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!). 

A Lemon Lover's Dinner

If you love the taste of lemons, then this dinner is for you!  None of the components are very difficult to make, but it is sure to impress everyone at the dinner table!

Drink...

Aviation

The Aviation is a classic cocktail created in the early 20th century.  It traditionally consists of gin, maraschino liqueur, and lemon juice.  Some older recipes also include crème de violette.  I changed some parts of the cocktail because of the difficulty of finding ingredients, and for reasons of personal taste.  I was unable to find maraschino liqueur (although I will admit, I didn't try too hard), so I replaced it with cherry brandy, which is why my cocktail is red where it would normally be clear.  Also, Doug enjoyed his with just gin, cherry brandy, and lemon juice, but it was a bit strong for my taste, so I added some simple syrup.  This is a real, grown-up cocktail, so watch out - it is pretty strong!

Ingredients:

(makes 1 cocktail)

• 2 oz. Gin
• 1/2 oz. Maraschino liqueur (I substituted with cherry brandy)
• 1/2 oz. Lemon juice
• 1/2 oz. Simple syrup (if you would like a sweeter, less strong drink) 
• Maraschino cherry

Directions:

1. Put the gin, maraschino liqueur, lemon juice, and simple syrup (if you are using it) into a cocktail shaker with ice.
2. Shake and strain it into a cocktail glass.
3. Add a cherry into the glass and enjoy!

Dinner...

This is one of my favorite dinners because it is pretty simple to make, but turns out really impressive (I would say restaurant-quality :).  It's a great dish to make for guests.
Chicken Piccata
*recipe adapted from Giada De Laurentiis
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts sliced thinly into cutlets.
• Salt and pepper
• Flour for dredging
• 12 tbs. butter
• 10 tbs. extra virgin olive oil
• 2/3 cup lemon juice (or to taste)
• 1 lemon, sliced
• 1 cup chicken stock
• 1/2 cup capers
• 2/3 cup parsley

Directions:

My chicken is browning!

1. Season the chicken with salt and pepper.
2. Dredge the chicken in flour and shake off the excess.
3. In a large skillet melt 4 tbs of butter with 6 tbs olive oil.  Add half of the chicken and cook for 3 minutes or until lightly browned.  Then, flip and cook the other side until browned.
4. Remove the cooked chicken and transfer to a plate.
5. Melt 4 more tbs butter and another 4 tbs olive oil.
6. Add the rest of the chicken and cook the same as before.  When finished cooking, transfer the chicken to a plate.
7. Into the pan add the lemon juice, stock, lemon slices, and capers.  Bring to a boil, scraping up the brown bits. 
8. Check the seasoning. (This is where I always add more lemon juice because I like mine very lemony).
9. Return the chicken to the pan and simmer for 5 minutes.
10. Remove the chicken from the pan to a platter.
11. Add remaining 4 tbs of butter to the sauce and whisk vigorously.
12. Pour the sauce over the chicken and garnish with parsley.

Lemon-Pistachio Rice
*Recipe from Maureen K.
(Serves 4)

Ingredients:

• 2 tsp. extra virgin olive oil
• 1 large shallot, minced
• 3/4 cup of white rice (I used brown rice in mine to be healthier, but it tastes better with white)
• 4 tbs. chopped pistachios
• 8 oz. chicken broth
• 1/4 cup lemon juice
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 11/4 tbs lemon zest

Directions:

1. Heat the oil in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
2. Add the shallots and sauté 3 minutes.
3. Add the rice and 2 tbs of pistachios; stir 2 minutes.
4. Stir in the chicken broth, lemon juice, and salt; bring to a boil.
5. Reduce the heat to low; cover and cook until liquid is absorbed and the rice is tender (about 20 minutes).
6. Mix in the remainder of the pistachios and the lemon zest.

Dessert...

This pie is a refreshing finish to dinner.  The best part is that it tastes delicious, but is SO easy to make!
Raspberry-Lemon Pie
*Recipe from Kraftfoods.com 
(Serves 8)
Ingredients:

• 1 pkg (8oz) cream cheese, softened
• 1 pkg (4-serving size) lemon flavor instant pudding
• 1 cup cold milk
• 2 tsp. lemon zest
• 2 cups cool whip, divided
• 1/4 cup raspberry preserves
• 1 (6 oz) graham cracker pie crust
• 1 cup raspberries

Directions:

1. Beat cream cheese, dry pudding mix, milk, and lemon zest in a large bowl with a whisk until blended.
2. Gently stir in 1 cup of the cool whip.
3. Spoon the preserves onto the bottom of the pie crust.  
4. Cover with the pudding mixture.
5. Top with remaining Cool Whip and the raspberries.
6. Refrigerate 4 hours or until firm.

Enjoy!

Sit back, relax, and enjoy all of this dinner's deliciousness.  It's one of my favorites and I hope it soon will be one of yours too!