What is Bammy

 Early Sunday morning you can find many Jamaican families eating traditional ackee and saltfish, boiled green banana, bammy or breadfruit.

So what is bammy. Bammy is a type of flatbread made from cassava. The native Arawak Indians (Jamaica's original inhabitants) used these in many of their meals. When wheat flour began importation into Jamaica many Jamaicans got away from using this as a staple in their diet.

It is reported that the United Nations and the Jamaican government established a program to revive bammy production. It is now marketed as a modern accessible food product.

How to make bammy?

1. grate cassava (or you can find it grated in many stores and sold frozen)
2. place the grated cassava in cheese cloth or muslin cloth and drain the liquid into a container and add salt.
3. Then gather cassava and press about one cup into a greased frying pan
4. Cook over moderate heat, turn when the edges shrink (about 10 minutes)
5. Soak the bammies in coconut milk for about 5 minutes until they absorb the mixture
6. put more oil in the frying pan , let it get to frying temperature and fry until light brown

Jamaican Roast Fish

I found this wonderful recipe on Jamaicans.com   I love Roast Fish.

INGREDIENTS :

• 4 small whole gutted doctor fish or turbit/turbot (some times spelt terbit)(you can use any small fish)



• 2 small onions  



• 3 sprigs scallions  



• 6 sprigs thyme  



• 10 pimentos  



• 1 table spoon salt  



• 1 table spoon pepper  



• 1 garlic  



• 2 scotch bonnet pepper  



• 1/4 cup pick a pepper sauce  



• aluminum foil paper  



• Wash fish with cold salt water or vinegar.  

METHOD:

1. Wash fish in with vinigar and water  



2. Pour picka-peppa into bowl  



3. Dice up onion, thyme, escallions, scotch bonnet pepper, garlic & combine  



4. Add salt, pepper, pimento  



5. Combine all and mix in the bowl of picka-pepper sauce  



6. Dry and place each fish on a sheet of foil  



7. Stuff each fish with the seasoning mixture & wrap completgly in foil  



8. Roast on open grill for 30 minutes or in an oven at 350 degrees for 40 minutes.  



9. Serves 4  

*If you can't get pick-a-peppa sauce you can use Worcestershire sauce, with a little bit of sugar.

Jamaican Seafood

This is great dish to eat anytime of the year. I love seafood (those of you that have been following me probably know that already). This recipe calls for "vegetable oil," but I used canola oil instead.

Ingredients

2 tsp canola oil
raw prawns 1 lb (deveined and peeled)
2 bunches of green oinions (scallions)
1 garlic clove chopped
1 small habenero pepper (scotch bonnet) -use a green chili for less spicy
1 inch piece of fresh ginger, peeled and cut into sticks
5 fluid oz of white wine
5 fluid oz of cream of coconut
4 oz shitake mushrooms
salt and pepper to taste

Method

Heat a large skillet or if you have a wok it will work better, add oil. When oil is hot (almost smoking) then add the prawns and stir or about 5 minutes. Remove the prawns (keep warm in a low heat oven). Add the mushrooms, stir for about 3 minutes, remove and add to prawns to plate in oven. add the wine and coconut milk to the skillet. Let this mixture boil for about 5 minutes. reduce the heat. Return the prawns and mushrooms to the this mixture,stirring occasionally. Stir in the other seasonings. add salt and pepper to taste. (do notbreak open the scotch bonnet (habenero pepper) in the skillet). If you choose to use the sliced chillies then add to taste for spiceness.

Serve with cooked rice

Jamaican Curry Chicken

Once in awhile I will post an interesting Jamaican recipe I have found on the internet. This video is from Jamaica Travel and Culture.com (by way of Youtube). I have featured several curry chicken recipes over the years, but this is a very simple and very tasty. Enjoy

Jamaican Garlic Shrimp

Ingredients

4 cups water

1/2 cup chopped scallions
4 crushed garlic cloves
3 thyme sprigs
2-3 whole habanero/scotch bonnet chilis
2 tbsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
10 whole allspice (or you can use the powder allspice)
1 lb 20/25 shrimp

Directions

Mix all ingredients except shrimp in large pot, bring to a boil and then reduce heat and simmer (covered) for 20 minutes

Remove pot from heat and stir in shrimp, making sure they're all covered with the liquid. Let the pot cool for about an hour uncovered, then serve with a little of the cooking liquid

The History of Thyme

I believe it is a cardinal sin to have a kitchen that does not contain the herb, thyme. This is one of my alltime favorite seasonings.

As obtained from "About.com," Thyme, botanically-known as thymus vulgaris, gets its name from the Greek word thymon, an herb used as incense or as a fumigator during sacrifices. Native to the Mediterranean region, thyme was brought to Britain by the Romans. Long-prized for its medicinal uses, ancient Egyptians used thyme oil in their embalming process.

Legend has it that thyme was an essential ingredient in a magic brew that allowed the drinker to see the fairies. It was also considered an aphrodisiac.

Helpful tools for thyme storage is store fresh thyme in a plastic bag in the vegetable crisper drawer of your refrigerator or stand sprigs in a glass of water on the refrigerator shelf.

