Trinidadian Chicken Stew (with Pineapple-Tomato Salsa and Rice & Beans)

[Yes, we are back! I'm afraid that posting even just ONE time during the trip was too ambitious for us. We must be getting old, as I'm afraid the energy stores aren't what they used to be. We'll be going back to our regular posts and pretty soon, posts from our trip will make their way onto the blog. Um no, we didn't go to Trinidad, as this post may lead you to believe.]

[js]
Is this me or is there a dearth of good shows on the Food Network these days?

Food Network Canada used to have some shows with substance. Now, it seems like everytime I turn onto the channel, I only see shows where they showcase or 'unwrap' food items that I absolutely have no interest seeing wrapped or unwrapped. Or I see the endless cake challenges that are just filler programs for the network. How many $10,000s do they have to give out?

And the next Food Network star? I mean, if these execs need a reality show to choose their next talent -- well, I guess we now know why the network has lost its way. I actually would not mind if they just re-run some of their older shows with actual content.

While I was recovering from that two-week flu last January, one of the shows I happened to catch one Sunday morning while recuperating in bed is Everyday Exotic. From watching the show a couple of times after that, the show seems interesting enough and the host, Roger Mooking, does seem to have some unique ideas and a unique point of view.

(He just has to get rid of the phrase "obedient ingredient" to describe the featured exotic ingredient. I find the phrase grating. And I don't know if it's a Food Network Canada thing, but he needs to stop pausing multiple times in one sentence.)

One of the dishes that we saw him was a Trinidadian chicken stew from his grandmother. Not having Trinidadian food before, we figure it was time to try.

Amise Marinade


[ts]
From what I gathered from the episode, this is the marinade that Roger Mooking's grandmother used. Am I safe to assume that "amise" means "grandmother"? Anyway, into the blender went green onions, shallots, garlic, parsley (leaves and stems) and some oil. We probably threw in some cilantro as well.



[ts]
So nice and green!

Half of the marinade was used to marinate the chicken. We didn't get to cook this until two days later.

Making the Caramel / Cooking


[ts]
I started the caramel. This one used sugar and oil instead of sugar and water. When it turned brown, I added the chicken pieces. We had too many chicken pieces for them to brown in the caramel in a single layer, so I just added them all.



[ts]
I mixed the chicken and marinade with the caramel, then added some chopped onions, tomatoes and jalapeño peppers. The recipe actually calls for plantains as well, but we didn't have any on hand, so we just left them out.

The recipe called for some chicken stock, but we had so much liquid in the pot that there was no room for chicken stock. If the pot becomes a little dry, I see no reason why some water wouldn't do the trick.

I let the mixture boil, then added in the seasonings: some Worcestershire sauce and the other half of the amise marinade.



[ts]
I turned the heat to low/simmer and waited until the chicken was cooked.



Pineapple-Tomato Salsa and Black-eyed Peas & Rice


[js]
We served this with a simple pineapple-tomato salsa on the side and some rice with black-eyed peas.

To make the salsa, we simply mixed together some pineapple chunks, tomatoes, red onions, a little jalapeno, lime juice and vinegar, and of course, cilantro and a generous amount of salt and black pepper.

For the rice, we boiled some black-eyed peas and finished cooking them in some white rice.

I was apprehensive at first about the amount of sugar when I saw TS dumping the sugar in the pot. Thankfully, the stew did not taste cloyingly sweet at all. It had a deep, round flavour from the caramelized sugar.

We use the individual ingredients quite a lot in our cooking, so when reading the ingredient list, I thought the taste would end up similar to one of our multitude brown-sauced chicken dishes. When used in this combination, they contributed to a stew that tasted quite different. Different but good. It tasted very home-y and we ate this with much gusto.

[ts]
We were planning to submit this to the Caribbean edition of Monthly Mingle, but entries were due on March 9. Ack.


