In Good Taste

Not only is this dish simple to make but it is ridiculously delicious.

Cumin/geera and potatoes seem to have a natural affinity. Potatoes, being bland and porous, easily absorb the flavour of whatever they are cooked with (it is one of the reasons potatoes are added to foods while cooking to remove excess salt).

While the studding of the eggplant and roasting it over an open flame will be very familiar, the flavours imbued through the seasoning are most definitely Asian.

Cornmeal is such a versatile ingredient that can be used for both sweet and savoury dishes.

There is hardly a legume that I do not like. I always have a variety stocked up and whenever I go to the supermarket or travel overseas, I look for heirloom legumes and others that might be new to me.

Whether raw, steamed, stir-fried, or dropped in piping hot stew, curry or soup just before serving, I love me some cabbage.

When you make this recipe, be prepared to smear it over a variety of bread such as your morning toast or biscuits.

This holiday season, I am not stressing like previous years to buy triple sec, flavoured liqueurs and flavoured vodkas – things that I don’t use often.

In Good Taste recipes this week – one side and one dessert – are not your usual Christmas fare and that’s a good thing.

5-Spice-rubbed, Hoisin-glazed Roast Chicken   While many people will be clamouring for the more prized meats at this time of the year, there are also many who will be looking to an all-time, ‘ordinary’ favourite – the bird, chicken.

Stress is the one thing one wants to avoid when entertaining. When deciding on what to serve as appetisers, always try to choose things that can either be made ahead or things that can be served at room temperature, this way, you have the time to greet your guests and can serve them immediately which you put the finishing touches to the rest of the meal.

While we cook all year round, this is the season in which we enter into a cooking frenzy.

I made this last week and it was so good that I am definitely making it as a side dish for one of the holiday meals.

Legumes of all variety are good for us; they are an excellent source of protein, dietary fibre, carbohydrates and micronutrients.

If you want food that feeds the soul, a bowl of Crab and Callaloo Soup can do the job.

The other day, a food-in friend was sharing with me the pleasures of eating Guyanese-style Aniseed Biscuits.

I couldn’t think of a name for this dish; it is something I made up as I went along cooking.

There are several green sauces that are used as condiments and can sometimes double as marinades.

There are various cuts of lamb from which we get chops – shoulder, leg, loin and rib.

Ever since I have realized that I can remove the salt from salt fish without boiling it, I always have a little container of the stuff in the fridge – to cook with vegetables, ground provisions, rice, potatoes or just on its own.

I got the inspiration for this recipe over the August holidays while dining out with friends.

Ham and eggs are an age-old combination as are bacon and eggs. We more regularly enjoy them cooked separately and then put together on a plate, or as an omelette or quiche.

Like red kidney beans? Like kidney beans and rice? Looking for a vegetarian dish to serve as a main course?

Breakfast potatoes along with sunny-side eggs, drizzled with hot pepper sauce is a plate of food that I can easily enjoy at any mealtime.

Pico de Gallo is a fresh uncooked salsa/salad that can be found widely in Mexican cuisine.

Having had great success with my red cabbage and fresh coriander/cilantro raw slaw, I figured that I would try the combo again, only this time, I’d use the regular white cabbage.

Mofongo is a dish of fried green plantains mashed with garlic, oil, broth, and pork cracklings or chicharrón (fried pork belly or pork rinds).

Granola is a breakfast food and a snack. The main ingredient is rolled oats.

Daiquiri is a rum cocktail and the original daiquiri is a mixture of lime juice, sugar and rum poured over ice.

Many of us are more familiar with the hot version of lemongrass tea but have you ever considered making the tea and having it cold?

Ground meat – beef, veal, lamb, pork, chicken or turkey – are perfect meal stretchers.

Mangoes are in season. Laden branches bend with the weight of plentiful fruit, ripe for the picking.

Chops and steaks are quick-cooking cuts of meat, and they are ideal for the stovetop or a grill.

There are times when dessert is preferred in liquid form. Lighter than ice cream and regular milkshake, this Banana-Dulce de leche Shake comes together quickly and you can adjust the sweetness to suit your taste.

Each weekend I set out to cook a different meat but there are times (many times) that I end up cooking chicken, every weekend – roast, curried, stewed, baked, grilled, pan-seared etc.

One of the main reasons I like to make scones/biscuits is because they require minimal pre-prep.

I have a special place in my heart for French Fries but give me a plate full of freshly harvested sweet potatoes that have been converted to oven-fries and I would easily find myself torn.

One day as I sat enjoying a small bowl of Lucian-style (St Lucia) fig (green banana) salad, I began to wonder how salt fish (a key ingredient in Lucian fig salad) would taste in a regular potato salad.

  Sometimes many of the combinations and things I cook, and the dishes I come up with are borne out of happenstance, experimentation, making do or laziness.

I don’t know about you but I didn’t get much work done last week because I was caught up with all the happenings of Guyana’s elections.

  If you like ripe plantains and are looking for another way to enjoy them, minus the richness of having to pan-fry them, then I think you’ll like these grilled ripe plantains.

  Anyone up for some savoury dumplings? You know, there are times when one can take too many liberties with food.

Corn is in season. Fresh sweet plumb cobs of corn; they are so sweet that I like to eat them raw.

Thinking about salads to serve with Sunday lunch can cause some head scratching.

For as long as I can remember, tea and tea parties have always been associated in some way with the celebration of Easter.

This is one of those situations where there is excess on the market so you buy extra and find ways to preserve it.

Fish en Papillote is fish in parchment paper. It is a style of cooking fish.

Most recipes that tout the title “oven fried chicken” require that the chicken either be flash fried (fried quickly to crisp up) and then be finished off in the oven.

Fish broth made with any part of a fish is like soul food.

I take it that you are still thinking of ways to use your preserved limes.