Gigantic Banana Muffins

I had 5 overripe bananas in my fridge just daring me to come up with a way not to throw them away. I found this very easy recipe for banana muffinson a cute blog called Cat Can Cook. The recipe called for 3 to 4 bananas, and I used 5. I added a teeny bit more butter and I added 1/3 cup of organic wheat bran into the mix, just to create the illusion that these muffins would be good for me.

I used one of those large sized muffin tins and filled each muffin about 3/4 full. They puffed up nice and high and smelled so good that Andy's son Tom got out of bed! That was pretty flattering. I ate one for my brekkie with a little butter and it was delicious!

Christmas

It's an incredibly warm and sunny Christmas day. I can't believe the weather has kept me from getting to Michigan this year--it just seems impossible when I look at the picture perfect day we're having. I have had my quota of coffee and taken a long walk to help fight the overindulgence that is sure to come later on today.

Andy and his son Tom are upstairs making a ukulele. Andy bought Tom a ukulele kit for Chrstmas, and they are hell bent on getting it made today. I am ready to roll up my sleeves and do some cookin'.

We're vegetarians, so I'm making what is a typical holiday meal at our house--a whole bunch of side dishes. We're having spinach souffle, (my very first souffle!) scalloped potatoes with Gruyere and leeks, pan fried brussels sprouts and sage stuffing patties. For dessert I'm going to make individual marmalade puddings with custard sauce.

Forgive me, for I am about to sin my ass off! If any of this mess turns out pretty, I'll take pictures.

Change of Plans!

I'm getting ready to go to the annual Kennedy-DiPasquale Christmas Eve Party tonight. This is a party that I look ever so forward to. Loads of beautiful food, caroling around the piano, tons of people I love to see! Kelly introduced Andy and me, so going to their house always feels special.

I didn't think I was going to be able to attend this year, and even told Kelly so, because I truly thought I was going to be in Michigan visiting my parents. Unfortunately, Mother Nature was bound and determined to keep me home. I waited and waited at the airport yesterday only to come to the conclusion that I wasn't going ANYWHERE. What was I thinking, routing a Christmas trip through Chicago?? Mom and Dad were really sweet and understanding when I told them I couldn't come.

The upside of all this is that I get to spend Christmas in my own home, a pleasure I rarely get! Andy will be with me and the boys are coming to visit. We will cook and laugh and have a grand time.

I'm making a huge Asian style noodle salad to take to the party. I got the recipe on Pioneer Woman's site. It's got an impossible number of ingredients and it looks like a million bucks when it's done.

The Annual Office Christmas Party!

Our theatre company usually has a really fun Christmas party. It's not stodgy or pretentiously politically correct. We just get together and throw down. We each bring a dish to share. Some people have their signature dishes-Gordon always brings his sausage balls. If we're really lucky, he'll have enough time to make his gorganzola cheese grits. Other Andy usually makes some kind of outrageous pie. Phil brings barbecue and Bruce brings shrimp.

I don't have a signature dish yet! I think I have brought something different every year, and this year will be no exception. Last year I brought Stuffin Muffins, which were remarkably unremarkable. This time I am making Smoked Chili Scalloped Sweet Potatoes, many thanks to Bobby Flay (who incidentally is HOT). Andy Cleveland made them for Thanksgiving and I thought they were really good! Plus, they contain 3 ingredients, so they're dead easy! I added a little more pureed chipotle chili than Bobby said to add. Well, I guess I should tell the truth--I doubled it. This dish is going to have a definite kick!



The picture above is from the Food Network's website. I am going to attempt a pic of my own tomorrow morning when I finish cooking the dish.

Update: Here it is! My piccy is much prettier, if I do say so myself. Can't wait to have a taste!

Jackson Pollack Shortbread

As if the plain shortbread wasn't sinful enough...this version will send you straight to hell on the express train.



I used the same Joy of Cooking recipe as I did a few posts ago, but I incorporated the zest of an orange into the dough. Once it was baked, cut and cooled, I drizzled it with melted Lindt Intense Orange Chocolate.

I think I have a shortbread monkey on my back. I am powerless over shortbread.

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Soup

I had an overabundance of garlic and Great Northern beans so I went on a hunt online to find a good recipe to use them up. I happened upon a really nice looking blog called Farmgirl Fare, where I found a recipe called Garlic Lover's White Bean Soup. How perfect is that? It was flavored with rosemary, thyme and most unusually, fennel seed. Plus the added benefit of 19 cloves of roasted garlic. Okay, the recipe called for 10 to 15 cloves, so I figured 19 would just be morer betterer, right? The soup turned out divine. The garlic became sweet and caramelized and the beans had a delicate and very velvety smooth texture when cooked, and they absorbed the flavor of the herbs and fennel seed wonderfully. The recipe has very little fat and, all in all, it was a very thick and healthy soup.



Well, it was reasonably healthy until I decided to top each bowl with homemade seasoned croutons! I had an almost week old loaf of homemade bread that I just had not gotten around to eating. It wasn't mouldy or anything gross like that--just a bit stale. So I cut the crusts off, cubed it into 1" cubes and put the cubes in a bowl. This bread had a hearty firm crumb, so it didn't disintegrate when I melted some butter with some olive oil in the microwave and drizzled it all over the cubes of bread. I then tossed that whole mess with Penzey's Mural of Flavor spice blend, spread it on a baking sheet and baked them at 350 degrees for kind of a long time, like 30 minutes. Then I drained them on paper towels when I took them out of the oven. The result was golden, butter infused croutons that were so crunchy they nearly cracked my teeth.

I usually throw my old bread out into the back yard for the birds, but I might have to reconsider this plan from now on. I like the idea that I can reincarnate old bread as decadent croutons when I don't have time to bake a fresh loaf, y'know? And because fat is a natural preservative, they'll last for a day or two so I can give them a third life with leftover soup. I love being thrifty! And the French half of me hates to waste food, so it's all bon.

Thank You, Orangyna!

My really cool friend, Orangyna, the Roller Derby Queen, left a sample of rosemary infused shortbread cookies on my desk today and man-o-man, were they goooooooood. I am publicly thanking her. The cookies lasted about 2 1/2 minutes. I would never have imagined using rosemary in a cookie, but its lovely perfumey aroma was a delicious surprise. Orangyna's brother-in-law is a chef and has actually been on Iron Chef. That is surely the closest brush with culinary fame that I will ever have.