slice strawberries and bananas.
Put ice in the blender (I use Magic Bullet)
Add fruits. If ice takes a while to crush, add juice/water. Blend until ice is crushed and fruit is smooth.

Fresh Fruit Salad

1 medium mango (ripe)
1 red delicious apple
1 sweet peach
2 slices cantaloupe (or honeydew)
¼ cup orange juice

Method:
Cut fruits into cubes. Put all in a salad bowl. Toss and pour orange juice over fruits and garnish with cherries. Enjoy!

It’s summer! It’s hot! And as we try to find ways to cool down and fill up without having to chug down a bunch of sodas and munch on bags chips, we turn to the things we can make from the fruit basket.

You hear all the time that you need to have five servings of fruits and vegetables daily to maintain a healthy immune system and for overall health, but seriously, how many of us do that? Not many. But there is a way to get these servings in without having to eat all that.

Isn’t it amazing what you can do with a basket full of fresh fruits and a blender? Using a blender helps to retain the soft fibers, which are good for cleaning and maintaining a healthy colon.

So, making fruit juices, fruit smoothies or fruit salads can help you to improve your health. And these are based on whatever is in season. And, remember, fresh fruits are always better than the canned or processed variety. Notice all the heavy syrup that accompanies those canned fruits? Yup, that’s the same sugar you are trying to avoid.

Another way to ensure you get the daily required fruit intake is by adding pieces of fruit to your regular meals, for example, fresh bananas and strawberries in your cereal or using fruits for dessert instead of that cheese cake. It’s hard, I know. But you know what they say about cheese cake – 1 minute on the lips, 1 hour in the stomach and forever on the hips.

However, sometimes you feel you just don’t have the time. And in our rush hour lives, it seems quite impossible to make our own foods, so we buy the ready-to-eat variety. But wouldn’t you prefer to wash and prepare your own fruits? You can do this once you take the fruits home from the store especially if you hate to have to peal and cut fruits every time you want them. So, wash all fruits, cut and store fruits like cantaloupe, watermelon and pineapple so it’s easy to reach into the fridge and take some out. It’s easier to grab and go if they are already prepared.

And, don’t forget that you are improving your overall health by adding fruits to your diet.

They weren’t joking when they said breakfast was the most important meal of the day. In fact, the name, as it suggests, is “breaking the involuntary fast of sleep” and is the first meal after waking up.

However, it is probably the most often skipped meal, since mornings can be chaotic and taxing, especially when there are children to send off to school and parents have to get to work on time. So, breakfast becomes a grab and go situation.

While having something to eat in the morning is better than having nothing at all, you still have to be conscious of what you eat. Having foods that are high in calories, sugar and fat, like donuts or pastries, will probably give you a burst of energy that will quickly dissipate. And, you definitely won’t feel satisfied for long.

Though some believe that man shall not live by bread alone, others believe that bread is life, and despite the recent “carbo-phobia” bread is still an integral and nutritious part of our diet.

Can you believe it that up to a few decades ago, brown bread was considered inferior to the white variety. However, if you are keeping up, you’ll notice that the roles have been reversed and brown bread rich in nutrients, is the preferred staple on the tables.

Of course the most naturally nutritious bread is made from wholewheat grain, which makes many brown breads. White bread on the other hand is made from the inner part of the grain only as the husk is removed. This causes the white bread to be much lower in fibre, protein and vitamins. Don’t be fooled by brown breads as they are not all created equal. Some brown breads are not made with wholewheat and thus have the same nutritional value as white bread.

Here’s how to select healthy breads:

Check out the ingredients list. If the first ingredient is “whole grain” or “stone ground” rather than “enriched” you are on the right track. In fact looking for 100% wholewheat or 100% whole grain is even better.

Select breads with natural sweeteners like molasses or honey over high fructose corn syrup. Salt should be one of the last ingredients on the list.

If you watch your caloric intake then it’s important to check out the number of calories for each slice of bread you consume.

And don’t think that brown or wholewheat means that they are not tasty. There are a variety of tasty breads out there that are chockfull of nutrition and are quite tasty. Some of these are from brands such as cobblestone which has excellent 9 and 12 grain variety.

The restaurant

When Carl’s Seafood Restaurant on State Road 7 was opened in 1999, it was not because Carl Dixon listened to the people around him; it was because he had a vision and he was going to see it through.

The restaurant business is second nature to Dixon who grew up working in the Sugar Plum Bar & Restaurant, which his parents owned in his native St. Elizabeth, Jamaica. Since it was something he had to do, he was lucky to have liked working in the restaurant. Confident of his knowledge of the business, he used money from his savings to open the first restaurant.

