My favorite Jamaican meal. Stewed peas/beans

This is my favorite dish and nobody made it better than my mom. It's basically red beans boiled down to a stew (hence the name)with cured and fresh meats served with white rice. Usually made with beef and/or pork.There are different versions that are made with chicken, tofu to a meatless vegetarian style. I personally like pork so in this version I used salted/ cured pigs tail, beef and oxtail.

Ingredients
Dried red Beans.
Meat of choice beef, pork, lamb or chicken
Garlic
Green onion/ scallions
Habanero pepper
All spice/pimento
Thyme
Salt
Black pepper
Flour
Rice

Recipe
It's sometimes better to soak the cured meat overnight to remove excess salt.
1. In a large pot put beans and garlic in cold water and bring to a boil then add beef and pork. If using cured meat no need to add salt since it's already salted. If using chicken add when the beans are almost done cooking.
2.When beans and meat are soft to the touch of a fork add spinners which is a dough made from water flour and salt then rolled in skinny long shapes that's looks like a larger version of spaghetti.
3. Add scallions, all spice, thyme and habernero/chili pepper and reduce heat until it boils into a thick rich stew.

4.Wash rice and put on with a pinch of salt (optional) and butter lowering heat as it gets to boil.
When done flake with fork and serve in a plate with Stew and enjoy!

Welcome to HastaTomato.com! Four Friendly Cooks in the Kitchen!

My name is Lee Karchawer and I've called on 3 of my close friends to join me in a blogging experience about something I think we all love: FOOD!  A few years ago, I started a cooking blog and it was so much fun sharing my cooking experiences and finished meals with my family, friends and followers.  So I proposed to myself a question.

The question: What could be better than having your own cooking blog to share meals, recipes and pictures of delicious food?

The answer: A cooking blog to share meals, recipes and pictures of delicious food with 3 friends who know how to mix things up in the kitchen too!  

Be on the look out for fun posts, great recipes, delicious looking meals and we will even occasionally post videos!

A special treat:
Chocolate Cowabunga Empanada

Ingredients (very simple):

Banana (sliced)

Peanut Butter (chocolate or regular)

Cinnamon

Honey

Melted Butter

Vanilla Ice Cream

Empanada dough

Flour

Powdered sugar

Recipe:

1. Drizzle empanada dough with melted butter on both sides and lay on a tray with flour.

2. Mix peanut butter (chocolate or regular) with honey and cinnamon - you could also do nutella as well.

3. Spread peanut butter mix on the dough and lay banana slices (thin) on top.

4. Fold the empanada, fork the ends, and bake for 17-20 minutes.

5. Serve with vanilla ice cream, honey drizzle and powdered sugar.

(I also think substituting chocolate chips with regular peanut butter instead of chocolate peanut butter could taste great as well.)

This meal is a great dessert! High in protein, fiber and vegetarian!

Let's meet the Tomatoes...

Ian Bel: Mr. Cross-Food, a perfect blend of Cross-Fit meets Great Food! Ian loves to travel and live a healthy lifestyle.  He plans to share meals you can prepare quickly but are also super healthy and taste great!  Follow him @ianmbel on Twitter and Instagram

Shar Anderson: One of my most favorite people in the world, Shar is Jamaican and makes the best dishes with Caribbean spices and flavor that you'll ever eat. She hopes to soon open a restaurant and we will be lucky customers when she does!  And yes...it's very hard for me to deal with but Shar is a big Miami Heat and Miami Dolphins fan...Go Nets! Follow her on Instagram at @bossladytrudz

Bert Gervais: For all of the single guys out there or the ladies who want to drop a hint to the guys they're dating, meet Bert Gervais.  You might recognize Bert as The Mentor Guy, helping people find success mentors. He's also here to help single guys prepare quick and easy to make meals (in under 30 minutes) for a fun date night.  He subscribes to the "Food is Love" philosophy. Follow Bert on Instagram, @BertGervais 

Lee Karchawer: That's me! I'm inspired by sharing fun recipes of dishes from all over the world. I will be working hard to keep up with my fellow Tomatoes above and I really hope you all enjoy our posts to come.  Please follow our blog on facebook and twitter and all of the other social sharing sites.  You can follow me directly on Instagram, @kaptainkosh ...get ready to be "Cookin' with the Kaptain"