Saturday, December 7, 2013

Jamaican Red Beans and Cow Tripe Soup

Best Soup Ever! I made this soup a couple of weeks ago and posted a picture of it on Facebook shortly after. My friends were sending me private messages and talking about it like no other soups that I've ever shared with them. It is different, I know, but super delicious and worth a try. Beef Tripe is the stomach lining of the cow, a delicacy in several countries and a popular soup that is sold along the roadside in Jamaica.


Ingredients
1 1/2lb Tripe
1lb of Beef Soup Bone
Pork Hocks- Remove meat and skin and cut into small bite size pieces
1 Can of Coconut Milk
2 Cans of Red Kidney Beans
2 Carrots
1lb Dasheen ( See picture in Jamaican breakfast recipe)
1 Cup Flour for Dumplings
Corn on the Cob 
4 Scallion Stalks
Thyme
6 Pegs of Garlic
1 Scotch Bonnet or Habenero Pepper
Salt
10 Jamaican Allspice Berries
2 Packs of Grace Cock Soup


Method 

Boil allspice, soup bones, tripe, meat from the pork hocks, garlic, carrots and one can of the kidney beans in a deep pot for an hour. In the meantime, knead flour with water and salt to make small dumplings. Add more water to fill the pot to 3/4 way and bring to boil. Now pinch and roll the dough to make long dumplings and add to the pot. Peel and dice dasheen, cut corn into 3 pieces and transfer to the pot along with coconut milk and the remaining can of beans and cook for 30 minutes. Season the soup with pepper, scallion, thyme, the packets of cock soup base and cook for 15-20 minutes. Taste and add salt if needed, the cock soup is pretty salty so wait until it's mixed in before you add anymore. I hope you'll enjoy this beautiful combination of unique ingredients, share it with your neighbor :).

BNW~





Jamaican Breakfast-Brown Stewed Chicken


I had dinner with some friends last month and we started to chat about food. They asked what was my favorite breakfast, lunch and dinner foods. Without hesitation, I told them dasheen, boiled green bananas, dumplings and brown stewed chicken for breakfast. I cooked it the next day, so here is the recipe for you to try. Jess and Violeta, this one is also for you ladies.


Ingredients
1lb Chicken Thighs, chopped
1/2 Green Bell Pepper
1/2 Onions
2 Carrots(chopped)
1 Large Potato (diced)
1 Cap Tastefully Simple Garlic Garlic
1 Packet of Chicken Bouillon
1 Tsp Onion Salt
1Tbsp Browning Sauce
1Tbsp Brown Sugar
Olive Oil
4 Stalks Scallion 
Thyme

Flour
Green Cooking Bananas
Dasheen
Salt


Method
Season meat with chicken bouillon, onion salt, pepper,onion, garlic garlic, scallion and thyme and let marinate for at least an hour. Add browning sauce (picture below) and stir to distribute evenly over the meat. Transfer seasoned meat to heated olive oil and simmer for 5 minutes. Add carrots, potato, 1 cup of water and sugar and let cook for 25-30 minutes on medium heat. Stir half way to ensure that the meat cooks evenly. 

In a separate pan, bring salted water to boil. Peel dasheen (picture below), banana and make a dough with flour, salt and water and boil all 3 three for 20 minutes.