Fear not the black banana

I know.....ick, yuck, right? No! What we have here, people is an obvious case of mistaken identity. You may THINK you know what this is, but in all liklihood, you would provide an incorrect guess.

This, my friends, is a roasted banana. It has been heated in its skin in a 400 degree oven (ideally on parchment paper) until the skin turned black and the goodness began to ooze. "Why roast a banana?", you ask. Well, I'll tell you. Roasting a banana increases the brix level or sugar level in the banana. Brix is a measurement of sugar content, and is a term often and also used in wine making.

What I like about roasting bananas is that it adds an additional dimension of banana flavor to desserts. For example, in banana bread, you can use your regular spotted bananas and add some roasted bananas for additional flavor depth. Or put the roasted bananas with the reserved ooze from the parchment paper over a bowl of vanilla ice cream, and them watch 'em start coming to wonder where you are.

Ideally, a banana is roasted just when it starts to "spot". I don't recommend barely ripe (any green on them), or brown and overly spotted. Both of these scenarios produce sub optimal results.

The roasted banana may also be frozen for use at a later date.

Do you Manchego?

No, it's not a dance or a frightful disease, it's a wonderful, semi-soft, rather nutty cheese from Spain. I don' t know where I discovered it. Perhaps the crowded confines of Costco or the hallowed aisles Whole Foods. Regardless, this cheese is a total gem certainly worth searching for. I liken it to a softer, less sharp Parmesan or a nuttier Monterey Jack. It slices, it shreds, it melts. What more could a gal ask for?

So far I have enjoyed Manchego in a caramelized onion (see an older post for the recipe) and Manchego cheese omelet, or on a cheese tray with cornichons, roasted almonds, savory crackers and fig jam. I'm willing to bet that once you try it, you will be mad at me for introducing you to something you would rather not live without. I'm willing to take one for the team. Indulge and enjoy.

The Holidays just got brighter! Try some Egg Nog French Toast

I have to admit, Egg Nog has a really special place in my heart. I remember at Christmastime, my grandparents would make a punchbowl full. The concoction was yellow-ish at the bottom (I guess that was the egg), and really, really frothy at the top (the Nog...right?).

As many of you know, I grew up in New England. Boston-ish, to be a bit more specific. And around this time of year, many who have culinary overflow problems store food on the porch. Why? Because they can! You can barely see the mercury in the thermometer, it is soooooo cold.

So my grandparents would store the Egg Nog on the back porch off the kitchen and bring it in only when someone's glass needed to be refreshed. Now I was never a true partaker of the Nog. I tried it a few times in my youth, but there was so much elixir (brandy, I think), that it probably stunted my growth.

In my later years, I grew fond of the store-bought kind, though I knew inherently that it paled in comparison to that back porch Nog. And then when I became aware of the back label, Egg Nog became a once a year 8 oz. indulgence. Until now! Now I enjoy the flavor of Egg Nog with a little less of the artery-clogging worries.

This is a wonderful dish to serve for company, your neighbors, or even just a treat for yourself. It's so easy and so yummy. Go for it! And the Egg Nog has a long shelf life (due to the fat content) so it will last you all month.


Egg Nog French Toast

1 egg
6 oz. egg nog
2 dashes cinnamon
1 dash nutmeg
3 slices high qulaity bread (broiche, challah, croissants)

Apply cooking spray (Pam) and heat the skillet on medium-high heat. Combine the egg and the egg nog with a fork in a bowl. Add spices and stir. Add bread, coating each side and put on hot skillet. Brown each side and remove from heat. Serve with fruit, powdered sugar, high quality syrup or whipped cream, but SERVE IT, by golly!

Potatoes by any other name just aren't the same

This is a style of potatoes I learned in culinary school It's called Potatoes Anna. Arrange sliced potatoes in a skillet in circular layers, coating each round with clarified butter (or olive oil) and a little salt and pepper. I also like adding green onions for some extra yum. You can cook on the stove top until the first layer is caramelized (browned) and then finish it off in the oven at 350 degrees or cook it all on the stove top, covering the skillet for faster cooking. Serve it in wedges with any meat dish or use it as a wonderful breakfast side.

For those that don't know what clarified butter is, it's butter, heated up until all the fat separates. Skim the fat off the top and discard (the fat). It increases the burning point of the butter.

