Spread almonds into a single layer on a cookie sheet. Bake in preheated oven for 8-10 minutes or until almonds are roasted and slightly brown.
Add almonds to the bowl of a food processor. Pulse until chopped into fine pieces, about the size of a match head.
Add honey, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, apricots, dates and orange zest to the almonds. Pulse until mixture is well chopped and beginning to clump.
To form sugar plums, pinch off a tablespoon of mixture and roll into a ball. When all sugar plums are formed, roll the sugar plums in white sugar, then when completed, dust the top with powdered sugar.
I bet you didn't know that there aren't really plums in sugar plums! Well, there can be if you want, but traditionally, sugar plums were filled with nuts and dried fruit (which plum was a generic term for dried fruit). It also traditionally means something that is just plain good. Like, "These sugar plums are just plum good!"
There are some people the whole world loves. Well, actually, there are some people the whole world should love. They are unique, talented, kindhearted, genuine, and bless every person they come in contact with. They are people the world should know, and would love, but who wholeheartedly serve not to be seen or known. You know some of these people. I want to introduce you to one that I and many others around the world know. Her name is Veronica, and she is a chef.
Veronica is not the chef of a 3 Michelin star restaurant. She has not always had the privilege of working with the finest in culinary equipment (though God HAS recently blessed her with a new kitchen and equipment, of which many chefs would be jealous). Veronica is a chef in Jamaica. And no, she does not have a restaurant in Kingston or Montego Bay. Her kitchen is deep in the heart of Jamaica, in the mountains, at the Jamaica Deaf Village. She cooks for countless missions teams, big and small, who come to serve and pour out their hearts to those who are often forgotten and most often looked over. Veronica is not deaf herself, but she works alongside those who are. She works long, hard hours, with a warm smile. And you can tell, from each of the three meals a day, that her food is made with overflowing love...and tons of skill!
The first time I served at JDV, I had not started my culinary journey. This time though, I had the extraordinary privilege of aiding "Vern" in her kitchen for the evening meal. I thought I knew how to cook, but I felt like an infant next to this long time pro. It was an incredible experience that I will always cherish.
Veronica cooks everything from scratch, whether she is cooking for 5 or 500. She uses fresh herbs, no packaged seasoning, and she wastes nothing. She has no formal training and learned to cook from her mother when she was a teenager. Her skills would put many Michelin star chefs to shame. Although she cooks three meals a day for large teams, she will, spur of the moment, quickly whip up the most delicious cake for someone's birthday. She will go above and beyond to make people feel special. A young couple with our missions team were married two weeks before the mission trip and decided to spend their honeymoon ministering to the deaf in Jamaica. Veronica went above and beyond and gave them the most elegant meal, even sculpting roses out of carrots.
With all that to say, I was so delighted to be able to join her in the kitchen for one of the evening meals. The dish I helped prepare was roasted pork. It was beyond amazing. I have since tried to replicate it, but it does not even come close. Served with the meal was fried rice (from leftover rice over the week), and fried fish. The recipe below is for Veronica's Roasted Pork. If you cook it, be sure to do it all from scratch, with a warm smile on your face, and with as much love as you can muster.
This post does not do Veronica justice. She has served in obscurity for dozens of years. She serves wholeheartedly. She is loved by so many. And everyone always remembers her food. Everyone. Always.
Enjoy the pictures below of my time in this great chef's kitchen. And even try the recipe for yourself.
The Jamaica Deaf Village and their missionaries are funded solely through donations. They are a part of the organization Caribbean Christian Centre for the Deaf (CCCD). I would greatly encourage you to give to this extremely worthy cause. You can give HERE.
First make the salad. Peel, core, and cut the apple into julienne strips. Mix with the mache and season with salt and pepper. Add some of the lemon zest (keeping a little back to garnish) and squeeze over the juice. Drizzle the salad with olive oil and mix well.
Heat a large nonstick frying pan over high heat until smoking hot, then add 1 tbsp of olive oil. Lay the scallops out on a cutting board, pat dry with paper towels, and season one side with salt and pepper.
Think of the frying pan as a clock face and add the scallops, one by one, seasoned side down, in a clockwise order, then sear for 1-2 minutes until golden brown. Season the unseasoned side of the scallops, then flip them over in the same order you placed them in the pan and repeat the process. Squeeze the lemon juice over the scallops and give the pan a good shake.
When the scallops are cooked, tip the contents of the pan onto a plate lined with paper towels. This will instantly stop the cooking process, while the paper towels will absorb any excess oil.
Divide the salad between 2 serving plates and arrange the scallops around each pile. Garnish with the remaining lemon zest and serve immediately.
Season both sides of the salmon fillet with salt and pepper. Place skillet over high heat. After skillet is very hot, add the olive oil. Heat oil until almost smoking.
Place salmon fillet in skillet top side down. Sear the fillet until golden brown, about 1 minute. Turn fillet and sear the other side. Remove from heat.
Lightly press ginger bread crumb mixture on to the salmon fillet until the top is completely covered.
Place skillet in 350 degree oven until cooked to your desired doneness (about 5 minutes).
Line dinner plate with 2 ounces of soy creme sauce. Place salmon fillet in center of plate, crusted side up. Garnish with toasted sesame seeds sprinkled over the sauce and a sprig of fresh cilantro on the fillet. (I would also highly recommended serving with sautéd chopped bok choy in garlic, ginger, soy sauce, and white wine.)
Ginger Crust for Salmon:
Mix bread crumbs, ginger and cilantro well. Add soft butter and knead well until crust holds its shape when squeezed together.
Keep at cool room temperature. Do not refrigerate.
Soy Creme Sauce for Salmon:
Melt butter in saucepan. Add ginger and cook 10 seconds.
Add white wine and simmer until wine is nearly evaporated.
Add creme. Reduce creme until thick.
Add soy sauce and mix well.
Label container with date and store in refrigerator (Trust me, you will want to use this sauce for other dishes, and you might want to go overboard with it on your salmon...who knows...)
