Tizzle Sizzles

Mmmmm Cashews...now, everytime u say cashew MOST  people think of the nut, then again most people don't know the cashew is a fruit and well let's just say it's interesting. Ok, Here is what a Cashew Fruit look like.

The greyish, blackish, green color Kidney Bean looking Seed on the top is actually what produces the cashew nut. But wait, don't just grab this thing and eat it now, it's actually very  poisonous and actually needs to be roasted whole outside in the open because while roasting in a big bathe pan (is what traditionally they roast cashews in) the smoke can also cause severe damage to your lungs. You see it is actually a carcinogen...(its bad).

But, once roasted the nut is shelled and let me tell you delicious and the fruit (we call it the apple). Now, there's the nut that almost everyone in the world knows but then there's the fruit...what does it taste like? what is the texture? what the hell do you do with it? OK first question, Cashew is bitter & tart and sweet and really juicey ( the juice staines clothes and doesnt come out beware!). Texture? stringy but not too stringy, really juicy, and soft kinda like a soft pineapple...NOW, for the fun part...what do you do with the fruit other than stick it in the fruidge for it to get cold on a hot day then eat the sucker!

In Belize Cashew apple makes quite a bit of things. Number 1...Cahsew Wine. The most deadliest wine in the country if you ask me. tastes very sweet kinda like a port. But, be warned her sweetness is an assassin...the drunk sneaks up on u, you don't even realize ur making an ass of yourself before its too late...then the next day when u wake up, no no hangover...but as soon as u drink a glass of water you'll realize oh shit...you're drunk again...yep DRUNK MI TWICE! Other than wine we have stew cashew, jellied cashew, Cashew cake, and jellies and cashew sweet...oh its good. But this time I said Im not going to do something traditional. Im going to invent my own thing from cashew and I believe i've come up with something clever...I mainly did cashew cake as a Challenge from a cousin, Mike sorry your cake didnt come out good let's hope this recipe helps you ;)

OK, so now we know a couple things about the fruit so I decided I'm going to make Cashew Juice. Reason? well I've never seen anyone make a juice from this juice little fruit, and I was curious. So that being said I hope you're curious as well.

Cashew Juice

yummmm....

OK so for the juice you'll need:

25 Cashews (few red ones in there can't hurt the sweetness)

Sugar

Sprite/Beer (optional)

blender, strainer, 2 gallon jugs

Directions:

1. Take seeds off the top of cashews (poisonous raw remember). Cut up Cashew Apples  in quarters and place in Blender, then blend until liquid.

2. Place strainer over bowl and pour blender liquid into strainer and mash down with the back of a spoon until only cashew trash left. Place Trash in a seperate container. Do this twice.

3. Pour the liquid into a gallon container (should be about 1/4 of the gallon full). Add water til it's filled and add sugar to taste.

4. You can add sprite for an extra little fizz in it but also try half cashew juice and half Beer...AMAZING!

Now, This next recipe is for my cousin Mikey. You asked for a cashew cake recipe. Here you go...this is my own personal recipe. The traditional Cashew cake is more of a pie than a cake...mine is more of a cake. :)

Cashew Cake w/ Cashew & Ginger Rum Sauce

Ingredients:

6 cups Pound Cake Mix (The one that you just add water, I know I cheated on this one)

3/4 Cup Cashew Juice (or 75% of water required)

1/2 water ( or 25% of water required)

1 cup cashew Trash ( we saved it when we made juice right)

Method:

1. Mix everything together in a mixing bowl

2. Get 2 loaf pans (small) grease the sides and bottom and then pour in the Mix.

3, You should have 2 cups of trash so take a little bit of trash and just sprinkle on top of cake and bake at 325 F for as long as the box tells you to cook the pound cake for.

