Easter time in Trinidad and Tobago means lots of hot cross buns, great fish dishes and my preference, roasted leg of lamb. Let’s not forget provisions, especially dasheen and yams. Whatever your choice this upcoming long weekend make sure to prepare some delicious dishes!

[caption id="attachment_1008706" align="alignnone" width="1024"] Hot Cross Buns - Angelo Marcelle of Newsday[/caption]

Hot cross buns

You can use your electric mixer for this recipe but the directions are for making by hand.

Ingredients

1 tbs active dry yeast

1 ¼ cups milk

⅓ cup sugar

⅓ cup butter, melted

1 tsp salt

1 tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground cloves

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

1 egg

1 egg yolk

4 to 4 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup raisins

½ cup mixed peel, (optional)

1 egg white slightly beaten

1 tbs water

Frosting

1 cup icing sugar

1 tbs lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

Directions

In a large bowl place yeast, milk, sugar, butter, salt, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, egg, egg yolk and 2 cups flour. Beat until smooth. Stir in raisins and mixed peel. Add enough flour to make the dough easy to handle.

Turn dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic, about 5 minutes.

Place in a greased bowl turn greased side up. Cover and let rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 ½ hours.

Punch down dough, divide into 4 equal parts. Cut each part into 6 equal pieces.

Shape each piece into a ball, place about 2 inches apart on a baking sheet.

With a scissors, snip a cross on top of each ball.

Cover and let rise until doubled in size, about 40 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 °F.

Mix egg white with 1 tablespoon water, brush top of buns with egg white mixture. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes.

To make the frosting, mix icing sugar with lemon juice and zest until smooth. Add a little more water if needed ½ tsp at a time. Frost crosses on buns with frosting.

Makes 24 rolls

[caption id="attachment_1008705" align="alignnone" width="870"] Garlicky roasted leg of lamb - Source: parade.com[/caption]

Garlicky roasted leg of lamb

Ingredients

4 lb leg of lamb (New Zealand)

8 cloves garlic minced

4 tbs red wine vinegar

2 tbs Dijon mustard

2 tsp coarsely cracked black pepper

2 tbs chopped fresh rosemary or 1 tbs dried

2 tbs olive oil

2 tsp salt

Directions

Remove outer layer of fat from lamb

In a food processor combine garlic, vinegar, mustard, pepper, rosemary and olive oil, process until combined. Rub marinade over lamb, cover and refrigerate overnight.

Before roasting remove lamb from refrigerator, bring to room temperature. Rub salt over lamb,

Preheat oven to 400 °F and roast lamb for 1 to 1 ½ hours or until done. Lamb is usually at its best when a meat thermometer inserted in the thickest part registers 140 °F

Allow roast to rest for 15 minutes before carving.

Serves 8 to 10

Creamy whipped cassava

Ingredients

1 ½ lbs cassava, centre string removed

¼ cup butter

½ to ⅔ cup full cream milk

1 large egg

2 cloves garlic, grated

1 cup grated