I was able to use 7 of the bananas for the banana tart, however this left me another 20 or so to go. Though I had planned to avoid banana bread, I had to use all 20 remaining bananas before Friday as 1) they were ripening quickly, and 2) I knew I wouldn’t be home this weekend. I had wanted to try some banana-filled crepes from my English cookbook (it features fun European ingredients you just can’t find here, ie: “digestive biscuits” or “vanilla-wine crackers”) but they would have required firmer bananas than those I currently had, and are more of a morning thing. Thus, banana nut bread it was!

A quick evaluation of proportions yielded the following fact: I was going to have to quintuple the recipe to accomodate all my remaining bananas. Considering the fact that I was making 5 batches of this thing at once, I thought it smarter- and more fun- to diversify (just in case one of the varieties was subpar)- thus I went for two. A look at the Food Network recipe archive brought me to this one, which had some of the highest marks from reviewers I’ve seen on the website (I wanted to find one with high confidence as I was forcibly making such a large quantity at once!)

Control: Bananas, cinnamon, nutmeg

Batch A (2x recipe): Almond extract, pecans, whole wheat flour, 1 hour baking time

Batch B (3x recipe): Vanilla extract, walnuts, white (AP) flour, 50 minutes baking time

Conclusions drawn:

• The whole wheat breads rise less, thus a little extra baking powder/soda falling into the bowl isn’t a hardship. They also should probably have a shorter cooking time in the future to keep them moist.
• It’s true: those incredibly ripe, mushy bananas yield the best texture. I’m now a believer in banana myths.
• To be honest, I find little difference in the pecans and walnuts once cooked. In the future, I may not bother to differentiate.
• The almond extract I used was rather strong- just a little over a tablespoon for 2 batches’ worth of bread changed the taste drastically.
• The whole wheat breads were also far less sweet than the other variety. If you’re satisfying someone with a sweet tooth in making these, be sure to add a bit more sweetness to a WW variety.
• Have multiple bowls ready! The sugar/egg/butter mixture must be done in its own bowl, the banana/milk/spice mixture in yet another, and the flour/salt/baking soda/baking powder in a third. I started using pasta pans and cake pans, as I needed 4 bowls and I only have two (good excuse to go bowl-shopping now)

I really followed this one rather closely with few substitutions, as all the comments I read claimed this was one of those rare recipes that is very enjoyable as-is. I brought some for the boyfriend (he loves banana nut bread), his neighbors (who, I’m proud to say, started digging in with their beautiful fingers (the boyfriend’s got some very attractive neighbors), and to work. So far everyone really enjoys it, and it’s quite simple, despite the need to keep ingredients separate, so… try it out and let me know your thoughts!

So my mother, being an incredibly friendly person, is friends with the local produce manager, who offered her a bag of approximately 30 bananas for $2. She happily accepted, and gifted the large majority of them to me. 26 bananas… what to do?! A common first thought would be banana bread, but funny story about that… one load utilizes a mere 3 to 4 bananas, depending on the recipe… perhaps 5 if you’re really pushing it. Thus I was searching for ways to integrate as much banana as possible into recipes, and upon discussing this with my co-worker (call him C), I found a recipe for butterscotch banana cream pie. That didn’t quite fit my purposes, as 1) I was down to one mere egg, and 2) I was looking for something less creamy and more healthy. So a bit more research yielded a few more recipes, the threads of which began to coagulate in my mind, and a recipe was born.

This banana tarte uses the following recipes:

• This tarte crust- Which is, I promise you, the most odd and innovative crust you’ll ever try. You boil all the dough ingredients sans flour- yes, I said boil, at 410 degrees- and then when it’s sputtering angrily and blaming you for its heat, you add the flour all at once to the sizzling mess. It’s blisteringly hot, it’s unique, it’s delicious. It yields a fairly thin, buttery, flaky-but-not-crumbling crust that was just perfect. I’m saving this one for a fresh cream and berry tarte in the future, and perhaps apple tarte as well. Try it, it’s delicious, simple, and so different that your curiosity, if nothing else, will lead you to try.
• Caramel sauce- Which ended up, magically, having a surprising toffee flavour (I can’t explain how this happened). It’ll be quite liquid-y when you first make it, but worry not- some cooling will result in major thickening, and after a few hours in the fridge, this will be ready for ice cream topping!

