Over 100 Recipes including Ideas for Vegetarians and How to Cook Authentic Jamaican Jerk Chicken and Pork

Cooking comfort and gourmet meals with wine and love is the common thread in Confessions of An Oenophile *. The author spent two years living in California’s Napa and Sonoma County to write and focus group test his recipes.

Meet the nutrition challenge, surprise children with a variety of good tastes, and delight dinner party guests. Use ingredients that are commonly kept on hand in the kitchen.

Here are a few ideas from David A. Dailey’s cookbook, Confessions of An Oenophile *- An American Family Cookbook (ISBN = 978-1-4327-2254-8):

Jamaican Food

Auntie Yvonne, my oldest daughter’s godmother, was born and raised in Jamaica. So I believe her recipe is the most authentic as well as the most delicious I have ever tasted!

This recipe can be easy.

To illustrate this point:

If you can find it in the grocery, pick up two bottles of Pickapeppa Sauce. Look for a colorful label on a bottle about the size of a small bottle of steak sauce. You will be amazed at how this miracle, special ingredient will flavor your cooking. Yvonne also was well-known for her fried pork chops with this magic sauce.

If Pickapeppa Sauce is unavailable in your area, unquestionably it is up to you to choose the right spices in the optimum amounts. You could always mail order some (via www. farawayfoods. com/ pickapeppa). Instead, you might get lucky and find something like Johnny’s All Natural Jamaica Me Crazy Seasoned Pepper.

From scratch you could make something up in the kitchen.

In this situation that would include:

different varieties of pepper, sugar cane juice (corn syrup might work),

paprika, onions, and

fresh red and green peppers.

Next add the following if they appeal to you:

• a quarter cup of malt vinegar,
• two teaspoons of molasses,
• three chopped green onion tops,
• one tablespoon of powdered thyme,
• a dash of olive oil,
• four teaspoons of allspice,
• three teaspoons each of cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger,
• and a half cup of lime juice.

Spill a bit white wine into it, too. In my experience, I typically dump the wine into the cauldron.

My family has loved cornbread with this recipe. To make things easy for yourself, just buy boxes of Jiffy or some other cornbread mix.

I believe Auntie Yvonne would prepare some greens for the meal, too. That is your call.

OK, now that you have the spices together, prepare the chicken or pork. Clean and cut it up. You can save time in the kitchen by purchasing your favorite white and dark chicken pieces directly from the market.

Get a large skillet hot with oil and place the meat in it long enough to brown parts of it.

Preheat the oven to 325.

Ouch, be careful not to burn your hands or get hot oil splattered upon you. I’d recommend using the top of the frying pan, hot pads, and the longest metal tongs you have.

Once “toasted”, place the chicken into a baking dish and add liberal amounts of your spiced flavoring. Use about a cup of water, another cup of wine, the spicy batter, and fresh peppers then mix the meat with the liquid.

If you are satisfied that the chicken is well-spiced, place it into the oven with foil and begin to enjoy the baking aroma. It will be ready in about a half hour. If you cook it for an hour or more, the meat may really just fall off the bone.

As the home chef, you do have options of cooking it covered on the stovetop, or not, or covering the baking chicken with foil in order to give it a darker color.

Jah man…

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Who loves not woman, wine and song, remains a fool his whole life long.

~ Martin Luther

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Here are almost a dozen ideas to prepare turkey:

Author of the cookbook, “Confessions of An Oenophile”

• Gin’s Chinese Turkey Salad
• Tiger’s Polenta and Turkey
• Uncle Stan’s Turkey Tetrazzini
• Cheddar, Bird, and Broccoli Sidedish
• Tom Turkey Chili
• U. S. Navy Bean and Turkey Soup
• BBQ Sloppy Joseph

It will take little time finding out how sick your loved ones can get of eating cold turkey sandwiches or how lame it becomes trying to disguise turkey meat with gravy.

As long as the leftovers are stored safely, the meat can be used for days. Varying the spices is the key. Don’t be afraid of experimenting with small batches.

* Confessions of An Oenophile – An American Family Cookbook was published in 2008 by Outskirts Press.

It may be ordered for your kitchen collection and folks on your Christmas gift list from Amazon and Barnes & Noble for $29.95 plus shipping and handling.

Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and the publisher are currently offering a discount.

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Max’s Scout Services & Communications, LLC

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