A Little Taste of Isla Roatan

After our two stops in Mexico, our third port on Sister's Cruise 2013 is Isla Roatan.  It is an island in the Caribbean off the coast of Honduras.  I know nothing about Honduran food, so I Googled it and some pretty delicious sounding recipes came up. Welcome to the Caribbean!

Drink...

Horchata
*recipe from: AllRecipes.com
Horchata is something I have seen on several menus at Mexican and South American restaurants.  I've always been interested in trying it, but have never been brave enough to give it a shot.  Well, I have been missing out because it turns out that I love it! 
In case you don't know, Horchata is a creamy rice water.  I changed a few things in the original recipe after reading reviews and I think the changes are for the best (the recipe below includes my changes).  If you like it more creamy, you might want to add a little more milk.  If you like it sweeter, add more sugar - but I don't think it really needs to be any sweeter.
Ingredients:
(serves 6)

• 1 cup uncooked white rice
• 4 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups milk
• 1/2 tbs vanilla extract
• 2 cinnamon sticks
• 1/3 cup of sugar

Directions:

1. Pour the rice, cinnamon sticks, and water into the bowl of a blender; blend until the rice and cinnamon just begin to break up, about 1 minute. Let rice and water stand at room temperature for a minimum of 3 hours.
2. Add the milk, vanilla, and sugar into the rice water.  Store in the refrigerator overnight.
3. Strain the rice water into a pitcher and discard the rice.  Stir before serving over ice.

Dinner...

Exotic Curry Conch (I mean Clam) Chowder 
*recipe from: Roatan Online
This recipe is supposed to contain conch as the seafood ingredient.  However, I have no idea where in NYC to buy conch, so I substituted clams.  I'll be honest - this was not one of my favorite soups.  It wasn't bad.  Actually it was good - I'm just not the biggest fan of seafood soups.  It's definitely worth a try if you are seafood soup lover.
Ingredients:
(serves 6)

• 8 conchs (or 2-3 cans of clams)
• 1 lg. onion
• 1/2 c. cream
• 4 tomatoes (or pt. stewed- tomatoes)
• 2 tsp. curry powder
• 2 bay leaves
• 1 tsp. sugar
• 1 pinch thyme
• 2 tbsp. butter
• 1 sm. can tomato paste

Directions:

1. Grind the conch and boil until tender in water. (or skip this step if you are using clams)
2. Fry onion in frying pan with butter until cooked (not brown). 
3. Add bay leaves, thyme. 
4. Work curry powder into cream. 
5. Add onion to cream, add tomatoes, curry powder, clams, and cream to sugar. Also add tomato paste. 
6. Simmer 1/2 hour and serve in soup bowls. 
7. Add 1 teaspoon of sherry in each serving. (oops - I forgot this ingredient)

Dessert...

Baked Mango Dessert
*recipe from: Roatan Online  
Honestly, I don't think I've ever even tasted a mango before having this dessert.  For some reason, I just thought I didn't like them.  Boy, was I wrong.  I LOVED, LOVED, LOVED this dessert.  I loved it so much that I broke my strict cruise diet and had 2 helpings.  It is so simple and easy, but sooooo good.  I will be making this again soon!
Ingredients:
(serves 3-4)

• 2 ripe mangos
• cinnamon
• sugar
• butter
• heavy cream

Directions:

1. Slice mangoes thinly to cover the bottom of a large baking pan. 
2. Sprinkle ground cinnamon over the mango slices and cover lightly with sugar. 
3. Dot with butter. 
4. Bake at 400º until lightly browned, but not too dry. 
5. While baking, whip the heavy cream until it is transformed into whipped cream.  Add a small amount of sugar to sweeten to taste.
6. Serve warm with the whipped cream on top (the whipped cream will meld a little and it will be so good...I wish I had some now!).