crispy bananas on chocolate tortillas

i threw together two recipes i had found because i thought it would be good together. you can pretty much put anything sweet on these chocolate tortillas. they're like little mild chewy chocolate cakes. the bananas can be eaten on their own as well because they crisp up sort of like french fries. you can sprinkle them with cinnamon sugar or black pepper. when i topped the bananas onto the chocolate tortillas i also topped it with cinnamon sugar, caramel and chocolate syrup and blueberry sweet cream ice cream then ate it like a taco.

chocolate tortillas

Ingredients

2 Cup All Purpose flour

• You may add ¼ t pure vanilla extract

1 Tablespoon baking powder

1/3 Cup sugar

4-6 Tablespoon cocoa powder

1 ½ Tablespoon butter

1 teaspoon instant coffee crystals (i always use used coffee grinds instead)

3/4 -1 Cup water, warm or milk, warm

Directions

1. Sift flour, baking powder, sugar, and cocoa powder

2. Add instant coffee and mix well

3. Cut in shortening with hands or a fork until it resembles crumbs

4. Make a well in the middle and add water

5. Mix until soft dough is formed you may add a little more flour if needed

6. Kneed for 3 minutes then cover with a cloth

7. Let sit for 15 minutes

8. With a little shortening on hands make 5-6 dough balls

9. On a lightly floured surface roll out each dough ball and fry or cook on griddle

Ivory Coast Fried Bananas

(4 servings)

4 medium bananas

2 or 3 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice

3/4 cup finely crushed corn flakes

peanut oil for frying

black pepper (savory) - optional

cinnamon and sugar (sweet) - optional

Peel bananas and cut each in half. Cut each piece into four pieces - lengthwise, giving you a total of 32 french fry-sized pieces.

Place banana pieces in a large shalow bowl and drizzle with lemon juice to prevent browning. Let set for 5 minutes.

Heat peanut oil (about 1/2 inch deep) in a heavy skillet at medium-high heat.

Place crushed corn flakes in a seperate large shallow bowl or on a baking pan. Roll each banana piece in corn flakes until well covered.

Fry banana pieces in skillet until golden brown on each side.

Spinkle with either pepper or a 50/50 mix of cinnamon/sugar. depending whether you'd like them sweet or savory.

strawberry rhubarb rolls plus my 8th catering gig

last week i went to albuquerque and brought home a strawberry rhubarb pie from the flying star cafe for gillian. she was raving about it and it really was delicious. it made me look up some strawberry rhubarb recipes and i came across this one for strawberry rhubarb rolls.

1 1/4 cups granulated sugar

1 cup water

2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

3 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter or margarine

1 egg, beaten

2/3 cup light cream

Melted butter

1 cup sliced fresh strawberries

2 cups finely diced rhubarb

Combine 3/4 cup sugar and 1 cup water in a pan and boil for 5 minutes. Pour into a 9-inch square pan.

For shortcake, mix together the flour, ba8king powder, 2 tablespoons sugar and salt. Cut in the butter until mixture is like coarse crumbs.

Combine egg and cream and add to dry ingredients, stirring only to moisten. Roll dough into a 9 x 15-inch rectangle. Brush with melted butter and top with berries and rhubarb. Sprinkle with 1/3 cup sugar. Roll this lengthwise, like you would a jellyroll and cut into 12 slices. Place on top of syrup in square pan and bake for 25 to 30 minutes at 450 degrees F.

Serve warm.

my only issues with this recipe were that i could only cut 9 rolls not 12. the rolls would have been way too thin. it was also really messy to cut after rolling them so the rolls weren't very pretty. also baking them in a 9 inch square pan would have been too small for these large rolls so i used a 9 X 13 inch pan. in the end they were ugly but so delicious. i recommend trying this recipe even if it is a little bit of a pain in the ass.

so next tuesday will me my ninth and final catering gig for that class at mesalands. i thought this week was, and i had no idea what to cook. i ended up making easy and fast recipes that i already tried before. i made sweet & spicy kielbasa, mashed red potatoes, buttered cabbage and chocolate cake.

my 7th catering gig

well this is my 7th catering gig and i have one more to go until the semester is over. i really had no idea what i would cook this week but i was hoping i would cook something with chicken. i went to the grocery store and just grabbed a bunch of stuff i thought might taste good together and went with it. i made a shredded chicken with ground sausage and spinach in a mushroom tomato sauce, potato au gratin and chess pie. this was my third attempt at making chess pie. i'm trying to find the perfect recipe and i think this one is the winner so far.

