The Tropical Treat

Brunch

Scotch bonnet coriander cornbread with black beans and avocado

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Bright, flavoursome and vibrant cornbread. It’s not something you always find on a menu here in London but for me it’s a real treat.

I love classic buttery cornbread from the American South so here it is made with fiery scotch bonnet, fragrant coriander and juicy sweetcorn kernels. Topped with smoky black beans beans, creamy avocado and sweet baby plum tomatoes make this the most tropical twist on beans on toast!

This cornbread can be used as a side for chilli or any other salad, soup or casserole dish that may need something with carbs on the side. It is perfect on the table if you’re hosting a brunch and just want something a little different as an extra. 

If you aren’t feeling the refried beans and avocado combo try some red peppers and roasted cherry tomatoes.

Scotch bonnet chilli peppers are a staple in Caribbean and West Africa cooking (can be bought in Asian, African or Caribbean food stores). This was literally the only chilli used by my mum growing up. It’s one of the hottest chillies in the world used to fire up the best Jerk Chicken and West African groundnut stew but the heat is lovely and warming complementing all the flavours in the cornbread really well.

This cornbread has quite a few ingredients but most should be easily found. I’ve used polenta and natural yogurt instead of cornmeal and buttermilk (either combination should work beautifully). Separate all the dry ingredients and wet ingredients and mix together. It shouldn’t take more than half an hour to bake. I used a loaf tin but a round cake tin works just as well. Cut up, eat and serve when freshly baked, it’s the best way!

Serves 4 with leftover cornbread
Prep 20 mins
Cook 40 mins
Total 60 mins

Ingredients

For the cornbread

120g polenta
120g plain flour, sifted 
2 tsp baking powder
2 tsp golden caster sugar
1 tsp salt
250g full fat natural yogurt
1 free range egg
90g unsalted butter, melted and extra for greasing
50g mild cheddar cheese, grated 
150g corn kernels, cut from 2 medium corn cobs
2 tbsp coriander, finely chopped (keep the leaves to scatter on top later)
1/2 scotch bonnet chilli, deseeded and finely chopped

For the refried beans

2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1/2 red onion, chopped
2 garlic cloves, crushed
400g tin black beans, rinsed and drained and roughly mashed
1/4 tsp chipotle chilli flakes
125ml organic vegetable stock
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the avocado

1 avocado, peeled and cut into wedges
125g baby plum tomatoes, halved 
1/2 the juice of a lime
2 tbsp coriander leaves
Salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

Method

Make the refried beans first. Heat oil over a medium heat and add the onion, garlic and sauté for 2-3 mins. Add the beans, chilli flakes and stock, stirring and mashing over a low heat until you have a chunky consistency. Season with salt and pepper and leave to one side.

Line the base and sides of a 2lb loaf tin with greaseproof paper. Preheat the oven 200C /400F / Gas 6.

In a medium sized bowl put polenta, flour, baking powder, caster sugar and salt. Mix the yogurt, egg, melted butter and cheese in a separate bowl and stir into the dry ingredients until well combined. Add the corn kernels, coriander and chilli.

Place the cornbread mixture into the lined loaf tin. Bake in the oven for 25 – 30 minutes. Cover with a little foil if it browns too quickly and insert a skewer into the middle of the loaf and if it comes out clean it’s ready. Let the cornbread cool in the tin and then turn out.

Cut the cornbread into thick slices ( a couple should be enough for each person) and arrange on a plate.

Slice the avocado into wedges, halve the tomatoes and squeeze over fresh lime juice and season with salt and pepper. Serve the black beans on top of the cornbread with avocado, baby plum tomatoes and coriander leaves to garnish. 

Banana Fritters with Rum Caramel

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Bananas, spiced rum and caramel are a delightful trio of tropical flavours. Pillowy soft banana fritters dipped in a deep rum caramel sauce – sweet, comforting and dangerously good. This is a great way to use ripe bananas or plantains and ideal for an after dinner treat or a sweet addition to a brunch spread. Make sure to dust them with a little icing sugar whilst they’re warm!

