Oahu, Hawaii – Hanauma Bay and Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room – Thursday, June 9, 2011

6-9-11 Soleil and I at Hanuama Bay

Hey Young Chefs!

On Thursday, we went to Hanauma Bay, which used to be a volcano crater. But, it eroded and formed Hanauma Bay. Hanauma Bay has so much coral and fish. It is such a great place to snorkel. It is about 10 miles east of Waikiki.

6-9-11 The beautiful clear water and plenty of coral.

Here I am, kissing a fish. ;<3 LOL

6-9-11 Me kissing a fish. LOL

This a is a wonderful picture of a rooster walking on the beach of Hanauma Bay.

6-9-11 A beautiful rooster at Hanuama Bay

After we go back to our hotel to take showers and change, we eat dinner at Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room for my birthday dinner. It is an upscale restaurant in Macy’s. The first food item I ate was bruschetta.

6-9-11 Eliana makes a perfect bruschetta with tomatoes, chevre, macadamia nut pesto, and olive tapenade

Next we ate a watermelon and tomato salad. It was compliments of the chef. Watermelon and tomatoes taste so good together.

6-9-11 A tomato and watermelon salad compliments of Executive Chef Lance Kosaka from Alan Wong's Pineapple Room

I ate off of everyone’s plate. I had so much food that I can’t remember what I ate. LOL

For dessert they brought me an ice cream cake. Also, we each ordered our own dessert. Plus, we had two palate-cleansing sherbets. We had seven desserts all together. NO JOKE!

6-9-11 Happy Birthday Chef Eliana from Alan Wong's Pineapple Room

This is me and Executive Chef Lance Kosaka. He was so nice. We all liked him a lot. He even gave me a birthday present: He gave me sacred sea salt from the island of Kauai. I was so happy! What a special gift. Thank you Chef Lance!

6-9-11 Me with Executive Chef Lance Kosaka from Alan Wong's Pineapple Room

I had an awesome time at Hanauma Bay and Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room!

Cool Kids Cook and Visit5 Hanauma Bay and Alan Wong’s Pineapple Room!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Recipe: Prosciutto, Melon & Capiello Salad – May 22, 2011

5-22-11 Kid Chef Eliana with her prosciutto, melon & capiello salad

Hey Young Chefs!

I love summer because there are so many fruits and vegetables available at the market. This recipe is a great summer salad, using in season cantaloupe and fresh mixed greens. Here I am scooping out the melon balls with a special tool called a “melon baller.”

5-22-11 Kid Chef Eliana scoops melon balls

This recipe also has prosciutto, which is a thin, salty Italian ham and capiello, a marinated, slightly spicy mozzarella. If you get tired of regular salad, try this sweet and salty combination. Check out this gorgeous salad. Don’t forget the melon balsamic vinaigrette!

5-22-11 The sweet and salty salad. Mmmmm!

Prosciutto, Melon & Capiello Salad
Ingredients
Mixed greens
Capiello (marinated mozzarella)
Prosciutto
Cantaloupe

Directions
Place your desired amount of mixed greens on a plate. Pull apart a slice of prosciutto with your hands and place on top of mixed greens. Cut capiello into quarter inch strips and pull it apart. Place capiello on top of salad. Cut cantaloupe in half and use a melon-baller to scoop out as many melon balls as desired. Arrange on top of salad.

Melon Balsamic Vinaigrette
Ingredients
2 tbsp. balsamic vinegar (good quality)
2 tbsp. extra virgin olive oil
1 tbsp. cantaloupe juice
1 pkt. Splenda (or other sweetener)

Directions
Pour balsamic vinegar into a bowl. While adding olive oil, whisk. Add sweetener and cantaloupe juice. Whisk again. Drizzle on top of salad.

Cool kids cook and get creative in the kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Book Signing & Cooking Demo: Barnes & Noble, Harvey, LA-Saturday, December 18, 2010

12-18-10 Kid Chef Eliana gets ready to demonstrate 2X2 Chicken Fajita Soup

Hey Young Chefs:

It’s been a very busy holiday season and I haven’t had the chance to blog! I’ve had lots of events, family functions, and parties! On Saturday, December 18, I did a holiday cooking demonstration and book signing at the Barnes & Noble in Harvey, Louisiana. I demonstrated my 2X2 Chicken Fajita Soup. It’s called 2X2 because it has two helpings of each ingredient.

12-18-10 Kid Chef Eliana serves her 2X2 Chicken Fajita Soup

The soup was delicioso and everyone loved it! I served it with flour tortillas. The recipe for 2X2 Chicken Fajita soup can be found in my cookbook, Eliana Cooks! Recipes for Creative Kids. After my cooking demonstration, I signed books. It was a ton of fun. Thank you Ms. Jane French and Ms. Stacey Hensley of Barnes & Noble. Thank you also to my family, friends, and fans who came and supported me!

