Bobbilicious: Oh Sriracha... I love you so!!!!!!!!

Bobbilicious: Oh Sriracha... I love you so!!!!!!!!: I have a Love Jones for Sriracha. Ok, so I went a lil' urban but that is the only way to describe the love affair I share with Sir Srirac...

Oh Sriracha... I love you so!!!!!!!!

I have a Love Jones for Sriracha. Ok, so I went a lil' urban but that is the only way to describe the love affair I share with Sir Sriracha.

So the first time I heard the term "Love Jones", I had no idea what it meant. It was a title of a movie with Nia Long and Larenz Tate. Well in relationships a Love Jones is when you can't stop thinking about that person no matter how hard you try. You can't quite put your finger on why they are so irresistable to you but you know that you can't live without them...and that's exactly how I feel about Sriracha. I want it on everything, I don't know what it is about it, but it's the perfect accompaniment.

Tall, dark and handsome usually fits my bill, but this tall, red, hot flavoured chili paste is in a league of its own.

So what is Sriracha? I didn't realize that so many people had no idea what it was...how could people not know what this is? Is it one of those best kept secrets? Cookthink gives the most pedestrian explanation of what sriracha is. Essentially, it's a paste of chili peppers, distilled vinegar, garlic, sugar and salt...but to me it is so much more.

These are Sriracha chilis of Si Racha, Thailand

These chilis look like red bird pepper, a local variety of chilis, also called African Bird Pepper, but these are far too hot to use for this paste.

African Bird pepper or Bird pepper as it's referred to in Trinidad and Tobago

I literally put Sriracha on everything savoury. I discovered it in Vernil, (my boyfriend's brother's) refrigerator. It was what he and his wife used for pepper sauce or hot sauce in the absence of the real Trini pepper sauce. I decided to try it and it was the beginning of this love affair that has me a lil concerned at times.

It is ideal for fried rice meals. Great on grilled shrimp, poultry, pork and fish, honey glazed garlic wings, buffalo wings...I did tell you just about everything. It's an absolute must for Asian-inspired or Asian-fused cuisine but do not discredit it on pastas and stews and even in your sauces to give it a zing! So what food connoisseur puts chili paste on pasta? Well I never said I was a connoisseur....I just love to experiment with food!

Lemon thyme chicken breast with fettucine in a four cheese sauce and Sriracha!!!!!

The taste of sriracha, well perfect for me, but that doesn't quite tell you what it tastes like. It's tangy from the vinegar but not overly so. It's hot but in a flavourful way not like burn-your-mouth-off-fire-blowing hot. It is thick, not like Tabasco sauce in the least but with the same reddish colour.

I buy my sriracha when I make my New York trips but the gourmet shop on AMAZON has it as well and it's a life saver when the airfafre seems a lil outta reach, LOL!

So if you come across sriracha...give it a try and I'd love to know what you think.. I'll look aroud for it here at home and tell you where to purchase if or when I find it!

Stay tuned for more on Bobbilicious, where it's always simple, tasty and a joy!

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Bobbilicious: A veggie dip inna jiff!

Bobbilicious: A veggie dip inna jiff!: My boyfriend's brother Vernil lives in New York and every October we make the trip to "hang" with him. I could visit New York a thousand t...

A veggie dip inna jiff!

My boyfriend's brother Vernil lives in New York and every October we make the trip to "hang" with him. I could visit New York a thousand times and make new discoveries. My last discovery was Trader Joe's line of convenience stores. They have everything!!! But Verns came across an eggplant and garlic dip that is to die for! And since there's no Trader Joe's here in Trinidad, well....the next best thing, make it myself!

Trader Joe's Eggplant Garlic Spread

So I read the label looking for the ingredients to find that the Trader Joe's Eggplant and Garlic Spread is based on a traditional Bulgarian recipe. The ingredients are eggplants, peppers,fefferoni peppers, garlic, tomato concentrate, salt, sugar and sunflower oil.

Fefferoni peppers???? Never heard of them. Goggle to the rescue. Fefferoni peppers are indigenous to the Balkan States. They are long, thin and hot. The amazing thing about food though is the appreciation you can have for something that is not familiar to your palette or even from your region.

