recipe

GOOLAB JAMOON

~ Natasha Fredrickson ~ 16 Comments

Here we have my favorite Indian sweet with a Caribbean twist, goolab jamoon. The fragrant, rich dough is heavenly. It’s the second sweet that I learned make from my mama *grandmother*. Now I’ve visited a couple Indian restaurants in the US and whenever I order the goolab jamoon I get something totally different! It’s these round balls soaked in syrup. Which leads me to believe that the recipe must have changed on its way to the Caribbean from India.

Nevertheless both are deliciously sweet and I can easily eat them all in one sitting 😂😂

INGREDIENTS

1 cup butter
4 cups flour
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/2 cup powdered milk
1 can condensed milk
1/2 cup evaporated milk
1 cup oil for frying
2 cups white sugar
1 tsp grated ginger
4 cups water

DIRECTIONS

1. Rub butter into the flour, cardamom and powdered milk until crumbly

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2. Add the other milks to the flour and knead lightly to combine. * Or use a food processor with dough blade*

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3. Form almond shapes about 2 inches long and deep fry until golden brown

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4. Boil sugar, ginger and water to a thick syrup (it should spin a thread when the spoon is raised)
5. Pour syrup over the fried goolab jamoon and stir continuously until the sugar crystallizes .

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BANANA WALNUT BREAD

~ Natasha Fredrickson ~ 46 Comments
Lucky me! All of my bananas went soft and the skins were starting to turn brown and as I was about to throw them out my hubs ran into the kitchen in slow motion screaming “NOOOOO MAKE BANANA BREAD!!”… ok maybe it wasn’t that dramatic.
I really just wanted to lay in bed and finish dying from this flu, but I pulled out the old recipe book and whipped this up. It’s so good with a lot of butter * I also put cheese on mine, don’t judge me, I love cheese <3*  Man am I glad I thought to make this 😉
INGREDIENTS
  • 1 1⁄4 cups sugar
  • 1⁄2cup butter or 1⁄2 cupmargarine, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 1⁄2 cups mashed very ripe bananas (3-4 medium)
  • 1⁄2 cup buttermilk
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 2 1⁄2 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts, if desired

DIRECTIONS

  1. Heat oven to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of 2 (8X4 inch) loaf pans.
  2. In large bowl, mix sugar and butter. Add eggs, bananas, buttermilk and vanilla; beat with electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.
  3. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt and nuts (if using) just until moistened. Pour batter into pans.
  4. Bake for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaves from pans; remove from pans to cooling rack. Cool about 1 hour before slicing.

TIP : If you don’t have buttermilk, you can add 1 tbsp of lemon juice or white vinegar to 1 cup of milk and let it sit for 10 minutes before using in your recipe 🙂

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I’m bringing this yummy warm bread toFiesta Friday, a party by Angie of the Novice Gardener. This week it’s co-hosted by the lovely Julianna @Foodie On Board and Hilda @Along The Grapevine

LEMON EVERYTHING!

~ Natasha Fredrickson ~ 10 Comments

My lemon tree is totally covered with lemons and no matter how many neighbors I share with or random people I meet on the street *don’t you judge me!*… I just can’t seem to use these bright yellow babies up fast enough!

Soooo I’ve decided to make every lemon recipe I have plus a few new ones! So be on the lookout for lemon bars, lemon meringue, lemon brownies, lemon chicken, lemonade *spiked of course* and many more!

Also if you have any lemon recipes please send them my way!

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SMOKED HERRING FRIED RICE

~ Natasha Fredrickson ~ Leave a comment

Sometimes the best dishes have the fewest ingredients, and it’s certainly the case with this dish! After working all day in the cane fields, this is what my grandfather always wanted to eat. At first I despised that smoky fishy smell, but as I grew older *and was forced to eat it enough times*, I started to appreciate that smoky fish smell and the pungent long-lasting flavor.

Imagine my surprise when my 4 year old walked into the kitchen when I was cooking this and said ” MMMMMM what’s that deliciousssss smell?!?.” He has to be out of his little mind!

When I bake cookies, he says nothing, cakes, nothing, pies, nothing…smoked herring and he goes crazy! Maybe he has some of my Caribbean roots after all!

All you need for this dish is some left over rice, sliced onions, habanero pepper *if you’re feisty*, and some smoked herring that’s been soaked to remove some of the salt and chopped into little pieces.

Heat a little oil in your frying pan and saute onions, pepper and smoked herring. Toss in your rice and let it warm through. Easy peasy right?

Give it a try!

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