Banana Bread

This recipe comes from The Martha Stewart web site. The batter for this easy to bake banana bread is enriched with the addition of sour cream. Well, I didn't have any sour cream. So I threw in a 1/2 cup of Marscapone Cheese instead. Delicious! Moist! Oh, don't make the same mistake I made and throw in 3 mashed bananas. Measure them!

Ingredients

Makes 1 loaf

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter, at room temperature, plus more for pan
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup mashed very ripe bananas
1/2 cup sour cream
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Directions

1.Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter a 9-by-5-by-3-inch loaf pan; set aside. In an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, cream butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add eggs, and beat to incorporate.
2.In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt. Add to the butter mixture, and mix until just combined. Add bananas, sour cream, and vanilla; mix to combine. Stir in nuts, and pour into prepared pan.
3.Bake until a cake tester inserted into the center of the cake comes out clean, about 1 hour 10 minutes. Let rest in pan for 10 minutes, then turn out onto a rack to cool.

Sloppy Joes

I have no idea how I got these in my mind. However, I decided to make a batch for supper. The recipe I used was basically ground beef, onion, ketchup, brown sugar, vinegar and dry mustard. Not bad for a first attempt and I was going to post the recipe I used, but while watching the Food Network there was a show about Sloppy Joes. Chef Bobby Flay challenged the Schnipper brothers who are famous in Times Square New York for their Sloppy Joes against his. The brothers discussed a couple of key ingredients like Ground Beef, Onion, Red and Green Pepper, NO CELERY, Sweet Paprika, Brown Sugar, Red Wine Vinegar, Worchestershire, and a secret ingredient which I belive may be Coke. Yes Coke, it was in some of hundreds of Sloppy Joe recipes I looked at on line this weekend. They also said to make the sauce a day ahead to develop the flavors. Anyway, this is the recipe I came up with. Also, check out the Schnipper brothers under my links.

Sloppy Joes

Ingredients
• 1 lb ground beef
• 1 small onion, finely chopped
• 1 small green pepper, finely chopped
• 1 small red pepper, finely chopped
• 1 (8 ounce) can tomato sauce
• 1/4 cup ketchup
• 1/4 cup barbecue sauce
• 1 tablespoon firmly packed brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon prepared mustard or 1 teaspoon dry mustard
• 1 tablespoon sweet paprika
• 1 tablespoon Worcestershire sauce
• 1 tablespoon red wine vinegar
• salt and pepper
Directions
In a large skillet, brown ground beef just until pink color is gone. Remove from pan and set aside.
Drain the fat except 1 tablespoon, add onion and peppers. Sauté until onions and peppers are soft, about 5 minutes.
Stir in remaining ingredients, ground beef, simmer covered, 60 minutes, stirring occasionally.
If Joes appear too’ loose', leave cover off and let moisture evaporate.
Cook until it's the consistency you like for serving on toasted buns, with french fries and cole slaw.

Chicken Bacon Ranch Pizza

O.K. if I haven't inspired you yet to try a new recipe, don't pass over this one. It is absolutely delicious. Once again I used a prepared Thin and Crispy Crust from Sobey's, the Kraft Pizza Cheese Blend with Provolone, Mozzarella and Cheddar and a couple of thinly sliced Roma Tomatoes. Use a good quality Ranch Dressing like Rene's. It's has a thicker consistancy.

Chicken Ranch Pizza

Ingredients

2 cups cooked chicken, torn or cut into bite-sized pieces
2/3 cup ranch dressing, divided
1 (12-inch) prepared pizza crust
6 slices bacon, cooked crisp, crumbled
1/4 cup sliced green onion (optional)
3 cups Pizza Cheese

Directions

1.Combine chicken and 1/3 cup dressing in medium bowl; mix well. Spread remaining 1/3 cup dressing over pizza crust. Spoon chicken mixture over crust; top with bacon, onion and cheese.
2.Place on baking sheet; bake in preheated 425°F oven 8 to 10 minutes. Cut into wedges and serve.

Grilled Stuffed Blueberry Marscapone French Toast

Derek made this last weekend for brunch and it was delicious. I have yet to find Brioche bread here in St. John's, so you can substitute a crusty french loaf instead.

