Whip Up Something New: Banana Bread with Candied Pecans

I wanted to find something to do with a bunch of extra bananas that were lying around beginning to over-ripen. After scouring my favorite foodie sites for ideas and those recipes which incorporated ingredients I had on hand I settled on a banana bread creation. I say creation because I put my own spin on a very basic recipe that I found.  Castries Peanut Rum provided the  additional moisture since I did not have the listed amount of mashed banana, for a touch of additional sweetness I added candied pecans.  Try it out and let me know what you think!

Banana Bread with Candied Pecans

• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ½ cup butter
• 1 cup brown sugar
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 1⅓ cups mashed overripe bananas
• ½ cup Castries Peanut Rum
• ¼ teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• ¾ cup candied pecans (chopped coarsely into small pieces)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9x5 inch loaf pan.
2. In a large bowl, combine flour, cinnamon, baking soda and salt.
3. In a separate bowl, cream together butter and 3/4 cup brown sugar.
4. Stir in eggs, vanilla, rum, pecans and mashed bananas until well blended.
5. Stir banana mixture into flour mixture; stir just to moisten.
6. Pour batter into prepared loaf pan.
7. Sprinkle remaining brown sugar (and additional pecans if preferred) on top of mixture.
8. Bake in preheated oven for 60 to 65 minutes, until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Citrus

2011 Cook Challenge: Rice/Noodles

Week 3's Theme for the Cookbook Challenge is Rice/Noodles.  Since I've had Daisy Martinez's book Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night borrowed (and overdue) from the library I figured I at least needed to make a recipe from the book to compensate for the two buck fine I'm facing.  Actually, I made 3 recipes from this book and would have made 4 but the fresh pineapple I bought went spoiled from sitting in the fridge for so long.  Another hint at how long I've had this book checked out.  Normally, I'm very diligent about getting books back on time but I've been feeling kind of blah since my mom is about to move out much sooner than I anticipated...but, so goes life.

Anyway!

Check out the awesome Mayan Omelet I made...trust me, that was as delicious as it looks.  This penne dish was pretty good too and it wasn't too difficult to make.  I mistakenly put some of the arugula in the cheese sauce instead of in the pot with the noodles, but I pulled out what I could and popped what I could salvage in the correct pot.  As I look at the recipe photo in the cookbook, I see why the arugula is cooked this way, to preserve that bright green color that would end up camouflaged in the sauce. This was my first time cooking with dried mushrooms and I really like how it intensified the woodsy flavor in the sauce.  I did, however, have to tell a little fib to get my 7 and 9 year olds to eat this for dinner. This dish became noodles with chicken and spinach. Yup, they fell for it and told me how deeelicious the sauce was...it's funny how if I told the truth about the mushrooms they all would have been scraped to the side of the plate.  So, without further ado, here is the recipe for Penne a la Sirop.  Oh, and the other recipe I made from this book is the Shrimp Ceviche "Xni Pec"...I'll tell you how that came out here.

Penne a la Sirop (adapted from Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night)
1 cup dried porcini or other dried mushrooms
2 TBS extra virgin olive oil
5 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
6 anchovy fillets
2 TBS flour
1/2 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup milk
1 lb penne
8oz mini wheel of Brie, rind removed
5oz arugula
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/2 cup of dried cherry flavor raisins
freshly grated Parmesan cheese

1. Place the mushrooms in a small heat proof dish. Pour 1 1/2 cups of boiling water over the mushrooms and let them soak until soft for about 30 minutes.
2. Once your mushrooms are softened, put on a large pot of salted water for the penne. Cook until mostly done, but about one minute before the penne is done, add the arugula. (In the meantime...prepare the cheese sauce)
3. Remove the mushrooms from the water, strain the remaining liquid through a coffee filter and set aside 1/4 cup of liquid to start. Save the rest to use to adjust the texture of your sauce.
4. Cut the mushrooms into very thin strips and set aside.
5. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over low heat. Add the garlic and anchovies, cook until the anchovies fall apart and the garlic is browned. Whisk in the flour and cook, whisking until the mixture is smooth and bubbly. Add the mushroom liquid to the milk and cream in a separate cup, then add to the skillet, continuing to whisk until sauce is smooth.
6. Add the brie in medium size chunks at a time, continuing to whisk, make sure the sauce stays smooth. Add the mushrooms and cook for about 2 minutes.
7. By now, your pasta should be done and you should have added the arugula to the pot during the last minute. Drain the pasta and arugula. Transfer the past and arugula to a large serving bowl.
8. Pour the sauce over the pasta and toss to coat. Sprinkle the cherry raisins over the pasta, season to taste with salt and pepper. Top with Parmesan cheese (optional, but suggested!)