Banana fritters, buñuelos or mosa? Whatever the name, these delicious treats seem to appear in some way all over West Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean.

It’s really no surprise since they are a very simple and easy to make using ingredients that naturally grow in abundance in these regions. And i’ve taken some inspiration from the Caribbean here as I think rum works really with bananas and caramel. 

The internet is full of banana fritter recipes but this one is completely vegan and so a lovely treat for all. 

It’s perfect to make quickly after dinner or as part of a brunch where there’s already lots of savoury dishes on the table.

As much as I don’t like to fry, I really don’t think there’s any other way to achieve fritter perfection. Let me know if you do make them and enjoy!

Serves 4 -6
Prep 15 mins
Cook 20 mins
Total 35 mins

Ingredients

For the fritters

4 large ripe bananas (390g), mashed 
30g golden caster sugar
125g plain flour, sifted
1 tsp baking powder 
1 vanilla pod, split open and seeds scraped out
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
Pinch ground nutmeg
Sunflower oil, for frying
1 tbsp icing sugar, to serve 

For the rum caramel sauce 

200g white caster sugar
60ml water
100g salted butter
200ml double cream
Pinch of sea salt 
60ml spiced rum

Method

Make the rum caramel first. Put the caster sugar in a large frying pan over a medium heat with water. Swirl the pan round to ensure the water covers all the dry bits of sugar. The sugar should start to deepen in colour fairly quickly (keep a very close eye so it doesn’t burn).

Once it’s a light amber colour take it off the heat and stir in the butter until it’s melted, followed by the double cream, salt and rum. Once the caramel is smooth and glossy leave it aside to cool.

In a medium size bowl mash the bananas with a fork and whisk in the sugar until smooth. Stir in flour, baking powder, vanilla, cinnamon and nutmeg. 

Heat sunflower oil in a heavy deep frying pan (half fill) until a cube of bread sizzles and turns brown ensuring the oil doesn’t get too hot.

Using an ice cream scoop carefully drop the batter (roughly 2tbsps) into the hot oil and fry until golden brown. Cook for a couple of minutes until even in colour, gently remove with a slotted spoon and transfer onto kitchen paper. 

Repeat until the batter is finished and sprinkle over icing sugar whilst the fritters are still crisp and warm. Serve up!

Fish Tacos with Mango Salsa

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These fish tacos are a little bit spicy, kinda sweet with a hint of smokiness. Inspired by the Mexican staple and the deliciousness of Californian Baja fish tacos I decided to make my own healthier version with spiced haddock, mango salsa, shredded iceberg lettuce topped off with sour cream and a sprinkling of chipotle chilli flakes.

They are pretty easy to prepare and make the perfect tropical starter for 4 or a main for 2 with some green plantain crisps (see my recipe here) on the side.

I think you could make this at anytime of the week as it’s so easy and quick. If possible try not to substitute any core ingredients (except my vegan/veggie/fish hating people) in this one especially the corn tacos (buy here if you’re UK based) and chipotle chilli flakes. They really make a difference to the overall flavour! If you are one of the above try using potatoes instead of the fish and coconut yogurt instead of sour cream. Parboil the potatoes, season and then fry in some olive oil. A very good alternative I reckon.

I love using the (naturally) deep blue corn tacos here and the contrast of flavours and colours in this recipe are so striking. It makes for a very satisfying meal even if you’re not the best in the kitchen. 

If you are super organised you could prepare the fish (put in the fridge so the flavours to get to know each other) and mango salsa the day before and just put together on the day of cooking. Enjoy!

