Chef Tells Cayman Chow Chow Recipes

CHOW CHOW CHICKEN FOR DOGS

Steps:

• Place chicken pieces in large pot.
• Cover with cold water (5 -6 cups). Add carrots,celery, and potatoes to water. Add salt to taste if you want.
• Cover and simmer on low heat about 2.
• hours until the chicken becomes tender.
• Add the rice, cover and cook over low heat for about 30 minutes until the rice is tender and most of the liquid is absorbed.
• Remove soup from heat.
• Pull the chicken meat off the bone ( if will practically fall off), discard bones.
• Return shredded pieces to pot.
• Stir well.
• Let cool. Store in the refrigerator or freeze.

CAYMAN-STYLE SNAPPER STEW

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
• Heat 1 tablespoon oil in large flameproof baking dish over medium heat.
• Add garlic and cook until beginning to color, stirring occasionally, about 3 minutes.
• Arrange fish over garlic and sprinkle lightly with salt and pepper.
• Top with tomatoes, onions, and bell peppers.
• Drizzle lime juice and remaining 2 tablespoons oil over, cover with foil and bake until fish is opaque, about 15 minutes.
• Serve immediately with rice.

SWEET CHOW-CHOW

Steps:

• Grind tomatoes, cabbage, onions, green peppers and red peppers into large pan.
• Add salt and let stand overnight.
• Rinse and drain.
• Put into large kettle.
• Add remaining ingredients, heat to boiling.
• Boil for 8 minutes,stirring constantly.
• Pour into hot sterilized jars; seal.
• Let stand at least 2 weeks before opening.
• For hot Chow-Chow, add 10 hot peppers and 1 tablespoon cayenne pepper.

MARITIME FAVOURITE CHOW CHOW

Steps:

• Put tomatoes and onions in a large deep stainless steel kettle or saucepan, sprinkle with salt, and let stand overnight.
• In morning, drain well, pressing out as much water as possible. Return mixture to kettle. Add sugar, mustard, and spice bag. Stir in vinegar. Cook slowly, stirring frequently, until tomatoes are soft and clear - about 1 hour. Bottle in hot jars. Process in a boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

CHOW-CHOW

Steps:

• Add 1 cup of the salt to the chopped tomatoes in a very large plastic or glass bowl (must be non-reactive, not metal). Mix well & let stand overnight. This might be a good time to clean the remaining vegetables. Thoroughly wash them, removing cores and seeds from peppers, leaves & core from cauliflower and any other undesirable parts. Then thoroughly drain the water off them and store them covered in the fridge until ready to use.
• Next day: drain the tomatoes and place in a large, non-reactive stock-pot but don't turn on the heat yet. (The only one I could think of was the kind coated with enamel, so I went out an got a huge one).
• Either get out your food processor, or a nice big sharp chef's knife because you need to FINELY chop the remaining vegetables (bell peppers, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, onions, hot peppers, garlic). Add all to to the stock pot with the tomatoes.
• Add vinegar, remaining 1/4 cup salt, horseradish, spices.
• Slowly bring to a boil, and simmer about 10 minutes or until onions are getting tender.
• Pack into freshly cleaned & hot canning jars leaving 1/4 to 1/2 inch headspace (depending on jar size) place lids on and screw the rings on.
• Process in a hot water bath for 15 minutes by submerging over the tops in a deep pot of hot (almost boiling) water on the stove for 15 minutes. Remove from the pot and let cool and seal.
• My personal critique:.
• I like more onions, like say, double this amount. I'd also just as soon use 2 heads of cabbage as 1 cabbage & 1 cauliflower but that's just me. The cider vinegar could just as easily be white vinegar, and the sugar could also be all brown or all white. Obviously any changes would make a difference in flavor but not enough for me to care. And the spices, I thought some were overdone, mainly the turmeric, allspice and cloves. If I did it again I'd choose to still add them but reduce their amounts to 1/2. Conversely, I think there could be more ginger & ground mustard -- maybe double them? (Read next year's critique.) And lastly, I think we should have added ground black pepper. Many of the recipes called for it, and frankly I think we just forgot. Seems like the recipes call for about 1 tablespoon per gallon of chopped veggies. See you next year!

CHEF TELL'S CAYMAN JERK CHICKEN

Steps:

• Combine all ingredients in Food processor and mix thoroughly.
• Rub the chicken with oil then sprinkle with salt & pepper.
• Next, generously coat chicken with Jerk Spice and grill until done (approx. 45 minutes to an hour).
• Serve over Cayman Style Chow-Chow.