Cashew Rum Sauce

Ingredients:

1 Cup Cashew Trash (or the rest of what you have)

1/2 cup Spiced rum

1/2 cup cashew juice

3tbsp Brown Sugar

1/2 TBSP fresh grated ginger

Cinnamon

Method:

1. In a sauce pan on low heat melt butter w/ the cashew trash. let simmer in butter for about 30 seconds then add Ginger and a sprinkle of cinnamon and simmer for another 30 mins.

2. Raise the heat to medium and cook stirring  regularly for about 30 seconds. Add Spiced Rum and simmer for 45 seconds then stir in the cashew Juice and brown sugar. Raise heat to high and let cook til bubbling then stir for 10 seconds and then shut off the fire and let cool.

Now you've seen the final now I'd like to just say thatt the cashew & ginger rum sauce would also be very good on pork chops too...I've never tried it but i probably will pretty soon. If you are going to be in Belize and wondering what to do this weekend and you want to try some really good Belizean cashew concoctions and food wonders head on down or up to Crooked Tree (about 30 misn heading north on the Northern Highway Belize. On saturday and Sunday this weekend there will be hosting the Cashew festival which could be a fantastic time. Go out and experience this wonderful festival, take the family, take the kids. And most of all Enjoy yourself and your food.

There are many places in Belize City that have great food. Local, Latin, Chinese, Indian (Hindu) and Caribbean flavors. And everyone has their place that they eat certain days of the week depending on what is on speacial. One such place that many many people enjoy going to time and time again is D's Diner.

* Austin & Yaneli Waight.

D's Diner is a very comfortable open deck diner specializing in local Rice & Beans and Stew Beans & White Rice meals with a variety of sides from shake & bake chicken to stew chicken, beef, pork, and curry chicken as it's on the menu daily as well as Beef Soup, Chicken Soup, Tipsy Cake, Chocolate Cake and Bread Pudding (dessert), & Conch Soup (seasonal).

D's Diner is located on the corner of Princess Margret Drive and Coney Drive in Belize city. Not sure where that is? It is Right across from the east end of the Karl Huesner Memorial Hospital, the MAIN hospital in Belize City. It's most definietly worth a try! Austin is usually seen sitting at his favorite table and talking to the customers joking around and making you feel 100% like family instead of customer. The food is priced low and the servings are healthy...I was full halfway through my meal but forced myself to eat everything including Bread Pudding for Dessert...lol. The way I see it you can't waste good food.

Ok, so on to the food, the reason we are here in the first place! I had Stew Beans & White Rice which is a lot different than Rice & Beans but similar. I prefer Stew Beans & White Rice over Rice & Beans( which is the beans and the juice from the beans cooked with coconut milk and rice and tends to be dry w/out gravy) but of course thats personal preference. White Rice & Stew Beans are cooked separately and requires little or no gravy as the liquid from the stew beans provides the perfect amount of 'wetness" to the rice. Ok, let me stop straying and get back to what I had.

* White Rice & Stew Beans w/ Belizean Style Curry Chicken w/ Belizean style Potatoe Salad & Fry Plantain

Now the first picture is how the food got to my table, stew beans seperately and of course "peppa saas" (pepper sauce) ....Gorgeous isn't it? (damn want some now)  after you've lusted over your meal for a second pur the beans over the rice and eat away. Like I said reasonably priced! And by reasonably priced I mean in the $10- $12 area BZD (Belize Dollars, $5 or $6 USD). Damn I really could go for a plate now...

Now, this is readily available along with rice & beans in the entire country...and it's in my honest opinion that one should NEVER  pay more than $12BZD for a plate of Rice & Beans...I don't care which fancy restaurant you eat it at. I garantee you you would probably get a bigger portion at a local spot and for MUCH  cheaper. I've been to some expensive restarants in Belize and see $20 rice and beans dinners and the portions are small...if you go to a facy restaurant please try something fancy and not rice & beans and stew chicken...you'll feel ripped off as soon as u try a local spot.

