Caribbean Cooking Made Easy

[quark1]

SH - no - but its on my list of places to dine before I die!

[PAULW]

QUARK you may be going to live for ever, thought I saw on the TV that mama cherris got shut down, she was complaining that gordon ramsay was all about gordon ramsay and he didnt care about the people he made the show about and the landlord had changed the locks on the resturant and never gave her chance to remove her stuff

[Two_Sheds]

Momma Cherri is still open ... we're going to pay a visit at the weekend. Momma Cherri's Soul Food Shack

[Alison]

Momma Cherri had a stand at Glastonbury this year - didn't eat there but there was permantly a long queue so it looked popular.

Re the Levi Roots things, OH gave me the book for my birthday today, looks good although obviously not tried anything yet. Most of the ingredients are OK to get hold of although some would be rather difficult unless you lived in the right area of the country!

[marigold007]

Ya'll could stop by my house if Momma Cherri ever goes bust. I also grew up eating everything on her menu. I can't believe there's no gumbo, though. I make the best gumbo with Linconshire sausage and prawns.

[Seahorse]

Mmmm... gumbo with Lincolnshire sausages!? Would you share the recipe? (And can we all stop by even if Momma Cherri doesn't go bust!? ).

[marigold007]

Yeah, I suppose ya'll could stop by anytime, if you like. ;-)

Prawn and Lincolnshire Sausage Gumbo

This is a basic prawn and sausage gumbo. It’s usually cooked with a smoked sausage, but you can use whatever sausage you like. After trying this, be more adventurous and add a few canned peeled plum tomatoes in the last few minutes.



It's good with lots of beer, as a first course.


Ingredients

• 2 pounds unpeeled, large fresh prawns, with the heads.
• 64 ounces chicken broth
• 1 pound Lincolnshire sausage, cut into 1/4-inch slices
• Olive oil
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1 medium onion, chopped
• 1 green sweet pepper, chopped
• 2 stalks of celery, sliced
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 bay leaves
• ½ teaspoon paprika
• ½ teaspoon ground cayenne pepper
• ½ teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 2 to 3 teaspoons hot sauce (Tabasco)
• ¼ cup chopped spring onions
• ¼ cup okra, cut into ¼ inch slices
• Hot cooked rice

Method

Peel shrimp, reserving shells, and devein, if desired. Set meat aside.


Combine shrimp shells and chicken broth in a large pot; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 20 minutes. Pour mixture through a wire-mesh strainer into a bowl, discarding shells. Set broth aside, and keep warm.


Cook sausage in a heavy pot over medium heat until browned. Remove sausage; set aside. Measure drippings, adding enough oil to measure 1/2 cup.



Heat oil on medium-high and add flour stirring constantly until it is light to mohogany brown. Use a metal or wooden spatula to stir. It’s your choice as to how brown it gets, unless it burns, then it is ruined, so don’t leave it alone for even a minute. This is roux. If you have to start over, use olive oil instead.


Stir in onion, peppers, celery (The Holy Trinity as some call it), and garlic; cook 7 minutes or until vegetables are tender, stirring often. Gradually stir in warm broth; bring mixture to a boil. Stir in bay leaves, paprika, cayenne, oregano, and thyme; reduce heat, and simmer, uncovered, 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Add hot sauce and Worcestershire sauce about half way through.


Stir in prawns, sausage, okra and green onions; cook 5 to 7 minutes or until prawns turn pink. You might want to add the okra only 3 minutes before it’s done, if you like them firm. Discard bay leaves. Salt and pepper to taste. Serve over hot rice.


If you can get dried sassafras leaves, sprinkle a pinch of them on top of the gumbo before eating. Serve with a bottle of hot sauce, salt and pepper on the side.


Make about 11 cups.

[HayleyB]

Missed this post and missed the programme

I loved Mexican Carribean when we were out there and I have tried Jamaican it's lovely I'll have to try to remember next week

[trousers]

wellie brought me the book yesterday as we are going to barbados in october, to try the real thing so to speak

[HotStuff]

Did you try any of the recipes yet trousers? My copy of the book arrived yesterday and I did rub-a-dub chicken with caribbean mash for lunch today for me and the OH and it was lovely. Next up is definitely the Puerto Rican chicken & rice.

[quark1]

Levi's book is available on

The Book People: Top quality, hand-picked books at a fraction of high street prices

for £5.99

If you can sort yourself out another £20 worth of stuff - its free postage at the moment for £25+ purchases.

[Seahorse]

I made Levi's 'Caribbean Fish Pie' when we had a guest a few days ago. I left out the spinach (served it 'on the side') but it was a resounding success, if I do say so myself

[trousers]

wellie made the lamb shanks , jolly good they were too.