Easy breezy cooking

School holidays are upon us. It is easy to purchase food because there are many options out there. While it is great to have that easy-accessible, commercially-prepared food, remember nothing beats homemade.

Try to get your children involved in the meal prep with you, they will learn valuable cooking lessons and they will welcome the quality time spent.

Here are some easy and popular recipes for you to enjoy.

Grilled jerk shrimp with festival

Shrimp:

2 lbs, medium-sized shrimp, peeled and deveined

1 tbs good quality wet jerk marinade

1 tbs fresh French thyme

1 tbs olive oil

1 lime

Festival:

1½ cups all-purpose flour

½ cup cornmeal

3 tbs sugar

1 tsp salt

2 tsp baking powder

1 egg beaten

½ cup water

Coconut oil for frying

Combine shrimp with jerk marinade, thyme and olive oil.

Let sit for about 10 to 15 minutes in the refrigerator.

Meanwhile, make the festival.

Combine flour, cornmeal, sugar, salt, baking powder in a mixing bowl.

Stir together egg and water.

Add to flour mixture and knead well to a smooth dough, dough will be firm.

Divide dough into 8 equal pieces and roll each piece into 4-inch logs with tapered ends.

Heat oil and fry festival for about 6 to 8 minutes until golden and puffy.

Drain on paper towels.

Now heat a grill pan, add shrimp and grill until opaque and slightly curled, this will take just a few minutes.

Remove and squeeze on lime juice.

Serve at once with festival and cole slaw.

Serves 4

Cheese and spinach stuffed chicken

1½ lbs boneless chicken breasts (about 6 chicken breasts)

4 cloves garlic, minced.

1 tsp freshly-ground black pepper

¼ cup olive oil

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 sweet bell pepper, red, seeded and chopped.

4 cups spinach leaves chopped

4 cups grated cheese

½ cup chopped chives

¼ cup chopped parsley

Preheat oven to 350F.

Mince two cloves garlic and combine with black pepper.

Prepare chicken breasts by placing each piece between two sheets of waxed paper; pound the breasts until about ¼-inch thick.

Season with 2 cloves garlic and black pepper, rub with a little olive oil.

Refrigerate until ready for use.

Prepare stuffing:

Heat oil in a large sauté pan, add garlic and onion, sauté until fragrant.

Stir and fry for four minutes until the onion is translucent.

Add the spinach, stir to combine, cook until spinach is wilted about 5 minutes stir often. Add nutmeg.

Remove from heat and turn into a mixing bowl.

Add cheese, chives and parsley,

Taste and adjust seasoning.

Cool stuffing.

Place about 1 tablespoon of stuffing on each chicken breast, roll each breast up and hold together with small wooden picks or metal skewers.

Heat the rest of the olive oil in sauté pan and sauté chicken breasts until brown.

Remove to a heatproof baking dish and bake for 30 minutes.

Remove chicken breasts from dish; remove skewers, cool, slice and serve.

Serves 6

Chilli and cornbread casserole

2 tbs butter

1 large onion, finely chopped

6 cloves garlic

2 lbs ground beef, lean

2 tbs herb seasoning

3 tbs chili powder

1 tsp ground cumin

1 28-oz can whole tomatoes, finely chopped

1 15-oz tin red beans, drained

⅓ cup chopped chadon beni

Topping:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup cornmeal

1½ tbs sugar

2 tsp baking powder

1½ tsp salt

1⅓ cup milk

1 egg

4 tbs melted butter

4 ozs grated cheese

Preheat oven to 375F.

In a sauté pan, melt margarine, add onion and garlic.

Add beef and herb seasoning, stir well and brown thoroughly

Add chilli, cumin, season with salt and freshly-ground black pepper.

Add tomatoes and beans, combine and cover.

Simmer for about 20 minutes.

Make the topping

In a large mixing bowl, combine all the dry ingredients.

Beat egg with milk and add melted butter.

Add to dry ingredients, add cheese.

Stir well, the batter may be a little soft but will firm up quickly as the cornmeal tends to absorb a lot of liquid. If batter seems too dry, add a little milk.

The consistency should be like a muffin batter.

Grease a casserole dish, medium-sized.

Spoon the beef mixture into dish, sprinkle on chadon beni.

Spoon batter onto chili mixture but do not smooth over, leave it in clumps.

Bake for 30 minutes until risen and golden

Serves 4 to 6

rahamut@gmail.com