Carambola Salad

by Crucian Contessa

Carambola 1

It’s been a while since my last post–six months to be exact! So many changes have swept into my life since then, including beginning a new job. As with all of life’s changes, I have learned to navigate it by giving it my all and full attention. This has also meant that I don’t have as much time to share my kitchen passions. Food has taken a literal back burner in my longer work days, increased commute time, leaving  less time to cook, much less quantify a recipe.

I have fallen in love with faster prepared foods to accommodate my new demands. But in addition to the changes in my professional life, life has been extremely demanding in my personal life as well. And some days I have to make my own sunshine! This salad is the perfect emblem of all what this time means and feels like to me. It was created with nothing but pure love. I almost want to call it, “Contessa Love Salad”!!!!  Read More

Basil Sugar

by Crucian Contessa

Basil

“I tell you life is sweet, in spite of the misery. There’s so much more. Be grateful.” One of my favorite songs from Natalie Merchant poured through the speakers while I was working on this post. It was just too fitting not to find a way to fit it into this post. Life has been grueling with high demands and a breathtaking pace. And still in all the busyness, I found time to spend a few hours baking and cooking and feasting with friends and family over the holidays. Read More

Contessa Banana Fritters

by Crucian Contessa

Fritters2

If I had to pinpoint a go to comfort food it would be this simple fritter. What makes it extra special is using the local bananas we grow on island. They are the banana-iest bananas I’ve ever tasted! Our farmer friends gave us the tiny variety we call Bacoba they grew in the rainforest on their organic farm–Ridge to Reef. I swore I could taste the rain and the earth and the care that went into growing them. Delicious!! It’s that moment when you take a bite and your eyes close, and you sigh, and a smile stretches lazily across your face, before you say, “Wow. These tastes incredible!” I know you don’t have access to those specific bananas, if you’re off the Rock, but try to substitute regular ones and this recipe still tastes wonderful! Full of cinnamon and other warm Caribbean spices to make you have that same warm smile reaction!

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Contessa Mango Margarita

by Crucian Contessa

Mangorita

Well, it is definitely mango season on the island! They are bursting and ripe with sweetness and an ahhhhmazing flavor that you just can’t find from Mangoes with a bar code on the side. If you want to understand the true power of a mango, you have to get one fresh-picked off the tree. And the Universe is kind enough to negotiate the summer heat with the appearance of mangoes on the island. This mango flavored margarita is the perfect blend of lime and mangoes balanced with the citrus flavors of Grand Marnier and a splash of beer. Huh?! Yes, trust me, beer…it makes a subtle difference!  Read More

Taste of St. Croix 2015

by Crucian Contessa

Taste13
The Annual Taste of St. Croix was on April 16th at the Divi Carina Bay Resort on our little Rock–St. Croix. If I said I had a wonderful time sampling food and decorating cakes and meeting old and new foodie friends it would be beyond an understatement. There are times I would just like to share a few pictures and let them speak for themselves. I think I might do that on this post. Just a beautiful time! Read More

Crucian Donkey

by Crucian Contessa

Crucian Donkey

My friend Sayeeda Carter is one of the most amazing people I know. She invited me over to celebrate her daughter Zuma’s birthday the other day and offered me a drink called the Moscow Mule. I’d never heard of it, and asked her what it was. She said it was a combination of ginger beer, lime juice, and vodka. She had me at ginger beer, but since, I don’t usually drink I asked her to leave out the vodka. I fell in love with the flavor combination!! Lime and Ginger is right up there with Lime and Honey. Classic!! It sent my Crucian brain into overload and I HAD to figure out a way to reinvent it with a Crucian spin! Read More

Beef Pate

by Crucian Contessa

Beef Pate

Pates (pronounced Pah Tays) were my fast food growing up.  After Hurricane Hugo blew away our high school cafeteria, lunch time was trimmed down and simplified. Some days it was just a Pate either beef or saltfish and an “Island Dairies” juice box either passion fruit, Iced Tea, or guava—Total Cost $2.00!! What I remember about those pates were the crispy crunchy dough with the raised welts and blisters fried into place where the hot oil met and melt the fat in the dough in a puff of steam. Sigh… it was food heaven! I have longed to find the perfect Pate ever since. I usually ran into pates that were too greasy, or too doughy, or too much butter/shortening. None were able to capture the balance of textures for me of those high school pates. Read More

Contessa Pumpkin Rum Flan

by Crucian Contessa

PF8

As a food blogger, there are times where I don’t want to write about something I made. I just want to make it and email a slice to every person reading the blog, because talking about it just CAN NOT do it justice! There literally are recipes that defy words, that shrug off adjectives, that laugh at sentences. This is one of those. Rum, pumpkin, and flan all had a conversation and said, “Hey, you know, we TASTE GOOOOOD together!” Yeah, that’s this recipe. Just in time for the Thanksgiving season. It would make a fine dessert addition to any Turkey Day dinner! Read More

Contessa Shrimp and Avocado Salad

by Crucian Contessa

Avocado4

 

There are times when the kitchen and I break up. Complete with side-eye and cold shoulders. I don’t feel like spending too much time with it whatsoever. My kitchen creations feel hum-drum, and I answer the call of carry-out more than I should. Lately, I’ve had a serious case of the kitchen-blues! But ever so slowly we’ve been spending more time together. Checking each other out and starting to do the dance of reconnection. Read More

Contessa Guacamole

by Crucian Contessa

 

Guac5

One of my favorite parts of island living is the food sharing culture that is so very much alive on our little rock! From co-workers, friends, or family, someone is always offering the blessings of their back yard bounty. This late summer’s offering is the alligator pear avocado. A friend of ours gave us two mammoth sized avocados and my first and only thought was Spicy GUACAMOLE!! Guacamole is the easiest thing to make–a perfect testament to the idea that it takes just a few well sourced ingredients to make ahhhmazing food! Read More