Saint Lucia-- I'm going Bananas!

With a population of 166,312, Saint Lucia is smaller than SF Bay Area. The country is known for its beautiful beaches and hence their economy thrives on tourism. Just remember if you are driving in the country, they drive on the left side of the street--- they used to be part of Great Britain. St. Lucia is also known as a large exporter of bananas and so I was not surprised that a lot of their dishes contained bananas---and it was not in the dessert form either!

So the three dishes I decided to try were:

1. Callaloo Soup: This soup is known as their national dish. The combination of the tropical island's vegetation with the seafood sounded a bit interesting, but I was definitely curious to try it out. I based my recipe on http://www.cdkitchen.com/recipes/recs/262/Callaloo22433.shtml, so thank you to whomever made this recipe.



Ingredients:
1 pound callaloo leaves (substitutes: spinach, Chinese Spinach, or Swiss Chard)
6 cups chicken stock
1 onion, finely chopped
1 clove garlic, chopped
3 scallions, chopped, using green and white parts
1/4 teaspoon thyme
4 ounces lean salt pork cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/2 pound fresh, canned, or frozen crab meat
1/2 cup coconut milk
1/2 pound young okra,
OR
10 ounces package frozen okra, sliced
Salt and pepper to taste
Pickapeppa hot pepper sauce, Tabasco, or any other similar sauce, to taste

Directions:

Wash the greens and coarsely chop. Put the greens into a large heavy saucepan with the chicken stock, onion, garlic, scallions, thyme, and salt pork. Cover and cook at a gentle simmer until the pork is tender. Add the crab meat, coconut milk, and okras and cook until the okra is done, about 10 minutes. Season to taste with salt, pepper and hot pepper sauce.

Firstly, salted pork was essentially the same as bacon. Once I found that out, I knew this soup was going to be a hit at my house. I sauteed the bacon with the onions and garlic first before adding the chicken stock to bring out the flavors, which was not stated in the directions. Man, did it smell so good! It only took me about 10 minutes to get it to a boil and then basically, I added the rest of the ingredients and let it sit. Instead of using hot pepper sauce, I used two finely chopped serrano chilis and it gave it just enough kick. I couldn't find fresh okra that day at the Chinese supermarket so I used frozen chopped ones which were great. Usually, if you go on weekends they said they would have the fresh ones. It took about 25 minutes to prepare and cook. So easy! Callaloo is absolutely one of my favorite soups I have ever had. With the aroma of the bacon and onions, the taste of tropical coconut and crab meat flavors, and the spicy kick in the end from the chilis; I will recommend everybody to try this dish. Next time I'm going to add shrimps and clams to it. This is a must have if you are ever at my house or in Saint Lucia!

2. Saint Lucia Banana Chicken: I found this recipe online on www.cooks.com
(http://www.cooks.com/rec/view/0,1839,157174-249192,00.html). I decided to choose this just because I have never incorporated bananas into a main course before and so I really wanted to try it and see how it tasted. Greg isn't a huge sweet and savory kind of guy and so I was crossing my fingers on this!




Ingredients:
6 chicken cutlets
6 thin slices lean ham
1 ripe banana
1 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1 egg
1/4 tsp. coconut flavoring
6 tbsp. grated coconut

Directions:
Flatten chicken cutlets and arrange a ham slice on top of each. Peel banana and cut into thirds crosswise and cut each third in half lengthwise, then place one piece on top of each ham slice. Roll each cutlet eggroll-style, enclosing banana and ham in the middle. Place rolled cutlets in a single layer, not touching, in freezer for 15 minutes. When ready to cook coat each chilled roll lightly with flour then with lightly beaten egg flavored with coconut flavoring. Roll in grated coconut. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray, arrange chicken rolls in a single layer and bake in 350 degree oven for 25 minutes.

I actually used breast chicken, cut it very thin and flattened it with my knife to tenderize the meat. It is very important to freeze the chicken for 20 minutes after getting it all wrapped because it prevents it from falling apart, especially when you dip it in the egg and flour.
Coconut shavings were a difficult thing to find. Even Mi Rancho Supermarket in Menlo Park or the chinese supermarkets didn't have it. Greg had to find it for me in Whole Foods. Most stores will have sweetened coconut shavings, but you need to use the unsweetened ones. This dish was almost like a Chicken Cordon Bleu with bananas as the center and not the cheese. Remember that Saint Lucia was first found by the French then the English took over it later, so the dish probably originated from that. The banana in this dish was not overpowering, but it also didn't do too much to it. I think I prefer the cheese next time. It was still a really tasty dish and when you cut it in half, it looks so professionally made. The one thing I will add to this dish is to salt and pepper the chicken before wrapping it.

3. Saint Lucia Plantains: Honestly, I have never actually made plantains with peanut butter and onions, so I wasn't so sure about this dish. I did get my recipes from Sylvia Court at
http://www.pavilion.co.uk/dwakefield/curriculum/ks2/recipes.htm. She didn't really go to detailed into the directions, so I was kind of left in the dark with how to really prepare this.



INGREDIENTS:

* 2 large green plantains
* 1/2 cup breadcrumbs
* 1 egg
* salt
* 2 tablespoons peanut butter
* 1 onion and stick of celery (minced)
* 1/2 cup milk

METHOD / DIRECTIONS:

Cook plantains and crush whilst hot. Add other ingredients and blend well.
Place in dish and bake in moderate oven for 25 minutes.

At first, I didn't oil my pan and the bananas started to burn quickly. I suggest to oil the pan before anything. I used a cast iron skillet because it would make it easier to just put it into the oven to bake. I mixed the breadcrumbs, egg, salt, peanut butter, milk and onions together in a separate bowl first, which got kind of dry. The directions didn't tell me when to put it in, so after the bananas were done, i just poured it in. Remember to smoosh the bananas as it will get the flavors into it. It was a dry mess at first, so I added more milk (maybe a half cup) to the dish and was able to get a better mixture. After baking it for the 25 minutes, it turned out quite good. It wasn't an eye candy dish, but it tasted real good to me. I wonder how other countries make their plantains?

I was very impressed with Saint Lucia food. There was the African and French influence with the combination of tropical and seafood ingredients that made it so special. I know a lot of the other countries near this Island also makes the Callaloo soup, so I can't wait to make it again. After dinner, I had Greg pick the next country and it was:




I am totally looking forward to Syria. Greg's sister is marrying a Syrian guy and so I have already e-mailed her for recipes. Looking forward to talking about my next adventure.

As the Saint Lucian's would say:

ENJOY YOUR MEAL!