Greens Rice

The other day I ate something that was so good...it was called "Greens Rice" made with eddo leaf, and coconut rice. I've been in the mood to cook more local things and so this was the first thing on my list.
It's actually pretty easy to make and although mine didn't taste as good/like the one I had the other day it was a decent first attempt.

Eddo Leaf (similar to spinach)

Rice
1/2 grated coconut or 1/2 can coconut milk
Garlic 3-4 cloves
Olive oil
Curry* or other seasoning

Cover rice with 1/2 coconut milk and water and cook.
Heat olive oil in Kahari and add garlic than add chopped eddo leaf and cook until it becomes wilted like cooked spinach (at this point you could add other seasoning* i.e. onion, celery leaves, or whatever your heart desires). I added a little curry powder but that's optional. Add the cooked rice with the greens and mix well.

I topped mine with sliced tomatoes.

~S

Peanut Butter Pumpkin Chili

It's the fall season back home but, sadly, there's no change in the weather in Guyana...it's still hot!
A lot of the favorite fall foods we know and love are available year round here...I've been eating a lot of pumpkin and sweet potato for months already. But I've definietly been craving familiar fall foods like pumpkin cookies, pumpkin spice lattes, candied yams, and of course pumpkin pie (I did make yummy pumpkin cookies!). So in spirit of the fall season I experimented with some fall ingredients and whala....
Beans
Sweet potato
Pumpkin
Tomato
Sweet peppers
Garlic
Onion
Ginger
1 tsp peanut butter
Cinnamon
Cumin
Olive oil

Pre-cook beans, sweet potato and pumpkin, until soft.
Heat a little olive oil in kahari or frying pan and saute garlic and onion throw in the pumpkin with a little water, let simmer for a few minutes than add all other ingredients and mix well making sure the peanut butter is melted and evenly coating everything.

I thought it tasted pretty good but to make sure I wasn't being completely crazy (I wasn't sure about the peanut butter) I had Tony try it...he liked it!
It would be really good over rice.

~S

Rice, Bean & Apple Concoction

Once upon time there was a conference that Peace Corps Volunteers had to attend. It was seven days long and there were so many new and interesting ideas presented. And there was scrumptious, well-cooked food and air conditioning in every room. However, before the conference there was a kitchen conundrum that needed to be cleared up: what to do with the perishables in the fridge? Here’s the solution.

Cooked Beans
Rice
¾ of an apple, diced
1½ onions, diced
4 cloves of garlic
1 sweet pepper (bell)
Basil
Oregano
Spike
Salt
Pepper

Sauté (with oil or butter) the prepped apples, onions, garlic, and sweet pepper in a Kaharee

Season with a little Spike (cheating, I know, but so good you should be able to get it at many supermarkets in the States)
Toss in some basil and oregano (maybe some broad leaf thyme if you had any)
Pinch in Salt and Black pepper.

Stir it all around, coating all the food with seasoning.

Stir in rice and beans coating the rice with the seasoning, spreading the peppers, apples, onions, and garlic throughout.

Taste. Is it good? You’re done. If not add more spices until it’s “how you like it.” (Didn’t Shakespeare write that one? “To eat or not to eat, never shalt one let food go to waste.”…)

IS that Apple and Onion...hmmm interesting...but soooo good.

Garlic Mashed Potatoes w/ Salad & “Sausage”

Here’s a renovated oldie from the States. It was inspired by a meal of turkey patties, mashed potatoes and salad, but we couldn’t find any turkey so we used “sausages” instead. However, we like to add our own little touch to our mashed potatoes and make them not only creamy but breath freshening, garlicy.

5 potatoes
5-6 clove of garlic
Margarine (or butter)
Milk
Salt
Black Pepper

Boil the potatoes until they are mashable. About 20 min? I am not sure, we usually check them with a fork and then drain them.

While it’s boiling chop up your garlic.

Start mashing the potatoes in a bowl

Add butter/margarine and garlic

Salt and Pepper to taste

Mash some more.

Add milk

Finish off with a good healthy mixing and mashing. (as you desire)

The salad consists of: Cucumber, Carrot, Lettuce, tomatoes, and shallot, with a homemade dressing made from apple cider vinegar, olive oil, spike, salt and pepper (sometimes a little basil and oregano for some aromatic tantalization)

Don’t ask for Hot Dogs, ask for Sausage

A more remote purpose of this blog is to share our observations and epiphanies of another culinary culture. One happened just recently. On one of our first days here in Guyana, right off the plane, we were staying at a nice place off one of the few highways that cuts through this country. Being new and it being morning, we asked what was for breakfast. One of the cooks, smiled and in her thick creolese responded, “ Oh, sausage, bai.” We were ecstatic, we had no idea one could get sausage. Of course, we’re thinking Farmer Johns, or another brand of the little links of love that decorate our breakfast plates in the States. However, as we stepped in line, the “sausages” were mini Vienna hot dogs. From a can. This was one of our first epiphanies.

It’s been 8 months now and time erodes memories as new experiences take place and, really, we never were big hot dog fans anyway, so we only got them when they’re catered to us. But recently, we had a hankering for one of our home cooked comfort favorites: cooked turkey patties, mashed potatoes, and veggies. Unfortunately, we were not too sure where to get ground turkey here, so we looked for alternatives. Chicken Dogs, perfect! It all fell into place and we asked around at our shop across the way for hot dogs. We were told that they didn’t have any but that the Bakewell truck (bakewell being a brand of bread here) just dropped off some at the bread shop around the corner.

