BBQ Brethren "Caribbean Food" Throwdown! (Entries and Quality *CLEAN* Discussion Only)

[caseydog]

I went Puerto Rican with my entry. My parents lived there for several years, and I ate the food there, and loved it.

My protein is shrimps and scallops. I served them with a Puerto Rican staple, Mofongo, and made a Sofrito-based sauce for the dish. Sofrito is another Puerto Rican staple.

I started by making my Sofrito a day in advance, so it could sit in the fridge overnight to meld the flavors together. Sofrito is like Puerto Rican salsa, but not hot. Lots of garlic, but not lots of heat. I used tomatoes, yellow and green bell peppers, onions, lots of garlic, oregano and cilantro. There are traditionally other ingredients, but I can't get them here. My sofrito still turned out great.



Mofongo is Puerto Rican mashed potatoes, but made with plantains, instead of potatoes. You start with unripe plantains, that you cut into chunks, and fry twice, letting them cool in between fries. Mofongo is not fast food.



While the plantains cooled, I fried up some bacon with the stove from my camper. Why grease up the kitchen.



I then fried the plantains a second time, combined them with the chopped bacon and bacon fat, and a ton of garlic, and mashed it in a bowl.



While all this was happening, I had some jumbo Gulf shrimps and scallops marinading in OO, and fresh oregano and thyme from my garden -- oregano grows wild in Puerto Rico, and thyme is commonly used there, too. I simmered the shrimp shells in water to make a shrimp stock.



The shrimps and scallops were grilled on the SJG.



I made a sauce from the sofrito, and some shrimp stock.



I plated the mofongo, shrimps and scallops, and topped it all with my sofrito and shrimp stock sauce.



I personally think it was one of the best meals that I have ever cooked. So, I will probably get one vote -- worse than a zero.

CD

[CharredApron]

Great dish and SUPER money shot CD

[Will work for bbq]

For my official TD entry I made up a Jerk marinade using this stuff.



I did this to it.



Then I slathered it all over these.



Let it marinade overnight before I did this to them.



I basically just basted them every so often with the jerk marinade that was already on them and the honey the ribs wept made for a very nice sheen.

While that was going on I decided to make rice and Peas (yes I know those are beans but that is what it is called). I used this stuff.



The beans were soaked overnight then simmered until tender in water with garlic and S&P. Once the beans were ready I added 2 pieces of bacon chopped, 2 sprigs of fresh thyme, 2 sissy peppers, rice and 2 cans of coconut milk. It looked like this, oh yeah I also chopped up a couple of scalions.



While all that was going on I decided to make some Festival since I made more than one I guess it would be Festivals with this stuff.



When all was said and done it all looked like this.



And this.



The recipe called for store bought BBQ sauce applied at the last 15 minutes to add some char to the ribs I decided to go with a very light coat of Bart's Blazin' Q BBQ sauce and I'm glad I did. It went amazingly well with the Jerk seasoning. The rice and peas were very good the coconut milk added some sweetness to the dish and the Festival, I'll just say that it felt like there was a festival in my mouth. Thanks for lookin' mon.

[Phrasty]

Hey Guys, Heres my entry from my Curry Goat thread:



Cheers

[caliking]

I almost missed this one - just happened to check the entry thread and noticed that the deadline is tomorrow morning, so time to get my entry thread posted!

Caribbean curries are similar to Indian curries, because laborers from India went to the Caribbean (Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago that I know of) and took their cuisine with them. So I figured a nice goat curry would be great for a Caribbean TD.

Fired up the LBGE in the morning, and cooked up lunch first. Simple skinless chicken lollipops, rubbed with Plowboys' The Jerk... just to get me in the right frame of mind



As we were eating lunch, I got started on the rice and peas. Sauteed some onions, scallions, thyme, a scotch bonnet, lotsa garlic.


Added the beans (substituted for the "peas"), then rice, followed by coconut milk.



By the time the rice was done, the aroma in the kitchen was driving me crazy!


Time to move outside. Couldn't let such a beautiful day go to waste. Marinated the goat meat the night before, with Jamaican curry powder, pepper, allspice, salt, thyme, ketchup, cumin, and powdered green mango. The square bowls have pureed tomato and pureed red onion. The circular bowls have garlic, a scotch bonnet, and Jamaican curry powder.


Sauteed the onion puree, added the garlic, then threw in the meat.



Browned the meat a bit, then added the tomato puree and curry powder. I cut the scotch bonnet open because I wanted some extra heat.


Once the spices, meat, and tomato were nice and browned, I added some water and covered the DO. Cooked away in the egg at about 325°F dome temp for 1.5hrs. Opened things up and saw that the sauce/gravy was the consistency that I wanted, and the meat was cooked just right - just short of melting in your mouth.


Plated it up as best I could. Please consider this pic as my official entry in this throwdown.



Thanks for looking!

[oifmarine2003]

Those are 2 very different looking goat curry entries! I would have expected more curry in the Indian TD. I do know they eat a lot of goat, goat cheese, etc in Jamaica though. Nice job, both of you on the goat Curry!

[caliking]

of course... I HAD to make exactly what Phrasty was making

oh well, I'll head over to the zero's certificate line now so I can get an early start. Even his scotch bonnet looks better than mine! :)

[Phrasty]

Originally Posted by caliking

of course... I HAD to make exactly what Phrasty was making

oh well, I'll head over to the zero's certificate line now so I can get an early start. Even his scotch bonnet looks better than mine! :)

Great minds think alike Brother! But then again, fools seldom differ so what exactly are we?? Hey if you're zeroing it up so am I... lol I always do so poorly in TD's Oh and BTW I'd totally hit your.... I think I better stop there! Your dish looks mighty fine!!!

Cheers

[Gore]

So far, only one entry has any carob beans in it. Guess all you other farkers are gettin' DQed.

[caliking]

Originally Posted by Phrasty

Great minds think alike Brother! But then again, fools seldom differ so what exactly are we?? Hey if you're zeroing it up so am I... lol I always do so poorly in TD's Oh and BTW I'd totally hit your.... I think I better stop there! Your dish looks mighty fine!!!

Cheers

Right back at ya! Your cooks always look mouthwatering good - you set the bar high

[Phrasty]

Originally Posted by Gore

So far, only one entry has any carob beans in it. Guess all you other farkers are gettin' DQed.

It doesn't really matter what I cook does it? By location I think I'm in on default... What I AM looking forward to is the irony of collecting yet another fat Zero in this of all TD's!

Originally Posted by caliking

Right back at ya! Your cooks always look mouthwatering good - you set the bar high

Thanks man
Cheers

[Alan in Ga]

Looking good guys WOW at the entries

[Gore]

Originally Posted by Phrasty

It doesn't really matter what I cook does it? By location I think I'm in on default... What I AM looking forward to is the irony of collecting yet another fat Zero in this of all TD's!



Thanks man
Cheers

I'm just looking at rule #5:

5. Entries must be Grilled or Smoked during the cooking process, or must prominently feature Grilled or Smoked ingredients which you prepared. Photos of your food on the grill or smoker are encouraged but not required (we love action shots).

I'm thinking you might be ok on a technicality, but all the other farkers are out.

[K-JUN]

Originally Posted by Gore

So far, only one entry has any carob beans in it. Guess all you other farkers are gettin' DQed.

I need to read more carefully. I can't believe I am getting DQed.

[Gore]

Originally Posted by onexchef

I need to read more carefully. I can't believe I am getting DQed.

Really sorry about that, but it's right there plain as day in the special rules.