Spicy Pesto Pasta with White Clam Sauce

Whenever most people see clam sauce, they automatically think of the traditional Linguine in Clam Sauce, however, there is no need to stick to the original.
I created this recipe, using white clam sauce and adding flavors that I like, such as spicy chile & pesto.  This is a wonderful fusion Italian meal, with a complex marriage of flavors.

1 pound whole wheat rotini
2 chiles, finely chopped
1 onion, chopped
1/2 bell pepper, chopped
2 tomatoes, chopped
1 jar white clam sauce
3 cups baby spinach leaves
4 ounces mushrooms, sliced
2 tablespoons pesto (see my recipe here)
2 tablespoons grated Parmesan
2 tablespoons pine nuts
1 handful basil, finely chopped
1 handful mint, finely chopped

Cook pasta, according to package instructions and drain.

In a large skillet, pour 1 tablespoon of the oil that will be on the top of the clam sauce jar, when you open it.

Heat for 1-2 minutes until warm.  Saute onion, bell pepper, chile and mushrooms, until onions become translucent and mushrooms are softened.

Add tomatoes, pesto and clam sauce.  Cook for about 5 minutes.

Add spinach and cook until leaves are just wilted.  Add basil and mint.  Stir to combine.

Add Parmesan and salt, to taste & toss to combine. Remove from heat.
Heat a small pan, preferably cast iron, and place the pine nuts in the dry pan.  Cook for a few minutes, tossing constantly until golden brown.

Serve immediately and garnish with the toasted pine nuts.

Chef Mireille
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Kelewele

It's the final day of the Blogging Marathon.  It's been fun connecting with all the other participants and I hope you have enjoyed my recipes.  I am ending it with a simple recipe that you can enjoy, anytime, not just for holidays.  Fried Plantain is something that is always made for holidays, special occassions, etc., as well as everyday meals, in Caribbean homes.  While many Caribbean people eat this daily, I only had it on holidays.  It is quick and easy to prepare.  Simply slice the  ripe plantain and fry until golden brown on all sides.

As much as I like this, I found a variation on the original a few years ago and ever since, it has become a holiday special at my home.  This recipe originates from Ghana and is called Kelewele.

3  ripe, yellow plantains
1 tablespoon ginger, finely chopped
1 small onion, finely chopped
2 chiles, finely chopped
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon oil
Oil, for frying

Slice the plantains into 1/2" slices.
In a bowl, combine the tablespoon of oil, with the ginger, onion, salt and chile.  Add plantain slices and toss to coat.  Let marinate for a few hours or even overnight.
Heat about 1" of oil in a skillet.  Once the oil is hot, fry the plantain slices and cook on both sides until golden brown.
Serve immediately.

Sending to My Culinary Creations' Banana Event

Chef Mireille
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Pumpkin Panlevi

Although I have never had panlevi before, my cousin who grew up in Curacoa (a place I only visited on vacation) likes them and told me about them.  They are not very sweet so a perfect cookie to have on a holiday morning for breakfast, with some fruit and tea, after staying up late the night before.  Try these for something new, on New Year's Day!

I got a recipe for these little fluffy cookies and found out, I was not a fan. I am not vegetarian by any meaning of the word and eat eggs all the time, but these were just too eggy.  The taste of the egg was almost nauseating.  I eat omelettes and quiche, but could not stomach the panlevi.  So I decided to make my own variation.  Although mine don't have quite the same height without the eggs, I think mine taste better and they still have the same fluffy texture as the original!




Original Recipe


Since my version has no eggs and no butter, it is a low fat sweet - added bonus - low calorie but high flavor!

Pumpkin Panlevi
2 cups all purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon ground mace
1 cup sugar
1 pinch salt
2/3 cup cooked, mashed pumpkin (if you have extra pumpkin when you make it, here is another delicious recipe to try)
2/3 cup heavy cream

Preheat oven to 325 F.  Spray 2 cookie sheets with non-stick spray.
Sift flour, baking powder, salt and mace in a large bowl.  

Add sugar and pumpkin and stir to combine.  Set aside.

Beat heavy cream until frothy, about 5 minutes.  Fold cream into pumpkin and flour until just combined.

