Napoleons 2.0

Napoleons 2.0
I love brioche!

Wednesday, May 16, 2012

Did everyone have Jamaican food for breakfast?

My niece Dawn and her fiancee Shane. I heart them.
My only experience with Caribbean food is the food I've eaten on vacations to Aruba, Jamaica and the Bahamas. It was very American-ized, perhaps flavored with the spices of the islands but nothing close to the real thing.
Last weekend, on Mother's Day, I was treated to breakfast at my niece's home in New Jersey. Dawn is engaged to marry Shane, a lovely man who enjoys cooking and hails from Jamaica. On the menu Sunday: peanut porridge, ackee and saltfish, callaloo, boiled dumplings and bananas. Shane also made a plate of sweet dumplings.
When we arrived, the table was set with pretty flowers and we were offered coffee, juice or a mimosa.
Jamaican breakfast: clockwise from left: sweet dumplings,
callaloo, peanut porridge, boiled dumplings
and banana, ackee and saltfish.
I took a plate with a little of everything. I loved the peanut porridge; think hot cereal like oatbran only really flavorful. I also enjoyed the callaloo, greens almost like kale, which is flavored with a soup mix. I didn't love the ackee and saltfish, I think because it was .... fish for breakfast or too salty, but that was just a matter of what one person likes to eat compared to another; my sister loves it.
 The boiled dumplings and banana were also good; very different from anything I've ever had. And the fluffy sweet dumplings were wonderful ... I could have eaten the whole plate, which I did not.
I come from a family of cooks and when we gather together, we always eat well. Shane officially joins our family on June 9, when he and Dawn are married. We happily anticipate his gifts from the kitchen.

Jamaican Peanut Porridge


1 cup raw peanuts
1 cup oatmeal
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon cornmeal
1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon salt
Water as needed, approx. 2 cups
Place the peanuts in a blender and process until almost smooth. Set aside.
Place 1 cup of water in a saucepan to boil; add salt.
Put the oatmeal in a blender and process until it becomes powder.
Combine the flour, cornmeal, peanuts and oatmeal in a bowl. Slowly pour water into the
bowl until the ingredients form a paste. Pour the liquid paste into the boiling water.
Stir until evenly mixed. Cover and cook on medium heat, but remove the cover periodically to keep it from boiling.
Cook for 12 minutes and lower the heat and add the vanilla, nutmeg and milks. Stir until evenly mixed. Cover and cook 2 more minutes.
Allow porridge to cool slightly before serving.


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