Island RecipesIsland Recipes
Meat Paté a l’Acadienne (Acadian)
5 lbs pork meat
4 lbs chicken meat
3 onions
2 tbsp pickling spice, finely ground (remove any large ginger
roots, etc.)
2 cups mashed potato, freshly cooked
1 cup bread crumbs
1 tbsp summer savory
Salt and pepper to taste
Remove excess fat and skin from meat. Chop meat into chunks.
Place in pot containing 2 cups boiling water. Add 2 onions and
pickling spices (tied in a cheesecloth bag). Cook slowly. Cool.
With your hands, reduce pieces of meat in size but leave in solid
form (never use a blender). Add mashed potato, bread crumbs, 1
onion (finely chopped), summer savory, salt and pepper. Mix this
meat mixture with your hands, or on a wooden palette. Cover with
foil and keep this filling in a 200°F oven while you prepare the
crust dough on the baking sheet.
Shrimp and Vegetable Fritters (Asia)
½lb shrimp
1 cup flour
½ cup ground rice
¼ cup cornstarch
1 cup water
2 eggs
½ tsp black pepper
¾ cup grated raw sweet potato
1 cup fresh bean sprouts
½ cup chopped scallions
Oil for deep frying
Shell and de-vein shrimp. Chop in small bits. Mix flour, rice
and cornstarch. Combine water with eggs and pepper. Add to flour
mixture and beat until smooth. Stir in shrimp, sweet potato, bean
sprouts and scallions. Heat oil and drop fritter mixture into it
by spoonfuls. Cook until golden, turning occasionally. Drain well
and serve immediately.
Mussels, Cantonese Style (China)
2 lb mussels, in shells
8 tbsp oil
½ cup chopped green onions
½ tbsp chopped fresh ginger
6 cloves garlic, minced
4 tbsp oyster sauce
1 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sugar
2 tbsp cooking sherry
2½ tbsp cornstarch
1 cup cold water
Rinse and drain mussels. Heat 4 tbsp oil and sauté onions, ginger and garlic. Remove from heat. Add oyster sauce, soy sauce, sugar and sherry. Return to heat. Dissolve cornstarch in water and add to sauce. Stir until smooth and bubbling. Remove from heat; keep hot. Heat 4 tbsp oil in large pot or wok. Add mussels all at once. Cover and cook until shell are partly open. Drain liquid. Add prepared sauce. Cover and continue to cook until shells are completely open.
Variation: Lobster may be substituted for the mussels. Chop
lobster into 1½-inch pieces, in the shell, and proceed as above.
It is advisable to do this messy chopping outside, on a picnic
table covered with newspaper.
Sauerkraut Stuffing for Roast Goose (Germany)
2½ lb sauerkraut
1 cup white wine
½ tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp caraway seed
1 large onion, cut in eighths
2 tbsp butter
1 large potato, peeled
2 unpeeled apples, cored
Put sauerkraut, wine, pepper and caraway in a heavy saucepan.
Cover and simmer 1 hour. Add water if necessary. Put onion in
blender, cover with cold water and coarsely chop. Drain well and
sauté in butter until lightly browned. Add to sauerkraut. Chop
potato and apple into 1-inch cubes. Add to sauerkraut and mix
well. Cool before stuffing goose.
Yield: stuffing for 8 to 10 lb goose.
2 cups self-rising flour
½ cup dark brown sugar
1/3 cup molasses
1 cup milk
1 tsp each ground cloves, cinnamon and ginger
½ tsp grated nutmeg
Pinch salt
Combine all ingredients to a smooth paste. Butter an 8 inch
square cake pan. Fill pan with dough and bake in a slow oven
(300°F) for about 1 hour. When cooked, allow to cool and keep in
a tin for 24 hours before serving. This cake keeps moist when put
in the bread bin with the bread. It is often served buttered, for
breakfast, or as a mid-morning snack.
Goulash (Hungary)
4 lb beef (chunk or rump), cut in 2 inch pieces
2 strips bacon or salt pork, or 2 tbsp bacon fat
6 onions, coarsely chopped
3 tbsp paprika
1½ tsp salt
2 green peppers, coarsely chopped
Brown half of beef in its own fat in a large skillet. Transfer to
Dutch oven and repeat with other half. Rinse the skillet with a
cup of water and add liquid to the meat. Cover and cool slowly
over low heat. Chop the bacon and fry in skillet; add the onions
and brown lightly. Stir in paprika and salt. Combine with the
simmering meat. Stir in uncooked green peppers and continue
cooking slowly for about 2 hours or until meat is tender, not
soft. Serve with noodles.
Serves 8 to 10.
