7 – 8 ounces marshmallow fluff

8 ounce block cream cheese (cut into 1-inch cubes)

2 pints fresh figs (about 10 of them cut into ¼ inch pieces)

zest of 1 lemon

1. Preheat oven according to the cookie mix package.
2. Line 12 to 18 cup muffin tins with cupcake liners.
3. Prepare cookies somewhat according to package directions except, if your directions say toss dough in a sugar and cinnamon packet, mix it in instead.
4. Preferably chill the dough in a ball on a floured surface or you can use right away if you flour your hands.
5. Pinch off golf ball sized pieces of dough and roll into balls.
6. Place each ball in the middle of a lined muffin tin cup.
7. Bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes.
8. Allow to cool on a cookie rack – each ball should sink a bit as it cools.
9. Press lightly in the middle of each as they cool before removing liner.
10. Combine cream cheese and fluff in a medium pot and melt together over medium heat.
11. Allow to cool to room temperature.
12. Fold in cut up figs and spoon 1 teaspoon into each cookie cup.
13. Sprinkle a pinch of zest on each topped cookie cup.
14. Using a kitchen torch, sear the top a bit.
15. Then, cut a whole fig in half and decorate each cookie cup with ½ a fig.
16. Sprinkle another pinch of zest over each cookie cup for additional taste and garnish.

3 tbs. olive oil

2 cups crushed tomatoes

¼ cup red wine

1 tsp. chili powder

2 tsp. dried parsley

1 tbs. granulated sugar

1 tsp. honey

8 ounces fava beans

1 large zucchini (cut into ½ inch slices)

2 medium to large carrots (cut into ½ inch slices)

1 medium onion (cut into 1 inch slices)

1 2-inch piece beef jerky or other dried/smoked meat

½ lb. farmer’s cheese

Parmesan cheese (optional)

1. Heat 1 ½ tbs. of olive oil over high heat in a large saucepan.
2. Sear and brown chicken in batches if necessary for not crowding the pan.
3. Toss carrots, zucchini and onions with 1 ½ tbs. olive oil, chili powder, and parsley.
4. Place into Crock-pot with jerky.
5. Add chicken.
6. Mix crushed tomatoes, red wine, sugar and honey.
7. Pour over chicken.
8. Add fava beans.
9. Cook on high for about 3 hours.
10. Sprinkle farmer’s cheese over top and cook for 10 more minutes.
11. Top individual servings with a sprinkle of Parmesan cheese if you desire.

8 – 10 ounces chicken stock

1 tbs. minced garlic

1 tbs. olive oil

2 tsp. parsley

salt and pepper to taste

1. Boil green bananas in chicken stock and garlic until softened, about 10 minutes.
2. Drain and mash thoroughly with a fork.
3. Add olive oil, parsley and salt and pepper.
4. Serve warm.

2/3 cup milk

½ cup finely diced green peppers

1 tsp. Herbes de Provence

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Mix all ingredients together until all dry ingredients are moistened.
3. Drop by tablespoons and 1 inch apart onto an ungreased cookie sheet.
4. Bake until lightly brown – about 10 minutes.
5. Cool on a cooling rack for at least three minutes before removing from sheet.
6. Continue to cool on cooling rack.

That being said, thank you Mother, this weekend, someone outwardly recognized my ingenuity in the kitchen. I won the Most Creative title at the Union Square Main Streets 2010 What the Fluff? Festival.  (http://www.unionsquaremain.org/) From among what looked like at least twenty – thirty entrants in the contest, the judges, among whom were two of my favorite local chefs Wil Gilson Executive Chef of Garden at the Cellar http://www.gardenatthecellar.com/home/and Jason Santos most recently of runner-up fame in the most recent season of Hell’s Kitchen  (http://www.fox.com/hellskitchen/)who is also Executive Chef of Gargoyles on the Square (http://www.gargoylesrestaurant.com/) chose my Fluff-n-figs (pronounced as if you’re swearing) as the Most Creative. While I didn’t win the title of Overall Winner, I think I appreciate winning the Most Creative title even more because, well, it’s what I strive for in the kitchen more than anything else. Plus, the dessert tasted damn good too, if I do say so myself.

As my readers undoubtedly have noticed, I’ve been M.I.A. I’ve been depressed about the blog. I wanted badly for someone other than me and my friends to say, “Great blog!” or “Awesome dessert!” I craved illustrious recognition. I try not to judge myself for wanting credit from the important people but when I was in the darkness, I beat myself up for wanting that too even though it’s a normal human desire to be rewarded and acknowledged by someone other than ourselves, friends and family for hard work, for being good at something, anything.

In reflecting and praying my way out of being down, I asked God to send me a prize, a win of some kind. To some, that may seem like a shallow prayer but as I learn more about my Higher Power, I understand the subjective, objective standard that governs my relationship. Allow me to explain briefly: while each person who so chooses can relate to whomever s/he chooses as a divine being, the manner in which that connection happens is an individual matter. For me, God is like a good friend and a caring mother who knows me very well and wants the best for me in every way, including even those little ways that seem silly in the grand scheme of things but subjectively are oh so important to me.

I imagine that my wanting to be noticed has some to do with winning things as a child, when being smart and talented brought at least some joy to my miserable household. I felt important too, for having something to give that was of me and made me happy too. If I sociologically analyze the Trinidadian people, because of our how tiny we are as a twin-island nation of 1.5 million, I would see us as the world saw our football team in the 2008  World Cup, Soca Warriors, a feisty, hard-hitting competitor, fighting to be known in the bigger soccer scene. I identify with this national spirit as a cook, a force to be reckoned with in the kitchen even against those who are considered professionals or who have more ability and experience on paper.

