The Menu

The menu was a mingling of the Caribbean food of the Boucaniers and the tropical delicacies of Hawaii, as follows:

I bought a keg of Pyramid Porter at the local branch of the brewery here in Berkeley; I also bought fizzy water and Jamaican gingerbeer syrup -- there's a ginger beer that makes no apologies and takes no prisoners!

Logistics

I cooked some of the food in advance, and brought all of it, cooked and not, to Sausalito in coolers in my car. We left the cars locked up at the harbor, then drove over to the park with the lot when we disembarked.

For future reference, my own as well as anybody's: the water smoker takes a good long time to cook the contents thereof, and therefore needs to be started PRONTO. I didn't end up partially cooking the meats before I brought them, and I really should've. Live and learn!

Recipes

Jerk Chicken

1 jar walkerswood-style jerk rub 2 chopped onions 1 fresh habanero
2 sprigs fresh thyme, chopped 4 chopped scallions 2 3lb chickens, jointed

Mix together jerk rub and other spices; rub the chicken with it, marinate overnight. BBQ (real BBQ, not just grilling) for ~1 hour, until juices run clear.

Jerked Leg o' Lamb

leg of lamb w/bone in 4-6 cloves garlic 2 T olive oil
Dry Jerk Seasoning:
2T onion flakes 2T onion powder 4 t grd thyme
4 t salt 2 t grd allspice 1/2t grd nutmeg
½ t grd cinnamon 4 t sugar 2 t coarse-grd black pepper
1 t scotch bonnet flakes 2 t dried chives

Cut small slits in the surface of the leg of lamb and stuff slits with garlic cloves. Rub the outside of the leg with oil, then coat heavily with the dry jerk rub, massaging as much in as possible. Roast at 450° for 20 mins, then reduce oven temp to 350° and roast for a further half-hour. Finish in the BBQ (or water smoker).

Kalua-style Pork

Buy a big, uncured ham. Rub Hawaiian salt into it, wrap in banana or taro leaves. Roast in a water smoker for 2 hours. Lo, it's done!

Salmagundi

1 lb corned beef 1 lb goat meat misc pickled veggies (antipasto style is fine)
1 tin anchovies 3 lg onions apples (dried is ok), raisins, breadfruit, mango
small bottle cheap wine oil (olive or whatever) spices, at will

Hack the meat into gobbets; brown with the onions. Add the rest of the ingredients, simmer til done.

Salt Fish & Ackee

1 lb salt codfish 2 T oil 1 habanero, chopped
2 scallions, chopped 1 med tomato, diced 1 onion, chopped
1 can ackees salt & pepper, to taste

Soak the codfish in water to cover for about half an hour, then pour the water off, add fresh water, bring to a boil and drain immediately. Remove the skin and any bones, then flake the fish. Heat oil in a skillet, add the vegetables (except the ackees); saute until the onion is translucent. Drain the ackees, stir them and the codfish into the mixture in the skillet, season with salt & pepper, cover and cook over low heat for about 5 minutes.

Festival

1 C all-purpose flour 1 C cornmeal 2 t sugar
pinch salt ¼ t ground nutmeg ¼ t baking soda
½ t vanilla extract ~½ C milk oil for deep-frying

Mix dry ingredients together in a big bowl. Add vanilla and just enough milk to form a stiff batter.

Preheat oil in a deep-fat fryer or skillet, to about 370°. The oil should be about 2" deep.

Pinch off pieces of dough and form them into cylinders about 4" long by 1½ " dia. Fry a few at a time until they're golden brown. Drain and serve. Serves 6.

Rice & Peas

1½ C dried pigeon peas 1 clove garlic, crushed 4 C water salt
2 C coconut milk fresh ground pepper 1 scallion, chopped 1 bunch fresh thyme
1 whole fresh habanero (keep it whole; we want aroma, not heat for this dish) 2 c uncooked white rice

Combine beans, water and salt to taste in a saucepan; bring to a boil, then shut off the heat and let sit for an hour. Turn the heat back on, and the garlic and simmer for 1 hour; add the coconut milk, pepper, scallion, thyme and habanero. Then stir in the rice, return the pot to boiling, then turn it down again, cover and simmer 25 minutes. Serves 6.

Grilled Pineapple with Passion Fruit Butter

4 pineapples, leaves attached ¾ C melted butter 2 passion fruits
1 C water 1 C sugar 2 T chopped toasted cashews

Combine the passion fruit pulp, sugar and water in a saucepan, bring to a boil, then simmer 15 minutes. Press through a sieve and discard the pulp. Combine the butter with an equal measure of the passion fruit sauce.

Quarter the pineapples lengthwise, leaving the leaves on for handles. Grill each quarter 5 minutes on each cut side, basting with the passion fruit butter.

Lay out each quarter on a platter, carve into slices, and pour the rest of the butter over the top. Garnish with cashews and serve.

These next two recipes are courtesy of Siobhan Medhbh (the second is from "Cafe International Recipes):

Macadamia Nut-Pineapple Bread

Coconut Flan

1¼ C sugar 4 eggs 1 can evaporated milk, undiluted
1 t vanilla extract 1½ C coconut milk (or cocounut milk diluted with water)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spread 1/2 cup sugar evenly over bottom of 8-inch round baking dish. Heat in oven 30 minutes, or until sugar is melted to a golden-brown syrup. Remove from oven, let cool 15 minutes (or until hard) While you wait, in medium bowl, beat eggs well with electric beater. Add 3/4 cup sugar, the evaporated milk, coconut milk, and the vanilla. Mix until the sugar is totally dissolved. Pour this mixture over the hard sugar in the baking dish. Place in a shallow pan so that you can pour water up to 1 inch around the baking dish. Bake 1 hour, or until a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool before putting the baking dish in the fridge, then refrigerate well. To serve, slide a sharp, thin knife around the edges of the flan; put a serving plate over the baking dish and invert. If the flan doesn't slide out immediately, let it sit upside down for 10 or 15 minutes and as the sugar warms and dissolves, the flan should slide onto the serving plate easily.

Serve as is or decorate with fresh fruit.