Now, back to D's Diner...If you want something a little less carbsy...we LOVE carbs in Belize, I mean where else do they consider Potatoe a vegetable? D's Diner also offers Beef Soup, Chicken Soup, and on Friday's and Saturday's only they have Cowfoot Soup & Relleno (Black Dinner, it's a soup made from black recado we'll cover that one soon) and on Tuesdays they have Escabeche which is a Mexican Onion Soup...DELICIOUS!!! Ok...RECIPE TIME!!

Stew Beans & Rice

Ingredients:

2lbs Red Kidney Beans (please not in a can, raw)

Oregano, Salt & Pepper (to taste)

Onions, Green Sweet Peppers, - 1 each

Garlic - 4 cloves

Cilantro - 1 bunch

2lbs white Rice (not brown rice it just don't taste the same)

1 cup coconut milk (yes u can use from the can this time)

Method:

1. With a pressure cooker, slow cooker, or regualar cast iron or stewing pot boil your beans til it's soft. Now depending on which you're using will determine how long to cook ur beans for. Pressure cooker is fastest, within a couple hours, slow cooker...all night, or in a regular stewing pot or cast irion pot will take all day. make sure you don't have anything planned as you will be checking the pot often to check on water level. Couple helpful tips for the long way, soak your beans for 2 hours prior to cooking, when replacing water use hot water from your faucet or have a kettle with hot boiling water. And please no burn the beans...

2. AFTER your beans have gotten soft then you add in a lil more water if it needs it, salt, pepper, garlic (only for 20 mins or it gets bitter & you'll have bitter beans), Oregano and continue cooking on medium heat.

3. chop up your onions and sweet peppers and cilantro and throw in the pot and let boil for another 20 minutes or at least until the water has gone down some and if you want a more watery stew beans add a little water.

4. While the beans is in the last 20 minute stage of it's cooking cook your rice. In a pot pour in your rice and then coconut milk and some water so that your rice has abot 1 inch of liquid over it. boil on high for about 10 mins then lower the head to low-med and let cook.

CURRY CHICKEN

Curry Paste:

Ingredients:

Chicken

Potatoes

carrots

onions

Garlic

Sweet Peppers

Carrots

Curry Powder, Tumaric, Paprika, Cayenne, Black Pepper, Cumin, Chili Powder, Grated Ginger, Flour, Chicken Consume (powder chicken stock) , Coconut Powder, salsa Casera.

Method:

1. Saute Finely Chopped onions, garlic, sweet peppers in coconut oil. Add 1/4 cup Curry Powder, 2 tbsp Tumaric, 1 tbsp Chili powder, Cayenne, Black pepper, !/4 cup chicken consume, 2 tbsp Grated ginger, Flour. Add 2 cans salsa casera make a paste, disolve 1 pack of coconut powderin 2 cups water add to paste. Dice carrots, potato and add to curry sauce.

2. Brown Chicken in a skillet and then add to curry mixture. Simmer for 2 hours, stirring occassionally.

Potato Salad

Ingredients:

Potatoe

1 can mixed vegetables

eggs

mayonnaise

salad dressing

sal & black Pepper

Method:

1. peel & boil potatoes and egg

2. in a large bowl put cooked and drained potatoes along. Shell eggs cut in half lengthway and remove egg yolk.  Chop/break up egg whites. and add to potaoes. Sprinkle salt & Black pepper to taste add mayonnaise and salad dressing (about 2 tbsp each depending how much you make) mix everthing once then take egg yolks break them up and sprinkle over the potato salad.

Now, that was my meal...don't forget I also had dessert...A Belizean favorite is Bread Pudding. Everyone (I think) in Belize loves Bread Pudding...it's something that everyone's grandma made for christmas or birthdays or whatever food gathering there was...this comes with of course Belize's Rum Sauce on top...but i won't tease you anymore...I'll let you go make it yourself...how about that?

