Hey Young Chefs!

Here is the video of me cooking shrimp etouffee’ at the New Orleans Seafood Festival. The recipe is on my previous blog post.

Cool Kids Cook and Get Creative in the Kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Kid Chef Eliana

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

4-21-11 Kid Chef Eliana gets ready to do a cooking demonstration of her Fresh from the Garden Salsa at Strehle Elementary in Avondale, LA for 5th grade students

Hey Young Chefs!

This past Thursday, I had a cooking demonstration at Strehle Elementary in Avondale, Louisiana. I demonstrated “Fresh from the Garden Salsa” from my cookbook, Eliana Cooks! Recipes for Creative Kids, for all of the 5th grade.

4-21-11 Kid Chef Eliana pours salt for her salsa

I did separate demonstrations for each of the 5th grade classes. There were three classes in all. After the demonstration, the students tasted samples of my salsa with tortilla chips. Many of them said, “This is the best salsa I’ve ever had!”

4-21-11 5th graders watch as Kid Chef Eliana demonstrates her Fresh from the Garden Salsa

The kids laughed a lot and I had a great time demonstrating the salsa with the Strehle students. I really enjoyed my visit to Strehle Elementary. Thanks, 5th graders!

Cool kids cook and get creative in the kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Eliana

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

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

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

(Jewelry by Sarah of HeavyEyeliner.com. Thanks, Sarah!)

Hey Young Chefs!

Here is the recipe for Devil’s Food Monster Muffins. These muffins are so yum! yum!, super simple to make, and low-fat too!

Devil’s Food Monster Muffins

Ingredients:
1 box super-moist devil’s food cake mix
1 15 oz. can pure pumpkin

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Mix pumpkin and cake mix until fluffy. Spoon into muffin pan. Batter will rise, creating mega muffin tops. Bake 20 minutes. Makes 12 monster muffins.

Mmmm. Mmmm. Delish!

Cool kids cook so get creative in the kitchen!

Bon Appetit, Eliana