When planting, work some compost or other organic material into the soil to help the soil drain better and to provide nutrients to the young plant. Thyme also does well in containers.

Jamaicans use thyme in many of their favorite dishes. I love the fresh thyme the best.

Jamaican Pumpkin Soup

Jamaican pumpkin soup is the what chicken noodle soup is to America. Generally this is a Saturday dish, because Sunday is the "Big" meal cooking to start the week. I found out that Jamaican grown pumpkin is an entirely different thing then American pumpkin. However all pumpkins will give you the same results (just slightly different tastes).

This is the recipe, from The Food of Jamaica in the Periplus World Food Cookbooks series:

Jamaican Pumpkin Soup

1 lb beef roast, cut in big chunks

2 quarts water

1 lb Jamaican pumpkin, sugar pumpkin, squash or butternut squash

1/2 lb yam, chopped*

1 small green pepper, seeded and chopped

2 scallions, chopped

1 large clove garlic, minced

1 sprig fresh thyme

Salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 small knob ginger, minced or finely grated

Place the meat in a large soup pot, cover with the water, and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat to low, skim off any foam, and simmer uncovered until the meat is tender, about 1 1/2 hours. Add all of the remaining ingredients except ginger and continue to cook until the pumpkin and yam are tender, about 45 minutes. Remove the pumpkin and yam from the stock with a slotted spoon, place in a food processor or heat-safe blender, and process until smooth. Return the puree to the stock. Stir and season with salt and pepper to taste. Ladle into bowls, topping each with a pinch of minced ginger.

Curry Spinach Soup

Well, I haven't done anything in awhile for the Vegans out there. So here is a dish that involves someting healthy mon! It is curry spinach soup. The dish originally calls for "callaloo," however I know that this vegetable is not normally grown in the United States, so I substituted it with Spinach.







Well, I haven't done anything in awhile for the Vegans out there. So here is a dish that involves someting healthy mon! It is curry spinach soup. The dish originally calls for "callaloo," however I know that this vegetable is not normally grown in the United States, so I substituted it with Spinach.

Ingrediaents

1/3 Cup of bell pepper (sweet pepper), chopped and de-seeded.
3 scallions, crushed and chopped
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
3 cups Spinach
3 medium potatoes
2 sprig thyme
1 tomato chopped and de-seeded
½ Cup of Curry

Directions

Wash the Spinach leaves
Cut up Spinach leaves in pieces.
Dice and boil the potatoes for approx 2 minutes. Do not overcook.
Heat the vegetable oil in a saucepan
Sauté the scallions and bell pepper in the vegetable oil
Add the other ingredients and let simmer for 7 minutes. Stir during this time.
Serve will hot with yam, dumplings and boiled green bananas

Enjoy.

Jamaican Jerk Steak

Jamaicans have a lot of red pole cows in the country. Although Beef is really more of a delicacy, Jamaicans do enjoy a variety of beef dishes. Yes, anything can be jerked. Here is a Jerk Steak recipe. The combination of the allspice, cloves and other ingredients make up the Jerk seasoning.

• Cooking spray
• 1/2 cup red wine vinegar
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
  
• 2 teaspoons ground allspice
• 2 teaspoons ground cloves
• 2 teaspoons dried basil
• 2 teaspoons dried thyme
• 1 1/2 teaspoons hot sauce
• 2 1/2 pounds flank steak
• Salt and pepper

Preheat grill, grill pan or broiler. Coat a grill, large baking sheet or shallow roasting pan with cooking spray.

In a shallow dish, whisk together vinegar, sugar, allspice, cloves, basil, thyme, hot sauce, salt, and pepper. Add flank steak and turn to coat (you may marinate up to 24 hours at this point).

Transfer flank steak to prepared pan and pour over any remaining marinade. Grill or broil 5 minutes per side, until medium-rare. Let stand 10 minutes before slicing crosswise into thin slices. This can be served with Rice and Peas or plain white rice. (add some fried plantains for real island flavor).

Jamaican Glazed Ham

Just in time or the holidays. Many people think for some reason Jamaicans don't eat ham. Where they got that notion I don't know. Here is a popular recipe for the season. You will find it is very similar to the way it is prepared in Jamaica. You can garnish the ham with the slices of orange and banana

NGREDIENTS:

• 1 lb. (5 kgs) ham
• 1 bottle marmalade
• 2 tsps. grated orange rind
• 2 cups fresh orange segments
• 5 medium ripe bananas
• 2 Tbsps. fresh lime juice
• 1/4 cup lightly packed brown sugar
• 15 whole cloves
• 2 Tbsps. vinegar

METHOD / DIRECTIONS:

1. Bake ham in preheated oven at 180°C / 350°F, (15 minutes for each pound).
2. In a saucepan over low heat, heat marmalade until it is of a syrupy consistency.
3. Stir constantly with a wooden spoon, remove marmalade from heat and blend in orange segments, banana slices and lime juice.
4. Spoon mixture over ham 15 minutes before it is finished baking.
5. In a separate bowl, combine the brown sugar and vinegar, brush this over ham. Bake ham for a further 15-20 minutes.