BARBADOS...MACARONI PIE AND CHICKEN IN A THICK WINE SAUCE

There are perhaps few people who like their mac and cheese more than southerners...and they are all found in Barbados. Transplanted from the United States, the people of the the Caribbean island of Barbados have transformed the simple mac and cheese into the spicier macaroni pie...often called simply "pie".

Boil 8 ounces of long tube macaroni for about 8 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350. drain the macaroni, and put it back into the pot you boiled it in. Add a tablespoon of butter and mix. Then add, slowly, a little bit at a time, 12 ounces of grated cheddar cheese. I simply bought a bag of shredded cheese. You want to melt this while the macaroni is hot. Whisk an egg and add. Stir in a cup of milk, two teaspoons of onion powder or minced onion, a teaspoon of white pepper, a teaspoon of salt, half a teaspoon of pepper sauce and a teaspoon of hot English mustard. I actually used spiced mustard.

After everything has been mixed together, take out a Pyrex casserole dish. I sprayed the dish with olive oil, and put the macaroni mixture in the dish. I put a few pats of butter on top, and sprinkled a little more cheese on it. This bakes for 35 minutes. The result is a wonderful twist on mac and cheese.



MACARONI PIE:

8OZ MACARONI
1 TABLESPOON BUTTER
12OZ SHREDDED SHARP CHEDDAR CHEESE
1 EGG
1 CUP MILK
2 TEASPOONS ONION POWDER OR MINCED ONION
1 TEASPOON OF HOT ENGLISH MUSTARD OR SPICED MUSTARD
1 TEASPOON WHITE PEPPER
1 TEASPOON SALT
1/2 TEASPOON RED PEPPER SAUCE

GARNISH:

BREAD CRUMBS
PATS OF BUTTER
SHREDDED CHEESE

Next on the menu was chicken thighs in a heavy wine sauce. Ordinarily, Caribbean chicken is grilled. It is February, and my grill needs to be replaced; so, I improvised and cooked the chicken in a heavy wine sauce. I used a fruity blush wine to give it an island flavor. Maybe it will catch on in Barbados.

On a plate, I mixed a quarter cup of all purpose flour, half a teaspoon of salt, a quarter teaspoon of ground black pepper, and half a teaspoon of dried oregano. I used this mixture to coat a pound of skinless, boneless chicken thighs. In a large skillet, I melted 4 tablespoons of butter in 4 tablespoons of olive oil over medium heat. I know! Yummy...right? I lightly browned the chicken on both sides.

I added half a cup of fruity blush wine. Nothing too sweet; but, choose a wine that is not dry. i also added a quarter cup of Marsala cooking wine. Here's a tip. I tasted the blush wine from the bottle, and loved it. i forgot that the Marsala was a cooking wine, because i usually don't use cooking wines. I took a swig, straight out of the bottle, swallowed...and felt ill for about an hour. Don't do that. I simmered the chicken in this sauce for 5 minutes on each side. This, and the macaroni pie, had me singing island songs for the rest of the night. Okay...maybe that was caused by the bottle and a half of blush wine I had to drink to get the salty cooking wine taste out of my mouth...and the half a bottle of rum needed to get that fruity taste out of my mouth...and the 2 pints of beer to get that rum aftertaste to go away...but I do remember that there were island songs.



CHICKEN IN WINE SAUCE:

1 LB OF CHICKEN
1/4 CUP ALL PURPOSE FLOUR
1/2 TEASPOON OF SALT
1/4 TEASPOON BLACK PEPPER
1/2 TEASPOON DRIED OREGANO
4 TABLESPOONS BUTTER
4 TABLESPOONS OLIVE OIL
1/2 CUP SEMI SWEET WINE
1/4 CUP MARSALA COOKING WINE