Marital Compromise Chili
Coming from Europe, JP is a firm defender of the Texas type chili, with large pieces of meat cut in 1/2 inch cubes. Leigh grew up in Ohio and was used to strictly ground meat. What to do!? This is the recipe we have been using for the last few years without major incidents.

Ingredients
3-4 lb chuck roast or other roasting beef
3-4 medium onions
2 lg cans whole tomatoes peeled
2 sml cans  pinto beans
2 sml cans chili beans
vegetable oil
115 g or 4 ounces chili powder
1 habanero or scotch bonnet pepper, seeded, cut in half
cayenne pepper to taste
salt to taste
masa flour (opt)
trimmings (lettuce, cheddar, onion, fritos(!), hot dogs.....)

Preparation
Roughly chop the onions and fry over medium high in large heavy pot like LeCreuset until fully transparent and slightly golden, using 2 tablespoons of oil. Remove and reserve. 
Cut the meat in large cubes, removing any excess fat or nerve
In small batches put the meat in a food processor and give 3 to 4 VERY short pulses so that the meat is shredded but not ground.
Brown the meat in same heavy pot, in 3 or 4 batches, using 2 tablespoons of oil for each batch. Throw away any excess liquid between the batches. 
Reduce heat to medium low
Return all the browned meat and the onions to the pot. 
Mix in chili powder.
Add 2 tomato cans and about a quart of water, habanero, 4 dashes of cayenne pepper.
Crush the tomatoes as needed with a spoon, mix well
Reduce heat to low, cover and let simmer 3 hours or longer. Stir every 15 min or so. If grease appears on the top of the pot, spoon off or add a teaspoon of masa flour, or both.
Add beans and simmer another hour
Prepare trimmings, eat
If time is available, let cool completely and reheat very slowly the next day! Freezes well.

Pumpkin Ginger Curry Soup

This is the current version of a soup made many times on Raconteur from island pumpkin, and most recently made land-side from a Halloween pumpkin (uncarved!).  It was served as the starter for a roast lamb dinner in Chester, MD (on Kent Island in the Chesapeake) on the day we turned the clocks back this Fall.

2 Tbsps olive oil
1-2 onions, chopped
2 large carrots, chopped
2-4 Tbsps fresh ginger, grated or minced
2-4 garlic cloves, minced
1-2 Tbsps curry powder of your choice (we used medium-hot Muchi)
2 - 2 1/2 lbs. pumpkin or winter squash, cubed
5-6 cups vegetable stock or water
1 cup coconut milk (heavy cream can be substituted, but we really recommend the coconut milk!)

Heat oil in a large heavy saucepan over medium heat.
Add onions, carrots, ginger and garlic and fry, stirring occasionally, until the onion is transparent but not brown.
Add curry and stir for a minute or so.
Add pumpkin and continue to fry for 2-3 minutes, stirring to coat with the onion mixture.
Add stock or water and boil gently until vegetables are soft.
Remove from heat and let cool until not dangerously hot.  Puree with an immersion blender or in batches in a food processor or blender.
Add coconut milk and a pinch of salt and bring to a simmer.
Serve garnished with a small dollop of sour cream or heavy cream and chopped fresh cilantro.
In the islands, we served it with a drop of hot pepper sauce on the dollop of cream.

Quinoa Pilaf
Always in search of less starchy side dish alternatives, we developed this pilaf as a variation of a Giada De Laurentis recipe.  The flavors and textures are rich, varied and complementary, and the ingredients (either the vegetables sauteed at the beginning or the fresh vegetables / herbs added at the end) can be adjusted to what you have on hand, or flavors you especially like.

Ingredients
3 Tbsp olive oil
2 large shallots
1 small sweet red pepper
1/4 red hot pepper
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup pine nuts
1/2 tsp ground black pepper
1 cup red quinoa
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup homemade chicken broth
handful of chopped garden fresh herbs e.g. rosemary, basil, parsley and thyme

Preparation
Optional: Toast the pine nuts on low heat in a frying pan.
Heat 2 Tbsp olive oil in a saucepan on medium heat. Add the shallots, the peppers, pine nuts and garlic. Cook until onions are transparent, ca. 7 minutes. Rinse the quinoa. Add quinoa and cook stirring constantly for 2 minutes. Add the wine and cook until the liquid has evaporated. Add the broth, bring to a boil. Cover the pan and simmer until the broth has been absorbed and the quinoa is tender, ca 15 min. Add the chopped herbs, mix and let sit for a few minutes. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

Mid-century modern cocktails in Trinidad

So one night while we were at Crews Inn in Trinidad, we had what we call a "heavy hors d'oeuvres" cocktail party for folks on two other boats, Rocking Horse and Receta (in Grenada a few weeks later, we added a fourth R, Richard Cory, to this mix, if you can believe it).  Anyway, I was in a mid-century mood, and so made cocktail meatballs adapted from a Southern Living magazine recipe, and I made my mother's famous-in-our-family Party Cheese Ball.  The latter is one of those recipes that came directly from one of the large American food conglomerates (Kraft) and started appearing in the late 50's to help sell various products.  In the case of the cheese ball, they actually managed to hit TWO Kraft products - Philadelphia Cream Cheese, and Cracker Barrel Cheddar.  My mom started making them in the late 60's, so I'm guessing that's about when the recipe first appeared.  The Party Cheese Ball photo below is actually stolen from a blog about retro food - you can find it here: http://www.midcenturymenu.com/ - because I forgot to take my own that night.  Normally, the cheese ball is rolled in chopped pecans or walnuts (the Hough family favors the latter), but as I had none on hand, my cheese ball for the cocktail party actually looked like the one in the photo. I must say, as almost always happens when this particular cheese ball appears, the guests were doing some very serious scarfing.  I did spice up the meatballs a bit in honor of our Trinidad locale, and they were pretty popular too.  Just in case anyone was feeling the need for something slightly more healthy (those mid-century types were definitely not worrying too much about calories, fats, or processing), I also offered a veggie tray with salt or Adobo season "sin pimiento".  I included my now-favorite item for a veggie tray, raw Christophene (a.k.a. chayote, if you are looking for it in your local market.