Using a scoop or a tablespoon, drop cookies on cookie sheet, leaving space between.
Bake for 20 minutes, until golden brown.

Serve immediately and enjoy!

Don't forget to check out the other Blogging Marathon blogs and their delicious recipes!

Chef Mireille

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Black Cake

...and another holiday recipe with the Blogging Marathon.  Black Cake is an intense rum cake, popular in the Caribbean. No  holiday season occurs on any island, without black cake being present in any home.  Black Cake recipes are guarded more than the President.  While I won't give away all of my secrets, here is the foundation that will make you a delicious black cake.  This is a rich, moist cake - almost like a pudding.
WARNING: DO NOT CONSUME IF YOU HAVE PROBLEMS WITH SUBSTANCE ABUSE
This is not a cake where the rum is simply used to slightly enhance the flavor.  Having a slice is akin to having a cocktail.

1 cup currants
1 cup pitted prunes, chopped
1/2 cup raisins
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup dried candied fruit peel
1 cup slivered almonds
2 cups rum
2 cups cherry brandy
1 pound butter
2 cups sugar
10 eggs
Zest of 2 limes
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
2 teaspoons cinnamon
4 teaspoons baking powder
4 cups flour
3/4 cup browning (see more information about browning here)
Combine additional 1/2 cup rum with 1/2 cup cherry brandy

At least a week in advance, combine the fruits and nice and place in a bottle with the rum and the brandy.  This can be done up to a year in advance.  The longer the fruit soaks, the better.

Line 2 10" cake pans or 3 8" inch cake pans with waxed paper.  Preheat oven to 250 degrees F.

Sift flour, baking powder and cinnamon and set aside.

In a mixing bowl, combine butter ans sugar and beat until fluffy.  Add eggs, one at a time, until thoroughly combined.  Add zest and vanilla.  Add flour until thoroughly combined.

Add 2 cups of fruit mixture and browning and mix until thoroughly combined.  (reserve the extra fruit for the next time you make the cake).  At this time, the dough will be very dense, similar to bread dough.

Add the fruit and the browning.  The dough will now become very moist.

Divide the dough into the two cake pans and cook for 2 1/2 - 3 hours, until  a toothpick inserted comes out clean. 

This cake must be cooked very slow, otherwise you will have a burnt top but the inside will not be cooked.

Prick the top of the cake with a toothpick.

Pour a little of the brandy-rum combination over the cake.  The cake will absorb the liquid. Once the cake absorbs the liquid, add a little more.  Do this about every 1/2 hour for about 2 hours.  Once the cake has absorbed the liquid, remove from cake pan (simply flip the cake over onto a plate and the waxed paper should just peel off) and I usually serve simply garnished, with a few glace cherries.

Store leftover cake, tightly wrapped in aluminum foil.

This is a moist, rich alcohol-laden cake, that is addictive - having just one slice is near impossible!


Chef Mireille
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Spice Cake...2 times

Today, you are getting a 2 in 1 recipe for my Blogging Marathon post. One, is my Mom's spice cake, which I ate at every birthday and holiday, growing up. The second recipe is in honor of my Blogging Marathon cohorts - it's a vegetarian version that's done without eggs.


For years, people have been asking my Mom for a recipe for her cake and her answer always is, "I don't know. Just watch me when I bake it." As if you can duplicate what she does when she says things like, "You know you have added enough milk when it looks right." FINALLY, I cornered her down and forced her to measure as she went along and now have her recipe for eternity.

It is an all purpose Caribbean spice cake. We usually only frost or ice cakes for big events like weddings, so it is meant to be eaten as is, straight out of the oven. This cake is a slightly dense cake, that is perfect with tea or a glass of milk. Haitians, like my dad, like to eat it, dunking it in a glass of liqueur, along the lines of Grand Marnier. I guarantee you, once you make this cake, it will be often requested.

This recipe makes 2 cakes, as my Dad and I shared the same birthday so there were always two birthday cakes at our house. (see photo below)

blowing out candles on my 6th birthday

Mom's Version:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1 1/2 cups white sugar
1 cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract (or almond extract)
3 tablespoons rum
6 eggs
2 sticks butter, softened, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour two cake pans.
Sift flours and baking powder, with cinnamon and nutmeg. Add sugar and raisins and mix thoroughly. Mixing the raisins with the dry ingredients ensures that the fruit does not sink to the bottom.
Combine milks, vanilla and rum.
Using an electric mixer, beat the butter until very creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, being sure the egg is entirely incorporated, before adding the next egg.

