I'd just eat the sardines on crackers, that's how Dad ate them and the girls like them that way too, they were "camping food" for us.

Guanabana nectar? Oh Ashley would be so jealous. When she went to Costa Rica she had guanabana and said it was the most wonderful thing she'd ever tasted. Drink it or make a smoothie.

Lars sent me some ground annato, it's widely used to make cheddar cheese yellow! I used mine mostly to make fish tacos and I added it to some Cuban style rice.

I can't help you with the curry, I'm not crazy for Jamaican anything, it tends to be too spicy for my tastes, I'm a wuss and I've never used guava paste or Jugo seasoning, so there are some experiments to work on, LOL.

What a jackpot is right, have fun!

Annie

Thank you for all the info, Annie! The sardines will be perfect to take on a picnic, then. I did read that annato is commonly used as a food dye, but must be the key ingredient in Mexican yellow rice, so I'm excited to try that. I might even try it as a natural dye. lol! Thanks for the smoothie tip with guanabana nectar - that will be perfect!!! I found some lists of recipes for the guava paste -- I might go for the cheesecake w/ guava swirl. :) I'm not sure what makes the curry Jamaican but it will be fun to try it.

There were other interesting things in the pkg... I tried the Dal Moth last night, which was an interesting snack. I wish it had nutrition info on the pkg. :p

I've used annato in a South American pulled pork recipe. I got the whole seeds and crushed them. Annato is mostly about the color because, IMO, it has little flavor. Very, very subtle.

Guanabana is one of my favorite flavors, and I drink it as juice, but in Mexico I had it as ice cream and in licuados (similar to smoothies). I have a cherimoya tree, which is related to guanabana and has a similar flavor, and I used to have a guava tree at my previous house in Venice. Guavas have lots of seeds, and so I had to put the fruit through a juicer, the same that I did for passion fruit.

I've not used Jugo seasoning sauce, and so you may have to taste it to decide what to do with it.

Annato is a very common ingredient in the Yucatan, and it goes into many savory dishes, especially pork and chicken. It is essential when making Yucatecan style enchiladas or cochinita pibil. I buy it as a paste called "achiote". It has a very distinctive earthy flavor (when fresh), and every time I eat it, I feel like I am back in the Yucatan, but I have only used the paste version.

Good ingredients. Fun experimenting. Taste everything first.

I have seed annato. I heat a neutral oil like avocado, 1/2 cup, add two tbsp, and let steep. It is slightly earthy but mostly for color. Strain through a filter and use in sauces and marinades. Keeps a long time. Adds color to bbq anything. Good natural dye.

Guava paste is a nice mild sweet. Also good on chicken in a sauce or marinade with other ingredients like fresh herbs. Often served on a cheese plate as a compliment sweet.

Often served on a cheese plate as a compliment sweet.

Or in my part of the world layered with dulce de leche as the sweetest sweet ever. Or used as filling for pastelitos de guyaba.

But if you google "pasta de guyaba" you should find a lot of different recipes that use it.

PM, you ate a moth? (grin) Oh, you mean legumes?

What a nice eclectic kind of haul you got!

Annie

"--guava paste, guanabana nectar, ---"

When I was in LA a few months ago, I went to an ice cream place and had guava ice cream, guanabana ice cream, and a few other exotic fruit ice creams.

Wonderful!

dcarch

wow, these are wonderful ideas! Thanks, everyone!!!

ci_lantro, I wish I had the seeds... they apparently have a lot more flavor than pre-ground.

Lars, I've read a lot of positive comments on Jugo recently.... I suspect it may be a hit.

sleevendog, I really like the guava paste w/ chicken idea! Must try that.

writersblock, that would be too sweet for me!!!

Since both Lars and dcarch mentioned ice cream, I'll try something there too. I definitely have enough for many experiments. :)

oh! Annie, this Dal Moth listed ingredients of mung beans, chickpea flour (made into little pieces of vermicelli), cashews, and chili/seasoning. It would be better with more cashews. :)

writersblock, that would be too sweet for me!!!

Then consider that the traditional accompaniments are ironbeer, which is carbonated cane juice, or coke with a big slug of sweetened condensed milk!

PM, that sounds pretty good, for a Moth!

Writersblock, I can't even imagine Coke with sweetened condensed milk, wow.

Annie

I opened the package of guava paste that I bought last week-end and decided that it would be very good in place of jelly on thumbprint cookies. I personally would not put a glaze on top of them. The guava paste to me tastes a bit like plum preserves, and so you could use it in place of that for something else.

Fresh guava fruit is very sweet scented. If you have a small bowl of guava in a room, the whole room will smell sweet.

dcarch

If you have a small bowl of guava in a room, you will probably also have fruit flies!

Can't help you with anything but the sardines. ....and even then it is a retro 60's appetizer. None too healthy.... but easy and very tasty.

Mash the sardines in tomato sauce into a paste. Add a dash of hot sauce. Spread mixture on a half slice of partially cooked bacon. Roll up, skewer with a tooth pick and broil until crispy.

Jamaican curry is usually a yellow curry, very good cooked with coconut milk/cream. Dry-fry it in oil over medium heat for 45 seconds to 1 min, to ripen and refresh the spices before adding your liquids.

Great with chicken or oxtails, although your other option is goat!