My Haitian Plate: Bannan peze sandwich

I can't even remember where I saw this wonderful creation first but I thought "how come I never did this before?" So I did...
That's how I ate half of my Thanksgiving food lol

plantain, chicken, lettuce, avocado, pikliz

plaintain, turkey, salad russe, lettuce, pikliz

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Thanksgiving Haitian style

 In the midst of Thanksgiving preparations and dealing with family and working, I decided to take some time and look up different Thanksgiving menus because I was curious about how different groups (ie Italian-American) incorporate different dishes along with the traditional plates. So I thought that someone should document our standard Haitian-American Thanksgiving menu so why not me? Well this is my family's Thanksgiving dinner this year.

All the desserts were store bought lol...

Macaroni au gratin

dinde farci ( a l'haitienne) stuffed turkey

fried chicken

baked Ham w/ pineapple and deviled eggs

riz djon djon ( duri noir)

pikliz

beet salad ( salad russe)

potato salad

Not pictured: bannan peze ( fried plantains) and collard greens
here's my plate

This is Thanksgiving A l'Haitienne :)
Now I'm thinking about writing down the recipes for all of them and maybe some other common Haitian food for a holiday/regular party menu... I wonder if anybody is interested...

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Lalo recipe: Not quite there

Before i made by grandma cut it up for me lol

 So I know I promised a Lalo recipe but this is becoming harder than I thought to take step by step pictures... For example, I fully intended to get this done yesterday but I ended up having to leave and let my mom finish it and I forgot to make my sister take pictures.

I got this far!

 Lalo is not easy to go by. We have a garden but we have to wait weeks sometimes to get a good amount. so this might take another 2 weeks before we can make it again :(
Well I did come back in time to make the white rice so here's a recipe for how i make it. No measurements so just humor me ok lol. I'll add measurements for the rice too when I post the real Lalo recipe.

 Put the oil in pot and add cut up green onion and garlic 
Add salt and fry for about 2 minutes on medium heat

 Add water and wait for it to boil

 Now add rice. Important not to have too much water. Water should prob be about 2 inches above the rice. If the water is a lot, take some out and put to the side. You  can use it later.

Let water dry out and then stir the rice

Cover tightly and let sit on low heat for about 10 minutes

 Sigh... I always thought our rice was easy but after typing this maybe it's not so easy. A lot harder than say add rice to hot water and let boil for 20 minutes lol.
Oh and you won't really taste the garlic or green onions and you can take them out when you're stirring the rice.
Anyway, proper recipes coming soon :)

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Grilled Pineapple Mojito with Barbancourt HAITIAN Rum

I came across this recipe and of course the "Barbancourt Haitian Rum" stood out to me. For those of you who can legally consume alcoholic beverages, I thought I would share the recipe with you. Mojitos are refreshing summer beverages. ENJOY (responsibly)!

 Grilled Pineapple Mojito

 2 oz. Barbancourt Haitian Rum
.75 oz. agave nectar
2 oz. pineapple juice
 grilled pineapple
 mint sprig

 In a tin, muddle four to five mint leaves and a bar spoon of agave soaked in grilled pineapple chunks. Add liquor, lime juice, pineapple juice, and agave nectar. Shake with two cubes of ice and strain into a tall glass. Add another bar spoon of grilled pineapple and two mint leaves and swizzle with pellet ice until frosty. Garnish with mint sprig and a piece of grilled pineapple.

 From JIMMY Bar at The James Hotel Source: .

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My Haitian Plate: Lalo Legume Fey

My mom made Lalo  legume (fey) I was so happy I took a picture haha. That's one of my favorite food ever.     This stuff takes forever to make ... I almost never have the patience to make it but as a proud Artibonitienne it's essential that one knows how to make this dish properly or so I've heard lol

Artibonitienne: mostly means from the region above

( BTW All 5 of the A l'Haitienne crew are from Saint-Marc and Gonaives)

. It's an Artibonite staple (White Rice, Beans, and Lalo).
This dish is hearty and filling. It naturally contains a good amount of iron and protein as much as it is tasty.
 If you are interested to learn more about this dish (the recipe and better pictures) comment so that I can work on it. Otherwise, enjoy!

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: Our Haitian Plate: Grilled A l'Haitienne

 We haven't done a food post in a while so at the last minute I decided to share these pics from our impromptu grilling craze .



 No preparation or recipe for this one... just the pictures :/
It's only grilled beef ribs marinated with a mix of Haitian spices or "Epice" and  corn on the cobb.