Roger Mooking and Everyday Exotic links
http://www.rogermooking.com/
http://www.foodtv.ca/everydayexotic/

Recipe
Trinidadian Style Chicken
by Roger Mooking of Everyday Exotic
Recipe here: http://www.foodtv.ca/everydayexotic/RecipeDetails.aspx?dishid=9751

Amise Marinade
1 bunch green onion, chopped
2 shallots, roughly chopped
6 cloves garlic, chopped
1 bunch parsley leaves and stems, roughly chopped
1/2 cup vegetable oil

1 whole chicken, cut into pieces
amise marinade (recipe above)
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup vegetable oil
½ white onion, small dice
1 green chili, sliced in half, length-wise (optional)
1 unripe plantain cut in half, length wise and chopped
4 plum tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup worcestershire sauce
1/2 cup chicken stock
1 cup cilantro, leaves picked
salt

To make the marinade:
Place all ingredients in food processor and puree. Transfer to a container.

Marinate chicken in ½ of Amise Marinade for a maximum of 24 hours.

To cook the stew:
In a wide based pan, heat sugar and vegetable oil over medium to high heat. Swirl until sugar caramelizes and turns brown, approximately 7-10 minutes.

As soon as sugar caramelizes, add chicken skin side down. Allow chicken to brown on all sides approximately 5 minutes.

Add onions, chili, plantain, tomato and worcestershire sauce, stir. Add chicken stock, bring to a boil.

Add other ½ of Amise Marinade, reduce to medium heat. Cook for 30-40 minutes, season with salt and remove from heat.

Garnish with cilantro before serving.

Iron Chef -- Battle of the Recipes! (Part 2, Tasting and Judging)

top left: image from The Babbo Cookbook
top right: image from Molto Italiano
bottom left & right: images from West: The Cookbook

This is Part 2 of Battle of the Recipes between Chef Mario Batali and Chef Warren Geraghty. If you've missed Part 1 -- The Battle, click here.

[public service announcement]
Starting tomorrow, TS and JS will be away from their kitchen for about 2 weeks.

In the meantime, they leave you this, the conclusion to their special presentation of Iron Chef -- Battle of the Recipes.

Internet access will likely be spotty, but they will try to publish a few posts, perhaps. They will try to keep up with all your food blog posts. However, comments may lag for quite a while.

Thank you for your patience. Our regularly-scheduled programming will now resume.

[faux alton brown]
Welcome back, precious audience.

The first-ever Iron Chef --Battle of the Recipes (Part 1, The Battle) has just ended and now it is time to choose the victor.

Here's Kevin Brauch to tell you how the judging works.

[faux kevin brauch]
Konnichiwa. Konbanwa.

Each simulated Iron Chef will be given a total of 30 points, 20 for the main dish and 10 for the dessert. The points are broken down thusly:

Out of the 20 points for the main, 15 goes to taste and flavour and 5 goes to presentation.

Out of the 10 points for the dessert, 7 goes to taste and flavour and 3 goes to presentation.

We are not really giving out points for plating and originality because -- well, we are constrained by the recipe and the plating of the original Iron Chefs.

[faux alton brown]
Thank you, Kevin.

For reference, please look at the pictures of the original dishes from the cookbooks. There they are at the top of the page. Batali's dishes form the first row, while the dishes from West form the second. The dishes made today certainly seem up to par with the originals.

Let the judging commence.


Warren Geraghty, West: The Cookbook (pp.97-98)
Fillet of Mackerel with Cannelloni of Smoked Eggplant and Pine Nuts

[faux chairman]
Chef faux-Gerharty, what was your inspiration for today's battle?

[real ts as faux gerharty]
Mackerel is one of the most underrated fish around. At the restaurant, most customers find it a pleasant surprise.

Here we have pan-fried mackerel sitting on top of cannelloni that has a filling of charred eggplant, tomatoes, tahini and pine nuts. We also have a slow-roasted tomato and shallot sauce, as well as a tangy parsley vinaigrette. And finally, we have some crispy-fried parsley lightly seasoned with salt. Enjoy.

[judge 1]
I love this roasted tomato sauce! How come there isn't enough of it on the plate?

[judge 2]
It is a good-looking plate, with all of the colours here, the red, the green, the brown.

[judge 3]
I don't like the fish piled on top of each other like this.

[judge 1]
Where else would he put the other piece? Maybe Chef Geraghty should have given you just one piece. Give me that other piece, then!

[judge 3]
Hands off! You can have my cannelloni, though. I didn't care for that at all. I didn't like it.

[judge 2]
You didn't like it? I thought it was very good. All the elements of this dish complemented each other well. The pasta was a very good foil for the oily fishiness of the mackerel.

