Get The Flavors Of The Caribbean Delivered To Your Doorstep With The Callaloo Box

For those of you who have been following my blog for some time now, you know that I am from Guyana. I grew up in Miami, FL for most of my childhood and was heavily immersed in the Guyanese-Caribbean culture. We had so many West Indian shops nearby and never went without the kitchen staples. I remember when I moved to Columbia, SC more than 18 years ago. It was major culture shock for us. Having access to my West Indian food items was pretty much non-existent. I depended on my relatives in Florida to send me stuff. We have one West Indian store here and the pickings are VERY slim. The prices are ridiculous and when I look at the expiration dates, you can tell the items have been sitting around for a long time. 

I have shopped around on Amazon and can't believe how expensive some of the most basic things are. I was lucky to get connected with a new business called Callaloo Box on Instagram. Callaloo Box is a new U.S. based subscription box service featuring seasonings, marinades, and hot sauces from the Caribbean twin-islands of Trinidad & Tobago. Trinidad is Guyana's neighbor and we use the same exact products for the most part. The founder and co-founders are 3 girlfriends who are all immigrants from Trinidad currently living in the U.S. and Canada. Their aim is to get these products into the hands of anyone interested in Caribbean cooking that live in the U.S. and don't have easy access to them, or anyone who simply loves food, cooking, and experimenting. This made me so happy! 

The September Callaloo Box did not disappoint! It came with 3 Chief brand products: Hot & Tasty Pepper Sauce, Green Seasoning, and Kuchela (mango chutney). Also a bottle of the classic Angostura Aromatic Bitters, as well as a package of curry powder.

The pepper sauce is so spicy and delicious. It is the perfect addition for if you want a little hot kick to your meal. It tastes very similar to what my mom used to make. The green seasoning is similar to what I make which is a blended mixture of green onion, garlic, hot pepper, and herbs. It is so convenient to have it already made in a bottle so you can marinate your poultry or meat with ease. I also add it in soups and stews for extra Caribbean flavor.

Kuchela is what Guyanese people call mango achar. It is shredded green mango with hot pepper, garlic, and spices. I remember my mom cooking achar on the stove top early on a Saturday morning, and all of our eyes and noses would be burning from the hot, HOT pepper. Now that my mother is no longer around, I'm happy to have access to it, without the tears. Every West Indian home has a bottle (or three) of Angostura Aromatic Bitters. What is it?: It is an aromatic botanically infused alcoholic mixture consisting of water, ethanol, gentian, herbs and spices. Although the product contains 44.7% alcohol by volume, each dash contains an insignificant amount of alcohol and therefore remains non-alcoholic. Suggested Uses: It is a well-known key ingredient in many alcoholic cocktails, but is also widely used to flavor non-alcoholic drinks, baking, and cooking. I personally add a few drops to certain savory dishes when I feel like it is missing something. It will balance out the flavors nicely. Also, I have learned that bitters never expire. This is good to know in the event you have had a bottle lingering around for a long time.

Last item in the box is curry powder which is is a blend of turmeric, coriander, cumin, salt and spices. Growing up Guyanese, we curried everything under the sun from meats, poultry, vegetables, chick peas (channa) and even eggs. I have a new tradition that started this year where I cook curry every Saturday morning. The family really does look forward to it!

A post shared by Shelly 🇬🇾👑 (@momfiles) on Jul 22, 2017 at 8:35am PDT

One of the things I love to share with my family and friends is my passion for cooking. No matter what I'm making, I love to add my Indian-Guyanese twist into my dishes. I am so thrilled that I have access to my West Indian goodies via the Callaloo Box. I was quite surprised at how heavy the package was and it is a great value at $39.99 a month (cancel any time), or you can pre-pay a year for $419. If it sounds expensive to you, I challenge you to look up the products I listed above on Amazon and see for yourself what a value you are getting.

Right now Mom Files readers can use the code: MOMFILES5 for $5 off of your 1st box when signing up for a month-to-month subscription. I am so happy with my first box and think you would be, too. Give Callaloo Box a try today!