But it didn’t start with his entry into the U.S. in 1985. When Carl arrived in the U.S. he worked at the city of Davie water plant, then he worked as a truck driver. Those jobs weren’t fulfilling enough especially as it relates to money. Carl started selling fish out of his van and soon people started requesting cooked fish, which opened the gateway for Carl’s Seafood Restaurant. “It was easy,” said a smiling, jovial Carl. “I already know the business.”  He added that at that time, he didn’t know of any other Jamaican seafood places around the area.

It’s that place you go to when you are looking for authentic Jamaican and Jamaican Chinese food. It’s also the place to get the best bammy in town. Country Walk Caribbean Take-Out Restaurant, centrally located off West Oakland Park Boulevard in the 64^th Street Plaza, in a little less than two years of opening, has an increasing clientele, which frequent the restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

About two years ago chefs Raymond Blackwood and Brian Wong, who were working at the popular Rice Bowl Jamaican Chinese Restaurant, decided to break away and open their own restaurant. It was their wish to serve mouthwatering Jamaican and Jamaican Chinese dishes to the growing Caribbean population and to the wider society who have always enjoyed the delights of Caribbean foods. It was Brian who came up with the name “Country Walk” after much trial and error because he said people always prefer the idea of country cooking.

It’s that place you go to when you are looking for authentic Jamaican and Jamaican Chinese food. It’s also the place to get the best bammy in town. Country Walk Caribbean Take Out Restaurant, centrally located off West Oakland Park Boulevard in the 64^th Street Plaza, in a little less than two years of opening, has an increasing clientele, which frequent the restaurant for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

About two years ago chefs Raymond Blackwood and Brian Wong, who were working at the popular Rice Bowl Jamaican Chinese Restaurant, decided to break away and open their own restaurant. It was their wish to serve mouthwatering Jamaican and Jamaican Chinese dishes to the growing Caribbean population and to the wider society who have always enjoyed the delights of Caribbean foods. It was Brian who came up with the name “Country Walk” after much trial and error because he said people always prefer the idea of country cooking.

While we were waiting to speak to the two, they were busy serving a number of customers who filed in for their lunch. Customers selected from a delectable spread of curry goat, curry chicken, veggie chunks, callaloo, steamed veggies, fried dumplings, fish and the greatest tasting bammy in the vicinity. Of course, we wanted to know what made the bammy taste so great, and after much negotiation, we learnt it had a lot to do with the quality of the bammy and we got the secret formula from Brian. But sorry guys, we can’t tell! You have to get it at Country Walk! Oh and don’t forget to try out their potato and cassava puddings, delightful!

Eggplant Parmesan

Serves 4 to 6

INGREDIENTS:

1 large eggplant, about 2 pounds

3/4 cup olive oil

2 cups cups canned tomato sauce

1/2 teaspoon dried basil

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese

8 ounces shredded Mozzarella cheese

There’s much to be said about America’s multiculturalism and diversity. Though some of it is coming across negatively recently, there’s one aspect we can say is totally positive, and that’s the diversity of foods. Now as Caribbean people, we like to eat our own thing because “we ain’t know what dey is put in dere” and so sometimes we don’t want to try new things. But, alas, sometimes something new is just what the doctor ordered.

Why shouldn’t we go Italian? If your only exposure to Italian food is pizza and maybe lasagna, then you are missing out! Italian foods utilize lots of cheeses, tomatoes, herbs, garlic of course, pasta and who could forget the olive oil? This is the kind of cooking that’s mmmm mmmm good.

Like the cuisine of many countries, Italian cuisine is extremely varied reflecting the cultural variety of its regions and its diverse history. Its cuisine is influenced by Greek, Roman, Norman and Arab civilizations. Italian cuisine could be considered as a prime example of the Mediterranean diet.

Now with this cuisine, in Italy, each area has its own specialties at the regional level and is usually very seasonal since Italians place a lot of emphasis on the use of fresh produce in their cooking. This is something that is unusual in other countries; however, since we’re not in Italy, let’s get as close to it as possible, take Italy to your kitchen and let’s eat Italian!

