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.