Bananas Foster

A few weeks ago we ate at the fabulous Del Mar Bar and Bistro in Chatham. We went there to try their off-season $18 fixed price menu that included an appetizer, entree and dessert. Honestly, we were blown away by how good the food was. Local folks who want to read my review of the entire meal can do so here.

The whole dinner was wonderful, but the surprise of the night was the bananas foster. It's not something I would usually order (and sadly I didn't order it, the Kitchen Genius did). Of course he let me try a bite so I could write about it for the review. One side of the bowl was filled with sliced bananas in a warm sauce made with Myers's rum, brown sugar and butter and the other side had premium vanilla ice cream.

When the ice cream and sauce met on a spoon, the sauce hardened slightly to form a creamy caramel-like texture that was heavenly. My spoon kept sneaking over to his bowl for another bite...and another...and another. It was so good that KG made it again at home the following night.

This is a quick and easy dessert that can be made in about 15 minutes, so it would also be perfect for company. First he peeled and sliced the bananas. We like our bananas cut in bigger chunks so their flavor isn't overpowered by the sauce.



Next he melted butter, mixed in brown sugar and cooked it over medium heat until caramelized.



If that wasn't yummy enough, he added some dark rum and whisked vigorously. He cooked the mixture until alcohol burned off and the sauce thickened again, about 5 minutes.



Finally he added the bananas and cooked them for three or four more minutes, until warmed through, stirring gently and spooning the caramel sauce over them.



Total YUM!

Bananas Foster
Serves 4

4 bananas, peeled and sliced on the diagonal in 2 inch chunks
1/2 cup butter
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup dark rum

Melt butter over medium heat. Add brown sugar and whisk to combine. Cook over medium heat until caramelized, about five minutes. Add rum and whisk until incorporated. Cook until alcohol burns off and the sauce thickens again, about 5 minutes. Add sliced bananas and cook until they are warmed through, stirring gently and spooning sauce over them to coat. Serve over premium vanilla ice cream.

Spring Frittatas

We're in egg overload. Our chicken ladies are laying 5 to 7 eggs a day and at this point, they are taking over one whole shelf in the fridge. Dying two dozen for Easter didn't even dent the abundance. So tonight for dinner I made egg frittatas just to bring things a bit back under control. Notice I say "a bit," because this recipe used 18 eggs and I still have four dozen left...and there will be about six more tomorrow...

The beauty of a frittata is you can personalize it to your own favorite flavors. I actually made two different choices. The grown up version had diced ham, onions, mushrooms, asparagus and fresh thyme and parsley. For the kids, I kept it simple with just bacon and sautéed onions.



This not only tasted great, but the heavenly scent of butter and cheese filled the whole house. The kids weren't thrilled with the idea of eggs for dinner, but they loved the taste of this dish - light and fluffy, but also incredibly rich and cheesy.



The Recipe:

Spring Frittatas
Serves 8

3 tablespoons butter
1 cup chopped onions
1 cup sliced onions
3/4 cup sliced asparagus
1 cup diced ham
18 eggs
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon fresh thyme, chopped
1 tablespoon fresh parsley, chopped
1/4 teaspoon of fresh ground black pepper
1 cup sour cream
1/3 cup flour
16 ounces cheddar cheese, shredded

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease 2 large pie plates. In a skillet over medium heat, melt the butter and sauté the onions, mushrooms and asparagus until tender, about 5 - 7 minutes, stirring frequently. Add the ham, stir and turn off heat.

In a large bowl, whisk together the eggs and sour cream. Add the flour, salt, pepper, thyme and parsley and beat until smooth. Add the sauteed mixture and cheese. Stir until well blended. Divide the mixture between the two pie plates.

Bake 40 minutes or until set and browned.

Note: You can substitute your favorite combination of sautéed veggies and/or meat for this dish.

Baked Stuffed Acorn Squash

I've been dying to make this delectable side dish ever since I saw it in the cookbook, "Morning Glory Farm and the family that feeds an island." It looked so colorful and flavorful, and it as it turned out, it was.

But first I had to find some wheat berries and that wasn't as easy as I hoped. They don't carry them at my local grocery store and we even came up empty at Trader Joe's. Finally I located some at the Orleans Whole Food Store yesterday.

I wanted to make this dish to submit to Side Dish Showdown hosted each month by the delightful Reenie at Cinnamon Spice & Everything Nice.



The theme for March was: "Anything Goes with a Secondary Challenge to try something new, whether it be a vegetable, grain or herb." I've never cooked wheat berries, so that was my new ingredient.

The crunchiness of the wheat berries and wild rice was delightful and a nice counterpoint to the soft squash. The sweet/tart flavor combination of the pears, apple cider and dried cranberries was smashing.

We served the baked stuffed acorn squash with an herb roasted chicken and a spinach salad.



The Recipe

Baked Stuffed Winter Squash
(from "Morning Glory Farm" cookbook)
Serves 8

4 acorn squash, halved and seeded
2 cups cooked wild rice
1 cup cooked wheat berries
1 cup roasted pears
1/4 cup canola oil (I used olive oil)
1 large shallot, diced
1/3 cup apple cider
1/2 cup dried cranberries
Salt and pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Roast seeded and halved squash cut side down 30 - 40 minutes.

While squash is roasting, cook wild rice and wheat berries according to package directions.

Once squash is soft, cut pears into large dice and toss with 1/8 cup canola oil. Roast on sheet tray about 20 minutes.

Saute shallot in rest of oil over medium heat. Pour apple cider in with shallots, cooking and stirring to deglaze pan.

Mix rice, berries, roasted pears, and cranberries into shallot mix. Salt and pepper to taste.