I have to admit, I am a clam chowder snob, and a relative purist. I hope you will not hold it against me. I am, after all, from New England. Ever the optimist, I am prone to try it in restaurants from coast to coast. Especially when they tell me it is good. But often times, I am left wanting and occasionally I am left offended. It may be due to the viscosity of the chowder (I had some in Malibu that an Australian told me was amazing and it was the consistency of those canned soups BEFORE you add the water. I should have considered the source). Sometimes it's a result of the random ingredients that the chef thought would improve on a classic. Like the time that I found water chestnuts in my "authentic" New England clam chowder. Needless to say, I sent it back. And to all of you who call that red soup from the Big Apple a chowder, I say, "I'm sorry".

Here's a recipe that I have made three times, and it hasn't failed me yet. It's the perfect compliment to a warm fire and a fresh baguette (my fellow Yankees would serve it with oyster crackers. I guess that's where we part company).

New England Clam Chowder

2 quarts canned clams with juice
1 1/2 quarts water or fish stock, approx.
1 1/4 pounds potato, small dice
8 ounces salt pork or bacon, small dice
1 pound onion, small dice
8 ounces celery, small dice
4 ounces flour
1 quart milk
8 ounces heavy cream
salt and pepper, to taste
Tabasco sauce, to taste
Worcestershire sauce, to taste
fresh thyme, to taste


1. Drain the clams, reserving both the clams and their liquid. Add enough water or stock so that the total liquid equals 2 quarts.

2. Simmer the potatoes in the clam liquid until nearly cooked through (test them with a fork). Strain and reserve the potatoes and the liquid.

3. Render (saute) the salt pork on low, extracting the liquid fat, without browning it. Add the onions and celery and sweat (make it turn translucent and give up its liquid) until tender.

4. Add the flour and cook to make a blond roux.

5. Add the clam liquid to the roux, whisking away any lumps.

6. Simmer for 30 minutes.

7. Bring the milk and cream to a boil and add to the soup.

8. Add the clams and potatoes, and season to taste with salt, pepper, Tabasco, Worcestershire and thyme.

9. Garnish each serving with fresh herbs.

Yield: 3 quarts

Fruitful fizz

I grew up eating pomegranates. I REALLY want to like them. All that anti-oxidant power, and all. But even growing up, they were cumbersome to eat. And I always wondered about what to do with the seeds. To swallow, or not to swallow....that was indeed the question.

How exciting it was when POM came up with a pomegranate juice? Bypass all those seeds and get strait to the heart of the matter, as it were. But I gotta tell you, as much as I conceptually love the pomegranate, it is still a bit tough to swallow. It is "bitter as all get-out". But not to be deterred, I am always on a quest for beverages to please my company, and I just recently came up with a power-packed winner.

You can decide the proportions, but I like about a 60/40 split of 7-up (or Sprite or some off-brand lemon-lime soda), and pomegranate juice. Add a twist of lime for even more anti-oxidant strength and you have a power-packed festive beverage that is great for the whole family. And you don't have to worry about a spittoon for the seeds!

They're gonna gobble it up

I know it's been a while, but I hope you will forgive me. I was knee-deep in Thanksgiving. I brined a turkey for the first time, after years of hearing about it. I know most of you wonder, "Why brine?" What brining does is it enables the turkey to retain its moisture as it cooks. Through the process of osmosis, the brine solution (salt-based) penetrates the fibers of the turkey meat. When you remove the turkey from the brine, the solution remains in the turkey and helps to keep it moist. You are also imparting some flavor into the turkey, so the result is the most moist, flavorful turkey you have ever tasted.

Please don't be scammed into buying all those fancy brine mixes that cost a mint. Here's the solution:

TURKEY BRINE:

4 quarts water (24 cups)
3 1/2 cups kosher or sea salt
4 cups sugar
1 cup vinegar
3 tablespoons cracked peppercorns
10 cloves garlic
5 bay leaves, crumbled coarsely

Wash and dry a cooler which is large enough to hold the turkey you will be placing in the brine. (Or use a food grade plastic bag made for the purpose, available at your supermarket; this method will require only half the amount of brine.)

Prepare brine by combining ingredients in a stainless steel pot (do not use aluminum). Bring to a boil, stirring occasionally, until all of the sugar and salt are dissolved. Allow brine too cool. Pour into cooler (or bag, if using).

Add 2-3 quarts of ice; enough to bring the temperature of the brine to about 35F degrees. (Or, if using a plastic bag, add 1 1/2 quarts cold water and refrigerate the brine until it reaches this temperature.)

