Ingredients:

• 8 oz boneless chicken breasts
• 1/4 cup lime juice
• 2 tbsp water
• 1 clove garlic
• Jalapeño flavor
• shredded cheese lettuce, chopped
• green onions , chopped
• tomatoes, chopped
• olives , chopped
• flour tortillas 

Directions

1. Marinate chicken breasts in lime juice, water and garlic. Broil or grill chicken; slice thinly and serve in flour tortillas with other ingredients.

Makes 8 fajitas.

Ingredients

• 2 ounces of cheese per person.  Many suggest English Cheddar but feel free to experiment.
• Jar of Chutney
• Baked Virginia Ham, thickly sliced  Other deli meats work as well.
• Crisp apples, cut up
• Celery stalks, cut in half lengthwise
• Soft Hard-Boiled Eggs (see below)
• Baby carrots
• Loaf of crusty bread, thickly sliced (or your favourite cracker)
• Unsalted butter, softened

Soft Hard-Boiled Eggs:

• 6 extra large eggs
• Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1. Carefully place the ingredients on a serving plate and serve.

Soft Hard-Boiled Eggs:

1. Place the eggs a large saucepan and cover them with cool tap water. Bring the water to a boil, lower the heat and simmer for 3 minutes.
2. Remove the eggs from the saucepan and immediately place them in a bowl of cold water until they are completely cool.
3. Remove the shells, slice each egg in half lengthwise, sprinkle with salt and pepper and serve.

Ingredients

• 2 cups pinto beans *
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise or salad dressing
• clove garlic, finely chopped
• 1/2 tsp red chiles, ground
• 1/4 tsp salt and pepper 

Directions

1. Mix all ingredients. Cover and refrigerate 1 hour. Serve with tortilla chips.
2. Makes 2 cups of dip.

* Pinto beans can be home cooked or canned.

From the New Yorker

There are more than forty thousand Chinese restaurants across the country—nearly three times the number of McDonald’s outlets. There is one in Pinedale, Wyoming (population 2,043), and one in Old Forge, New York (population 756); Belle Vernon, Pennsylvania (population 1,085), has three. Most are family operations, staffed by immigrants who pass through for a few months at a time, living in houses and apartments that have been converted into makeshift dormitories. The restaurants, connected by Chinese-run bus companies to New York, Chicago, and San Francisco, make up an underground network—supported by employment agencies, immigrant hostels, and expensive asylum lawyers—that reaches back to villages and cities in China, which are being abandoned for an ideal of American life that is not quite real.

Rain, who asked that I use his adopted English name to protect his identity, is reedy and slight, with a wide face and sloping cheekbones. He is observant, in no hurry to speak, but he is more cagey than timid. Like his boss, and like everyone else who works at the restaurant, he is primarily concerned with saving as much money as possible. He needs to pay the snakehead that got him to the U.S. and send money to his family in China. He harbors the vague suspicion that everyone around him is angling for more money, less work, or some other benefit at his expense. So, instead of conversation, Rain occupies himself with the math of a transient cook: the time it takes to clean the shrimp, the days before he can visit his girlfriend in New York, and the balance of his debts. At night, he lies on a cot in his boss’s otherwise empty living room, mulling the slow processing of his green card. During the day, if he’s feeling bold, he walks across the strip-mall parking lot to order lunch at Subway, pointing at the menu when he doesn’t know the English word for something.

“I understand why he acts like this,” Rain told me, about his boss. “He’s been working in that restaurant for almost twenty years. He goes back and forth between the restaurant and the dorm where we live. Back and forth, back and forth, every day for years.” The boss’s wife and kids are in China. “You do this kind of work for that long, and you start to lose perspective.” Rain pinched his fingers together. “Your world is this small.”

It can get kind of better

Six mornings a week, the boss picks up Rain and the other workers from their dorm and takes them to the restaurant. Their preparations have a catechistic order: first the rice cooker, then dishes for the buffet, then those for the lunch rush. Twice a week, a Chinese-run company brings supplies, and everyone gathers to butcher meat, hacking it into small pieces for quick cooking. They put on rubber gloves and pour salt and cornstarch over the meat, mix it by hand, then seal it and put it into the freezer. Chinese kitchens in the U.S. have none of the badinage that makes for good reality TV. In Rain’s kitchen, the only person who talks is the boss, complaining. When a buffet tray gets low, a waiter calls through an intercom, set at a startling volume: “We need more pineapple chicken up front!”

