Caribbean Lovers Recipe (modified for Ireland) original calls for plantain

Caribbean Lovers on potato rosti

Posted on November 22, 2012 by bomulligan

This recipe was created by Natacha Gomez, Chef T and Kokiyaj Market Bar/Grill. Natacha wants to empower other Haitian women and put her country on the tourist map.

Natacha started to cook at just 8 years old with her grandmothers. The men in her family liked to hunt. From an early age Natacha learned how to choose produce and cuts of meat. Her father opened his first restaurant when she was nine. ‘I was in heaven, they could always find me in the kitchen and I have some burn scars to prove it…my war badges’. Natacha worked under the supervision of the chefs while also studying tourism, catering and gourmet cooking. Natacha opened her catering business 14 years ago and 4 years ago she helped her parents open their second restaurant. She opened her own fast food restaurant, Chef T in The Dominican Republic, 4 months ago which she hopes will become a chain.

This recipe uses green plantain, which is a savoury vegetable that looks like a large banana. They can only be eaten when cooked. When green, the plantain are used as a savoury dish and when ripe they are sweeter and are therefore used as a dessert. They are available at some vegetable shops and international food shops but if you cannot find them, potatoes can be used instead.

Caribbean Lovers on potato rosti

Prep Time: 15 mins
Cook Time: 35 mins
Serves 6

Ingredients:

• 2 boiled green plantain or 1 lb baking potatoes, peeled and grated
• Fresh parsley
• 4 cloves of garlic
• 1 pound uncooked shrimp
• ½ cup vegetable oil
• ½ cup chopped onions
• ½ cup green bell peppers
• 1 tsp minced scotch bonnet pepper or habanero
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp fresh lime juice
• ½ cup shallots
• 1 tablespoon of rum
• 1tsp of sugar
• 3 Tbsp olive oil
• Salt and pepper
• 1 avocado
• 1/3 cup reduced passion fruit puree with a dash of hot sauce.

Method

1. Heat 3 tbsp of oil in a large frying pan on medium high heat
2. While the pan is heating, squeeze out as much moisture as you can from the grated potatoes, using paper towels.
3. In a bowl mix the grated potato with crushed garlic and parsley.
4. When the oil in the pan heats up to the point of shimmering, but not smoking, add the grated potato mix, spreading them out along the bottom of the pan. The potatoes should not be too thick in any one place, no more than a half inch thick. Sprinkle some salt and pepper on the potatoes. After a few minutes, lift up one edge of the potatoes and see how done they are. If they have fried to a golden brown they are ready to flip. Use a large spatula to flip the potatoes over all at once, or divide the large potato rosti into halves or quarters and flip. Continue to cook until they are golden brown on the bottom
5. Place cleaned shrimp into a bowl with the chopped onions, green bell peppers , scotch bonnet and salt
6. In another frying pan, heat some oil. Add the shrimp mix, and cover for 5 mins.
7. Add a tbsp of rum, the lime juice and sugar to the shallots, and in a separate pan cook for 2 mins
8. Place the rosti on a plate, with a tsp of the passion fruit puree. Arrange some slices of avocado on top, put the shrimp on that and garnish with the glazed shallots.

Enjoy!

Please let us know how you get on with this dish below…