We’ve put together 7 Easter-inspired recipes for you to enjoy, from savoury mains to sweet desserts. Through some of these, you can enjoy a taste of Trini cuisine right at home, until you’re able to #visitTrinidad again.
Recipes & Videos Credit: Foodie Nation
TRINI HOT CROSS BUNS
Yield: 12 Buns
INGREDIENTS
For Buns:
- Flour – 4 cups
- Dry Yeast – 1/2 oz
- Granulated Sugar – 1/2 cup
- Salt – 1/4 tsp
- Cinnamon Powder – 1/2 tsp
- Evaporated Milk – 12oz (warm)
- Egg – 1 large
- Lemon Essence – 1 tsp
- Yellow Food Colouring – a few drops
- Marigold Margarine – 3 oz
- Currants – 2oz
- Raisins – 2oz
- Mixed Fruit – 4oz
For Glaze:
- Brown Sugar – 1/2 cup
- Water – 1/2 cup
- Mixed Essence – 1 tbsp
- Vanilla Essence – 1 tbsp
- Bay Leaf – 1
For Royal Icing:
- Egg White – 1
- Icing Sugar – 1 1/2 cups
- Whole Milk/Water – 2 tbsp
METHOD
For Buns:
- Sift together flour, sugar and cinnamon.
- Add yeast and mix well. Set aside.
- Scald milk and add egg, lemon essence and yellow food colouring. Set aside.
- Cut margarine into flour mixture.
- Add fruit and mix well.
- Add milk mixture and mix until just combined then add salt.
- Knead on a floured surface for 10 minutes.
- Place in a greased bowl, cover and let rest for 1 hour.
- Punch down dough.
- Shape equal pieces of dough into 12 buns and place on a greased baking sheet.
- Cover with a warm cloth and let rest one hour.
- Bake at 325°F for 20 minutes.
For Glaze:
- Add brown sugar, water, vanilla, mixed essence and bay leaf to a pot and bring to a boil. Stir constantly until all the sugar has dissolved.
- Remove from heat once reduced to half.
- Glaze buns while the buns are still hot.
- Set aside to cool completely.
For Royal Icing:
- Place egg white into bowl and using a handheld mixer or standing mixer, beat egg whites until frothy.
- Add icing sugar bit by bit until a firm consistency is achieved.
- *If icing becomes too thick, add milk or water little by little to thin the icing until a desired consistency is achieved*
- Make crosses on cooled buns and enjoy!
HONEY-THYME GLAZED HAM
Yield: 64 (3 oz) Portions
INGREDIENTSÂ
- 1 Large Shoulder Ham (11 – 13 Lbs)
- 15 Spice Cloves
- 1 Cup of Brown Sugar
- ½ Cup of Honey
- 3 Tbsp of Minced Fresh Fine Thyme
METHOD
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees fahrenheit.
- Place shoulder ham on a flat sheet pan. With dry napkins, swab and dry the outer surface area of the ham and ensure it is dry all round.
- In a slightly shallow and wide baking tray, line the inner base with two layers of foil. Place ham in the baking tray with the fat cap up.
- With a small paring knife, stick slight holes into the surface of the ham and gently push one clove in each hole. (Do not put too many cloves as this can have an overwhelming flavour)
- Cover ham with foil properly.
- For each pound the ham weighs, cook for 18 minutes and place in the hot oven to bake.
- In a small bowl, mix the brown sugar, honey and thyme and let sit for flavours to mingle.
- In the last 25 – 30 minutes of cooking time, remove the foil of the ham and apply the Honey & Brown Sugar Thyme Scented Glaze. Do this evenly with a brush and place back in the oven to finish cook or until the internal temperature of the ham reaches 150 degrees fahrenheit by sticking a cooking thermometer in the centre of the ham.
- Remove from oven and let sit for a half-hour before slicing.
- Serve sliced ham in sandwich style with homemade bread and top with a few teaspoons of chow chow.
TRINI POTATO SALAD
Yield: 12 Portions
INGREDIENTS
- 3 ½ Lbs Potatoes
- 2 Tsp Salt
- 4 Hard Boiled Eggs, peeled
- 1 – 10oz Can of Peas & Carrots, drained
- 2 Pimento Peppers, finely minced
- ¼ Cup Celery Stalk, finely minced
- 3 Tbsp Fresh Parsley, minced
- 1¼ Cups Mayonnaise
- 1 Tbsp Yellow Mustard
- 1 Tsp Lemon Juice
- 1 Tsp Sugar
- Salt & Black Pepper to taste
METHOD
- Wash potatoes and scrub their skins. Cut each potato into halves or quarters depending on how large they are. Place potatoes in a large pot and fill with water to cover potatoes. Sprinkle in the 1 tsp of salt in the water and place pot on high heat. Cover and bring to a boil then reduce to a simmer and cook for 15 minutes or until potatoes are cooked but firm to the touch. (Stick a knife into the largest piece of potato and the knife should come out easily)
- Strain potatoes and let cool. Peel and discard skins. Cut pieces of potatoes into 1-inch cubes roughly and place into a clean mixing bowl. Cut hard-boiled eggs into rough cubes and add to the potatoes.
- Place in the strained peas and carrots and all other ingredients.
- With a rubber spatula, gently mix mayonnaise and other accoutrements onto the potatoes by folding them carefully as to prevent potatoes from mashing up.
