Achiote paste, favored in Yucatán and Oaxacan cuisine, is made from the slightly bitter, earthy flavored, red annatto seeds, mixed with other spices and ground into a paste. Achiote is a distinctly colored and flavored mainstay of the Mexican kitchen.

A typical preparation mixes:
1/4 cup annatto seeds
1 tablespoon coriander seeds
1 tablespoon oregano
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 teaspoon black peppercorns
2 whole cloves
1 teaspoon salt
5 cloves of garlic, peeled
1/2 cup bitter orange juice (Seville) or 1/3 cup white vinegar

Grind the spices (annatto, coriander, cumin, peppercorns, oregano and cloves) in a spice mill or with a mortar and pestle. Blend the ground spices with the salt, garlic and the bitter orange juice until it is smooth. Rub the mixture onto chicken, pork or fish and let it marinate for 4–6 hours then cook as usual. Or use the achiote as an ingredient in another dish.

The paste is dissolved in either lemon juice, water, oil or vinegar to create a marinade, and marinated or rubbed directly upon meat. The meat is then grilled, baked, barbecued or broiled. Sometimes it is added to corn dough to create a zesty flavor and color in empanadas and red tamales.   

Recipe and information from Wikipedia

Ingredients
2 lbs eggplant, peeled, cut into 1 inch pieces
1/4 cup thinly sliced scallions
1/4 cup diced red pepper
4-6 basil leaves - thinly cut
1/4 cup grated parmesan 
1/4 cup sharp cheddar cheese 
2 eggs beaten
1/2 cup itallian bread crumbs
1 tsp butter
1-2 large tomatoes thinly sliced
salt to taste

Preparation
Steam eggplant until tender, drain and mash. Add butter, scallions, pepper and basil. Mix well then add eggs and bread crumbs and mix.

Butter a baking dish, line pan with sliced tomatoes, add eggplant mixture. Top with sliced tomates, top with cheeses.

Bake in 350 degree oven for 20-30 min or until cheese is lightly brown. Serve and enjoy.

Recipe by Frandelle Gerard, inspired by The Vegetarian Epicure by Anna Thomas 1972

Ingredients
Green Papaya (peeled)
Eggs
Vegetable Oil (for frying)
Whole Wheat Flour
Noodles
Soy Sauce
Milk
Olive Oil
Onions
Salt, Pepper
Chili

Preparation

1. Cut the peeled papayas in slices and boil in hot water until consistency softened. Bring water for noodles to a boil and cook according to package instructions.

2. Sift papayas. Heat vegetable oil in a pan. Put half of the slices of papaya first in mixed eggs (seasoned with salt and pepper), then in flour and then fry in pan from both sides.

3. Heat olive oil and stir-fry onions. Add battered papaya slices and heat for a moment.

4. Put soy sauce, a bit of milk, chili in a pot and thicken with a little flour. Then add noodles and rest of sliced papayas.

5. Serve noodle mix with battered papaya-onion mix on top. Enjoy.

Recipe by Nadja Hofmann

Ingredients

For the dough
½ cup chilled butter plus 3 tablespoons lard
2 cups all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
5 to 6 tablespoons cold water

For the topping
2 cups milk or cream
1 cup shredded cheese
1 onion, chopped in cubes
3-4 eggs
bunch of Chaya (boiled for 15 minutes), cut in slices
salt, paprika, nutmeg

Preparation
Mix the ingredients for the dough and spread it out in a buttered pie dish. Make sure that you have dough standing out on the sides so the liquid topping will stay inside. Bake in the oven for 20 minutes at 350 F.

Beat the eggs and mix with milk and the seasoning.

Get the dough out of the oven and put the egg-milk mixture on top. Add the chopped onion, the sliced Chaya and the shredded cheese.

Put back in the oven for about 30 more minutes. Check on it when it starts to smell good. Serve warm or cold. Enjoy.

Recipe by Nadja Hofmann (based on the "Joy of Cooking")

CSA Bounty (We use stems, peels, and all unless noted)
Tat Soi, entire bunch, shredded
Mizuna, entire bunch, shredded
Bok Choy, I had only rind, sliced thin
Green Tomatoes, the more the better, sliced thin!!!!
Pole Beans, entire bunch, sliced thin lengthwise ‘julienne’
Green Papaya, 1, peeled, deseeded, then shredded
Basil, entire bunch 
Turmeric, large hunk, peeled
Lemon Grass, blended paste from previous week, 1 Tbsp?
Green Onion, 6 whole (we include roots and all) 
Chiles, 2, deseeded, stem removed 
Sugar Cane, a simple syrup from previous week, 1 Tbsp?
Moringa Powder, sprinkled in ~ 1 Tbsp

Non-CSA Ingredients
Ginger, medium chunk, peeled
Cumin, a good bit
Cinnamon Stick, a good bit, grated on micro planer
Curry, a good bit, I used green paste, but to each their own
Coconut Milk, 3 Cups
Garlic, 10 Cloves, peeled then minced
Red Onion, 1 Large, peeled then sliced thin
Garbanzo Beans, 2 Cups, cooked
 
Optional
Chicken, 1 lb, sliced thin* 
Brown Rice, to serve curry over


Basic Methodology 
To make the sauce, blend until smooth: Basil, Turmeric, Lemon Grass paste, Green Onion, Chilies, Sugar Cane syrup, Moringa Powder, Ginger, Cumin, Cinnamon, Curry, and Coconut Milk.  Set sauce aside.    
 