The interior of the tarte- the banana filling- was inspired by the butterscotch filling mentioned above but in the end followed it so loosely that little was left of the original. Though I won’t give proportions as this turned out to be a successful tarte and thus a secret I refuse to share,  I can divuldge that the filling contains all of (but not only) the following ingredients: 4 large (ripe) bananas; heavy cream; ginger; cinnamon; salt; flour; butter. The magical ingredient which gives it the perfect consistency shall remain nameless, however. But some thinking as to thickening agents can probably bring you to figuring it out or finding an even better alternative!

Some lessons learned and tips when creating this or something similar:

• Though they may look a bit odd, poking holes in the tarte crust prior to baking is a must, I usually don’t and this crust was the best I have yet to produce, thus leading me to believe that this one changed variable can be (happily) held responsible for the yummy results
• Keeping a bit of dough (raw) on hand for patching things up was a brilliant suggestion by David (his blog has some fantastic recipes, by the way, so check it out if you’re in the mood for French confectionaries)- if you need to use the whole thing, mix some flour and water (my great-grandfather called this “culinary superglue”) together and that should do the trick.
• Though I avoid using butter at all costs, a tiny bit of it in the filling will stop your mixture from sticking to the sides, and will make it far more manageable when moving from pan to tarte. You can be like me and cheat by using earth balance soy butter, if that helps!
• A little patience goes a long way when slicing bananas for the top. When the tarte looks infinitely better, it tastes infinitely better (or so I hear, I actually have yet to taste it as I’m not too crazy about bananas)- seeing is believe (my advertising professors always reiterated this)
• Though they (the caramel people) seem to say otherwise- and I’ve come to the conclusion this is what toffee-itized my caramel- if you’re paranoid like me and remove the caramel from the heat too early and then are at a loss on what to do with this runny mixture with cream, put it back on the heat for 2-3 minutes and you’ll have some exciting toffee-caramel.

On to the pictures! Apologies for the long post on this one, but there was much to say :). Last thoughts: despite my sister being not particularly fond of bananas (she loves Costa Rican ones in particular (the miniature ones) but for some odd reason dislikes most others))- she can’t get enough of the tarte. Oddly, this is becoming a trend with people I offer slices of it to- despite their not being banana fans usually, they really enjoy it. I’m curious as to why this is- my sister volunteers the caramel sauce as reasoning, but I’m unsure. What are your thoughts on this experiment?

Bananas used: 7. (19 to go!)

I’ve made CTM a few times using a variety of recipes, and it’s never quite right- right being by my standard of this fabulous Indian restaurant in Cincinnati on the UC campus. It was amoung the most delicious things I’ve ever eaten, and since then I’ve been on a fervent search to re-create (or re-find at some local eatery) the equivalent! Despite claims by my Indian friends that it lacks some authenticity, Clay Pit is the yummiest replacement I’ve yet to find. This recipe, though, was certainly closer than my previous attempts.

The boyfriend’s best friend- let’s call him Ogir from here on in- was recently telling me of how he and his girlfriend made CTM last week. Naturally, after hearing him casually (he says most things casually, this was no exception) say that it was rather enjoyable, I asked for the recipe. This was a fun one!

Over came H bearing two packages of whole wheat naan, bless her, and so we began. I’m usually prepared with the mise en place, but was a bit scrambled today, as I had just literally seconds before arrived home from an after-work info-session-thing at which I was presenting and thus didn’t have my thoughts all arranged. Poor H had to constantly be bopping about the kitchen asking where I had placed the bag of sugar or the can opener. Note to self, in future, lay out all ingredients- or at least the non-refrigerated ones- beforehand.

The recipe we used is from the PBS Test Kitchens, and can be found here if you sign up for a free 14-day trial of the website (do remember to deactive your trial should you not wish to continue their service after cooking this one!). Note that you’ll need a wire rack (like those used for cooling cakes/cookies, or for grilling), a cookie/baking sheet, and tongs (metal or something that won’t melt, as your chicken will be coming out of a 525 degree oven!) in addition to the usual accoutrements.

