Bananas Foster

Overripe is how some people like their bananas. But for me, it's much too intense.
I'd like to go ahead and say that most of the population out there is on my side when it comes to banana flavor preferences, but I guess I have no real way of knowing this.

A ripe banana can be almost 20% sugar content, according to food scientist Harold McGee. This naturally makes them among the sweetest fruits- apparently a percentage exceeded only by two other fruits, one of them being the date.

Once bananas are ripe, they can be stored in the fridge for a while.  This will slow the ripening process of banana starches breaking down into sugar. The bad news is that cold makes them develop an unsightly black peel, and eventually the texture may change, so it's not a trick you can use indefinitely.
Refrigerators aren't really part of a banana's natural habitat.
It doesn't look too pretty, but it'll taste ok.

Really though, at that particular stage, bananas must be too intense and too soft to be palatable to many (but as an ingredient in banana bread, they're perfect). If you have an overripe banana or three, put them in the freezer for banana bread someday down the line.

Cooked is also not how I like bananas as it also tends to intensify that already somewhat intense banana flavor.
Really though, how often does anyone eat cooked bananas, other than in the requisite banana bread?
However, bananas in a rum caramel sauce is very nice (who can argue with a rum caramel sauce?). Bananas, which are a custardy fruit to begin with, become softer and more of a creamy as they melt into the sauce a bit.
Warm, sweet, custardy, banana-y, rummy-ness laced with a bit of cinnamon. And of course, because there are bananas in this dessert we can say it's semi-healthy.

I think I'd have to say the toasted pecans are necessary. They offer a nice contrast to this creamy and ultra sweet dessert.

Dark rum is highly recommended, but sometimes you don't have it available to you and you're not about to run out to the store. In that case, it's important to use whatever rum you might have- you can only do what you can do. And hey, if you feel like being wild and crazy and using coconut rum, go right ahead and do just that because it's your dessert.

Bananas Foster
probably serves 6 or more

5 T butter (and add a generous pinch of salt if using unsalted butter)
1 c packed brown sugar
1/2 t cinnamon
1/3 c heavy cream
2/3 c dark rum
3-6 bananas, thickly sliced (use your judgement here, it depends on the number of people)

Vanilla ice cream

Toasted pecans

Melt butter (and salt, if using) in a heavy skillet over low heat, add the sugar and cinnamon and stir to combine. Increase the heat to medium and continue cooking and stirring until the sugar melts and caramelizes. Add the cream and stir through the caramel. Pour in the rum and stir the mixture thoroughly. 

Once the rum is fully incorporated, add the sliced bananas. Stir quickly to coat the bananas in the caramel sauce, and ignite the sauce. This can be done either by tipping your pan towards a gas flame (if you have one), or using a match (preferably long) or even a long uncooked piece of spaghetti that you have lit with a match or lighter. Then again, of you're not comfortable with this, it's ok and not completely necessary (perhaps just cook a little longer to burn off some of the alcohol).
When the flames have died down, spoon the sauce over vanilla ice cream and top with toasted pecans.

Saffron Rice

Saffron rice makes a lovely and flavorful side dish (or it could me a main depending on who you are).

Sometimes you really need some color on the plate, especially with grilled or roasted meats (which this very conveniently pairs nicely with).

Funny though, saffron certainly is not my favorite spice of all time. I'll confess that it has always reminded me of plastic in both smell and flavor. However, if it's used in appropriate amounts and in combination with the right dishes, it can be just fine- it doesn't stand out as overly strong and blends well.

The most expensive and most time consuming spice to harvest, saffron is undoubtedly also beautiful. Alone, the hand-harvested stamens of a particular crocus are bright crimson, but when added to a dish, they help food become a vibrant gold.

The good thing is that not much is necessary for both color and flavor transformation. A little really does go a long way.

This recipe is adapted from Moro The Cookbook by Sam and Sam Clark.