In a big deep skillet heat a splash of oil on medium heat.  Sauté veggies until soft. I went Red Onions and Garlic till soft.  Added Pole Beans and Green Papaya cooked covered until soft. Then added Green Tomatoes and Garbanzo Beans for a few minutes before adding Tat Soi, Mizuna, and Bok Choy along with the Sauce. Finally reducing to simmer until everything was nicely thickened and cooked together. Throw over brown rice & eat. Also surprisingly tasty served cold either over rice, in a wrap, or on a salad of lettuce.  
 
*If you are adding chicken: Pour just enough blended sauce over sliced raw chicken to cover and let sit for 30 minutes to marinate then cook chicken in small batches spreading pieces out in the pan so they are not crowded. Brown for a few minutes on each side. When the chicken pieces are cooked and no pink remains, remove from pan. Use the same pan to cook the veggies as above but add the cooked chicken and remainder of the sauce back to the pan at the same point you add the last batch of veggies.
 
Oh yes, my personal waffling statement: I have a hard time with recipes.  Cooking uses so many of my senses but often bypasses my brain so at the table if there is an enthusiastic reception and the question of, “what’s in here” I am reduced to checking my cutting board to investigate what went in the pot.   Thus all elements are estimates, and most likely results are not exactly replicable, isn’t that nice?  We just ended up loving this dish and were so excited that it could represent such tastiness from all our CSA odds and ends lingering around the kitchen. Cheers!

Recipe by Diana and Rustin Cameron via Member 2 Member

Homegrown Win!
The judges at Taste of St. Croix had a dish we are sure they will remember for a long time. As they received the dish, in came all the parts: a whole pumpkin opened at the top like a jack-o-lantern, a bamboo tray with coconut shell cups containing fresh ingredients, a bamboo insulator with red-hot stones, tongs, safety glasses, and directions.

1) Put on safety glasses

2) Remove the pumpkin lid (which contained fresh local red snapper broth)

3) Add first 2 coconut cups containing fresh hand-sqeezed coconut milk and sliced kaffir lime, grated ginger and turmeric, and finely chopped lemongrass

4) Add red hot Caledonia stones (just pulled from the fire) from container with tongs into pumpkin until water boils, then cover and let simmer for 3 minutes

5) Remove pumpkin lid, let steam off, then add diced heirloom cherokee purple tomatoes and malabar spinach to finish

6) Serve with ladle into coconut cups, enjoy! 

We have to admit, we were surprised and elated to hear our names over the loudspeaker as first place winners, especially with such fine restaurants Savant and Tutto Bene in 2nd and 3rd place in the category! We are sure that with our farm-grown creation the judges really got a true taste of St. Croix!

Thanks to all the help -Jessica, Shelli, Patrick, and Nadja for making this laborious dish a huge success!

Recipe by Nate Olive & Tahirah Abu-Bakr

Ingredients
3* West Indian Locust (unshelled)
1 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp nutmeg
1 gallon water

Preparation
Blend stinking toes with one gallon water. Add nutmeg and brown sugar. Serve with ice.


Recipe from www.jamaicans.com

Ingredients
2 ½ tablespoons flour
2/3 cup cane/natural sugar
1/3 cup locust powder
2 ½ cups coconut milk
2 egg yolks – beat – (set egg whites aside)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
 
Preparation
Combine flour, sugar, locust powder and milk. Stir and cook over double boiler (over boiling water).

Stir constantly, add beaten egg yolk, and continue to cook until it thickens.

Now whip egg white, add salt and then fold together into the mix – set to cook. Put in freezer trays or bowl until frozen.

Serve in tall glasses. Top with whipped cream, ground chocolate, or fresh fruit.

Recipe by Chef Tahirah Abu-Bakr

Serves 4

Preparation time: 20 minutes

Ingredients
1-2 Sliced Heirloom Green Tomatoes
3/4 cup Buttermilk
Corn Meal (look for non-GMO)
1/4 cup flour
Salt & pepper to taste
Other dried & cropped seasonings
Vegetable oil, deep or light fry

Preparation
Basically its a mixture of corn meal and flour or panko (a little more corn meal than flour), salt, pepper, and whatever fresh herbs you have.

Dip seasoned tomato slices in buttermilk (if you have, much better than milk...add a little hot sauce in there if you want), then dip in cornmeal/flour or panko mixture, then set on a rack until you fry in vegetable oil.

Also good if you dip in cornmeal mixture, then buttermilk, then cornmeal again. After you fry them, set them in a warm oven until you serve. 

The aioli we made was a mixture of stuff that we kept adding to until we liked it....but basically it's just mayo with a bunch of herbs.....yummy!!

Erin's award-winning 2006 Bush Chef Recipe

Serves 4
Preparation time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups fresh coconut milk
2 cups diced green papaya
1 cups diced chayote (WEAR GLOVES WHEN HANDLING TO PREVENT SLIGHT CAUSTIC AFFECT)
2 tablespoons curry power
1 teaspoon minced turmeric
salt & pepper to taste
1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup chopped green onions
1 tablespoon coconut oil

Directions:
Saute onions & green papaya until papaya gets soft. The add chayote & other seasonings, mix to cover chunks with seasoning. Both chayote and papaya really soak up the seasoning! 

Once soft, add coconut milk and let simmer for 5 minutes. Add some whole hot peppers before this step for optional extra seasoning. Do not overcook, or chunks can lose firmness.

Serve hot, but let cool slightly first, as papaya and chayote can really retain heat even when the rest of dish is only warm.

Recipe by Shelli Brin, inspired by Angletta Pascal