When Rain arrived in the U.S., he assumed that he had a fair proficiency with Chinese food. His father had prided himself on his culinary skill, and his mother was a capable cook, too. She taught him when to add spice to a dish, when to temper it with Chinese celery. Rain worked briefly as a fry cook in his village, and found that he had absorbed some of his parents’ knowledge. “Even if I’ve never cooked a dish before, I can think about it and draw from my experience,” he said. Having grown up on his father’s subtly flavored fish soups, he was surprised by American Chinese food. Americans seemed to eat like kids: they love starches and sweet things, and are frightened of meat and fish with bones in it. “Americans eat all that fried stuff,” he told me. “It’s not healthy.” Real Chinese food is more refined: “You have to spend a lot of time studying and really understanding it.”

In Maryland, most of the patrons seem to come for the buffet and eat as much as they can. Still, Rain loves watching people in the dining room. “I like seeing a clean plate,” he said. “I like it when people take the first bite of my food and they start nodding their head.” He spends hours trying to create a perfectly round Chinese omelette. “There’s a lot of kung fu in making egg foo young,” he told me. “If you have time, you’ll make it really perfect. You’ll make it bigger, better-looking, rounder. They’ll think, I spent so little money and I got such good food, and on top of that it’s good-looking. And then maybe they’ll come back.”

Rain viewed the job in Maryland as an opportunity to expand his repertoire. “In a takeout restaurant, people order the same dishes over and over,” he said. At a bigger restaurant, he could learn new dishes. And his salary—twenty-eight hundred dollars a month—was good, but not good enough to arouse concern. “If you come across a job paying three thousand, you think there must be something wrong with that restaurant,” he told me.

Rain lives with five co-workers in a red brick town house that his boss owns, part of a woodsy development near the restaurant. The house is tidy; there are three floors covered with white carpeting, and each worker has been supplied with an identical cot, a desk, a chair, and a lamp. “Some bosses don’t take care of the houses,” Rain said. “If they’re renting the house, especially, they don’t care. The rooms will actually smell.” Every restaurant worker has a story of sleeping in a dank basement or being packed in a room with five other people. Many complain of living in a house that has no washing machine, and being forced to spend their day off scrubbing their grease-spattered T-shirts in a sink.

So this is why he stays

For many restaurant workers, the decision to come to the U.S. is irrevocable. But, as the disappointments of immigrant life accrue, it can be hard not to imagine that things might be better elsewhere. Chinese-Americans, despite a good public image, suffer higher rates of poverty than the general public. Mental-health problems are an increasing concern in New York’s immigrant communities. In parts of China where the growing economy has given people more options, the allure of working in the U.S. has faded. This February, in a hostel in Queens, I met a woman who had just returned from a difficult day of job hunting. “I thought America would be heaven, and all it is is cold!” she complained. She returned to Beijing after four months. In Fuzhou, a taxi-driver told me that he was glad his attempts to emigrate had failed. “My father says that having a son in the United States is like having no son at all,” he said.

Rain tried not to dwell on returning to Maryland, where he was due in a few days. Everyone else who had worked at the restaurant when he started had been driven off by the boss’s temper. “And it’s so far away,” Rain said. If he could find a job somewhere closer, he could see Annie every weekend. As his family’s only son, Rain feels increasing pressure to send money home to his mother. But, he reasoned, everyone who comes to the U.S. should be prepared for hardship. “Everything we do, we do for the next generation,” he said, and added, “No matter what, it beats sitting around in the village.”