We followed the recipe as written, except for the following changes: no onion, cayenne, or serrano (we didn’t have them handy and aren’t crazy about spice, though H is more tolerant of it than I); a bit extra on the coriander, cumin, and ginger; the yogurt we used was yoplait pro-health vanilla low-fat yogurt: and it had a very thick consistency, so really, no need to go using whole-fat milk yogurt if you can find a thick low-fat one!; olive oil in place of ghee- H and I both lean towards mediterranean cuisine and thus are great advocates of EVOO; no cilantro; cooked the chicken for about 12 minutes per side to make sure it was well cooked; added two extra cloves to garlic to each of the sauces.

Out came the most buttery and smooth chicken I’ve ever cooked, and a very yummy, spiced- but not spicy- tikka masala sauce. Mmmh! And the rice- a combination of jasmine and basmati (first toasted in olive oil, salt, and pepper, then boiled in low-sodium chicken stock) which I thought I had botched, came out as a textured yet delicate mix (the jasmine mushed a bit but the basmati remained a bit crispy… it was an interesting duo between the two of them).

It’s a recipe that H and I agreed we would both make again in the future, perhaps adding some cayenne and onion on the next try. Try it out and see what changes you make- it’s fairly alterable! :)

I’m a bit at a loss on what to call this one, as it has a number of flavours going on, so “country” was the winning word. The boyfriend told me this morning, “I’m going to go take a quick shower- have breakfast ready when I get back?” and when I inquired as to what this breakfast should consist of, he replied “Eggs?”- his typical response. I thought of what ingredients I had handy, and went through the egg options. Frittatas- eh, wasn’t in the mood to have a bunch of leftovers, and I needed to wash the muffin pans thoroughly from the leftover strawberry residue prior to re-using so… no to that one. Scrambled eggs- too simple, too boring. I had yet to make an omelette- I don’t like eggs, so I tend to stay away from egg-y foods- but thought, eh, my sister does it all the time, I might as well try.

Into the skillet went the following:

• 2 large organic brown eggs
• 1/3ish+ cup fat-free organic milk
• 6 drops of concentrated tomato paste
• 1 slice shredded mesquite deli turkey
• Shredded mozarella
• Parmesan sticks
• Freshly-cracked pepper & sea salt

The result was a large, thick, meat-like substance that I suppose was am omelette :). The boyfriend was convinced I had magically created a large portion of chicken for him, so large and thick was this omelette. The texture seemed really nice on the inside, ever-so-slightly runny where the melting cheese met the liquid egg. The boyfriend reported that the tomato paste taste was subtle, and that there were a number of flavours melding nicely on the plate. There was some decent burning on the top- mostly due to my lack of omelttery experience- but the boyfriend assured me that the “burnt protein taste” was nicely enjoyable and sophisticated. I’ll probably try something a bit different for my next omelette, but am rather content with my first whack at it!

For a while now I’ve been wanting to make a mango smoothie, and today’s warm weather brought me to decide “yes, today is the day”. A friend gave me some lovely mango pieces in a fruit salad, and their gorgeous colour- they were quite clearly Ataulfo or Indian- were rather inspiring.

Mango Smoothie

Ingredients (makes 1 small glass):

• 1/4 cup Orange-mango juice
• 1/2 cup frozen organic mango chunks
• 1/3 cup fresh mango pieces (from my friend Andrew) :)
• 1/3 cup organic vanilla low-fat yogurt
• Five drops of honey

Process:

The texture was great- thinner than my last concoction, the glass of which the boyfriend had to tap on vigorously to coax out the smoothie- and quite delicious. I had been craving mango since the sun peaked its head through my window the day before, and this certainly did the trick rather nicely! I also learned my lesson and put all the liquids at the bottom, leaving the frozen mango chunks- which, out of paranoia, I dutifully chopped- at the very top, allowing the blender to conduct its work in peace.

Yesterday I had the pleasure of enjoying the company of a good friend of mine from Seattle. As he is a self-proclaimed Cookie King and lover of baking, we planned to bake together when he came. I had the two batches of cookie dough set to go, but we wanted to make something together. I asked, and he delivered, with the suggestion of this gem from Giada’s recipe collection. Ironically, we had both seen the episode featuring it, and both had a mind to make them.

