Banana Chocolate Chip Cookies

We ordered fresh groceries today, so I wanted to finish some of our older produce before our new stuff arrived. I realized that I had one banana left over and a lot of butter in the freezer, so I decided to make cookies! I had just made 2 batches of zucchini bread, so I definitely wasn't in the mood for banana bread. And there is something so comforting about cookies and milk on a cold day! I found this recipe online, and I modified it to my liking:

Banana chocolate chip cookies

1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 stick unsalted butter (1/2 cup)
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1 egg
2 tsps vanilla extract
1 mashed ripened banana
1 cup rolled oats
1 cup chocolate

Mix everything together. Bake golf-ball sized morsels of cookie dough on an ungreased cookie sheet for 15 minutes at 350 F.

Note: I think these cookies would taste great with coconut flakes, pecans, and/or walnuts. It could have a tropical twist with macadamia nuts and coconut flakes. Or, almond extract instead of vanilla extract would taste good too. I say, the more stuff inside the cookie, the better! : )

Lisa, I used the vanilla extract you gave me- it smells amazing! Thank you!

The Breakfast Club

I teach a cooking class for kids, and we make fun breakfast foods every Saturday! I decided to compile a list of recipes, because we make really yummy stuff! I generally make baked foods with the kids, because they're the best kinds of foods for younger children (my kids are ages 3-5) to get involved with. It's harder for them to cook on the stovetop, partially because it's too high (!), and partially because they don't have proper motor function to be around really hot surfaces! People go on and on about how baking is an exact science.... well, that's not exactly true. There's no way to be really precise when you cook with children. So, I don't suggest you make souffle with really young kids, but regular muffins, cupcakes, etc, are pretty easy to do! It's ok for the measurements to be a little off!

Blueberry Muffins

2 cups all purpose flour
2/3 cup white sugar
2 1/2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1 cup milk
1/2 cup melted butter
2 eggs
1 cup blueberries

1. Preheat oven to 400 F.
2. Mix the dry ingredients: flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and cinnamon. Mix wet ingredients in a separate bowl: milk, melted butter, eggs. Mix dry and wet together. Add blueberries.
3. Bake for 15-20 mins.

Coffee Cake Cupcakes

Coffee Cake:
1/4 cup butter
1/3 cup white sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
2 tsps baking powder
2/3 cup milk

Topping:
2 tbsps all purpose flour
2 tbsps butter
5 tbsps white sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon

1. Mix cupcake ingredients. Fill cupcake tin.
2. Mix topping ingredients. Add a little bit to each cupcake.
3. Bake for 25 minutes at 375 F.

Banana Crumb Muffins

Muffins:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
3 mashed bananas
3/4 cup white sugar
1 egg, beaten
1/3 cup melted butter

Crumbly Top:
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 tbsps all purpose flour
1/8 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp butter

1. Mix all the dry ingredients listed under "muffin." Mix all wet ingredients under "muffin." Mix wet and dry.
2. Mix everything listed under "crumbly top" in a separate bowl.
3. Line muffin tin with cupcake liners. Distribute "muffin" mix evenly among the cups. Add a small amount of "crumbly top" mixture to each muffin. Bake for 15-20 minutes at 375 F.

Baked French Toast Homestyle

Toast:
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp salt
6 slices French bread
3/4 cup crushed cornflakes (the cereal)
1 1/2 tsps butter

Syrup:
3/4 cup sugar
1/3 cup light corn syrup
1/4 cup water
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/2 can (5 oz) evaporated milk
1/4 tsp almond extract

1. Mix eggs, milk, vanilla, and salt to make the "breading mix." Pour breading mix into a large ziploc bag, or a large breading dish with shallow edges. Add bread. Coat both sides for 5 minutes. Place each piece of bread on a foil covered cookie sheet. Add crushed cornflakes to one side of each piece of bread. Sprinkle butter on each piece of bread, because it will help the toast brown in the oven. Bake at 450 F for 10-12 minutes.