Pastry Ingredients

• 3 c Flour
• 1/2 ts Salt
• 4 tb Melted butter
• 1/2 c Yogurt
• 1/4 c Water

Filling Ingredients

• 3 tb Butter
• 1 md Onion, finely chop chopped
• 1 Tart green apple, cored and finely chopped
• 1 Clove garlic, minced
• 2 ts Ground cumin
• 1 ts Turmeric
• 1/2 ts Coriander
• 1 1/2 ts Salt
• 1/8 ts Ground black pepper
• 1/4 ts Crushed dried red peppers
• 1 lb Potatoes, peeled, cooked and riced
• 1/2 c Fresh peas (or thawed frozen), cooked
• 3 To 4 tablespoons yogurt
• Vegetable oil

1. Pastry: Sift flour and salt into bowl. Stir in melted butter, then yogurt, then water. Stir together until blended. Dough will appear dry and lumpy. Roll dough on pastry board and cut into 2 to 3-inch circles. Filling: In a large frying pan, melt butter over moderate heat.
2. Add onion, apple and garlic and saute until just tender. Add the spices, the salt, and the black and red peppers, and sauté, stirring for 5 minutes. Stir in potatoes and peas. Adjust seasoning. Add yogurt. Chill.
3. Assembly: Place 1 tablespoon chilled filling on dough circle. Fold over to form a semicircle. Moisten edges with a little water and pinch to seal. Repeat rolling and filling.
4. Place 2 cups vegetable oil in large frying pan or wok and heat over high heat. Fry pastries 4 or 5 at a time, turning once, until they turn a deep golden brown. Drain on paper tow towels. Serve hot.
5. Makes 25 to 30 past pastries.

From the San Francisco Chronicle, 8/18/88.

Ingredients

• 2 tablespoons Cooking oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Oregano
• 2 cans Green chilis
• 3 cups Chicken;shredded -- cooked
• 1 can Tomatoes -- 28
• 2 cups Cheddar cheddar -- grated
• 2 cups Onion -- chopped
• 1/3 cup Cooking oil
• 2 teaspoons -salt
• 15 Tortillas -- corn
• 1 Garlic clove -- minced
• 2 cups Sour cream

Directions

1. Preheat 2 Tbsp oil in skillet. Remove seeds from chilies. Chop chilies, then sauté with minced garlic in oil. Drain and break up tomatoes.
2. Reserve 1/2 cup liquid. Add tomatoes,1 tsp salt, oregano and reserved tomato liquid. Simmer, uncovered until thick, about 30 minutes. Remove sauce from skillet and set aside.
3. Combine chicken with sour cream, cheese and remaining salt. Heat 1/3 cup oil. Dip tortillas in oil until they become limp. Drain well on paper towels.
4. Fill tortillas with chicken mixture. Roll up. Arrange side by side, seam side down, in 9 x 13 x 2 inch baking dish. Pour chili sauce over enchiladas.
5. Bake at 250F degrees until heated through about 20 minutes.

Ingredients

• 12 ounces penne
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
• 1 1/2 cups half-and-half
• 1/2 cup grated parmesan cheese
• salt and pepper
• 1 lb boneless skinless chicken breast
• 1 1/2 tablespoons Cajun seasoning
• 1/4 teaspoon cayenne pepper (optional)
• 2 teaspoons vegetable oil
• 2 firm-ripe roma tomatoes, cored and diced

Directions

1. Bring a pot of salted water to a boil. Cook penne according to package directions.
2. Melt butter over medium heat. Add flour; stir for 1 minute. Add half-and-half; stir until thickened, 6 minutes. Remove from heat; add parmesan, salt and pepper. Cover.
3. Pound chicken to 1/2-inch thickness. Rub Cajun seasoning and cayenne evenly over chicken. Warm oil in a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken and cook, turning once, until no longer pink in center, 6-8 minutes. Slice chicken.
4. In a bowl, toss pasta with sauce. Top with chicken and tomatoes and serve.

