Lesley Enston’s heartfelt new cookbook, Stomach Full, is every thing a cookbook needs to be. To start with, I’m excited to prepare dinner every thing in it…
…like pumpkin fritters and coconut-stewed greens and candy plantain omelettes and meat stews flavored with intense inexperienced sauces. These are vivid, stunning recipes that inform tales.
Enston grew up in Toronto with a Trinidadian mom and Canadian father, and as she obtained older felt drawn to folks of the Caribbean islands, like Puerto Rico, Dominica, Jamaica, Barbados, Haiti and past. Although their languages and spices differed, she says, “I felt at residence of their meals, their music, and that unmistakable vibe of an individual who grew up with the solar of their face, surrounded by the Caribbean Sea.”
Her 100-plus recipes are organized by 11 key substances throughout Caribbean cuisines — beans, calabaza, cassava, chayote, coconut, cornmeal, okra, plantains, rice, salted cod, and Scotch bonnet peppers.
And Enston makes the tales private. The pholourie (deep-fried break up pea fritters) was “100% one among my favourite causes for visiting Trinidad.” For Soup Jomou, Haiti’s “Freedom Soup,” she enlists Haitian-American chef Cybille St.Aude-Tate, who expresses awe at how lengthy her folks have been making it. And — my favourite half — lots of the recipes weave via the joyous reminiscences of her household’s residence cooking, like this pelau, beneath.
“‘Me stomach full’ is a phrase you’ll hear all through the English-speaking Caribbean,” Enston writes within the introduction. “It has an apparent that means — a full and happy abdomen — however can even imply a full and happy coronary heart and soul.”
Pelau (Hen and Rice)
From Stomach Full by Lesley Enston
Serves 6-8
Says Lesley: Whereas Arroz con Pollo could be the most well-known model of hen and rice exterior of the Caribbean, pelau is the one I do know greatest. It at all times confirmed up at household features at my aunt’s home across the nook… As an individual who, previous to having a small little one, by no means had ketchup in my home, I’ve to confess it’s actually the key sauce. You might substitute tomato paste for those who should, and I’ve, however the magic can be lacking. I’ve eaten a number of pelaus in my life, however this one from Dominica may be my favourite.
3 kilos bone-in hen thighs, pores and skin eliminated, reduce into bite-size items
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons Inexperienced Seasoning, retailer purchased or selfmade (beneath)
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon freshly floor black pepper
2 tablespoons coconut oil or different impartial oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 yellow onion, diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 giant carrot, diced
2 teaspoons contemporary thyme leaves
1 15-ounce can kidney beans, drained
¼ cup ketchup
3 cups water
2 cups basmati or jasmine rice
In a medium bowl, combine the hen with ¼ cup of the inexperienced seasoning, two-thirds of the garlic, the salt, paprika, and pepper, utilizing your arms to verify the seasoning is evenly distributed. Place within the fridge to marinate for a minimum of 2 hours or as much as in a single day. About half-hour earlier than cooking the hen, take away it from the fridge to return to room temperature.
In a big Dutch oven or different heavy-bottomed pot, warmth the coconut oil over medium-high warmth till it shimmers, then add the brown sugar. Prepare dinner, watching it continually and stirring it sometimes with a wood spoon to verify it cooks evenly, for five to eight minutes, till the sugar bubbles throughout, turns darkish brown, and simply begins to smoke. (This can differ from range to range; if it hasn’t occurred by minute eight, simply hold in there; the second will occur rapidly after.) Instantly add the hen and take heed to it sing and sizzle. Prepare dinner the hen, uncovered, for five minutes, till it’s releasing its juices, then add the onion, remaining 2 tablespoons inexperienced seasoning, remaining garlic, the scallions, carrot, and thyme.
Scale back the warmth to low, cowl, and prepare dinner for 10 minutes, till the greens are delicate. Add the beans and ketchup and prepare dinner till the ketchup has darkened, 3 to five minutes. Add the water, increase the warmth to excessive, and produce all of it to a boil. Add the rice, cut back the warmth to medium, and prepare dinner, uncovered, till the water has largely evaporated, about quarter-hour. Give every thing a hearty stir to verify nothing sticks to the underside of the pot. Scale back the warmth to low, cowl, and prepare dinner for 15 to twenty minutes extra, till the liquid has fully evaporated.
Pelau is nice instantly and heats up nicely for a number of days after; retailer it in an hermetic container within the fridge.
Inexperienced Seasoning
In a meals processor mix the next till pureed and clean: 1 bunch culantro (about 8 leaves, for those who can’t discover it, swap in cilantro); 1/2 cup contemporary cilantro; 1/2 cup contemporary parsley leaves; 1 head garlic cloves, peeled; 1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped; 1 shallot; 5 scallions, roughly chopped; 1/4 cup contemporary thyme leaves; 1 celery stalk, roughly chopped; 1 (1-inch) piece contemporary ginger; peeled and roughly chopped; 1 seasoning pepper, seeded and roughly chopped (optionally available); 1/4 cup contemporary lime juice. Retailer in an hermetic glass jar within the fridge for as much as 1 month.
P.S. 5-ingredient dinners, and a Brooklyn brownstone impressed by the Caribbean.
(Images by Marc Baptiste.)