Ingredients:

4 ounces butter

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed

1 cup granulated sugar

3 large eggs

1 tablespoon vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla

1 tablespoon cornmeal

Preparation:

Melt butter; blend with sugars. Add eggs and other ingredients and stir until blended. Do not beat. Bake in unbaked pie shell for one hour at 350°.

coquito ice cream

i found this recipe for coconut rum ice cream. it definitely taste like coconut rum but also it tastes like coquito, even though the only ingredient in this ice cream that i would put in my coquito are the eggs.

1/2 cup heavy cream

11/2 cup unsweetened coconut milk

1 cup whole milk

1/2 cup coconut flavored rum

1/2 cup granulated sugar

6 large egg yolks

Directions

To make the ice cream, in a large, heavy saucepan, combine the cream, coconut milk, whole milk, rum, and sugar. Bring to a simmer over medium heat, stirring to dissolve the sugar. Remove from the heat. In a medium bowl, beat the eggs until pale yellow and frothy. Add about 1/2 cup of the hot cream mixture, and whisk to combine. Add the egg mixture to the saucepan with the remaining hot cream and whisk.

Return to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly with a heavy wooden spoon until thick enough to coat the back of a spoon, 4 to 5 minutes.

Remove from the heat and strain through a fine mesh strainer into a clean container. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours. Pour into an ice cream maker and process according to the manufacturer's instructions. Transfer to a plastic container and freeze until ready to serve.

my 6th catering gig

i finally got around to catering again. this time i made meatball stroganoff, lemon meringue pie and cheese scones. i made the cheese scones last minute because i didn't think i made enough food and they were really good. i had never made scones before but this recipe was really simple. i made these delicious scones in 20 minutes!

2 C. all-purpose flour

1 C. yellow or blue stone-ground cornmeal

1/3 C. sugar

1 T. baking powder

1 t. ground cinnamon

1/3 t. salt

1/2 t. baking soda

12 T. (1-1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, well-chilled and cut into small bits

1 C. buttermilk

3/4 C. dried currants

Preheat oven to 400° F. Butter a cookie sheet.

In a food processor, whir together the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, cinnamon, salt and baking soda. Scatter the butter over the dry ingredients and pulse the mixture just until it resembles coarse meal. Pour in the buttermilk and pulse the mixture just until combined.

Turn the dough out onto a floured work surface and scatter the currants over it. Gently pat out the dough and fold it back over itself about a half-dozen times, until smooth. (A dough scraper helps with this.) Use a light hand and don't overmix.

Divide the dough in half and pat it out again into two 3/4-inch thick disks. Cut each disk into 6 plump pie-shaped wedges. Transfer the scones to the prepared cookie sheet and sprinkle with sugar if you wish. Bake for 12 to 14 minutes until golden. Serve at room temperature.

Makes 1 dozen.

Variation: Substitute 3 ounces (about 3/4 cup) grated Cheddar cheese for the currants and add with the butter.

lemon meringue pie

gillian telepathically asked me to make lemon meringue pie. i've never made lemon meringue pie so i found a simple recipe from paula deen to use. it was easy to make a delicious. next time i'll work on the pie crust.

Ingredients

1 (14-ounce) can sweetened condensed milk

1/2 cup lemon juice

1 teaspoon grated lemon zest

3 egg yolks

1 (8-inch) prebaked pie shell or crumb crust

Meringue:

3 egg whites

1/4 teaspoon cream or tartar

1/4 cup sugar

Directions

In medium bowl, combine milk, lemon juice, and zest; blend in egg yolks. Pour into cooled crust.

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.

Beat egg whites with cream of tartar until soft peaks from. Gradually beat in the sugar until stiff. Spread over filling; seal to edge of crust. Bake for 12 to 15 minutes or until meringue is golden brown.

cornmeal pancakes

who doesn't love pancakes? decided to change up regular pancakes by making cornmeal pancakes. i still have half a bag left of cornmeal. i wonder what else i can make?

1 cup cornmeal

1 tablespoon brown sugar or honey

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup boiling water

1/2 cup flour

2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 cup milk

1 medium egg

oil for frying

In a good sized mixing bowl combine the cornmeal, sugar or honey, and salt. Add the boiling water. The cornmeal will swell up into a lumpy mess. That’s alright, don’t worry about it. Stir the lumpy mess vigorously with a whisk or fork until it is a thick batter. Let it cool down a little bit. Add the flour, baking powder, milk and egg. Keep stirring the batter until it is nice and smooth. Drop the mixture by 1/3 cupfuls onto a hot, greased skillet. Fry until the underside is golden brown, and the top side bubbles a bit. Turn the pancakes over and continue frying until well browned.

orange cornmeal cake

i bought a bunch of cornmeal so i figure i try to use it up a bit. i found a bunch of recipes using cornmeal but i had to try this one. it sounded like a nice springtime cake.

