Food ideas for villa

Travel discussion for St. John
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northerngal
Posts: 420
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:32 pm
Location: Michigan

Food ideas for villa

Post by northerngal »

We usually eat out but there are times we just want to chill at the villa. Other than the basics, cheese, crackers, salami ......does anyone have some great appetizers or simple snacks they love to enjoy while on STJ?
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kklay
Posts: 504
Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 3:17 pm
Location: Lima, Ohio

Re: Food ideas for villa

Post by kklay »

We bring along some frozen , cooked shrimp from Sam's club that is a quick appetizer. We also bring some home made spaghetti sauce that is great warmed up with some of the bread from Baked In The Sun bakery.
equineannie
Posts: 264
Joined: Tue Apr 13, 2010 2:24 pm
Location: Florida

Re: Food ideas for villa

Post by equineannie »

Find a can of chick peas and an avocado and make avocado hummus. Great with bread...don' forget the lime. email me at equineannie@gmail.com and I will forward you the full recipe.
Coconuts
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Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:41 pm
Location: Southern NH, USA

Re: Food ideas for villa

Post by Coconuts »

We cook in a lot, but for fast, easy, and delicious, don't overlook West Indian hot take out (and excellent fried chicken) from the St. John Market. Every Friday morning, they make a great conch chowder (which can sell out early). All of this is easier if you are staying on the Cruz Bay side of things, of course. Starfish is another Cruz Bay area option, with a nice selection of cheeses and pate from Starfish Gourmet. Rotisserie chickens can feed you once, and then easily become chicken salad for sandwiches the next day.

St. John Market or Starfish take-out can also be the drive-by start to a delectable picnic lunch at Hawksnest, Trunk, Cinnamon, or Maho bay picnic benches.

Cook and serve-for-a-few-days meals include pulled pork shoulders with cilantro; we cheat and pressure cook these in an hour, but if your villa has a crock pot, that works, just slower. Great with home-made pico de gallo.

On the veggie side, we love Josephine's greens with chopped tomatoes, olive oil, vinegar, olives, crumbled (cheaper if you do it) feta cheese, and some chopped mango or papaya. At the start of a visit, we regularly buy a red cabbage, shred it, and add mayo, horseradish, salt, pepper, and vinegar, which makes for a great side dish that lasts a while.

Check for Ash or others with fresh fish in a cooler across from the custom's dock, or the Fish Trap market. I have heard of local fish sellers in the Coral Bay area (Clendenin?), but am a bit fuzzy here.

To put this all of this in perspective, in the late 90's, we hosted a dinner for the woman who first introduced us to St. John (as it happened, this would be her last trip there). She began coming to St. John in the early 70's, and built a home in Chocolate Hole in the early 80's. By the time of our trip together, alas, it had been assaulted by Hugo, and then utterly demolished by Marilyn. At our rental villa, we served what seemed like a reasonable dinner spread; the first course was smoked salmon and capers on crackers. Helen, then 85 years old, was dumbfounded by the range of food choices that we, in an age of global transportation, had utterly taken for granted. "Back in the day", she related, "the word would go out that "There's meat in Cruz Bay"! ... We would all rush there to get some before it was gone"!

There have been both gains and losses from that simpler and less crowded era. A little perspective can go a long way.

All the best,

Kevin
northerngal
Posts: 420
Joined: Mon Aug 07, 2006 4:32 pm
Location: Michigan

Re: Food ideas for villa

Post by northerngal »

THANKS for all the ideas! they all sound wonderful! we will be staying in Coral Bay so that limits take outs from Cruz Bay. The cabbage recipe.....does this end up like a cole slaw? I love the horseradish idea in it! recipe??? Also, how do you make your pulled pork so it's not all dried out? THANKS!!!!!
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Coconuts
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Joined: Fri Nov 25, 2011 7:41 pm
Location: Southern NH, USA

Re: Food ideas for villa

Post by Coconuts »

notherngal: Yes, the red cabbage dish is a cole slaw; it's really simple, and delicious. Compared to green cabbage, red cabbage is loaded with anthocyanins, which have a bunch of health benefits. I don't measure anything, but an attempt at a recipe would be as follows:
* Shred half a red cabbage. That makes a lot, so use the other half for stir fries.
* I use the coarse side of a grater, along with some elbow grease. You could use a food processor, but that can shred the red cabbage too finely, with the resulting slaw verging on mushy.
* You could also do this all with a knife and a cutting board, but that to my taste would be too coarse.
* Add a tablespoon of mayo, a tablespoon of sour cream, a teaspoon of vinegar, and some salt and pepper. If the result isn't creamy enough to your taste, add more mayo or sour cream.
* Add a tablespoon of horseradish, preferably unsweetened (I use "BA-TAMPTE"). The horseradish gives it a slight kick that really makes the dish stand out.
* Enjoy days of a tasty and healthy side dish!

On the pulled pork bit, we buy pork shoulders (aka butt), and cut them into 3" sized pieces. We are really big on pressure cookers; they were much more common long ago, but they produce really tender, fall-apart and moist meat dishes in an hour. The alternative is a crock pot, but that needs four to six hours to reach the same level of awesomeness.

The pork shoulder pieces (with all the fat left untrimmed) go in the pressure cooker, along with a quarter cup of citrus (typically lemon juice), some chopped garlic (a few cloves), onions, and cilantro, along with two tablespoons of vinegar. Spices include two teaspoons each of cumin, adobo, and paprika. You need to add a couple of cups of liquid, water will work, but chicken or beef broth are better. While the pressure cooker is pishing lightly for about an hour, we prepare a pico de gallo (chopped tomato, onion, cilantro, and lime juice) side to go with it. If you don't have a pressure cooker, use a crock pot or covered dish in the oven; 300F for four to six hours.

The resulting pulled pork dish is amazing.

You could go a step farther, adding some ground annatto among other things, and prepare Puerco Pibil, as in this short video by filmmaker Robert Rodriguez, which first inspired us to begin exploring the wonders of "pork butts":

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vrw5FkLutWk

Enjoy!

Kevin
PA Girl
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Joined: Tue Aug 29, 2006 11:55 am

Re: Food ideas for villa

Post by PA Girl »

There was a period of a couple of years were I needed to meal plan for the grandparents and our son, who preferred to dine in every evening. Everything I brought for them had to work over more than one meal, basically whatever was on the menu for dinner was cooked in volume to provided lunch the next day.

Some of our favs -

Flank steak, easy to marinade and grill. I would use the thinly sliced leftovers for lunch the next day with a creamy horseradish sauce. It also makes a good appetizer when paired with a bit of crumbled blue cheese and sundried tomato on toasted bread. I seem to remember drizzling those with balsamic. On top of greens with whatever veggies are left over for a salad.

Split chicken breasts (the large ones) grilled. Reuse the leftovers as add ons to pasta salads, Quesadillas, fajitas and on top of salads.

Since we took a cooler (huge time savings for me as I could plan at home) I also took smoked meats and other savoy treats (homemade spiced nut mixes and such) for beach lunches and cocktail hour.
CHM
Posts: 197
Joined: Thu Feb 28, 2008 3:39 pm
Location: Mississippi

Re: Food ideas for villa

Post by CHM »

For an easy appetizer, I bring a few packs of hidden valley ranch dip mix and bacon bits. Buy sour cream and grated cheese on island if you aren't a cooler person. Make the dip according to the package directions and add cheese until chunky. Let sit in fridge for at least 30 minutes (if you can wait). Add bacon before serving. Great with chips, crackers and veggies. We take to the beach and also eat at the villa. Very easy and it goes quickly with our crew.
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