Hey Young Chefs!

On Monday, I made a batch of fresh pesto. I really love pesto. It’s so easy to make. It’s great in the summer too because basil grows abundantly in the warm weather. Here is my Perfect Pesto recipe:

Ingredients
3 c. fresh basil
1/2 c. pine nuts
1/2 c. Parmesan cheese
1/4 c. minced garlic
1/2 c. extra virgin olive oil
Dash sea salt
Dash white pepper

Directions
Blend basil, pine nuts, cheese, and garlic. As mixture is blending, slowly add olive oil. Add a dash of sea salt and white pepper to taste. Store in an airtight container. Serves 8-12.

After I made the pesto, my dad and I used it to make homemade chicken pesto pizza (photo above).

On Tuesday, my mom and used it to make chicken pesto pasta. Talk about delicious!

Try pesto instead of tomato sauce in your pizza or pasta. It’ll be worth it!

Cool Kids Cook and Get Creative in the Kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Hey Young Chefs!

On Saturday, I cooked a delicious Thai dinner that included Thai sticky boneless ribs, coconut rice topped with toasted coconut, and garlic ginger snow peas. I cut banana leaves from our backyard, rinsed them, and used them as a serving platter. Pretty purple orchids in a vase decorated the table.

The rib marinade was made with sweet chili sauce, lemon grass paste, ginger paste, sesame oil, chili oil, garlic, and wine vinegar. I baked them in the oven for a couple hours until they were fall-apart tender. They were tasty Thai ribs!

Cool Kids Cook and Get Creative in the Kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Hey Young Chefs!

Tonight I made steaks, green beans, & mashed sweet potatoes. I used the same mashed sweet potato recipe as I did in my Copycat Copeland’s post.

For dessert, I made Chocolate Oreo Covered Peeps on a Stick. They are DELICIOUS! Here is the recipe.

Chocolate Oreo Covered Peeps on a Stick

INGREDIENTS:
Pack of Marshmallow Peeps
12oz. Milk Chocolate Chips
Pack of Oreos, Crushed

DIRECTIONS:
Blend about 12 of the Oreos in a food processor. Next, microwave half of the chocolate chips in a bowl until melted. Place a marshmallow Peep on a lollipop stick. Dip the marshmallow peep in the melted chocolate. Then, cover the Peep in Oreo crumbs. Finally, let the Peeps dry on wax paper & freeze for 30 minutes. Enjoy!

We also dyed Koolaid Eggs. First, we baked our eggs in a 325 degree oven for 30 minutes. (The eggs have a creamier texture when they’re baked.)

While the eggs are baking, mix your Koolaid packets. Do not use grape packets! They make your eggs gray. LOL. We experimented by mixing different packets together. Add 2/3 cup of water with each cup you put the packet in.

The eggs you dye with the mixed dyes come out with a film. In the end, it comes out splotchy & cool. Most of the dye colors are brilliant!

When your eggs are ready to be dyed, be creative. Also, use a white crayon to draw designs on the eggs. When the egg is done dying, it doesn’t dye the design & it looks amazing! These are the complete eggs.

I had a super fun Easter! Happy Easter!

Cool Kids Cook & Get Creative in the Kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Hey Young Chefs!

Tonight, my mom and I cooked together and made my favorite meal from Copeland’s Restaurant: blackened chicken with caramelized onions and mashed sweet potatoes.

We didn’t write down a recipe. We just winged it. Blackened chicken is super simple. Coat your chicken with lots of Creole seasoning and sauté it in a super hot iron skillet with a bit of cooking oil until the chicken is blackened on both sides.

We rendered two slices of chopped bacon. We caramelized half a red onion with the bacon and some garlic.

We boiled and peeled three large sweet potatoes. After mashing the sweet potatoes, we added 6 tablespoons of softened, unsalted butter, 1/4 cup heavy cream, 1 cup of brown sugar, 1 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 cup honey, and a dash of vanilla. We puréed the mixture.

The mashed sweet potatoes were plated with blackened chicken topped with caramelized onions. Fresh corn on the cob was our side dish.

This meal was so good that I am bringing it for lunch to school tomorrow! Mmmmm!

Cool Kids Cook and Get Creative in the Kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Hey Young Chefs!

Today I had a burger battle with my PawPaw. First, we went shopping for our ingredients. When we got back we started prepping the food.

Next, we made our hamburger patties. My hamburgers were stuffed with smoked Gouda, sautéed mushrooms, & bacon.

PawPaw incorporated mushrooms into his seasoned meat and stuffed his burger with cheddar cheese. He topped his burger with bleu cheese and bacon.

After we grilled the patties, I dressed my burger with a homemade honey mustard sour cream sauce, the patty, more gouda, spinach, tomatoes, & caramelized onions along with a side of Cajun boiled red potatoes. Delicious!!!

Finally, time for the judging! Which burger will be chosen? Mine or my PawPaw’s?

In the end, they chose my burger!!! I was the winner of the Battle of the Burgers! The judges, my Nana and Dad, liked the sweetness of my burger, the caramelized red onions, the stuffing, and the yummy sauce. Woo hoo!

Cool Kids Cook & Eat Homemade Burgers!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Hey Young Chefs!