Serves 2 ( Makes 10 street food tacos)
Prep 45 mins
Cook 15 mins
Total 60 mins

Ingredients

For the fish tacos

260g skinless and boneless firm white fish (such as haddock or cod), cut into 2cm pieces
1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper 
1/2 tsp sea salt
Freshly ground black pepper
Juice of 1 lime and zest
10 small blue corn tacos, buy here
80g iceberg lettuce, shredded
A little olive oil
150ml sour cream, to serve
Chipotle chilli flakes, to serve 
Green chillies, thinly sliced and de-seeded (optional)

For the mango salsa

1 medium ripe mango, finely diced
1/2 medium red onion, finely diced
1 small red pepper, finely diced
Handful of fresh coriander, chopped
Juice of 1 lime and zest 
Sea Salt, to taste 

Method

Prepare the fish first (you can do this part the day before if you like). Cut the fillets into 2 cm pieces and place in a medium size bowl. Season with cumin, paprika, cayenne pepper, sea salt, freshly ground pepper, lime juice and zest. Toss to coat evenly and place in the fridge for 30 minutes.

For the mango salsa, slice the mango away from the stone. Finely dice the mango, red onion, red pepper and chop the coriander leaves. Mix together in a bowl and squeeze over lime juice and season with salt. Leave to one side.

Heat the corn tacos in a dry hot pan, wrap first in foil and then a tea towel to keep them warm.

Heat olive oil in a frying pan over a medium heat. Once the pan is fairly hot put in the fish pieces turning them over after a couple of minutes (cook for 5 -10 minutes). 

Assemble the tacos by putting the shredded lettuce on first, followed by the mango salsa, spiced fish, sour cream, chilli flakes and green chilli to serve. 

Nutty Coconut Granola

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A wholesome, crunchy and deliciously nutty coconut granola. For a healthy and quick breakfast this granola is the one. It tastes so good especially with peaches, bananas and raspberries and its also packed full of almonds, coconut and pumpkin seeds (hello good skin).

Batch make this over a free weekend, store in a kilner jar and eat whenever you like. 

I love a good granola and was inspired to make some with coconut which I think goes really well with all types of fruits. Pick whatever fruits work for you. Sometimes shop bought granola just doesn’t hit the spot so here we have it…

Serves 2
Prep 10 mins
Cook 40 mins
Total 50 mins

Ingredients

150g jumbo rolled oats
30g pumkin seeds
30g flaked almonds 
30g toasted coconut flakes
1tbsp coconut oil
50ml maple syrup
1 tbsp honey
2 tbsp apple juice 

Method

  1. First preheat the oven to 150C/ gas mark 2 / 300F. Mix together oats, pumpkin seeds, almonds  and coconut flakes. 
  2. In a small pan gently heat coconut oil, maple syrup, honey and apple juice together, bring to the boil. Pour the mixture over the dry oats and seeds. Mix well.
  3. Line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper and spread the mixture across them in an even layer. Bake for 30 minutes or until golden brown making sure to stir and shake up the granola every 10 minutes.
  4. Layer the granola in glasses with coconut yogurt, raspberries, sliced bananas and peaches. It’s ready to serve up!

Black eyed bean fritters (Akara) and Mexican street corn salad (Esquites)

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Flavoursome, crispy and really delicious.

Akara or black eyed bean fritters are widely eaten across West Africa and have even found their way to Brazil and the American South where they’ve been given cultural twists but the heart of the recipes have stayed the same. 

I’ve adapted this recipe to make it super quick by using cooked cartons of black eyed beans, blitzing it in the food processor, adding spice and frying. It makes the perfect starter and is completely vegan. Dip them into hot pepper sauce and serve up with Esquites.

I discovered Mexican street corn through endless posts of them on Instagram and I decided to see if they lived up to the hype. Yes, they do! Here’s the original recipe I used.

Smoky sweet corn jazzed up with creamy cheese, chilli and fresh herbs. It’s a good one!

