Come the end of winter in Western Pennsylvania, it seems like summer will never come again. One more day of grey skies and it is enough to send anyone packing. So packing it was for my husband and me as we took off to the U.S. Virgin Islands for a week. Ah, sun, sand, sun, surf, sun and sun ... and did I mention the sun?

The U.S. Virgin Islands are a great, quick getaway for Pittsburghers. My favorite place in the world is St. John, the smallest of the three most well-known U.S. Virgins (we learned that Water Island is considered the fourth island and there are many other, smaller islands that are considered U.S. territory). And there is some wonderful food to be had.

Perhaps our best meal of the trip was dinner at Sweet Plantains, led by Chef Rose Adams. She and her husband, Prince, opened the restaurant in 2005. "We lived in Brooklyn, but Rose got a job at a resort down here," he explained. "I got tired of flying back and forth, so when this opportunity came up to open our own place, we jumped on it."

The couple share a West Indian heritage and have tied this into their foods. Prince also prides himself on his rum and wine knowledge.

I tried the Erotic Spiced Martini, an amazing concoction of rum and spices. Paul had Drunk Bay, a locally brewed beer whose name is a takeoff on the famous Trunk Bay of St. John. "It reminds me of Newcastle," he said.

Prince sent an Island Roadside Sampler for two -- saltfish cakes, honey-jerked drumettes, tostones, and the daily special, samosas -- vegetable pastries that were fried and complemented with a mint-cilantro-garlic dip. The saltfish cakes reminded us of crab cakes. While the drumettes were delicious, I bartered with Paul so I could have more of the samosas. The pastry was crisp, hot and spicy -- perfect with the cold, mild dip.

For dinner, I chose the pork tenderloin cooked in jerk spices (what they call "jerked") and served with pickled green papaya slaw. Paul was adventurous with the Masala Spiced Red Curry with chicken, a highly spiced dish with onions, ginger, tomatoes and a cilantro-garlic sauce.

Dessert was a mango cheesecake coupled with mango-flavored rum for me and Paul had the chocolate du jour, a dish as rich as it sounds. We also tried the cardamom-spiced tapioca. "A lot of people compare it to tiramisu. It is our specialty," said Prince. It was laced with Jamaican blue mountain coffee liqueur and topped with cinnamon sugar and French Caribbean bittersweet cocoa. It was heaven.

Rose is the only chef in the kitchen and starts early in the day, working on sauces and bases for her dishes. In a small garden off the back of the restaurant overlooking the bay,they grow bananas, plantains, papayas, passion fruit, mangos, sugarcane, hot peppers, okra, herbs and exotic flowers for the restaurant. They also obtain local foods whenever possible.

Rose kindly shared the dish at right. "This is a fiery hot smoked fish and spice spread made in Jamaica and in the Virgin Islands. It's a special-occasion treat served with tostones (twice-fried green plantain chips)" or spread on hard-dough bread, johnny cakes. "It is made for cocktail time before a meal."

She continued, "Tradition is to use the hottest fresh chili pepper, i.e., bird pepper, habanero, or Scotch bonnet. My mother uses Scotch bonnet but when she lived in Jamaica, her family would use the very, very hot wild bird peppers."The hotter it is, the better it tastes.

Peggy's Solomon Grundy

PG tested

This is Rose Adams' mother's recipe, which is used at the Sweet Plantains restaurant.

We used smoked salmon because the local grocery store had no herring and suggested this yummy substitute. Add more or less pepper to your heat tolerance.

• 1/2 pound smoked red herring filets, skinless and boneless
• 1 to 3 small bird peppers or 1 habanero (preferably Scotch bonnet)
• 1/4 cup chopped red onions
• 1/4 cup chopped celery
• 1/4 cup seeded and chopped green bell pepper
• 1 whole scallion, chopped
• 1 garlic clove, chopped
• Pinch of freshly ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon fresh thyme leaves
• 1 tablespoon white vinegar
• 3 ounces Spanish extra virgin olive oil
• 1 tablespoon of medium-bodied Jamaican rum such as Appleton Gold (we used Cruzan)
• 1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lime
• Black pepper to taste

Soak fillets in cold water for one hour, then wash filets with cold water to tone down some of the salt and smokiness. Pat dry with paper towel.

Process all ingredients to a smooth paste with a food processor, adding more olive oil if necessary.

Correct seasoning, adding more hot pepper, black pepper, or salt to taste. Place in bowl as a dip/spread.

Garnish with chopped scallions. Serve chilled or at room temperature with toast, tostones or crackers and cold beer and rum cocktails.

A variation on this is to add a little cream cheese or sour cream when processing to create a more spreadable dip for raw vegetables, Jamaican water crackers and chips.

Note: Use culinary gloves when handling hot chilies and wash food equipment and surfaces well.

Yields enough to fill a 6- to 8-ounce jar.

-- Rose Adams, chef at Sweet Plantains