[judge 1]
The parsley vinaigrette didn't really do anything for me.

[judge 2]
I thought it added a welcome acidity to the dish, much more so than the tomatoes, which were sweet.

[judge 1]
Give me that cannelloni, if you don't want it. While Chef was filling the cannelloni, I thought there was too little filling for the dough. Turns out it was just right! Who was I to doubt, eh? I love the chewiness of the pasta.

[judge 2]
The filling had a nice smokiness from the eggplant. My only complaint was that the pine nuts seem disproportionately big for the rest of the elements. Maybe they should have been chopped finer.


Rhonda Viani (pastry chef), West: The Cookbook (pp. 213-215)
Chocolate Cappuccino Cake

[faux chairman]
Chef!
(with accompanying arm gesture)

[real ts as faux Gerharty]
For the dessert, it was a simple concept of chocolate and coffee.

This is a dark chocolate cake flavored with espresso. It's layered with espresso whipped cream and wrapped with dark chocolate. Finally, it is finished with a sprinkling of cinnamon sugar. Enjoy.

[judge 1]
I find the texture of the cake to be too soft. Or mushy. It is also a tad bitter to me.

[judge 2]
Conceptually, I can see that this is well-thought out and a "complete" dessert.

[judge 3]
But the flavour just isn't there. It is one-note to me and I have to eat with the chocolate outside to gain a more substantial flavour from the cake.

[judge 2]
It is bitter to me and I couldn't quite get where the bitterness is coming from. Is it from the coffee or from the chocolate?

[judge 1]
I don't get the bitterness you're mentioning. The cake is too flakey, too dry for me. It just disappears in my mouth and there seems to be no lingering flavour there at all.

[judge 3]
Yes, it is a little dry. You have to eat all of the layers as one bite. The cream adds more of that body, the mouthfeel. I don't know why there was no flavored syrup to soak the cake rounds. I think that's usually what's done with a cake of this type.

[judge 1]
This is just so dry. Or mushy. It's dry and powdery, or mushy. I don't know. I'm confused. I just don't like this. The look of it was nice, but the taste was very disappointing. Sorry.


Mario Batali, Molto Italiano (p.304)
Grilled Mackerel and Eggplant with Salsa Verde

[faux chairman]
Chef Faux-Batali, what is your inspiration for the dish?

[real js as faux batali]
I wanted to showcase the mackerel's inherent oily deliciousness, pairing it with the sweetness of grilled eggplants. Those have been marinated in olive oil, oregano, red pepper flakes and red wine vinegar. The salsa verde is for that burst of herbacious greenness and freshness, which wouldn't go badly with the fish either. It has parsley and a little mint, with anchovies, olive oil, capers, lemon zest and juice, and hardboiled eggs. Enjoy.

[judge 1]
I love mackerel on its own, but having it with the eggplant was delicious. The grilled eggplant is sweet, almost banana-ish.

[judge 2]
I didn't like the eggplant at all. It tasted burnt to me.

[judge 1]
I had a problem with the eggplant skin, but I love the marinade on the eggplant, especially the acidity and the heat, which kicks in a little bit after you swallow the eggplant.

[judge 2]
The mackerel could have used a little more salt. More seasoning is in order. But overall, I thought this dish was very, very good, and I'd happily order it in a restaurant.

[judge 3]
I'm sorry to say, but I did not like this dish. I wanted to like it. When I say the grill marks on the fish and the eggplant, I was extremely excited.

[faux chairman]
What didn't you like about the dish?

[judge 3]
I couldn't taste the mackerel at all when eaten with the sauce. Now, don't get me wrong, because I liked the salsa verde. It had a nice tang. I would happily eat the mackerel and the sauce separately. Taken together, I just found the dish disappointing.

[judge 2]
You didn't like the eggs? I was very happy to see the eggs. Maybe that's just me.

[judge 3]
It didn't add anything for me. The salsa verde overpowered everything, in my opinion.

[judge 1]
I thought the salsa verde was delicious! It was punchy, very bold, it was fresh, and that little bit of mint just gave the sauce just a different unexpectedly delicious dimension.

[judge 3]
I didn't like the mint at all. I couldn't put my finger on it, but maybe that's what I didn't like about it.

[judge 1]
The only thing I can complain about the salsa verde was the colour. The green was overpowering for me, presentation-wise. The plate could have used a little more colour.