Ingredients

• 1/2 c  (1 stick) butter,melted
• 1/4 c  Olive oil
• 1/4 c  Minced fresh herbs (parsley, thyme and cilantro)
• 3 tb Fresh lemon juice
• 3 lg Garlic cloves,crushed
• 1 tb Minced shallot
• Salt and pepper, freshly ground
• 1 1/2 lb medium large shrimp,unpeeled
• Spinach leaves Lemon slices

Directions

1. Combine first 8 ingredients in large bowl.  Mix in shrimp.  Marinate at room temperature 1 hour or in the refrigerator 5 hours,stirring occasionally. 
2. Prepare barbecue with medium hot coals.  Thread shrimp on narrow skewers.  Grill until just opaque,about 2 minutes per side.Line platter with spinach.  Arrange skewers on platter.  Garnish with lemon and serve. Makes 8 servings.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup of Nonfat Milk
• 3/4 cup seasoned bread crumbs
• 8 oz firm fish fillets (red-snapper, sea bass, etc.)
• Nonstick vegetable spray
• 8 corn tortillas
• 1 cup cabbage, shredded
• 1 tomato, sliced
• tartar sauce, or salsa and fresh cilantro (optional)

Directions

1. Pour milk into one shallow pan and bread crumbs into another.
2. Gently coat fish by dipping first into milk, then into crumbs. Be sure that the fish is completely coated.
3. Place fillets on a baking sheet that has been coated with nonstick spray and bake in a preheated 350 F oven for 10 minutes or until fish is done.
4. Warm the corn tortillas in the oven and place the fillets, cabbage and tomato slices on top.
5. Serve with tartar sauce or salsa and fresh cilantro, if desired.

Yield: 8 tacos

Ingredients

• Vegetable shortening or oil, for frying
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 1 1/2 tablespoons thinly sliced scallions (green onions)
• Garlic powder (optional)
• Wonton wrappers

Directions

1. Heat enough vegetable shortening or oil to fill 2 to 3 inches in a medium pot to 350 degrees F. If you have an electric fryer, you can use that.
2. Beat together the cream cheese and scallions. If desired a touch of garlic powder may be added for additional flavor. Spoon about 1 teaspoon of cream cheese mixture onto a wonton wrapper. Fold the wonton by brushing a little water over all of the edges of the wonton skin. Fold the wonton diagonally into a triangle. Be sure to seal all of the edges completely; this will keep the filling from running out of the wonton when being cooked. Take the two opposite corners and press and twist them together. You may need to tack them together by brushing with a little water.
3. When the shortening is heated, you can use a thermometer and test to see that it is 350 degrees F, or you may test with a small piece of wonton wrapper. If the wrapper bubbles immediately when dropped into the hot fat, it is ready. Drop only 4 or 5 pieces at a time into the hot fat. After about 1 minute, the wonton will begin to brown, then it will brown rapidly, so be careful to remove it when it is lightly browned. If your oil is shallow, you may need to flip over the wonton. Carefully remove the wontons and drain briefly on paper towels before serving.

Ingredients

• 3 pounds beef round steak or lean stewing beef -- cut in 1 1/2″ chunks
• 1/2 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon curry powder
• 2 cloves garlic -- minced
• 1 cup raisins
• 2 apples -- peel, core, slice
• 1 cup diced onion
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon pepper
• 1 14 oz can beef broth
• 2 apples, unpeeled, core -- finely chopped
• cooked rice

Directions

1. Wipe beef well. Mix flour and curry powder. Coat meat cubes with flour mixture. Place meat in Crock-Pot. Add garlic, raisins, sliced apples, onion, salt and pepper. Pour in broth and stir to blend. Cover and cook on Low for 8 to 10 hours or on High for 4 to 5 hours; until meat is tender.
2. Before serving, stir in additional curry powder to taste (up to 1 tablespoon) and chopped apples. Serve over hot fluffy rice.
3. Variation: 3 pounds cubed lean lamb may be substituted for the beef.

Ingredients

• 1 pound flank steak -- diagonally sliced

Marinade:

• 1/4 cup soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup water
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 4 cloves garlic -- chopped
• 2 teaspoons ginger root -- peeled, grated
• 2 scallions -- chopped
• 2 tablespoons oil
• 1 large onion
• 2 green peppers -- sliced

Directions

1. Marinate steak for 15 minutes or more. Add oil to hot wok.
2. Swirl and stir fry garlic, ginger and scallions for 30 seconds. With slotted spoon, reserving the marinade, add half the steak and stir fry for 3 minutes. Remove and set aside. Repeat with remaining steak. Add oil and stir fry onion and green peppers for 2 minutes. Push vegetables to sides of wok. Add marinade to center of wok and stir until thickened and bubbly. Blend in vegetables, add steak and heat thoroughly.

