I had to take time out the weekend to keep the blog going because many of you were checking back during the week. I have been tied down in my kitchen for over 8 hours a day and I have been dealing with my testers who are a great bunch so I have not had time to focus on this blog. From now on I will be blogging weekly or fortnightly to give you updates and sneak peaks for the book Vegan in the Sun. Note that none of the shots on the blog will be used in the book so expect something a little different in the book.
I wouldn’t say I am nuts for coconuts but I really like them. I am from the Caribbean but throwing coconut in a dish at random is not my thing. I like tried and tested recipes that really show off the coconut and not make it feel like some random addition.
For the first dish I contacted my friend Felix at Simply Trini Cooking for some guidance. It is a coconut chutney that is made in Trinidad and served on rice dishes and doubles. My friends from Trinidad kept telling me I had to put this recipe in the book but I never tasted it before and I did not want to take the risk. Coconut chutney is made from roasted coconut which you can do in your own kitchen without causing any annoyance to the neighbours. I peeled the hard skin from my coconut and I used a tongs and I roasted it on an open flame so it could looked like this.
The end result of the chutney is a very spicy flavourful sauce with a smoky coconut taste. Only for adventurous eaters!! I took out some of the liquid so that the chutney could photograph better but the chutney is very liquid. Thank you Felix I made some changes to the recipe but you will always be my go to for OK -ing Trini food.
Coconut Chutney
The next dish is a coconut flan set with agar agar and garnished with grilled rummy pineapple. I love this flan and I will start to cook with agar agar more in the future.
Coconut Flan
This next one was created by mistake and it is a baked coconut flan in homemade short crust pastry with a delicate texture and complex taste in the middle.
Coconut Flan Tart
Finally, Barbadian Coconut Sorbet Blocks. These are colourful blocks of spiced sweet coconut milk frozen and served. The kids really love them and so do I. I tried dyeing with turmeric and beet. The beet was not set yet so I had to show the blocks that were set.
Coconut Sorbet Blocks
ALL of these recipes would be in Vegan in the Sun out later this year.
So now tell me are you nuts for coconuts?
CLOSEDCaribbean testers, European testers, North American Testers any testers needed CLOSED
Hi Folks,
If anyone is interested in testing for my cookbook for the next 6 weeks please drop me a line at
barbadianvegan (at) yahoo(dot) com
I need more Caribbean testers. I saw all of you lurking on my blog so if you have time in the weekends you too can test. My testing blog is not only my North American readers. It is for everyone.
So what do you need to do. Have time to cook at least 4 recipes a week. Live close to an ethnic market. Like Caribbean food. If you do not live close to an ethnic market it is ok since 60 % of the recipes still depend on groceries from your regular pantry. I need about 15-20 honest people to add to my small select group that I have been working with.
So what do you have to do email me your wordpress user name telling me who u are where u live if you are vegan if you like meat whatever and just let me get to know who u are because I do not want to be giving my recipes to some obscure person if you get what I mean.
I need my Caribbean testers too. Come on guys not good enough. Help out a friend:)
Again if you cannot commit to the 4 recipes a week tell me what you can do.
I have kept testing group small as I was not sure if I was going forward with the book but now Vegan in the Sun will soon be a reality in a few I need to get more people on board also I prefer to work with a small group of people as it is more personal but now I need to press on. Now my tester group is feeling overworked with the demands so I need to make some changes…
The benefits of testing are getting a free book as authors usually cannot pay testers and this the current trend now. You will also be in the acknowledgements if possible and you would gain valuable experience with a new up and coming cuisine which is Vegan and I happen to be the Caribbean Vegan so you will be testing authentic Caribbean recipes which is kinda cool if you ask me.
So those are interested set up a wordpress account which takes two minutes and email me with that info as I said and lets get this testing started. Note testing is confidential and I will still be filtering. If you know you cannot really commit do not bother as I need some good people. I also have some special kitchen utensils that I can send to some of you as keepsakes that some of my testers got and there is a whole new community to get to know.
So here is a pic to entice you..
I hope to see some of you there and again thank you for visiting my little blog.
Love
Tay
to get a wordpress user name
www.wordpress.com
it takes less than two minutes.
As my palate matures there is still a part of me that misses the first dishes I grew up eating. These foundation flavours have moulded my cooking style today. Some of my favourite things vary from very sweet and acid fruits to deep spicy stews.
