Peanut Butter and Julie

Black Bottom Bananas Foster Puddin' Pie

FAIL!  With a big, stinkin', capital 'F',  That was the result of my original recipe creation intended for this post, which I actually started about one week ago (thus the blogging hiatus.)  Here was an idea that I thought was so creative that I couldn't stop patting my clever little self on the back.  Heck, I practically threw myself a parade.  Yeah.....it didn't really turn out the way that I had envisioned.

But before I get ahead of myself, let me back up a bit.  Ten days ago, I flew up to San Francisco for the day to attend the semi-annual Fancy Food Show, an overwhelmingly immense gourmet foods convention put on by the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade.  Featuring thousands of food and beverage product from all over the world, this show serves as one-stop-shopping for all of the gourmet grocery owners, distributors, brokers, and wholesalers.  You can also think of it as trick-or-treating for foodies, since the various booths like to give out free samples.  It's fairly easy to tell which attendees are there for business and which are there because their daughter/cousin/friend got them a badge.  These are the folks who are racing through the aisles in running shoes, carrying eight shopping bags overflowing with artisanal chocolates and sample-size balsamic vinegar.

This was my fourth time attending the show, but my first time attending as a potential future exhibitor.  My goal is to have a booth for my line of granola at the summer show in N.Y.C., which is a bit lofty seeing as I am still a one-woman production, and these shows are attended by thousands upon thousands (upon thousands) of people.  Starting to hyperventilate.......deep breaths.......I can do this.

O.K.  I'm better now.  A shot of tequila works wonders, you know?  Anyhow, I was checking out the various booth layouts, what I thought worked and what I needed to remember not to do.  Of course I had to check out my competition too: "Hi there, (insert inferior granola company name here).  I'm just a regular, run-of-the-mill show attendee who has nothing at all to do with the granola-making business, and I wanted to sample your product.  Mind if I ask you a few questions and take some literature?"  A bit devious, yes, but we all know that the granola business is notoriously cut-throat, right up there with investment banking, so it had to be done.

Fortunately, apart from my sleuthing, I had plenty of time to wander the show and see what sorts of new products are out there.  Two big players this year (and every year for that matter) were cheese and chocolate, commanding aisle upon aisle of booths.  The best cheese that I tried was called Sharfe Maxx, a nutty and veeerrrryyy pungent Swiss varietal, a wheel of which will cost you as much as a pair of smokin' hot Louboutins.  Dagoba is always a top chocolatier on my must-visit list, with their spicy Xocolatl bar being my favorite, deeply rich New Moon a close second.  I also visited the Vosges chocolate booth (well, I visited all of the chocolate booths), a company that 99% of the time hits the culinary nail on the head.  Their Mo's Bacon Bar is nothing short of genius, after all.  That said, I think that they may have crossed the line with the Enchanted Mushroom candy bar.  In a word, blecchh.  No thank you.  I'll stick to bacon.  Finally, although I am not vegan, I have found the company that just might convert me.  Field Roast Grain Meat Company's line of vegan sausages, roasts, and cutlets, are, in another word, outstanding.  You cannot tell that you are not eating meat--trust me.  I'm going to try to fool my husband.  I'll let you know the results.  In the meantime, I recommend their Mexican Chipotle Sausage.

And now, back to my not-so-clever clever idea.  This year, a special committee was commissioned to select the five top food trends found at the Fancy Food Show.  These trends were (drum roll): gluten-free (this stuff is everywhere), coconut, good-for-you foods, citrus, and nostalgic foods.  So I thought, Hey!  Why not create a recipe that incorporates all five of these food trends??  That would be a perfect tie-in to my post. Genius!  Why not, Julie?  Why not you ask?  I'll tell you why not.  Because you've never, EVER created a gluten-free baked good in your life, and they (apparently) require a bit more expertise than just "winging it."  Had I omitted the gluten-free part, my very nostalgic, citrus-y, coco-nutty, and sort-of good for you whole grain chocolate chunk coconut cookies with a hint of orange zest might have been edible as opposed to grainy, cakey, falling apart, and once again, blecchh.  Clearly I need a bit more gluten-free schooling.  Fortunately, my lovely friend Amy has a gluten (and sugar) free blog with wonderful recipes that actually work, so I'm going to defer to her for the time being.   So now what the heck was I supposed to make for my blog?  Well.......

