Oxtail and beans - Contributed

I hear, and I see, that we, as a nation, are getting fat. Oh dear. Do we really want to become like the large nation not far north of us? Not likely. Are we in danger of doing so? Very likely.

Unfortunately, many Jamaicans have a reputation for eating stodgy and unhealthy food. Fried Johnny cakes, fried bammy, fried festival, fried fish, fried plantain, fried breadfruit...even the ackee and salt fish, and seasoned callaloo, tend to be found swimming in oil. One can hardly avoid cooking the former list of foods in this way, but the latter two needn't be. The same applies to soups and stews. "It gives the food plenty flavour," many people say. "The oil keeps the dust off the heart," one person told me years ago.

Two of my favourite home-made dishes are chicken soup and oxtail. Invariably, the top layer of both consists of pockets or, worse yet, pools of liquid fat. This adds needless calories, and is unnecessary anyway. Believe me when I tell you that it tastes better without it, and trust your doctor when he says that it's really bad for your heart, let alone your belt line. Take stock, and skim the fat.

Poached Chicken and Chicken Stock:

Ingredients

1 whole chicken

2 onions, chopped

2 large carrots, peeled and chopped

2 chochoes, peeled and chopped

2 turnips, peeled and chopped

2 celery sticks, chopped

2 bay leaves

1 small bunch of fresh thyme

8-10 black peppercorns

Sea salt

Method

1. Remove the skin from the chicken.

2 Place the whole bird in a large pot with all the remaining ingredients.

3. Completely cover with water and place on the stove.

4. Bring to the boil and simmer for about 11/2 hours, skimming off the globules of fat every 15 minutes with a metal soup ladle, and topping up with cold water to keep the chicken covered.

5. Drain the stock into a large pot, place the chicken in a large bowl to cool, and discard the remaining ingredients.

6. Once the chicken has cooled completely, remove the meat from the bone (save the bones for a doggie).

7. Place the chicken in a lidded container in the fridge until ready to use in a salad, lasagne, risotto, or anything else you please.

8. Alternatively, after the chicken has been cooking for one hour, you can add pumpkin, sweet potato, and other vegetables, to make a delicious soup.

Oxtail and beans

serves 8

Ingredients

5lb oxtail

3 onions, sliced

5 cloves of garlic, chopped

1 whole scotch bonnet

1 small bunch of thyme

1 small bunch of scallion, crushed

3 tins of broad beans, included liquid

1lb carrots, peeled and sliced

2 tomatoes, chopped

Salt and black pepper

Dumpling dough:

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

Water to mix

Method

1. Preheat the oven at 450F.

2. Place the oxtail on wire racks over two large oven pans. Cook in the oven for 20 minutes until browned. Turn off oven and leave to cool. Excess fat will have drained off the meat into the pans.

3. Place the oxtail alone in a large pot and cover with cold water.

4. Bring to the boil, turn down and simmer for one hour, skimming off the globules of fat every 15 minutes with a metal soup ladle, and adding more cold water to cover the bones.

5. Add the onions, garlic, scotch bonnet, thyme and scallion, and cook for another 1/2 hour.

6. Make dumpling dough by mixing the flour and salt together in a bowl, binding together with water.

7. Roll into spinners and add to the pot.

8. Pour in the broad beans and continue to simmer for 1/2 hour.

9. Add the carrots and tomatoes, and stew down until the gravy starts to thicken - another 1/2 hour to one hour.

10. Season to taste with salt and black pepper.

11. Remove the scotch bonnet, thyme twigs and strings of scallion, and serve with white rice.

For further information, contact Emma at: emma@sharpactionfood.com or at: www.sharpactionfood.com