So we don't have fefferoni peppers in Trinidad and Tobago, but should I let that deter me from trying to make my homemade version of this delicious spread? No way! So like a true Trini champion I pioneer the course, LOL!

Here in Trinidad eggplants or melongenes are referred to as baigans. The word baigan is used in both Bhojpuri or Hindi, two languages spoken in India. A large portion of our population can trace their ancestry to India. In 1842, the Fatel Razak left India with indentured labourers making their way to the shores of Trinidad and Tobago seeking a new life.

Ok, so away with the History lesson, back to the kitchen. Now the picture below shows what the Trader Joe's spread looks like. My mission.... to make my take on this Bulgarian recipe version of this delicacy with local ingredients.

So a trip to the Arima market, which is a post all on its own yields a beautiful baigan and these huge sweet peppers as seen in the picture below.

Ingredients

1 lg. eggplant
2 lg. sweet peppers
1 head of garlic
sea salt
tomato paste (as desired)
black pepper
cumin aka geera
smoked paprika
olive oil

And the ingredients. Back row, from L-R: Black pepper, Extra Virgen Olive oil, Sea salt. Front row, from L-R: Smoked paprika, crushed chili flakes, tomato paste, garlic, eggplant, sweet peppers

One of the tricks of the trade I've learnt from watching the cooking programmes and reading texts is to stand the pepper on the tip and as I always say, if you don't have expert knife skills, PLEASE be careful. But stand the pepper on its tip and run the knife down each face of the pepper and you get the long, beautiful slices you see in the picture below. Now I cut my peppers this way because I like to and its just prettier to me and gives a better roasting surface than smaller chunks. But you know what I always say, do your do and make it your own. I used red peppers but you can use whatever, red, green, yellow, orange or even a mix...

Sliced sweet peppers

I do the same with the baigan. Cut off the top and stand it on the base this time and run the knife blade in 1/2" thick lengths. You can slice the baigan in 1/2" thick rounds as well, whichever is easier for you.

Sliced eggplant

In a big bowl, a bowl that you can toss your sliced vegetables, pour the olive oil. Season with salt and black pepper and smoked paprika and a pich of cumin, which we call geera, another word reminiscent of our East Indian culture. The paprika and geera are optional. If you want to stick to the authentic recipe for as far as possible leave them out, but you know I like to do my thing. Crush one whole head of garlic in a mortar with a pestle and toss in with your vegetables.


Toss with olive oil, black peppers, smoked paprika, chili flakes and garlic

In your oven, which you would have pre-heated at 400 degrees F, pour the seasoned vegetable slices onto a lined baking tray, sprayed with a non-stick spray, just like in my picture below.

Seasoned vegetables ready for roasting

Roast for 20-30 minutes or until your vegetables look like this picture below.

Your oven roasted veggies

Put your roasted vegetables into your food processor and start the process. Add the tomato paste, some add a pinch of sugar. If you want your spread smoothe like a puree, process on HI speed. for a chunkier spread you can pulse on LO speed. Just keep looking at it until it gets to the consistency you want.

Pulse in your food processor for a chunkier dip or for a smoother puree process on a HI speed

And this is my version of the Bulgarian classic eggplant and garlic spread with peppers...not fefferoni peppers, good ole Trinidadian grown sweetpeppers. Can you tell the difference from the Trader Joe's version? I think not.

The homemade version. can you tell the difference?

If you have a backyard garden and you have extra baigans, this is a wonderful, tasty delightful way to put them to use. This spread also makes a wonderful gift when artfully bottled and personalized and is a hit for entertaining and best of all? All homemade!

Just a reminder, this spread has no artificial preservatives, so as soon as it has cooled fully, refrigerate.

A tale of the loaves ...without the fish!

Sunday School was a big part of my Sunday as a child. One of my favourite stories shared in Bible class was the story or parable of the two loaves and the five fishes and how it was multiplied to feed the masses. Well there's no fish in this story, but I'm definitely doing some multiplication.

The Beatty chocolate cake is one of my all time favourites. I saw Ina Garten, The Barefoot Contessa, make this cake and it was an effortless exercise for her... truth be told, it is effortless. The joy is the amazing result you get for so little work.

