Caribbean Food Week 2017 - Street Party Spread*

For the past couple of years I have worked with Grace Foods to bring you some delicious recipes for Caribbean Food Week and this year is no different! Grace Foods is the UK’s number 1 Caribbean food and drink company and I love the selection of products they have to offer. Caribbean Food Week starts today and runs until 28th August. I have created some dishes which are perfect for a street party spread.

It’s simple to create your own street party from the comfort of your own home with the delicious range of food sold by Grace Foods. In my hamper I received loads of really tasty foods so I decided to create a couple of recipes that you can easily recreate yourself at home.

When it comes to drinks, why not create a ginger beer rum punch? 

Rum Punch 

Orange Juice

One Can of Grace Foods Ginger Beer

Pineapple Juice

Fresh Lime and Orange

Your Favourite Caribbean Rum!

Method: Mix all of the liquid ingredients together, chop a lime and an orange and serve from a bowl with a ladle! Delicious. Make a non-alcoholic version by replacing the rum for Coconut Water instead to give it a Caribbean vibe!

Jerk Beef Skewers with Coconut Rice, Peas and Beans

Dunns River Jerk Seasoning

Grace Foods Jamaican Style Hot Sauce

Beef Chunks

Onion

Pepper

Mushrooms

Rice

Grace Foods Coconut Milk

Grace Foods Peas and Beans

Method: Marinate your beef pieces in some Jerk Seasoning, I added a little bit of Jamaican Style Hot Sauce to the mix as well to really spice things up. Thread the beef onto skewers adding some onion, pepper and mushrooms as well to really make these go a bit further. Grill these in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the beef is cooked how you like it.

If you have any leftover marinated beef you can cook that up with some of the leftover ingredients, it is really tasty.

For the rice, boil as normal and before serving mix some coconut milk into the rice to give it a delicious sweet flavour. This will also help to cool your mouth down after eating hot beef skewers! I then mixed in some Grace Foods Peas and Beans. This is perfect street food, serve up the rice and pop a skewer on top.

If you’d like to get involved, Grace Foods UK is holding its second annual Caribbean Food Week Food Festival at Windrush Square in Brixton, London (Friday 25th – Saturday 26th August), featuring Caribbean street food, live cookery demonstrations, music and much more! Head over to the Caribbean Food Week’s Facebook, Twitter and Instagram to keep updated with future events.

Will you be making any of these recipes? Be sure to use the hashtag #CFW2017 for anything you try!

*I was provided with some Caribbean Food from Grace Foods in order to create these recipes. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

Street Party Food - Caribbean Food Week 2016*

Last year you may recall I took part in creating some recipes for Caribbean Food Week and this year its back bigger and better than ever before! Grace Foods is the UK’s number 1 Caribbean food and drink company and is celebrating its fifth annual Caribbean Food Week this August (22nd – 29th). They kindly sent me some goodies and challenged me to come up with the perfect spread fit for a Caribbean street party!

It’s simple to create your own street party from the comfort of your own home with the delicious range of food sold by Grace Foods. In my hamper I received loads of really tasty foods so I decided to create recipes for Jerk Sweet Potato and Black Bean Curry with Coconut Rice and Tropical Prawn Skewers all washed down with a delicious Rum Punch! Read on for the full recipes!

Jerk Sweet Potato and Black Bean Curry with Coconut Rice – Ingredients (serves 4)
1 Large Sweet Potato
1 Onion
2 Tbsp Dunns River Jerk Seasoning
1 Can of Chopped Tomatoes
1 Can Dunns River Peas & Beans
2 Cups of Rice
Dunns River Coconut Milk
1 Teaspoon Coconut Oil

Method:
Chop the onion and potatoes and soften them in a pan with a little bit of coconut oil. Add in the chopped tomatoes, peas and beans and jerk seasoning and bring to a simmer. Stir through and leave for about 10 minutes until the potatoes are soft. Whilst that is simmering, cook your rice. Drain the rice and mix in a few tablespoons of coconut milk to give it a lovely creamy sweet flavour. Serve with the Jerk curry mix and enjoy!