Bread Pudding

Ingredients:

1 Pack Bread

1 can Evaporated Milk

4 Eggs

2 cups white sugar

1 tsp Cinnamon Powder

1 small box Raisins

1tsp Vanilla essence

Method:

1. Break up slices of bread. Don't matter how just break it up and put it in a bowl.

2. Wet the bread, don't soak it just wet the bread so it gets soggy

3. Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and put into a glass or metal baking pan

bake at 375F for 1 hour.

Rum Sauce

1 cup One Barrel or any Spiced Rum.

1 cup brown sugar.

Method:

1. Boil together and simmer til kinda thickish. Pour sauce over bread pudding serving....easy.

Now, if you are in Belize city you should definitely check out D's Diner, if you are planning to visit you should check them out...but if you aren't here and can't try it, then by all means try the recipe. D's Diner is opened Monday - Saturday and closed on Sunday. They open Daily from 11am to 3pm.

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Plantain Chips

Green Plantain at vegetable shop in Ladyville, Belize.

let's start off today with Plantain Chips locally known as "ghetto pringles". First off Plantain is the best thing ever grown...yes the Best. It's family to the banana but a bit more firm & starchy. In Belize we eat it with Rice & Beans (our national dish), Split Peas & rice, Boil Up, and much much more. It can be cut thick and fried just so it's brown, it can be cut in quarters and baked, and it can be boiled. All means of cooking usually end up with a sweet caramelly slice of foodie heaven.

As with our Breadfruit friend it is said that Plantains originated from South-east Asia (phillipines, malaysia,...etc). It is also used widely in those areas as well as Africa, Central America and South America. That's a good chunk of the world if you ask me...that many countries can't be wrong, meaning it must be good! And it's also very healthy for you and best part even when fried in Coconut oil Plantains somehow maintain it's low fat level and keeps it's carbs level so don't feel guilty about having that 4th slice of plantain...hehehe. Now on to the recipe...

* Would also like to say that while researching the healthy benefits and background of the plantain i stumbled across some lies...Wikipedia has on there that there is no distinction between a Banana and a Plantain, that it is called plantain depending on the way it is cooked (huh?? lol)...this,if you've cooked it before and live in any of the countries that actually eat it on a daily basis,you will know is clearly a lie. i want to see you try to do to banana what you normally would with plantain...it will be nice but just not the same. 

* Plantain Chips (yellow) & Cassava Chips (white). Can be found in most grocery stores in the entire country and usually sell for about $1.00 USD/ bag & of course comes with ketchup.

Plantain Chips

Ingredients:

• 4 large GREEN plantains
• 1 cup Coconut/Vegetable Oil
• Salt
• Sweet Ketchup (optional)

Directions:

1. Peel your plantains. Keep one Plantain out and place the rest in a container of Salt Water.
2. in a pot or skillet with high sides heat your oil.
3. With a really sharp knife or potato Peeler or if you have a fancy slicer slice the plantain thin thin thin (like normal potatoe chips) and place in salt water. Do this to the rest until your container of water is full of plantain slices.
4. By this time your oil is hot so you are ready to fry some chips...DO NOT JUST THROW THEM IN THERE STRAIGHT OUT THE WATER!! You'll have yourself a nice little grease fire. With a clean towel you can dry the slices a handful at a time. When they are nice and dry then put them in the hot oil. Remember Oil & Water don't mix...they bubble over.
5. When chips are golden brown take it out the oil and place in a bowl with newspaper or paper towel, something that'll soak up the oil. sprinkle with salt and eat, but careful you burn your tongue and u can't taste the rest :P

Cassava Chips

*Cassava at the Queen Square Market in Belize city, Belize.

