Cooking Class (revisited)

The restaurant at Dodgy Dock in True Blue Bay hosts a weekly cooking class featuring local ingredients and recipes.

The stars of the show are Esther and Omega

One never knows what they will prepare until after they begin.  They say it is so people will not be selective about which classes to attend.  I don’t think they know themselves until minutes before class.  This week we are having Cou-cou and Pan Seared fish with Gravy.

Cou-cou is an inexpensive West Indies dish that accompanies many meals.  It is a good dish to make 12° north of the equator where you don’t want to heat up the inside of your home (or boat) by operating an oven.

 Ingredients:

2 cups yellow cornmeal

4 local seasoning peppers

4 cloves garlic

4 strands chives and Thyme

2 large onions

½ stick (1/4 cup) butter or margarine

1 teaspoon salt

3 cups of coconut milk 

Preparation:

Add 3 cups of coconut milk, salt and all seasonings to a large sauce pan.  Reserve half of the seasoned coconut milk.   Stir the cornmeal slowly into the coconut milk.  Using a wooden spoon stir constantly adding the reserved mixture as needed.  Return pot to stove over medium heat and continue to stir cornmeal.  Cook and stir about 15-20 minutes.

Insert wooden spoon into center of the Cou-cou.  If the spoon stands up in the pot and is easily removed from the cornmeal, your Cou-cou is done.  If the cou-cou is loose and creamy looking, you have used too much milk.  If too much milk is used, let Cou-cou stand uncovered over low heat to “dry out.”  When Cou-cou is done, turn the entire mixture into a buttered serving bowl and garnish.  Makes 6 to 8 servings.

Pan Seared Fish w/Gravy

Ingredients (8 servings): 

3 cups water

3 lbs sliced fish

2 tbsp chopped fresh thymes & chives

½ tsp salt

Pinch black pepper

1 cup vegetable oil (frying)

1 tbsp curry

4 cloves garlic

2 large onions (strips)

4 tomatoes

1 tbsp ketchup or paste

1 cup flour (left over from fish) 

Preparations:

Season fish with salt and pepper (set aside).  Heat oil in sauce pan, dip fish in flour on both sides and gently place in hot oil letting fry until golden brown (remove and set aside).

The Gravy

Heat 2 tablespoons of oil in sauce pan; add in thyme, chive, garlic and onion.  Simmer on low heat, stir in ketchup or tomato paste.  Sprinkle curry and stir fry, add flour until brown then add water and let simmer.

There also seems to be some peppers and maybe some christophenes in there.

The tomatoes are added last.

Is it done?

Here comes my favorite part - taste testing.