Gina DePalma (pastry chef), The Babbo Cookbook (p.281)
Chocolate Hazelnut Cake

[faux chairman]
Chef!
(with accompanying arm gesture)

[real js as faux-batali]
For the dessert, well, what can I say? The dessert is simple. I love chocolates and I love hazelnuts together. They're a match made in heaven. Enjoy.

[judge 1]
I like the texture of this cake and I love the contrast between the crusty outside and the soft, fudgey interior.

[judge 2]
I would pair this with a simple vanilla ice cream and it would be great! I like the little nuts in the cake. The chocolate is "just right," not too bitter, not too sweet.

[judge 1]
Yeah, flavour-wise, I liked the fact that it was not too sweet. The chocolate flavour really comes through, as well as the hazelnut flavour. I mean, it's still fairly light, yet very fudgy at the same time. And the flavor is nice and bold.

[judge 3]
I thought the hazelnuts were a tease! The bits were too small. I could have used bigger pieces of the hazelnut. But I liked it overall, although it was on the dry side for me. And I think the plating could have been better.

[judge 1]
Really. I thought it was simple and classic.

[faux alton brown]
The judging is now complete. Now, the verdict!

[faux chairman]
Today, at Kitchen Stadium, we meet two duelling sisters channeling two culinary masters, Batali and Geraghty of West. Both of them have fought long and hard, but there can only be one.

And the winner is . . .

(quick slideshow of photos of the dishes, with accompanying suspenseful music)




[faux alton brown]
Will it be Mario Batali's bold Italian flavors? Or Warren Geraghty's more refined dishes? Who will it be? Whose cuisine reigns supreme?





[faux chairman]
IRON CHEF BATALI'S RECIPES!

[faux alton brown]
Congratulations!

Here's how it went down. The scores from the judges were averaged and each chef had one aggregate score.

For his MAIN, Batali scores 15.67 out of 20:
Taste: 12 / 15
Presentation: 3.67 / 5 points

For the DESSERT, he scores 7.08 out of 10:
Taste: 5.75 / 7
Presentation: 1.33 / 3

Batali's total comes to 22.75/30.

On the other side --
MAIN: Geraghty scores 15.5 out of 20:
Taste: 11.42 / 15
Presentation: 4.08 / 5

For his dessert, he scores 4.83 out of 10:
Taste: 2.92 / 7
Presentation: 1.92 / 3

West's total comes to 20.33/30.

[faux alton brown]
So there you have it, ladies and gentlemen. Although Chef Geraghty wins hands-down on presentation, and both mackerel dishes did well, in the end, it was West's dessert that let them down.

Our first-ever Iron Chef, Battle of the Recipes is now complete. Until the next time, on behalf of all of us at this Kitchen Stadium, we wish you good eats.

Oh wait, that's my other show!

______________________

Enjoyed this post? Why not subscribe to [eatingclub] vancouver? Subscribe via reader. Or, subscribe via email. Thanks!

Special thanks to csc, lsc, msc, the b, and ni' for doing the tasting & judging and giving us their comments to splice! =)

[eatingclub] vancouver 24, 24, 24 posts:
Behind the Scenes -- The Making of Artisan Gelato
A Starry, Starry Night in Vancouver -- Evoking the Philippine Christmas Spirit
Iron Chef -- Battle of the Recipes (Part 1, The Battle)
Iron Chef -- Battle of the Recipes (Part 2, Tasting and Judging)

Recipes used in today's battle are from:

Scoobi Doo Squid-didoo (Squid with Squiggly Pasta)

Don't worry, you didn't miss Part 2, Tasting and Judging of our special production, Iron Chef -- Battle of the Recipes! It's coming soon! In case you missed it, read all about Part 1: Iron Chef -- Battle of the Recipes (Part 1, The Battle) [update: Part 2 is posted!]

[js]
Since I've practiced my super-duper costing skills last time, I feel pretty confident that I'll be able to make the numbers work this time for our entry for Hobo Mondays (a Thursday Night Smackdown event).

I usually go grocery-shopping twice a week, and on those runs, I keep an eye out for products that are on special. At our regular Chinese supermarket, there are two kinds of specials: one is the "Weekly Special" and the other is marked "Crazy Item". Like, you have to be crazy not to buy these things or they have to be crazy to be selling it at that price.

