Saturday, May 1: Rums of Puerto Rico!

Laura spent the week on a shoot for Tennis Channel in Puerto Rico, the rum capital of the world. One of the sponsors of the episode is Rums of Puerto Rico, who insisted on promoting their rum varieties at all times. Don Q (only available in the US in Miami & NY) is supposed to be the best rum out there.

In honor of Puerto Rican rum, we set out to find a fun, tropical, rum-based dish. While you might be expecting a rum cocktail to accompany the entree, Laura is a little Mojito-ed out, so we're going to start with a small taste of the Don Q Gold, but pair our dish with what we call one of our "house whites" a 2007 St. Clement chardonnay, under $20.

Laura's Caribbean Rum Chicken

2 (4-6 ounce) boneless, skinless chicken breasts
1 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. lime juice
1/4 cup rum
1 tbsp.  reduced sodium soy sauce
1/2 tbsp. honey
1/2 tbsp. olive oil
1/8 teaspoon red pepper
1 tablespoon minced fresh cilantro
1 ring of grilled pineapple (optional)
1 lime cut into wedges

Combine brown sugar & ingredients. Mix well. Place chicken breasts in an 8 by 8 pyrex dish, add brown sugar marinade and refrigerate for at least one hour. Turn chicken over occasionally while marinating.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake chicken in the juices for 30 minutes. Remove and fire up your gas grill. Grill chicken no more than 3 minutes each side to avoid drying it out, just to give it a char.  Squeeze lime juice over chicken. Top with either fresh cilantro or a slice of grilled pineapple.

Grilled Plantain
 
1 plantain
sweet chutney
1 small habanero pepper

Cut plantain into long slices.  Dice 1 habanero pepper.  Mix habanero with a few tablespoons of chutney.  Brush mixture onto plantain slices.  Grill on high heat for a few mintues a side.

Coconut Rice

1 tablespoon butter
1 garlic clove, minced
1 small onion, diced
1 tablespoon fresh gingerroot, minced (optional)
1 cup rice, long grain or Jasmine
1 cup water
1 cup unsweetened lite coconut milk
1 teaspoon salt
a few sprigs of fresh cilantro

Heat the butter in a medium sized saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the garlic, onion and ginger root and sauté until tender. Add the rice and cook for 2 minutes, stirring frequently to prevent it from burning. Add the water, coconut milk and salt. When liquids come to a boil give the rice a quick stir with a fork. Turn the heat down to low, cover tightly and let cook for 20 minutes.


Sprinkle fresh chopped cilantro on top.

Bananas Foster



2 bananas
2 tbsp. butter
1 tbsp. brown sugar
1/8 tsp. cinnamon
2 tbsp. dark rum (or 151)


Sautee the butter & sugar until it's melted. Turn up the heat, add bananas and cook 1 minute. Add rum.  Be careful -  it can flare up a bit. Cook until everything carmelizes.


((You can also do a version of this for desert where you serve it over vanilla ice cream.))