So, this is how my first Barracuda was cooked up. My cousin who is a fisherman, hooked me up with this little guy. At first I was a bit worried cause I’ve heard so many stories of people getting killed from eating a poisonous Barracuda. A little research and I found out that its the fully grown Great Barracuda that you have to worry about.
So it was straight to the backyard to light the coal pot cause I’m all about cooking outdoors. I’ve had stewed Barracuda before and I didn’t like it. The meat was very tough and dry. However fried Barracuda is one of my favourite things to order from the road side fish fries that happen every Saturday in Barbuda.
So I cut the Cuda into steaks about an inch or so thick. I kept it simple and just lightly seasoned them up with a bit of salt and pepper and placed a cast iron pan on the fire with a bit of vegetable oil. This is a technique called shallow frying, where the fish needs to be flipped once to complete the cooking.
I swear I was Japanese in a previous life cause I love my fish with rice. This time I cooked some Basmati rice and some chop up. Chop up is spinach and okra chopped up and cooked down with some corn to give it some sweetness. The corn is my little added touch to this classic Caribbean side dish.
Simple and damn tasty yo! Now knowing this risk, would you order Barracuda if you saw it on a menu on an exotic island?? Would you take the risk or play it safe?? hmmmm
Valentines can be a real pain if you don’t know what your doing. Advil (and other drugs) can help stop the pain, but it’s only temporary. This page has everything you need to relieve the Valentine pressure and get you on top of your game. Just scroll down and check it out. There are 7 classic videos and recipes on this post so it might take time to load if your connection is slow. Press pause and wait a few minutes if the video is choppy.
First you should start the evening off with a appetizer. What better way than to use my patented “Get Laid Salad.” However since this is going to be an appetizer you should substitute the chicken for candied walnuts. Here is the recipe for the “Get Laid Salad“. Honestly this is by far one of my easiest recipes!
For the Dressing:
2 floz of vegetable oil
1 floz white vinegar
1 tbs strawberry jam
For the Salad:
4 cups loosely packed baby spinach (remove any long stems for added appeal)
4 strawberries quartered
½ an avocado diced
Serves one special lady!
Here is the video for the salad:
For the Candied Walnuts:
21/2 tbs of chopped walnut pieces
1/4 tbs sugar
50ml of water
1 tsp butter
Video for Candied Walnuts:
Now that is your appetizer is taken care of lets look at the main course. If your lady is a seafood lover this dish will work the magic. Vodka Spiked Shrimps with Spicy Penne Pasta. Here is what you will need:
6 -8 peeled and de veined black tiger shrimps
1/4 small white onion diced fine
1 clove garlic diced fine
1 floz vodka citron
1/2 tbs butter
1 plum tomato seeded and diced
1/4 bunch of chives sliced fine
6oz – 8oz Tomato sauce
2 cups cooked pasta (el dente)
sliced red chili/ jalapeno (use accordingly)
Here is the video instruction:
If you wanna be a real dun dadda and cook your own tomato sauce here is what you will need: Tomato Sauce:
60floz of canned plum tomatoes
2 tbs of tomato paste
1/2 small white onion fine dice
3-4 cloves garlic minced
1 tbs olive oil
1 small bunch fresh basil
Here is the tomato sauce video:
Yo I thought I knew how to cook pasta until I worked in my first Italian restaurant. This video will show you how to cook it up propah!!
Now when it comes to dessert I don’t got your back. Go talk to your nearest baker and grab a slice of your ladies favourite cake or pie. Now if this is a date and you are inviting this lady over for dinner then she will probably ask you if she should bring something. Tell her to bring the dessert. No shame in that game.
Now if things worked out like we planned it then dinner was a success and in the morning you are waking up next to a happy lady. Seal the deal with a simple homemade breakfast and she will be talking about you to all her friends for days. I got two options for you. The first is a simple Yogurt Parfait and Fresh Fruit Plate. Here is what you need.
1 cup of blueberries (frozen or fresh)
1 cup of water
1 tablespoon of sugar
1/2 cup granola unsweetened
1 cup of unsweetened yogurt
Grapes, cantaloupe, honeydew, orange, kewi
Yogurt Parfait Video:
Second option is some Homemade Raspberry Pancakes. This recipe is compliments of my good friend Executive Chef Sarah Schmidt!
2 cups flour
¼ cup sugar
1 tsp. Baking Powder
1 tsp. Baking Soda
½ tsp. Salt
2 tbsp maple syrup
2 egg yolks
2 egg whites beaten until stiff
2 cups buttermilk
¼ cup butter melted
1 tsp. Vanilla (optional)
1/4 cup fresh raspberries
Video for Raspberry Pancakes
Any questions just hit me up on Facebook. Good luck fellas!
This one is for all my people freezing in Canada right now. A few cups of this will bring you back to good spirits. This soup is simple, tasty, healthy, and it sticks to the ribs! Here is what you need:
1/2 cup of Red Kidney Beans soaked overnight
1lb of Caribbean pumpkin/squash medium dice
1 small carrot medium dice
14oz Caribbean sweet potato/yams medium dice
1/2 onion medium dice
4 cloves garlic diced fine
3 Caribbean seasoning peppers
1 scotch bonnet
9oz Salted Link Fish/Cod - soaked over night
8 cups of vegetable stock/water
A few sprigs of fresh thyme
Method:
Cut the link fish into 3 even pieces and bring to a boil to remove the excess salt. Drain and cut into smaller pieces and remove any unwanted bones at this point. Add soaked beans to a soup pot with seasoned stock and bring to a boil. After about 15min, when beans are just starting to get soft, add in sweet potatoes. Let this boil for 10minutes and add in everything but the fish. Allow this to lightly boil but check after 10minutes and remove the scotch bonnet if the broth is getting to spicy. The broth will naturally thicken as the kidney beans, pumpkin and sweet potato release their starches. Soup is ready when all the ingredients are soft. At this point add in the fish, and serve!
