Rasta Pasta Memories

A pasta dish that has recently caught people's attention is a Jamaican take on Italian cuisine. When it was first created, people associated the colours of this meal with the colours of Rastafarianism, and the shapes of the noodles with dreadlocks, earning the dish the name rasta pasta. I will always associate anything calling itself rasta pasta with a conversation I had in the 90s back when 8-ball and Starter jackets were fashionable and you could still smoke in malls. I was on a 95 heading back to Orleans from the Woodroffe campus of Algonquin with my friend who was instrumental in my creating an hors d'oeuvre. She had noticed that pasta was one of the specialties featured in neon on the sign that wrapped around the Dancing Mermaid restaurant near the Kent St bus stop, and said: "Does that say rasta on that sign?". As her boyfriend at the time was a friend of mine of Jamaican persuasion, I laughed and wisecracked "What, you're seeing a Jamaican guy and you're seeing rastas everywhere now?" Her look of shocked embarrassment egged me on to follow up with "Maybe you guys should go there, have some rasta pasta or something." The look soon turned to angry annoyance when another passenger on the bus joined in the fun saying she'd love a bowl of rasta pasta as well. My friend got back at me by telling our circle of friends that it was I who misread the sign and that she and the woman were the ones having a laugh at my expense. At least now with the recipe below they can have all the rasta pasta they want.

Ingredients

500 g boneless chicken breasts or shredded rotisserie chicken (if you have 2 cups of jerk ckicken, even better)
454 g pasta (fettuccine, penne, or rigatoni can be used)
25 g jerk seasoning (you can use a premade version if you want, or the following recipe)

15 g onion powder
15 g garlic powder
10 g teaspoons cayenne pepper
10 g teaspoons salt
10 g teaspoons ground black pepper
10 g teaspoons dried thyme (or use 5g ground thyme)
10 g teaspoons sugar (or use brown sugar)
5 g teaspoon ground allspice
5 g teaspoon dried parsley
5 g teaspoon paprika
2.5 g teaspoon hot pepper flakes
2.5 g teaspoon ground cinnamon
2.5 g teaspoon ground nutmeg
2.5 g teaspoon ground clove
1 g teaspoon ground cumin
Mix everything in a bowl until it is well combined. Store in an air-tight containter afterwards.

120 g green onions, sliced
120 mL coconut milk or heavy cream
80 g parmesan cheese, grated
60 mL chicken or vegetable stock
30 mL tablespoons vegetable oil, split into two equal portions
3 bell peppers preferably red yellow and green, sliced
2 cloves garlic, minced

1. Cook the pasta according to the package instructions, take it out when it is “al dente”, and set it aside.
2. If you are using cooked chicken, chop it into pieces, toss it with the jerk season, and set everything aside. If you are using raw chicken breast, chop it into pieces, toss it with the jerk seasoning, and cook the chicken in a heavy-bottomed pot with one of the portions of vegetable oil until it's golden and cooked through. Remove the meat from the pot, and set it aside.
3. Pour the remaining vegetable oil into the pot, and saute the bell peppers with the green onions, and the minced garlic and cook until it’s fragrant. Add the coconut milk, the chicken, and the stock in the pot, and let everything simmer for a few minutes or until the sauce thickens. 
4. Taste to see if more jerk seasoning is required, then mix in the parmesan in the sauce and then mix in the pasta. Garnish with chopped chives, green onions, or parsley and serve.

Superbowl Eats - Kansas City Chiefs edition

Before Patrick Mahomes came to town and started lighting up Arrowhead Stadium, Kansas City was known mostly for its BBQ. Kansas City-style barbecue is meat rubbed with spices, slow-smoked, and served with a sweet, tangy, thick tomato-based sauce. With the defending Superbowl champion Chiefs playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers at Superbowl LV, it's a perfect opportunity to make a batch of  KC-style baby back ribs. For those more interested in the food, the halftime show, and the commercials than in the Big Game, I would still suggest paying close attention to the Chiefs' number 16. The Chiefs have playmakers at running back, at tight end, and at wide receiver, but everything about this team starts with Mahomes. Only four years in the league, he already transcends the game with his passing, his athleticism, and his ability to make big plays when needed - think Michael Jordan if he were playing quarterback. For the past decade, Tom Brady has been the Whole Fucking Show as far as the NFL is concerned. With a win on Sunday against Brady's Bucs, Mahomes will become the New Fucking Show. So sit back, grab a rib, and bear witness to the Next Big Thing in sports.

