Tuesday, June 12, 2007

They Drive on the Left Down Here...

...but no accidents so far.

A lovely flight to St. Martin, quick cab ride and one ferry boat later, I am on the peaceful Island of Anguilla.

I am writing you from an internet cafe/grocery store in sun-drenched Shoal Bay, and soon back to the villa to prepare grilled fillet mignon (brought frozen by my employers), but since they are fairly small steak, also fettucine Alfredo in addition to the Caesar salad and baked potato (they insisted) that had already been planned on.

Last night wasn't my best: Does anyone know how to make "rice and peas" (that Caribbean for white rice with kidney beans) using coconut milk in the rice? I can't seem to make this dish work without turning the rice almost into a pudding before it is cooked through.

I have some wonderful photos that I will have to upload on my return to the District of Columbia. I've lucky to get a keyboard and a screen. But you won't hear any complaints from me.

It is hot as the dickens. Humid, too. Like the Washington in August, just as I expect. We have strong breezes, crystal clear views across the water to St. Martin and thunderstorms at night.

My employers are requesting lobster sometime this week, so I suppose I'll have to grab my snorkeling gear and get busy. Grocery shopping has never been so much fun. As expected, produce is weak. They don't grow anything on the island. Everything from thumb tacks to graph paper to lettuce is shipped in. Hence, rows and rows of frozen food and canned goods in the grocery stores.

Later, everyone....

2 comments:

Unknown said...

advice around the office is to cook the rice and the beans separately (but don't let anyone from the west indies know). add the coconut milk to the beans while they cook, then add the cooked rice to the beans afterwards. hope that helps!

Ed Bruske said...

And the ladies I talked to on the island suggesting first bringing equal amounts of water and coconut milk to a boil, then adding the rice. They'd never heard of cooking rice in straight coconut milk, as one of Jessica Harris' recipe suggests. I need to do some more work on my rice technique...