Thank goodness that the Saints won the play-offs, and I say this as a loyal and devoted Patriots fan.  I don't know what foods they are known for eating in Indianapolis, but having a team from the culinary mecca of New Orleans in the Super Bowl gives me plenty of ideas for blog posts over the next ten days. I'll try to get in at least three--TRY being the operative word.  This first recipe was inspired by a few of the Crescent City's finest sweet treats....and an oversupply of bananas on my kitchen counter.  Banana's Foster is associated with The Big Easy (don'tcha just love all the nicknames?) more-so than Banana Pudding, which is a generally southern dessert.  I turned the banana pudding into a black-bottom puddin' pie with a layer of rich ganache over a vanilla wafer crust.  In case this isn't decadent enough for you, I've added a traditional rum-soaked Bananas Foster sauce on top.  I really just wanted an excuse to flambe something---so much fun!  Here are a few extra tips for making this twist on two traditional N'Awlins classics:

• Banana liqueur in both the pudding and the sauce can be substituted with banana extract or even vanilla extract.  The rum can be replace with either brandy or bourbon.
• If you don't have a vanilla bean on hand, simply use a tablespoon of pure vanilla extract in its place.  Add the vanilla along with the egg yolks as opposed to along with the milk.
• Use the leftover vanilla bean to make vanilla-flavored sugar.  Rinse the pudding from the bean and then wrap it in paper towels to dry.  When the bean is dry, place it in a container with sugar, and it will flavor the sugar.
• The ganache in this recipe is optional, and the pie is still spectacular without the chocolate.
• Leftover warm Bananas Foster sauce tastes great spooned over vanilla bean ice cream.

Black Bottom Bananas Foster Puddin' Pie

Recipe serves 8-10

Ingredients:

For the crust

1 1/2 cups finely crushed vanilla wafer cookies

3 tablespoons sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup butter, melted

For the chocolate ganache layer (optional)

4 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped

2 tablespoons butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1/4 cup heavy cream

For the banana pudding filling

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup cornstarch

2 1/2 cups whole milk

1 vanilla bean

2 tablespoons butter, cubed

1 tablespoon dark rum

1 tablespoon banana liqueur

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 egg yolks, beaten

2 firm bananas, slice into 1/4-inch thick slices

For the Bananas Foster topping

2 tablespoons butter

1/4 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 teaspoon orange zest

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 tablespoon banana liqueur

1 firm banana, sliced 1/4-inch thick

1/4 cup dark rum

Prepare the crust:  Preheat the oven to 325F degrees.  In a medium bowl, mix the cookie crumbs with the sugar, salt, and the butter until well blended.  Press the mixture into the bottom and up the sides of a 9-inch pie dish.  Bake the crust for 8-10 minutes, until it just starts to turn golden brown.  Let cool.

Prepare the ganache: Combine the chocolate, butter, vanilla and cream in a small saucepan.  Set the saucepan over low heat and stir until the chocolate and butter melt and the mixture is smooth.  Spread the ganache over the prepared crust, covering the bottom completely.  Chill for 30 minutes or until firm.

Prepare the pudding filling:  In a 3-quart saucepan, whisk together the sugar and the cornstarch.  Place the saucepan over medium heat and gradually stir in the milk.  Scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the saucepan (reserve the pod for another use.) Cook the mixture, whisking constantly, until it thickens.  Remove the saucepan from the heat and whisk in the butter, banana liqueur, rum, and salt.  Gradually whisk in the egg yolks.  Place the pan back over medium-low heat and, whisking constantly, bring it back to a simmer, until it is thick enough to coat the back of a wooden spoon.

Place half of the banana slices in one layer on top of the ganache.  Spoon half of the pudding over the bananas and smooth with a spatula.  Add a second layer of banana slices and top with the rest of the pudding.  Chill the pie for at least 3 hours.

Prepare the Bananas Foster sauce: Melt the butter in a 10-inch skillet over low heat.  Add the brown sugar, cinnamon, orange zest, and salt and stir until the sugar dissolves.  Add the banana liqueur and bring the sauce to a simmer.  Add the bananas and cook for about 30 seconds on each side, spooning with the sauce as they cook.  Remove the bananas to a bowl with a slotted spoon.  Bring the sauce to a simmer and carefully add the rum.  If the alcohol does not ignite on its own, carefully light it using a long match or lighter.  Continue to cook the sauce until the flame dies down and continue to cook until the sauce reaches a syrupy consistency.  Add the sauce to the bananas in the bowl.

Serve the slices of pie topped with the bananas foster sauce (and either ice cream or whipped cream if you are feeling extra decadent.)

Meyer Lemon Meringue Tartelettes

I need a new car.  People who know me will likely agree and, for those of you who haven't seen me in awhile, yes, I am still driving the tan Jeep.  I'm not really a "car person," so I don't really care what kind of car it is, so long as it's functional and moderately attractive.  That said, I wouldn't turn down a Maserati.  Or an Aston Martin.  Just an F.Y.I.