Rice and Peas
Bajan Rice and Peas
Pigeon Peas (Barbados, Trinidad, St Lucia, St Kitts and the rest of the English-speaking Caribbean,Gungo Peas (Jamaica) Gandules (Spanish speaking islands)
This is made with fresh pigeon peas. The only substitution for fresh pigeon peas are fresh frozen peas. I learnt my lesson from developing recipes for my book. A fresh pigeon peas has a very woody, rich flavour that is worth talking it. When these peas are sauteed the process is calling “doveing”. If you live outside of the Caribbean you can find frozen pigeon peas and these are just as good as the fresh. Try to saute them first in onions, garlic and thyme before adding your rice. The classic Caribbean staple rice and peas looks like this and it is eaten on Sundays or on special occasions. This rice dish may look boring to some of you but it has so much flavour even if it may look bland. Fresh pigeon peas are like gold to me and if I see anyone on the side of the street selling it I usually buy all they have. For many of us in the Caribbean shelling these peas were something our parents made us do and let me tell you they sometimes had these worms inside that were the same colour of the peas. If I came across one with a worm I would run away and the pea shelling activity would be finished for me because I was scared of those things. I know it makes the dish sound less appetizing but this is all a part of the culture behind the food.Also, picking rice was the worst chore I got at a child. In the Caribbean back in the 80’s the rice that was imported was not perfect and had a whole bunch of bad rice inside. We would sit at the table as a family and remove all of the bad rice and maybe some stones that use to come in the rice. In the modern-day Caribbean communities people do not buy this rice anymore unless they cannot do better so picking rice is a dying family tradition. Even if it sucked then I kinda missed it now because we would talk around the table as we picked the rice. Going into a West Indian market you would see the vendor shelling the peas between customers and measuring them out and putting them into a clear bag. Pigeon peas are seasonal and you only find them in the winter months. Pigeon peas are used in rice mainly, but there are used in this dish in Barbados called Jug- Jug which some people claim is a derivative from Haggis which were brought to the island by the Scottish that were exiled to Barbados. I cannot wait to make this dish soon and share it with you. If you really want to try these peas I suggest sourcing them in the frozen area of your nearest ethnic market. They are sold dried and in cans as well but I do not like the flavour from the canned variety at all so I do not recommend them.
Gooseberries (Gourmet Pancake Syrups)
West Indian Gooseberries
Many of my friends told me about their childhood where they use to eat these bright green gooseberries with salt. Esshhh.. These gooseberries are the most tart fruit you would ever come across so I could not imagine eating them with salt. I love acid fruits but this is too much for me. What I miss though is gooseberry syrup which is a simple syrup made with these gooseberries. Do yo notice how the gooseberry is bright green? Well, when you boil it in sugar-water and spice the colour goes from bright green to reddish-brown. I boiled these gooseberries for 1 hour until I was left with a rich flavourful lip smacking syrup and the tartness was gone. A friend suggested I use this as gourmet pancake syrup and I did and the taste is really good. My husband enjoyed them on his pancakes. I also suggest using them on vegan cheesecake or in oats. Click here for the recipe. You can substitute gooseberries with a tarte fruit or orange rind to make orange pancake syrup. You can use spices that go with the fruit of choice. If I was making orange syrup I would use nutmeg and coconut extract to flavour my syrup. What are you waiting for make some syrups.
Vegan Pancakes with West Indian Gooseberry Syrup
The Poll
As you guys know already I am writing a cookbook. I did not know what I got myself into but I am going ahead with it. I got a comment yesterday that kinda peaked my curiosity. The reader told me they made a recipe of mine but they cannot stand that I use Texture Vegetable Protein. I was like oh….well…ok….. The person meant well but I felt embarrassed somewhat because I do not want to be stepping on anyones toes or not being a “good vegan” through my food.
I noticed that only British blogs use this and not many American bloggers. If you do not use this ever tell me why. I want to know if it is because it is soy, if it i strange, if it does not taste good, and if you think it is a mystery food that comes from the ends of all the vegan hotdogs. I want to know as I go forward with the book because I have two recipes using TVP and the last thing I want to do is have people saying crap about my book on Amazon so let me know.
Also what kind of faux meats do you like. I noticed a lot of American bloggers use tofu and I do not. I do not love seitan that much but I tend to use it in some recipes. When purchasing a cookbook what meat like things do you like to see if at all. Please get back to me. I am counting on everyone to answer this because I find ppl are getting too lazy to comment these days and I understand. The forms you have to fill out and stuff are so tedious!
