Receta Green Fig (banana) and Saltfish Pie
I love to play with food: The ideas, thoughts, methods and approaches. Probably it is this creative and somewhat playful angle to cooking that always have me thinking up new recipes or twists to old recipes. Sometimes I just ask myself a question about a particular ingredient or dish and this leads me to coming up with something new and exciting, from our Caribbean produce.
Questions like: How will this taste if I paired it with this ingredient? or Why not try this ingredient in a different way from the traditional perspective? or even What new dish could be prepared using this ingredient? …Of course this goes on at length in my mind like a debate pushing the limits to what is expected and the norm. But we cannot go too far away from the norm and be termed avant garde in our meal preparation.
Anyhow, with these and many other questions/ musings, I finally came up with a unique spin on an old friend of a dish we know as Mr. Green fig and Saltfish. Now I know some of you may say that this dish is already great as it is and really Trini to de Bone, but my questions lead me to What if? and Why not try this? So here I was in the kitchen as usual minding my business when the idea came to me to take this dish and make it into a one dish meal.
So using methods, from the normal way we make fig pie here in Trinidad and Tobago and adding a saltfish layer we had a pyrex dish of innovation baking away in the oven….at 350 degrees lol Here’s Green Fig and Saltfish Pie.
- GREEN FIG AND SALTFISH PIE
- 11 green fig (banana), boiled and crushed
- 1 1/4 cups flaked saltfish
- 4 med tomatoes
- 1 med onion
- 2 pimento peppers
- 2 tbsp oil
- 3 cloves garlic
- 2 tsp. tomato paste
- 1 cup parmesan cheese
- 1 1/2 cup cheddar cheese
- 1 tsp. paprika
- 1 tsp. allspice powder
- 1 tsp. garlic powder
- 1 tsp. onion powder
- 2 tbsp butter parsley
- 3/4 cup cooking cream
- 1 egg, beaten
In a medium-sized pot, cook the green fig. Then remove the skin.
Note: Add a few drops of oil to the water to prevent the pot from getting sticky and hard to clean.
Dice the green fig and set aside.
Cook the saltfish and remove the fishbone, if there is any.
Break the saltfish into small pieces.
Saute the onion, pimento, and garlic.
Add the tomatoes and leave to cook for about 5 minutes.
Then add the saltfish and tomato paste.
Cook for another 3 minutes or until most of the liquid has been absorbed.
Set aside.
To the diced green fig, add paprika, allspice powder, garlic powder, onion powder, butter and parsley. Mix well.
In a bowl mix the two cheeses.
Add 1 1/2 cups of the cheese and the beaten egg.
Mix well.
Place half of the green fig mixture in a greased baking dish. Top with the stewed saltfish.
Pour the rest of the greenfig mixture over the stewed saltfish.
Finally spread the rest of the grated cheese over the pie.
Place in a 350 degrees F oven and bake for about 30 minutes or until the pie is golden on the top.
Well that’s it for another post. If you like my green fig and saltfish pie why not leave a comment or two.
Ah gone