Alright friends, been messing around in the kitchen again. Thought I’d bang out some Caribbean party finger foods for a change. Kept it simple, no fuss. Jumped online first thing Tuesday morning, hunting for stuff that wouldn’t send me broke or crazy.
Planning and Grocery Dash
Grabbed a notepad – old school. Scrawled down a few ideas. Needed things easy to grab, messy fingers or not. Spotted Jerk Chicken wings. Sounded cool. Saw something called “Plantain Cups” – figured, weird name, let’s try it. Coconut Shrimp? Yeah, why not. Needed some sauce dunkers too.
Shot off to the store. Man, finding plantains was a quest! Almost grabbed green bananas twice. Finally snagged some decently yellow ones. Grabbed ground beef for the cups, buncha chicken wings, frozen shrimp, coconut flakes, spices. Took forever finding that allspice stuff for the jerk rub. Hit the veggie aisle for peppers, pineapple bits.
Got home, dumped it all on the counter. Realized I forgot sour cream for a dip. Cussed softly. Sent my partner out like a panic call while I started prepping.
Kitchen Chaos (Fun Kinda)
First up: Jerk Chicken Wings. Threw the wings in a big bowl. Pounded up allspice seeds kinda rough with my mortar/pestle (felt cool doing that). Mixed it with some garlic powder, onion powder, a big squeeze of lime juice, olive oil, dried thyme, brown sugar, a hit of cayenne. Slapped that onto the wings. Let ’em soak up the goodness in the fridge for maybe an hour? Got distracted.
Next: Plantain Cups. Okay, peeling plantains. They’re slippery buggers. Cut one end off, hacked a slit down the side with a knife, started peeling. Took some muscle! Sliced ’em thick. Used the handle end of a spoon to smoosh each slice flat in my hand. Didn’t look perfect, but it worked. Fried ’em quick in hot oil till kinda crispy. Drained them on paper towels. Looked alright.
While they cooled, browned the ground beef. Chucking in some garlic powder, paprika, thyme again. Sautéed chopped peppers and onions separately. Stuffed some cooked beef mix into each fried plantain cup, topped with the pepper-onion mess. Kinda looked like mini volcanoes. Or maybe just messy bites. Eh.
Coconut Shrimp time! Peeling shrimp is always a pain. Took forever. Dried ’em off good with towels. Whisked a couple eggs in a shallow dish. Set out flour on a plate, coconut flakes mixed with panko crumbs on another. Rolled each shrimp: flour, egg wash, coconut mix. Plonked them on a rack.
Heated oil again. Dropped a few shrimp in. Golden? Took maybe 2 minutes a side. Didn’t deep-fry, just shallow pan-fry. Had sweet chili sauce and a mix of mayo/pineapple bits for dipping. Made a quick one with lime juice and sour cream too.
Assembly Line and Taste Test
Pulled the marinated wings out. Whacked ’em under the grill, turning often. Skin finally got crispy, smelled amazing.
- Piled the wings on a big plate.
- Arranged the plantain cups on another board.
- Laid the coconut shrimp out.
- Stuck the dipping sauces in bowls.
Looked crowded, colourful, sorta Caribbean-like? Fingers crossed.
Forced my partner to try everything first. They grabbed a wing: “Seriously spicy!” – success. Bit into a plantain cup: “Weird… but good crunchy texture and beef’s tasty.” Coconut shrimp dipped in the pineapple mayo? “Sweet and crunchy. That works.” Phew.
Lessons Learned and Mess Left Behind
Honestly? Prep takes ages. Peeling stuff sucks. But… watching folks grab stuff off the table quick? Fun. Plantain cups are fiddly – probably won’t do a hundred again, but worth trying once.
The jerk wings? Definitely the winners. Simple marinate, cook. Coconut shrimp not too bad either, just don’t soak them in the oil. Dipping sauces? Essential for the messy fingers.
My kitchen? Looks like a hurricane named “Caribbean” blew through. Flour dust everywhere, sticky coconut flakes glued to the counter, plantain skins lurking. Totally worth it though. Next time? Maybe just do wings and shrimp. Got leftover plantains… gonna figure out frying them plain tomorrow.
Okay, time to tackle the disaster zone before I lose a spoon in the dish pile.