Ingredients:
French Toast
•1 loaf Brioche bread
•1/2 cup cream cheese, at room temperature
•1/2 cup marscapone cheese cold
•3 tbsp confectioners’ sugar
•Zest of 2 lemons
•3/4 cup blueberries
•5 eggs
•1 1/2 cup half-and-half or milk
•1 tsp vanilla extract
•Pinch of kosher salt
•Freshly grated nutmeg
•Oil for coating grill grate
•Maple syrup warmed slightly
•2 tbsp melted butter for brushing

Directions:
French Toast
1.Slice bread ½ inch thickness 12 slices.
2.In a medium bowl, mix together the cream cheese, mascarpone, the confectioners’ sugar, and the lemon zest.
3.Spread the filling equally on 6 slices of bread and top with blueberries. Place the remaining 6 pieces of bread on top of the filling, like a sandwich and press gently to close.
4.Place the stuffed bread on a large baking tray.
5.Whisk together the eggs, half and half, vanilla, a grating of nutmeg, and a pinch of salt.
6.Dip the bread in mixture, soak for 1 minute and let excess mixture drip off.
7.Heat the grill to medium heat 350°F (180°C) and oil grill to prevent sticking.
8.Place each of the French toast on the grill and cook until nicely browned and crisp on the outside, about 3 minutes per side. Watch closely for burning.
9.Transfer French toast to a platter, brush with melted butter. Drizzle with maple syrup and serve.

Hungry Heart Cafe

Today Derek, Cathy, Bev and I checked out the Hungry Heart Cafe at 142 Military Road. It's part of the Stella Burry Community and uses profits from the cafe to support training and affordable housing in the community. You can check it out yourself at www.hungryheartcafe.ca. The food was fantastic, colorful and seasonal. We had two orders of Eggs Benedict, French Toast and I had Pulled Pork Sandwich with chipolte aioli, grilled pineapple, sweet grilled sweet peppers. Reservations are recommended @738-6164.

Anyway, this reminded me of a couple of very tasty recipes for French Toast. I will post the recipes separately.

Festive JELL-O Poke Cake

Today was our friend Bob's birthday. Happy Birthday Bob! His wife Cathy made him a JELL-O Poke Cake for his birthday cake which I believe has become a tradition. It's so good, you'll want seconds. You can have a lot of fun with this cake by picking out your own JELL-O flavors. Although I don't have Cathy's specific recipe, I have made this one a couple of times.



Festive JELL-O Poke Cake


2 baked white cake layers (9 inch), cooled
2 cups boiling water, divided
1 pkg. (85 g) JELL-O Strawberry Jelly Powder
1 pkg. (85 g) JELL-O Lime Jelly Powder
2 cups thawed COOL WHIP Whipped Topping, divided

Make It!

PLACE cakes, top-sides up, in 2 clean 9-inch round pans. Pierce cakes with large fork at 1/2-inch intervals.

ADD 1 cup boiling water to each flavour jelly powder in separate bowl; stir 2 min. until completely dissolved. Carefully pour red jelly over 1 cake layer, and green jelly over remaining cake layer. Refrigerate 3 hours.

UNMOULD cakes. Fill and frost with Cool Whip. Keep refrigerated.

For coloured frosting, gently stir 2 to 3 drops food colouring into the Cool Whip before using as directed.

Molten Dark Chocolate Cakes a.k.a. Lava Cakes

I have made these many times and the recipe never fails. The recipe originates from Kraft Canada. You can also use semi-sweet chocolate. Enjoy!

Molten Dark Chocolate Cakes

4 squares BAKER'S Premium 70% Cacao Dark Chocolate
1/2 cup butter
1 cup icing sugar
2 whole eggs
2 egg yolks
6 Tbsp. flour
1 tsp. icing sugar
12 raspberries

PREHEAT oven to 425°F. Butter four 3/4-cup custard cups or soufflé dishes. Place on baking sheet.



MICROWAVE chocolate and butter in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1 min. or until butter is melted. Stir with wire whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Add 1 cup sugar; mix well. Blend in whole eggs and egg yolks. Stir in flour. Pour into prepared custard cups.



BAKE 13 to 14 min. or until sides are firm but centres are still soft. Let stand 1 min. Carefully run small knife around edges of cakes to loosen. Invert cakes onto dessert plates. Sprinkle evenly with 1 tsp. sugar. Top with raspberries. Cut in half. Serve warm.

Grilled Fajita Fettuccine

I seen this recipe in a magazine back this summer. I was thumbing through them while I was waiting to get my eyes examined. I love Fajita's and I thought this recipe had a nice twist with the pasta. I finally got around to trying it this evening for supper. Very tasty! I think if I made it again, I would leave out the second lime juice and zest. It seemed to take away from the other flavors.