Now to the BEST part of this post, the new blogs
Even if these two bloggers are not vegans per se they are two inspirational and determined women:)
TRACY CHAN
I am starting to dabble in art.. I know gasp….and I met Tracey Chan who is a West Indian artist born and grew up in Trinidad and Tobago.I was blown away with her photography and art work. Tracey happened to be transitioning to a meat free diet with a big interest in raw food so any of you that would like to get to know Tracey and her art I will not talk too much about Tracey here as it would go straight to her head but you can check out her two sites at http://www.inspiritus.org/ and Tracey Chan Art . You can look at her art esp when you had that long hard day and you want to unwind. Keep up the great work Trace and you have a great future ahead of you.
SHELLEY CHAPMAN
I recently met Shelley and I had no idea that this blog and company she owns existed. Shelley is a personal chef, she is an entrepreneur and a whole lot of things in one person. Her blog has some professionally made cooking videos that showcase some vegan recipes and overall it is a good read. Shelley also is a traveller and aims to do more travel and globally oriented post on her blog in the future. What got me hooked on Shelly is that she has her own hair care products that are made with natural ingredients. She also is an advocate for black natural hair which is something I am trying to transition back to natural hair again and I will be using her services in the future to help me in my journey. I do not know how many black people read my blog but for many black women hair is always a struggle and natural hair care is at the forefront of trying to help us grow our hair naturally without depending on toxic products that we use to tame our tresses. Go to her blog and check it out also check out if some of her natural hair care products are for you
Here is a throwback pic of me with my natural tresses 1 and half years ago with my natural textured fro…
Gosh I miss it….. are my eyes freaking out any of your cuz I can crop out my eyes…lol
I am currently transitioning to this afro again and it should take a year and a half to have 8 inches of afro loving. I am very anti hair chemicals but I succumbed to them because I could not style my own hair in its natural form. As a vegan I always felt bad about relaxing my hair because these products could be tested on innocent animals and that guilt follows me whenever I relax my hair.
Disclaimer:Note I am not getting any free art work or hair products from these sites. I am just sharing my new favourite sites with you and I plan to continue highlighting interesting blogs and people as time goes on.
So that is it for this weeks post. Please comment even if you feel it would use up your energy sources for the day.
Confessions of a culinary cheater:Soba and Spice ( Stop stealing my photographs!!!!)
Soba noodles with red curry sauce and crispy tofu
So just a note to everyone. I have been finding my photographs on ad campaigns, on corporate websites for the past couple of months and it has annoyed me deeply. The main culprits are Barbadian go figure. The same place I try to represent the same place that steals from me. I have had it up to hear with bull crap stories about finding them on some mystery website which has free stock photos of Bajan food. If you know my style and you think you may have seen a picture on my blog posted somewhere else do not hesitate to contact me so I can contact the persons involved. I am tired of people ripping me off and profiting from my work. I have no issues about letting certain people use my work but asking me first is the first step. The copyright laws are always a mess but this foolishness has to stop. These people are using my work vegan or not and passing it off as their own work and getting paid. This has made me contemplate blogging because if I am going to get a stomach ache and taking pics until my food goes cold and making the effort to style my photographs and some smart person comes around and steals them, then what do I have? Tell me! They have been also been doing to this to another local blogger and it is not fair to us.
So I cheat sometimes…. Yes… I cheat on Caribbean food and find myself cooking all sorts of other dishes in the week which is great. If it is not a British favourite that I am feeding my reluctant husband who has his hang ups about British food( British food gets a bad rap), it is some Asian delight. I admit that I do not know a whole lot about Asian food but once something has a bold flavour and lots of colour I start to get excited. Did I ever tell you how much I love Soba noodles that I eat them every week! I love the delicate texture and the way how it absorbs whatever sauce you bathe it in. ….I love spicy food as well and when I mean spicy I mean make your nose run spicy but the flavour has to be there. I came up with this recipe by chance because my usual green curry I buy was out of stock and I had too try the red curry paste. Did I ever tell you how I do not like tofu well I still do not but this is a dish I can handle tofu in. I admire vegans who can wolf down tofu like that in any dish but for me to eat tofu I would have to make it and the sauces and marinades need to be very bold. Surprisingly, I did not marinate my tofu and I just pan-fried and it was really good. Crispy on the outside like a fried egg and fluffy and soft on the inside… I served my bowl of noodles with Alfalfa sprouts , lime wedges and cilantro leaves and a sprinkle of mild West Indian chillies. Loads of colour, full of flavour and packed with heat for a “peppermouth” like me.