Remove giblets, neck, etc. from inside turkey and refrigerate to use later on for making gravy, stuffing, or broth. Wash turkey well, inside and out. Rub inside of turkey liberally with additional kosher or sea salt.

Prepare sufficient brine to submerge turkey entirely. Recipe may be doubled, if required (or halved, if using a plastic bag for the brining).

When the brine is cold, add the turkey to the cooler or plastic bag. Keep the turkey cold (35F or below). This can be accomplished by adding ice, or placing the cooler or plastic bag in a cold place. Check temperature to be sure it does not go above 40F. (Note: A frozen turkey can be brined until it has thawed). Brine for 1 - 2 days.

When ready to roast the turkey, remove from brine and rinse thoroughly in cold water. Pat dry with a clean towel. Cook the turkey according to the way that you always do. I like to cook it with the breast down, flipping it during the last hour of cooking and broil in the last few minutes to crisp the breast skin.

TURKEY SOUP

But the real reason I wrote this post was to to tell you about the turkey soup I just made. My grandmother taught me how to make it a long time ago, and it is so simple and so yum.

Take whatever turkey and bones you have left. Put them in a pot and add enough water to cover the carcass. Add a couple of onions, some bay leaves, celery, carrots 3-5 bullion cubes (depending upon your taste and how much turkey you have left on the bones...be conservative. You can always add more later) and fresh thyme. Reserve the salt and pepper until later, so you can taste it and add spices intelligently. Cook on low for several hours (perhaps even overnight) until the turkey meat falls off the bones. Add more celery and carrots if you care to (the ones added at the beginning may be mush by now). Then you can start to season to your heart's content. At the last stage, add noodles and let them cook in the broth. Remove the bay leaves, as well as the bones and skin before service. Freeze it for a rainy day or the cold and flu season in portion-controlled plastic bags, if you choose. There's nothing like home made soup on a cold winter day.

Don't skimp on shrimp!

If you love shrimp, or even if you like it, this is such a wonderful and easy recipe for the whole family (just make sure you buy enough shrimp, or there will be sad faces around the table!).

1/2 c. olive oil
1 Tbs Cajun Seasoning* (like a Zatarains)
2 Tbs fresh lemon juice
2 Tbs chopped fresh parsley
1 Tbs honey
1 Tbs low sodium soy sauce
1 pinch cayenne pepper
1 lb uncooked, de-veined shrimp

Combine everything but the shrimp in a Ziploc bag. Add the shrimp to coat and refrigerate 1 hour (OR you can make this before you go to work in the morning and marinade it all day).

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Bake until the shrimp are cooked through, stirring occasionally. The will be pink and curled up. This takes approximately 10 minutes. Serve over rice or vermicelli or with a nice loaf of French Bread to sop up all the saucy goodness.

Trust me when I say, you will add this to your life's menu and make it again and again and again.


*Try to find one that does not have SALT as the first ingredient.

These tools ain't no lemons

Back on the subject of lemons, I have owned many culinary gadgets in my (short, yet action-packed) lifetime. And since you know that lemon is one of my favorite flavors, I'd like to save you the time in trying to extract all of the lemon flavor out of life.

I've owned a lot of juicers. The Juiceman juicer (too much air in the final product and too hard to clean), the manual press-down kind, the automatic press-down kind, the kind that winds down like a vice grip and then swings back up (on its own). Some have survived the harrowing lemon season in my house, and some have not. BUT I MUST SAY, the Breville Die-Cast Citrus Press is the best I have found. It has stood the test of time through many a lemon, grapefruit and orange harvest! It is pricey (just shy of $200), but it is so worth it. It makes citrus juice effortlessly and is a cinch to clean!!!

http://www.brevilleusa.com/juicing/die-cast-citrus-press.html

And while you're about the business of flavor-extracting, make sure you remove the zest. The zest of the lemon is the colored peel (don't get too deep, or you will arrive at the white pithe which is bitter). The best equipment for that is the Microplane zester. You can get them any where kitchen gadgets are sold, for somewhere under $16, but make sure you get the Microplane brand. It's sharp enough for the fruit, but generally easy on the hands.

http://us.microplane.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=4

Lastly, if you are light on cash but eager to juice, you can always pick up a citrus "reamer". There's one at Crate and Barrel for under $5.00.

http://www.crateandbarrel.com/family.aspx?c=746&f=23675

Tonight I am making fresh-squeezed grapefruit sorbet. The recipe follows.