GRILLED FAJITA FETTUCCINE


• 1 Tbs. fajita seasoning
• 1/2 cup lime juice
• 2 Tbs. oil
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 4 chicken breast halves
• 1/2 whole red bell pepper, seeded & cut into 1/4" strips
• 1/2 whole yellow bell pepper, done as above
• 1/2 whole green bell pepper, done as above
• 1 large, sweet onion cut into 1/4" slices, then halved
• 8 oz. fettuccine
• 2 Tbs. fajita seasoning
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 Tbs. lime juice
• 1 tsp. lime zest
• 1 tomato, peeled, seeded, and chopped
• 1 tsp. chicken boullion granules
• 1/2 cup half & half
• 2 Tbs. butter

Combine first measure of fajita seasoning, lime juice, oil, garlic, and chicken in a zipper bag; close and turn to coat well. Marinate in refrigerator at least two hours. Grill over hot coals, basting with any leftover marinade till chicken is done. Set aside and keep warm. In a grill basket, place pepper strips and onion strips and grill during last five minutes of chicken cooking time till crisp, tender and smokey. Hold warm with chicken. While chicken is grilling, cook pasta al dente. Drain water, and return pasta to pan. Add next measure of fajita seasoning, garlic, lime juice & zest, chicken boullion, half & half, butter, and tomato. Toss and stir over medium low heat till liquid is somewhat absorbed and pasta is well coated with seasonings. Slice chicken breats into 1/4" strips. Divide pasta among four plates, and top with equal portions of chicken strips, peppers, and onions.

Serve with grated cheddar cheese and sour cream on the side.
Serves 4 generously, or 6 nicely.

Boston Cream Cake

Today was Dad's 70th birthday and Mom asked me to make his cake. She didn't want anything too chocolatey. So after looking over several recipes that I have wanted to try, I gave this one a whirl. It tasted like a giant Boston Cream doughnut from Tim's. My sister in law Donna who doesn't eat sweets even had a slice!

Basic Hollandaise Sauce

Just a quick note. I halved the recipe by using just 2 egg yolks and a 1/4 pound or 1stick of butter as well as half the lemon juice and salt. One tablespoon of cream is fine. I suggest you add the lemon juice a few drops at a time as well as the salt, to your own taste.

Basic Hollandaise Sauce

House & Garden | February 1962

Barbara Poses Kafka


The preparation of most hot butter sauces has as its object the relatively permanent and smooth blending together of ingredients. The grand-daddy of these sauces is Hollandaise. Here is the classic.

Yield: Makes 2 cups, or enough for a broiled unseasoned steak serving 4 to 6


3 egg yolks
1 tablespoon cream
1 cup (1/2 pound) melted butter, cooled to room temperature
1 tablespoon lemon juice or white wine vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
Dash of cayenne pepper


Use a small, thick ceramic bowl set in a heavy-bottomed pan, or a heavyweight double boiler. Off the heat, put the egg yolks and cream in the bowl or upper section of the double boiler and stir with a wire whisk until well-blended — the mixture should never be beaten but stirred, evenly, vigorously and continually. Place the container over hot water (if you are setting the bowl in water, there should be about 1 1/2 inches of water in the pan; in a double boiler, the water should not touch the top section). Stirring eggs continuously, bring the water slowly to a simmer. Do not let it boil. Stir, incorporating the entire mixture so there is no film at the bottom. When the eggs have thickened to consistency of very heavy cream, begin to add the cooled melted butter with one hand, stirring vigorously with the other. Pour extremely slowly so that each addition is blended into the egg mixture before more is added. When all the butter has been added, add the lemon juice or vinegar a drop at a time and immediately remove from heat. Add salt and a mere dash of cayenne.


Note:
If you proceed with care your Hollandaise should not curdle. If it does, however, don't despair. Finish adding the butter as best you can. Remove sauce to a small bowl, clean the pot and put a fresh egg yolk in it. Start over again, using the curdled sauce as if it were the butter.

Best Buttermilk Waffles

One of my fondest memories of visiting Las Vegas a couple of years ago was the Mini Belgian Waffles at Caesar's Palace. Not to mention a wonderful lady who reminded me of Whoppie, who served them. I did ask her what was in them and she gladly told me. I remember something about wheat flour, etc. Anyway, I've tried a few recipes and I finally came across this one. It's from Baking Bites and is fantastic. It works well on all types of waffle makers. You can read all about it on their website which is quite informative with detailed instructions and pictures of their recipes. I will post their address under my links.

I almost forgot. Don't forget the strawberries and whipped cream or Vegas Style, Banana's Foster to top them off!

Belgian Waffles

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 cup cornstarch
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla extract
pinch ground nutmeg (optional)
2 large eggs
1/2 cup butter, melted and cooled

Preheat your waffle iron while you make the batter.
In a large bowl, sift together flour, corn starch, baking powder, baking soda, salt and sugar.
In a large measuring cup or a medium-sized bowl, lightly beat together buttermilk, milk, vanilla, nutmeg, eggs and melted butter until smooth. Pour into flour mixture and whisk only until just combined and no obvious streaks of flour remain. Batter should be slightly lumpy. Let rest 30 minutes.

Use a 1-cup measure or a large spoon to scoop batter into the waffle iron, lightly greased if your iron requires it. Cook as directed by your machine (mine makes a loud beeping when waffles are done).
Serve immediately, with butter and maple syrup.