Ingredients

• 2 cups baby carrots
• 2 medium white turnips, (8 ounces total), peeled and cut into 3/4-inch-wide wedges
• 2 1/4 pounds boneless pork shoulder, (picnic or Boston-butt), trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch chunks
• 1 bunch scallions, sliced, white and green parts separated
• 1 14-ounce can reduced-sodium chicken broth
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup reduced-sodium soy sauce
• 3 tablespoons medium or dry sherry, (see Ingredient Note)
• 4 teaspoons brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon rice vinegar
• 2-4 teaspoons Chinese chile-garlic sauce
• 4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 star anise pod, or 1 teaspoon aniseed
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch mixed with 2 tablespoons water
• 2 tablespoons toasted sesame seeds, (see Ingredient Note) for garnish

Directions

1. Place carrots and turnips in the bottom and up the sides of a 4-quart or larger slow cooker. Top with pork and scallion whites. Bring broth, water, soy sauce, sherry, brown sugar, ginger, vinegar, chile-garlic sauce to taste and garlic to a simmer in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Pour over the pork and vegetables. Nestle star anise pod (or aniseed) and cinnamon stick into the stew. Cover and cook until the pork and vegetables are tender, 3 to 3 1/2 hours on high or 5 1/2 to 6 hours on low.
2. Discard the star anise pod and cinnamon stick. Skim or blot any visible fat from the surface of the stew. Add the cornstarch mixture, cover and cook on high, stirring 2 or 3 times, until slightly thickened, 10 to 15 minutes. Serve sprinkled with scallion greens and sesame seeds.

Sesame seeds can be purchased already toasted. If you can't find them, toast your own in a small dry skillet over low heat, stirring constantly, until golden and fragrant, about 2 minutes.

Ingredients

• 3 tablespoons oil
• 2 cloves garlic -- minced
• 2 small chicken breasts, boneless -- cuts
• 8 mushrooms -- sliced
• 2 stalks celery -- cut into strips
• 1/4 cup bamboo shoots -- sliced

Seasoning Sauce:

• 1 chicken bouillon cube -- dissolve 1
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry
• 1 tablespoon cornstarch
• 5 ounces chow mein noodles

1. Warm chow mein noodles in 325 degrees oven for 5 minutes.
2. Combine sauce ingredients and set aside. Add oil to hot wok. Swirl, add garlic and stir fry for 30 seconds. Add chicken. Stir fry for 3 minutes or until chicken turns opaque. Remove and set side. Add vegetables and stir fry over medium heat for 2 minutes. Push vegetables to sides of wok. Restir sauce mixture and add to center of wok, stirring until thick and bubbly. Add chicken and heat.
3. Serve with chow mein noodles.

Ingredients

• 2 teaspoon Ginger -- minced
• 1/2 pound Beef, lean -- strips
• 2 tablespoon Wine -- Shaoxing or dry sher
• 1 1/2 teaspoon Cornstarch
• 3 tablespoon Soy sauce -- dark
• 3 tablespoon Oil
• 1/2 teaspoon Oil -- sesame
• 1 pound Asparagus -- cut into 2″ piece

Directions

1. In medium bowl, combine ginger, wine, soy sauce and sesame oil. Toss beef strips in mixture and marinate 30 minutes to several hours. Drain beef and reserve marinade. Combine marinade with enough water to make 1/3 cup.
2. Dissolve cornstarch in this mixture. Heat wok on high heat and add 1 tbls. oil. Add beef to pan; stir-fry until meat loses raw color, about 1 minute.  Remove meat from pan. Add rest of oil to wok. Add asparagus and stir-fry on medium heat until heated through. Return beef to pan; add reserved marinade. Increase heat to high and cook until sauce thickens.
3. Serve immediately.

VARIATIONS: When asparagus is not in season, sliced Chinese or Western-style broccoli can be used in its place. For a richer sauce, reduce soy sauce in marinade to 1 tbls. dark soy; add 2 tbls oyster sauce to pan during last step.

