Cocoa Peanut Butter Banana Bread

Hello once again!

As I'm sure you've already guessed from the nature of this blog, I like to experiment with my food. Sometimes it works and I discover something tasty, and sometimes it doesn't and explodes like so much... exploding... explody stuff. My poor attempt at an analogy aside, I am pleased to say that this time my experimentation not only worked, but worked rather well.

It started a few weeks ago, when I had some bananas lying around that were too ripe to eat out of hand. Obviously, the solution was banana bread, but I didn't have a banana bread recipe I liked. Sure, I had the one I created years ago that used coconut and walnuts, but that one tended to lean towards the explody end of the spectrum. Plus, I was out of walnuts anyway, so no dice. So I went digging around the internets, trying to find a new method. While I found plenty of recipes, I didn't find one that spoke to me. I was about to say, "To hell with this!" and start flipping over metaphorical tables when I had another crazy idea: why not just make something up?

Why was this idea crazy? Because banana bread is baking, and baking is as much a science as an art, and you can mess things up if you don't get the ratios right. But then again, science is about experimenting with the unknown, and trying new things, and laughing maniacally as you're throwing random ingredients together into a mixing bowl. Or maybe that last one is just me?

Regardless, this idea came together as a way to make a new banana bread that I had never tried before, and I am pleased to say it turned out quite well. I was about to try it simple as a cocoa banana bread, and I think it would have been good that way too. But then the idea sprang up to add peanut butter chips, and it took everything to a whole new level. Try it yourself if you don't believe me.

So, without further ado, let's get started.

For Science!

WHAT I USED!!!
2 cups AP flour
1 cup cocoa powder
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
a good pinch or two of kosher salt
5 very ripe bananas
1 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
3 eggs, beaten
1 stick of butter, melted
2/3 cup sour cream
a good splash of vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1 cup peanut butter chips

WHAT I DID!!!
Combine the flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together in a large mixing bowl. If you feel like sifting, go ahead and do it to break up any clumps and ensure that everything is evenly distributed.

In another bowl, peel and mash your bananas until smooth. Using a hand mixer, work in the sugars, followed by the eggs, butter, sour cream, and vanilla.

Pour the wet stuff over the dry stuff, and fold everything together with a great honking wooden spoon or spatula. Then stir in your chips.

(This is called the Muffin Method, by the way, and is used for everything from muffins to waffles. You don't want to over-mix, or the flour will produce too much gluten and then everything will be tough. We don't have to worry about that too much here, but still, mix everything until it is just combined. Don't fret if it's a bit lumpy; the lumps will cook out.)

Divide the batter evenly between two standard size loaf pans, and bake at 350 for 50-55 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the middle of the load comes out clean.

And that's all folks! It's quick, it's easy, it's delicious.

You get a definite chocolatey flavor throughout the bread, with little pops of sweet and salty peanut butter now and then. But the predominant flavor across the board is definitely the banana, which is good, since that's kind of the point after all. Over all, you get a moist and tasty quick bread with a lot of flavor and a lot of surprise from those eating it.

This experiment, if I do say so myself, is a definite success.

Well, thanks for reading as always. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.

Until next time, go forth and eat well!

Scallops with mashed potatoes and asparagus

Hello again, dear readers!

Today, I just wanted to share a tasty dish I made for dinner last week: scallops. Nothing fancy, nothing crazy, not even a F.E.A.S.T., just a simple meal that you yourself can make without too much effort.

"Ye gods!" you say. "But wherein lies the adventure?" you ask. An excellent question, indeed! And I have an answer for you!

::cue crickets chirping::

Ok, so there really isn't one. I've made scallops before, and they're easy. I mean, super easy. But I haven't had the chance to prepare them in ages, so I wanted to try my hand again. I looked up several methods and then adapted my favorites into a cohesive whole. And I am pleased to say that they turned out marvelously. And that's why I decided to tell you about them: because they're easy enough to cook that with a little effort you too can plate a mighty impressive dish that will have others saying, "ooh" and "ahh."