Hmmm, we thought, a bakery truck has hot dogs. Sure why not, this is Guyana, its new, exciting, different, so yeah maybe the truck would have some. So we went to the bread shop and asked for hot dogs. They placed a packet of Hot Dog Buns before us. We stared in stunned silence. Was there a miscommunication? Did we not speak clearly enough? Oh, wait. As memories do at the most inopportune times, it all came flooding back and hit us, feeling like an “A ha! Moment” in a short story: they’re not called hot dogs here, but sausages.

So moral of the story: When in Guyana ask for “sausages” when you want some hot dogs.

Below is an image of a common breakfast food here: Hot Dogs…well sausages. They are on wheat bread slathered in ketchup and mustard (and if we were real Guyanese, they’d be covered in grated carrots and cabbage, with a splash of pepper sauce and mayonnaise.)

Pineapple/Mango Fried Rice

My mouth waters thinking about this dish; the sweet surprise of several bits of pineapple in every bite, clashing with the savory of garlic and sweet peppers, but also living in harmony with the thyme and onion; only to be magnificently masticated for my pleasure. Before living in Guyana I never ate pineapple and my experience with mangoes consisted of Mango-a-go-goes. But then Chelsea thought of this magnificent dish, it reminded us of home because there was a great Thai place near our apartment in San Diego that served something very similar to this. Did I think we’d ever be able to cook it? Never. But resourcefulness is always birthed from necessity, and that is the point of our blog.

Rice (our culinary compatriot Ngia says it should be at least a day old, we’ve done it both with fresh cooked and day old rice…both are pretty awesome)
Garlic (3 cloves 4? Depends on your taste)
Onion (1) or Scallions
Pinapple (only need about ½ of one, the other ½ consume as a healthy snack! Or put it on one of your home-made pizzas.) Or use about 3 Mangoes
4 Sweet Peppers (or a bell pepper or two)
½ a can or more of rinsed corn.
Broad Leaf Thyme
Salt (sometimes soy sauce if you’re saucey)
Black Pepper

Cook your rice, as you prefer (or a day in advance if you are so inclined)

Dice up your Garlic, Onion, Pepper, and Thyme



Sauté, in some oil, onions, garlic, peppers, corn, and thyme (in pan or Kaharee)



Stir in your rice, then season or soy sauce to your taste.

When it is almost done, in order to not make the pineapple too mushy but still warm, stir in your pineapple (or mango) and cook for a few more minutes.

Serve (we usually serve it with a dash or 4 or Guyanese Pepper Sauce.)

Guyanese Chow Mein

Don’t let the name fool you, this isn’t your run of the mill Chinese variety from Panda Express or any other restaurant back in the States, rather it’s wholly Guyanese. (Granted, I never made chow mein back home, but I can imagine it may be slightly different.) It’s fairly easy (minus the time consuming prep) to make (though it may appear complicated) and it’s extremely cheap and will feed us for a few days. It is a great "go to" dish, but sometimes we need to mix it up. As Sara says, “I don’t want feel like we’re in a food rut” so we constantly want to try new things for no one likes being in ruts, especially of the culinary kind.

Package of dried egg noodles (usually from Champion or a factory on the West Demerara)
5 cloves of garlic
1 to 2 onions (if you want)
Scallions (or shallot)
4 Sweet Peppers
Some Pak Choy (Bok Choy)
A carrot
Rinsed Corn from a can
A bit of Broad Leaf Thyme
A bit of Ginger (if available)
Some pinches from a package of Chow Mein Seasoning (a blend of Paprika, Salt, Garlic Powder, Black Pepper, Spice, Herbs)
Salt or Soy Sauce (if it’s available.)
Pepper.

(If you want a protein you can use Tofu, (Soy Chunks here), or any kind of meat besides fish.)

*Sometimes I try to add a bit of flavor here and there with some cumin or curry powder, but recently we’ve left these out in order to have the ingredients sing for themselves with the Chow Mein Seasoning being the primary spice. They also have "Chinese Sauce" here which Tony uses when he makes it. Moreover, if all these ingredients aren’t available at your site, the recipe can be simplified to what you have available.

Heat up water for the noodles, when it’s boiling or fairly hot put the noodles in. Drain and set aside the noodles when they’re done.

Dice up the onion, garlic, peppers, and scallions and leave them in their separate piles. Grate the carrot and a little ginger, slice up the thyme and Pak Choy (what they call it here).





(If using a protein sauté it in the Kaharee first, and with soy chunks add some seasoning (whether it be chow mein or your own blend. And then the onion, garlic, and pepper)

Put some oil in the Kaharee or pan and when it’s hot sauté the onion, garlic, and peppers for a few minutes. (If using meat add these as you’re cooking it. )

Add the ginger and thyme, and some seasoning to the sauté, stir it all together.

After a minute or so, add the Pak Choy, carrots, and corn and mix it all up, stirring constantly.

Add your noodles stirring it in to the heated mixture. Add more seasoning, trying to coat everything.

Stir in some soy sauce.

Heat up and Serve.

This isn't the best picture but you get the point. I will see if I take a better one.