- Taste potato salad and season with salt and black pepper to your preference. Mix once more to incorporate and store salad in a clean bowl in the chiller covered until ready to be eaten.
- Enjoy with BBQ meats, stewed chicken or even with red beans as a great accompaniment to any meal.
TRINI CARROT CAKE
Yield:1 (9-inch) Cake
INGREDIENTS
- 4 eggs
- 1¼ cups Simply Natural Coconut Oil
- 2 cups white sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla extract
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp baking soda
- 2 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 2 tsp cinnamon powder
- 3 cups grated carrots
- Zest of one orange
- ½ cup mixed peel
- ¼ cup chopped pecans
- ¼ cup chopped almonds
- ¼ cup triple sec or orange liqueur
METHOD
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Liberally grease and flour baking pan.
- In a large bowl, beat together eggs, oil, white sugar and vanilla for 2 minutes.
- Mix in flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and cinnamon. Stir in carrots, orange zest and mixed peel. Fold in chopped pecans and almonds. Pour into prepared pan.
- Bake in the preheated oven for 50 to 60 minutes and if required up to 1¼ hours or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of the cake comes out clean. Let cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a wire rack and cool completely.
- Optional: Drizzle on the Orange Liqueur atop the cake when cooled to add a flavoured citrus profile to the cake before serving.
APRICOT-GLAZED LEG OF LAMB
Yield: About 12-15 Portions
INGREDIENTS
For Lamb:
- 1 (5-pound) trimmed bone-in leg of lamb
- 1½ Tbsp salt
- ½ Tbsp freshly ground black pepper
- 3 Tbsp Vegetable Oil
- 6 cloves garlic, minced
- 1 Tbsp fresh rosemary, minced
- 1 Tbsp fresh thyme leaves
- 1 Tsp Lemon Zest
- 1 Tbsp Mustard
- 1½ Lb Potatoes, 1-inch cubes
For Apricot Glaze
- 1 Cup Apricot Jam
- ½ Cup Water
- 1 Tsp Paprika
- ½ Tsp Salt
- ¼ Tsp Pepper Flakes
METHOD
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Line a roasting pan with aluminium foil.
- Pat lamb dry with paper towels. Using a sharp knife, score the top side of the lamb by making shallow cuts all over.
- Season lamb leg with salt and black pepper ensuring to rub liberally all over the surface area of the meat.
- In a small bowl, combine garlic, olive oil, rosemary, thyme, lemon zest and mustard.
- Place lamb, fat side up, on a rack in the prepared roasting pan. Spread garlic mixture evenly over the lamb, rubbing in thoroughly into the scored cuts.
- Place potato cubes into the lined pan, drizzle with a little oil then place the leg of lamb to sit on top of it.
- Place into oven and roast until it reaches an internal temperature of 135 degrees Fahrenheit for medium, about 1 hour 30 minutes to 2 hours, or until desired doneness.
- For the apricot glaze, add the apricot jam, water, paprika, salt and pepper flakes into a small saucepan and stir over low heat for 5 minutes until the mixture is combined and liquidized.
- When lamb has been cooking for one hour, brush this glaze over the leg every 15 minutes thereafter until cooked. When lamb is cooked to desired doneness, remove from oven and let the rest for 15 minutes before slicing.
TRINI COCOA TEA
INGREDIENTS
- 2 cups milk (almond)
- 1 tbsp cocoa powder
- 6 oz Montanos’ chocolate
- 2 tbsp brown sugar
- Splash vanilla extract
- 1 cinnamon stick
- Pinch of nutmeg
- Pinch of salt
- Dash of Angostura cocoa bitters (optional)
METHOD
- Heat milk in a saucepan, whisk the cocoa powder.
- Then add sugar and chocolate, mix for 4 minutes until chocolate is melted.
- Then add rest of ingredients and mix
SCALLOPED POTATOES
Yield: 6-8 Servings
INGREDIENTS
- Potato – 3 lbs
- Butter – 2 oz/1 tbsp
- Flour – 1/8 cup
- Heavy Cream – 20 fl oz
- Salt – to taste
- Black Pepper – to taste
- Garlic Powder – 1 tsp
- Onion Powder – 1 tsp
- Cayenne Pepper – 1/4 tsp
- Italian Seasoning – 1/2 tbsp
- Dried Oregano – 1/2 tbsp
- Kraft Italian Cheese – 1 (8 oz) pack
- Seasoned Breadcrumbs – 1/8 cup
METHOD
- Peel and wash potatoes.
- Place in a pot of boiling water and allow to cook until tender (about 10-15 minutes).
- Drain and set aside.
- Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Heat a medium saucepot over medium heat.
- Add butter.
- Once melted, whisk in flour.
- Continue to whisk until the mixture turns blonde in colour.
- Whisk in heavy cream.
- Whisk in salt, black pepper, garlic, onion, cayenne, Italian seasoning and oregano.
- Continue to whisk until the mixture begins to thicken. You want it to coat the back of a spoon.
- Set aside.
- Slice potato and layer them in a greased baking sheet.
- Cover with cream mixture and repeat this process as illustrated in the video.
- Cover with Kraft Italian Cheese.
- Sprinkle on breadcrumbs.
- Bake for 35 to 40 minutes.
- Allow to cool for at least 15 minutes.
- Enjoy!