Happy juicing!!!!

Grapefruit Sorbet:

1 1/2 cups simple syrup
2 cups fresh-squeezed grapefruit juice

Combine and freeze in an ice cream maker according to the instruction manual. (Note, taste the mixture before freezing. If you like it a bit more tart, use more juice or less simple syrup...if you like it sweeter, do the opposite.....you run the show! :D )

Simple Syrup
1 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar

Pour water and sugar into a saucepan. Heat on medium until sugar completely dissolves. Cool to room temperature.

You put peanut butter on my chocolate....No! You put chocolate under my peanut butter!

Perhaps some of you remember that cheesey Reese's Peanut Butter commercial about the chocolate in my peanut butter and the peanut butter in my chocolate....

They had no idea what they started! This grown-up PB/Choco combination is so good that I could not NOT share it with you.

The chocolate cupcake is moist, perhaps because of the 8 oz. of freshly brewed coffee in it. The frosting is flavorful, not-too-sweet and oh, so peanutbuttery.

Make sure you invite a friend over, so you don't end up eating them all by yourself.



Chocolate Cake:

Ingredients

nocoupons

• Butter, for greasing the pans
• 1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour, plus more for pans
• 2 cups sugar
• 3/4 cups good cocoa powder
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1 cup buttermilk, shaken
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
• 1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1 cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Directions

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter 2 (8-inch) round cake pans. Line with parchment paper, then butter and flour the pans OR line cupcake tins.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean. Cool in the pans for 30 minutes, then turn them out onto a cooling rack and cool completely.

Place 1 layer, flat side up, on a flat plate or cake pedestal. With a knife or offset spatula, spread the top with frosting. Place the second layer on top, rounded side up, and spread the frosting evenly on the top and sides of the cake.

Kathleen's Peanut Butter Icing:

nocoupons

• 1 cup confectioners' sugar
• 1 cup creamy peanut butter
• 5 tablespoons unsalted butter, at room temperature
• 3/4 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/3 cup heavy cream

Place the confectioners' sugar, peanut butter, butter, vanilla, and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment. Mix on medium-low speed until creamy, scraping down the bowl with a rubber spatula as you work. Add the cream and beat on high speed until the mixture is light and smooth.

SOURCE:

2006 Barefoot Contessa At Home

Eureka! It's a lemon of a different sort

You may be thinking, "What the.....is she for real?...a LEMON?......." But I assure you, my friends, this is NO ORDINARY LEMON! This is a Meyer Lemon. "Aren't all lemons the same?", you ask. No. They are not. And this lemon is as special as they come. If you are fortunate enough to have one of these trees in your back yard, you will be seeing more of me than you care to!

While some liken a Meyer lemon to a cross between a lemon and a grapefruit, I am more inclined to compare it to the offspring of a tangerine and a lemon because of its incredibly fragrant skin which is a treat the nostrils. How do you know if it's a Meyer lemon? The skin is softer and more supple than the traditional Eureka lemon. Grip it and use your thumb to rub the surface. It will give way to one of the most wonderful scents on the planet.

The juice of a Meyer lemon is plentiful and tangy, and just a bit sour. It is a pleasure to eat use it as a spritz of flavor on crispy fried fish, as the twist in your iced tea or cola beverage or use the juice and the zest in a lemon glaze for a lemon cake. That, my friends, you will never forget!

Lemon Glaze:

The zest and the juice from 1 Meyer lemon
Enough powdered sugar to make the glaze run, but not runny. Test it on a cake and see the way it falls. If if runs too quickly, add more sugar. If it doesn't run quickly enough, add a small amount more lemon juice.

Focacciyum...........

Yesterday, I made the most wonderful focaccia I have ever tasted. It was rosemary focaccia with caramelized onions on the top and a little Kosher salt for the kicker.

Now caramelized onions are one of my new favorite things in life. They are easy, keep for a week or so, and go well with so many things. Eggs, sandwiches, steak, cheese & crackers, prosciutto (well, everything goes with prosciutto).

Make this, and you will make new friends!