Vanilla Cupcakes with Strawberry-Mascarpone Filling

Recipe: Strawberry and Mascarpone Filled Cupcakes by Giada de Laurentiis

We followed the recipe quite precisely- my friend from out of town is yet another stickler for measuring (how is it I end up being friends with all the exact folk?). Our only change was to add sliced strawberries to the top (there’s a cupcakery in town named Cupprimo which does this and ever since, I refuse to make a strawberry cupcake or cake that doesn’t follow this example). The mascarpone seemed to not integrate fully into the strawberries, but yet again this may be an issue with the blender not handling non-liquids… we should have put the strawberries on the bottom, followed by the sugar, then cheese- but I was far too excited and giddy to be thinking through such logic.

The icing was fascinating- too runny for the first 15-20 seconds, and then it was a race to get the cupcakes all iced in time, before the hardening process resulted in a dry, thick paste without moisture. Incredibly easy icing to make, though- in fact, the entire recipe is quite easy. Yes, it has a number of parts to it, but as long as you have patience- and a friend or two- then you’re set. I luckily had a piping set with an injection tip handy, but if you don’t, that’s the one complication I see in completing this recipe.

I know pictures can’t convey flavour, so I feel the need to say that these little beauties are utterly delicious. I’ve never enjoyed a baked good I’ve made (or, in this case, co-made) as much as these, and they will definitely have repeat performances in the future. Cutting one open and seeing the strawberry filling is great- and knowing that the pink colour is all natural, coming only from the strawberries, is rather rewarding as well!

There are far too many pictures of these, I know. But I had far too much fun setting up the shoot area and lighting for them and too many of them turned out nicely to not put up. :)

What happens when you take a chocolate chip cookie recipe from Emeril and change it into an experimental cookie? The result: macademia nuts, cashews, almonds, cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg… and a whole lot of salt. :) My sister was not at all a fan, but she’s not a savory cookie type of girl. Similarly to my last cookie attempt, everyone else enjoyed them- maybe these cookies are cursed in general to always have one person not enjoy them. The nuts were pre-salted (rather heavily) and what with that salt and the (although minimal) additional salt I added as per Mr. Lagasse’s instructions, the result was a very salty cookie indeed. That was the one complaint, of sorts, that I’ve had about them. The boyfriend didn’t find them to be too salty, but I think he’s been well-converted to my salt-loving ways now :).

I made the following changes:

• No chocolate chips: substitute for 1.5 cups mashed macademia nuts, cashews, and almonds
• Add 1/2 tablespoon cinnamon, 1 teaspoon coriander, 1 teaspoon nutmeg (in future may also add 1 teaspoon ginger for sweetness to combat the saltiness)
• Whole wheat pastry flour used

In the future, I’ll try to not add pre-salted nuts, or combat it with extra sugar. But the texture is very nice, and as I rather quickly moved them to a metal tin after cooking on the rack, they’ve remained very soft, moist… and a bit sticky, but that’s beside the point. The important part is that as far as experiments go, it wasn’t too terrible :).

Continuing my search to find and then refine the ultimate chocolate chip cookie recipe, I decided to try this one  from the Food Network kitchens. I though this one would be a winner: canola oil instead of butter; whole wheat pastry flour; etc. I followed the recipe exactly as suggested save for using slightly less chocolate chips than suggested- not out of cleverness or whatnot, but simply because I had gone slightly overboard with my last attempt and used a bit over half the package of chips :).

The canola oil is a nice substitute for butter, I did like that… and the wire rack I recently purchased did help somewhat, but the bottoms are a bit burnt, the middles a bit too gooey (they didn’t cook quite evenly), and they have, in my opinion, a rather peculiar taste. However, I am unable to file this one under “accidents” because, oddly, I am the only person who doesn’t like these! My sister calls them fantastic, and suggests you microwave them for 25 seconds if eating them the next day to get that fresh-baked taste. The boys I have fed them to enjoy them, but as the default value for whether a guy likes a cookie or not is “yes”, I am wary of those results. Note to self: give these to a few more girls before making final conclusions.