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2 pounds of large or jumbo shrimp
• 3 tablespoons jerk seasoning (commercial brand or make your own)
• 4 tablespoons Olive Oil

Directions:

1. Mix the shrimp, jerk seasoning, and olive oil together. Set aside to marinate in the refrigerator for 30 minutes to 1 hour.
2. While the shrimp is marinating, make the mango mint salsa and sour cream dip.

Grilling the shrimp

• Traditionally, jerk recipes are cooked over pimento wood. If this isn't available to you, a gas grill or charcoal barbecue will do just fine.
• After the shrimp has marinated, light the grill. While the grill is warming up, place the shrimp on skewers. Soak wooden skewers before using them.
• If you desire, you can place any fruit or vegetable you like on the skewers between the shrimps. I chose cherry tomatoes fresh from my garden. But, you can use chunks of pineapple, mango, onions, peppers, etc. 
• When the skewers are ready, grill the shrimp over a medium flame or use indirect heat on a charcoal grill if necessary. Shrimp cooks quickly. You will need only a few minutes per side so don't leave the grill unattended. Overcooked shrimp turns rubbery.
• The shrimp will be pink when done.

Serve on a plate or platter with the mango mint salsa and sour cream dip. Jamaican rice and peas go well with this recipe.

Ingredients

• 6 green onions (a.k.a. scallions or spring onions)
• 1 to 3 scotch bonnet peppers (you decide how hot you want it)
• 2 teaspoons all spice berries (or 1 teaspoon dried and ground)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup cane vinegar (or cider vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation:

1. Grind the above ingredients together in a mortar and pestle or with a food processor/blender.
2. Store in a glass container in the refrigerator.

Ingredients:

• 6 green onions (a.k.a. scallions or spring onions)
• 1 to 3 scotch bonnet peppers (you decide how hot you want it)
• 2 teaspoons all spice berries (or 1 teaspoon dried and ground)
• 1 tablespoon fresh thyme (or 1 1/2 teaspoon dried)
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
• 1 teaspoon brown sugar
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1/4 cup cane vinegar (or cider vinegar)
• 1 tablespoon olive oil

Preparation:

Dhaal (or Dhal) Puri is a type of Indian-inspired flat bread that is made in the Caribbean. The flat bread is stuffed with a seasoned filling of ground split peas. A Dhal Puri can be eaten as is or with a sour (a type of chutney). In the Caribbean it is often eaten with some type of meat or poultry curry. Vegetarian options are also available.

Ingredients:
Filling

• 1 cup yellow split peas, soaked overnight
• Salt to taste
• 4 cloves garlic, chopped
• Hot pepper to taste, chopped
• 2 tsp ground cumin

Dough

• 4 cups all purpose flour
• 4 tsp baking powder
• 1 tsp sugar
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 Tbsp oil
• 1 1/4 cups lukewarm water (a little more or less may be needed)

Cooking

• Vegetable or Canola oil

Directions
FILLING:

• Drain water from peas that has been soaking overnight. Rinse peas a few times until the water runs clear. Transfer peas to a pot along with water to cover the peas and bring to a boil on high heat. When the peas comes to a boil, add salt to taste and cook until the peas has a slight bite to it. Drain thoroughly and spread out on a large baking sheet to air dry.
• Add garlic and pepper to the bowl of a food processor and pulse to mince. Scrap down the sides of the bowl. Add peas and pulse until the mixture is very fine, like cornmeal. The mixture should not be like it paste. Transfer to a bowl and fluff with a fork.
• Add cumin, mix and fluff. Set aside.

DOUGH:

• Meanwhile, add flour, baking powder, sugar and salt to a large bowl and mix thoroughly. Drizzle in oil and incorporate into mixture.
• Add lukewarm water to make a dough. Once the dough comes together, knead for 3 minutes. Rub oil all over the dough and place in bowl and let rest for at least 30 minutes.