Being shallow, I find myself giggling everytime I pass these "crazy items." I found frog legs once as a "crazy item." I resisted the urge to take a permanent marker out and write, "Hoppin' mad too!" Yes, I do keep a permanent marker in the glove compartment of my car for precisely these opportune moments.

Squid-didoo
[js]
I found squids recently on weekly special. Usually, these frozen squid with tentacles sell for 4.99 a pack, a pound to a pack. We have had success with these squids, frying them up, or doing a Vietnamese/Thai-style spicy squid dish, or even stuffing them on those rare occasions. They were selling the squid for $2.99 a pack, a pound to a pack. I snatched 4 packs and froze 3 when I got home.

Scoobi Doo
[js]
On another run to Safeway, I spied some pasta shapes on special -- or rather, "Club Member" pricing. They were selling some shapes that were 2 packs for $6.00, so I tried looking for the shape that most appeals to me.

When I figured out which shapes were on sale and which were not, it struck me as absurd why they couldn't give me the same pricing on the rigatoni and the ziti. I suppose if I argued with the customer service they might be persuaded. But, well, we don't really swing that way, that irritating-customer way.



So, I grabbed the shape called "Scoobi Doo." I figure it was a good deal already, because unlike some shapes, it comes in a 900 g bag (as opposed to 500 g), and I also figure it might at least be popular with the kids. If anybody knows this pasta's real name, please inform us.

I knew I wanted a pasta dish with the squid, chili, and basil. I didn't really envision having it with a tomato sauce, but we did have some oven-roasted tomatoes hanging around in our fridge so TS went ahead and used them up.

Sometimes, when tomatoes are on special -- that is, going for 99 cents a pound up to 1.29 per pound -- at the produce store (because it never goes that low at our local Safeway), I will grab about 5 pounds worth of tomatoes. When the tomatoes start going the way of the unused, we will oven-roast them to preserve them. That's why we had these oven-roasted tomatoes in the fridge.

For the basil, we did have to use a lot of basil and those 28 g packs costs about $2.49 each. I suppose if you could find mint, it would be cheaper. I actually wanted mint with this dish but forgot to got some mint. Mint is about 1.29 a bunch and that is a lot of mint. Parsley, another herb that could be used in this context, is 79 cents per bunch and that is also a lot of parsley.



[ts]
This was super simple. While the water for the pasta was boiling -- and during the pasta was cooking -- I heated some olive oil in a pan and tossed in garlic (which is a pantry staple in our house, if there ever was one), some chopped onions, and chili peppers. We had chili peppers in the fridge, but red pepper flakes is good too.

Then I added some oven-roasted tomatoes and let the whole thing cook on low while I was waiting for the pasta. When the pasta was about a minute away from done, I turned the heat back to high and dumped the squid into the sauce. I cut the squid bodies in odd rectangular shapes and scored them this time, but rings would work too.

When the pasta was ready, I added them to the sauce. I tossed everything and added the basil leaves at the last moment.

[js]
To round out the meal, I sautéed some greens with garlic. (Not pictured.)

This time, it was watercress, because I like the taste of watercress and they are pretty reasonably-priced. A bunch of watercress for us here costs 79 cents each (the most is 89 cents a bunch). Two bunches would serve 4 quite adequately.

So this Scoobi Doo Squid-didoo pasta was pretty delicious and I'm happy to report the meal for 4 came to under 10 bucks.

That's pasta with roasted tomatoes, squid, garlic, chili, and basil. Plus, sautéed watercress on the side!

There was even some money left over to buy a baguette (assuming a baguette costs 99 cents; well, a supermarket baguette!) and serve some garlic bread.


COSTING
Scoobi Doo Squid-didoo Pasta, served with Sautéed Watercress
Serves 4

1 pound squid = $2.99 (special price, from $4.99/lb)
Half a red onion = $0.50
Approximately 450 g pasta = $1.50
28g Basil = $2.49
Garlic = $0.10
Roasted tomatoes, approximately 2 lb, at $1.09 per pound = $2.18
Pantry items: pepper flakes
SUBTOTAL = $9.76

Watercress, 2 bundles at 79 cents each = $1.58

TOTAL = $11.34 CAD, which works out to $8.86 USD



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