Warm Dinners for Cold Nights With Lesley Enston

Start with a big pot of pelau...

For cookbook author Lesley Enston, a well-stocked pantry is a superpower: “I have an extremely voluminous spice collection, which, you know, takes a little bit of time and effort to upkeep,” she tells me in this week’s episode of The Dinner Plan podcast. “But I always find that, you know, when you have all the spices, you can make so many things. Obviously you can make whatever you’re planning on a little more interesting, but also any recipe that comes across my path, I’m like, I’m ready for that. I have that.”

So perhaps it’s not surprising that Lesley’s book, Belly Full, is organized by ingredient, drawing parallels between Caribbean cuisines by digging into the ways they each use kitchen staples like beans, cassava, chayote, coconut, cornmeal, okra, plantains, rice, salted cod, and Scotch bonnet peppers.

“Through doing a lot of research and a lot of cooking, that organization just sort of started to shine through,” Lesley says. “These ingredients, we all use them and we use them in sometimes very similar ways and sometimes wildly different ways.”

I talked to Lesley about the process of gathering recipes from friends, aunties, and older neighbors—and the way that testing and tasting these recipes brought back vivid memories.

Below, Lesley shares a pelau recipe from Dominica that she particularly loves. While her family’s Trinidadian iteration usually uses pigeon peas, this one calls for kidney beans. “They use ketchup in theirs, which is not something I would normally think to do,” Lesley says, “but like, secret sauce right there. Yeah, and there’s just something about these slight differences that make it…better? Don’t tell my aunt that,” she laughs.

Lesley also talks us through her go-to warming dinners for cold evenings, a favorite use for the broiler, and some highly recommended cookbooks to add to your shelf.

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Lesley mentioned:

Stew Peas (from Belly Full, reprinted by The National Post)
Alison Roman’s Spiced Chickpea Stew With Coconut and Turmeric (NYT Cooking; gift link)
Cook Simply, Live Fully by Yasmin Fahr, especially the sheet-pan sumac and yogurt chicken thighs and also the limey feta and sumac pasta
Islas by Von Diaz
Arabiyya by Reem Assil, especially the whole chile spiced fish with citrus-tahini sauce
Start Simple by Lukas Volger, especially the steamed broccoli with various sauces

Photo: Marc Baptiste

Pelau

Reprinted with permission from Belly Full: Exploring Caribbean Cuisine Through 11 Fundamental Ingredients and Over 100 Recipes by Lesley Enston © 2024. Published by Ten Speed Press, an imprint of Penguin Random House.

While Arroz con Pollo may be the most famous version of chicken and rice outside of the Caribbean, pelau is the one I know best. My mother never made it, but it always showed up at family functions at my aunt’s house around the corner. This rendition from Dominica is very similar to what I knew growing up. The main difference is the use of kidney beans, which show up a lot in Dominican cuisine, instead of pigeon peas, and the omission of coconut milk. As a person who, prior to having a small child, never had ketchup in my house, I have to admit it is really the secret sauce. You could substitute tomato paste if you must, and I have, but the magic will be missing. I’ve eaten a lot of pelaus in my life, but this one from Dominica might be my favorite.

A note on green seasoning: A version of green seasoning can be found on many of the islands that were formerly under British rule. Though it isn’t something I remember my mother (or anyone else in the family) having on hand when I was growing up, the smell brings back so many memories of my mother cooking that I’m sure she was making it on a one-off basis rather than in large batches. I am now never without a jar of green seasoning in my fridge. In addition to pelau, it’s a great to way to season any kind of meat, and fish in particular, as well as a nice way to jazz up plain rice. The (optional) seasoning pepper has the same smell and taste as a Scotch bonnet, but without the heat. If you can’t find culantro, substitute a bunch of cilantro. This is, once again, just a guideline.

SERVES 6 TO 8

Green Seasoning (makes 2 cups):
1 bunch culantro (about 8 leaves)
½ cup fresh cilantro
½ cup fresh parsley leaves
1 head garlic, cloves peeled
1 medium yellow onion, roughly chopped
1 shallot, chopped
5 scallions, roughly chopped
¼ cup fresh thyme leaves
1 celery stalk, roughly chopped
1 (1-inch) piece fresh ginger, peeled and roughly chopped
1 seasoning pepper, seeded and roughly chopped (optional)
¼ cup fresh lime juice

Pelau:
3 pounds bone-in chicken thighs, skin removed, cut into bite-size pieces
¼ cup plus 2 tablespoons Green Seasoning, homemade (below) or store-bought
6 garlic cloves, minced
2 teaspoons kosher salt
1 teaspoon paprika
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
2 tablespoons coconut oil or other neutral oil
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 yellow onion, diced
2 scallions, thinly sliced
1 large carrot, diced
2 teaspoons fresh thyme leaves
1 (15-ounce) can kidney beans, drained
¼ cup ketchup
3 cups water
2 cups basmati or jasmine rice

First, combine all the ingredients for the Green Seasoning in a food processor or blender and puree until smooth. Store in an airtight glass jar in the fridge for up to 1 month.

In a medium bowl, mix the chicken with ¼ cup of the green seasoning, two-thirds of the garlic, the salt, paprika, and pepper, using your hands to make sure the seasoning is evenly distributed. Place in the fridge to marinate for at least 2 hours or up to overnight.

About 30 minutes before cooking the chicken, remove it from the fridge to come to room temperature.

In a large Dutch oven or other heavy-bottomed pot, heat the coconut oil over medium-high heat until it shimmers, then add the brown sugar. Cook, watching it constantly and stirring it occasionally with a wooden spoon to make sure it cooks evenly, for 5 to 8 minutes, until the sugar bubbles all over, turns dark brown, and just starts to smoke. (This will vary from stove to stove; if it hasn’t happened by minute 8, just hang in there; the moment will happen quickly after.) Immediately add the chicken and listen to it sing and sizzle.

Cook the chicken, uncovered, for 5 minutes, until it’s releasing its juices, then add the onion, remaining 2 tablespoons green seasoning, remaining garlic, the scallions, carrot, and thyme. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 10 minutes, until the vegetables are soft.

Add the beans and ketchup and cook until the ketchup has darkened, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add the water, raise the heat to high, and bring it all to a boil. Add the rice, reduce the heat to medium, and cook, uncovered, until the water has mostly evaporated, about 15 minutes. Give everything a hearty stir to make sure nothing sticks to the bottom of the pot. Reduce the heat to low, cover, and cook for 15 to 20 minutes more, until the liquid has completely evaporated. Pelau is great immediately and heats up well for several days after; store it in an airtight container in the fridge.

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