Starting the fire A l'Haitienne...

Na being extra fanning the flame lol

Ready!!!!

Our huge Haitian plate lol

It was our first time but certainly wont be the last because it was YUMMY! We're gonna make a meal real Haitian meal out of it next time.
Thanks for reading :)

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Macaroni au gratin recipe+ pics

It only took 3 months but here it is! lol

There are many other ways to make good macaroni but this is my mom's favorite way of making it and the only way I know how. It's with a bechamel sauce. Enjoy!

Some ingredients

2 boxes of rigatoni pasta

2 onions

1 green bell pepper

1 red bell pepper

1 package of ham/turkey/ whatever

2 packages of grated cheese. I used mozarella and a mix of Italian 4 cheeses. (btw my mom always say the best cheese to use is called "tete de boeuf" so if you can find that, use that!

1/4 cup flour

cilantro

3 cans of evaporated milk

2 Tbsp butter

Step 1: Boil pasta al dente. I always let the water boil with 2 garlic cloves before i put the pasta

Take out pasta and add a little butter. Put aside

 Step 2: Preheat oven to 350 degrees
 In different pot, sautee chopped onions in a small amount of butter

 Step 3: Add flour gradually and stir with a wooden spoon at the same time
Step 4: Add canned milk, cilantro, slices of green and red pepper, and 2 maggi cubes (you can ommit the maggi but it really gives it flavor) and optional scotch bonnet pepper

Step5: Stir mixture on medium heat until it starts thickening up ~ 10 minutes

Step 6: Set bechamel aside and add the rest of the chopped onions, along with the peppers and ham to the pasta

Step 7: Add cheeses and stir

 Step 8: Now add the bechamel sauce to the pasta.

Step 9:  Stir with wooden spoon and taste for flavor :) Add extra cheese if needed

Step 10:  Grease pan with butter and put the macaroni in oven. Bake until golden ~ about an hour

Check periodically... it might take longer

and Voila!

Always turns out good for me.  I ate mine with oven baked wings and pikilz with some good passion fruit juice. Ahhh happiness

my plate

yum!

P.S someone please let me know if these instructions are clear enough. I'll clarify if needed. Thanks!

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Kremas (Cremas)- Recipe and pics included

My brother and his wife came to visit today and she took the last drop of my Kremas. So I had no choice but to make this post today or it wouldn't happen until God knows when ...

I love Kremas. Pure and simple, but every time I look for recipes online (because my mom does not deal with measurements) I can never find a recipe how my mom does it. So, I'm putting the simplest form of mine out there. This is (mostly) how my mom taught me and she makes the best kremas you'll ever taste :)

For those who do not know Kremas is like the official wedding drink of Haitians... People fight for it, hide it, and share it (hehe). It's that goodness that you get on special occasions, during happy times, and oh did I mention that it's mostly sugar and a dash of alcohol? Yeah so that's your under 21 warning lol

Ingredients
meat of 2 coconuts- grated
1/2 gallon of milk
2 cans of condensed milk
2 cans of evaporated milk
4 cups of sugar (see note)
2 Tbsp vanilla
~ nutmeg
~ cinnamon
zest of  a lime (optional)
Real Haitian liquor or 153 proof  if you cant find it

Instructions
Step 1. Boil the 1/2 gallon of milk  along with cinnamon sticks for 15-20 minutes- Let cool completely

Step 2. grate coconut or I suppose you can buy it like that?

Step 3.Put milk in a large bowl and add grated coconut

Strain mixture into another bowl

Step 4. Add sugar- lots of it

Step 5. Add cinnamon, nutmeg, and lime zest
Stir the mixture with wooden spoon (my mom swears that the wooden spoon is important) and let mixture sit for a little bit I usually leave it overnight so the sugar can "fonn" which i guess means mostly dissolved

Step 6. Strain mixture one last time

Step 7. Add evaporated milk and then condensed milk

Step 8. Add vanilla and lastly add your liquor and I supposed you can leave it out if you dont drink alcohol but that would defeat the purpose for me lol.

and Voila!
Real Haitian Kremas

This made enough for

 So reduce to half if you dont want as much

Note:  I ended up puttling more sugar than I measured because my mom thought it wasn't "pwes" enough meaning it wasn't thick enough and the sugar is mostly what adds the thickness

So that's it! Hope you enjoy

P.S. I know I promised the recipe for Macaroni and Cheese. It's coming really soon, I just need to get pictures and we'll be set...For real this time :)

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