You can find Callallo Box here and please be sure to follow them on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter for product updates, promotions, and sneak peeks into upcoming boxes. Please let me know if you decide to give them a try. I would never recommend anything I did not believe in. Thanks for stopping by today and big thanks to Callaloo box for providing a sample box for us to try.

From My Kitchen- Caribbean Style Roasted Chicken Recipe

I have been getting so many nagging requests lately about posting my recipes on the blog from friends. I promised to do better this year and will be sharing more of my family favorite recipes and tips. I cooked a whole roasted chicken over the weekend and it was the best I've ever made. I didn't know I would end up sharing the recipe, so I have no step-by-step photos to share-- just the delicious end result. This chicken was full of Caribbean flavor and super juicy and tender.

Ingredients:

1 whole chicken, 5-8 pounds
one handful each of fresh cilantro and Italian parsley
One large green onion
3 cloves of fresh garlic
small piece of hot pepper like habanero or scotch bonnet (optional and highly recommended)
dried seasonings- here are my faves
*1/2 cup Mojo marinade

Helpful items: A large/wide bowl or glass dishware for marinating, a large baking sheet, parchment paper, aluminum foil

What to do:

Start with splitting your whole chicken down the back to remove backbone and excess fat. I prefer this method to get more even cooking and browning. Wash chicken with lime or lemon and pat dry with paper towels.  You will have to apply some pressure to get the breast to flatten a bit. Do not remove skin! Sprinkle chicken on both sides with your dried seasonings to your taste. In a blender or vegetable chopper, grind garlic, herbs, green onion and hot pepper with a small amount of water just enough to make a puree. Pour herb puree and mojo marinade all over, and leave chicken in the fridge for 2 hours or even overnight. Preheat oven at 385 degrees. Place chicken breast side up on pan lined with foil and parchment paper. Bake for around one hour depending on your oven. I use the convection setting on my oven for extra crispiness and deeper browning. If your wings start browning too quickly, you can wrap them loosely with foil and remove in the last 10 minutes of cooking. Let your chicken rest at least 15 minutes before cutting/carving.

Serve with your favorite side dishes. I recommend my favorite Guyanese cook-up rice to make this a real authentic Caribbean meal. My family raves over this chicken and an 8 pound bird was devoured in a couple days with no waste! Don't forget to Pin this recipe for later! Enjoy and thanks for stopping by.

*This post contains affiliate links. I posted the products in case you can't find them locally.  

I Finally Got Over My Biggest Cooking Fear

I have been cooking since I was about 10 years old. I had a natural passion for it and have not been afraid to experiment or try new things. The one thing I was not able to do was cook in a traditional stove top pressure cooker. The anxiety and fear was too much, so I avoided it at all cost. I wrote a post about it a couple years back and I cringe looking at it.

Fast forward to now. I have seen the whole Instant Pot pressure cooker craze circulating around social media, so I took a look and did some research. I added like 8 different ones from different brands to my wishlist. Honestly, I didn't think I would ever buy one. The fear was too real and I had no idea what an electric pressure cooker would do. Would it be noisy? Will it explode? I had a few blog friends buy one during one of those big Amazon one-day sales and they swore it was the greatest thing ever. One day I was looking on Amazon and decided to jump on the bandwagon take the plunge. After hours of comparing and researching, I settled on the Cuisinart brand. It was on sale for under $70 and roughly $20-30 less than the comparable Instant Pot. I added it to my cart and patiently waited for the delivery. When it arrived, pure joy and fear washed over me at the same time. I did not know what to expect.

I happened to have a chuck roast in the fridge to cook that day so I figured I would try my new pressure cooker out. I watched a couple YouTube videos so I could get a good idea of what to do. I managed to get the roast cooked and something really surprised me. Although I was scared to death the entire time, it turns out that the cooker doesn't make that evil hissing noise while on high pressure. I couldn't believe it! I managed to cooked a perfectly tender pot roast in half the time it would have taken on the stove top and learned I have nothing to fear. I have been missing out on this fabulous kitchen appliance all of this time! As a matter of fact, I've been cooking curry twice a week and it comes out perfect each time!

