Monday, November 5, 2007

Bahama Inspired Holiday Recipes

The holidays are slowly approaching which means it's just about time to turn our recipe radars on. Did you hear that? Now hunt down your recipes and start practicing. Trying the recipes first is a great idea. I believe that this will save guests from having to fake wrinkle producing smiles and uncomfortably gulping down your little mistakes.



Here are some interesting recipes from the Bahama Breeze Restaurants. What do you think?


Creole Baked Goat Cheese
Serves: Two to Four (Great for sharing)



INGREDIENTS:

1 Tbsp Olive oil
2 Tbsp Garlic, fresh, minced
½ cup Sweet onion, ¼" diced
4 oz wt Fresh chevre goat cheese
1 each Vine-ripened Roma tomato, seeded and diced ¼"
1 Tbsp Fresh cilantro, chopped
1 TbSP Fresh parsley, chopped
¼ tsp Hot pepper sauce
Salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste
Roasted red pepper cups (see recipe below)
Garlic croutons



PREPARATION:

Heat olive oil in a medium sauté pan over medium heat, then add the garlic and onions and sauté just until the onions become translucent. Remove from heat and cool to room temperature.
Transfer the onion-garlic mixture to a mixing bowl and add the remaining ingredients. Mix with a rubber spatula to thoroughly blend. Adjust seasonings with salt and pepper to taste.
Fill roasted red pepper cups with goat cheese mixture and bake in a 350 ºF preheated oven for 10 minutes. Now, place the garlic crouton rounds in the oven and bake for an additional 5 minutes. Remove from the oven and transfer the pepper cups to the center of a serving platter and arrange the baked croutons in a circle around the pepper cups. Serve with a fresh tomato salsa on the side.


Note: When eating this dish, we recommend cutting the pepper cups into wedges for the full experience of eating the filling with the red pepper.



Roasted Red Pepper Cups



INGREDIENTS:

1 Medium sized red bell pepper 1 Tbsp Olive oil as needed Salt & pepper



PREPARATION:

Cut red pepper in half to form a top and bottom. Remove and discard the seeds and trim the stem to allow the top half pepper cup to stand up. Rub the inside of the pepper cups with olive oil and season them lightly with salt and pepper. Place them in a pie plate, cut side up, and bake them for 5 minutes in a 350 ºF, preheated oven. During this roasting step you will be just slightly softening the pepper. The final cooking will take place after the pepper cups are stuffed. Allow the cups to cool upside down to allow the excess juice to drain out prior to filling with the goat cheese mixture.

Crab Claws St. Thomas

Serves: 2



INGREDIENTS:

12 oz wt Blue Crab Claws
¾ cup Passion Fruit Butter
1 loaf Cuban or French Baguette



PREPARATION:

Preheat oven to 500°F.
Place crab in a baking dish.
Melt passion fruit butter in microwave and pour over the crab.
Slice the loaf of bread into desired size.
Place crab and bread in to the oven.
Remove from oven when bread is golden and crab is bubbling hot. This should take 4 -5 minutes. Enjoy!!!


Passion Fruit Butter



INGREDIENTS:

4 oz wt Butter, salted
¼ cup Passion fruit pulp or nectar, no seeds
1 Tbsp Sugar
½ tsp Cajun Seasoning, your favorite



PREPARATION:

Heat butter in the microwave in 10 second intervals until the butter is softened but not melted.
Combine all the ingredients in a small mixing bowl and mix well using a wire whip until evenly combined.
Use immediately or refrigerate until needed.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Why is the caption "Bahama Inspired Holiday Recipes'? None of these recipes reflect anything authentically Bahamian. Creole is Hatian cuisine and St. Thomas speaks for itself. I am Bahamian and I am not picking up on the "Bahamian" inspiration as these recipes are not indigenous to any of our islands.

Anonymous said...

The conch chowder, coconut shrimp, grilled chicken salad, grilled steak skewers and the Bahama Mama drink are more of the "Authentic" Bahamian recipes on their menu.