12-18-10 Kid Chef Eliana signs books for fans at Barnes & Noble in Harvey, LA

I am ending the year with a New Year’s Eve Book Signing at A Tisket A Tasket on Decatur Street in New Orleans on Friday, December 31, 2010 from 12pm-2pm. I hope to see you there!

12-18-10 Kid Chef Eliana with Mom and Dad

Cool kids cook and get creative in the kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Kid Chef Eliana Cooks Belizean Chicken Recado Stew-Monday, December 6, 2010

12-6-10 Kid Chef Eliana cuts chicken for the Belizean chicken recado stew

Hey Young Chefs!

A couple of weeks ago, my family and I took a Carnival cruise in the Western Caribbean. Our cruise took us to to the countries of Belize, Honduras, and Mexico. While I was in Belize, I picked up a bunch of spices!

11-23-10 Kid Chef Eliana heads straight for the Belizean spices!

My family wanted to taste Belize again so we cooked a Central American meal of Belizean chicken recado stew. Recado is a ball of paste made of achiote seeds, which are red. You can see the little ball of recado in the top picture. If you are not careful, the recado can stain your hands so we wore food prep gloves.

12-6-10 Kid Chef Eliana mixes Belizean spices and Belizean jerk into the chicken

This is what achiote seeds look like.

12-6-10 Achiote seeds picture

My mom mixed the recado into chicken broth while I seasoned the chicken with Belizean jerk seasoning and Belizean all-purpose spice. We sauteed the chicken with onions, garlic, bell peppers, and celery then added the broth.

12-4-10 Kid Chef Eliana pours the recado broth over the sauteed chicken

The meal turned out soooo good! We ate the chicken recado stew (a taste of Belize) with coconut rice (a taste of Honduras), black beans (a taste of Central and South America), and snow peas with salsa verde (a taste of Mexico).

12-4-10 Belizean chicken recado stew, coconut rice, black beans and snow peas with salsa verde

Yum! Yum! Here is the recipe:

Belizean Chicken Recado Stew

Ingredients
2 lbs. boneless chicken breast, cut into bite-size chunks
1 ball of recado
1 c. chicken broth
2 tbsp. Belizean all-purpose spice
1 tsp. Belizean Jerk spice
1/2 c. onions, finely chopped
1 bell pepper, chopped
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
6 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 lb. small red potatoes, quartered and par-boiled
olive oil

Directions
Season chicken thoroughly with all-purpose seasoning and jerk spice. Mix recado into chicken broth. Over medium heat, Sautee onions, bell pepper, celery and garlic for 5-7 minutes. Add chicken and sautee’ until brown on both sides. Add recado broth. Add potatoes and cover. Let simmer for about an hour, stirring occasionally. Serve with steamed white rice or coconut rice. Serves 6-8.

I hope you enjoyed this!

Cool kids cook and get creative in the kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Carnival Cruise Day 6-Cozumel, Mexico and Thanksgiving-November 25, 2010

11-25-10 Eliana and Abuela on a pedicab in Cozumel

Hey Young Chefs!

On our last excursion day, we docked in Cozumel, Mexico. Cozumel is an island and the water there is so pretty.

11-25-10 Entering the last port - Cozumel, Mexico!

You would never catch me on a gator like this in Louisiana! LOL

11-25-10 Eliana tames a giant gator in Cozumel, Mexico

We went to San Francisco Beach Resort to have fun sunning and swimming in the clear Caribbean water.

11-25-10 Welcome to San Francisco Beach Resort!

The beach was so pretty – white sands and turquoise water!

11-25-10 Playa bella at the San Francisco Beach Resort in Cozumel, Mexico

On the beach, we saw a man with a squirrel monkey. He told my mom that it was from Panama and it was rescued and rehabilitated. It ate monkey food off the top of my mom’s head! hahaha

11-25-10 A squirrel monkey, rescued and rehabilitated

For lunch, I had tasty chicken quesadillas. Delicioso!

11-25-10 Kid Chef Eliana eats chicken quesadillas. Que delicioso!

After sunning and swimming all day, we went back to the ship. It was Thanksgiving and there was a Saints game on!

11-25-10 Headed back to the ship after a full day of sun, sand, surf and shopping in Cozumel

The Saints won against Dallas…

11-25-10 The Saints won the Saints v. Dallas game on Thanksgiving and Saints fans rocked the boat!

… and we had a wonderful Thanksgiving dinner on the ship!

11-25-10 Elegant Eliana at Thanksgiving dinner

It was sad to leave our last port but I am so inspired by the food, the culture, and the memories!

