Contessa Guava Juice

by Crucian Contessa

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It seems like all at once all the fruit on the island have erupted into beautiful celestial ripening. Carambolas, Sugar Apples, Limes, and Guavas all competing for your attention, begging you to find something interesting to do with them. This week’s post is a simple recipe for how to make one of my favorite fruits, the Guava, into a juice! The guava is a succulent fruit. Words like juicy, tart, and sweet begin to offer some description, but this is one fruit you have to taste for yourself to fully understand the simple yet oh-so-complex flavor! Read More

Kenep

by Crucian Contessa

 

Kenep

Driving in the summertime on the island, you will find pockets of children newly freed from the burdens of their school-year demands waving bunches of emerald green fruits on stems knotted together. From a distance, your summer-trained eyes can already detect what sweet treat  is at the end of this call. It’s not uncommon to see cars veer off the road to the sound of feet scurrying across the road to sell a rustic bouquet of Kenep, or Genip, or Spanish Lime or whatever name you call this fruit by … I simply call it delicious! Read More

Contessa Brown Butter Cheese and Bread

by Crucian Contessa

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If you hear someone on the island exclaim, “Cheese and Bread, Man!” just know there is no random cheese sandwich lurking about. It’s our way of expressing frustration without using an obscenity. I have no idea where we got that phrase from, but it always seemed to be a part of our vocabulary. If someone gets on your nerves, you yell, “Cheese and Bread!” the equivalent of “Enough!” If you are excited about winning the lottery, you burst out, “Cheese and Bread! I’m Rich!” It just fits any situation where intense emotion is warranted. Also growing up on the island, almost every single morning, my dad would go to the bakery before we woke up and buy the hottest Butter Bread, just out of the oven. A rich bread that melted in your mouth. This bread is everywhere on the island. It is the go to sandwich bread. This recipe is an homage and a fusion of these two concepts of Cheese and (of course) Brown Butter Bread. Because everyone knows that brown butter makes everything just taste better! Read More

Egg Fruit

by Crucian Contessa

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I hate egg fruit. It might sound weird to write a post about a fruit you just don’t like, but it’s true. Everything about the egg fruit is enticing. The sweetheart shape of it is simply darling. The bright yellow outside reflects the sunshine that helped create it. The smooth buttery skin of it says, “You know I look good!” But that’s where the love affair pretty much ends for me and the egg fruit. The inside is chalky and creamy at the same time. A custard sweetness with hints of vanilla, and a slight grassy back flavor. On its own, it is my least favorite of fruits on the island. But let it ripen, to a soft richness, and the flesh of it MUST end up in a pie! Then I stop hating and start loving! Then it becomes worthy of a post and a celebration! Read More

Contessa Mango Rum

by Crucian Contessa

Mango Rum

I’ve been very impressed with the work being done on the island by not one but two of the local rum factories. Rum has been an important part of our history and the history of many other islands throughout the Caribbean. The entire economic system of the Caribbean was built on the production of sugar and all it’s derivatives. Sugar was king, and its byproduct molasses created a booming trade based on rum. Shamefully, it was also one of the primary reasons for the slave trade throughout the Americas. Rum is an elixir created by the sweetness of the earth and the sadness of history. Yes, a powerful brew indeed.

Here on the island, rum is a part of many celebratory pairings–rum Cake, rum raisin, even the classic rum and coke. There is nothing more flavorful or prevalent than rum! This recipe calls on that quintessential Caribbean flavor and at the same time takes advantage of summer’s favorite fruit flavor–the MANGO!

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Contessa Passion Fruit Mint Julep

by Crucian Contessa

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So, the dangers of being a blogger and a lawyer is that there are times when life becomes so busy that you don’t blog for a considerable period of time. Has it really been that long? For those of you who kept checking in to see what new kitchen happenings I created THANK YOU! And for new friends and readers also THANK YOU! If you really enjoy the recipes you can subscribe! That way you can be notified whenever a new post arrives. I decided to share when I have something shareworthy and my schedule permits. This is my passion! Deadlines are the death of passion. So PLEASE sign up! Also, if you “Like” this on Facebook, you will get to see more kitchen happenings that don’t necessarily make it to the blog. Read More

Contessa Tip #13

by Crucian Contessa

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There are times when impatience holds my hand in the kitchen. Especially, when I am in the mood to make a cake, but I don’t feel like waiting for the ingredients to come to room temperature in order to begin. This is a key step since it helps to increase the volume of the cake. So, my quick shortcut is to put the eggs in a bowl of lukewarm tap water and leave them there for about five minutes. The water should not be so hot that it starts to cook the eggs. And for the butter, I whip out the box grater and shave it. This also helps if I am in a hurry. Waiting to let the eggs warm naturally is always best, but this is a good in a hurry time saver. Time is your best friend in the kitchen, but sometimes a good short cut is even better!

 

Contessa Lentil Soup

by Crucian Contessa

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For every recipe I share, I try to weave in a personal story, if only to tie together the idea of food as an experience outside just the act of eating. I usually think about what this food means or how to best approach it emotionally. This recipe was the opposite. I had to think of how not to approach it. It is tied to too many individual experiences. Whether eating it at my Uncle’s house after school with an ice cold malt, or the ten o’clock phone call I got recently for a friend desperate for the recipe for her and her sick husband, or just one more warm recipe between now and when the weather decides to finally settle into Spring. Either way, this is an all around flavorful soup with a hint of all things Caribbean! Read More

Contessa Honey Lime and Sesame Dressing

by Crucian Contessa

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Wild Crucian Honey is a thing of elemental beauty. Depending on when you are able to source it, you can pick out the notes of all the wild fruits and flowers the bees feasted on to make their sacred food. One of my favorite people on the island is my friend Sam Grey. On a recent trip to my house for brunch with his beautiful family, he gave me a tiny jar of honey he had gathered from his own hive. I must confess, I was downright stingy with my bottle of wild honey. Even my husband got only the tiniest traces of it. It is that good!  Then another one of my favorite people Wanda Wright shared with me a bottle of her locally made Honey Vinegar. I had never had honey vinegar, and wasn’t sure what I would do with it, but I knew when I bought it a recipe would come. This recipe is the synthesis of all that food sharing. Sesame, Lime, and Local Honey all bring their complex flavor components to this incredibly simple brew of a dressing! Read More