Eating Around the World (From Home....And Gluten Free...): Grenada

Welcome to Grenada! A neighbor to our last country, St. Vincent and Grenadines, Grenada is another country in the Caribbean. It is known as the "Island of Spice", and exports many spices. It is the second largest producer of Nutmeg (second to Indonesia!). Grenada is also home to the first underwater sculpture museum - interesting! According to Google, Grenada has a population of 117,000 people and the capital is St. George. Their national dish is...

Oil Down!

Sounds appetizing, right? I have to admit, I wasn't too excited to try this meal. I found a couple other dishes to make too: Nutmeg Chicken and Nutmeg Ice Cream! Since I had leftover breadfruit from St. Vincent and Grenadines, and Oil Down has breadfruit, I figured why not. We did this country over two days, and I'm glad we did! The ice cream took a little bit of planning ahead, but the chicken and Oil Down were quick, easy meals. Here's what I did:

OIL DOWN

1 breadfruit

1 whole hot green pepper (I used Ancho)

1 tsp thyme

1/2 oz saffron

2 tbsp curry powder

12 oz salted meat (I used spam)

6 C coconut milk

4 C spinach

Salt, to taste

1. Cut the breadfruit into slices about 1 1/2 inches thick
2. Cut the meat into bite-sized pieces and place them in the bottom of a large pot
3. Arrange the breadfruit over the meat
4. Add the seasonings and coconut milk
5. Cover the pot and bring it to a boil
6. Add spinach to the pot.
7. Cook until the breadfruit is tender and the liquid has mostly absorbed (about 30 minutes)
8. Serve hot and enjoy!

(Source: Oil Down)

NUTMEG CHICKEN

Nutmeg syrup

1/3 C sugar

2 tbsp maple syrup

1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp nutmeg

1/4 C gluten free soy sauce

1/4 tsp ginger

1/4 tsp chili flakes

1 C water

1/2 tbsp tapioca starch

Chicken

2 tbsp coconut oil

2 lb chicken thighs

3 garlic cloves, minced

1 onion, chopped

2 tbsp poultry seasoning

1 tsp thyme

1 tsp salt

1 tsp pepper

1. Place the chicken in a medium sized bowl and season with the poultry seasoning, salt, thyme and back pepper, and set aside
2. Add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and chili flakes in a saucepan
3. Mix the gluten free soy sauce, maple syrup, water and tapioca starch together then pour it into the saucepan
4. Bring the saucepan to a boil, and reduce to a simmer while stirring for 5 minutes; then set aside
5. Meanwhile heat the oil on medium heat
6. Proceed to sauté the garlic and onion until soft and translucent
7. Add the seasoned chicken to the pan and proceed to cook the chicken until just white (it won't be cooked all the way. Also, make sure there is no water or liquid in the pan before the next step)
8. Pour the nutmeg syrup all over the chicken and bring to a rolling boil
9. Reduce the flame to medium-low, cover the pan with lid and occasionally baste the chicken throughout the 20-25 minute cooking time
10. If you are left with excess liquid and want the syrup to adhere to the chicken increase heat to high and allow the liquid to evaporate and stick to the chicken (be careful not to burn the chicken)
11. Enjoy with rice!

(Source: Nutmeg Chicken)

NUTMEG ICE CREAM

1 1/2 C milk

1 1/2 C heavy cream

3 eggs

3/4 C sugar

1 tbsp fresh nutmeg; grated (about 1 whole nutmeg)

1/8 tsp salt

1 tsp vanilla

1. In a saucepan bring the milk and the cream to almost boiling - do not let it boil - then turn off the heat
2. In a bowl whisk together the eggs, sugar, nutmeg, salt, and vanilla
3. Whisk 1/2 cup of the milk mixture into the egg mixture, and whisk that mixture into the remaining milk mixture
4. Cook the custard over moderate heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon, until it registers 175 F on a candy thermometer
5. Transfer the custard to a metal bowl set in a larger bowl of ice and cold water and stir it until it is cold
6. Freeze the custard in an ice-cream maker according to the manufacturer's instructions
7. Enjoy

(Source: Nutmeg Ice Cream)

The verdict? So many thoughts on this one. Let's start with Oil Down. I didn't think this meal was anything special at first. It was OK to eat, but nothing to write home about. But then we hit the sauce. The sauce was GOOD. It was delicious on the breadfruit. We didn't taste the spam in the dish at all. If I were to make it again, I would cut the breadfruit into smaller, bite-sized pieces, and make more sauce (double the recipe, except for the breadfruit, spinach, and salt meat). The more we ate the dish, the better we liked it. The nutmeg chicken was delicious. I didn't know what to expect with it, but it was so good. It was a warming meal - like something you would eat in the fall or winter. When I make it again, I won't put as much sugar in - I would probably only do half the sugar it calls for. I would also chunk the meat instead of leaving it whole. The ice cream was interesting. It really reminded me of the Christmas cookies that my sister makes each Christmas - it was good! Rich, but good.