Tropical Prawn Skewers – Ingredients (serves 4)
1 Red Onion
1 Courgette
Dunns Tropical Seasoning
King Prawns

Method:
Coat your prawns with a sprinkle of the Dunns Tropical Seasoning and cover them well. Skewer them onto wooden skewers with courgette and onion. Grill on a BBQ, under a grill or on a griddle pan until the prawns are nicely cooked through. You can use cooked or raw prawns, just adjust the cooking times accordingly and make sure the prawns are cooked.

Rum Punch – Ingredients
Orange Juice
Pineapple Juice
Fresh Lime and Orange
Your Favourite Caribbean Rum!

Method:
Chop the lime and orange into segments. place in a bowl then fill with the pineapple and orange juice, then add as much rum as you like!

If you’d like to get involved, Grace Foods UK is holding its first ever Caribbean Food Week Food Festival at Windrush Square in Brixton, London (Friday 26th – Saturday 27th August), featuring Caribbean street food, live cookery demonstrations, music and more. Head over to the Caribbean Food Week’s Facebook and Twitter to keep updated with future events. Will you be making any of these recipes? Be sure to use the hashtag #CFW2016 for anything you try!

*I was provided with some Caribbean Food from Grace Foods in order to create these recipes. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.

It's Caribbean Food Week!*

As many of you know I love trying new recipes and creating foods that are full of flavour. When I was asked to create a Caribbean recipe for Caribbean food week, I couldn't wait to get creative in the kitchen and come up with something tasty. Tastebuds are tingling in anticipation as food-lovers prepare for the week that leads up to the world-famous Notting Hill Carnival.

Grace Foods, the UK’s number one supplier of Caribbean food and drink, very kindly provided me with some products to get me started. When I think of Caribbean food I immediately think of Jerk Chicken. I was pleased to receive some Jerk seasoning so I thought this would be perfect to use on some chicken skewers, great for the BBQ served with some side dishes. I got my ingredients together and prepared everything for the below recipes.

For the Jerk Chicken I used chicken thighs which I marinated in the fridge overnight in the Jerk Seasoning and the Spicy Jerk Chicken Fry Mix. The next day, I baked these in the oven until they were cooked through whilst I prepared my side dishes. The Jerk Seasoning was very spicy and you don't need too much. If you want to make it less spicy it can be mixed with some natural yoghurt before marinating.

I served this with my take on rice and beans, a traditional Caribbean accompaniment and so easy to make. I mixed my boiled rice with some garlic, a teaspoon of Creole Pepper Sauce, a splash of Coconut Water, Kidney beans, some more of the Spicy Jerk Chicken Fry Mix, and a sprinkling of paprika.

I also prepared some vegetables to go with this meal. I skewered onto a kebab stick some red onion, peppers and courgettes which I grilled for 15 minutes until softened. I sprinkled these with some of the Spicy Jerk Chicken Fry Mix which was great and worked really well with these vegetables.

 

No Caribbean meal is complete without a lovely refreshing drink to wash it down. This coconut water is delicious and can be turned into an amazing cocktail with a dash of Malibu and cranberry juice. Serve ice cold to wash down your spicy delicious Caribbean meal.

Overall the Jerk Chicken went really well with the rice and spicy vegetables. The ice cold cocktail washed the meal down a treat and I definitely needed it as the meal was very spicy overall. I loved trying out these foods and getting a taste of the Caribbean, I will definitely be incorporating some of these seasonings and spices into my every day dishes.

For more information on the range of foods used in this post, and for some amazing recipe ideas please visit Grace Foods. To find out more about Caribbean Food Week, please head over to their Twitter @caribbeanfoodwk and Facebook page.

*I was provided with some Caribbean Food from Grace Foods in order to create these recipes. All opinions are my own and I was not influenced in any way.