For those of you who've been following my posts, you know I always say make these recipes your own but this one is perfect just the way it is. The only changes I made to this divine dessert were to bake two loaves instead of the two-tiered cake that Ina does. I also added semi-sweet chocolate chips and chunks of Callebaut Dark chocolate- yes it's turned into a chocofest!

And this is where my multiplication comes in because I am using the recipe for one cake and making two. Here's the trick!
It's Ina's recipe in its entirety, I just added the chunks of chocolate and the chips. I divided the batter into two 9"x5" bread tins, of course greased and floured. I would also strongly advise that you line your tins with parchment paper because this cake will be very moist and has a tendency to stick in the pan, regardless of how well you grease and flour. The photo below gives you an idea of what your cakes will look like. bake the loaves for 30 mins at 350 degrees F.



Two loaves made from the batter for one Beatty Chocolate cake



 

Layer on the chocolate butter cream

This buttercream is the creamiest, most luscious ever. It's like velvet on your tongue and a romance story on your tastebuds. I kid you not. It applies like silk. It's shiny without being runny. It's perfect and you can have the cake just like this because this is how Ina serves hers but on Bobbilicious, I make my own twists to the treid, tested and true.

Drizzle with chocolate ganache and top with chocolate chips

I add chocolate ganache. This chocolate ganache I made without heavy cream. Here's how it's done. Just melt butter in whole milk in a sauce-pan, throw in the chunks of semi-sweet chocolate. Melt the chocolate thoroughly stirring constantly. You can put the ganache in the refrigerator to cool. This helps to bring the ganache to the consistency you want to so that it drizzles perfectly. You want the perfect viscosity. And lastly, throw on the chocolate chips in the most ramdom way! This cake is fun... every bite a joy especially for chocolate lovers like myself.

And voila! There it is, all boxed and rearing to go!

A chop of the ole block....I mean lamb chop!

Balancing work, school, your spouse, family, friends and life in general is cool...once you have a passion, a hobby or any one singular thing to keep you grounded and in many cases prevent you from tipping over into the realm of insanity.

I'm in my second semester in my first year at the Arthur Lok Jack Graduate School of Business reading for my Master in Marketing. My class is the perfect mix of the most interesting people... I am so fortunate. One of my classmates Monique (name changed) asked for some recipes the other day...some easy recipes for meals to try and whist I gave her a few I totally forgot this one and it is the EASIEST ever...trust me. Give it a try... it will definitely please those of you who love lamb.

Lamb is "gamy" in taste. This simply means the meat has a very strong, unmistakable taste. We don't want to get rid of the flavour of the meat, but to find the appropriate spices and seasonings to work with the meat's natural flavours.

I'm going to give you the ingredients of a very simple marinade and trust me...nothing is easier. A throw everything in a bag recipe.

Ingredients

6 lamb shoulder chops
2 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 of a lemon juiced
6 cloves garlic smashed
1 tsp. chili flakes
1 tsp. smoked paprika
Black pepper (freshly ground)
Sea salt
Herbs de Provence*
1 tbsp. rosemary (fresh or dried)
3 tbsp. Soy sauce
3 tbsp. Worchestershire sauce


Herbs de Provence is a mixture of dried herbs from the Provence region in France. The mixture will typically have fennel seeds, basil, thyme and lavender flowers. It is really aromatic and a perfect accompaniment for lamb, hearty, meaty stews but I put it in just about everything. I found Herbs de Provence whilst on vacation but I have also seen it here at home in the supermarket in the Spice section. However, as I always say, if you don't have an ingredient, don't make it a problem use something else. In this case, the rosemary, fresh or dried will work perfectly alone and is very easy to get at any supermarket. And don't forget shadon beni, which grows wild in so many of our yards.

Directions

If frozen, thaw the lamb shoulder chops fully and pat off the excess water. The marinade will be absorbed easier on a dry surface.

Crush the garlic in your mortar with your pestle or smash with the back of your knife. PLEASE DO NOT TRY THIS IF YOU DO NOT HAVE ACCOMPLISHED KNIFE SKILLS. That being said, make sure you crush the garlic and not mince it. If you're using shadon beni crush it in the mortar with the garlic, you get tonnes more of the natural flavour than if you cut the leaves.








In a small bowl, put all the ingredients in and whisk with a fork.