11-26-10 Smile for the family Christmas picture!

Cool kids cook and cruise!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Carnival Cruise Day 5-Roatan, Honduras-Wednesday, November 24, 2010

11-24-10 Antonio, Dianne, Soleil & Eliana in Mahogany Bay, Roatan, Honduras

Hey Young Chefs!

On Day 5 of our Carnival Cruise, we stopped in Roatan, Honduras. I was so excited about this port because I am part Honduran. We decided to take an excursion to Maya Key, a small island off Roatan with a wildlife conservatory and a replica of the Copan Mayan Ruins.

11-24-10 Auntie Erly, Trina, Jasmynn, Josie, Eliana & Camrynn on the boat to Maya Key, Roatan, Honduras

When I got to the pier, I caught this cool picture of a plane soaring overhead.

11-24-10 A sillhouette of an airplane flying over head

Mom, Dad, my cousin, Camrynn, and I visited the the ruins first, before swimming. Along the way, we saw beautiful macaws, colorful like rainbows. Wow!

11-24-10 Two macaw birds fighting

Next, my cousin, Camrynn, and I took a picture by a Mayan statue.

11-24-10 Camrynn and Eliana pose next to a Mayan figure on Maya Key, Roatan, Honduras

It was cool to see the ruins even though they weren’t in ruins. LOL

11-24-10 Soleil, Antonio, Dianne & Eliana in front of the replica of the Copan Ruins, Maya Key in Roatan, Honduras

Here I am in front of another Mayan structure.

11-24-10 Eliana in front of a replica of a Mayan structure

After visiting the museum and the ruins, it was time to go swimming! I snorkeled too, in crystal clear water where I could really see the beautiful coral and colorful fish.

11-24-10 Jasmynn, Soleil, Ashlynn, Camrynn & Eliana swim in the Maya Key waters, Roatan, Honduras

I also had fun collecting sea shells and coral for my mom.

11-24-10 Eliana collects a handful of shells and coral from Maya Key in Roatan, Honduras

For lunch, I ate some delicious island food, just like my Abuela makes!

11-24-10 Kid Chef Eliana eats coconut rice and beans, Honduran barbecue and fried plaintains

After having fun on Maya Key, it was time to go back to Roatan. We hopped on the same boat and zipped back, arriving with enough time for shopping. Abuela is from Honduras so my dad was so excited to find handicrafts to bring home to represent his heritage.

11-24-10 Honduran shopkeepers with carved wooden masks

After a full day in Honduras, it was time to head back to the ship for dinner. Look at this gorgeous island sunset!

11-24-10 The sun sets in pretty Honduras...

I loved dining in the London Dining room for dinner. For dinner, I had a delicious spiced chicken with roasted cauliflower and cheesy peas.

11-24-10 Spiced chicken with roasted cauliflower and fresh peas

And even though I had a very full day, I still danced when the dinner dance number came on! The fun never stops on a cruise ship!

11-24-10 Even after a full day of sunning, swimming and snorkeling, Eliana joins the dinner dance number!

I loved all that fun in the sun! Cool kids cook and cruise!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Carnival Cruise Day 4-Tuesday 23, 2010

Hey Young Chefs!

Day three was a relaxation day for me, so nothing special happened that day, but day four was an exciting and tiresome day. We went to Belize City, Belize.

11-23-10 - A house in Belize

On that day we stopped at a local market and bought Belizean spices. The spices look so yummy!

11-23-10 Kid Chef Eliana heads straight for the Belizean spices!

First, we went cave tubing. We had to wear head lamps on our foreheads because some parts of the cave were so dark. Here is my cousin Ashlynn with her head lamp on.

11-23-10 My cousin, Ashlynn dons her headlamp for the caves. Look at the size of the inner tubes behind her!

The river water was freezing! The kids went across the river first and held on to a rope. Then, they gave us our inner tubes. We all had to walk on a trail through the rain forest. Look at the beautiful rain forest.

11-23-10 Amazing rock formations in the Belizean rain forest

Here we are cave tubing down the river. The water was cold but we had to get used to it! Brrr.

11-23-10 Dion guides us with ease... backwards!

It was fun cave tubing. After cave tubing, we went ziplining! I had to wear a helmet, belt harness, hooks, and gloves. It was very heavy. We had a little lesson and then off we went, ziplining through the rain forest! Here is me ziplining like a pro. LOL!

11-23-10 Eliana zips across on the practice line

Look at my dad ziplining. On the longest zipline my dad was trying to be like Tarzan. It was funny.

