As my husband and I adore cheese in almost all forms, we often order cheese plates at restaurants.  Recently, we sampled a cheese tray that had some sort of roasted banana on it.  The banana was served sliced in half lengthwise, still inside its peel.  Presented in this form, it had a wonderfully sweet taste and a creamy yet firm texture.

As I was planning this past Monday’s tapas menu, the roasted banana came to mind.  I thought it would accompany some baked brie, strawberries, and melba toast quite nicely.  However, I wasn’t sure how I would create my own roasted bananas.

Most of the recipes that I found for roasted bananas required using a grill.  Being winter in New Hampshire, I had no interest in standing outside in the cold and dark to prepare part of our meal.  I decided to try my hand at sauteing the bananas to see if it would produce a similar result.

Happily for my tapas partner and me, it did!  As the bananas were pan fried instead of grilled or roasted, they caramelized ever so slightly in the pan.  I considered sauteing the bananas until golden brown, but I did not want to lose all of the firmness of the banana.  With the sweetness and tenderness of this recipe, I think these bananas could be used as a topping for ice cream also.

Caramelized Goodness for Monkeys (and People, Too)

2 bananas

sugar

4 tsp. almond liqueur

Peel bananas.  Cut in half lengthwise and again widthwise.  Preheat nonstick frying pan over medium heat.  Sprinkle cut side of bananas with sugar.  Place bananas sugar side down in heated pan.  Cook for 1-2 minutes.  Flip, and cook for another 1-2 minutes.  Remove pan from heat, and add liqueur.  Return pan to heat until liqueur flames.  Once flame dies, place bananas on a dish, and serve immediately.

With two weeks until Christmas Eve, the holiday spirit is in full swing at our house.  Lighted roping decorates our front porch, candles alight our windows, and the tree is decorated and awaiting the arrival of presents underneath it.

At this time of year, I feel a stronger urge to bake and keep the house stocked with treats.  Some of the things I bake are new recipes that are begging to be tried, and others are recipes that have been part of Christmas since I was a young girl.

Chrust is one of those lifelong cookies.  Only made at Christmastime, they were made by my dad and any helpers he could find.  Renamed “Polish Pretzels” by my little brother, they were a popular treat.  They are made with a rolled dough that is cut and “knotted” so that the cookies somewhat resemble pretzels. These cookies are fried and sprinkled with powdered sugar, kind of like a smaller version of fried dough.

Having become more health-conscious and less desiring of fried foods the last few years, I have not made any of these cookies.  However, this past Sunday my dad was in the area on business, so my family and he were invited for dinner at my younger brother’s house.  With a last minute brainstorm, my brother suggested we all make Chrust.  This ended up being a great choice.  Except for my two young nephews (ages 3 and 1), everyone helped in some part of the cookie preparation.  And then everyone, myself included, sampled a few of these cookies.

Although it would have been a perfect day if the whole family were there, it was the best day we could have without the presence of my other brother and his family, my husband and two of our kids, and my mom.  Even though I may not enjoy eating them much anymore, I would like to keep this tradition of baking Chrust with my family alive.

Chrust

9 Tb. sugar

9 Tb. butter, softened

2 eggs

3/4 tsp. salt

2 tsp. vanilla

1 cup cream

4-1/2 cups flour

powdered sugar

Combine sugar and butter, and mix well. Add eggs one a time, beating well.  Continue beating, and add salt and vanilla.  Slowly add cream, and mix until fully incorporated.  Add flour, and stir well.  Allow dough to sit at room temperature for an hour.

Preheat deep fryer to 338.  Roll a section of dough to 1/8″ thickness on a well-floured surface.  Cut dough into 1-1/2″ strips.  Using a diagonal cut, slice strips into 4″ or 5″ cookies.  Make a 2″ cut lengthwise in the middle of each cookie.  Take one pointed end, and gently pull through the slit to create a knot.  Place 4 or 5 cookies* in the deep fryer, flipping after 2 minutes and continuing to cook for another 2 minutes**, or until golden brown.

Place cookies in a single layer on a cookie sheet covered in paper towels.  Sprinkle with powdered sugar immediately.

*Deep fryers vary in size.  Put in enough cookies, so that they aren’t crowded.

**Cooking times vary for deep fryers.  Watch your first batch carefully to determine the correct cooking time for your deep fryer.

Last January my parents celebrated their 40th anniversary.  All 3 kids came home for the celebration.  Mom and Dad wanted a simple, enjoyable evening for everyone.  So, we headed to my parents’ favorite restaurant for an early dinner.  To extend our evening, we returned to our parents’ house for dessert and coffee.  Being the family baker, I offered to provide the dessert.  The happy couple chose carrot cake.  (A great choice not only for taste but also for the health benefits of walnuts and carrots in a tasty cake!)