I prefer to whisk by hand as opposed to using a blender or food processor because I want the spices in tact and not broken up. Fresh Rosemary can be very bitter if crushed in the food processor.

Look at how the spices and seasonings integrate in the marinade, each still keping its unique identity.

Now, simply put your lamb in a secure bag, like a Ziploc bag and pour the marinade over the meat.









Seal the bag and refrigerate overnight or at least for three hours.

When you're ready to cook your meat you are going to broil and not bake! What's the difference? Well with baking, the heat source comes from below, with broiling, the heat source is generated from above. Pre-heat the oven by putting the Broiler on the HI option...or 350-400 degrees F. Broil on high for approximately 10 minutes on either side according to the thickness of the chops.

If you want the surface of the meat to caramelize like in this picture, move the oven tray closer to the heay source.

Served with oven roasted vegetables and a green salad. Healthy and simply delish!









I am so happy to share these easy, simple and tweakable recipes with you. Look out for more on Bobbilicious!

Oven roasted Vegetables

Prepping for my Oven roasted Veggies

Vegetables are so good for us, but I've come to realize that it's not just children who don't like to eat their veggeies... many of us are not huge fans of these miracle working foods.

Veggies have so many positives going for them...as a matter of fact, I can't think of one negative but as I say this I can almost hear the chorus behind me bawling out, "they taste awful!!!".

Vegatables are high in fibre so they keep you satiated for longer periods you therefore eat less in the long run. They're high in vitamins and minerals. They are so good for us.

The trick to vegetables is making them taste great! I know, I cannot tell a lie, on their own they are quite bland but so too is all other foods...veggies are no different. It's the seasoning and spices you use that make all the difference.

I like my veggies natural tasting and I try to, for as far as is possible,  keep the nutritional value of my veggies. I blanch not boil. I roast not fry.

Here's a simple, easy recipe I use often. It's quick too. The prep time is the longest part of the process because you have to thoroughly wash and cut all your vegetables. Feel free to use whatever vegetables you want. I even use potatoes and/ or sweet potatoes. A good, thorough washing is essential because more often than not I keep the skins on, extra roughage and fibre.

Ingredients

Cauliflower
Broccoli
Eggplant (Baigan, melongene)
Carrots
Potatoes (red skin are nice because they are smaller than the Idaho)
1 lg. Red onion
1 head of garlic
Olive oil
salt
black pepper
Paprika

Directions

Pre-heat the oven to 400 degrees F.

Cut the cauliflower and broccoli florets into chunks

 Keep some of the stems of the broccoli on. These hardy stems are an excellent source of fibre.

I prefer to slice my carrots diagonally and then half them... cut them as you wish. Just don't cunk them. Carrots are hard and you want them to cook evenly with the rest of your vegetables. If you're using melongene, you can cut it in chunks because melongenes are high in water and soft.

I like using red onions. You may prefer the white onion. Try if possible to avoid the regular onions. They are far too pungent, but if this is what you have, use it, just use less ...about half.

So as I said before, you can use potatoes here if you wish... I do. Here I use red skin potatoes. You can use sweet potatoes. They are actually a lot better for you than regular potatoes. They have a lower glycemic index, which simply means they take a longer time to be converted into energy so you stay fuller for longer.

Put all your cut vegetables in a bowl, big enough so that youcan toss them without them falling all over the place. Peel the skin off the individual cloves of the garlic and toss them ino the bowl as well. If you don't like garlic you an leave it out. But garlic is also very good for us. It's a natural antibiotic and antiseptic as well.

Drizzle olive oil over the vegetables. About 3-4 tablespoons. This you will have to judge according to the quantity of vegetables but essentially you want to coat, not soak the vegetables. Add the paprika, black pepper and salt to taste.

Toss the vegetables well so that the seasoning is evenly distributed and them tranfer on to a roasting tray. Put in the oven for 20 mins or until a knife can cut into the potato without resistance. If you did not use potatoes, the knife must go cleanly into the hardest vegetable you used.

Transfer into a bowl and ready to serve. These vegetables will go perfectly with the Dry rub Pork tenderloin or the Broiled lamb. A simple salad finishes off this meal!

Simple and easy and a treat for your tastebuds.