The genesis of this recipes came with an attempt to find an alternate Slow Carb breakfast. When designating Scrambled Eggs w/ Mixed Veggies and Salsa as the ultimate Slow Carb breakfast I had not even considered that there were people who don’t like the flavor of eggs (whoops). I received an email for this request and began researching some alternatives and also mentioned this quest to my massage therapist Lynne. She is a huge Reggae fan and so was familiar with a traditional Jamaican breakfast consisting of cooked Callaloo with Cod fish. My interest was definitely peaked although this idea for breakfast does fall short on a few of my criteria for the ultimate breakfast option (quick to make, super easy, and limited cleanup).
Regardless of these draw backs I began scouring the web for Callaloo recipes and tried a couple before settling on this one for a blog post. This recipe was based around Bon Apetite’s Callaloo Stew I found on Epicurious and going through the reviews on there its very apparent that it isn’t a traditional style of Callaloo stew. Regardless of the reviews I found it to be delicious and even far superior to a Callaloo dish that I tried at a local Jamaican restaurant. My experience with finding the ingredient Callaloo was actually quite difficult even in a semi large population such as Kansas City (fresh or canned). So I opted to use fresh spinach and it works very well as a substitute but definitely feel free to try actual Callaloo if you can find it.
The last thing I will say about this recipe is that it opened my mind to an alternative to typical bacon that I had used in other recipes. Lynne is also an enormous fan of Trader Joe’s having lived in California for a while and actually camped out for the opening of the first store in Kansas City last fall. One of the items she recommended to me was the bits and pieces bacon where they take all the misfit pieces from their other bacon products. It’s hard to go wrong with any bacon but man is this stuff great. Not only is it much less costly than other bacon the fatty thick chunks are amazingly delicious and work great for chopping up and adding to a stew. If you don’t have a Trader Joes I’ve also heard that some places sell similar style bacon under the name “Stew Bacon”. Makes sense to me.
Americanized Callaloo Stew
Serves: 6
Ingredients
- Shrimp (uncooked) - 1 lb
- Bacon - 1 lb
- Butternut Squash - 1
- Green Onions - 2 bunches
- Habanero Pepper - 1
- Garlic - 2 cloves
- Red Beans - 2 15 oz cans
- Baby Spinach - 1 lb
- Coconut Milk - 3/4 cup
- Fresh Thyme - 2 tbsp
- Optional
- Okra - 1 15 oz can
- Eggs - 6
- Hot Sauce - to taste
Instructions
De-Shell and de-vein shrimp [1] and place in a container. Place butternut squash in the microwave for 2 minutes to soften the outer skin, then proceed to cut the inner flesh into 1/2 inch cubes [2] and place in a container. Finely dice the green onions[3], habanero [4], and garlic [5] and place in a container. Finely chop the thyme and place in a small bowl.
Put bacon on a baking sheet lined with aluminum foil and cover with freshly ground black pepper. Set the oven at 400 degrees and bake for 18-20 minutes or until crispy (cooking time may depend on the thickness of your bacon).
Add a few tbsps of olive oil to a large cooking pot and heat over medium. When the oil is heated add the green onions, garlic, habanero, and thyme to the pot and thoroughly mix. Continue cooking for 1-2 minutes until onions begin to soften. Next add 2 cups of water, coconut milk, shrimp, butternut squash, pinch of salt/black pepper, and okra (optional). You want to have everything covered with liquid so if there is a lot of solids sticking out add more water to cover them. Cover pot and bring to a boil then reduce heat to a simmer and cook for about 10 minutes.
While the pot is cooking drain the beans and wash spinach. This is also a good time to flip the bacon to ensure that it is crispy on both sides.
When the bacon is finished cooking coarsely chop it into bite sized pieces. After the shrimp is cooked through add the bacon, beans, and a handful of spinach. Stir everything so that the spinach is covered with liquid and begins to cook down. Continue adding spinach and mixing until all the spinach is integrated.
Spoon 1-2 cups of stew into bowls and serve. Optional: fry and egg [6] and place on top of stew with a generous dousing of your favorite hot sauce (I prefer Cholula Original for this recipe).
[1] http://www.ehow.com/video_2331980_de_vein-de_shell-shrimp.html
[2] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IXcRFUM2MRg
[3] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8QGWWGnyDs8
[4] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QvnG-PK0Xvg
[5] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hOTVQIBQDOI
[6] http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qPuk0-3YNYw
(No Ratings Yet)
Loading...
Follow!