Don't believe me? Come now, have I ever led you astray? And no, don't even talk about my last experiment with ice cream; that was for science!

WHAT I USED!!!
1lb. frozen bay scallops, thawed, drained, and patted dry
3 slices bacon, chopped
2/3 cup apple juice or cider
1 half-pint heavy cream
approx 2lbs golden potatoes
1 stick butter, softened
1 bunch of asparagus
garlic, minced, to taste
salt and pepper
fresh chives, chopped

WHAT I DID!!!
Drop the potatoes in a pot and add enough water to cover by an inch. Give it a good pinch of salt and then set it over high heat. Once it boils, drop the heat to med-low and let them simmer for about 20-30 minutes or until the taters can be easily pierced by a knife without much resistance. Drain the spuds once they're done.

Meanwhile, prepare your asparagus. Hold the stalks one at a time by the base and near the middle, and start bending them gently. The hard, undesirable part of the stalk should snap cleanly off. Bring a pot of water to a boil. Once this is ready, drop the asparagus in and give it a minute to blanch. This will improve both the color and the flavor. After a minute, transfer the veggies using a slotted spoon into a waiting bowl of ice water to halt the cooking process. Once they've cooled, set them aside to dry.

Cook the bacon in a large nonstick skillet over medium heat until browned. Using your trusty slotted spoon once more, transfer the bacon to a waiting pile of paper towels to drain. Up the heat to high and add the scallops to the bacon drippings! to cook. Give 'em a few shakes and cook until they all just turn opaque, or about four minutes. Grab that ever-so-useful slotted spoon once more and remove the scallops to a dish, and stash said dish in a warm oven to keep things toasty.

Add the apple juice/cider and 1/3 cup of the cream to the pan. Cook this mixture to boiling over med-high heat until the sauce thickens, or about seven minutes, stirring occasionally. You'll know it's ready when the sauce coats the back of a metal spoon and holds its shape when you swipe your finger through it. This is called nappe', as I've mentioned before. Add salt and pepper to taste.

While the sauce does its magic, cook your asparagus. Get a nonstick skillet warmed up over medium to med-high heat and give it a swirl of olive oil. Add as much or little garlic as you care to and saute until the garlic just begins to gain some color. Add your asparagus and give it a toss to coat the veggies in olive oil and garlic. Cook the asparagus until it softens slightly and begins to pick up some color of its own.

Warm the remaining cream for a few seconds in the microwave. Then simply go to town with your favorite potatoes masher or a hand mixer if you so choose. Once the potatoes have been mashed, work in the butter and cream and blend it all into one amalgamous mixture.

To serve, place a good pile of potatoes on each plate. Top with a scoop of delicious scallops, then place a few stalks of asparagus off to one side slightly. Give the whole thing a bit of sauce, and sprinkle with bacon and chives. That's it, you're done!

Ok, so maybe it looks a little complex once I write it all out, but it's really not all that bad. Trust me, this may seem like a handful of steps, but they're all pretty basic steps if you really stop and break it all down: prep and make mashed potatoes, saute some asparagus, saute scallops, make a basic sauce, combine. That's it! Trust me, it's easy.

And totally worth it too. The scallops have a natural sweetness to them, and they lack any of that "fishy" smell that turns off so many people. Moreover, the potatoes are rich (but not too rich), and the asparagus provides a nice counterpoint both in texture and in flavor.

If I were to offer any critique of the meal, it's that the scallops can get lost in the potatoes. This is simple because they are so small. You don't lose the flavor much, it just gets mixed in with the rest of the dish. To be honest, I would have preferred to use the larger, meatier sea scallops, which are three times as big. The problem was they were also three times the price, so I had to pass. Maybe next time though.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this post. And I hope you'll go out there and give this method a try. It'll impress and amaze your friends, I guarantee!

Comments and suggestions are welcome as always. Until next time, go forth and eat well!

