ZARA Gourmet Catering

Little bites of happiness 😁

There is a something about citrus that I love!

📸 Lemon Pound Cake 🍋💛

Ratio of meat to dough- 2:1😋😋😋

Happy Anniversary V & A

We're back in the kitchen today with these Coconut Madelines

Coconut Flan...it's creamy and sooooo decadent 😋

I took a hiatus from baking but staying away from the oven isn't an easy task. Here we have:

📷 Trini Sweet Bread🥥🍒💛

📷 Peanut Butter and Walnut Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, Double Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins, Chocolate Biscoff Banana Muffins 🍌🥜😋 🍫

Happy Mother's Days💜

📷 Rosemary Sumac Grilled Lamb Chops with Honey Cinnamon Sweet Potato Mash and Chunky Veggies

I've never eaten lamb but that doesn't deter me from creating some awesome dishes using the meat.

For dinnner the star of the show was this Rosemary Sumac Lamb. It's Arabic inspired based on the spices and I also marinated the chops in yogurt! I used my cast iron skillet to give that lovely sear and then finished it in the oven. If that wasn't enough, I did a rosemary and thyme butter to drizzle over the chops...

The sides I chose to prepare were classic chunky veggies and a Honey Cinnamon Sweet Potato. I counter balance the sweetness with some cayenne pepper. I'd admit, this was amazing🥳🥳

We had a bunch of cilantro and in this household, cilantro is a prized herb😅. I decided to do a South American menu today! Here's what on the menu:

🔸 Peruvian Roast Chicken with Spicy Aji Verde Sauce
🔸Cilantro and Lime Rice
🔸 Macaroni Salad

We had a bunch of cilantro and in this household, cilantro is a prized herb😅. I decided to do a South American menu today! Here's what is on the menu:

🔸 Peruvian Roast Chicken with Spicy Aji Verde Sauce
🔸Cilantro and Lime Rice
🔸 Macaroni Salad

Breakfast for Dinner? Why not?!?!?

Homemade Fried Chicken with Savory Corn and Cheese Waffles🧇💛🍗

Homemade Fried Chicken...

The coating is light as I don't particularly like fried chicken with a tonne of batter....the ratio between chicken to flour coating should be 2:1, so no double drenching for me!

The exterior is crunchy and well seasoned. The chicken itself I seasoned and allowed to marinate for some time also so at every layer there is flavor!

I don't make fried chicken often....in fact it's been well over 6mths I did this but my goodness, biting into homemade fried chicken is so worth the wait😬

Happy birthday S! 🌻

I've been craving 'Trini Coconut Drops.' I've never made it from scratch before and I personally find the ones that are store bought tends to be hard and flavorless and in most cases, lacking the main ingredient, coconut.

Hands down these are the best drops ever! I'm not tooting my horn here but it's really that delicious! The exterior is crunchy and the interior is soft and packed with spices and coconut!

I'm now tasked with attempting to put measurements to the ingredients I used😅🥴. You know how Caribbean people cook using their spirit guides😂

📸 Trini Coconut Drops

Sunday shenanigans

📸 Chicken Tikka Masala and Garlic Butter Naan

It's being touted as "bess honey"🍯🐝💛

✅ Unpasteurized
✅100% Local: our apairy is located right here in Trinidad
✅No added sugars/ preservatives

Order up guys! They're selling quickly🍯🐝

✅Unpasteurized
✅No added sugars
✅Great tasting
✅100% Natural

Decadent is the only word I can use to describe this!

I love chocolate and biscoff...a lot🤤! So I decided take these lovies and turn it into a masterpiece. I added both biscoff butter and cookies to amp up the taste...

Yes, you'll be needing to double up on your exercise after this😂

📸 Double Chocolate Biscoff Banana Bread

This fusion dish features crispy shredded beef that has been marinated in Mexican spices together with a ramen noodles in the most lucious beefy broth.

The toppings which includes pickled purple onions, shredded cabbage, boiled egg and ofcourse freshly picked herbs from the backyard....all enhancing this amazing dish!

📷Birria Ramen 🍜

I came across this recipe and instantly I knew my family would enjoy it.

It has some sweetness from the peanut butter but the vinegar and fish sauce balances this. The brilliant orange-red hue is created from annatto seeds which we fondly refer to as 'rou cou.'

Hearty and Healthy✨

📷 Filipino Beef Stew aka Kare Kare (served with jasmine rice)

The perfect appetizers are here!

📷 Chicken Wonton Cups

Merry Christmas everyone 🎄🎄

📷Aloo Pies and Kachorie

I haven't baked in a while so I wanted to experiment with a recipe I found online. It's called a 'Rice Cake,' and as the name suggests, there is rice in there!

The end product was actually quite good. I used less sugar so the cake itself wasn't sweet. As for the glaze, I did a coconut caramel glaze which, overall, provided enough sweetness for the cake. The texture isn't as fluffy as your traditional sponge cake but isn't as dense as a pound cake. The rice flour gives some 'grit.'

📷 Rice Bundt Cake with Coconut Caramel Glaze

Piping hot Aloo Pies 😌

Venezuelan Chicken Empanadas 😋😋

Couldn't see anything even closely related to curry after last week feast😅😅. I decided to do a spin on Jamaican...🇯🇲

📷Cheesy CornPie, Jamaican Jerk Chicken, Red Bean Rice and Traditional Macaroni Salad

Happy Divali to you and your loved ones. May light overcome darkness and may goodness overcome evil🕉️

Sugar rush is a thing🫣...Divali sweets 🕉️

📷 Flour Parsad, Ras Gulla, Milk Barfi, Kurma and Mini Barfi Cheesecake

Decided I'll cook today so I can relax tomorrow! Divali lunch served🕉️ Oh btw, it's all homemade😂, just saying...Zara©️

📷 Channa and Aloo, Sweet 'n' Sour Soya Chunks, Curried Chatigne, Pumpkin, Karhee, Coconut Chutney and Roti (Dhalpurie and Paratha)

I've started challenging myself to prepare dishes that I'm intimidated by. I should admit this ranges from the so-called simplicitic ones like SADA roti to perfecting boiled rice😅. Today I did Chinese and whilst it wasn't any Town special🫣, it was quite delicious 😍

📷 Egg Fried Rice. Chinese Fried Chicken (Air Fried). Lo Mein Noodles with Vegetables

Focaccia bread😍

Proofing looks good 🍞

Chicken Version 2: Lemon Pepper Chicken

I marinated the chicken with dried herbs and spices and then made a lemon pepper compound butter which I basted onto the chicken while baking to infuse flavor and maintain moistness😊😊

It's my first try at 'Peri Peri Chicken' and it was phenomenal 🥳

I charred three different types of peppers to enhance the flavor. My aim was not to make the chicken spicy but just have a slight kick so I opted for milder peppers. I used my air fryer and then added some charcoal to give that 'smokey' taste!

Happy Sunday foodies...what's on your menu today?

📷 Honey Lime Chicken, Corn Pie, Red Beans in Coconut Milk, Vegetable Fried Rice and Fresh Salad

What's more difficult than cooking you might ask?

Figuring out what to cook!!!🥴🥴

📷 Chicken and Beef Empanadas

Sunday Lunch🤤...I'd say it's a mix between Trini and Jamaican food, so we can say it's a Caribbean themed meal 😅. One thing is for certain; it's hearty and delicious

📷 Cornmeal Coo Coo, Provision Medley, Jerk Chicken, Carrot & Pimento Berry Rice and Pink Beans in Coconut Milk