Add half the flour, then half the milk. Add the remaining flour and then the remaining milk. Mix until all ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.

Divide the batter between the two cake pans.

Bake for 45 minutes - 1 hour, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.

Cool for 5 minutes. Remove from cake pans and enjoy with a cup of milk.

My Vegetarian Version:
2 cups all purpose flour
2 cups whole wheat flour
5 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons  ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg

1 teaspoon ground mace

1/2 teaspoon ground clove
1 cup brown sugar
1 1/2 cup white sugar
1 tablespoon almond extract
3 tablespoons rum
2 sticks butter, softened, at room temperature
1 cup milk
1 cup evaporated milk
1 cup sour cream
1 cup raisins

Preheat oven to 350 F. Butter and flour two cake pans.

Sift flours and baking powder, with cinnamon, mace, clove and nutmeg.

Add raisins and mix thoroughly. Mixing the raisins with the dry ingredients ensures that the fruit does not sink to the bottom.
In a seperate bowl, combine milks, rum, almond extract and sour cream.
In a mixing bowl, beat butter and sugars until creamy.  Add milk combination and mix until combined thoroughly.

Add flour, one cup at a time, until thoroughly combined.

Divide batter into two cake pans.

Bake for approximately 45 minutes, until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
Cool for 5 minutes and serve immediately.

This version is a moister, lighter cake because of the sour cream. In both of these cakes, since the raisins get beaten up into the batter, they kind of melt into the cake, which I love.
I think they are both delicious; just a little different. I can't decide which I like best.

Chef Mireille
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Fish Cakes

 Merry Christmas,

and the blogging marathon continues with my recipe for Caribbean fishcakes. My grandmother was not the greatest cook in the world, but there were two things she made that I loved - bakes and fishcakes.  I created my own recipe and I think, if she were still alive, she would definitely say these were delicious.

This is something that is eaten throughout the Caribbean.  Different islands have slightly different variations of this recipe - some used mashed potato, instead of flour.  This is the version I grew up eating.

Fish Cakes
1 1/4 pounds dried, salted fish (cod or hake)
1 Scotch Bonnet chile, finely chopped
3 scallions, finely chopped
1/4 cup parsley, chopped
1 tablespoon thyme, chopped
1 3/4 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
4 eggs
1 cup milk
Oil, for frying

Place the dried fish in a pot of water and let it soak overnight, to draw out the salt.  Drain the fish and add fresh water to the pot.  Bring to a boil and let it simmer for 15-20 minutes, until fish is cooked and flakes easily.  Using your fingers, shred the fish.

In a large bowl, add pepper, scallions, parsley and thyme to fish and mix thoroughly. 

In another bowl, combine flour and baking powder.    In a seperate small bowl, whisk eggs and milk.  Add eggs and milk to flour to make a thick batter.  Add fish to batter and mix, until thoroughly combined.

In a large skillet, heat oil about 1 inch deep.  Using a tablespoon, place 1 tablespoon in the hot oil, for each cake. 

Fry 2-4 minutes on each side, until golden brown.

Chef Mireille
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Breadfruit Puffs...updated

Here's Day 2 of Holiday Recipes for Blogging Marathon: - ENJOY!!!

This blog entry is more of an updated, more dynamic version of a previous post.  Back when I was new to the blogging world, most of my entries did not include photos, unless they were informational photos only I had taken from the Internet.

I wanted to give you some photos to go along with my recipe for Breadfruit Puffs.  This is a recipe from the Caribbean island of Dominica, where my grandmother is from.  It is one of the appetizers that I like to make during the holidays.  This and fishcakes (usually provided by my cousin) are two of my favorite dishes to eat during the holidays.  My fishcake recipe is coming tomorrow.