Orange Cornmeal Cake Recipe

INGREDIENTS

1/2 cup olive oil, plus more for greasing the pan

2 large eggs

1 cup sugar, plus 1/3 cup for the topping

1/2 cup orange juice (or dry white wine)

1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/2 cup finely ground yellow cornmeal

2 teaspoons baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

Zest of 1 large orange

METHOD

1 Preheat oven to 375°F. Brush the bottom and sides of an 8-inch round cake pan with oil (can use butter for this too); line the bottom of the pan with wax paper or parchment paper, and brush the top of the paper with oil.

2 In a large bowl, whisk together eggs, oil, 1 cup of the sugar, and orange juice until smooth. Add flour, cornmeal, salt, baking powder, and orange zest; whisk lightly to combine.

3 Pour the batter into the prepared cake pan; sprinkle the top evenly with the remaining 1/3 cup sugar. Bake until cake begins to pull away from sides of pan and a toothpick inserted in center comes out clean, about 25-35 minutes.

4 Cool the cake in the pan 20 minutes. Run a knife around edge of cake to separate it from the edge of the pan. Invert the cake gently onto a plate, and remove the parchment paper. Re-invert the cake onto a rack to cool completely before serving.

Serves 8.

the only thing i recommend is to use maybe 1/8 cup but no more than 1/4 of sugar for the topping instead of 1/3 cup. the cake is in an 8" pan and i def think that's too much sugar for the topping. i used 1/4 cup and still thought that was too much. it does leave a nice crunchy crust on top but i'm sure you can get the same result with a little less sugar. also i ran out of olive oil so i used half olive and half veggie oil. i also forgot to buy an orange so i didn't have any orange zest. the cake was perfect for today. it's good for breakfast or dessert. my roommate made coconut milk lemongrass soy ice cream and i ate some with the cake and it went really well together.

jamaican cornmeal porridge

i remember my mom would bring home jamaican porridge from crown heights. i found this recipe it's close to what i remember but not as yummy. i think it's possible the place she went to used coconut milk. it had a nice flavor but it's not what i remember. it's definitely an easy and fast recipe.

INGREDIENTS:

1/4 cup cornmeal

1 1/2 cups water

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 cup condensed milk

1 tsp vanilla essence

METHOD:

1. Mix the cornmeal with 1/2 cup of the water

2. Bring the remaining 1 cup of water to the boil

3. Stir in the cornmeal mixture and salt

4. Continue cooking for 10 minutes

5. Add condensed milk and vanilla essence

6. Top with grated cinnamon and nutmeg

METHOD:

1. Mix the cornmeal with 1/2 cup of the water

2. Bring the remaining 1 cup of water to the boil

3. Stir in the cornmeal mixture and salt

4. Continue cooking for 10 minutes

5. Add condensed milk and vanilla essence

6. Top with grated cinnamon and nutmeg

Makes 3-4 servings

ecstasy bars

i haven't been baking a lot lately because i've been working two jobs. i found a quick recipe so i made it yesterday before work. it looks really messy but when it cools down it's not.

Ingredients:

1 cup flour

1 cup rolled oats

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1 pinch salt

1/2 cup butter

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 egg

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

3/4 cup peanut butter

1 1/4 cup chocolate chips

1/2 cup powdered sugar

3 tablespoons evaporated milk

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Combine the flour, oats, baking soda and salt in a small bowl. Set aside. Cream the butter, sugar and brown sugar together until smooth. Add the egg, vanilla and 1/2 cup of the peanut butter and mix thoroughly.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Mix until just combined. Spread the dough into a greased 9x13x2 pan. Bake for 20 minutes until lightly golden brown. Remove the crust from the oven and, while its still piping hot, sprinkle the chocolate chips over it. Spread them evenly across the dough as they melt.

While the chocolate is melting, combine in a separate bowl the powdered sugar, peanut butter and evaporated milk. Beat together and spread onto the melted chocolate, forming a marbled pattern. Allow the bars to cool and then serve.

i tweeked the recipe just a little bit. i used chunky peanut butter for the bar then chunky peanut butter with roasted flax seed for the frosting. i also used a mixture of chocolate chips and butterscotch chips for the frosting. i also used cinnamon honey oats instead of just plain oats.

honey mustard kielbasa plus more...

us new york ladies living in tucumcari cooked a dinner a few weeks ago. i made honey mustard kielbasa and gillian made kasha and creamed spinach. it was really yummy. the honey mustard kielbasa was super easy to make. i took a bunch of kielbasa and sliced it up, added 1/2 cup of brown sugar, a 1/2 cup of mustard and some diced onions. jill told me to pour a can of beer in so it'll cook faster and that was a great suggestion.