13. Trinadad and Tobago
“Trinidad and Tobago is a dual-island Caribbean nation near Venezuela, with distinctive Creole traditions and cuisines. Trinidad’s capital, Port of Spain, hosts a boisterous carnival featuring calypso and soca music. Numerous bird species inhabit sanctuaries such as the Asa Wright Nature Centre. The smaller island of Tobago is known for its beaches and the Tobago Main Ridge Forest Reserve, which shelters hummingbirds.” ― Google

The dishes we made:
We split these dishes into 2 nights.
Night 1: Curry Butternut Squash Soup with Curry Roasted Shrimp, Trinidad Corn Pie and Trini Coconut Bake.
Night 2: Trini Stew Chicken with Orange Rice and Bhaji (Coconut Creamed Spinach).

 

Curry Butternut Squash Soup    VERY, VERY, VERY Good!
A Creamy Curry Butternut Squash Soup with sweet potato, coconut milk and Trinidad yellow curry powder.
1 Tablespoon. olive or coconut oil
1 medium onion, chopped
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 teaspoon. freshly grated ginger
6 sprigs fresh thyme DE-stemmed
1 tsp turmeric
2 tsp curry powder
1 medium butternut squash, peeled and cubed, ~4 cups
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and cubed
1 medium carrot, peeled and diced
1 medium yellow bell pepper. diced
6 cups plain water
1 (14-ounce) can unsweetened coconut milk LITE
1 teaspoon white pepper
1 teaspoon kosher salt

Garnish
1/4 cup sour cream
4 sprigs cilantro, finely chopped
1/2 teaspoon lime juice, freshly squeezed
Combine all ingredients together

In a large pot heat oil over medium heat. Sauté onions and garlic for 1 minute.
Add ginger, thyme, turmeric, and curry powder, and continue to cook for 1 minute stirring constantly.
Add butternut squash, sweet potato, carrot and bell pepper, continue sautéing for another 2 minutes until well coated.
Add water, coconut milk, pepper and salt and cook covered on medium heat until butternut squash, sweet potato and carrot are soft and fork tender (about 30 minutes).
Remove soup from heat and puree with an immersion blender or blender until smooth.
Taste and adjust seasonings, as needed. Continue cooking for a few more minutes over medium heat.
Serve in soup bowls garnished with a dollup of cilantro creme and a sprig on the top
You can also add curry roasted shrimp to this soup.

 

Curry Roasted Shrimp (Susie’s version)   VERY, VERY, VERY Good!
½ lb Shrimp
Garlic Powder
1 Tbsp Curry Powder
¼ tsp Cumin
½ T Turmeric
Onion Powder
Tomato Powder
Water or Broth (~ ¼ – ½ c)

Sauté shrimp in this mix.

 

Trinidad Corn Pie       VERY, VERY, VERY Good!
Butter
½ red onion diced
½ whole garlic bulb minced
½ red bell pepper diced
1 carrot shredded then pulsed (or grated)
½ green bell pepper diced
½ bunch scallion chopped
½ can cream corn
1 can sweet corn drained
salt and pepper
cayenne pepper to taste
Italian seasoning
½ pkg shredded cheddar, divided
½ cup LITE Coconut Milk
1 handful parsley
1 egg
¾ -1 cup fine cornmeal

Sauté onion and garlic in butter for 1-2 minutes.
Add bell peppers, carrots, and scallion and sauté about 5 minutes.
Next add the corns and mix in salt, pepper, and italian seasonings. Remove from heat.
Mix in 3/4 of the bag of cheese. Add Coconut milk and a handful of parsley chopped up fine and whisked egg.
Next mix in the corn meal. Start with 1 cup and add 1/2 cup at a time after that. Mix with a rubber spatula scraping the sides until the mixture is pretty thick and the spatula could stand on its own in there.
Pour this goodness into a large casserole dish 8x8 pyrex. Sprinkle the top with remaining cheese and cook for 25-30 minutes at 350 degrees F.
Let cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

 

Trini Coconut Bake                Good!
2 cups coconut milk - warmed
4 cups of flour
2 tsp yeast
1 tsp brown sugar
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup grated coconut
1/2 tsp salt

Mix dry ingredients, together, add in butter and then add coconut.
Put in mixer bowl and dough hook and add warm coconut milk (if more needed while bringing dough together, use water).
Bring dough together and then fold out onto a floured work surface and knead for ~10 min. to get dough very smooth and glutens incorporated well.
Put in oiled bowl, cover and let rest ~1 hour. It should double in size.
Cut into 2 sections and fold under smoothing it into another ball, flatten into a large round shape with thinner edges than the middle, pick all over with fork and let rest ~15 min on a greased baking sheet.
These bake at 400 deg. F for 15-20 mins.

