Cayman Meat Patties - Definitely a Group Effort

l to r, Kat, Brynnly and Connor assembling the Cayman meat patties.
So the table's a mess. Results were sublime!
(Red Christmas bowls made perfect 4" dough rounds.)

This happened to be the last thing our mother made. She and Brynnly made these together about 2 weeks before mom died. They had a wonderful time doing so, and I had a lovely time watching them and chronicling their shared cooking joy. This night, the three musketeers, above, made both appetizer-size patties (second photo) and then full-size patties (first photo) for entrees. SO good! 

The patties ready for baking - entree size

The deliciousness after baking - appetizer size

For the meat filling:

1 1/2 lb. chuck pound roast (you can use already ground chuck)

1 large onion, roughly chopped

6 scallions (green onions), green tops included, roughly chopped

1 scotch bonnet pepper (or equivalent), seeded

2 garlic cloves

2++ T.  Jamaican Blue Mountain Country curry powder, a mixture of mild and hot

6 sprigs fresh thyme or 2 t. dried thyme

1/2 t. ground all spice

2 T. vegetable oil

3/4 C. bread crumbs

1/2 C. water

salt and pepper to taste

BumHot (our family blend) or hot pepper flakes/cayenne to taste

Cut beef into 1" cubes, removing all fat and tendons. Place meat on a pan in a single layer and put in freezer for about 30 minutes or until meat is firm but not frozen hard. While meat is firming, put the onion, scallions, scotch bonnet and garlic in a food processor and mince by pulsing on and off until all is finely ground. In a large skillet, heat the oil and add the mixture along with the curry, thyme and allspice. Cook until all is cooked, but not browned. Set aside. 

In batches, place the partially frozen chuck in the food processor and pulse until meat is minced very finely. Add the meat to the veggie skillet and cook over medium heat until all the pink is gone and meat is well cooked. Add the bread crumbs, salt to taste and pepper to taste. Stir well to blend and adjust seasonings - especially the level of pepper heat - to your taste. Simmer for about 10 minutes over low heat until all liquid is gone. Set aside and let cool. 

For the pastry:

2 1/2 C. flour

1 - 2 T. Jamaican Blue Mountain curry powder

1 t. BumHot (or hot pepper flakes/cayenne to taste)

1 t. tumeric (for color, optional)

3/4 t. salt

1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into large chunks (can also use 1/2 lard) 

1/3 C. ice water

In food processor, fitted with a steel blade, put all dry ingredients in and pulse to mix. Take dough out and knead very lightly on a floured board. If dough is sticky, add a bit more flour. 

To assemble Cayman meat patties: 

Preheat oven to 375º.

1 egg, well beaten (for glazing)

Roll dough out into a long piece that about 1/2" thick. Tear off a portion of dough and roll as thinly as you can on a lightly floured board. Cut into an approximately 4" circle (for entree portions) or a 2" circle (for appetizer portions). Place filling on half the circle (about 2-3 T, for an entree, 1-1 1/2 T. for an appetizer size). Brush edges with water and fold over and seal. With fork tines, seal the edges. Place the patties on a parchment paper lined cookie sheet. Continue till all the meat and (hopefully) dough is used up. Glaze the tops of the patties with the egg wash. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes (appetizers) or 20 - 25 minutes (entrees) or until the edges are golden brown. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature. Reheating in a microwave, tho it works, is not recommended. 

You can make hot patties with any ground meat you want. They can be made any size you want as well. And if you can find callaloo, a Caribbean veggie, (aka amaranth), you can make this vegetarian!