Makes 4 Belgian waffles

Classic Eggs Benedict

Yesterday, we went to Blue on Water for brunch. It's a small 7 room hotel with a conference room, restaurant and bar. Although, the waitress seemed like we were bothering her, the food was really tasty. We had Eggs Benedict, Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict, Cod Tempura and Kettle Chips and Kippered Mackerel served with Shallot Cream and Molasses Toast. Reservations recommended. Call 1-877-431-BLUE (2583) toll-free or 754-BLUE (2583) locally to reserve your table.

I tried this recipe this past weekend for Sunday breakfast. The instructions on how to poach the eggs was flawless. They came out perfect. However, the Hollandaise Sauce wasn't fit to eat. Right off the bat, the egg yolks cooked and curdled, but not knowing better I pressed on. I added the butter just like it said, but I didn't have it melted. Folks, read you recipes. Two tablespoons of lemon juice is way too much as well. So after the whisk fell out of the pot and hit the floor causing Hollandaise Sauce to splatter all over the kitchen. I threw the pot in the sink, cleaned up the mess and started again with another recipe. I will post it seperately. The end result was delicious.

Classic Eggs Benedict

Ingredients:
1 tsp (5 mL) vinegar
8 eggs
4 English muffins
8 oz (250 g) thinly sliced Black Forest ham
Hollandaise Sauce:
4 egg yolks
1/3 cup (75 mL) butter, melted
2 tbsp (25 mL) lemon juice
1/4 tsp (1 mL) salt
Pinch cayenne pepper

Variations:
Tomato Basil Eggs Benedict: Replace muffins with sliced focaccia. Replace ham with broiled tomato slices. Add 2 tbsp (25 mL) finely chopped fresh basil (or 1/2 tsp/2 mL dried) to sauce.

Smoked Salmon Eggs Benedict: Replace muffins with sliced focaccia or croissants. Replace ham with smoked salmon. Add 2 tbsp (25 mL) chopped fresh dill to sauce.


Smoked Turkey Eggs Benedict: Replace ham with smoked turkey; sprinkle with 1/4 cup (50 mL) chopped sweet red pepper.

Peameal Bacon Eggs Benedict: Replace ham with sautéed peameal bacon.

Directions:
See directions with images.

Hollandaise Sauce: In heatproof bowl over saucepan of simmering water, whisk egg yolks until thick enough to coat back of spoon, about 4 minutes. Remove from heat. Whisk in butter, 2 tbsp (25 mL) at a time, until thickened; whisk in lemon juice, salt and cayenne. Keep warm over hot water.

Pour enough boiling water into skillet to come 3 inches (8 cm) up side; return to boil. Add vinegar; reduce heat to gentle simmer. Break each egg into small dish; gently slip into simmering water. Cook until desired doneness, about 5 minutes for soft yolks and firm whites. Remove with slotted spoon and drain well, patting bottom of spoon with towel to dry egg.

Meanwhile, cut muffins horizontally in half and toast; place 2 halves, cut side up, on each plate. Top each with ham, poached egg and 2 tbsp (25 mL) Hollandaise Sauce.

Deep Fried Cheesecake

In case your haven't noticed, I really like the food at Montana's. There's nothing better than Apple Butter Ribs followed by Deep Fried Cheesecake. If you haven't tried it, this is a fantastic copycat recipe for it. Enjoy!

Deep Fried Cheesecake

Ingredients

Filling:
3 (8 oz) pkg. cream cheese (softened)
3/4 cup sugar
3 eggs
1 cup sour cream
2 tablespoons flour
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Wrapping:
8 tortillas
1/4 cup milk
1 egg white
1/4 cup sugar
1/8 teaspoon cinnamon

Topping:
1 cup caramel or chocolate sauce
1/4 cup icing sugar
2 cups ice cream (your choice)
4 cups peanut oil for frying (approximately)




Method

Preheat oven to 350 F.

In large bowl, beat together cream cheese and sugar until creamy. Add eggs, one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sour cream, flour, vanilla, cinnamon & lemon juice. Mix just until blended. Do not over mix.

Pour into large baking pan lined w/wax paper. Bake 20-25min, or until almost set. Remove from oven and cool to room temp.

Microwave tortillas 30 seconds then lay on counter.

Spoon an even amount of cheesecake filling into center of each tortilla.

In small bowl, whisk together milk and egg white. Brush each roll with egg mixture to seal.

Fold bottom of each tortilla over filling, then fold in each side and roll tortilla up to resemble a burrito.

Freeze at least 2hrs before frying.

In small bowl, combine sugar & cinnamon, then pour on plate.

Heat oil to 350 F.

Submerge rolls. Carefully place 1 or 2 frozen rolls into oil and fry 3-5 min. or until golden brown.

Remove from oil and drain just a little on paper towels. Gently roll in cinnamon sugar and dust with icing sugar.

Cut cheesecake at an angle and serve sauce and ice cream. Enjoy!