Saucy Soba Noodles with Red Curry Sauce and Crispy Tofu (Spicy)
Red Curry
2 tbs olive oil
1 tsp- 1 ½ tsp red curry paste
2 green onions chopped
2 clove garlic finely minced
1 tsp ginger finely minced
¼ tsp ground coriander (optional)
1 ½ tsp cilantro or coriander leaves minced
1 cup (250ml) coconut milk or light coconut milk
1/3 cup (83 ml) tomato sauce
1 tbs soy sauce
1 tsp lime juice
1 tsp brown sugar
Tofu
3 tbs canola oil
227g or 8oz tofu cubed how you like
Soba Noodles
3 cups (750 ml) water
6 oz/ 182 g 100% Soba Noodles
Pinch of salt
Garnishes
Alfalfa sprouts gently sautéed in water, a drop of sesame oil and rice vinegar
Caribbean red seasoned peppers
Cilantro leaves
Lime wedges
Method
Heat olive oil on medium heat and add curry paste to release the flavour. Add green onions, ginger, ginger and sauté gently. Reduce heat and add coconut milk, tomato sauce, soy sauce, cilantro/ coriander leaves, lime juice and whisk gently. Add brown sugar and let the mixture gently simmer. Taste and adjust the salt using soy sauce.
Wash and dry tofu. Heat canola oil on medium heat. Fry tofu turning until all four sides are crispy. You can also bake the tofu by marinating it first and tossing it in one tablespoon of oil and baking on high heat. (The tofu in this recipe is not seasoned as the sauce packs a lot of flavour).
Cook soba noodles based on the directions on the back of package. Wash gently in some warm water and drain.
Assemble your bowl by adding some sauce at the bottom, then adding the soba noodles, the sprouts, and blocks of tofu then some sauce again. Decorate with lime wedges, cilantro leaves and seasoned peppers.
Another notice is that I updated my Gooseberry post with new pictures and a new recipe so check that out as well.
Have you ever looked on some blogs and wish that one day that you would be able to taste the food on these blogs, because the food looks so mouth-watering and the recipes are very inspiring? Well my wish came true a few weeks ago when Cynthia from Tastes Like Home blog invited me to her house for dinner. I could not believe that I was going to get to taste the work from this talented foodie so I had to ask again to make sure it was happening. Cynthia has been hosting her Caribbean blog for more than four years and going on to her blog you will be floored by her stunning photography and her informative post. Cynthia is my inspiration and when I met her we totally hit it off like if we knew each other for years. It takes a really caring person to do something like that right in the middle of the Christmas rush and I would never forget it. Cynthia not only cooked vegan but, cooked a meal that pleased my Caribbean palate. It was not really a Caribbean dinner party but she chose dishes that I could appreciate but still were different from what I am use to. My husband and I spent a wonderful evening with her chatting and we were so touched with the effort she put in for us.We rarely get dinner invitations as people know we are vegan and could not be bothered to figure out what to cook for us. Now Cynthia is a fabulous cook but it was her first time doing an all vegan dinner and she did not want my input, and, did not want me to bring dessert or anything, she wanted to challenge herself and she did. Cynthia out did herself and impressed my husband and I so much that we rank her food as our best vegan dinner to date. So what did Cynthia come up with that won us over?
Here is what Cynthia had to say:
Hi Everyone,
It is a pleasure to be in my friend Tay’s home, albeit virtually.
When Taymer told me that she and her husband Laurent, both vegans, were coming to Barbados for the holidays, I did not hesitate in extending an invitation for a meal. Her response to my invitation floored me. She said that because they were vegans they were rarely invited out to dinner. This made me more determined to ensure that they’d have a meal to remember. Click here to read my column about our dinner. It was first vegan dinner I hosted! How did I do? Well Tay and Laurent will have to tell you about that but I noted some of their responses in the column, so go read it.
In the column, you’ll also learn about how I decided on the menu and you’ll also find the recipes for the Green Bean Mallum and Chickpea Patties. Below are the recipes for the Pickled Bell Peppers and Lemon Rice.
