Weeknight Haitain Inspired Meal!

Stew Chicken, Black Rice, Haitian Mac N Cheese, and Fried Plantain: Weeknight Haitian Inspired Meal

Sometimes you just have to roll up your sleeve, head into the kitchen, and cook something that may be outside of your comfort zone. I grew up in a Jamaican household with both parents being Jamaican so I’m accustomed to curry goat, curry chicken, esocovitch fish, and all of the traditional Jamaican food you could think of. I was born in London, but my Jamaican born parents kept me rooted in my culture by raising me with the same values they were raised on. I grew up close to my culture. The customs and traditions familiar to most Jamaicans were not lost at all. We ate fried fish and bun & cheese on every Good Friday, Christmas time smelled like rum cake baking and sorrel boiling, not to mention rice and peas on a Sunday was religion!

When I married my husband, whose family is Haitian, I knew that I’d have to make a commitment to infusing his culture in with mine so that we ensured our children remained grounded in their roots. Well what does that look like? It looks like soup joumou on every New Year’s Day, trips to the Haitian bakery for patties and bread after church on Sundays, Easter bun & fried fish on Good Friday, and Cremas along with sorrel and rum cake during Christmas holidays. It’s no easy feat, but we make the effort to ensure our children honor who they truly are, which is half Haitian, and half Jamaican!

A few days ago, I took my son shopping with me. We went to a Haitian market called Chez Mireille on Linden Blvd in Cambria Heights and I used that opportunity to teach him about the Haitian side of his family. I showed him the green plantains we’d be using to make banan peze, he helped me picked up some djon djon mushroom to make black rice, he was curious about colorful scotch bonnet peppers, and he really took interest in the art of haitian cooking.

When we arrived home, he helped me prepare the chicken, he used a tostonera to help smash the green plantains and he felt really connected to the meal! He experienced shopping for the ingredients, and coming home to cook. I prepared a delicious haitian inspired meal of diri ak djon djon (black rice), stewed chicken with tomato paste base for the gravy, haitian mac n cheese, and banan peze (fried green plantain). We had it with avocado (zaboca) on the side and it was absolutely delicious! Take a journey with is in this video where I explore exactly how this meal came together.