For one thing, the original recipe calls for optional fried onions. Sadly, I have a slight fear of frying... perhaps it's more of an apprehension. Yes, I know it was "optional"- but sometimes I feel that optional really isn't optional. Anyway, I have tried to fry them, but because of my feelings towards pots of hot oil, things didn't quite turn out like they were supposed to. It was fine, don't get me wrong, but I can't normally bring myself to bring a large(r) quantity of oil to a high heat- even if it's in a deep pot. It's a dangerous thrill I'm not partial to. Other dangerous thrills, yes, but that one, no. I much prefer cliff diving.

And so, it was decided that caramelized shallots would have to be a fantastic substitution. They're so good, and much safer when it comes to options in cooking alliums.

By the way, leftovers are great with a poached or fried egg on top!

Saffron Rice

serves 6

1 1/2 c basmati rice

7 large shallots, peeled and thinly sliced

2 T olive oil

1 good pinch saffron threads

4 T butter

1 stick cinnamon

6 green cardamom pods, cracked

7 black peppercorns

2 t kosher salt

1/3 c chopped pistachios

Rinse the rice thoroughly, place in a bowl, and cover with hot water. Add enough salt so that the water tastes salty, and stir to dissolve. Set aside to soak for 3 hours.

While the rice soaks, caramelize the shallots. Heat the olive oil in a large pan over medium-low heat and add the sliced shallots. Stir occasionally at first, and then frequently until the shallots are a browned and caramelized (probably 10-15 minutes). If some of the shallots brown too quickly, turn the heat down a bit and continue cooking and stirring. Set the shallots aside.

Prior to cooking the rice, add the saffron to a small bowl with 1/3 c boiling water. Let soak at least 15 minutes.

When the rice has finished soaking, place a medium pan over low heat and add the butter. Once the butter has melted, fry the cinnamon, cardamom, and black peppercorns in the butter for about 4 minutes, until warm, fragrant, and the flavors are released. Drain the rice and add it to the butter and spices, frying and stirring to coat each grain with butter (about 2 minutes).

Add the 2 t kosher salt, chopped pistachios, and enough water so that it covers the rice by about 1 cm. Increase the heat to medium.

Place a round of parchment paper directly over the water, cover with a lid, bring to a boil and simmer for about 5 minutes.  When the 5 minutes are up, remove the lid and paper. Drizzle the infused saffron water evenly over the rice, gently stir through, and replace the paper and lid.  Continue cooking on low about 5 minutes longer. Remove the pan from the heat, carefully fold in the caramelized shallots, taste for seasonings, and serve.

Salade Lyonnaise

This is a spring salad you could make a light meal out of. Or breakfast.

No wimpy salad, this. It's a bistro lunch that's got everything you need.

It could be one of those rare "if-I-close-my-eyes-I-can-easily-imagine-I'm-not-eating-a-salad" salads. But you'll probably want to keep your eyes open because it's pretty much the Matisse of salads (sans blue), especially if you put some ripe tomatoes in it. 

The poached egg is like the icing on the cake. When broken, the yolk becomes a brightly colored, silky addition to the vinaigrette. It all comes together as creamy, crispy, smokey, sharp, smooth... and the tomatoes will add a nice little sweet pop.

When you poach the eggs for this salad, you'll mix a little vinegar into the water.  This helps to keep the eggs more compact so that they form a nice little package which is perched atop the greens just prior to serving. Another thing is that fresh eggs are better for poaching than those that are a little older since they'll stay comparatively more neat and the whites won't spread as much (conversely, eggs that are a little older are easier to peel after being hard boiled).

Because it's a meal type of salad, you'll want some good bacon. Not that you're eating TONS of bacon, you just want what you have to be a nice bit of porkiness. 

I understand that in the quest for good bacon, one can search quite a while and those searches can come up relatively fruitless again and again. It's not a problem, just do your best. I guess what I'm trying to say is that bacon is important since it's a main part of the salad, but that less-than-ideal bacon really isn't the end of the world. Then again, it's probably a good idea to know a good butcher.

You want meaty bacon. Substantial bacon. Thick-cut bacon. Manly rashers.

If you want to go for pancetta, that's fine too... just cook it until it's nice and crisp. 

