For those in the NYC area looking to get a taste of live Caribbean music, two of the best are coming to the area this week.

The Mighty Sparrow heads to downtown Brooklyn this afternoon for a lunchtime show, while Jimmy Cliff will take the mainstage at Central Park for an afternoon concert. Check out the details at the links below:

There aren’t too many artist out there that drop videos for their mixtapes and Theophilus London is just that artist to go against the grain. Here is video for “I Want You” off the mixtape titled “I Want You”. If you haven’t gotten your hands on the mixtape yet you should, its worth a listen.

A one pot meal of meat, rice and vegetable. Check out the details below…

Pelau

Ingredients:

• 1 lb rice
• ½ lb chicken, back ‘n’ neck
• 2 oz carrots
• ½ lb pigeon peas
• ½ lb salted pig tail
• 2 oz green pepper
• 2 oz pumpkin (diced)
• ½ lb spinach (chopped finely)
• 1 bunch herbs (chives)
• 2 oz onion (sliced)
• 8 cups water
• 2 tbsp margarine

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Something hearty for your Mother’s Day menu. Check out the details below…

Stewed Beef in Coconut Milk with Dumplings

Ingredients:

• 6 bay leaves
• 3.5 pounds of beef, cubed
• 6 leaves Mexican thyme (or substitute ordinary thyme)
• 1 1/2 cups coconut milk
• 1 onion, chopped
• 4 garlic cloves
• 1 tbsp chives, chopped
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• oil for frying
• black pepper, to taste

For the Dumplings:

• 1 1/4 cups flour
• salt, to taste
• 1/2 tsp sugar
• 1 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp baking powder

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Interesting story about the Caribbean connection for the Giants and Jets in the recent NFL draft.

Check out the story here: Jets’ and Giants’ Top Picks Have Isles in Common - NYTimes.com.

Theophilus London is back with a new Mixtape I Want You. I like this kid’s sound; I’ve been bumping the mixtape since I got my hands on it two days ago. If you’re already a Theophilus fan then this won’t disappoint. If you are new to him this is a nice primer. My fault for not sharing sooner.

Download: Theophilus London - I Want You

Courtesy of Walshy Fire’s Weekly Podcast. Check out the details below…

Walshy Fire on Fire again and This Time inna Soca Style. Getting ready for Caribana, NY carnival, and Miami carnival its Socal 4: Walshy Fire is the Socavivor! And he brought his friend along, the king of soca, Machel Montano. Montano hosts Socal 4: The Socavivor

Download it here: Walshy Fire x Machel Montano: Socal 4: The Socavivor.

Also, check out the tracklisting after the jump…

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Feeling brave enough to want to make a cake from scratch? Then check out the details below…

Rum & Raisin Cake

Ingredients:

• 5 large eggs
• 1 2/3 cups of sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 7 tablespoons dark rum
• 1/2 cup of powdered sugar
• 1 1/2 cups of brown raisins
• 1 teaspoon of baking powder
• 2 teaspoons of whipping cream
• 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
• 2 1/4 cups of sifted all purpose flour
• 1 1/4 cups of (2 1/2 sticks) unsalted
• butter, at room temperature

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Not too long ago Machel Montano sat down with the Walshy Fire in Miami to discuss his music, latest news and future plans. Here is what came of it.

Back to the Guyanese (or Trinidadian, depending on who you ask…) cuisine, for at least one weekend. Check out the details below…

Currant Rolls

Ingredients:

Flaky Pastry

• 1 lb flour - sifted
• 12 oz shortening at room temperature
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 1/2 tsp granulated sugar
• 9 oz water
• Juice from ½ lime

Filling

• 12 oz currants
• 3 to 4 oz granulated sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp vanilla

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