Haitian Chicken (This is my own concoction based on several Haitian chicken recipes, and if I do say so myself, this one is divine.)
2 pounds cubed chicken
1/2 green bell pepper
2 + 2 cloves garlic
3 whole cloves
1/2 medium onion
1 bunch parsley
1 small can tomato paste
1 cup chicken broth
juice of 4 limes
1/2 cup orange juice
1 Tbsp hot pepper (Tabasco) sauce
2-3 sprigs of thyme
salt and pepper
Finely chop green pepper. Saute in oil or butter and add 2 crushed cloves garlic and thyme. Add chicken, salt and pepper and heat, covered, on med-high for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.
While the chicken is cooking, combine in a medium bowl tomato paste, chicken broth, lime juice, orange juice, chopped onion, chopped parsley, crushed garlic, cloves and hot pepper sauce. When chicken is cooked, remove the sprigs of thyme, reduce heat to medium-low and stir in sauce mixture. Simmer for another 10 minutes. Serve hot with beans and rice or plain white rice.
Rice and Beans (Diri ak Pwa)
Our beans and rice recipe is just a whole bunch of rice (like 12 cooked cups), two cans of red kidney beans, 1/2 chopped green pepper, salt and pepper, some garlic, Creole seasoning, and a can of coconut milk (which you can leave out if you don’t like it).
Pumpkin Soup (Soup Joumou)
And our pumpkin soup recipe (an essential for Haitian Independence Day celebrations) is taken from A Taste for Haiti, (not to be confused with A Taste of Haiti) but tweaked a little to suit our tastes. Below is the recipe, followed by some clarifying notes and suggestions of my own.
Put 1 pound of beef cut into small pieces (beef shin or braising meat) in a pot with a small quantity of cold water. Let rustle over low heat until the meat is tender. Add water and ½ of vegetables cut into small pieces: carrots, celery, cabbage, and leeks… plus ½ pound of pumpkin. Season with salt, pepper, a small bunch of herbs and 1 bouillon cube and cook until the vegetables are tender. Mill the pumpkin and the vegetable and add this puree to the rest of the soup. Mix and add some vermicelli or cooked macaroni.
This recipe is a little confusing not only because of the lack of precise ingredients and amounts, but also because of the narrative way in which it’s written. To clarify, you’ll cook the meat in one pot and then boil the veggies in water in another pot until the veggies are soft. Then you put the veggie/water mixture into your blender or food processor and make a puree. Add this puree to the pot with the meat, and then add the pasta. I also added about a cup of cream this time and while not completely authentic, it was most delicious!
For more information about Haiti and Haitian adoption, don’t forget to check out adoption.com’s Haiti adoption blog here.
A Taste for Haiti is hard to find, but can be purchased here. It is available in both English and French.