What would your food be without a pinch of this, a dash of that or a sprig of the other? Bland! In fact, jost foods need something… spices, herbs to give them that zing, that taste, that oomph. It is the melding of food with spices and herbs that create all the delectable dishes and tantalize the taste buds, and leave palates satiated. These herbs and spices are some all important ingredients in Caribbean cooking and, in fact, should always been plentiful in every kitchen:

PIMENTO

Commonly known as allspice, this fascinating spice is indigenous to the Caribbean, it was spotted in Jamaica by Spanish explorers as early as 1509. The Spanish called it pimento from the Spanish word ‘pimiento’ which means pepper or peppercorn – because of its resemblance to peppercorn and its zing. Allspice is also an appropriate name for the versatile spice whose flavor is a combination of cloves, nutmeg, cinnamon, and pepper. In the Caribbean we use it in our rice and peas, soups, steam fish and a myriad of dishes. You cannot mistake the aroma when you pass a pot of anything with pimento.

Okra is among the many ‘green things’ we didn’t want to eat as children. There is something about green food that makes a kid’s face contort in protest and at times disgust. Okra is that vegetable that brings the slime to mind, and asking a child to swallow it seems like a heinous crime, but as adults, we can’t imagine our steam fish without it, nor some of our soups and strews.

Okra is much more versatile than we give it credit. Many people are unaware that okra can be served raw and marinated in salads. It teams well with tomatoes, onions, corn, peppers, and eggplant. The whole fresh pods are also used for pickles. Some adults still shy away from the okra because of the slipperiness but that is easily remedied, since sautéed, or deep-fried this vegetable is crunchy and flavorful.

More important than the taste, however, are the nutrients associated with the okra. According to the research of University of Illinois nutrition specialist Sylvia Zook, Ph.D, "Okra is a powerhouse of valuable nutrients, nearly half of which is soluble fiber in the form of gums and pectins. Soluble fiber helps to lower serum cholesterol, reducing the risk of heart disease. The other half is insoluble fiber, which helps to keep the intestinal tract healthy, decreasing the risk of some forms of cancer, especially colon-rectal cancer. Nearly 10 percent of the recommended levels of vitamin B6 and folic acid are also present in a half-cup of cooked okra.”

Fried okra with cornmeal coating

INGREDIENTS:

1 pound okra pods, stem ends cut off, sliced 1/4-inch thick

salt

cold water

yellow cornmeal

salt and pepper

PREPARATION:

Put sliced okra in a bowl, sprinkle generously with salt; cover with very cold water. Refrigerate the okra for at least 1 hour. Drain; roll okra slices in cornmeal seasoned with salt and pepper until well coated.

Fry in a deep skillet in about 1/2-inch of hot oil until browned and crisp. Drain on paper towels and serve hot.

Apart from reggae music, Jamaica is known around the world as the place for the culinary cooking method called ‘jerk’. Last weekend, Jamaicans and foreigners alike had a chance to satisfy their palates dining on delectable items from jerk meats, fish and poultry to jerk ice cream at the well-attended Jamaican Jerk Festival.

Now some of us have always enjoyed jerk chicken, pork and fish. But many had never tasted jerk lobster or shrimp, let alone jerk ice cream? It’s interesting how this can be applied to aljost any food item…

According to popular belief the term jerk derives from the word charqui, a Spanish term for jerked or dried meat, which eventually became jerky in English.

Jerked Oriental Grilled Red Snapper

Ingredients:

4 scallions, diced

3 garlic cloves, diced

2 tablespoons Jerk Rub

Zest of 2 lemons

2 red snappers (about 2 pounds each) gutted with heads left on

¼ cup lemon juice

2 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons olive oil

Callaloo

(Trinidad & Tobago’s National Dish)

Ingredients

1 dozen dasheen leave

8 okras

1/2 cup of finely chopped onion

1/4 lb of salt meat or pork.

2 crabs or crab meat.

1 tablespoon of butter

Chives, salt and pepper

1/4 teaspoon of Angostura aromatic bitters

2 quarts liters of water

1 whole hot green pepper

When you have a mix of Indian, Creole, Chinese, Syrian-Lebanese and other ethnicities making up a country, you can just imagine the diversity of the cuisine. Trinidad and Tobago can boast that diversity both in their culture and their food.

There are the curry and flatbread dishes from the Indian influence, the one-pot dishes with greens and meats from the African influence and others that have melded into a unique and renowned cuisine.

One of the main dishes in Trinidad and Tobago is Callaloo, and we’re not talking about the green spinach-like vegetable that so many Caribbean islands delight in, but the soup or stew made of dashin leaves or other greens, okra, crabmeat, pigeon peas and herbs and spices. This delectable dish it is often prepared for Sunday lunch and served with cornmeal coo coo.

Curried duck is also a favorite among Trinis and something that is had quite often. In fact, there’s a curry duck competition held by the Jupiter River off the Interstate 95, According to Halal Meat proprietor,