Trini Stew Chicken with Orange Rice    VERY, VERY, VERY Good!
Popular Trinidad Stew. Marinate chicken overnight if you can.
For the green seasoning:

• 1 lime, juiced
• 1 Tbsp ketchup
• 1 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1 tomato
• 3-4 green onions
• 1 handful fresh cilantro, stemmed
• 3 sprigs thyme, stemmed (used dried)
• 3 sprigs parsley, stemmed (used dried)
• 5 cloves garlic
• 1 onion, quartered
• 1 tsp ginger root (grated)
• 1 Tbsp salt
• 1 tsp pepper
•  habanero peppers, to taste

For the chicken:

• 2-4 lbs whole chicken legs
• 3 Tbsp vegetable oil
• 2 Tbsp brown sugar
• 2 cups water

For the green seasoning:
Add the ingredients for the Green Seasoning marinade to your blender or food processor… in the order written (liquids first).
Be sure to cut things small enough for your machine to handle the pieces.
A note on the hot chili peppers: used about half a habenero (without the seeds) and found the spice level somewhere between mild and medium.
For the chicken:
Pour the green seasoning over the chicken and marinate at least an hour. Overnight is better.
Use some brown sugar to color the chicken. All you need to do is heat up the oil and brown sugar in a large pot.
Cook until the sugar caramelizes (it will get foamy and may smoke a bit).
Quickly add the chicken. Cook until browned on both sides, a few minutes per side.
Pour on the marinade.
Cover and simmer 1 hour, adding water as desired to thin the sauce or make more of it.
Serve with orange rice and chopped cilantro and chives or green onions.

Orange Rice – aka Caribbean-Style Orange Juice Rice          VERY, VERY, VERY Good!
So good!
This is a popular side dish in parts of Trinidad and Tobago. When cooked with orange juice, rice becomes sweet, tangy, and makes the perfect complement to spicy food. However, using only OJ can be very strong orange flavor, so you can try it first by using half water (or broth) and half O.J.
We did half and half.

• 4 cups orange juice (fresh), with pulp (2 cups) OR (1 cup OJ + 1 cup Water)
• 2 cups white rice (1 cup)
• 2 Tbsp butter (1 Tbsp)
•  orange zest, for garnish

Serving 6 People (3 people)

If using a rice steamer:
Add rice to bowl sprinkled with salt and add 1 cup OJ and put 1 cup water in reservoir.
When done fluff and add some butter.
If using pan on stove:
Melt some butter in a medium saucepan and stir in the rice. Cook several minutes over high heat until the rice is very hot. Meanwhile, season with salt and pepper.
Next, pour on the O.J. If you warmed the rice long enough, it will sizzle and sputter as the liquid hits the hot grains. Bring the mixture to a boil. Reduce to a simmer, cover, and cook until all the liquid is absorbed. This will take longer than regular rice because we made it with O.J. instead of water. Mine took 25+ minutes, but cooking times may vary.
NOTE: If you use 50% OJ and 50% water, cooking time will be more like 16-20 minutes.

Bhaji (Coconut Creamed Spinach)   VERY, VERY Good!
11 oz baby spinach (pre washed)
1 medium onion, fine chop
3 cloves garlic, fine chop
1/4 hot pepper (optional) I used habanero
dash of black pepper
salt to taste (I used a little less than 1/4 teaspoon)
3 tablespoon olive oil)
1 can coconut milk
Thyme
Chives

Sauté onions and garlic.
Add spinach and sweat the spinach down.
Add salt, pepper, hot pepper.
Add coconut milk, simmer until liquid has reduced and thickened, about 20-30 minutes.