Since then I hadn’t had an occasion to make another carrot cake.  But as January arrived, there was reason to make that same dessert.  Again it was the dessert chosen by my parents, but it was for a different celebration.  Mom and Dad are retiring and heading to a warmer climate.  Done with ice and cold, they have sold their house and will be leaving for shorts and flip-flops in the next few days.

Our family gathered for a late lunch this past weekend.  Wanting to spend more time together, everyone came back to our house after the meal.  Among the pleasant conversation, giggling children, and long hugs, there was carrot cake for all.

While the reason for making this cake wasn’t the happiest, it will be part of this family memory.

Mom and Dad’s Carrot Cake
1 1/4 pounds baby carrots3 cups flour 2 cups sugar 2 tsp. baking powder 2 tsp. baking soda 3/4 tsp. salt 2 1/2 tsp. cinnamon	1 cup oil4 eggs 1 cup walnuts (optional) 8 oz. cream cheese, softened 4 Tb. butter, softened 2 tsp. vanilla 3 1/2 cups powdered sugar
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CAKE: Heat oven to 350.  Cook carrots in boiling water until tender.  Drain and mash.  Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon.  Add carrots and blend.  Add oil and eggs, and beat well.  Mix in nuts.  Pour batter into a greased and floured bundt pan.  Bake for 70 minutes or until toothpick inserted in cake comes out clean.  Cool for 15 minutes.  Remove from pan, and cool completely.FROSTING: Beat cream cheese and butter until creamy.  Add powdered sugar and vanilla, and mix well.  Spread on cooled cake.

With Christmas only a few days away, there are many preparations for the holiday.  For us it will be a multi-day celebration.  By the time New Year’s arrives, we will have had 4 or 5 Christmas gatherings with different combinations of friends and family.

As preparation for this week, I have been baking an assortment of goodies.  The kids and I made frosted sugar cookies, eating some and storing many.  We made reverse chocolate chip cookies (chocolate dough and white chocolate chips) and chocolate chip cookies with toffee bits.  We will have plenty of cookies, both to leave for Santa and to be enjoyed by all.

I also had breads, using zucchini nut bread and banana bread recipe.  The breads will be handy for breakfast, as we will have an additional 4 people in our house during the holidays.  As an additional breakfast treatment or accompaniment for coffee, I will be making biscotti.

Biscotti are among my favorite cookies.  The combination of the crunchiness and the almond flavoring makes it a delicious treat.   I think they are simple to make, but they usually have a “Wow!” to their presentation.  Something about biscotti is elegant, even though the process is painless.

These biscotti can be made two ways.  I usually do some of each type to please all of the eaters in my home.  Some biscotti have a chocolate glaze topping them.  The other biscotti are plain, for the nonchocolate eaters.

Almond Biscotti
1/3 cup unsalted butter, softened1-1/4 cups sugar 2 eggs 1 tsp. almond extract 2 cups flour	1 tsp. baking powder1/4 tsp. salt1 cup sliced almonds 6 oz. semi-sweet baking chocolate* 1 Tb. shortening*
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Preheat oven to 350.  Beat butter and sugar in large bowl.  Add eggs and almond extract, beating until smooth.  In a separate bowl, mix flour, baking powder, and salt.  Add flour mixture to wet ingredients and blend.  Stir almonds into dough. Divide dough in half.  Shape each half into 11″ x 2″ rectangle, using floured hands.  Set each loaf 2″ apart on a baking sheet.  Bake for 30 minutes or until the dough is set.  Leaving the oven on, remove the biscotti loaves and cool for 15 minutes on cookie sheet.  Using a serrated knife, cut the loaves into diagonal slices, 1/2″ thick.  Place slices on cookie sheet with the cut sides down.  Bake for 8 to 9 minutes.  Turn over slices, and bake for 8 to 9 minutes more.  Remove biscotti from oven, and allow to cool completely on a cooling rack. *If you want your biscotti to have a chocolate glaze, combine semi-sweet chocolate and shortening in a small microwave-safe bowl.  Microwave for 1 minute, then stir.  Continue heating chocolate in 30 second increments, stirring in between, until chocolate glaze is smooth.  Using a spoon, spread a layer of glaze on the top of each biscotti.  Refrigerate for 15 mintes to set glaze. Makes 30 cookies.

Being without children the other day, we were able to browse while grocery and baby shopping. As we walked leisurely through our favorite small and funky grocery store, we were able to find new products that we had not tried before.

When we arrived at the condiment aisle, we discovered many unique sauces and dips. One that was particularly interesting was a roasted red pepper and artichoke tapenade. Having just seen a cooking show that made muffeletta, we were inspired to create our own sandwich.

With this tapenade as a base, we began to brainstorm options for the other ingredients in our sandwich. I decided that an open-faced sandwich would allow us to make the sandwich less filling and have a melted cheese topping. My shopping partner found a package of crimini, oyster, and shittake mushrooms to add to the sandwich. I thought sausage would be perfect as the main ingredient, to which my partner suggested using the hot Italian variety. I chose sharp provolone cheese to melt atop the sandwich, and a loaf of whole wheat ciabatta bread was chosen as the base.