Here are the photos to give you a better idea of what it should look like, during the cooking process.  I have also improved and revised the recipe a bit in the last few years, so here is an updated, more delicious version of:
Breadfruit Puffs

1 small breadfruit, approximately 2 pounds

1 tablespoon grated onion

1/2 Scotch Bonnet pepper, minced (or Habanero, the spiciest chile available wherever you are)

1/4 cup chives (or scallion), chopped

1/4 cup  parsley, chopped

salt and pepper, to taste

1 pinch nutmeg

1/4 cup milk

1 egg

breadcrumbs, for coating

Oil, for frying

Cook breadruit in boiling water until fork tender, about 40 minutes.
Once it is fork tender, peel and remove the skin and core the breadfruit.

Mash it.  It is important to do this when the breadfruit is still hot. Combine breadfruit with seasonings.

Whisk egg and milk. Add to breadfruit mix and stir to combine. Form tablespoon size portions into balls and roll in breadcrumbs. (I use the Italian seasoning flavored breadcrumbs)

In a large skillet, heat oil, about an inch deep.  Once the oil is hot, fry the balls, until golden brown on all sides.

Chef Mireille
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Holiday Recipes with the Blogging Marathon

Today is the first day of my participation in Blogging Marathon, a weeklong marathon of a group of food bloggers, who commit to blogging on a particular topic every day, for a solid week!  Most of my blogging marathon partners are vegetarian or vegan, so I am starting off the marathon with a recipe that is easily adaptable to a vegan.

I will be blogging about Holiday Recipes for the week.  Since I come from such a diverse family, my holiday recipes have origins in several countries, depending which family I am spending the holidays with.  It could include Nasi Goreng and Satay or Fishcakes and Macaroni Pie.

I've decided to kick off the Blog Marathon with a recipe from my grandfather's birthplace, Suriname.  Suriname is one of the most diverse countries on the planet, with large populations of Indonesians, Indians, Chinese and Africans; not to mention descendants of the Dutch colonizers, who are still there.  One of the recipes we received from the African slaves who came to Suriname is Peanut Soup.  Many African countries, as well as countries they were brought to, like the southern United States and the Caribbean, have versions of this soup.

In Suriname, peanut soup is always eaten with tom tom (little green plantain balls).

Although this recipe includes chicken, it is easily adaptable to vegetarians by replacing the chicken broth with water and replacing the chicken with vegetables like carrots and potatoes.

This is a homestyle type of soup, where people pick up the chicken pieces and eat the meat straight from the bones. If you want to make this soup for a formal event, I would still cook the soup with the bones – that’s where the flavor is! Once the soup is finished cooking, remove the meat from the bones before serving.

1 ½ pounds chicken pieces, including bones

1 large onion, chopped

2 stalks celery, chopped

4 tablespoons oil

16 ounces natural creamy peanut butter

2 tablespoons tomato paste

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1 Scotch Bonnet pepper, halved (or Habanero)

2 quarts chicken broth or water (if using water, dissolve 1 bouillon cube in the water)

2 green plantains, cut in half, skins left on

1 tablespoon roasted peanuts (optional)

Put a large pot of water to boil, to cook the plantains. While you are waiting for the water to come to a boil, start the soup. Once the water boils, add the plantains and cook for 30 minutes, until plantains are cooked through.

In a large pot, heat 2 tablespoons oil. Add onions and celery and cook until translucent, about 5 minutes. Remove from pot. Add 2 tablespoons oil and cook chicken, until light golden brown, about 5-8 minutes.

Put cooked vegetables back into pot. Add tomato paste, allspice, peanut butter, 2 cups broth or water and stir to combine.

Add the rest of the water and the Scotch Bonnet pepper. Bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook for about 30-40 minutes, until flavors have developed and chicken is cooked through.

Meanwhile, drain the cooked plantain as soon as it is cooked. While still warm, remove the skin. Using tongs, they should come right off. Mash the green plantain.

It is important to do this while the plantain is still hot. To make the Tom Tom, take about 2 tablespoons of the green plantain into your hands. Your hands must be wet. You will need to wet your hands after making each one. The moisture is needed for the plantain to stick together. Using your wet hands, form balls.

To serve, place a few of the tom tom in a bowl.

Spoon the soup over it. Garnish with a little roasted peanuts, if desired.

4/17/2012 Update:
Sending to Chicken Feast

Chef Mireille
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