Sunday, April 29, 2012

Diners of the Caribbean - April 2012

The Menu:
  • Martinique Caribbean bites
  • Mamba fruit salad
  • Grilled jerk chicken with mango cilantro salsa
  • Caribbean salmon with guava barbecue sauce
  • Rice and peas
  • Coconut custard tart
  • Banana rum cake
Hosts: The Maskets

Description and photos:


The Solomines made the Martinique Caribbean bites (above) panini-style. They contained gruyere, ham, honey-mustard, tomato, and avocado, served on an Italian rustic roll. These were a big hit with both the young and not so young. The Solomines also composed the Mamba fruit salad seen below.


This salad consisted of diced tomatoes, pineapple, avocado, cantaloupe, mint, orange juice and lime juice, mixed with arugula, spinach, and other mixed greens. It was topped with a lime vinaigrette, orange zest, and a dollop of crème fraîche. Both the sandwich and the salad recipes originated from this cookbook.

The Maskets made both the entrees. The first, the chicken, sounded so good and smelled so wonderful marinating in the refrigerator. Unfortunately, it erupted in fire on the grill and got completely charred, so out of respect I won't show the picture. We may try it again sometime with skinless chicken to reduce the chances of a flameout. The salmon, pictured below, came out sweet and delicious, although we had to play with the cooking directions a bit.


We added a rice and peas recipe on the side.

The Horans provided dessert, which consisted of a delicious banana rum cake and a coconut custard tart, both of which are pictured below. The tart was served with vanilla ice cream and a fruit salad.



Drinks: We began with mojitos, supplemented by Red Stripe beer. The main course was served with a J. Lohr 2010 Arroyo Seco Chardonnay. Dessert was served with New Belgium's Cocoa Molé ale.

Music: Steel drums