Enjoy!!!

Whip Up Something New: Mayan Omelet with Chorizo Sausage

 

Today could be a stressful day. After all, my kitchen is about to get torn apart and I've got 3 little rugrats running around the house doing what rugrats do.  So before Mr. Fix-It came I ran to my girlfriend's house and picked up two boxes of Girl Scout Cookies (should help me achieve a woo-sah moment when I peak at the destruction before the beauty is restored) and then came back to whip up something new before closing down the kitchen.  My recipe was taken from the cookbook Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night by Food Network's Daisy Martinez my favorite Latin cuisine queen.  Here's a little snippet from the jacket cover:

Growing up in her mother's and grandmother's kitchens, Daisy became an expert in traditional Latin-American cuisine.  Here she "Daisifies" those classics and includes a hearty sampling of dishes from her travels across Spain, Puerto Rico, the Dominican Republic, Peru and Argentina.  To Daisy, food is about bringing family together, and so she peppers her collection with anecdotes and family vacation photos. Each recipe is as much about the memory the flavors recall as the love that goes into preparing the dish...

Mayan Omelet with Chorizo, Granny Smith apples and a plump buttermilk biscuit

Quick and easy to make, the Mayan Omelet recipe is definitely a keeper.  I'd heard of omelets with spinach and onions, but not made with arugula. Surprisingly, the greens complimented the buttery eggs perfectly. Since only my oldest daughter and I like mushrooms, I scaled down the recipe. Since I do not eat eggs without cheese, I also added a shredded cheddar to the filling.


Mayan Omelet (adapted from Daisy: Morning, Noon and Night by Daisy Martinez)
1/4 cup baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup baby arugula leaves
3Tbs unsalted butter
1/4 cup sliced cremini mushrooms
2 extra large eggs
sea salt and freshly ground pepper to taste
1/8 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1. Beat the eggs in a bowl than set aside.
2. Heat 2Tbs of butter in a skillet over medium high heat until foaming.  Add the mushrooms and cook until they begin to brown.  Add the spinach and arugula and cook just until the leaves wilt.  (Add the remaining butter here if needed).
3. Add the beaten eggs to the pan, tilt the pan so that the entire bottom is covered with egg.  Sprinkle the shredded cheese on top of the egg.  Season with salt and pepper to taste.
4. Cook over medium heat until the egg sets. Use the edge of a spatula to lift the edges of the omelet from the pan to ensure the egg is not sticking, then tilt the pan and flip half of the egg onto the other half.  
5. Slide the omelet out of the pan and onto your plate.

If you enjoy trying out new recipes or, like me, have made a commitment to actually begin using some of the tons of recipes you have stored everywhere why don't you join me in the Whip Up Something New challenge? Learn more here.

As soon as I can get into the kitchen I will be making two more recipes from this awesome treasure of culinary delights...Shrimp Ceviche "Xni Pec" and Penne a la Sirop.

2011 Cookbook Challenge: Stonefruit

This weeks Cookbook Challenge theme is Stonefruits--mangoes, cherries, apricots, almonds, peaches, pears, etc.  All of the choices sounded like excellent candidates for an enjoyable meal, but I had a few cans of apricots sitting in my cabinet that I have been meaning to pay attention to for quite some time.  Unfortunately, many of the recipes I found called for dried apricots which I did not have on hand AND no matter how I searched, it was nearly impossible to find a recipe that called for canned apricots. 

