Zen Foodist

If you go to San Pedro, Belize, be sure to check out Elvi’s Kitchen– last. If you make the mistake of eating their down-to-earth food that’s reasonably priced too early into your stay, you might ruin yourself on food anywhere else.

First, we had the ceviche.  Executed well, generous with the seafood, especially the lobster.

Next [...]

Last week I was in Belize, as part of a press trip with Belize Tourism that allowed me to sample Belizean cuisine across the country.
We ended up spending the first two dinners and breakfasts at The Inn at Robert’s Grove. I had done some research before I left and based on their [...]

Ok, this was supposed to be epic.   Cider Apple Butter Pumpkin pie with Spiced Almond Whipped Cream.

Pie:

3/4 cup apple butter
1 cup canned pumpkin
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
3 eggs, slightly beaten
3/4 cup evaporated milk
1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell

Mix, pour into pie shell and bake at [...]

I wanted to make a spicy, smoky turkey burger… and wow this turned out all that and more.  Roughly, here’s what I did:
The Burger:

Ground turkey
salt, pepper
mustard (I used stone ground)
cumin (maybe 1/4 teaspoon)
curry powder (same amt as cumin)

The Topping:

Roasted Habanero
Roasted Roma Tomato
Avocado
Gruyere Cheese

To roast the pepper and tomato, you could use a comal (if you [...]

It’s starting to get cold and the fall always makes me crave comfort food.  I wanted something I could set up and leave, so I bought a 5lb whole chicken and potatoes. I made a simple slow roast, stuffing the chicken with a chopped onion, a few cloves of garlic, butter and a few [...]

This past winter I visited Belize for about two weeks and mostly spent my time in Caye Caulker, a small island off the coast of Belize City. The best part of my trip? A dinner at Wish Willies, a restaurant in this guy’s yard where he cooked up the day’s catch, usually whole [...]

I’ve been playing around with making my own rubs, instead of relying on the store bought kind.  Basically a bit of brown sugar, garlic and onion powder, salt, pepper and whatever else I can find.  Tonight I used:

Brown Sugar
Cayenne Pepper
Paprika
Onion Powder
Garlic Powder
Fresh Ground Pepper
Fresh Rosemary
Dried Thyme
Course Sea Salt
Hot Chocolate powder
Columbian Coffee Grounds

It was great for [...]

I found a discount packet of lavender at World Market and nearly giggled.  I had been looking for the aromatic casually over the past few months with no luck.
That afternoon I made my first batch of lavender cookies.  I took some pictures and I wanted to write about them.  They were so perfectly lavender scented, [...]