Wednesday, July 18, 2012

Mad Ninja Baking

Today, I'm gonna share a recipe, bad pictures, and an account of this week in my kitchen.  It all started with bananas.  Note: when you buy organic bananas, you have about half the time to eat them before they go bad, as you do non-organic bananas.  So unless you are a monkey, or happen to have monkeys living in your household, do not buy organic bananas in bulk, just FYI.

Okay, so some of the bunch were eaten, but there were still 5 bananas left before they got too soft for my liking.  I didn't want to just make smoothies for the next several days out of them, so I thought about the next most popular thing to do with soft bananas -- banana bread!  I'd never actually made it, so I thought, why not give it a go?  I dug out a recipe for it that Mom gave me years ago and put it to use.

Banana Nut Bread


2 cups flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

*Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.  Mix all of the above in a medium bowl and set to the side.

1 stick of softened butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
3 over-ripened bananas
1/2 cup of walnuts (apparently optional, because I didn't use them and they turned out just dandy)


 *Mix these ingredients together in a large bowl.  Add above "dry" mixture.  Pour into a lightly greased bread loaf pan/dish and bake for 25-30 minutes.  Check center with toothpick and bake until no batter comes out on it.


Now, I decided that I didn't want to use nuts, because of nut allergies for people who might be eating them.  And, I wanted muffins instead of bread so I just double layered some cupcake papers in my muffin pan, poured in the batter until they were about 80% full, and baked for about 35 minutes.  Viola! 


Did I remember to take a picture before they were gone?  Nope.  *Sigh*  I'll get this documenting thing right one of these days.  However, I DID get a picture of the French Silk pie that I made that day!



Ta-da!  Go me!  Did I get a picture of the pie after it was cut open?  NO!!  Crap.  Still learning.  Okay, so now you're probably wondering what French Silk pie has to do with bananas.  Nothing.  Well, something, but it's only by association, not that there's actually any bananas in this pie.  See, I have yet to make a pie crust from scratch ( but it's on my list of things to try), so when you buy pre-made pie crusts, they come in packs of 2.  I still had two bananas left over to do something with after the muffins, so I decided to try a salted carmel banana cream pie, (which was a total disaster, but I'll get to that).  Anyway, so I had this whole other pie crust that I didn't know what to do with.  

So I thought about what kind of pies I like that I haven't had for a while, and French Silk was at the top of my list!  If you've never had it, you are missing out, big time!  It's chocolatey, creamy, and best of all, it is the richest, most delectable pie I've ever had.  Each time I make it, I nearly cry when it's gone.  I first made it in 7th or 8th grade home-ec class as part of a group project.  I had never made a recipe that involved before, but it was totally worth the effort!  We found it in one of the cookbooks that was at the school.  I would love to give credit where it is due for this one, but I just don't remember, it was a bazillion years ago.  It's kind of a long/detailed recipe so I don't want to add it to this post, but if you would like it feel free to message me on FaceBook, and I'll send it to you.

Okay, so the Salted Carmel Banana Cream pie sounded sooooo good when I found the recipe on a blog that I enjoy reading, called Sing For Your Supper..., however, I couldn't get the pie to set up.  I wound up burning the carmel the first time, so I remade it.  The second round I had run out of butter, so I just made it with what I had.  I made a basic carmel sauce with just sugar and cream and salt.  It actually turned out really good.  On to the rest of the pie!  

I followed the instructions and layered it like the recipe said to, but it just turned in to a globby, mess...but OMG did it taste good!  I combed over the recipe again to see where I went wrong.  No, it wasn't because I made the carmel without butter, it wasn't because I put the carmel drizzle on top of the pie (because I knew the whipped cream would dissolve under the weight of it.  You are supposed to drizzle on just before serving).  No, the reason my attempt failed was because I used cook and serve pudding instead of instant.  So, if this recipe sounds like something you want to try, (and you totally should because it's awesome!) don't forget to use instant pudding, because if you don't, you will need a bowl and spoon to be able to eat it (not that that was so bad, but still).

I seriously need to invest in some new dishes.


And as if making 2 gourmet pies and banana muffins from scratch in one afternoon wasn't enough, I decided I needed to make some brownies.  You know, to have something to go underneath the left-over carmel sauce, and ice cream.  

Oh, and then for dinner, I thought it would be fun to try a new Asian-style chicken recipe.  (*Facepalm*)  What am I doing?  What possessed me to do all this on the same day?  I was like a mad cooking ninja!  Of course, I didn't cook for the rest of the week, so I guess marathon baking/cooking/desserting, comes with a price.  So I threw a few different ideas together and got this:


Oops, that one is a little blurry.  Here's a different plate of the same food.


It tasted pretty good, but not as flavorful as I was hoping for.  However, I made some notes about how to improve it and I'll try again.  

Anyway, that's what I did one day last week.  And then I took a nap.  The end.



3 comments:

  1. As someone who know you & is trying to stick to her work-out routine, you make it really difficult to lose any weight at all.

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    Replies
    1. Haha! I got crazy that day! Plus, I didn't cook anything for over a week after that, so maybe it all evens out? Maybe I'll try to find some good-for-you recipes so my cooking will help your workout instead of sabotage it?

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  2. I make Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins out of my too mushy bananas. To make them healthier I use whole wheat flour and oats, as well as applesauce instead of eggs and butter. I'll send you the recipe if you want it.
    Your meals sounds awesome!

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