Lemon Rice
Lemon Rice
Lemon Rice
Ingredients
4 cups of just-cooked Basmati Rice (you want the rice to be hot)
3 tablespoons Canola oil
1 ½ teaspoons black mustard seeds
Minced hot pepper to taste
¾ teaspoon ground turmeric
A pinch of asafoetida (hing) optional
10 – 12 curry leaves (if you have)
¾ cup chopped onions
1 tablespoon minced ginger
½ cup chopped cilantro/coriander leaves (leave out if you don’t have)
¼ cup freshly squeezed lime juice (1/3 cup if using lemons)
Equipment
1 large karahi & cover
1 large spoon
Method
- Heat oil in large pan or karahi on medium heat
- Add mustard seeds and fry; as soon as it begins to pop, add pepper, turmeric, hing and curry leaves (if using) and sauté for 1 minute. Then add onions and ginger and sauté until onions are soft but not coloured
- Add the hot rice along with the cilantro/coriander and toss to mix well. Remove from heat, pour lime/lemon juice over rice and mix to incorporate. Cover and let rest for at least 30 minutes before serving (this is to give the rice enough time to absorb the lemon juice and flavours)
Notes
- It is important that the rice be hot as it will better absorb the lemon juice and flavours
- Substitute Basmati rice with regular long grain white rice
- 1 ¼ cups raw Basmati rice will give you the 4 cups of cooked rice
Chickpea Patties
Chickpea Patties
Bell Pepper Pickle
Pickled Bell Peppers
Bell Pepper Pickle
Ingredients
3 large bell peppers (green, red, yellow)
1/3 cup dressing (recipe follows)
Dressing
½ cup distilled vinegar
½ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon salt
Equipment
1 small saucepot
1 wooden spoon
1 large bowl
1 dining fork
1 dining spoon
Method
For dressing:
- Add all ingredients to saucepot and place on medium heat. Stir with wooden spoon to dissolve
- Bring the mixture to a boil and then remove from heat and let cool completely
For pickle:
- Cut peppers in half and remove the seeds and stem. Slice lengthways into strips
- Add sliced peppers to bowl, pour 1/3 cup dressing and toss thoroughly using spoon and fork. Set aside tossing a few more times until ready to serve
Notes
- You’ll have more dressing than you need, store the remainder in an airtight container in the fridge for another use
- Pickle can be made days ahead, stored in an airtight container, refrigerated
- The dressing can be used as well for carrots and cucumbers
Green Bean Mallum
Green Bean Mallum
Tay & Laurent, it was a pleasure meeting both of you! Let’s do this again when next you are in beautiful Barbados!
So how did she do? She could be a vegan chef is she decided to quit her job tomorrow. Eating at her house was better than any restaurant I have been too and I am not just saying that. She even got me to eat coconut in a savoury dish .. now that is a tough one!
Tired of making the same old desserts, cakes, pies and cookies? No? Anyways just read on.Try this Caribbean dessert to wow your friends and family. If you have 2 and a half hours in your life and a good attitude get on board and continue reading the post. Conkies are prized desserts in the Caribbean and in Barbados it rivals the national dish of Flying Fish and Cou Cou which is cool because conkies can be made vegan. If you give someone a good tasting conkie you are guaranteed that they would be your friend for life. You see there is a magic in conkies from the talk of making it, to the aroma in the house to the parcel that is all yours. A conkie is a pumpkin, sweet potato and coconut pudding perfumed with sugar and spice and steamed in banana leaves. Sounds good right? I would not go so far to comparing conkies with a pumpkin pie but it has that sort of appeal to it. Now do not leave this post yet thinking this is something you can never do because you do not live next to a banana tree. You can make conkie parcels by using cut rite paper doubled layered with aluminium foil to create conkies. The banana leaf does give some of its characteristic flavour but, your end result would not suffer at all.
Conkies are consumed in some Caribbean islands. In Barbados they consume it around independence day which is the 30th of November. Conkie making is done by most of the older generation but I hopped onto that train too because I need to keep this tradition up. My husband has a bad habit. He would look at something and then make up his mind by just looking at the picture of the food that he does not want it. I showed him a conkie in a magazine and he was like “it looked somewhat un cooked”. I said “ok you will see”. Unfortunately someone else beat me to giving my husband his first conkie but I did not mind. Boy did his mind change when he opened his parcel which was warm and sunk his fork into the rich pudding. He was like wow this is soo good. As soon as I got back home he wanted me to make conkies at home but I was scared because I was not sure if I could live up to that great conkie he had. Read on to see what happened later.
