Deboned Salted Mackerel with Peppers and Onion

This is a classic Jamaican dish. Whether be it breakfast pr dinner, this one is sure to pop up on the dinner table in Jamaica at least once a week. I was always a fan of "Salt Mackerel." My favorite accompaniment was breadfruit or boiled green bananas. The Sunday morning tradition was to go to the neighbor's for my bowl of roasted breadfruit and some red herring or salt mackerel.  Man, those were the good ole days. Angela, I will never forget the many times you fed me on the weekends. Onto the recipe :)

Ingredients

1 lb Salted Mackerel  (Can be found at Asian Markets)

1 Medium Yellow Bell Pepper (Chopped)

1 Large Tomato (Chopped into big chunks)

1 Onion (Chopped)

3 Sprigs of Thyme

2 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

Sea Salt and Pepper

Crushed Red Pepper (Optional)

 

Method

Add water to a medium sized pot and bring to boil. Cut fish in two pieces and add to boiling water. Ensure that there is enough water to cover the fish completely. Cook for 15 minutes and then remove from pot and allow to cool. You can add a cup or two of cold water to help speed up the cooling process and to also remove excess salt. The boiling process usually removes the majority of the salt so do not leave the cooked fish in the cold water for too long.

When cooled, carefully pull pieces of the fish apart and remove all of the bones. Repeat until you get through all of it. The center bone is easy but you have to get into the sides for the tiny little bones.Once you have all of the fish deboned, give it a taste to see if it is still too salty. If it is, rinse with cold water, drain and set aside. Meanwhile, add olive oil to a saucepan. When hot, add the peppers, onion and thyme and sautee until onion becomes translucent. Add fish pieces, salt and pepper, crushed red pepper and tomato chunks, cover and cook for 10 minutes on medium heat. Stir and taste and if needed, add more seasoning.

 

Since I didn't have breadfruit handy, I served this with boiled purple potatoes, Coco Malanga (similar to dasheen) and some Jamaican Sweet Potatoes. Very easy to make. All pure ingredients added and there you go, another dinner on the table in no time.

Jamaican Peanut Porridge

I am long over due for a yummy breakfast recipe. I made delicious Chai Pancakes and Bacon on Saturday and decided to do a full blown Jamaican breakfast the next day. There a few recipes out there that has more of everything else, than the peanuts, so I went in a direction that I remember my friend Nicole went with hers (I guess it is a old country style of cooking) with ingredients that I could get. Not much to talk about with this one besides the fact that it is not for everyone. If you have a problem with textures (my partner....clears throat) you probably won't lick the bowl. It's packed with protein, vitamins and deliciousness so that's key for me, and I love textures, the nuttier or chunkier the better.

The stuff

And then I had to bring out the tool...

Ingredients

1 Lb of Raw Peanuts

1 Can of Coconut Milk

1/4 Cup of Sugar

2 Packets of Oatmeal

2 Tbsp of Condensed Milk

1 Tsp of Vanilla

1 Tsp of Nutmeg

1/2 Tsp of Cinnamon

Pinch of Salt

Method

Blend the two packets of oatmeal, the peanuts and 4 cups of water. Meanwhile, bring a cup of water to boil in a deep pot and add the blended mixture to it. Cook for about 15 minutes and then add the coconut milk and cook for another 15 minutes.

Adding some yummy coconut milk

Sweeten with sugar and condensed milk and spice it up nutmeg (THIS IS A MUST), cinnamon, vanilla and a pinch of salt. If it is too thin, mix a Tbsp of cornstarch in cold water and add to porridge, and cook for an extra minute while you stir. Mine was a little too thin and I had to use the cornstarch. If you had a green plantain, you could blend it with the oatmeal and peanuts as this would work as another flavorful thickening agent. Nicole used this in her recipe, for the record.

Nice bowl of Peanut Porridge:

Jamaican Peanut Porridge

Give it a try, it's very filling, nutty, and nutritious.

BNW~