Bahamian Grilled Conch Food

CRISPY PAN FRIED BAHAMIAN CRACKED CONCH WITH CITRUS SAUCE

Steps:

• Combine spiced rum, orange juice, lemon juice, lime juice, and sugar and reduce on high heat until syrupy. Slowly add butter until thick. Keep warm.
• Dip the conch in flour, then egg wash, then in bread crumbs. Cook on medium heat in canola oil until golden. Season with salt and pepper. Serve with citrus sauce and garnish with cilantro and fresh flowers if available.

BAHAMIAN STEAMED CONCH

Steps:

• Heat oil in a saute pan. Add garlic and onions and saute until onions are fragrant. Add the sweet peppers to the pan and saute for about 2 minutes. Stir in the tomato paste, tomatoes, and the thyme. Add the conch and the reserved liquid. Add chile pepper and season, to taste. Allow to simmer until conch is tender and sauce is slightly thickened. Serve over white rice.
• Note: This recipe was provided by professional chefs and has been scaled down from a bulk recipe provided by a restaurant. The FN chefs have not tested this recipe, in the proportions indicated, and therefore, we cannot make any representation as to the results.

BAHAMIAN GRILLED CONCH

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the grill to high.2. Tenderize the conch steaks by pounding them with a meat mallet or rolling pin to a 1/4-inch thickness. Season on both sides with salt and pepper.3. When ready to cook, oil the grill grate. Arrange the steaks on the hot grate and quickly grill, turning with tongs, about 1 minute per side. (The idea here is to leave grill marks on the conch and impart a charcoaled flavor.) Transfer the steaks to a platter to cool.4. Cut four 12 3 8-inch sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place 1 large or 2 small conch steaks in the center of each piece.5. Combine the onion, garlic, and chile in a bowl, then place 3 to 4 tablespoons of this mixture on top of each steak. Drizzle each steak with 1/2 tablespoon lime juice and top with 1 tablespoon butter. Bring the sides of the foil up over the top and pleat to make an airtight package. Wrap the remaining conch steaks the same way.6. When ready to cook, arrange the foil packages on the hot grate and grill until the conch is cooked through and tender, about 5 minutes (a metal skewer inserted into the conch through the foil will be very hot when withdrawn).7. Open the foil packages and slide the conch steaks, with their topping, onto plates. (Or let everyone unwrap their own bundle. But warn them to avoid the escaping steam.) Serve the conch steaks with wedges of lime for squeezing.Serves 4

CONCH FRITTERS (THE BAHAMAS)

Steps:

• In a small bowl, whisk together the dipping sauce ingredients.
• Finely mince or grind the conch meat.
• Sift the flour over the bowl containing the ground conch meat. Stir until the flour coats all of the meat.
• Gently fold in the chopped vegetables and the herbs, then add some water. You want just enough to bind it all together but not so much that the batter becomes runny.
• Heat up about two inches of oil in a stockpot. It's ready when it bubbles up around the non-stirring end of a wooden spoon.
• Scoop up some of the fritter batter and flatten it out into the spoon. The fritters need be a little thin because you don't want them to end up burned on the outside and raw in the middle. These aren't sushi fritters.
• Drop them into the oil. Flip them once during cooking so they will cook evenly.
• When they are a nice golden color on both sides take them out and drain them on a paper towel. Serve hot with the dipping sauce.

BAHAMIAN GRILLED CONCH

Steps:

• 1. Preheat the grill to high.2. Tenderize the conch steaks by pounding them with a meat mallet or rolling pin to a 1/4-inch thickness. Season on both sides with salt and pepper.3. When ready to cook, oil the grill grate. Arrange the steaks on the hot grate and quickly grill, turning with tongs, about 1 minute per side. (The idea here is to leave grill marks on the conch and impart a charcoaled flavor.) Transfer the steaks to a platter to cool.4. Cut four 12 3 8-inch sheets of heavy-duty aluminum foil. Place 1 large or 2 small conch steaks in the center of each piece.5. Combine the onion, garlic, and chile in a bowl, then place 3 to 4 tablespoons of this mixture on top of each steak. Drizzle each steak with 1/2 tablespoon lime juice and top with 1 tablespoon butter. Bring the sides of the foil up over the top and pleat to make an airtight package. Wrap the remaining conch steaks the same way.6. When ready to cook, arrange the foil packages on the hot grate and grill until the conch is cooked through and tender, about 5 minutes (a metal skewer inserted into the conch through the foil will be very hot when withdrawn).7. Open the foil packages and slide the conch steaks, with their topping, onto plates. (Or let everyone unwrap their own bundle. But warn them to avoid the escaping steam.) Serve the conch steaks with wedges of lime for squeezing.Serves 4