I’m always looking for interesting and creative side dishes. The kind that can be used both formally and informally. This recipe fit the bill. Warm creamy potatoes and sweet pumpkin slices combine to create an unexpected comfort food vibe, while the vibrant notes of fresh basil, make it exciting enough for guests’ palates. Braised Pumpkin and Potatoes Makes 6 to 8 servings INGREDIENTS: 3... 

This concoction came up on a whim. I’m always looking for ways to invent and reinvent rice-based side dishes. Sauteed garlic, scotch bonnet peppers and sweet peppers create a hot and savoury medley. The piece de resistance however is the inclusion of fresh thyme which makes each mouthful unexpectedly fragrant. It made a wonderful complement to this year’s Emancipation Day menu. Give it... 

When I heard that this month’s theme of Meeta’s Monthly Mingle was “Earth Food” I smiled. You see, I have been interested in the preservation of the environment from a very young age. Where I got this passion for conservation I’m not quite sure, but I attribute some of it to Charlie. Who is Charlie you ask? Well he was a cartoon mascot in the early 1980′s for the... 

It’s been several months since I’ve taken part in a “Waiter There’s Something in my…” challenge. So, it was with great excitement that I saw that this month’s theme was dumplings. Who doesn’t love dumplings?!? And I have tons of variations on the theme!… Then I read the rules more closely… oh my… the definition of dumpling was being... 

This recipe was the first one that my mother decided to try from my copy of The Good Home Cookbook: More Than 1000 Classic American Recipes. Since then she’s made it at least twice a month and I never tire of it. Smoky, spicy, and heavily herbed it is almost a main dish by itself From The Good Home Cookbook: More Than 1000 Classic American Recipes: “Arroz verde, “ or green rice,... 

My anchovy fixation continues and everyone in my home is loving it! This recipe for Bagna Romano couldn’t be any simpler. Pasta, anchovies, garlic and cheese. That’s it! The pasta is so delicious it is a meal in itself! From: Cooking with Three Ingredients: Flavorful Food, Easy as 1, 2, 3 This sauce runs over with the complex salty fermented richness of oil-cured anchovies and garlic.... 

Cheesy and tangy, this is a rich, buttery ,and all-so-easy, way to enjoy your vegetables Tweet  Read More →

Vegetarian Express is one of my all-time favorite cookbooks because I can always rely on it to provide a simple quick accompaniment or entree to a more lavish menu. This recipe for deviled tomatoes was used to provide an accompaniment to a meal I made recently of Broccoli Gratin and Fettucine Spaghetti Alfredo. It not only provides nutritional balance but a lovely burst of red to the plating. Even... 

Although this is the first time that I am sharing an entry to They Go Really Well Together (TGRWT) this is actually not the first time that I’ve created a recipe for this ongoing ‘Molecular Gastronomy Project’. Unfortunately my first creation was so ghastly, so toxic, that I could barely swallow one bite and promptly attempted to discard it when my mother’s frugality exploded... 

This recipe is a great flavorful way to use up ends of vegetables that you may have on hand. As everything is prepared in the oven cleanup is a cinch and your time is freed up for other things Tweet  Read More →

I have no idea why coconut and curry go together so well, but I’m sooo glad that they do This rice recipe leaves the rice grains moist and creamy Tweet  Read More →

As I mentioned long ago my past attempts at roti making have been nothing short of tragic. My mother has been hiding her tawa away from me for the past few years as a result, eyeing me suspiciously whenever I would plead for the co-ordinates to its whereabouts. I pleaded with every school of logic I could come up with. I was older now, wiser. How could I maintain a site called TriniGourmet and not... 

Jamaican Festival has to be one of my most favorite things ever. Seriously. It is just delicious. Slightly sweet cornmeal fried ‘dumplings’, they are traditionally served alongside spicy meat dishes, such as Jamaica’s infamous ‘jerk’. The sweetness offsets the meat, pepper and spices most sublimely, and the doughy texture is ideal for soaking up gravy and sauces. The... 

So what is the ‘surprise’? Probably the pack of heat that this recipe delivers I used a whole scotch bonnet this time but would probably reduce that to 1/2 the next time I make this. It was a hit with my mom tho Unfortunately my digital camera has officially passed away so I have had to use my cameraphone to take shots As I clear out my backlog of recipes you’ll see a mix... 

This has to be one of my favorite recent recipes. Its twist (for me) comes from the addition of mango chutney near the end. This really gives it a sweet n savoury kick that is hard for others to put their finger on. Since this recipe I’ve taken to adding a spoonful of chutney into my curry dishes as a matter of course Because I used chive from our little herb garden (see below), I have also... 

At the time that I am writing this Passover is a little less than 24 hours away from ending*, and I’m starting to daydream about all sorts of leavened goodness. For those who don’t already know Passover is an 8 day period in the Jewish calender where observers remember and relive the Hebrew exodus from Egypt. Although most attention is spent on the seders (ceremonial dinners) that mark... 

Callaloo is a fond memory for many Trinidadians, myself included, however I did not know that many foreigners consider it to be our national dish! My mother told me that the first thing she often did for visiting friends (her first 10 years in Trinidad) was take them for some of this dish. She says that even though Jamaica has a dish called callaloo with basically the same ingredients the final result... 

The genesis of this recipe came about when Nandita at Saffron Trail asked me to come up with a dish that could theoretically represent the West Indies Cricket Team at this year’s Cricket World Cup, for an article she is developing. Caribbean cooking is so varied and nuanced that I struggled for a while to find a piece that really brought us together. The best I could come up with was Rice and... 

This dish came up as a whim on my part. I quite like it and think it makes an attractive side to a meat entree. It’s also great all by itself (as I sometimes have it) Because it’s vegetarian in nature I think it may also be a great addition to the menus of any of you who may be planning Tu B’Shevat seders. I’ll be featuring more vegetarian dishes in the run-up to this fun... 

This recipe for Caramelized Onion Sauce came about as a result of the Onion Day Challenge posed by Kochtopf. According to her: In Berne (Switzerland) the annual Zibelem?ɬ§rit (onion market) is held on the fourth Monday in November. This year it will take place on Monday, 27th November. More than 50 tons of onions – in artistically woven plaits – are offered on this day on more then 300...