2. Make the syrup while the toast is baking. Bring the sugar, corn syrup, water, and cinnamon to a boil, until the sugar dissolves. Remove from heat and add evaporated milk and almond extract. Drizzle on top of toast immediately before serving.

Note: Add some powdered sugar for pretty presentation! To crush the cornflakes, place cornflakes in a ziploc bag, seal it, and allow the kids to crush it with their fingers. : )

Cranberry scones

1 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
4 cups all purpose flour
1 cup white sugar
2 tsps baking powder
1/4 tsp cream of tarter
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter
1 egg
1 cup dried cranberries (or raisins)

1. Preheat oven to 350 F. Mix sour cream and baking soda. It will fluff up while you do the next step!
2. Mix flour, sugar, baking powder, cream of tarter, salt, and butter. Add sour cream and baking soda.
3. Knead bread until it is a smooth lump. Break into 3/4 inch pieces. Bake for 12-15 minutes on a greased cookie sheet.

Notes: If you're cooking this with kids, try covering a table with wax paper, so the kids can knead the dough without making a huge mess. They'll love it!

Banana Smoothies (2 servings)

2 bananas
1 cup soy milk
1/4 cup honey

1. Blend all ingredients together.

Note: This recipe can also include peanut butter to make PB and Banana Smoothies. But, a lot of children don't like peanut butter or they're allergic, so watch out!

So, in summary, cooking with kids is really fun! I like to let them be messy, but being the slightly Type A person that I am, I also try to keep the messes contained a bit. Here are suggestions: put stuff into ziploc bags so kids can mix the ingredients without flinging flour all over the place; cover surfaces with wax paper to make clean up easier. Other thoughts: encourages kids to try everything (except eggs) because it makes them familiar with ingredients; wait until the very end to add eggs so they can try the mixture at every point; explain different ingredients (baking powder, baking soda, etc.)

help?

to my loyal readers (aka, my patient friends/family who i force to read this):

i need ideas for new dishes to try making. any suggestions? please please please! i only have 2 more months before i go off to india for 6 months, where i will be forced to relinquish my kitchen and only be able to consume foods prepared for me! gasp!

My Birthday = "The Day I Officially Became Old"

My friends, Divya, Liz, Kate, and Lisa took me out for my birthday this past Saturday. And, as always, the most memorable moments of the night took place while we were eating! We went to Brick Lane Curry House for dinner and Max Brenner for dessert- I love BLCH, which is pretty surprising, since I generally don't rave about Indian food, aside from my Mom's fabulous cooking. But, BLCH, which prides itself on British Indian-style food, is really good Indian good. The service is AWFUL AWFUL AWFUL, but the food makes up for it. My friends and I were originally going to go to Dos Caminos on Park Ave, but an hour before dinner, I changed my mind and decided I wanted to take my friends to this Indian place. I'm always talking about how much I like their food, and I felt the need to share the joy with my friends! We ended up sharing 3 entrees, which was just enough to comfortably fill the stomachs of 5 girls who know how to really eat food! I, for one, have been known to out-eat boys (does anyone remember a particular potluck dinner where we dubbed the phrase, "Double spoon! Double spoon!"?)

Anyway, here's what we ate for dinner:
Entrees: Bombay Aloo, Goan Curry with Vegetables, Dakshini Korma
Breads: Plain naan without butter, garlic naan
Drinks: Salty Lassi, Berry Lassi, Mango Lassi

We all agreed that the entrees were excellent! I have also tried the Chana Masala and Aloo Gobi. I looooooved the Chana Masala, which is pretty remarkable, since I generally hate anything made with chana (chickpeas)! Just a note: the salty lassi was a bit too salty. So, watch out for that!