Salade Lyonnaise

serves 6

8 oz mixed spring greens

8 oz bacon

2 T olive oil

6 large eggs

1 T white vinegar

2 1/2 T Sherry or red wine vinegar

2 t Dijon mustard

2 T minced shallot- about 1 small smallot  (or 2 minced cloves of garlic)

Fine sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Optional: cherry tomatoes and croutons

Wash greens and dry well. Refrigerate until ready to use.

In a dry skillet, cook the bacon until crisp, and set aside to drain on paper towels.

While the bacon cooks, poach the eggs. In a saucepan, bring about a quart and a half of water to a gentle boil. Add the white vinegar and swirl to combine. Crack 2-3 eggs in small, individual bowls. When the water comes back to a very gentle boil, carefully tip in the eggs at water level. Poach eggs about 4 minutes or until white is set, but the yolk is still runny. With a slotted spoon, remove the eggs to a bowl of warm water and repeat with the remaining eggs.

Divide the greens among 6 salad plates.

Remove all but 4 T bacon grease from the pan and add 2 T olive oil along with the minced shallot. Reduce the heat, saute the shallot until soft, scraping the fond from the bottom of the pan, and remove the pan from the heat (if using garlic, just add it to the warmed oils, scrape the bottom of the pan, and remove the pan from the heat). Add the Dijon mustard, whisk, then add the red wine or sherry vinegar to the warm shallot-oil mixture and whisk again until combined. Add a generous pinch of salt and several grinds of fresh black pepper. Taste the dressing and add salt and pepper as necessary.

Spoon the warm dressing over the prepared greens and crumble bacon over the top. If using croutons and/or cherry tomatoes, sprinkle them on the salads.  Carefully remove poached eggs from their warm bath with a slotted spoon and blot to dry if necessary. Crown each salad with a poached egg and sprinkle each egg with a little salt and pepper.

*Croutons are traditional for this salad, and packaged ones were never my favorite. Once upon a time when I used to make them, I would just use a chunk of good French bread (day-old if possible). Cut the bread into rough 1 inch pieces. Toss in a bowl with some olive oil, a couple cloves minced garlic, Kosher salt and fresh pepper. Be careful not to completely douse the bread with olive oil- you can always add a little to the pan while you're cooking if you need it. Toast in a dry skillet, stirring occasionally at first and then more frequently towards the end until you get the desired toasty doneness. Salty garlickyness, crispy on the outside and chewy on the inside.

Coeur à la Crème

Sometimes you just need something sweet.
Everyone is this way at least every once in a while. Granted, some people are far less frequent observers of this little maxim than others... and "sometimes" very easily becomes "all the time" for a portion of the others.

Then again, what does it for one person may not even come close to taking care of the craving that another person has. Maybe it has to be ice cream or nothing at all for one, but maybe yogurt and honey works just fine for the other. 

But what crazy 5-year-old is going to concede that an apple will do when what they really want is chocolate or cake?

My mother always used to make sun tea, and the giant jar of sun tea pretty much had it's consistent place in the fridge. There was a bottle of liquid artificial sweetener in the top shelf of one of the kitchen cabinets that was used with the sun tea (I can't think of anything else it might have been used for). It was a clear glass bottle with a long neck and vertical ridges, a little spout and a red label. 

Of course, the best thing to do when you know there's something sugary that you're not really allowed to take, and that you can't easily reach, is to climb up on the counter and get it yourself. Why bother asking? In this instance it wouldn't have mattered in the least if I'd asked nicely. Then again, could there be a reason it was on the top shelf?

However, it wasn't anywhere near the wonderful thing it was imagined to be. It's actually really nasty chemical stuff, intense and disgusting. Well, to be fair one has to admit that it wasn't meant to be drunk straight. 

So, you've got to just put it back carefully, be grateful no one walked in and found you standing on the kitchen counter, jump off the counter, get a drink of water, and be on your way while pretending that nothing ever happened.

I guess it's good to learn lessons on your own sometimes. 

I'd much rather have real sugar... and I can't believe that a bottle of low-calorie artificial liquid sweetener really takes care of anything at all for anyone- who are they kidding? 