Tonight my mom and I made paneéd chicken and penne pasta with a homemade marinara sautéed with bacon and basil.

Instead of frying the chicken in vegetable oil, we fried it in olive oil. It tasted a little different but it was delicious! We garnished the pasta with shaved Parmesan and fried garlic chips.

This was a “throw-together” meal so there is no recipe. I hope to cook up a new recipe this weekend.

Cool Kids Cook and Get Creative in the Kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Hey Young Chefs!

Tonight we made a delish dish! Tired of ordinary hot dogs? Well these puppies are out of the ordinary. How can you go wrong with ball park dogs, cheese and BACON?!

They’re very easy. Set your oven to broil. Butterfly the hot dogs and fill them with your favorite cheese. I used pepperjack and cheddar. Next, wrap uncooked bacon diagonally around the hot dogs. Broil until bacon is crispy.

Jazz up the bun with different condiments. I used lilikoi (passion fruit) mustard from Hawaii. I topped my dog with chili and cheddar.

Cool Kids Cook and Get Creative in the Kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Hey Young Chefs!

My mom & I made a Filipino dish called Afritada. It’s made with beef, tomato sauce, bell peppers, carrots, onions, potatoes, garlic, & soy sauce. My mom learned the recipe from my nana. Sorry I don’t have a recipe. We just threw it together family style!

Cool Kids Cook & Eat Beef Afritada!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Hey Young Chefs!

A few days ago, my mom and I created a delicious corn and crab bisque recipe. The great thing about this recipe is that it’s super quick and hearty, perfect as a meal. Here is the recipe.

Corn & Crab Bisque

Ingredients:
12 oz. crab meat, finely chopped
1 can corn
1 c. trinity
3 tbsp. butter
3 tbsp. flour
2 c. chicken or seafood broth
1 c. heavy cream
1 c. milk
2 tsp. Creole seasoning

Directions:
Purée the corn & trinity. Then make a blonde roux with the butter & flour. Immediately add the heavy cream, chicken broth, & milk. Next, add the purée & Creole seasoning. Let it thicken for 10 minutes. Finally, add the crab. Simmer for 2-5 minutes. Enjoy!

Cool kids cook and eat corn and crab bisque!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

Kid Chef Eliana

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Contact: Mary Kate McKenna
marykate@zisboombah.com
303-995-2526

Young Chef Eliana Joins ZisBoomBah Using Culinary Talent to Take a Bite Out of Childhood Obesity

BOULDER, Colo. – February 28, 2012 – ZisBoomBah.com, The First Lady Michelle Obama Let’s Move award winning app, announced today the addition of local New Orleans, Louisiana kid foodie, Eliana, author of Eliana Cooks! Recipes for Creative Kids. Eliana will be encouraging kids to eat healthier with their very own chef page in ZisBoomBah’s Get Cooking with ZBB Kid Chefs section. The young chefs are inspiring kids to get involved in the kitchen with healthy recipes such as their delicious Fresh from the Garden Salsa and her cooking videos.

Trying to instill in children a love for food and cooking is hard for any parent. But fun cooking videos, kid friendly recipes and food stories created by kids for kids is an entirely fresh approach. As peers, the talented kid chefs will inspire kids to take an interest in food and cooking in way adults simply can’t! Better yet, kids can interact with the ZBB Kid Chefs by becoming “ZBB friends” with them; they get to message the kid chefs and share meals with them.

What advice does ZisBoomBah kid chef Eliana have for other kids looking to cook? “The most important thing for kids to learn before they start cooking is kitchen safety and cleanliness,” explains Kids Chef Eliana. Eliana joins seven other kid foodies on ZisBoomBah.com. The ZisBoomBah kid chefs are from White Bear Lake, MN, Tucson, AZ, Dallas, TX and Los Angeles, CA.

“By encouraging the power of peer to peer learning and influence, ZisBoomBah is changing the way kids are making healthy food and lifestyle choices. ZisBoomBah is thrilled to have the opportunity to build our online community with these bright and talented kid foodies.” expresses Karen Laszlo, founder of ZisBoomBah.com. ###

About ZisBoomBah.com
ZisBoomBah.com, a free interactive foodie tool for kids and parents, is a quick, fun and actionable way to get families excited about healthy eating. Our kid-friendly growing community offers social networking around healthy kid and family lifestyle issues. Kids are the drivers. We empower kids to create their own healthy meals and engage their parents in healthy lifestyle changes. Parents motivated to make a change will find everything they need at ZisBoomBah from a supportive community to expert advice that addresses a family’s specific needs. ZisBoomBah.com was the grand prize winning website in First Lady Michelle Obama’s Apps for Healthy Kids Campaign.

About Kid Chef Eliana
With family from the Philippines, Cajun Louisiana, Cuba, and Honduras, 11-year-old Kid Chef Eliana has international flair. The author of Eliana Cooks! Recipes for Creative Kids, she was one of 13 Latinos profiled at the Southern Food and Beverage Museum. She is featured in the book, The Parents’ Guide to Raising CEO Kids, by Sarah L. Cook, has cooked with Celebrity Chef John Besh, and made numerous appearances in print, online, on television, and live. Visit her website at kidchefeliana.com, follow her on Twitter @KidChefEliana, and “like” her on Facebook – elianacooksfanpage.