Jamaica Me Hungry — photo by Kara Naylor

Bushwicker Kara Naylor plans to send recipes for food she’s making at home — as always, all the ingredients can be found in Bushwick, most at local bodegas.

Back from my vacation in Jamaica, and not happy about it, I decided to cook up a Jamaican Feast for dinner to help ease the post-vacation blues. I had picked up a little jar of jerk seasoning and some Appleton Rum at the duty free, so I had my start. On the menu:

Jerk Shrimp, Golden Fried Plantains, Jamaican Style Rice and Peas, Simmered Cassava Root, Appleton’s Spiced Tea

There ended up being quite a few dishes to wash, so I recommend inviting a friend over to “cook for” so they feel obligated to do the dishes for you.

I researched recipes and techniques a little online, combined that knowledge with what I had been eating and seeing in Jamaica, and came up with this: it ends up being enough for 2, with leftover rice and peas for lunch tomorrow.

Place 1 cup water, 1 cup unsweetened coconut milk, and 1 cup long grain white rice in a pot and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cover for 15 minutes.

Prepare cassava (also called yuca) by peeling the skin and under layer with a knife, quarter lengthwise, and remove the thin stringy fibrous core. Cut into about 2-3 inch chunks. Place in a pot with enough water to cover, some salt, and simmer for 20 minutes. Drain and keep warm in the pan.

While rice is cooking, slice half of a yellow onion thinly, then fry for about 8 minutes in some olive oil. Add a clove of garlic, minced, and about half a jalapeño, minced. Cook about 2 more minutes. Add a can of red kidney beans and about half a cup of the coconut milk (what’s left in the can after the rice). Mix that all up and then add the almost cooked rice. Let that cook and combine over low heat while you prep the plantains.

Peel 2 plantains with a paring knife and cut into 1 inch slices. Put a pretty decent amount of oil in a pan and fry the slices for about 45 seconds to a minute. Remove them from the oil and squish them a little — I smashed them between two plates. Put back in the oil about a minute until they are golden brown, remove and drain on paper towels.

Season about 16 peeled and de-veined shrimp with 2 cloves of minced garlic and 2 teaspoons of jerk seasoning, plus a little salt and pepper. Heat about a teaspoon of olive oil and a tablespoon of butter in a fry pan over medium heat and sear the shrimp on both sides, about 2 minutes total, until the shrimp is just cooked. Garnish with parsley.

Garnish the rice and peas with some scallions, season the plantains and yuca with salt and pepper, and all is ready to serve and enjoy…accompanied of course by the spice tea: 2 oz Appleton’s Rum (or just dark rum), 1 can lipton iced tea, a pinch of nutmeg, and a pinch of cinnamon. Serve over some ice and, yah mon, enjoy.

I purchased everything at the Associated on Knickerbocker by the park except the shrimp which I always buy in those frozen bags (they have it at Food Dimensions) so I can keep in the freezer, the jerk seasoning (but I checked and they do have some at Associated), and the rum, of course. It ends up being a not-too-expensive mea. All together, it feeds 2 people with lunch leftovers for about $12 (not including rum drink).

Ingredient List:
For the Rice:
1 cup long grain rice
1 can unsweetened coconut milk
1 cup water
1/2 medium yellow onion
1/2 jalapeno
1 clove garlic
1 can red kidney beans
Olive oil
2 scallions

For the Cassava:
2 medium cassavas (yuca)
water
Salt/pepper

For the Plantains:
2 medium green plantains
Vegetable Oil (enough to come up anout 1/2″ in the pan)
Salt/pepper

For the Shrimp:
16 peeled/deveined shrimp
2 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons jerk seasoning
Salt/pepper
Olive oil
Butter
Fresh parsley

Appleton’s Spiced Tea:
Dark rum
Lipton iced tea
Nutmeg
Cinnamon
Ice