Up until this year my ungracefully aging car was not a big issue.  Although the gas mileage rivals that of a Hummer, it's great for transporting the large pups and for impulse buying-filled trips to Costco (where we always emerge with at least one 50-pound bag of something.)

Then, things started happening:

1. After finishing grocery shopping one sunny afternoon, I reached for the handle to open the rear door so that I could load the bags.  Now, I work out, doing arm curls and such, but we're talking girly 10-15 pound weights--not exactly something that draws crowds at the gym.  So the reason why, with one little tug, the door handle flew off the car and nearly hit the Lexus behind me is unclear.  Oh wait--that's right.  My car is old.  So now I can't open my rear door at all because there is no handle and, as luck would have it, no automatic open feature.  I have become a master at maneuvering awkwardly large objects into the car through the side door though, so I guess that's the glass-is-half-full way of looking at things.

2. A few weeks later, when I was driving along the freeway, I felt a great deal of air coming in from the back seat.  I glanced behind me and saw that the back passenger side window was halfway down, so I pressed the button to raise it.  Didn't work.  In fact, the window continued to slide down until **POOF!**, it was gone, lost within the confines of the door somewhere.  Lovely.  So now I not only drive with the rear window down (way down), I need to keep the front window cracked to prevent a horrible, ear-popping flapping sound, which occurs at any speed over 30 mph.

3. Because of #2, it's been awhile since I've washed my car.

4-8.  Two flat tires, one dead battery, something that continuously causes the oil light to beckon, and sporadic power steering.  The guy from AAA and I are pretty much on a first name basis.

To make matters worse, my Jeep dealership closed, which is why I haven't done much in the way of repairs.  That and I really, really want a new car.  I argue that the repairs would likely cost as much as a new car, but that never seems to fly with Eric.  I mean, what is it with guys and their car loyalty?  My brother drove both of his cars (including the infamous "Meatwagon," which was similar to the family truckster from Vacation) until they were scraps of metal on wheels.  I think that Eric intends to do the same for both of our vehicles.  To him, that feeling of not having a car payment is just too good.  So it looks like, for the foreseeable future, I am stuck with this lemon.

SPEAKING OF LEMONS.......(how's that for a desperate transition??)

Last year, and the year before, I mentioned our two bountiful Meyer lemon trees that grow in our backyard.  This year's crop arrived a bit later than last years, but boy did it arrive with a flourish.  Gigantic, deep yellow, round lemons weigh down all of the branches.  So round and so deep yellow they are, that many people mistake them for oranges.  We have given them to friends by the bagful, but I of course had to reserve some for my personal use.  These Meyer lemon meringue tartelettes, or mini pies, have been in my mind to attempt since the lemons bore the smallest hint of yellow.  They are sooo worth the wait.  Here are my extra tips for making these lip-puckering lemon tartelettes:

• The lemon curd may be prepared one day in advance and refrigerated overnight.
• I usually don't recommend using semi-homemade ingredients a la Sandra Lee, but in this case store-bought gingersnaps work better than the made-from-scratch variety.
• Although Meyer lemons will achieve a slightly different taste with this recipe, I understand that they are not available everywhere.  You can certainly use conventional lemons and the tartelettes will still be wonderful.
• If you own a kitchen torch, by all means use it in lieu of baking the meringue at 500F degrees.  I was all prepared to have a little fun with mine, but then I discovered that I was out of butane (drats!)
• The step in this recipe where you chill the curd-filled crusts is very important.  Warm or even room temperature crusts might be too fragile to stand on their own without falling apart.  Chilling the crusts firms them up, allowing them to hold the curd when transferred from the muffin tin.

Meyer Lemon Meringue Tartelettes

Makes about 12

Ingredients:

For the Meyer Lemon Curd

3 large eggs

3 large egg yolks

8 tablespoons butter

Zest of one large Meyer lemon

1/2 cup freshly squeezed Meyer lemon juice

1 1/4 cups sugar

1/8 teaspoon salt

For the Gingersnap Crust

32 gingersnaps

1/2 cup lightly toasted chopped pecans

7 tablespoons butter, melted

For the Meringue

5 large egg whites, room temperature

1/8 teaspoon cream of tartar

7 tablespoons sugar

Prepare the Meyer lemon curd:  In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs and the egg yolks.  Melt the butter in a metal bowl set over a saucepan filled with simmering water.  Whisk in the lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, and salt.  Whisking constantly, gradually add the egg mixture.  Continue to whisk the mixture until it thickens, and it reads 180F degrees on an instant read thermometer.  Transfer the curd to a bowl and cover it with plastic wrap, pressing the plastic wrap on the surface of the curd.  Chill until cold, about 4 hours. 