Yesterday was Valentine’s Day- and usually the boyfriend and I do some walking or dancing, something simple. He’s not the surprising sort, so I was enthusiastically baffled when he presented me with the most beautiful bouquet of roses, lillies, and lavendar I had ever seen yesterday. It’s gargantuan- and it’s positively lovely :). To say thanks, I wanted to make a particularly enjoyable dinner for tonight. Upon asking what he would like, he mentioned that he had really enjoyed the tortelloni of a few weeks ago. My sister mentioned she had some leftover ravioli she wasn’t planning to have, and so came about the ravioli lasagna.

The contents are whole-wheat prosciutto-chicken ravioli; sauteed carrots, bell pepper, roasted garlic, and tomato in olive oil (cooked like this); and a thick layer of mozarella. Some corriander (I was looking for cardamum but settled happily on this one), large sea salt, freshly-cracked pepper, a drizzle of olive oil… it smelled fantastic, is oh-so-simple, and when plated prettily with some salad, is a sight to see.

Taking pasta- of any sort- adding sauteed vegetables, and baking it with a layer of cheese (of your choice) on top is, I guarantee, an easy way to add class to an already-delightful recipe. Which cheese do you find melts best? Whole Foods has a nice part-skim mozarella that slices nicely and browns perfectly on top.

Continuing on my smoothie kick, I decided on Saturday evening to make a cold, sinuous smoothie as we had the heater going and I felt the need to hydrate. Being a great fan of peach and mango- two of summer’s best fruit offerings- I decided to mix them together in the following recipe:

Mango Peach Strawberries ‘n Cream Smoothie

Ingredients (makes 1 small glass):

• 1/3 cup frozen mango chunks
• 1/2 cup frozen peach slices
• 1/2 cup vanilla yogurt
• 1/2 scoop strawberries & cream ice cream
• drizzle of honey

Process:

It was, due to the ice cream and frozen fruit, a tad bit too thick- really bordering on frozen yogurt- but delicious nonetheless, and nicely speckled due to the fruit. My next iteration will be simply mango, with some orange juice… yum!

My attempts to lighten Italian continue with this try at cappelini caprese. There’s a fabulous Italian restaurant in Austin- Andiamo Ristorante - that has a yummy, yummy, yummy cappelini caprese. It’s my favourite pasta dish there is- delicately thin whole wheat cappelini pasta in an onion and tomato sauce, chock-full of buffalo mozarella pieces chunks. It’s delicious, and I have decided to try my best to imitate its greatness. Sadly, I’m not quite there yet- but getting closer, and that’s what counts!

Some whole wheat pasta, roasted onions and tomatoes in olive oil, chopped spinach, a dash of tomato/oregano sauce, and a large dose of mozarella chunks make this dish. Some lessons learned here:

• Fresh buffalo mozarella is really what makes a caprese salad (of any sort) special- substituting for low-moisture reduced fat part-skim mozarella just isn’t the same. Though the fat content is considerably lowered, the price you pay is in taste and consistency- it may not be worth it.
• Finding whole wheat cappelini thin enough to really merit the name of angel hair seems to be difficult- I have yet to find some quite thin enough.

Really, the title is self-descriptive. As I sat with the boyfriend Sunday night, watching in amusement as he devoured his birthday dinner, I snagged a carrot from his plate- and was pleasantly surprised that my random addition of vinegar was delicious. Thus, I had been wanting to try it again, but this time baking the dish at the end. Thus, to go with the gargantuan hunk of bread I knew I would be enjoying out of the warm oven this evening, I sauteed two large carrots, a zucchini, and half a red bell pepper in olive oil, salt (too much, according to my sister), and pepper- then once the edges started browning slightly, I drizzled in a splash of pear-infused vinegar (thank you, Alessi, for being wonderful and making such vinegars in the first place). I can not go on long enough about the benefits of this splash of vinegar. For one, the combination of sweet and salty adds a layer of flavour that’s divine. But for two, the sweetness of the vinegar causes the vegetables to crisp and brown- it almost seems to accentuate the sauteeing process. Once it seemed to be browning happily, I transferred the lot to an oversized ramekin (or, as H called it, the mother of all ramekins) and popped in the oven for 5 or 6 minutes to finish the crisping. The result was utterly delicious, so simple, and incredibly healthy. I highly suggest you try it!