So now for the recipes.

Recipe: Cranberry Meatballs, Trinidad Style

First prepared: Onboard Raconteur at Crews Inn Marina, January 2013

 

2 pounds ground chuck  

2 large eggs  

1/3 cup dry breadcrumbs  (Note: I use Panko, because I prefer it for everything that calls for breadcrumbs - expensive item in the Caribbean)

1 teaspoon salt  

1/2 teaspoon pepper  

1/2 teaspoon garlic powder  

1/2 teaspoon onion powder  

1/2 teaspoon thyme  

1 (16-ounce) can cranberry sauce  

1 (12-ounce) jar chili sauce  

1/4 cup orange marmalade  

1/4 cup water   

2 tablespoons soy sauce  

2 tablespoons red wine vinegar  

1 teaspoon dried red pepper flakes

Note: I added a liberal dose of Matouk's West Indian Hot Sauce, readily available in US grocery stories (or at least the ones I frequent)
 

Combine first 8 ingredients in a large bowl. Shape mixture into about 54 (1-inch) balls. 

 

Cook meatballs, in batches, in a large skillet over medium-high heat until browned (about 5 minutes); remove meatballs from pan, and drain well on paper towels. 

 

Stir together cranberry and chili sauces and next 5 ingredients (including the Matouk's) in a large Dutch oven over medium heat, and cook, whisking occasionally, 5 minutes or until smooth. Add meatballs; reduce heat to low, and cook, stirring occasionally, 15 to 20 minutes or until centers are no longer pink. 

 

To make ahead, place cooked meatballs in a zip-top plastic freezer bag, and freeze up to 1 month. Thaw in refrigerator, and cook, stirring occasionally, until thoroughly heated.

 

This made enough for seven at the cocktail party, and for one leftover meal for the three of us.

Recipe: Party Cheese Ball

First prepared: Chillicothe, Ohio c. 1969

 

2 8 ounce packages, Philadelphia Cream Cheese

2 cups shredded cheddar cheese (the sharpest Cracker Barrel you can find)

1 tablespoon chopped pimiento (in a jar)

1 tablespoon chopped fresh green pepper (use green, not other colors)

1 tablespoon chopped onion

Note: My mom always uses the whole small jar of pimiento, and at least half a green pepper and a like amount of onion, and so do I.

2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce (maybe this is a Kraft product too?)

1 teaspoon lemon juice

cayenne pepper and salt to taste

chopped pecans or walnuts for covering the ball

Soften both cheeses, or use a food processor (this produces a more homogeneous but equally tasty result), and combine.  Add the pimiento, green pepper, onion, Worcestershire, lemon, and cayenne pepper and salt to taste.  Roll the ball in the chopped nuts if desired (it's good with or without, in my opinion, but the nuts makefor a slightly prettier presentation and a tiny bit more sophistication in the final product).

Wrap the ball in wax paper and then in foil and refrigerate; be sure to take it out well before you plan to serve it - an hour or even a little more.

 

Mango Muffins

So, it's not yet mango season in the Caribbean, but we found the fruit guy who sets up under a grove of mango trees on the road from Chaguaramas to Port of Spain, and he was selling two varieties - most likely from Indonesia!  They were getting very ripe, and we were still up to our ears in work after getting Raconteur back in the water, so I called on my elusive baking skills, and found a recipe for mango muffins.

 

I was just assembling the ingredients, and realized - oops - no milk.  It is impossible to buy fresh milk in the Caribbean, though the UHT stuff is widely available, and I sometimes keep powdered milk, but I had none of the above on board.  I did, however, have a can of coconut milk; I hailed our friends Ann and Steve, Steve did a quick Google, and he discovered (on Food Network, which is a reasonably reliable source, we find) the following quote: "Substitute coconut milk for the liquid and half of the fat in your favorite blueberry muffin recipe", so that is indeed what I did.  The recipe makes 18 muffins (I used the semi-disposable aluminium muffin tins), and of course sent a few to our friends for their contribution. I renamed the recipe to acknowledge the substitution; you can go back to using milk and the 1/4 cup of oil if you like, but this worked splendidly, if I do say so myself.

Recipe: Caribbean-Style Mango Muffins

First prepared: Onboard Raconteur at Crews Inn Marina, January 2013

 

2 cups flour
4 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar or 3/4 cup honey
1/4 cup of a combination of coconut milk and vegetable oil
1 cup coconut milk
1 egg
1 -1 1/2 cup mango, pulp of (2 very ripe mangoes) Note: we had one large mango and it yielded a little more than a cup and a half, thanks to our onboard Mango Wranger, Susan.  I used it all)

Cut and peel two very ripe (soft to the touch) mangoes and reduce to soft pulp and juice. Combine flour, baking powder, salt and sugar in a large bowl. In a separate bowl combine oil, milk, and egg.  

 

Mix liquid ingredients with dry until just moist and stir in the mango pulp.
 

Fill greased muffin tins, or paper muffin cups two-thirds full.
 

Bake at 400°F for 15-18 minutes Note: In my boat oven, these took a full 20 minutes, and they were still quite tender.
 
They are done when they are brown on top and a tooth-pick inserted into the center comes out clean.