I decided on the Braised Pork Chops with  Apricots for the main dish since I already had most of the ingredients but as soon as I can get my hands on Urfa and Maras pepper, I'm making my second choice, Lamb Stew with Turkish Flavors.  At the last minute I realized I didn't have any cumin and almost completed the recipe without it, however upon tasting, you could tell something was missing.  My mom ran to the store and picked up the cumin, as soon as it was added to the dish all was right. It provided that hint of savory to balance out the sweetness of the apricot.  To compliment that sweet / savory of the pork chops, I made Curried Rice, Bacon and Cabbage Pilaf  on the side. I'm not the greatest rice maker, but this one actually came out pretty good and not crunchy! Yayy! 

For dessert, I had a hard time deciding whether to do the Apricot Upside Down cake or the California Apricot Coffee Cake. As you can see, the Coffee Cake won and it was a big hit.  So many times I've baked a full size cake to have at least a quarter of it go to waste...there were no leftovers from this cake and the girls are already asking me to make it again.  This is despite me reading the recipe wrong and using a 1/2 cup of brown sugar instead of 1 1/4 regular sugar.  I think the almond extract saved me...the taste was very pronounced.  

Technically, I didn't use my own cookbooks to find these recipes, they are from my online recipe box at Epicurious.com and ApricotProducers.com.  Hopefully I will be able to find suitable recipes in my own cookbooks for some of the upcoming themes.  I would definitely make the coffee cake and rice dish again...the pork chops, only for a special occasion, they required too many steps for a typical night's dinner.

Braised Pork Chops with Apricots and Curried Rice, Bacon Pilaf

California Apricot Coffee Cake

Added the apricots before the crumb topping

Fresh from the oven...smells fantastic!

Keesh's Creations: Savory Chunk Chicken Salad

 Several cans of chunk chicken have been sitting in my pantry for months. The girls barely eat tuna fish, so I can imagine them turning up their noses if I didn't make something extra flavorful and not too mushy.  I served the chicken salad on honey wheat bread...adding a slice of Lorraine Swiss cheese on the girls sandwiches only.

 SAVORY CHUNK CHICKEN SALAD

1 can 12.5oz can of chunk chicken (96% fat free)

reserved liquid from canned chicken

1/2 cup of light mayonnaise

4 long sprigs of fresh curly parsley, chopped

1/2 stalk of celery diced

1/4 of a small onion diced

1 heaping Tbs of whole grain mustard

1 Tbs curry powder

1/4 tsp coarse black pepper

1/2 Tbs Badia Complete seasoning

1. Drain chunk chicken and place in medium bowl,  reserve any leftover juice.

2. Add celery, onions, parsley and Badia seasoning to chicken and mix

3. In a separate bowl, mix mayonnaise, curry powder, pepper and mustard. Add reserved liquid one spoonful at a time until mixture is creamy, but not watery.

4. Add mayo/mustard mixture to chicken and mix.

5. Serve on a sandwich or on top of a bed of lettuce.

Makes 6 2oz servings.

Happy New Year!!

So the first day of 2009 is coming to a close and although I have completely recovered from a throbbing headache, I still have no voice. My family and I enjoyed a fantastic spread which included hot wings, dungeness crab legs, my mom's mean greens, shrimp ceviche with mango, quesadillas, meatballs, and deviled eggs accompanied by prosciutto wrapped asparagus. I knew one of my resolutions would include a promise to excercise more and all that blah blah blah, so I indulged myself more than a little bit. We really didn't try any new wines but for the official toast we popped a bottle of Segura Viudus Brut Reserva champagne.

I'd really love to share an appetizer recipe to start off the new year, but guess what? I didn't cook a thing. What I did do was create a hot wing sauce to go with the wings my mom cooked. If you enjoy spicy like I do, try this one when you get the chance and let me know what you think:



Kisha's Triple Pepper Wing Sauce
one bottle of Red Hot hot sauce
1/8 cup of Italian salad dressing
2 Tbs of butter
1 tsp crushed red peppers
1 tsp crushed or minced garlic
3/4 tsp West African Hot Pepper
1/4 tsp Melinda's ground Habanero peppers
1/8 tsp ground ginger


Warm all of the ingredients just until the butter melts, stirring frequently. You can either pour this directly over your wings or use as a dipping sauce.

Enjoy!