Very Tasty Caribbean Stew and Jerk Tilapia

One of the best parts about cooking is that you can take a handful of random ingredients that are actually good for you, cook them with a few interesting spices and sauces, then you end up with something colorful, tasty, and healthy. Last week at work, my friend brought in a bowl of wonderful stew, it was from a recipe that her father initially introduced her to. She gave me some to try so that I'd know how to describe it on the Key Ingredient blog. Right after the first spoonful, I was convinced that this was a stew I definitely needed to make, asap!

This hearty meal was inspired by Moosewood's Caribbean Stew. The recipe is delicious as is, my friend Heather just added a few more veggies - I pretty much did the same. In my opinion, the more veggies, the better! This is a vegetarian stew that's filling as is, but it can also be served with rice or jerk tofu. I loved the idea of the jerk tofu, but I recently purchased some fish that needed a marinade; I thought the spicy/sweetness of the jerk would complement the tilapia quite well, and it did.

Because I wanted a baked and breaded fish, I mixed a few tablespoons of breadcrumbs with a tablespoon of melted butter and created a topping for the fish that also included some of the marinade. The end result was a flavorful meal without the fishy flavor, but I think next time, to preserve the light flavor of the fish, I'll just marinade then bake the tilapia in the jerk sauce. Though I only added half the amount of chili in both recipes, it was still spicy enough to be considered tasty.

If you want to give your taste buds a wake-up call, the stew and jerk recipes will do the trick. As for the stew, its spiciness wanes against the sweet potato's natural honey-like taste and the kale's deep earthy flavor. What's more, together, the cilantro and lemon add an herby freshness while the onions give the already rich broth an even fuller flavor. This stew is mouth-watering, to say the least, and your body will definitely thank you for eating such a healthy meal! The jerk sauce/marinade has a sweet and spicy flavor that even smells great, thanks to the freshly grated ginger that's like heaven for the olfactory glands. If you can't already tell, I'm a huge fan of this soupy stew. If it were a musician, I'd definitely make it a point to get its autograph.

The Jerk recipe will make enough marinade for about 3-4 small fish, I marinated the fish for about 2.5 hours before popping them in the oven for about 15 minutes at 425. Jose and I decided to take our fish and stew outside and make a picnic out of our dinner; the weather was beautiful and the meal was the perfect end to a fun-filled day spent at Wimberly and in the kitchen baking. (This month I'm baking 60 different batches of cookies for a little project I was assigned at work. My last day is the 23rd of April, so I'll be busy baking for the next few weeks! I can just see the Doughboy planning an invasion in the name of sweets, just like last time!)

Speaking of the little guy, look who I saw tagged and behind bars at Wimberley Market Days early this Saturday morning! It's a very old Doughboy, an antique! But I decided I couldn't deal with anymore tricks, so I had to leave him there for someone else to adopt!

JJ's Gluten-Free Blueberry Pie

If you're looking for a gluten-free pie crust recipe, click here :).

Now, I know in the last entry I mentioned that my next post would include a lentil soup recipe...and last time you checked, blueberries don't go in lentil soup ;), but I also promised my friend JJ that I'd bake her a gluten-free pie! It just so happens that I was able to gather all the ingredients yesterday, so I was finally able to bake that pie earlier this evening. I was a little worried that I'd end up with a disaster instead of a pie because, not only have I never used gluten-free flour before, but I've also only baked one other pie, period...yep, just one. Well, thanks to the Gluten-Free Pantry's Perfect Pie Crust Mix, this second pie was a success!

It might seem a little strange that I used a mix, instead of preparing my own gluten-free flour blend, but it wasn't because I didn't want to...believe me, I did my homework, even the research, and compared a few gluten-free pie crust recipes with a smile on my face; it was nice to actually come across a somewhat decent selection after scouring the web top to bottom for them. Here's the catch, the recipes called for things like sorghum flour, AND potato starch, AND tapioca flour, among other really neat sounding ingredients that I've never seen on the shelves in the baking aisle of my puny, everyday grocery store. So I went to Whole Foods, and even Central Market (a really cool gourmet-type market you should check out if you're ever in TX) and was happy to discover that they carried these fun ingredients...but if I wanted to make a yummy tasting gluten-free flour blend, I'd need to purchase a wide variety of flours and interesting thickening agents. So to save some money, and we all need to do that these days, I opted for the Gluten-Free Pantry's mix! I liked that it didn't have any nasty fillers or gross, fake ingredients!

All in all, I was happy with the results. I was a bit weirded out by the fact that Ms. Hillson (the professional chef who came up with this mix) expected this pie mix to make 2 double-crust 8" pies, considering how difficult it was to get the dough to roll out in one piece. This might seem a bit strange, and keep in mind I've never used gluten free flour, but I chose to use the whole mix for my 1 double-crust blueberry pie. I did use a 9" pie pan, and I later realized that I probably could've gotten away with using less dough for the top layer, since it was a bit thick. The pie was mighty delicious, I really didn't miss the all-purpose flour I normally use, at least when I took the first bite. But I did have some minor issues when I was trying to cut the perfect slice of pie for my picture...my poor little pie now looks like it's been attacked by some very hungry mice; I had to cut 4 slices before I could get one that actually kept its shape. But part of what makes this gluten-free flour so different is that it doesn't have the very ingredient that makes dough elastic. Gluten provides elasticity and "togetherness" in dough, so that's why this dough is crumblier/more powdery in texture than you might expect if you're new to gluten-free baking. Crumbliness aside, this pie mix worked great, and it yields a very flavorful pie that anyone could love!

Here's what I used to flavor the blueberries:
1 16 oz bag of frozen blueberries
1/2 TBSP cinnamon
1/2 cup white sugar
4 TBSP butter
3 TBSP rice flour

I defrosted the blueberries by soaking them in some warm water, I did end up having a bit of water leftover in the bowl after straining them (about 1/4 cup) but I just used that to make a kind of sauce for the blueberries - adding the cinnamon, sugar, and rice flour for flavor and texture. My husband said the pie wasn't too sweet, it didn't have an artificial blueberry taste. If you have a pretty big sweet tooth, I suggest adding 1 cup of sugar instead of 1/2. (Oh and here's another tip: instead of using flour to roll-out the dough, just use plastic wrap. In this case, it actually worked better because it helped the crumbly dough stay together when I placed it in the pie pan. I picked this tip up from the show I mention below - Throwdown :)

Also, as far as the mix goes, I didn't add the 10 oz of butter and shortening. Instead, I added 8 oz of butter, 8 oz of vegan shortening (it's not hydrogenated, so, in my opinion, it's easier on the gut for those who have issues with hydrogenated oils, like me!) and 1 TBSP canola oil (Jose asked me to try to give the recipe a minor healthy make-over). I even added a bit more sugar and a few sprinkles of cinnamon in the dough for flavor, I think next time I might add some grated lemon peel...this mix is nice because you can be creative with it!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I'll post again before it's over. I'm going to a really cool edible book festival tomorrow - it should be fun! Jose and I will also be taking our first trip to Flip Happy Crepes, where we'll get to try the delicious crepes that went up against and defeated Bobby Flay's at his Throwdown not too long ago!