I have had my pressure cooker for a few months now and use it 3-5 times per week. It quickly became my absolute favorite appliance in the kitchen. Below are the reasons I love my Cuisinart pressure cooker:

• You can brown, saute, and simmer. 
• It can be used as a rice cooker and takes only 3 minutes too cook for white/basmati/Jasmine rice. 
• It has high and low pressure settings with timer.
• Keep warm feature is perfect for keeping food hot if you're not eating right away
• I use it even when not using the pressure option
• Even, fast cooking 
• You can make soups, stews, curry, chili and more. 
• Perfect size, not too big or too small
• Easy to clean with a non-stick pot. Didn't think I'd care for the non-stick surface, but it's really great.
• Self-locking lid prevents accidents. This helped with my fear
• The pressure knob can't pop off while cooking. You have to manually jiggle it and pull to get it off. 
• The texture of food doesn't change like it would using a slow cooker
• It is SO EASY to use
• Pretty stainless steel finish that shockingly stays clean 
• I AM NO LONGER AFRAID! YAY!! 

If you have been thinking about buying an electric pressure cooker or if you are scared to death of them, I highly recommend the Cuisinart CPC-600 6 Quart 1000 Watt Electric Pressure Cooker (Stainless Steel). I am going to purchase a second one so I can use them both at the same time. I know for a fact that this will be the most used appliance in my kitchen. I need to donate my old dinosaur pot now that I think about it.

This cooker would make a great gift for yourself, a wedding, house warming or for the holidays. Trust me, anyone would be thrilled to unwrap this from under the tree! If you are on the fence, you should try this one out. If you decide to purchase one, please let me know. 

**This post contains affiliate links.

Kitchen Confessions: My Biggest Fear

I am a kitchen adventurer. I am almost always willing to try exotic ingredients and semi-outrageous cooking methods. I have torched things, gutted fish while they were still alive and too many things to list. I just have this one phobia-- The Pressure Cooker. I have owned one for about 15 years now and grew up using one probably a few times a week. I used it here and there the first few years I had it with no fear. It didn't even phase  I was making the most tough meats melt-in-your-mouth tender. I was also making dishes that would normally take hours in 1/4 of the time. It was that one time that I was using it to make dhal (an Indian soup-like dish made with split peas) and I had the burner on too high of heat and the shaker top popped off. All I remember was a volcanic eruption of turmeric colored split peas spewing out the top and I had to act quickly. I threw a wet towel over the top and grabbed pot holders to remove the pressure cooker off the burner element. Holy cow, it was an absolute mess! I can't believe by some miracle, I was able to clean it all up from the ceiling and walls. I was panicked since we were living in an apartment at the time. That was many years ago! I washed my pot up and packed it away. I didn't want to go through that drama again.

Fast forward to this past weekend... I had been talking to my sister for a few weeks now about how I cook dhal for almost 2 hours because I am deathly afraid of the pressure cooker. She would make fun of me for being such a wimp and told me it would be fine. I finally got enough courage to try it out one more time. I won't lie, I felt the fear move through my entire body. I washed each component and could feel my heart racing. I had to take deep breaths and calm myself down. It's just cookware after all. I proceeded to get my ingredients in the pot and it all came down to that moment-- putting the lid on the pot and placing the weight topper on it. I think my blood pressure spiked at this time. I actually prayed as I waited to hear the sound when you know the actual pressure is locked inside the pot. Slowly, the topper started to move and make a hissing sound. Once this started I did not take my eyes off of it. I had my oven mitts set beside me and a wet kitchen towel, just in case.

It started going a little faster. This is where I turned the heat down a bit. I wasn't taking any chances! Fifteen anxiety-riddled minutes later, I had completely cooked dhal! I even got all of my estimated measurements right. I was able to breathe and know that I don't have to be (as) afraid of the pressure cooker any more :)

Do you own a pressure cooker? Have you ever had any bad experiences with it before?