F.E.A.S.T.: Indian-style Curry Sauce

Hello again, dear readers!

This week's humble offering is the result of a two-part challenge I recently issued to myself. Well, I say that, but it didn't exactly develop that way. You see, I wanted to create a new F.E.A.S.T., mostly because I haven't done one in a while. I've also been wanting to try making a curry sauce, since I've never actually done that before. Lo and behold, the idea came: why not do both?

Before I jump into the ingredient list, I feel I should also admit something: I'm not very familiar with Indian food. In fact, I can't honestly recall but maybe one or two times in my life where I've actually eaten it. Don't get me wrong: I have nothing against the cuisine. It's just not ever something where I've said to myself, "Self, what d'you say to some Indian food?"

That being said, I can neither confirm nor deny how "authentic" this dish is. I basically looked up a few basic curry recipes and then came up with my own using the common ingredients and what sounded tasty. I have it on the authority of those who tried it that it does in fact taste like Indian-style curry, however. So that's something, right? Regardless, it was quite good, and I highly recommend you give it a try, if only so you can say that you have!

WHAT I USED!!!
1 yellow onion, sliced  ($1.0)
2 tsp minced garlic (or about four cloves)  (stock)
1 inch ginger, peeled and diced  ($0.5)
1 red bell pepper, roughly chopped  ($3.0)
1 8oz can tomato sauce  ($1.0)
1 4oz can green chiles  ($1.0)
1 6oz tub plain Greek yogurt ($1.5)
1 cup cilantro ($1.0)
2 tsp turmeric  (stock)
2 tsp cumin  (stock)
2 tsp coriander  (stock)
1 tsp paprika  (stock)
1 tsp cinnamon  (stock)
1 tsp cayenne pepper  (stock)

Final price: $9.0 for the whole thing.

OK, I admit, some of you may not obsessively keep as many spices on hand as I do. But let's say you do have to go out an buy some of them. You're still getting away for pretty cheap, since you only need a little bit out of each jar, right? That means you'll have everything on hand to make the curry again, and that's just a win-win situation in my book.

WHAT I DID!!!
In a large saucepan, heat a few tablespoons of vegetable oil over medium-high to high heat. Toss in your onion and bell pepper, and saute them until the pepper softens and the onion starts to brown, about 10 to 15 minutes. Drop the heat to low, then add your ginger and garlic and cook for 2 to 3 minutes longer.

Add all six spices and whisk well to combine. Add in your tomato sauce, green chiles, and cilantro. Once that's all incorporated, slowly whisk in the yogurt.

Now, working carefully, drop the whole mix into a blender or food processor and start pulsing. Add about a cup of water, then blend until smooth.

Put the mix back in the saucepan over low heat, and let it simmer for about 20 minutes, covered. Serve over rice, chicken, vegetables, or whatever you like.

And there we have it. Let's compare to our acronym:

Fast: The whole process took me about an hour to concoct. Admittedly, with the rice and chicken, it was closer to an hour and a half, but the sauce itself was relatively quick to make, even with the simmering.

Easy: Yes, I'd say so. I could've been a lot more complicated, toasting the spices, using fresh spices (I wish!), adding more exotic ingredients, but I decided that what I had would suffice. And guess what? I was right!

Affordable: At under $10 to serve four to six people, we're doing just fine financially. Even if you do have to spend a little more to acquire some of the spices, you still come out ahead, since now you have said ingredients on hand and ready to go for the next time.

Super Tasty: Hell yeah. This curry is rich and savory, with a smoky subtle heat to it that you just have to experience to truly understand. Honestly, I am actually quite pleased with how it turned out.

I wish I could better explain the flavor, but beyond calling it "exotic," I'm a bit at a loss for words. So, I challenge each of you reading this to go out and craft this wonderful sauce for yourselves so you can be at a loss for words as well. I promise you won't regret it.

Anyway, as always, thanks for reading. If you have any comments or suggestions, I'd love to hear them.

Until next time, go forth and eat well!