Cassava Chips also inherited the "ghetto Pringles" name because well, it's a local chip. Cassava is one of the most common staple foods around especially in Central & South America and the Caribbean. And again available in Asia, Africa, and the Pacific. It's relatively easy to grow anywhere, BUT  be careful if cassava is not prepared correctly it can kill you. That's right eating the raw leaves and root of the cassava (which is the part u normally eat) can actually kill you a few hours after ingestion. When raw the casava has 2 enzymes that produces up 40 grams of Cyanide...yes that's enough to kill a cow. Some cassava can be simply cooked to remove the cyanide but other types we have to soak for up to 1 day before using it, this one is said to be the one that cassava flour is made from and is bitter in taste. But worry not all you need is a lil injection and you'll be fine.

Other than the scary thought of dying if you eat cassava raw, it's packed with all types of Vitamins, 'eins, 'ars, carbs and 'iums. (too many to list just using the end of the names... :) ) Cassava can be boiled, made into flour, fried, made anyway like a potato, and can also make punch. So, now that I've scared you let's eat this thing. :)

Ingredients:

• 4 Cassava
• 1 cup Vegetable Oil
• Salt
• Sweet Ketchup (optional)

Directions:

1. With a potatoe peeler peel your cassava. The day before you cook your chips, let's be on the safe side and soak the Cassava for 24 hours in water changing it a couple times for the day.
2. When your 24 hours have passed slice your cassava length way with either a slicer, potatoe peeper, or really sharp knife. You'll want them Thin as well.
3. Heat your Vegetable oil up and fry them doing the same as you did with the plantain chips. Dry them before you put into the hot oil.
4. When they come out leave in a bowl with either newspaper or paper towel to  dry up the extra oil. sprinkle with salt n enjoy!

Now, you might want to try the Plantain chips and Cassava chips belizean style...that is with sweet ketchup. If you are a Belizean or know a Belizean...observe them and you will notice that majority of us like Ketchup on EVERYTHING! Now go enjoy your plantain chips and Cassava Chips. My friends and family abroad will all be upset that i keep teasing them as Plantain chips & Cassava chips are a weakness for most Belizeans. Hehe Enjoy guys!!

This nice and heavy bread is very common in Belize, to the point where I wouldn't be surprised if 70% or more of the country eats it every morning for breakfast. This little bread can be used to make an AMAZING breakfast sandwich (move over Egg McMuffin), to just be eated warm with butter, with ham & cheeese, with just cheese or cheese whiz (in the jar not the can), can be eaten along with soup or with breakfast on the side. You can do wonderful chicken tortas and just use it however you use bread.

Now, a little bit of history on the Johnny Cake. It was made by Native American Indians with cornmeal, then it caught on and was used by the slaves but with flour, and this is the JCakes we know in Belize.  They were made primarily as a staple for travel because it would stay good for weeks and was actually called "Journey Cakes".

People in Belize have now been cooking these in regular ovens and they are still good but, the REAL way you should cook these is again on open flame...or if you want you can cook em in the oven and then put them on a grill with salami and cheddar cheese...HIGHLY RECOMMEND! But that's not why we're here today...today we bake Johnny Cakes! On to the recipe...

Johnny Cake w/ salami and cheddar cheese over open flame.

Ingredients:

-2 lbs White all purpose flour (7  1/4cups)

-4 ounces crisco baking shortening or any kind of baking shortening (8 tbsp)/ plus a lil extra melted for rubbing.

-6 tsp Baking Powder

-2 cups Coconut Milk ( you can use Carnation Evaporated milk instead but please use the Coconut milk)

-1 tsp Salt

- 1/2 cup water

1. in a large bowl sift in your flour, baking powder and salt.

* Everything mixed together to start making dough

2. Add shortening and Milk. and with your hands (the best way) mix everything together and knead it until you get one big ball of dough. Add more water if you need to I usually end up using about 1/2 cup thats why i added it to the recipe. And when you knead the dough don't be afraid to slam that on the counter and punch stretch elbow or fight with it. It will give you a work out if you aren't used to baking bread.

Dough and dough ball to be flattened into johnny cakes. Easier to kneed individual balls instead of whole dough ball.