After dinner, we went to Max Brenner, where we had dessert and drinks. We split the Chocolate Mess with Strawberries and Cream, and also the Tutti-Frutti Waffle. We drank a frappuchino, Mexican Hot Chocolate, and Toffee Hot Chocolate. I've also had the Chocolate Mess with Toffee Banana, Italian Hot Chocolate, Melting Marshmallow Hot Chocolate, and Dark Chocolate Hot Chocolate. All of them were excellent! I know Max Brenner has gotten some unfavorable reviews, including some comments that compared the restaurant to a "chocolate version of Cheesecake Factory," but I still recommend it! It has great ambiance and the decorating scheme is really put together. I have some pictures of our desserts below:

Tutti-Frutti Waffle

Chocolate Mess (with and without the toppings)
















All in all, it was a fantastic night for my taste buds- Thank you girls for a great night!

Zucchini Bread

I noticed zucchini in my sister's refrigerator and I thought it would be fun to try to make zucchini bread. My friend from college, Kate, makes this amazing zucchini bread, which I find myself craving all the time. I thought it might be a good idea to learn how to make it myself! I ended up using Food Network Chef Paula Deen's recipe, with a slight adjustment, in which I added 4 tbsps brown sugar.


Zucchini Bread (enough for 2 loaves)

3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
3 cups sugar
4 tbsps brown sugar
1 cup vegetable oil
4 eggs, beaten
1/3 cup water
2 cups grated zucchini
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 cup chopped walnuts or pecans

Mix dry ingredients together. Mix wet ingredients together. Add dry ingredients to wet ingredients. Bake for 1 hour at 350 F.

Note: One of my friends likes to eat his bread with cream cheese!

My first Indian curry!

I have only eaten curries in Indian restaurants, where they have been laden with butter and cream, and they are served swimming in oil. But I have always liked the essential flavor of these curries, so I thought it would be fun to try making one. Here is my recipe for curry, and as always, these measurements are approximations, since there are no fixed quantities when cooking Indian food! Sorry for the lack of pictures, my camera battery wasn't charged and I got hungry!

Simple Indian Curry

1 head cauliflower chopped into medium pieces (about 5 cups)
2 carrots cut into cylinders (about 2 cups)
1 cup frozen peas
1 white onion, chopped (about 1 1/2 cups)
2 green chili peppers, minced
1 tsp minced fresh ginger root
2 tbsp minced fresh garlic
1/2 cup canned tomato puree
1/2 cup lite unsweetened coconut milk
1/3 cup low-fat or non-fat plain yogurt
1 tsp fresh lime juice
1/2 tsp coriander (the spice, not the leaf)
1 tbsp cumin seeds
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp freshly ground cardamom
olive oil or vegetable oil
salt to taste

1. The first step is to make a ginger/garlic/pepper paste. To do this, put these ingredients in a mortar and pestle with a little water. Grind the ingredients until they are mashed together. To this mixture, add the ground cardamom to this puree. (If you have full cardamom pods instead of ground cardamom, as I did, remove the insides of the pods and then grind those black seeds to a coarse consistency, and then add that to the ginger/garlic/pepper puree).

2. Heat a large pot and add a few tbsp oil. Let the oil get hot at medium-high heat and add the cumin seeds. When the seeds beginning to sizzle and visibly pop, lower the heat to medium. Add the cinnamon, coriander, onions, and ginger/garlic/pepper paste. Stir for a minute. Add the tomato and coconut milk. Stir for 3-4 minutes, until the sauce thickens visibly. Add cauliflower and carrots. Cover pot. Allow veggies to simmer for 4 minutes on medium-low heat. The cauliflower should be cooked through, but not mushy. Be careful of overcooking the carrots, because they become really sweet after being heated for too long. The carrot breaks down its carbs, and releases sugars, which isn't conducive to the flavor of this curry.

3. Uncover pot, add peas. Mix. Add lime and salt. Mix. Turn off heat. Mix in yogurt. Garnish with chopped fresh cilantro leaves.

