Chocolate Banana Nut Muffins

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cups sugar
• 1/2 cups butter (softened)
• 1/2 cups yogurt/buttermilk
• 4-5 mashed bananas
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp. vanilla
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1 tsp. salt
• 1 cup walnuts

1. Preheat the oven to 350°F and prepare two cupcake pans by lining them with cupcake liners.
2. Mix sugar and butter in large bowl. Stir in eggs until well blended. Add bananas, buttermilk and vanilla. Beat until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda and salt just until moistened. Stir in nuts. Scoop into cupcake pan with a 1/4 cup (measuring cup). 

     

Bake at 350°F for 30 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Wrap tightly and store at room temperature up to 4 days, or refrigerate up to 10 days.

Recipe based off of Betty Crocker's banana bread recipe

Strawberry Vanilla Cream Cake

1. Cake
   • 1 cup sugar
   • 1/2 cups butter
   • 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flower
   • 2 tsp. vanilla extract
   • 2 large eggs
2. • 1 3/4 tsp. baking powder
   • 1/2 cups milk
3. Filling:
4. • 1 cup sliced strawberries
   • 1 8 oz. cool whip topping
5. Filling:
• 1 cup heavy cream
• 1/2 cup confectioner's sugar
• 1 box vanilla Jello pudding
6. 
   
7. PREPARATION

1. Cake:
   1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 2 9-inch-diameter cake pans. Mix flour, sugar, and milk blend. Add remaining ingredients until smooth. Split batter into both pans and bake for 30 minutes. Cool completely while working on filling and frosting.
2. For filling:
   1. Mix together sliced strawberries and whipped cream until smooth. Place in between the two layers of the cake.
   2. 
   1. For icing:
   1. Mix confectioner's sugar, heavy cream, and pudding to blend into a smooth mixture. Add desired amounts of red food coloring for a light pink tint. Spread icing onto cake and top with strawberries.

Can't Get More American than Apple Pie

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• Ingredients:

  • 3 lb. baking apples 
  • 1/3 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
  • 1/3 cup granulated sugar
  • 2 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
  • 2 Tbs. all-purpose flour
  • 1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1 batch basic pie dough for a double-crust pie
  • 2 Tbs. unsalted butter, cut into thin slices

• Directions:

  Position a rack in the bottom third of an oven and preheat to 400°F. Peel and core the apples and cut into thin wedges. In a large bowl, toss together the apples, brown and granulated sugars, lemon juice, flour and cinnamon. Set aside.
  
  Roll pie dough into two rounds each 12 inches across and 1/8 inch thick. Transfer one of the dough rounds to a 9-inch pie dish, gently fitting the dough into the bottom and sides of the dish. Using scissors or a small knife, trim the dough to fit the dish. Spread the apple mixture in the pie dish and scatter the butter slices on top.
  
  Center the second dough round over the apple filling. Trim the dough so it is even with the bottom crust. Fold the overhang under so the dough is flush with the pan rim, then press together to seal. Flute the edge decoratively. Cut a few slits in a decorative pattern in the top crust. Refrigerate the pie for 15 minutes.
  
  Place the pie dish on a rimmed baking sheet. Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and continue baking until the crust is golden brown and the juices visible through the slits are bubbling, about 1 hour. Transfer to a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature. 

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  Adapted from Williams-Sonoma Comfort Food, by Rick Rodgers (Oxmoor House, 2009).

One-Pot Pad Thai

Never understood the pad thai craze until I made it on my own.

PAD THAI SAUCE 

• 1 box of Thai rice noodles
• 1 cup – 1.5 cups of chicken (breast) diced into bite-size pieces
• garlic and ginger paste 
• 2 tsp cornstarch
• 2 tbs soy sauce (I used Worcestershire sauce)
• 3 cups fresh bean sprouts
• 2 spring onions, sliced
• 1/3 cup roughly chopped peanuts
• 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
• 1/2 cup chicken stock, if needed

PAD THAI SAUCE 

• 3/4 tbs Tamarind concentrate
• 2 tbs fish sauce
• 1 tsp chilli sauce
• 3 tbs brown sugar

1. Bring a large multi-purpose pot of water to a boil and dunk in rice noodles. Turn down the heat to low and cook for a few minutes until softened but still slightly crunchy. Drain and rinse with cold water to prevent sticking. Set aside.
2. Make Pad Thai sauce by combining sauce ingredients together. 
3. Place chicken pieces in a small bowl. Mix with cornstarch and Worcestershire sauce and pour over chicken. 
4. Warm up a frypan over medium-high heat. Add 2 tbs vegetable oil plus garlic/ginger paste and chili and stir fry. Add marinated chicken. If pan becomes dry, add a little chicken stock to keep the chicken frying nicely, 5-7 minutes, until cooked.
5. Add the noodles, and pour the Pad Thai sauce over. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes. If you find your frying pan too dry, push noodles aside and add a little more oil to the bottom of the pan.
6. Add the bean sprouts and peanuts and continue frying until noodles are cooked.

Based off of https://fatisrecipes.wordpress.com/

What's better than mango juice? Mango Cheesecake

With the summer heat and mango season in full swing, I naturally came across this recipe for a mango cheesecake.

1. Crust
   • 1 cup graham cracker crumbs
   • 1/4 confectioner's sugar
   • 1/4 stick unsalted butter
2. Filling
   • 2 8-ounce packages cream cheese, room temperature
   • 1/2 cups fresh cream
   • 1/2 cups sugar
   • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
   • 4 large eggs
3. • Mango cubes (1 mango)
   • 1/2 tsp. lemon juice
4. Filling:
5. • 1 mango (sliced)
   • 1/4 cup confectioner's sugar
   • 1/4 cup water
6. PREPARATION

1. For crust:
   1. Preheat oven to 350°F. Lightly grease 9-inch-diameter springform pan. Mix cracker crumbs and sugar in bowl to blend. Add melted butter and stir until evenly moistened. Press crumb mixture firmly onto bottom (not sides) of prepared pan. Bake until crust is set (10 minutes). Cool completely while working on filling and mango puree topping.
2. For filling:
   1. Beat cream cheese, sugar, and cream until smooth. Add eggs 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add vanilla extract and lemon juice. Pour filling over cooled crust in pan.
   1. For topping:
   1. Mix confectioner's sugar, sliced mango, and water to blend into a smooth mixture. Pour over strainer.
   2. Scatter blobs of topping onto filling and use a toothpick to brush through the blobs to create a swirl design.
   3. Bake at 350°F for 60 minutes, cool over the counter for an hour and then place in fridge to cool until served.