That being said, the win in the Fluff Festival this weekend gave me the boost I needed to get back to blogging about food, culture and identity. Maybe it’s because I felt healed of the wound of anonymity. I enjoyed putting together a unique meal and sharing it with you. The mashed green bananas, actually a version of a recipe my mom made for me when I visited this summer (surprising for my mother who is not usually adventurous in the kitchen.) She came up with a take on mashed potatoes made from another starch. The jerky I put in the chicken stew is the kind of ingenuity I like to exercise in the kitchen – shocking the eaters and the readers of the recipe with that secret, unanticipated ingredient that added some serious depth of flavor. Adding the mixed herbs and green peppers to the biscuits are also what excite me about treating my kitchen like a chemistry lab – you can take a simple thing like biscuits and turn it into something extraordinary. Dessert of course, is my award-winning Most Creative (yes, I am very proud of this; I don’t mean to boast) Fluff-n-figs.

Dear readers, I am sorry for staying away so long. I hope you’ll forgive me and join me in re-connecting in the joint creative experience of cooking, and musing about our individual and collective cultures and identities. I promise that together, we’ll make it to 52 weeks, maybe not back-to-back as I’d once hoped but in due time, bit(e)-by-bit(e) creatively.

To Good Eats and Creativity,

Kathy- Ann

MENU

Green Pepper and Herbes de Provence Biscuits

Mashed Green Bananas

Chicken Stew (Crock Pot Recipe)

Fluff-n-figs

10 ounces chopped frozen mango

2 cups milk

2 tbs. fresh basil (roughly chopped)

1. Add simple syrup, mango, milk and basil to a blender.
2. Puree until thoroughly combined.
3. Serve cold.

1 tomato

½ yellow onion

2 – 3 tbs. bread crumbs

1 egg

1 tsp. salt

1 tsp. pepper

1 tbs. dried parsley

1 tbs. fresh basil (rough chopped)

1 tbs. vegetable oil

1. Heat oil to medium high in a large frying pan with oven-proof handle.
2. Preheat broiler.
3. Combine all ingredients except fresh basil in a large bowl.
4. Press into pan and cook for about 4 – 5 minutes.
5. Broil for no more than 5 minutes or so, until golden brown.
6. Sprinkle with fresh basil before slicing and serving.

5 ½ ounces (approx.) soft goat cheese (cut into ¼ inch cubes)

1. Prepare brownie mix according to the instructions your brownie package.
2. Fold in goat cheese.
3. Bake according to the instructions on your brownie package.

1 lb. ground beef

4 – 6 large bread rolls

6 slices pineapple (cut into ¼ inch pieces)

1 – 2 jalapenos (chopped fine)

4 ounces cream cheese (cubed)

2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. black pepper

½ tsp. cayenne pepper

1 tsp. soy sauce

½ – ¾ cup bread crumbs

2 tbs. olive oil

1. Preheat broiler and toast rolls.
2. Set aside.
3. Season beef with soy sauce, spices, salt and black pepper.
4. Fold in jalapeno, cream cheese, pineapple and bread crumbs.
5. Preheat oil in a large heavy frying pan over medium high to high heat.
6. Form into patties about 3 – 4 inches in diameter, imprint your thumb in the center of each patty.
7. Put patties into hot oil.
8. Do not crowd the pan.
9. Cook for about 3 – 4 minutes per side.

Zucchini Tomato Relish

1 large or 2 small zucchini (sliced very thin into half-moons)

4 shallots

½ cup crushed tomatoes

2 tsp. granulated sugar

2 tbs. olive oil

salt and pepper to taste

1. Heat olive oil over medium heat.
2. Add zucchini and cook until softened.
3. Add crushed tomatoes, shallots, and sugar and cook down until thickened, about 10 – 15 minutes.
4. Salt and pepper to taste.

Poached Eggs

4 – 6 eggs

3 tbs. distilled white vinegar

large pot of water (2/3 full)

large bowl of water and ice cubes.

1. Bring pot of water and vinegar to a boil.
2. Knock back heat to medium high.
3. Add eggs no more than 2 at a time to the pot.
4. Cook for 2 -3 minutes.
5. Place in bowl of water and ice cubes to shock, stop the cooking process.
6. Can be reheated in a hot water bath for about 1 – 2 minutes when ready to serve.

1 ½ cups all-purpose flour

¾ cup unsalted butter (cold and cubed)

¼ cup granulated sugar

3 tbs. sour cream or yogurt

1 tsp. vanilla

20 – 24 flat-bottomed tear-shaped chocolates

1. Heat oven to 325 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. Grease, cooking spray or line 2 12-cup muffin tins with paper cupcake liners.
3. Combine flour, butter and sugar using fingers or a pastry blender until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
4. Add sour cream or yogurt and vanilla.
5. Using a spoon or an electric mixer at low speed, beat until a soft dough forms.
6. Shape pieces of dough into golf-ball sized balls.
7. Press balls into the muffin tins, making a small, shallow well, like a thumbprint into the center of each.
8. Bake for about 20 minutes until light golden brown.
9. Let cool on a baking rack for 1 minute before pressing each chocolate into each cookie ball.
10. Cool completely in muffin tin before removing and storing.