Hi everyone! This is my entry for @progressivechef's contest Steemit Iron Chef 2018 Act 01 Round 06. The theme was to take our favourite local fruit or vegetable and make a dish with it.

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If you know me you probably know the fruit I chose since I've posted lots of recipes of it. I'm talking about the plantain, which is different from the banana (many people tend to confuse them). We Venezuelans eat it in many different ways and it's one of the most eaten food all over the country. It can be used in our breakfast, lunch, dinner and even as dessert. I was researching a bit about the plantain and found out that there's a scientific reason of why it makes me really happy when I eat it. Turns out the amino acid it contains it's transformed in serotonin when we eat it. The serotonin is a hormone known as the hormone of happiness, it's similar to how we get happy and relaxed after a good workout. It also is a highly nutritive food, rich in fibre and good for treating many illnesses.

The other local fruit I chose is the "chayote". Most people don't even know that it exists and even less buy it. It's very versatile since it can be salty or sweet. The "chayote" also has a lot of benefits such as it helps treat diabetes, it's antioxidant, low in calories and has vitamin C.

My dish is a dessert that we ate for breakfast. It's plantain pancakes with caramelized chayote and a side of cream cheese frosting. For the decoration I used cinnamon sticks and star anise. The pancakes are soft and fluffy and the caramelized chayote complements them very well. It was a delicious breakfast :)

Ingredients

Plantain Pancakes	Caramelized Chayote	Cream cheese frosting
- 2 plantains.	- 4 chayotes.	- 75gr of butter.
- 4 eggs.	- 2 cups of sugar.	- 100gr of cream cheese.
- 7 and a half tablespoons of rice cream.	- 1 and a half tablespoon of molasses.	- 1 cup of confectioners sugar.
- 1 cup of water.	- 5 tablespoons of butter.	- 1/4 teaspoon of vanilla.
	- 2 teaspoons of ground cinnamon.

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Instructions

Plantain Pancakes

1. Peel and cut in small slices the plantains.
2. Put all the ingredients in a blender and mix until thoroughly combined.
3. In a hot, greased pan (you can use butter or vegetable oil) put 1/3 of a cup of batter and cook it well on both sides.

Caramelized Chayotes

1. Peel and cut in four the chayotes.
2. Carve out the seeds and cut them in small dices.
3. In a pan put the chayotes and boil them with water (the water must completely cover the chayotes) for 20 minutes.
4. Once most of the water has evaporated, add the sugar, molasses and butter.
5. Cook the chayotes in meidum heat until the liquid has thickened, about 25 minutes. It's important to stir them so that they don't get burnt at the bottom.
6. Once they are almost ready, add the cinnamon and cook for 5 more minutes.
7. Let them cool and refrigerate for at least two hours. I left them overnight.

Cream cheese frosting

1. Beat the butter for 5 minutes at medium speed.
2. Add the cream cheese and mix for 2 minutes.
3. Sift the confectioners sugar and add 1 cup at a time, mixing 3 minutes after each one. Use a spatula to scrap the sides so that everything is thoroughly combined.
4. Add the vanilla and beat for 3 more minutes.
5. Put it in an airtight container in the fridge until it's ready to be served. You can eat it without refrigerating it first.

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This is all! I hope you liked it and try it out at home :) If you have any questions or improvements leave them in the comments. I invite you to check out the contest, it's great and runs every week. Until next time :)

I took all the photos with my Samsung J5 Pro.