On the night of our meal, we found some baby onions that we decided would be a wonderful final touch to the sandwich. The sandwich was a delicious combination of flavors, which we paired with a Spanish red wine. While not a whole family favorite, it was enjoyed thoroughly by the two of us on Johnson Brothers Dinnerware.

*Note: This meal is best prepared by two, having one person handling the grilling, while the other prepares the other sandwich ingredients.

Italian Sausage Melt

1 lb. hot Italian sausage

1/2 lb. crimini, oyster, and shittake mushrooms

6 small baby onions

1 loaf whole wheat ciabatta bread

roasted red pepper artichoke tapenade

1/4 pound sliced sharp provolone

Fill frying pan with 1 inch of water. Add sausage, bring to a boil, and simmer for 15 minutes. While parboiling, heat grill.

Wash and slice mushrooms. Place on a large piece of aluminum foil and top with a pat or two of butter. Fold foil to make a sealed package.

Place parboiled sausage, mushroom packet, and small onions (with skins) on grill. Cook sausage and onions until brown, during which time the mushrooms should also be ready.

While items are grilling, slice the bread in half horizontally. Use the length of bread that suits each diner’s appetite. Top bread with tapenade. Peel onions and slice. Put onions and mushrooms on tapenade. Slice grilled sausages in half lengthwise and place sausages on bread. Top sausages with provolone. Return sandwiches to grill, turning heat to low. Close grill and allow to cook until cheese is melted.

Serves 2 - 3.

My best friend, in an attempt to keep me up to date with current events, sent an email to me a few weeks ago. In this email she let me know that today, August 30th, is Toasted Marshmallow Day. To me, it seems like the perfect day for this holiday. It’s the end of summer, the temperature has soared into the upper 80s with lots of humidity, and a cookout with marshmallows is what is needed.

If you choose to celebrate this fine holiday and disregard your care of your dental implants, there are many options. You could go simple and take a small branch or skewer and toast a marshmallow over the campfire. However, for those of you with more diversified tastes, you could use that toasted marshmallow in a recipe. Though, being a hot day, we want to keep the recipes simple. Therefore, all of the toasted marshmallow recipes are for s’mores.

Traditional S’mores

1 graham cracker, broken into halves

1/4 of 1.55 ounce chocolate bar

1 marshmallow, toasted

Place chocolate on one half of graham cracker. Top with warm, toasted marshmallow. Place other half of graham cracker on top. Eat immediately.

Serves 1.

Berry S’mores

1 graham cracker, broken into halves

1 Tb. blueberry jam*

1 marshmallow, toasted

4 or 5 blueberries*

Spread jam on one half of graham cracker. Place marshmallow on jam. Top marshmallow with blueberries. Place other half of graham cracker on top of blueberries. Eat while warm.

Serves 1.

*Blueberry jam and blueberries can be replaced with strawberry jam and strawberries, black currant jelly and black currants, or raspberry jam and raspberries.

Crunchy, Chocolate S’mores

1 graham cracker, broken into halves

1 marshmallow toasted,

8 - 10 M&Ms

Place marshmallow on one half of the graham cracker. Press M&Ms into marshmallow. Place other half of graham cracker on top of M&Ms. Eat while warm.

Serves 1.

Fondue is one of my favorite dishes to make.  Of course, if I make a cheese fondue, it’s not very popular with the kids.  That is saved for a grown-ups only night.  A bottle of wine, a plate of veggies and bread, there’s not much more that we need.

When it’s the kids’ turn for fondue, I switch to dessert.  How can you go wrong with a pot full of melted chocolate?  It’s a favorite with all of the kids, but my nine year old, Sam, is my faithful assistant.  She has always loved to cook with me, no matter what the meal.  So, together we cut the assortment of fruit into bite-sized pieces, collect the ingredients for the sauce, measure, and mix.

When everything is ready, the whole group of kids is called for dessert.  With four children and one pot of fondue, placement of children is crucial.  The pot is placed ever so slightly nearer to the youngest, and everyone is given their own plate of fruit to avoid fighting over which child got more strawberries.  The dessert is a huge success with all, and happiness reigns.

Sam’s Chocolate Fondue

6 ounces Baker’s Semi-Sweet Baking Chocolate Squares

3 Tb. corn syrup

1/4 cup heavy cream

Fruit, cleaned and cut into bite-sized pieces, such as:

strawberries

bananas

apples (I prefer sour for the contrast)

clementines

pears

In a microwaveable bowl, combine baking chocolate, corn syrup, and 1 tablespoon heavy cream.  Place in microwave for 1 minute.  Remove bowl and stir.  Continue heating in 30 second increments, stirring at the end of each.  Add more cream by the tablespoon to desired consistency.

Transfer fondue to fondue pot and place atop burner.  Watch the fondue and adjust the amount of heat from the burner to avoid boiling or thickening.

Serves 4 - 6.