4. Serve hot with basmati rice.

Note: There are many different ways to modify this recipe. I think this dish would taste fantastic by adding green beans, while using corn might also be an interesting variation. It would also taste great with naan, or other Indian breads. In general, I would be weary of over-seasoning this dish. The tomato and coconut milk do a great job in flavoring the dish. Also, adjust the spice level according to your spice pref. I like my food spicy, so to describe the spicyness of this dish- putting in 2 peppers made the dish mildly spicy for me.

Just a shout-out to Miss B- I will get the eggplant recipe soon! I'm getting back into cooking Indian food... enjoy this recipe in the meantime!

Pumpkin Pie!

I know this is an easy pie to make, but I love it, so I am including it on my blog!

Pumpkin Pie

• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp nutmeg
  
• 2 eggs
• 1 (15 ounce) can pumpkin puree
• 1 1/4 cups milk
• 1 (9 inch) unbaked pie crust

1. Mix both sugars, salt, cinnamon, eggs, pumpkin, and milk together.

2. Pour batter into pie crust. There will probably be extra batter- that's ok! Freeze is for future pies or use it to make pumpkin pancakes. I will post a recipe on those this week when I make them!

3. Bake pie in an oven preheated to 350 F for 1 hour, or until the toothpick comes out clean.

I like to serve my pumpkin pie with ice cream, but I also serve it with whipped cream, since my friends like it with whipped cream better than with ice cream. I also like to sprinkle some chocolate shavings over the top!

Japchae (chapchae)

My friend, Debbi, made really good japchae for one of our potluck dinners senior year. I absolutely loved it, partially because it was tasty, and partially because it was one of the few vegetarian Korean dishes I can eat! I made this dish using Debbi's recipe and a couple of online recipes.

Korean japchae

4 cups Korean vermicelli (also known as potato noodles)
1 box frozen spinach (whole leaves) or 3 cups fresh spinach leaves
2 carrots, chopped into small matchstick pieces
2 tbsp garlic, minced
1 white onion, thin slices
soy sauce
sugar
salt
sesame oil
olive oil
sesame seeds

1. Prepare the noodles (Korean noodles, glass noodles)- boil a large pot of water (be sure to salt the water). Turn the heat off when the water boils and add the noodles. Cover the pot, and let the noodles cook for about 15 minutes. Be sure to watch the noodles because you want them to retain their elasticity. Otherwise, they don't taste right! Strain the noodles and rinse in cold water to stop them from cooking anymore. Using a sharp knife, cut the noodles while they are in the pot, so they are easier to eat!

2. Prepare the veggies in 2 pots:

Pot 1: Spinach: Boil the spinach in a pot of water with salt and half a teaspoon of garlic. If you're feeling lazy, just throw a clove of garlic into the water. The idea is to give the spinach a nice light garlic flavor. This should take about 3-4 minutes.

Pot 2: In another pot, add 1 tbsp olive oil and 1 tbsp sesame oil to a hot pot. Add the garlic and cook until they sizzle. Watch the garlic to make sure it doesn't brown. Add the onions and allow them to cook until they have just a little crunch left in them. It should take about 3 minutes on medium heat. Add carrots and cook another 3 minutes on medium heat.

3. Add the veggies to the pot of noodles. Add about 2 teaspoons of white sugar, 3/4 cups low-sodium soy sauce, and 1 tsp sesame oil. Add salt to taste and about 1 tbsp fresh lime juice. Mix everything together.

4. To garnish this dish, use toasted sesame seeds and slivers of chili peppers. To toast the sesame seeds, heat a small frying pan at low heat, and toast the sesame seeds for about 5 minutes until golden-brown. Watch the seeds, because they burn easily!

Notes: The quantities of soy sauce, sesame oil, sugar, and salt are all approximations. It varies depending on the person and the flavor you prefer. Also, this dish typically has shittake mushrooms, but I am going through a phase where I don't like mushrooms. So, if you are using mushrooms, just add them to Pot 2 (the pot with onions and carrots) at the very end.