02 February

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February 1, 2025

Bahama Fire Engine

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Bahama Fire Engine

February: National Canned Food Month

Hawaii locals love their canned food. Introduced by American GI’s (Ground Infantry) during the world war era, packaged items were important to islanders who needed to stretch their food rations. Canned food kept longer in storage and could be eaten when fresh food was limited. Spam, Vienna sausage, deviled ham and corned beef became part of the local cuisine.

Similarly, canned food are staples in the islands of the Caribbean, too. One Bahamian breakfast made with canned corned beef intrigued us with its name—“Fire Engine” (perhaps named because of the red tomato paste coloring or the spicy heat level). This canned food sauté reminds Islander of her Mommy’s corned beef hash recipe. 

Fire Engine is easy to cook and is a delicious way begin one’s day as well as kick off National Canned Food Month. 

Recipe

(Adapted from Nassau Paradise Island)

Ingredients

  • 1 can of corned beef
  • ½ tablespoon vegetable oil
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1 small onion, chopped
  • ½ green bell pepper, chopped
  • 1-2 sprigs fresh thyme leaves
  • 1/3 cup water
  • 1 ½ tablespoon tomato paste
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Hot sauce to taste

Directions

Mince and chop the vegetables. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium high heat and saute the garlic until fragrant. Stir in the onions and bell peppers. Cook for a few minutes until soft. Add the corned beef and mash until separated.

Pour in the water and tomato paste. Sprinkle with thyme leaves. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste. Mix well. Cover the pot, lower the heat and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Season with hot sauce. Serve with rice or grits, canned corn and fried sweet plantains. Garnish with extra sprigs of thyme.

Notes

  • We kept our Fire Engine recipe mild with no additional hot sauce added.
  • Search our blog for other canned food recipes.
 

February 1, 2024

Char Siu Sou

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Char Siu Sou

February: Asian Lunar New Year

Kung hee fat choy! Happy Asian lunar new year! For our family celebration, we made delicious dumplings filled with char siu (red roast/BBQ pork). This dish is auspicious in that the color red is lucky and bright, and pork represents plenitude. The filling is packed in puff pastry, like a little purse full of treasures. And that is our wish for everyone in the coming year—that it is filled with the treasures of love, happiness, health and good fortune. Make char siu sou as part of a memorable lunar new year’s meal.

Recipe

(Adapted from Asian Inspirations)

Ingredients

  • ½ – ¾ cup char siu (BBQ pork)
  • 1 tablespoon oil
  • 2 small shallots
  • 2 tablespoons char siu sauce
  • 5 (4+1) tablespoons water, divided use
  • 1 teaspoon sesame oil
  • 1 teaspoon cornstarch 
  • 1 package puff pastry, thawed
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • Sesame seeds

Directions

Chop the char siu and shallots into small pieces. In a skillet or frying pan, heat the oil and saute the shallots. Then add the char siu. Stir in the char siu sauce with four tablespoons of water and sesame oil.

In a small cup, mix the remaining one tablespoon of water with cornstarch to make a slurry. Stir into the char siu mixture to thicken the filling slightly. Set aside and cool.

Unwrap a sheet of puff pastry dough and slice into nine squares. Keep the dough cool as much as possible to avoid it being overstretched. Place a tablespoon of filling in the middle of the square. Moisten the edges with beaten egg. Fold the dough over to close. Use the tines of a fork to seal the edges. Place the dumplings on a tray lined with waxed or parchment paper. Brush beaten egg over them and sprinkle sesame seeds. 

Freeze until firm and transfer to a freezer bag or container. When ready to bake, line a baking sheet with foil and lightly grease with cooking spray. Place frozen dumplings on the tray about two inches apart to allow for the pastry to puff up. Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from the oven. Let rest for five minutes before transferring the dumplings to a serving platter. Serve hot.

Notes

  • This is a shortcut version of traditional char siu sou using store-bought puff pastry instead of from-scratch double dough layers. We assembled and froze our char siu sou and then baked them right before our new year’s celebration for an auspicious appetizer.
  • The char siu filling is also good in a baked biscuit as a quick bao. Take canned biscuit (not the flaky layers), separate each piece, flatten the dough, fill with a tablespoon of filling, gather up the ends with a slight twist until it is a ball, place seam side down on a lightly greased baking pan and bake in a preheated oven at 350 degrees F for 10-12 minutes until golden. Serve immediately.
  • We bought char siu from the Asian hot food counter. Make it from scratch at home with this recipe.
  • Check out our other char siu recipes: baked bao, manapua, fried rice and somen salad (noodles).
  • Search our blog for other lunar new year recipes.

 

February 21, 2023

Cajun Spice Bread

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Cajun Spice Bread

February: Mardi Gras/Fat Tuesday

The Louisianan librarian who heads the culinary book club in our Texas town suggested this month’s Mardi Gras theme as “Cajun Cooking”. There is a lot of influence of Cajun culture in the Houston area. In fact, there are three crawfish restaurants (one was called Louisiana Kitchen before it became a Cajun café) within walking distance from our townhouse. As we were still not able to bring food for potluck due to pandemic precautions, we brought pictures and copies of our recipes to the meeting. Islander and her friend Karen B. did exchange food in the library parking lot, though. She gave Karen this Cajun spice bread made easily from the machine and Karen gave gumbo with andouille sausage (we got the better bargain as her dish had a lot more cooking and preparation involved than our food trade). Make this Cajun spice bread in a machine for an easy side dish for a Mardi Gras meal. Happy Fat Tuesday!

Recipe
(Adapted from Electric Bread)

Ingredients

  • 1 1/8 water
  • 3 cups white bread flour
  • 2 tablespoon dry milk
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 2 tablespoons butter, softened
  • 1 ½ tablespoons brown sugar
  • 1 ½ tablespoons Cajun seasoning
  • 1 tablespoon tomato paste
  • ¼ teaspoon onion powder
  • 3 teaspoons active dry yeast (or 2 teaspoons instant/fast rise yeast)

Directions

In the container of the bread machine, place the ingredients in the order listed above. Press the standard start cycle. Remove the baked bread from the machine when done. Cool to room temperature and slice. 

 

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