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 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