Coeur à la Crème is a refined type of dessert that also happens to take care of a need for sugar (it does not take care of a need for chocolate, just a need for sugar). 

This is basically a cheesecake, but better- and I would have to say lighter, too.

So, if anyone out there is worried about Lent, perhaps this could be considered prep for Easter? You have to be prepared with dessert, right? Of course. It's called advance planning.

A coeur is an elegant finish to a meal, which can be pulled out and presented last minute.

I like to serve the finished coeur whole and on a large plate. I didn't do much setup in the photo since I had to take pictures while the lighting was good, and dessert wasn't actually eaten until it was pretty much dark outside. The sauce is served in a bowl alongside the coeur or poured around the outside so the coeur sits in a pool of crimson berry sauce. Fresh strawberries also make a nice accompaniment. People can serve themselves- just remember that it's rich!

Coeur à la Crème
serves 8

10 oz cream cheese, room temperature
2 c whipping (heavy) cream
pinch of salt
1 c powdered sugar (confectioners' sugar)
zest of 1/2 lemon (best if zested directly into the cream)
seeds from 1/2 vanilla bean
2 t vanilla extract

Berry sauce:
2 c blackberries, raspberries, or strawberries (or a mix), either fresh or frozen
1 c blackberry or raspberry jam (if I use blackberries for the sauce, I like to use raspberry jam and vice versa)
1/3 c water
1/2 c sugar
1 T freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 T fruit liqueur, such as Chambord or Cointreau (optional)

Line a coeur mould (or a footed colander) with two layers of cheesecloth that you have dampened under cool water and wrung out. Make sure there is excess cheesecloth hanging over the sides of the mould and place the mould on a pan with sides.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, cream, and salt on low speed for a few minutes until relatively homogenous. Using a spatula, scrape down the sides of the bowl and the paddle attachment, remove the paddle attachment and replace it with the whisk attachment. To the cream mixture, add the sugar, lemon zest, vanilla seeds, and vanilla extract. Whip several minutes on medium speed until thick and creamy. Transfer the mixture to the prepared mould, making sure it is evenly distributed throughout. Fold the extra cheesecloth over the top of the cream mixture, cover the coeur with a plate and top with a couple cans to weight it down (I like to aim for 1 1/2 lb or so). Refrigerate the coeur on the pan overnight.

To make the sauce:
Bring the berries, sugar and water to a simmer over medium heat. Cook about 3 minutes, so the berries begin to break down a bit, stir in the jam, and cook about 1 minute longer. Remove the pan from the heat and pour the jam mixture into the bowl of a food processor. Process the mixture until the berries are completely incorporated. Add the lemon juice and liqueur and blend to incorporate. Refrigerate the sauce until ready to use.
Makes about 2 3/4 c sauce.
(*Any extra sauce can be used with plain yogurt, ice cream, in smoothies...)

When ready to serve, unwrap the top of the mould and remove the mould from the pan. Place a large plate upside-down over the top of the coeur, and while holding both tightly, turn it so that the plate is right side up and the mould upside-down. Carefully lift the mould from the coeur and pull the cheesecloth off the surface of the coeur.

Hummus

    

Hummus: the Middle Eastern and sometimes Mediterranean restaurant staple. Oh, yes. It's there, on the menu with the other appetizers. 

Then again, it's on lots of menus- never mind the culinary genre. 

But, yay for freshly homemade hummus! It's simple, healthy, and a great snack to have around for noshing on (it tastes pretty good, too). 

Hummus can be eaten with pita or lavash, raw carrots, celery, cucumber, and bell peppers, used as a spread for sandwiches, as a side with chicken or lamb, with a hamburger...

The best part is that you can take a basic recipe and blend in whatever sounds good to change the flavor: chopped olives, toasted pine nuts, roasted red peppers, sumac or other spices, sun dried tomatoes, herbs (like oregano, perhaps), extra lemon or garlic...