Making conkies
To make killer conkies you need a few things:- Calabaza Squash, white fleshed sweet potatoes (this time I will let you orange flesh lovers use the orange fleshed ones, a fresh dried coconut broken peeled and grated,quality cornmeal (fine corn flour), a” semi willing helper”, banana leaves or alternative.
Here is a picture of a typical “semi willing helper”. They never look into the camera and they get on with their work because they know they will be rewarded with the ultimate dessert later.
The next thing that needs to be done is to prep banana leaves. I was told that people that live outside the Caribbean can buy Banana leaves in some shops…?? We picked two large banana leaves and cleaned them off with a little soap and water and a damp cloth. Leaves can pick up a lot of dust and crap so clean them well. Dry the leaves for a couple of minutes. The next step is so much fun and it is called “singeing”. You place banana leaves on an open flame and the banana leaf goes limp and therefore it is easy to work with and it does not break like a fresh banana leaf. Here I am in the kitchen happily singeing.
Ok now we have the leaves almost preped but lets move on to making the actual filling. Now I have a bone to pick with some people. When I saw finely grated I mean I want whatever you are grating to look like confetti or pulp depending on the consistency. Use a box grater and use the finest side to grate your food. If it is not fine enough run it through the food processor with a little water. The ingredients need to be finely grated or they would not look pudding like in consistency. Here are the ingredients that you need for conkies.
Conkies
400 grams of grated Calabaza squash or pumpkin
1 coconut cracked peeled and grated finely
260 grams of sweet potato finely grated
340 grams sugar ( brown or white does not matter)
1 heaping tbs ground spice which is ground cassia it smells like cinnamon but it is stronger
1 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tbs almond essence ( if using extract use 1 tbs)
1 tbs freshly ground nutmeg
100 grams of juicy dark raisins
1 cup all purpose flour
2 cups cornmeal (fine corn flour the best quality you can find)
1 heaping tsp salt
120 grams vegan butter melted
2 oz canola oil or vegan shortening melted
250 mls of almond or soy milk
18 8×8 inch banana leaves prepared
about 20 pieces of banana leave ribs for steamer
Mix the coconut, pumpkin, sweet potato, sugar, spices, milk, butter, salt,essence, raisins and flours. Add milk and mix well. Add canola oil and margarine and mix well.
You now have your killer conkie batter ready to be used. It should look like this is you are a good reader
.
From here you would need to add it onto the banana square.
You need to place the mixture on the ribbed side of the leaf. The next part is to fold the conkies. What you want is a parcel that can withstand the steam so you will fold along the length of your ribs. Bring the right side leaf to cover the entire conkie mixture and then cover the leaf with the other side.Fold the two sides like a parcel. If you have some good twine you can tie up your parcel or you can do what Cynthia and many people do. They use the banana leaf to tie the parcel. I am lazy and would never go through that so I did one. You do not need to tie it up as it would steam into shape.
Look at how I folded up my parcel.
Now you are almost there. You need to prepare you pot for steaming. If you have a bamboo steamer you can use it or if you are poor like me you will use all parts of the banana tree and create your own steamer at the bottom of the pot. Here I crudely chop up the steams and made a make shift steamer.
Now pack your parcels into the pot.
Add water just to cover your steamer and some salt and steam for a good 40 minutes. To check to see if your conkie is done check the conkie at the top for doneness.
Here is what the conkies look like when after they have been steamed.
Cute huh? I cooled these down for about 30 minutes before I served them to the semi willing helper.
Here is what the cooled conkie looks like inside.
The colour is vibrant and mixture has cooked fully and has a glossy finish.
Now here is a closeup.
So the result of 3 hours of labour including setting up the set for the photographs are 18 beautiful tasty conkies and a happy “semi willing helper” who is planning to have guest over so that they can feast on this. Remember you do not need to have banana leaves just cut out wax paper and reinforce with aluminum foil. Conkies freeze well and when you want one just thaw it down and re heat in the microwave. If you do not have a microwave thaw and just lightly steam. Conkies can be eaten cold, piping hot or at room temperature. You can enjoy with tea or some homemade coconut ice cream. Now who is going to be the first of my international readers that would take on this dessert?
I am waiting..