Makes 12 little fritters
Prep 10 mins
Cook 15 mins
Total 25 mins

Ingredients

For the fritters
2 x 400g carton black eyed beans, rinsed and drained 
1 small red onion, finely chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
2 tbsp plain wholemeal flour
1 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp paprika
1/2 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1 tsp baking powder 
Sunflower oil, for frying 

For the street corn salad
2 tbsp sunflower oil
1 tsp sea salt
400g corn kernels, cut from 4 medium corn cobs 
1 tbsp mayonnaise 
60g feta cheese, finely crumbled
4 spring onions, thinly sliced (green part only)
A handful of coriander leaves, finely chopped
1 green chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
1 garlic clove, finely chopped
Juice of 1 lime 
1/2 tsp chilli flakes 

Method

Make the fritters first, drain and rinse the black eyed beans. Pour into a food processor and blitz for a few seconds (it should have a chunky consistency and you may need to add a little water)*. 

Place into a bowl and add red onion, garlic, green chilli, flour, salt, cayenne pepper, paprika, baking powder and black pepper. Mix well and shape into 12 small patties (about 2 tbsp of the mixture per patty).

In a wok heat 500ml of sunflower oil (drop a tiny piece of bread in and if it bubbles it’s hot enough) and fry 3 fritters at a time until golden brown and crisp. Drain any excess oil using kitchen paper. Continue until the mixture is finished and keep warm in the oven.

Using the same wok, heat oil over a high heat. Add corn kernels and sea salt tossing a couple of times. Leave to cook for a couple of minutes on one side until the corn chars. Stir and repeat on the other side until the corn is charred all over. Toss and stir for a few minutes until cooked through.

Place the mixture into a bowl and add mayonnaise, feta, spring onions, coriander, green chilli, lime juice. Sprinkle over chilli flakes and serve up!

Notes

*You can mash the beans using a potato masher if preferred!

Chipotle tomato, black bean & potato scramble

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Sometimes toast or cereal just isn’t going to cut it…

So why not try a simple, wholesome and colourful Mexican inspired one pan breakfast dish. It’s made with only a few ingredients – baby plum tomatoes, black beans, spring onions, eggs and new potatoes topped off with a little chipotle chilli. 

You might be thinking this dish isn’t very tropical but both potatoes and tomatoes originate from Latin America (modern day Peru to be exact).

It’s one of the speediest cooked breakfasts you’ll probably ever make and packed with lots of health boosting ingredients, what’s not to love!

This is very child friendly with everything mixed in together too and great for when you have lots of people over for breakfast and everyone’s helping themselves. If you do eat meat, some chorizo or streaky bacon would pair perfectly with this dish.

With a great blend of carbs and protein this scramble is the ideal post run or workout breakfast. It’s crammed full of restorative protein rich ingredients such as black beans essential for regaining your energy levels but would work perfectly well too

Boil the potatoes first making sure they are nice and tender. Fry the spring onions, tomatoes and black beans and then add the potatoes, remove from the pan after a couple of minutes. 

Serve up with some extra coriander and enjoy!

Chipotle tomato, black bean & potato scramble

A simple, wholesome and colourful Mexican inspired one pan breakfast dish made with only a few ingredients – baby plum tomatoes, black beans, spring onions, eggs and new potatoes topped off with a little chipotle chilli. You could probably make this scramble with ingredients already in your kitchen cupboard, it’s so easy and deliciously good. It’s also the perfect post-run breakfast with an ideal blend of carbs and essential protein to help nourish and repair the body.  

  • 350g baby new potatoes, halved
  • 2 tsp butter
  • Salt and freshly ground black pepper
  • 1 tbsp olive oil
  • 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 1/2 tsp chipotle chilli flakes
  • 100g baby plum tomatoes, halved
  • 100g black beans, drained and rinsed
  • 4 medium free range eggs, beaten
  • 1 tbsp chopped coriander

  1. First boil the potatoes for 15 minutes or until tender. Drain, crush and season with 1 tsp butter, salt and black pepper.

  2. Heat oil in small pan and fry the potatoes, onions and chilli for a couple of minutes. Add the tomatoes and black beans and cook for 1-2 minutes further, remove from the pan, cover and set aside.