Caramelized Onions:

Ingredients

1 tablespoon unsalted butter
1 tablespoon vegetable oil (I like olive)
1/2 teaspoon table salt (I like kosher)
2 tablespoons light brown sugar
2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar
2 pounds large onions, root end cut off, halved pole to pole, peeled, and sliced 1/4 inch thick across the grain
1 tablespoon water
Ground black pepper to taste


Instructions
Heat butter and oil in 12-inch nonstick skillet over high heat; when foam subsides, stir in salt, vinegar and sugar. Add onions and stir to coat; cook, stirring occasionally, until onions begin to soften and release some moisture, about 5 minutes. Reduce heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until onions are deeply browned and slightly sticky, about 40 minutes longer. (If onions are sizzling or scorching, reduce heat. If onions are not browning after 15 to 20 minutes, raise heat.) Off heat, stir in water; season to taste with pepper. (Can be refrigerated in airtight container for up to 7 days.)

Serve on burgers, steak, omelets, mac & cheese, in grilled cheese sandwiches, on crostini with goat cheese. Use your imagination!


Focaccia:

16 fluid ounces warm water, no hotter than 138 degrees
1/2 ounce instant yeast
1 oz. olive oil
1 pound 8 oz. bread flour
1/2 oz. sea salt
1/2 oz. fresh, minced rosemary (reserve some for garnish)

Whisk water and yeast together.

Add 1 oz. olive oil and whisk together.

Add approximately 3/4 of the bread flour and mix until it fights you back hard.

Add the rest of the flour, the salt and most of the rosemary and mix to form a ball.

Put in an olive oil greased bowl, turning the ball once to get some oil on the top. Cover with plastic wrap and put in a warm area to let double in size.

Once doubled, punch it down, put it on a sheet pan with 1 inch sides, which has been greased with olive oil. Shape it however you would like, but it should be about an inch thick. Put the rosemary garnish on top, brush with some additional olive oil, apply the caramelized onions and sprinkle with Kosher salt. "Dock" it, which means use your fingers like you are playing the piano, and put finger indentations on the top. Place it again in a warm area to let rise for about 10 minutes, then bake in a 400 degree oven until it is golden brown, and a thermometer placed in the center registers 200 degrees.

Brush with more olive oil, and serve!

Flaky Buttermilk Biscuits good enough for a Yankee!

I'm from the North...about as north as most Americans care to venture. A little famous town called Brookline, Massachusetts, where Paul Revere and William Dawes shouted a few noteworthy words about some red coats, and Joe and Rose Kennedy raised their young. For whatever reason, I liken biscuits with the South, and I was never quite the biscuit "gal" until recently....until I met this amazing, light, flaky biscuit that I am about to share with you. You may never eat Pillsbury again!

Preheat oven to 425 degrees.

Ingredients:

15 oz. AP flour
2 tsp. Baking Powder
1/2 tsp. Baking Soda
1 1/2 tsp. Kosher Salt
3/4 ounces (by weight) granulated sugar

5 1/4 oz. Unsalted Butter (that's about a stick and a 1/4 of butter), cut up in small cubes and frozen

9 oz. Buttermilk

Instructions:

1. Add all dry ingredients to the mixer with the paddle attachment and mix on low.

2. Add the frozen butter on low and mix until the mixture resembles peas and cornmeal.

3. Add the buttermilk slowly to blend. Batter will be slightly dry.

4. Form a ball.

5. On a lightly floured surface, shape into a flat (1 inch thick) rectangle and cut squares by cutting down the middle, then cutting the individual squares.

6. Put on a parchment-lined baking sheet.

7. Freeze for 20 minutes.

8. Brush with egg wash (whole egg, scrambled).

9. Put another baking sheet underneath. The oven is hot, and we don't want the bottoms to burn.

10. Bake until golden brown, turning after about 10 minutes.

11. Let cool slightly and ENJOY!

Hello, hello, hellooooo.....is anybody out there?

I've been cooking for a long time.....since I could barely see over the kitchen counter. And I've been eating for even longer.

I love food. It's never far from my mind, or mouth, for that matter. Most of what I cook, people really enjoy. But honestly, I think one of my most precious gifts is my discerning palette. I'm good at knowing what's good. And I don't think everyone is.

After way more years than I care to talk about, I've left corporate America in pursuit of my life's passion....food, cooking and baking. Three weeks ago, at 40+ years old, I started Culinary School at Le Cordon Bleu in Pasadena, CA. There, I am studying Baking and Patisserie. I'm learning the WHY behind the HOW, and it's awesome.

I'm not quite sure where this journey will lead, but the road should be very fun, filling and fulfilling. Care to join me?

The Accidental Baker