Prepare the Crust:  In the work bowl of a food processor, combine the gingersnaps and the pecans;  process until finely ground.  Drizzle the melted butter over the mixture and then pulse until it is evenly moistened.

Preheat the oven to 325F degrees.  Line one 12-cup muffin tin with paper liners.  Place about 3 packed tablespoons worth of the gingersnap mixture into each muffin cup.  Using a shot glass or a similarly shaped object, mold the gingersnap mixture to the bottom and sides of the cup, pressing to form.  Bake the crusts until browned, about 10 minutes, and then allow them to cool for 10 minutes.

Divide the chilled curd among the crusts, filling each almost to the top.  Loosely cover the muffin tin with plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Prepare the meringue:  Preheat the oven to 500F degrees.  In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites until they are frothy.  Mix in the cream of tartar and continue to beat until soft peaks form.  With the machine still running, slowly add the sugar, beating until stiff peaks form.

Using a paring knife loosen the tartelettes from the muffin tin and carefully transfer them to a baking sheet.  Divide the meringue among the tops of the tartelettes, carefully spreading to seal at the edges and swirling decoratively.  Place the tarts in the oven and, watching closely, bake for 3-5 minutes or until the meringue starts to turn golden brown.  Allow the tartelettes to cool completely and serve.  Tartelettes may also be chilled for an hour and then served cold.

Chocolate Baby Block Cake with White Chocolate Buttercream

As my Sunday gift to you, there will be no typically long-winded post to accompany my photos today (collective sigh of relief.)  You work hard enough as it is, so trying to figure out what on earth my ramblings have to do with the recipe title is probably the last thing that you need.

This cake was one that I made yesterday for a friend's baby shower.  The hostess had asked for non-fondant baby blocks, and the rest was up to me.  Those of you who have worked with fondant know that while it is definitely less forgiving and more expensive than buttercream, it also has a much cleaner finished look.  So my challenge was to create several small block layer cakes that had uniform sides and that did not resemble the leaning tower of Pisa.  This is much easier to do during the cooler winter months in Las Vegas, when the buttercream remains nice and thick.  During the summer?  Fuhgeddaboudit.

I used three half-sheet pans, which contained a double recipe of my favorite chocolate cake, for this project.   After searching my entire house for the perfect square-shaped object with which I could trace the block layers, I finally settled on sheets of paper from my new Dog-A-Day calendar, which measured just over 5-inches per side (laminated.)  Each half-sheet pan produced six squares, but I found that I only needed five squares per block when they were layered with the white chocolate buttercream.   No, the blocks didn't end up being perfectly even, but they were close enough.

To decorate the blocks, I enlisted the help of a few cookie cutters from my collection: A, B, C, 1,2,3, baby onesie, baby bottle, and Mr. Duck.  I found that piping on an outline yields a much better result than when I (foolishly) attempt to do it freehand.  And yes, that object on top of the "C" block is supposed to be a baby bottle.  That one didn't turn out exactly as I had planned, but it was still remotely recognizable. 

I also decided to adorn the almost-too-large-to-fit-in-my-car fabric-covered board with some simple decorated sugar cookies, since the finished blocks were looking a bit lonely.  After cutting out the I-T-S-A-B-O-Y letters, along with a few other shapes, I discarded the excess dough.  Not until I positioned the letters on the board did I realize that (D'OH!) I needed an apostrophe for the I-T-S.  Out of desperation, I unwrapped a blue raspberry Jolly Rancher (we always have Jolly Ranchers in our pantry), and turned it into punctuation.

Overall, I was pretty happy with the results.  Yes, the blocks could have been more square.  The buttercream could have been smoother.  The bottle could have looked less like the Empire State Building, and more like a bottle.  But hey--those are all things to strive for next time around.  At least I didn't trip carrying the board into the shower.  That was the biggest accomplishment of all :)

Almond Butter Banana-Nut Muffins

Whenever we return from a long vacation, it's always a chore to go through all of the mail that has accumulated in our absence.  I usually forget to stop the mail service in time, which I'm sure makes me very popular with the mail carrier as she attempts to stuff every last Pottery Barn and Williams-Sonoma catalog into the small rectangular space.  I'm not sure that it's really necessary for these companies to send me a new product listing every four days, but their marketing teams seem to think otherwise.