  3. Using the same pan, add 1 tsp butter, the eggs and stir gently until scrambled. 

  4. Add the potato mixture, corianders season with salt and pepper and serve up straight away.

*Adapted from Waitrose’s chilli tomato potato scramble

Bill Granger’s sweetcorn fritters

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Crisp sweetcorn fritters with juicy corn kernels, creamy refried beans and avocado topped with fresh lime, smooth feta and fragrant coriander makes the ultimate brunch (or dinner if you like it like that). 

I’ve made a couple of tweaks to Bill Granger’s original sweetcorn fritter recipe which can be found here and added a little chilli for some heat, leave the seeds in for extra hot fritters.

This is perfect for a lazy weekend brunch or just a quick lunch. If you aren’t feeling the refried beans and avocado combo try some spinach and roasted cherry tomatoes which pair perfectly too. Head over to the lovely Brick Kitchen for the recipe.

As a runner this makes a great post long run meal since it’s a nice balance of veggies which we all know are essential in helping the body recover from exercise. 

Sweetcorn is quite basic to be honest, cans are often lost in the deepest recesses of the kitchen cupboard and overlooked for sexier ingredients in the fridge. But when partnered up with chilli, lime, coriander, black beans and avocado it works so well.

Using fresh corn kernels cut straight off the cob makes all the difference and with more sweetcorn compared to batter these fritters are surprisingly light yet the flavours are bold. They can be made pretty quickly and the prep is really what’s time consuming. Serve with avocado, refried beans, a sprinkle of feta and coriander leaves.

Bill Granger’s Sweetcorn Fritters

Fresh, healthy and packed full of bright yellow kernels of sweetness. I absolutely love sweetcorn fritters and other than pancakes they really are my ultimate brunch food. With some avocado and refried beans on the side you may as well be chilling in Mexico. This is the signature dish of renowned Australian chef Bill Granger who has been making sweetcorn fritters at his restaurants for over 25 years.

For the refried beans

  • 2 tbsp olive oil (extra virgin)
  • 1/2 red onion, chopped
  • 2 garlic cloves, crushed
  • 400g tin or carton of black beans, rinsed and drained and roughly mashed
  • 1/2 tsp chipotle chilli powder
  • 125 ml organic vegetable stock
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

For the fritters

  • 150g plain flour, sifted
  • 1/4 tsp baking powder
  • 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/2 tsp black pepper
  • 1 egg, lightly beaten
  • 1 tsp lemon juice
  • 125 ml water
  • 350g corn kernels, cut from 3 large corn cobs
  • 4 spring onions, thinly sliced
  • 3 tbsp chopped coriander
  • 1 red chilli, deseeded and finely diced
  • 2 tbsp olive oil

For the avocado

  • 1 avocado peeled and cut into wedges
  • 1/2 lime, juiced
  • 100g feta, crumbled
  • handful of coriander leaves
  • salt and freshly ground black pepper, to taste

  1. Make the refried beans first. Heat oil over a medium heat and add the onion, garlic and sauté for 2-3 mins. Add the beans, chilli powder and stock, stirring and mashing over a low heat until you have a chunky consistency. Season with salt and pepper and leave to one side.

  2. In a medium sized bowl put flour, baking powder, salt, black pepper and paprika. Add the egg, lemon juice and water and beat together until smooth. Add the corn, spring onions, coriander, and chilli mixing well.

  3. Heat oil in a large frying pan over a medium heat. For each fritter spoon 2 heaped tablespoons of the mixture. Using the back of the spoon flatten it down and cook for a couple of minutes on each side or until golden brown and firm to the touch. Continue until the mixture is finished.

  4. Slice the avocado into wedges and squeeze fresh lime juice and season with salt and pepper. 

  5. Serve the fritters on top of the refried beans with avocado, a sprinkle of feta cheese and coriander leaves.

Add some bacon or sausages if you’re a meat eater but it’s definitely not needed here.