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Church ruins
March 2003
St. Cecilia has many restaurants and cafes--from elegant restaurants in lovely sugar mill great houses to tiny, roadside snackettes-- there's always a place to stop for a cool drink and a roti, a luxurious lobster salad or fried chicken and a johnnycake. The vegetable market in town overflows with beautiful christophene, pumpkin, breadfruit, plantain, mangoes, avocadoes and bananas and guinip. And Mansa's Produce at Tamarind Bay offers beautiful freshly laid eggs and tomatoes that came from a garden, not a refrigerated truck. Fragrant nutmegs, cloves and bundles of cinnamon bark are to be found tumbled into an inviting, spicy heap at the local supermarket.
These recipes were inspired by both the hospitality and the delightful meals we've enjoyed on St. Cecilia. They have become household favorites--both on and off the island.
All the best.
Sara
View from the terrace
Summer 2005
St. Cecilia Punch
4 limes, quartered
4 tablespoons brown sugar
4 jiggers dark rum
ice cubes
8 ounces club soda
Muddle limes and sugar in a cocktail shaker until sugar is dissolved and limes have released juices. Add rum and ice cubes to shaker. Shake until well-mixed.
Divide rum and lime juice mixture between two ice-filled glasses. Top with club soda. Stir gently. Sip slowly as you watch the sun go down.
Liming accompanied by
Fried chicken and johnnycakes
Market Shop Dates
30 dried dates, best quality
10 slices bacon, separated and frozen
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with foil.
Pit the dates, set aside. Cut each frozen bacon slice into thirds (freezing the slices beforehand makes them easier to handle in the tropical heat). Wrap each date with a bacon slice. Place wrapped dates seam side down on foil-lined baking sheet.
Bake 1/2 hour or until bacon is crisp.
The golden hour
Golden Hour Rum Punch
Fruit juice concentrates: tropical, guava, tamarind
Angostura bitters
Nutmeg (whole)
Dark rum
In a large pitcher mix the tropical juice with water at a 7:1 ratio. Add 2 tablespoons of guava concentrate and 1 tablespoon of tamarind. Stir. Adjust for taste: tamarind will add tart, guava sweet.
Add a jigger and a half of the dark rum to a tall glass, add ice, add juice mixture. Stir. Add a dash or two of bitters. Grate fresh nutmeg on top. Enjoy the Golden Hour
Framed hills and ridges
Fruit Boat Mango Salad
2 ripe mangoes, peeled and cubed
1/4 small Bermuda onion, diced
1 tablespooon chopped fresh thyme
Salt, to taste
Gently toss all ingredients together. Can be served as is or in a Bibb lettuce cup. A sprinkling of finely chopped hot pepper makes a great addition for the strong of heart.
The straits and St. Catherine
Cool Shade Party Spread
1 container cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon guava concentrate
1 package guava cheese, chopped
1/4 cup Bermuda onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
1/2 teaspoon local hot sauce
Combine all ingredients. Chill overnight to allow flavors to develop.
Serve with crisp crackers and crudite.
View to the peak
Sugar Mill Rice and Peas
Long-grain rice
Water
1/2 teaspoon each turmeric, coriander and ground cloves
1 can coconut milk, divided
1 can pigeon peas, black beans or red beans, drained
1 onion, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 slices bacon, chopped
Garlic, two cloves, finely chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
1 tablespoon fresh thyme leaves
1 teaspoon local hot sauce (and more for serving)
Salt and pepper to taste
Prepare the rice following the package directions replacing 1/2 cup of the water with 1/2 cup of coconut milk and seasoning with coriander, clove and turmeric and salt. Cook as directed. Fluff with a fork just before serving.
For the peas begin by browning the bacon in a large Dutch oven. Remove cooked bacon with a slotted spoon and drain on paper toweling. Remove all but 2 teaspoons of bacon drippings from pan. Add olive oil to pan, heat over medium heat. Add onion, cook until onions are thoroughly sweated. Reduce heat and add chopped garlic, cumin, salt and pepper. After 5 minutes add coconut milk and hot sauce, Stir to combine. Fold in peas and heat through. Just before removing from the heat, add thyme leaves.
