Maryland-Style Crab Cakes
Serve the crab cakes with a remoulade sauce, spicy mayo, or tartar sauce.
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Malagasy Monkfish Curry
Malagasy Monkfish Curry
Yes, they eat curry In Madagascar. Traditionally, this curry is made with a whole crab that gets simmered in the sauce, then dismantled table side. Monkfish is a great substitute; especially if you want your dinner to be a little less messy. Monkfish is also known as poor man’s lobster, having firm flesh similar to the cockroach of the sea. You can substitute actual lobster, shrimp, or any other firm fleshed fish that doesn’t flake if you have trouble finding monkfish.
Servings: 4
Ingredients
- 3 tbsp vegetable oil
- 1 medium onion finely chopped
- 6 garlic cloves minced
- 3 tbsp ginger minced
- 4 arbol chilies
- 1 medium sweet potato peeled and cubed
- 3 tsp ground cumin
- 3 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp ground turmeric
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 16 oz canned diced tomatoes
- 2 cups coconut milk
- 24 oz monkfish cut into 1/2” medallions
- salt to taste
- 1/2 cup cilantro chopped
- lime wedges
- basmati rice for serving
Instructions
- Heat up the vegetable oil in a wok over medium heat. Sauté the onions, garlic, ginger, and chilies for 6 minutes.
- Add in the sweet potatoes and sauté for 4 minutes.
- Stir in the spices and cook for 1 minute.
- Add in the canned tomatoes and cook for 5 minutes.
- Poor in the coconut milk. Cover and simmer over medium low heat for 10 minutes until the sweet potatoes are softened.
- Add in the monkfish. Cook for 5 more minutes uncovered.
- Season with salt. Top with cilantro.
Serve over steamed basmati rice. Garnish with more cilantro and lime wedges.
Arrachera (Mexican Skirt Steak)
Arrachera (Mexican Skirt Steak)
Arrachera, aka Mexican skirt steak, is a great cut for tacos. It is tender, highly flavorful like a ribeye, and cooks very quickly. The skirt steak is best marinated overnight to achieve maximum flavor. To slice the skirt steak, always cut against the grain. If you cut with the grain, it will be tough and you’ll have chewy tacos.
Servings: 4
Equipment
- charcoal grill
- chimney starter
- charcoal
- food mallet
Ingredients
- 1 1/2 lbs inner skirt steak
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lime juiced
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp paprika
- 1 small jalapeños finely minced
- 1/2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Using a food mallet, hammer down the skirt steak on both sides until it’s a consistent thickness.
- Marinate the skirt steak with all of the ingredients for 8 hours.
- Get the charcoal gray in the chimney starter. Pour the charcoal in the grill. Lay the skirt steak directly over the charcoal.
- Grill for 4-5 minutes a side.
- Let the skirt steak rest for 10 minutes. Cut into chunks and thinly slice against the grain.
Serve the skirt steak on corn tortillas with cilantro, onion, jalapeños, and your favorite hot sauce.
Belizean Grilled Chicken Wings
Belizean Jerk Chicken Wings
I was recently on vacation in the beautiful country of Belize and picked up some jerk seasoning from a farmers market. Belizeans have their own version that differs from Jamaican jerk seasoning. The extra ingredients that aren’t part of Jamaican jerk are dried oregano and orange peel. In addition, they use allspice leaves instead of ground allspice berries. Since you’ll have a problem finding the leaves, ground will do. I chose to use wings, but any pieces of chicken will work great. This seasoning is also really good on pork, turkey, fish and shrimp.
Equipment
- chimney starter
- charcoal
- grill
Ingredients
- 8 large whole chicken wings
Belizean Jerk Dry Rub Seasoning
- 1 tbsp habanero pepper powder
- 1 tbsp garlic powder
- 1 tbsp onion powder
- 1 tbsp dried oregano
- 1 tbsp dried thyme
- 2 tsp ground ginger
- 2 tsp paprika
- 2 tsp cumin
- 2 tsp black pepper
- 2 tsp ground coriander
- 2 tsp allspice
- 2 tsp ground dried orange peel
- 2 tsp salt
Instructions
- Mix together the jerk ingredients.
- Liberally season the wings. Let marinate for 8 hours; preferably overnight.
- Let the charcoal get grey in a chimney starter. Pour the grey charcoal into the grill. Place the wings over the charcoal.
- Sear the wings on all sides for 10 minutes in total.
- Pull the wings off to the side away from the charcoal. Cover the grill with the vent open. Grill for 20 more minutes; occasionally turning to cook evenly.
Serve the wings with fried plantains; sweet or savory.