ASSEMBLING:

• Knead rested dough for 1 - 2 minutes and then cut into 10 - 12 equal pieces.
• Working with one piece of dough at a time, pat each piece into a round disk, about 3 inches wide. Place the dough in one hand and form a cup. Using a tablespoon, add the filling to the dough (do not over stuff). Pinch the ends of the dough together to seal in the filling.
• Place the stuffed dough, seam-side down on an oiled baking sheet. Pat each stuffed dough-ball with a little oil to prevent a skin from forming.
• Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all the dough is stuffed. Cover the stuffed dough with plastic wrap and let rest for 30 minutes.

COOKING:

• Heat a tawah (flat iron griddle) or a 10 - 12 inch cast iron skillet over medium heat.
• Meanwhile, flour work surface and rolling pin. Take one of the stuffed dough-balls and flatten with your hand; working from the center, start rolling the dough back and forth, turn the dough to a 90-degree angle and keep rolling and turning until you have a round, thin, flat dough (it may be necessary to dust the rolling pin or work surface with a little extra flour as you work).
• Dust off any excess flour and transfer the rolled dough to the tawah, griddle or cast iron skillet. Let cook until parts of the dough start to puff up with little bubbles; immediately flip the roti, brush with oil, let cook for 30 seconds then flip and brush the other side, cook for another 30 - 45 seconds and then remove from heat with a flat spatula. Reduce heat if the roti is browning quickly and not cooking through.
• Place in a basket lined with a tea towel and kitchen paper.
• Repeat steps 2 and 3 until all the dhal puri is cooked. To prevent the puri(s) sticking together, place a 4-inch piece of wax paper between each dhal puri as it is added to the basket.

Here is a classic Guyanese recipe

Ingredients

• 8 oz flour
• 3 tsp baking powder
• 2 oz margarine or ghee, optional

Oiling

• ½ pt cooking oil, or 4 oz ghee

Dredging

• ¾ cup flour

Directions

• Sieve the flour and baking powder into a mixing bowl. Rub in the margarine or ghee if used.
• Using water, mix into a soft but not sticky dough and leave to stand for about 10 minutes.
• Cut into 8 pieces.
• Roll each piece out thinly on a floured board. Spread oil evenly over the surface and sprinkle lightly with a pinch of flour.
• Fold in layers round or square so as to trap air.
• Leave to stand 10 minutes or longer if desired.
• Roll out each piece thinly and place on a heated greased griddle or tawah.
• Turn on both sides to ensure even cooking, and brush over with oil to prevent sticking.
• Remove from the heat and clap out air immediately from the roti.
• Fold and place in a towel or grease-proof paper.
• Note:A clean cotton towel may be used instead of bare hands for clapping, and a cast iron frying pan is an excellent substitute for a tawah.

Alternative Roti recipe

Ingredients

• 4 cups sifted white flour
• 4 tbsp (¼ lb.) shortening or margarine (or a mixture of both)
• 2 tbsp baking powder
• 1 tsp salt
• 1½ cup water

Directions

• Sift together the flour, baking powder, and salt
• Cut in the shortening until the mixture is about like coarse cornmeal
• Add water and mix to a stiff dough
• Cut into small pieces and roll into balls about the size of a small orange.
• Roll out and cook on hot baking stone (tawah).

Bubble and squeak is a traditional British dish made with the shallow-fried leftover vegetables from a roast dinner. The main ingredients are potato and cabbage, but carrots, peas, Brussels sprouts, or any other leftover vegetables can be added. The chopped vegetables (and cold chopped meat if used) are fried in a pan together with mashed potatoes or crushed roast potatoes until the mixture is well-cooked and brown on the sides. The dish is so named because it makes bubbling and squeaking sounds during the cooking process.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 pounds potatoes -- peeled and chunked
• 1 pound green cabbage -- roughly chopped
• 1 small onion -- peeled and chopped
• salt and pepper to taste
• 1 large egg
• 1 knob butter (abt 2 Tablespoons)

Directions

1. Cook potatoes in salted water until soft. Drain and mash,if desire, or leave in chunks. Plunge the cabbage into boiling water (salted).  Cook for 5 mins. drain well and finely chop. (like for slaw) Mix potatoes and cabbage with the onion. Add seasoning and the egg. Put the mixture in frying pan. (It needs to be a rather deep pan). Fry in butter until golden brown.