To serve mound 1 cup rice on a rimmed plate, top with 1/2 cup beans, sprinkle with cooked bacon bits. Add hot sauce to taste. Substitute olive oil for the bacon drippings and you have a thoroughly vegan/vegetarian dish.
view to Mosquito Bay
Blue Crescent Corn and Black Bean Salad
1 can shoe peg corn, drained
1 can prepared black beans or black-eyed peas, rinsed and drained
1/2 cup bermuda onion, diced
10 green olives, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons cumin
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 red pepper, seeded and diced
1 tablespoon fruity olive oil
2 teaspooons balsamic vinegar
1 teaspoon local hot sauce, or to taste
salt and pepper to taste
Toss all ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover and refrigerate over night. Serve as a dip with crisp corn chips. Or serve as a salad in lettuce cups or in the hollow of a ripe avocado or seeded tomato. A perfect salad for beach picnics since there's no mayonnaise involved.
Mosquito Bay
Mrs. P.'s Salad Dressing and St. Cecilia Salad
For the dressing: (best if made the night before and chilled for later use)
1 cup Hellman's mayonnaise
4 cloves garlic, crushed and chopped
4 whole cloves steeped overnight in
1 Tablespoon tomato ketchup, then finely minced
1 teaspoon mild onion, grated
For the salad:
1 head crisp lettuce (Romaine or iceberg)
1/2 cup canned corn, drained
1 ripe tomato, peeled and sliced
1/2 small onion, thinly sliced
1 sweet red pepper, seeded and sliced
1 ripe avocado, peeled and sliced (sprinkle with lime juice to prevent browning)
Compose salad ingredients on six chilled plates: lettuce topped by tomato and avocado followed by onion and pepper with corn sprinkled over the top. Serve with salad dressing on the side.
Fisherman's beach
Mansa's Pineapple with Butter-rum Sauce
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 cup local brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup local dark rum
Pinch each of allspice, cinnamon and nutmeg
8 one-inch-thick slices of ripe pineapple
Preheat the broiler.
Place the sliced pineapple on the rack of a broiling pan. Broil the pineapple until caramelized, 7-10 minutes per side.
Combine the butter, sugar, rum and spices in a medium saucepan over medium heat, stirring until butter is melted and the sugar is dissolved. Simmer 8-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the sauce thickens and will coat the back of a spoon.
Transfer the pineapple slices to a warm plate and serve immediately with warm sauce.
Reflected sunset
Lazy hostess dessert
3 ripe bananas, sliced
1 ripe pineapple, cored, peeled and diced.
1 tablespoon lime juice
10 ginger snaps, crushed.
Combine fruit and lime juice. Toss to coat. Apportion fruit mixture into eight martini glasses.
Sprinkle cookie crumbs over the fruit.
Serve.
Relax.
Enjoy the sunset.
Lane to Herbert's Beach
Pumpkin smoothie
1 cup roasted pumpkin, peeled and cubed
2 ripe bananas
1/2 cup orange juice
1 teaspoon freshly grated ginger
3 ice cubes
Blend all ingredients in a sturdy blender. Grate a bit of nutmeg on top.
Golden Rock
Black-eyed peas and pumpkin
1 cup cooked black-eyed peas, drained and rinsed 1 small garlic clove, minced
1 1/2 cups seeded, roasted pumpkin 1 1/2 tablespoon fresh lime juice
3 tablespoons water 1 cup thinly sliced red onion
4 tablespoons olive oil 1/4 cup chopped, seeded, peeled cucumber
1 plum tomato, chopped 2 tablespoons chopped fresh basil
In a baking dish mix the cubed pumpkin with 3 tablespoons water and 1 tablespoon of the olive oil, add salt and pepper. Roast at 350 for 15 minutes or until pumpkin is fork tender. Add minced garlic. Cool.
Drain and rinse peas, set aside.
Whisk remaining 3 tablespoons of oil and lime juice in a bowl. Season with salt and peper. Combine all remaining ingredients and peas in a large bowl. Add dressing; toss. Season to taste. Add pumpkin; toss. (Can be made ahead. Serve at room temperature.)
Save a rinse pepitas from pumpkin. Roast in 300 degree oven. Salt and serve.
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