A family favorite!

~~~

YUM!

'till we feast again! 

xoabb

Pizza, Please - Hold the Tomatoes

white wild mushroom pizza, no tomatoes!

My sis had a taste for white pizza, and as none of us had ever made it before, off to google we went!  I don't know what I thought a white pizza sauce would be, but I never would have guessed it began with a roux! We decided to use a flatbread/pita for the crust so mom wouldn't have to make more pizza crust, and it was almost as good as homemade because the toppings were so good! Our pizza was made with sautéed wild chanterelles and caramelized onions, and we used fresh thyme leaves instead of basil because it goes so well, flavor-wise, with the chantys. (If you don't have access to chanterelles, any other store-bought fresh mushroom will do; just remember to sauté them first.) Sorry for the bad photo, but it was only the next day, right before lunch, that I realized I hadn't taken any photos of it as it was being made! 

The throw 'n go: 

1 - for preparing the toppings

chanterelle mushrooms, cleaned (with a toothbrush, no water) and torn into pieces

onions - cut onion in half length-wise and then cut into thin slices

butter, for sautéing 

(This can be done long before you assemble your pizza - mom and I did all the sautéing in the morning - just take all out of the fridge enough before dinner so they are at room temp.)

2 - for the roux:

2 T. butter (if you need to make more, just use equal parts butter to flour)

2 T. flour

1 C. milk or 1/2 & 1/2

salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste

1 garlic clove, minced

fresh thyme leaves

1/2 C. parmesan cheese

3 - for assembling the pizza:

flatbread or pita bread

mozzarella cheese

parmesan cheese

fresh thyme leaves

BumHot (or cayenne or other red pepper flakes)

Preheat oven to 450º F. 

1 - Melt butter in a pan, add the mushrooms and cook over medium-high heat, stirring often, until the chanterelles are done, about 10 - 15 minutes. Remove from pan, add more butter if needed and add the onions. Cook onions over medium to medium-low heat for around 20 minutes or so - until the onions are nicely browned and caramelized. When done, set them aside. 

2 - Using the same pan to make the roux, over medium heat (you don't want the butter and flour to brown), melt 2 T. butter and add the flour and whisk well to combine. Whisking constantly, cook for about 5 - 10 minutes. Slowly whisk in the milk, adding gradually. Stir in the remaining ingredients and remove from the heat. 

3 -  Coat the flatbread with your roux.  Sprinkle mozzarella over the top of that. Then cover with the mushrooms and onions, as little or as much as you want. Sprinkle that with some thyme leave and then sprinkle on your desired amount of mozzarella cheese. Add some parmesan, a few more thyme leaves and BumHot. Bake until all is nice and bubbly and beginning to brown, about 15 - 20 minutes, depending on the thickness of your bread (we like it as thin as we can get it) and the amount of topping you have. Serve your pizza with parmesan on the side. 

~~~

YUM!

'till we feast again! 

xoabb

Cauliflower Steaks Any Way You Want 'Em

Cauliflower steaks ready for the oven

Back in February, the last time I visited my parents in Missourahhh, I had a layover in Chicago that turned out to be a loooong layover because of weather delays. Some way or another, a woman who was also delayed and I started talking. What a delightful person she was and what a delightful time we had! We talked about any and everything, from family to food to origins - just everything! Along the way, my Remy came up and she empathized with me over her loss, and then her daughter came up and how she was going through some difficult life changes and had taken solace in creating a food blog, tho said daughter had never been one for much cooking. She told me that her daughter's blog was really taking off and was on the verge of becoming successful enough that she was earning from it! I was impressed, to say the least. We eventually parted ways, as her flight was called, but before she left, she gave me a lovely book that she hoped would help me in my loss of my daughter (it has, but even more her kind thoughts she spoke than the actual book) and her daughter's website at my request. When I visited her daughter's website, the blog entry that I was sent to was a recipe for ~cauliflower steaks~. Hmmm....interesting...never heard of that before... SO we made them for dinner one night while I was at my parents home. Though my mom wasn't a big fan of them, I thought they were wonderful! I used My Lavender Blues recipe as a starting point, but made it simple for the first try. Enjoy! Tho I have a few photos of my venture, please go here for beautiful photos of the cauliflower steaks. Ms. Lavender's photos are incredibly unusual and also incredibly beautiful.

The throw 'n go:

1 head cauliflower
olive oil or grape seed oil
Bum-Hot (my parents home-grown dehydrated and ground red pepper flakes) or pepper flakes
sea salt & fresh ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 425º F. Cut the leaves and that part of the core from the bottom of the cauliflower. Resting the cauliflower on its bottom, cut it in half. Then cut approximately 1/3" slices out of the cauliflower halves. As you can see, below, you'll get some big steaks and then some smaller pieces.

What the cut cauliflower will look like

Place steaks on a cookie sheet; drizzle olive oil over them and season with the Bum-Hot, salt and pepper. Turn over and do the same to that side. Put them in the oven and bake for about 30 to 40 minutes, until they are nicely browned. No need to turn them, but you certainly can half way through the cooking time.

half-way to done deliciousness

This photo is before they were totally done. As I totally forgot to take a plated photo of the finished dish, this is as good as it gets! Sorry! Again, go to My Lavender Blues for some excellent photos of the finished product!

You can do just about any seasonings on these, whatever your whim is, try it! Last night daughter Brynnly and I added curry powder to the steaks, in addition to the peppers and salt, and it was just wonderful! I've not tried My LB's take on this, but I'm betting it's delicious! You're gonna love this!

~~~

YUM!

'till we feast again! 

xoabb