Everything Haitian- Lobster and Mango Salad

Spring is finally here and what a winter we had.  This month I will dedicate the posts to refreshing salads with a twist.  My first creation is a lobster salad with mango.  I could have made Lobster Thermidor, but I wanted something light.  This was a little time consuming but oh so worth the effort.  Here are the beautiful pictures:

DELISH!!!!!

Of course, I did a dessert this time but it's not a new one.  Strawberry cheesecake.  I did it for a very good friend of the family' s birthday.  Everyone loved it of course.  And , yes I took a picture

I believe I'm going to make this again for Easter.  I can't wait.

Until next week

S&S 

Everything Haitian - Spicy Pork with Stewed Vegetables over White Rice

This is a very simple and spicy dish that's a version of legumes. With legumes you use eggplants, oxtails, and beef shank.  I've decided to do the inexpensive version of it.  Here we go:

It was very simple and delish.
Unfortunately, I didn't do a dessert OMG.  I will make up for it and do two next week.

Until next week 
S&S

Everything Haitian Diri a Jon Jon (Black Mushroom Rice)

East meets West or I can say East meets Haiti.  Black mushroom rice with shrimp and lima beans is time consuming and so worth the effort.  Another two-day process and takes about three hours to make.  Finding the black mushroom from Haiti is like black gold.  The one Caribbean supermarket doesn't even carry it anymore.  This was a gift sent all the way from New York via Haiti. I'm going to Haiti in May and I plan to find it and hopefully bring it back.  I will follow up on a later post.  I have to say other than white rice and pea soup, this is my second favorite rice dish.  Here we go:

Black Gold - Black mushroom

After soaking overnight

Now, doesn't that look like Shrimp Fried Rice!!!!!!!

Now for the Bonbon Sirop, well I tried another recipe, let's just say it wasn't worth taking a final picture.  I took a picture of what it should like and let's say I have a long way to go.

The real deal.  YUM!!!!! 

After mixing everything, it was soft, should not have been.  After baking, it was as hard as a rock.  Back to the drawing board!!

Until next week

S&S 

Everything Haitian - Morue (Saltfish) with boiled Plantain

This dish is usually made for families and very good friends.  Morue is very expensive and time consuming.  It's a two day process, it is soaked overnight and boiled the next day.  I have to research and find out why the fish is preserved with so much salt and then you have to boiled the salt out. Go figure!!! It is so worth it.  It is a delicate balance for this dish and I have perfected this dish. Here's some of the process:

Before

This dish is usually served with avocado and boiled plantain.  Now doesn't that look good!!!!

Last time I did a dish that my mother absolutely loved.  This time I will attempt to make one of my dad's favorite dessert, Bonbon Sirop (Molasses Cake) 

There's a store in Chicago that has perfected Bonbon Sirop and I plan to compete.  Well, my first attempt did not go so well. I will try again next week.  Here's what I made, I will post a picture of the one from the store with my second attempt.  By the way, I filed it accordingly, I was the only one who tasted it.  Here are some pics:

Looks dry, was dry, but smelled good.  One out of three not bad, it is.

Until next week 

S&S

Everything Haitian - Sauce Pois (White Beans and Haitian Cake (part 2)

One of my all time favorite Haitian dishes is Sauce Pois with White Rice.  It's not as popular as the Red Beans and Rice, but what I love about it is the creaminess of the Pois.  The most popular version is with red kidney beans, or pinto beans, but I prefer the white northern beans. The authentic version of the Sauce Pois is vegetarian style.  The Sauce Pois is like a thick stew with well seasoned spices.  It is usually served with Haitian Chicken and for an additional flavor the sauce from the chicken is added on top of the Sauce Pois.  In November I catered for a friend and she wanted to taste the Sauce Pois.  That version was with the red kidney beans and my favorite is with the white northern beans:

So delicious.  I personally do not like really spicy Sauce Pois.  Cooking it with a whole habanero adds flavor without the heat.

Now for the Haitian Cake (part 2).  Same recipe different flavoring.  As you can see the cake is very flavoring sensitive, hence the marble color.  The next one will be the color that I'm looking for.  The taste is still heavenly:

Until next week

S&S

Everything Haitian - Chicken and Doughboy

You can't be Haitian without eating chicken everyday (well almost). Trying to recapture the taste of the chicken while I was in Haiti and my new found taste buds of so many different cultures has been a challenge. That's why I have created a fresh seasoning using organic vegetables and spices for the chicken and other meat.  I will have three choices. Flavorful, Mild, and Hot.  I'm still deciding on the names for the labels when they are marketed online and in various stores.  Here's the picture, of course, it's the hot one:

And the final results, tastes better than it looks:

Now what is doughboy?  It is a piece of bread dough fried in deep fat.  What more do you want.  The Haitian doughboy or what my husband called banana fritters.  It's like a hot doughnut.  I'm going to work on this and make them very gourmet.  By the way I had to do another batch for my husband.  I guess I found something that he likes.  Here we go:

Until next week

S&S

Everything Haitian-Mom's Favorite Dish

I asked my mom if she could cook anything what would it be.  She told me 
( Maiz mouline avec pois) translated (Ground yellow grits with red kidney beans).  This dish is labor intensive and it's the only meal that I use coconut milk.  This dish is as authentic Haitian as you can get.  Only real Haitians will eat this.  And yes, I do love it.  We usually serve it with avocado and (legumes) another authentic Haitian dish that is made with eggplant, oxtails, and beef shank. I will do that dish at a later post.  So here we go:

This is where only true Haitians and people who eats grits like that won't turn their noses.  It does not look appetizing, but it tastes really good:

The final result is this, like I said before only true Haitians and people who are looking for true authentic dishes will enjoy this dish:

Now doesn't that look good.  Tastes better.

This blog will be a two-part.  As a baker, my search for the perfect cake has finally arrived.  The cake that I made is buttery, moist, and melts in your mouth.   It's better than a mix.  I've added a little too much vanilla, but the next one will be the desired color.  This is the first picture of my perfected cake:

And this is the final result:

YUMMMMMYYYYY!!!!!!

Until next week 

S&S