Camille Cares

By: camillecares

Apr 18 2012

Tags: callaloo, Crab, Pig tail, stew chicken, sunday dinner, Trinidadian Cuisine

Category: CamilleCares Recipes, Uncategorized

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Camille Cares teaches how to make one of her favorite side dishes for

Sunday Dinner, Trini-Style!

Even though I am miles from my birthplace of Port of Spain, Trinidad, I am still deeply in love with its cuisine.  My favorite meal is Sunday Dinner.  Trinidadian Sunday dinner has a reputation of having lots of traditional side dishes.  Today, I am making a must-have dish called “callaloo” with salted pig tail and crab legs.  Callaloo is a popular Caribbean vegetable dish that is prepared as a side dish or as a soup in other countries.  In Trinidad, callaloo is prepared with dasheen bush, okra, coconut milk and the regular mirepoix of garlic, onions, scallion, pumpkin, thyme and other grounded seasonings.  I am substituting the dasheen bush for fresh organic whole leaf spinach from the farmer’s market.

This dish can seem very intimidating for a new cook, as it involves multiple steps, ingredients and is rated based on texture, aroma and taste.  I do not eat callaloo from everyone because of the precision involved in preparing this dish.  My first time making it on my own without help from my mother was about a year ago and now I think I can successfully make callaloo on my own without the assistance of a recipe.

In addition to this side dish, Sunday dinner is not complete without a stewed meat, salad, and provisions.  Today, I am making stew chicken, pigeon peas with rice, salad, and plantains.  I hope you enjoy my pictures of my healthy Sunday Dinner meal and come back for more fun, tasty treats prepared by yours truly, Camille Cares.

Callaloo:

Dasheen bushel *spinach can be used*

1 pack frozen or fresh okra

diced pumpkin, onion, garlic

1/4 cup coconut milk

2 tbsp golden ray

2 tbsp cooking oil *your choice*

1 scotch bonnet pepper

thyme *fresh*

salt, pepper

1/2 cup water

crab *addt’l your choice*

salted pig tail *addt’l your choice*

Salted Pig-Tail- In a small pot filled with water add salted pig tail.  Let boil for 20 minutes.  Throw out water, refill and boil again for another 10 minutes.

Callaloo- In a large pot heat oil.  Add in the chopped dasheen bush or spinach, okra, onions, pumpkin, garlic, and scotch bonnet pepper on medium-high heat.  Allow the greens to sweat and create it’s own liquid.  This should take about 10 minutes.  At this time add crab legs, water, salt, pepper, thyme, coconut milk, and golden ray.  Cover and let cook for an additional 20 minutes on low-medium heat.  Remove from heat and separate the pig tail and crab legs from the thick green mixture.  Take the callaloo by the spoonful to the food processor or blender and let it rip for a few pulses.  Throw it back into the pot on low heat and let the ingredients bubble a bit together again with the crab legs and pig tail.  Enjoy with some white rice and salad.

~ C.C.