Basic Hummus


2, 15 oz. cans of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
4 cloves of garlic, minced
1/3 c fresh lemon juice
zest of 1/2 lemon
1/2 c plus 3 T extra virgin olive oil
1/3 c tahini (sesame paste)
Kosher salt
freshly ground black pepper


Garnish: extra virgin olive oil, paprika, parsley


Place the garlic and chickpeas in the bowl of a food processor. Process until the chickpeas are broken down and resemble wet sand. Add lemon juice, lemon zest, olive oil, tahini, 1 t Kosher salt, 1/2 t black pepper and process until smooth. Taste the hummus and add more olive oil, salt and/or pepper as necessary until desired texture and flavor are reached.
Place the hummus in a serving bowl or other container, cover, and refrigerate at least 2 hours prior to serving to let the flavors blend (it really does make a difference).
Hummus will last a week in the refrigerator.

Tom Kha Gai

Tom Kha Gai is a Thai coconut and ginger soup, and also happens to be a soup I like to order when going out for Thai food.

It's one of those things that's a little difficult to pass up- sometimes it can be hard to try something new when you know perfectly well that there's something else you like just fine (and you have no idea when you might be back to have it again- however, a panang curry will also suffice).

It's savory and a little sweet, a little citrusy, a little spicy, and very aromatic. It's got everything.

While it's good to go out sometimes, I can't do it all the time as it would get slightly expensive.

This is a version composed of what I could find at the grocery store. All-in-all, this is cheaper than ordering multiple rounds of soup, and it gives a sense of accomplishment when the soup is finished.

It SHOULD have pieces of woody galangal and Kaffir lime leaves floating in the soup. However, I don't happen to be in a citrus-growing climate, and these things aren't readily available in run-of-the-mill groceries. Asian, yes (but to go to an Asian grocery store takes actual planning).

The not exactly perfect but acceptable substitutions are fresh ginger and lime juice and zest. Along with the stalks of lemongrass and coconut milk, it's still in the realm of slightly exotic homemade soups. 

For a meat-free version, vegetable broth (or water) and shrimp can be substituted for both the chicken broth and chicken (but then it wouldn't be "gai").

And you know, although the cilantro and green onion isn't such a vibrant green, the overall flavor seems to improve after a little time (i.e., it makes for great leftovers).

Serve Tom Kha with a side of steamed jasmine or basmati rice, or sticky rice.

Tom Kha Gai
serves 6-8


4 c chicken broth (or vegetable broth)
1 c water
12, 1/2 cm large diameter slices of fresh ginger, plus 1-2 T grated ginger for later use
2 stalks lemongrass, bruised and sliced into 2 inch pieces
4 large cloves of garlic, minced
1 serrano pepper (or a jalapeno if you want a little less heat), halved lengthwise, seeded, and coarsely chopped (optional)
2 limes, washed
1 lb. skinless, boneless chicken, cut into 1 inch pieces (or 1 lb. shrimp, shells removed)
2 T fish sauce (nam pla)
salt
2 T brown sugar
1/2 t red pepper flakes
1 1b. mushrooms
2, 14oz. cans coconut milk
4 T green onion, sliced
3 T cilantro, coarsely chopped


For serving: lime wedges, sambal oelek or sriracha

Place broth, water, sliced ginger, lemongrass, garlic, serrano or jalapeno pepper, strips of of zest from one lime and juice from one lime in a large pot. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, reduce the heat to low, cover, and simmer 25 minutes.
While the soup simmers, prepare the mushrooms. Clean and slice the mushrooms and saute in a frying pan over medium heat with a little olive or vegetable oil. Stir occasionally, and cook until all the juices have evaporated.
Once the broth has finished simmering, remove the lime strips and sliced peppers. Add the fish sauce, brown sugar, chicken pieces, and 1 t salt to the broth and simmer about 5 minutes, or until the chicken is cooked through. Add the mushrooms, red pepper flakes, grated ginger, and coconut milk. Stir occasionally and simmer very gently about 10 minutes so the flavors meld. Grate the zest of 1/2 lime and squeeze the juice of 1/2  lime into the soup. Sprinkle on the green onion and cilantro, stir through, and taste for seasoning. Add more lime juice, zest, or salt as necessary.
Serve the soup with extra lime wedges, sambal oelek, or sriracha to suit individual tastes.