11-23-10 Antonio breezes in on the zipline

When we finished ziplining we had lunch. I ate Belizean barbecue chicken, platanos (sweet fried ripe plaintains), congri (rice and beans), and a tortilla. Delicioso!

11-23-10 Kid Chef Eliana eats rice and beans, Belizean barbecued chicken, and a homemade tortilla

When lunch was over we went back on the ship to our cabins and took a nap. Then, we had to wake up and get ready for dinner. Didn’t get to pictures of dinner, sorry. I forgot my camera in my cabin. I’m so mad at myself! It tasted wonderful.

Cool Kids Cook and Cruise!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Carnival Cruise Day 2-Sunday, November 21, 2010

11-21-10 What a beautiful couple! Mom hand beaded her dress with pearls and rhinestones.

Hey Young Chefs!

On November 21st my Nana and Paw Paw renewed their vows on the Carnival Cruise! It was a gorgeous vow renewal. Here is a picture of all the grandchildren, including me, waiting for our turn to walk down the aisle.

11-21-10 The grandchildren process down the aisle for the vow renewal ceremony

(Left to right) Jasmynn, me, Camrynn, Ashlynn, Jourdan, and finally Soleil. We walked down the aisle for Nana. Here is mommy walking Nana down the aisle. Isn’t that sweet?!

11-21-10 Mom had the privilege of walking my Nana down the aisle

After the vow renewal was over, we had the wedding reception. Nana and Paw Paw cut the cake together. There was a lot of food, but we still hadn’t eaten dinner yet, so we didn’t eat a lot. They had fruit, lamb empanadas, egg rolls, and chicken nuggets with a zesty honey mustard. The food was delicious!

11-21-10 I wish you could see how intricately the fruit was carved. Gorgeous!

After the vow renewal, we went to dinner. For the entree I ate my first lobster! It tasted awesome. It also came with shrimp.

11-21-10 Kid Chef Eliana eats her first lobster!

As for dessert, I had the Warm Melting Chocolate Cake. I’m so mad that I didn’t take a picture because it was the best dessert. After dinner we went to our cabins because we were exhausted. We were knocked out! That was a fun night.

Cool Kids Cook and Cruise!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Carnival Cruise Day 1 at Sea-Saturday, November 20, 2010

11-20-10 On board the Carnival Triumph with our Sign & Sail Cards

Hey Young Chefs!

During the Thanksgiving holiday week I went on a Carnival Cruise to Belize, Honduras, and Mexico! It was exciting. I ate a lot of tasty food, had some thrilling adventures, and had the time of my life. (Sing Fergie!) LOL

11-20-10 Taking a picture before we set sail, with New Orleans as our backdrop

We were on the Carnival Triumph. It was my first time on a cruise ship. Boy, was it BIG. On the Lido Deck (Floor 9), there was a humongous screen for an outdoor theater; 4 swimming pools and 5 Jacuzzi tubs; a basketball court; and a putt putt golf course.

11-20-10 Paw Paw enjoys putt putt golf with my cousins, Ashlynn & Camrynn on the top deck of the ship

The view from the top deck was amazing. Here is a picture of the city of New Orleans. Pretty!

11-20-10 A picture of the city of New Orleans from the aft of the top deck of the Carnival Triumph

After the ship set sail, we had dinner and then we went to a family dance party at the Hollywood Dance Club. We even learned a new dance called “The Wobble.” It’s so much fun!

11-20-10 My mom, my cousins and I dance at a family dance party in the Hollywood Dance Club. We learned a new dance called the Wobble!

It was a fun ending to a great first day on the Carnival Triumph. More to come!

Cool Kids Cook and Cruise!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Video Tutorial: Ragin’ Cajun Burgers – Thursday, August 6, 2009

Hey Young Chefs!

This is a great recipe for a burger with a little Cajun kick. If you want to make it spicier, you can add Cayenne or Tabasco to the meat. Enjoy!

Ragin’ Cajun Burgers

Ingredients:
2 lbs. ground beef (we like 85/15)
2 tbsp. Cajun Power Garlic Sauce
1 tbsp. Cajun seasoning
1 tbsp. minced garlic
1 tbsp. Dijon mustard
1 tbsp. Eliana’s Magic Seasoning Blend (or your favorite seasoning salt)

Directions:

Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix well. Form meat into palm-sized balls. Put ball on flat surface and use a plate to press down, forming a patty. Season both sides of patties with Cajun seasoning. Fry in an iron skillet until blackened. While patties are still hot, top with slices of Comte cheese (or cheese of your choice). Use soft French bread for a bun. Garnish with sauteed Vidalia onions (from Louisiana or your favorite sweet onion), Creole tomatoes (or any large tomato), and green leaf lettuce. Yum! Yum!

Cool kids cook and get creative in the kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Eliana