3. cover with a DAMP not wet DAMP cloth and leave for about 1 hour.

4. After 1 hour start taking out balls about the size of a tangerine or small orange in diameter and round them off until the big ball of dough is done. Leave covered with a DAMP cloth for another hour. (1hour) If you want after you've mixed everything and gotten to the dough stage before u knead it u can start balling them off kneading them individually, it's also easier for amateurs in baking.

* Knead individual Johnny cakes.

5. Take the balls and flatten them into little buns place in a cookie sheet greased & floured then take a fork and poke little holes in the tops and bake at 400F (about 200C) for about 30 minutes or golden brown on the top. Before placing them in the oven dip 2 fingers in the melted shortening and gently rub it over the top of the johnny cakes.

* Ready for the Oven!!

6. DO NOT BURN THEM. :)

EAT UP!!

Now you're done. But there is a simple tradition one must do upon finsihing and pulling Johnny Cakes out of the oven...please grab on that is really hot cut in half and spread butter on it and eat it...seriously you need to do this fresh out the oven!

Hope you liked it and enjoy. And if you havent yet please join us on Facebook. Search " Tizzle Sizzles Blog"

Yes that's right I said it...Cow Foot Soup.  While most Belizeans reading this will probably start salivating when thinking about this and even more when they see the pictures, others from outside countries might go "EEEwwwwww".  It doesn't sound delicious or appetizing but once you've tried it you will most definately change your mind, or you might not, but like the name of this blog says "No knock it til you try it".

Cow Foot Soup is made all over Belize, some claim the best while some are the best. If you used to live in Belize city or still do and was old enough to go out about 10-15 years ago you still dream about "Jokers" Restaurant. This was a small small shak about 10'x10' and they opened around 4pm and stayed open til about 4am. If you were friends, about 5 or 6 am lol. Now, there are certain things we eat when we are hungover. The English have their English fry up which if you know what it is will give u a heart attack unless you were hungover, and Belizeans have Cow Foot Soup. Yes, by far the BEST hangover (Goma in kriol) cure that ever existed.

Now a days, The Admiral's Cafe in Belize city at the Municipal Airport to me, has the best Cow Foot Soup. But, today we won't be featuring theirs, although you must definitely try it. Another good spot is D's Diner in front of the KHMH hospital on the corner of Coney Drive in Belize city. But both D's Diner and Admiral's Cafe only do it a couple days of the week so you might want to check with them. Today we'll be looking at Cow Foot Soup Village style. By village style i mean cooked on fire hearth (Fiya haat in kriol). If you aren't sure what that is, it's an open flame on coal, like BBQ-ing a soup...the smokey flavor will stay with you forever. To the point where you will say "they cooked this on a stove, weh happen to them?".

So, today's recipe is brought to you by... Miss Eunice Escobar, and yes she definitely cooked it on Fiya haat.

Cow Foot Soup

Cow Foot Soup

Ingredients:

- Cow foot                                                    - Cabbage

- large potatoes                                         - Tomatoes

-Coco                                                             - Complete Seasoning

-Okro                                                              -Salt & Black Pepper to taste

-Carrots                                                        - BBQ seasoning

-Cilantro                                                       - 1 whole habanero

-Onions

-Sweet Peppers

1. Boil Cow Foot in water to soften, in a large pot. Just til it starts turning a grey color

2.  Chop up all your vegetables Potoatoes, coco, okro, carrots, onion, sweet peppers, cabbage & tomatoes into bite sizes.

3. Chop up your cilantro fine. Put all your vegetables and cilantro into the pot with the cow foot and boil together. Add in your complete seasoning, bbq seasoning and salt and black pepper and your whole habanero. Let it boil high for about 30-45 minutes. After that pop the habanero pepper so the heat from the pepper goes into the soup and let bout for another 15 minutes. Do not remove the pepper. Done.

This soup is served over white rice with a slice of lime. Enjoy, try it and share it with your friends. :)