Ingredients

2 900 g racks of baby back pork ribs
350 g ketchup
90 g yellow mustard
80 g molasses (not blackstrap)
80 g light or dark brown sugar, divided into 35g and 45g portions, packed
80 g chopped onion
40 g sweet paprika
35 g chili powder
15 g tablespoon salt
2.5 g teaspoon cayenne pepper
120 mL cider vinegar
40 mL Worcestershire sauce
30 mL vegetable oil
5 mL liquid smoke (optional)
6 garlic cloves, finely chopped
hot sauce, to taste

1. Preheat oven to 162°C. Line a large heavy rimmed baking sheet with aluminum foil and place the ribs side by side on it.
2. Whisk together the chili powder, paprika, salt, pepper, cayenne, and the smaller portion of brown sugar in a bowl and rub the mixture onto both sides of the ribs. Let the ribs stand, with the meaty sides up, at room temperature, for an hour. When the oven is ready, cover the baking sheet tightly with foil and bake for 1.5 hours.
3. In a heavy pot, cook the onion in the vegetable oil over medium-low heat, covered, for about 10-15 minutes until tender, stirring occasionally. Add the garlic and cook, stirring for a minute. Add remaining ingredients, including remaining brown sugar, and simmer, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Let the sauce cool slightly and purée it in a food processor. Once done, set aside a cup of the sauce for serving.
4. Remove the foil cover and turn the rib racks over so the bone ends curve up, then baste ribs with pan juices and spread generously with some of the sauce. Continue to bake, uncovered for 30 minutes. Turn racks over, then baste again with pan juices and top with more sauce. Continue to bake for about 30-45 minutes until the meat is tender when pierced with a small knife.
5. Broil the ribs for 2-3 minutes, meaty sides up, until they're browned. Serve them with reserved sauce.

Superbowl Eats - Tampa Bay Buccaneers edition

Like many a snowbird, Tom Brady came to Tampa Bay looking for some fun in the sun. The six-time Superbowl champion found just that in his move to Florida, leading the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to their second Superbowl appearance with his record-setting tenth appearance in the big game. I don't want to see the Golden Boy win another Superbowl, nor do I care to see his fellow New England Patriot-turned-Tampa Bay Buccaneer Rob Gronkowski win another championship either. And even though they are a much better team than I ever gave them credit for this season, I am completely indifferent about the rest of this Bucs team. But after seeing a profile about their coach Bruce Arians, I would like to see him and his coaching staff win a Superbowl. He seems like a guy I would like to have a pint with after a game as well as play hard for if he were my coach. I got to give credit where it's due, he got more out of a 40+-year quarterback than a certain hoodie-wearing coach could, and that's saying something given he's an automatic Hall of Famer just as his former quarterback will be.  With his forever association with New England, it's fitting to make clam chowder to celebrate Brady's latest (and hopefully last) attempt to make his mark in the NFL history books.

Ingredients

740 g canned chopped clams in their juice
680 g littleneck clams in shells, scrubbed (about 18)
680 g potatoes, peeled and diced into bite-sized pieces
230 g celeriac peeled and diced small
500 mL whole milk
25 mL olive oil
6 parnsnips, peeled and diced small
4 strips of bacon, choped ito small pieces
1 large yellow onion, chopped into small pieces
Kosher salt, to taste
fresh tarragon leaves (optional)

1. Preheat your oven to 205C. Toss the parsnips and the celeriac with the olive oil and spread everything in a single layer on a baking pan. Add the littleneck clams to the sheet and roast for about 10 to 12 minutes, or until the clams have opened up.
2. Place a deep heavy pot over medium-low heat on the stove. Add the bacon pieces and cook for 8 minutes until most of the fat has rendered out. Remove the bacon from the pot with a slotted spoon, then cook the onions in the bacon fat until they're translucent, stirring occasionally, for about 10 minutes. Add the potatoes and the milk to the pot, and bring everything to a boil.
3. Reduce the heat to a simmer and let the potatoes cook for about 10 minutes until they're fork-tender. Use either an immersion blender to blend the base, or mix in batches in a blender until smooth, adding it back into the pot as you go.
4. Add the canned clams with the juice, the whole clams, and the roasted vegetables to the chowder base. Bring everything to a simmer and season with salt to taste; the clams and the bacon will be salty enough on their own, no need to go overboard. Makes enough for six servings.

NOTE: The above recipe was taken from one of my favourite cookbooks "The Laws of Cooking (and how to break them)" by Justin Warner, Flatiron Books.