The Sugar Mill Caribbean Cookbook (31 page)

Preheat the oven to 375°. Remove extra fat from each duck's cavity. Place the birds on a rack in a roasting pan, and pour the water into the pan. Bake the ducks on their sides for 30 minutes, then turn them onto their opposite sides and bake them 30 minutes more. Place them breast side up, and bake them another 30 minutes.

Let the ducks cool, then cut them into quarters and return them to the roasting rack. About 15 minutes before serving, raise the oven heat to 450°. Sauté the ginger in the butter for 2 to 3 minutes, and add the lime juice, honey, and soy sauce. Bring the mixture to a boil. Spoon the honey-lime mixture over the ducks, and bake them until they are crisp and brown.

Spoon a little of the liquid from the pan over each baked duck quarter, garnish with orange and lime slices, and serve.

 

Makes 6 servings

This dish is another that reflects the Asian influence in the Caribbean. Duck breasts are becoming increasingly available in supermarkets these days, but if you can't find any you can substitute chicken breasts.

 

Combine all the marinade ingredients in a bowl. Sprinkle the duck breasts with lemon juice and salt and pepper, and marinate the breasts for 1 to 2 hours.

Preheat the oven to 450°. Remove the breasts from the marinade, and reserve it. Put the breasts on a rack in a roasting pan, and roast them 15 minutes.

Remove the breasts from the oven, and reduce the oven temperature to 300°. Trim the fat from the breasts, and paint them with the marinade. Cook them 10 minutes more.

While the duck breasts cook, put the egg yolk into a blender or food processor, and, with the machine running, slowly add the sesame and vegetable oils. Add the soy sauce, garlic, peanut butter, and chile oil. Process the contents until they are thoroughly combined. Combine some of the sesame-oil mixture with the hot cooked noodles. (Extra sesame mixture makes a delicious dip or sauce for vegetables.)

To serve, place a bed of noodles on a warm plate, cut the duck breasts in thin diagonal slices, and fan the slices on the noodles. Sprinkle with green onions or chives and peanuts, and serve.

 

Makes 6 servings

The Spanish introduced ginger to the islands from the Far East in the sixteenth century. Ginger has been grown here ever since, and it turns up in everything from cakes and cookies to ginger beer.

 

Whisk together the marinade ingredients, and marinate the ducks for 24 hours.

Mix together all the stuffing ingredients except the cream and bread crumbs. Run the mixture through a meat grinder, using the fine die, or whirl the mixture in a food processor. Put the mixture into a bowl, and stir in the heavy cream and bread crumbs.

Preheat the oven to 375°. Fill the ducks' cavities with the stuffing, and sew up the openings. Place the ducks on racks in roasting pans. Roast the ducks for 1 hour, skimming off fat as necessary.

 

Makes 6 servings

When one of our suppliers called with word that he could get quail for us, we were delighted. We wanted to give these little birds a Caribbean interpretation, so we paired them with a tropical fruit sauce.

 

 

Whisk together all the marinade ingredients in a bowl, and marinate the quail or game hens for 2 to 3 hours at room temperature or overnight in the refrigerator.

Prepare a fire for grilling.

Grill the quail or game hens for 3 to 6 minutes on each side, until they are done to your liking.

While the birds cook, stir together all the sauce ingredients. Serve the sauce cold with the hot birds.

 

Makes 6 servings

Filet of Beef with Walnut and Port Stuffing
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Roast Prime Rib with Crackedpepper Crust
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Creole Horseradish Cream with pecans
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Christophene and sausage-Filled Flank Steak
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Beef in Coconut Cream
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Her Majesty's West Indian regimental Beef Curry
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Tamarind and Orange Braisedbrisket
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Caribbean Kebobs
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Steak Butters
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Tournedos with Roasted Peppersauce and Avocado Butter
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Orange Veal Scaloppine
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Veal Scaloppine with Julienne of Vegetables
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Basil and Parmesan-Crusted Vealchops
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Veal Apple Bay
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Veal Ragout in Emerald Spinachor Callaloo Sauce
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Veal Ragout with Wild Mushrooms and Fresh Basil
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Olive and Orange Roasted Veal
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Pork Chops Martinique
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Pecan-Crusted Pork Cutlets withginger Aiou
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Pork Medallions with Peanutsate Sauce
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Pork Roast Calypso
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Sugar Mill Plantation Porkroast
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Citrus Marinated Pork
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Barbecued Pork in Banana Leaveswith Sultry Salsa
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Rum-Glazed Ribs Calypso
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Jerked Ribs
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Pork Picadillo
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Grilled Lamb Chops with Creole Sauce
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Roast Lamb with Guava androsemary
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Leg of Lamb with Callaloo or spinach and Feta Cheese
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Herb-Crusted Rack of Lamb
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This special-occasion dish was inspired by the British heritage of our island. In England you'd expect to enjoy walnuts and port after dinner, but we like them as part of the main course.

 

To make the stuffing, melt the butter in a skillet, and sauté the onions until they are limp. Remove the pan from the heat, and add the walnuts, beaten egg, parsley, orange zest, and port. Stir in enough bread crumbs to make the mixture hold together.

Preheat the oven to 500°. Cut any fat and sinew from the fillet with a sharp knife. Cut a horizontal slit about halfway through the fillet. Rub the inside and outside of the fillet with a little Dijon mustard, and season with salt and pepper. Fill the fillet with the stuffing, and tie the fillet with string to retain its shape.

Roast the meat for about 25 minutes, basting every few minutes with the melted butter. For a very rare fillet, the temperature should reach 120°.

Remove the fillet from the oven, and allow it to rest 5 minutes. Serve it in ½-inch-thick slices.

 

Makes 6 servings

In the British Caribbean, old traditions die hard, and one of these is roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. It may seem strange in a tropical clime to tuck into a huge meal more appropriate to a foggy day in London, but expatriots cling so tenaciously to old home ties that roast beef remains a favorite in the British Virgin Islands. We've seasoned ours with some sassy peppercorns to give it a Caribbean kick.