This time around, the mound of mail was especially large.  In addition to the last-minute pre-Christmas and the early-bird post-Christmas sales junk, we had stacks of bills, holiday cards, reminders from the dentist, and of course my huge pile of January magazine issues (my New Year's resolution to cut back on subscriptions hadn't yet begun.) 

Note to magazine editors:  "New Year, New You!" is no longer original or catchy.  Time to come up with a new slogan.

Because I have several new books lined up, all of which I am very eager to read, I made an effort to motor through all of these issues in just a few evenings.  One night, Eric glanced over at me as I skimmed Self magazine and asked, "What's that magazine about?"

"Girl stuff", I replied, figuring that would be a sufficient explanation.

Brief pause.  "What, like pillow fights?", he said.  (He wasn't kidding.)

And there you have it, my friends.  A real glance into the psyche of the red-blooded American male.  Yes Eric.  This is Self magazine's annual pillow fight issue.  Now go back to Mars.  It took me an extra hour to get to sleep that night, just because I kept giggling.

While there wasn't much magazine reporting on pillow fights (shocking, I know), there was of course plenty on the obligatory common theme of eating healthy and getting fit for the new year.  Here is what I ascertained from my reading: Quinoa is apparently the new couscous.  White tea is the new green tea.  Acai is the new pomegranate, although pomegranate is still acceptable with the culinarily hip.  It's hard to keep up.

One of the articles that I found discussed making homemade nut butters, which could replace peanut butter in most of your recipes.  Nuts like almonds and walnuts have been shown to possess multiple nutritional benefits, and they will also add unique flavors to your cookies, muffins, and smoothies.  The process of making the nut butters (recipe below) is fairly simple, and the result has a very fresh roasted and all-natural taste.  I decided to experiment with an almond butter banana nut muffin, hoping that the pureed banana would keep the muffins nice and moist.  The muffins turned out to be quite yummy---a bit on the dense side, but flavorful and sweet.  The almond flavor comes through more on the second day, so feel free to make these in advance.  Here are a few extra tips for making these nutritiously nutty muffins:

• Not a fan of almonds?  Try hazelnut, walnut, pecan, cashew, or peanut butter.  Simply replace the almonds in the almond butter recipe with your nut of choice, and do the same for the muffin recipe.
• If you want to add some extra flavor and texture to the recipe, mix in chocolate chips, dried cranberries, figs, dates, or golden raisins.
• The almond butter keeps best tightly covered and refrigerated.
• These muffins actually taste better (in my opinion) on the day after they are baked.  The flavors develop a little bit more, especially the almond butter flavor.  Store the muffins in an airtight container or in a zip-top plastic bag. 
• The muffins also freeze very well, which makes for great portion control.  Take a muffin out of the freezer an hour before you plan to enjoy it (or the night before.)  You can also rewarm the muffins directly from the freezer.  Place it in the oven during the preheating cycle for 350F degrees, and it should be ready when the oven reaches 350!

Almond Butter Banana-Nut Muffins

Makes 24 muffins or 2 large loaves

Ingredients:

4 large ripe bananas

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ground cardamom

1 teaspoon salt

1 cup almond butter (recipe follows)

1/3 cup safflower or canola oil

4 large eggs

1/3 cup golden brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup honey

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 1/4 cups sliced almonds, lightly toasted

Preheat the oven to 350F degrees.  Line two 12-cup muffin tins with paper liners (or spray two large loaf pans with nonstick baking spray.)  Place the bananas in the work bowl of a food processor and puree until smooth.

In a large bowl, whisk together the whole wheat flour, flour, baking powder, cinnamon, cardamom, and the salt.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the almond butter with the oil at medium speed until well combined, about 2 minutes.  Add the eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition and stopping to scrape down the sides of the bowl as necessary.  Beat the mixture at medium speed for 2 minutes, and then beat in the brown sugar, honey, and the vanilla extract. 

With the mixer on low speed, add the dry ingredients in three additions, alternating with the banana puree, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients.  Do not over-mix.  Mix in the toasted almonds.

Divide the batter almond the muffin cups, filling just over halfway.  Bake until the muffins are golden brown and a toothpick inserted into the center emerges clean, 17-20 minutes.  Allow the muffins to cool in the pan for 10 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool completely.

Almond Butter

Makes about 1 3/4 cups

2 cups blanched whole almonds, lightly toasted

1 teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons honey

2-3 tablespoons safflower or canola oil

In the work bowl of a food processor, process the almonds with the salt until finely ground.  Add the honey and 2 tablespoons of the oil and process until the mixture is creamy, adding more oil if necessary.