Stuff each squash with filling and serve.

Best Maple Glazed Carrots Ever

This one is going to be short and sweet (pun intended). I recently received a copy of "Morning Glory Farm and the family that feeds an island," by Tom Dunlop, so I'm going to be testing some of the recipes in upcoming days.

Morning Glory Farm is the largest of nearly 30 farms on the tiny island of Martha's Vineyard. The Kitchen Genius and I visited the farm the summer before last and were incredibly impressed with what the Athearn family has managed to create in their 30 years at farming. Morning Glory is now a thriving multi-generational business that really does provide food for the entire island at their farm stand, in restaurants, and they even have a section at the local grocery store.

This is more than just a cookbook. In addition to 70 mouthwatering recipes, author Tom Dunlop tells the fascinating story of the history of the farm, and photographer Alison Shaw's stunning photography will make you want to place this book on your coffee table instead of hiding it on your cookbook shelf.

I chose an easy recipe to test first. This time of year fresh veggies are kind of scarce on Cape Cod, but there are always some organic carrots in my crisper for soups and stews. I don't usually think to cook them as a vegetable side dish, but this recipe has changed my mind.

These carrots are as good as candy. Not kidding. I've made glazed carrots before, but I always boiled the carrots in plain water first and then added the maple syrup and butter after draining them. Big mistake. Cooking the carrots with the maple syrup and butter truly infuses them with a sweet flavor that is amazing.



If this is what they do to the common carrot, I can't wait to try the other recipes in the Morning Glory cookbook...

Maple Glazed Carrots
Serves 4

2 1/2 pounds carrots, peeled and sliced on a diagonal
1/2 cup water
1/3 cup maple syrup (only the real stuff please)
3 tablespoons butter
Salt and Pepper
Pinch cayenne pepper
Grated orange peel

Combine all ingredients (except orange peel) in a large saucepan or skillet and cook until the carrots are fork tender, about 15 - 20 minutes. Add more water if needed during cooking.

Garnish with grated orange peel.

Strawbery Rhubarb Pie

I've been searching for signs of spring all over the place and my heart skipped a happy beat when I found rhubarb at the grocery store this week. Right above it were strawberries on sale, 2 pounds for $5. SO not local this time of year, but a craving is a craving.

And then a dilemma...I love, love, love my grandmother's pie crust recipe. Seriously, for me the best part of the pie is the crust (and homemade pie is my favorite dessert). But the recipe for the easiest, flakiest, crispest pie crust I've ever tasted is made with butter flavored Crisco.

Here's the problem: I've sworn off fake food and it doesn't take a food detective to realize that "butter flavored Crisco" is fake. They admit their falsehood right on their label, so I don't have to read the fine print to know this is on the list of foods I don't want to eat.

I decided to try an all butter crust recipe I found at the Land 'O Lakes website. My experiments with using all butter in biscuits have gone just fine so I had pretty high hopes.

The pie dough didn't come together like I hoped. The whole cold water, stir with a fork thing sounds great in theory, but I've never been able to pull that off with the amount of water they recommend. Even after refrigeration, the dough was stickier than I was used to.

Still, I persisted and the filling made me happy, happy, happy.



These pies smelled simply fabulous while they baked. The scent of butter that filled the house made the teenagers drool all over themselves in anticipation, and the crust looked extra flakey.



I thought I had found my answer - UNTIL I tried to cut the pie. That crust was seriously tough. Even my sharpest knife struggled to get through it. It took me five slices to get one photo that was even close to pretty.



So, I'm asking for your best pie advice and your best pie recipes. What on earth did I do wrong and how can I make an all natural pie in the future?

The Recipe:

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

In my family we like our pies a little tart, so if you prefer a sweeter pie increase the amount of sugar.

Make your own favorite recipe for a two crust pie.

2 cups of rhubarb, washed and sliced into 1-inch pieces.
2 cups strawberries – leave smaller berries whole and cut larger berries in half or thirds
3/4 cup sugar (1 cup if you like your pie sweet)
1/4 cup flour
3 tablespoons butter

1. Roll out bottom crust and place in pie plate.
2. Put rhubarb, strawberries, sugar and flour in a bowl and mix well. Pour into prepared pie crust. If there is extra flour and sugar that hasn’t been absorbed by the juice of the fruit, sprinkle it evenly over the top.
3. Cut the butter into small pieces and disperse on top of the fruit mixture. Roll out top crust and cover the fruit.
4. Cut off excess overhang (should be about a half an inch all the way around) and fold top crust under bottom crust and pinch together. Crimp the edge by making a V with your left thumb and forefinger and pushing the dough into the V with your right forefinger.
5. With a knife liberally poke vent holes in the top of the crust in a pleasing design, making sure the whole crust is covered.
6. Bake at 375 degrees for 45 – 50 minutes. To check if pie is done, slide a knife into one of the vent holes. Fruit should be tender.

Date Night

Back when we had four kids living at home, date nights only happened about twice a year and they always involved an overnight at a local inn and dinner at a nice restaurant. Very nice. Now that we're down to two kids who are both teenagers, opportunities for date nights pop up much more often. Even better.

These days my job allows us to eat out twice a month, so it's much more fun to cook at home for our date nights. For our unexpected date night last week, we began with scallops sautéed in butter, served with a sweet pea puree.



Then it was on to steak au poivre. The Kitchen Genius seasoned two small filets with sea salt and fresh ground cracked pepper.



He then seared them in a cast iron skillet and then put it in the oven to finish them off.



In the meantime, he simmered dried porcini mushrooms, a chopped tomato, some red wine and other secret ingredients for a sauce to go along with the steak.



My job was to be the prep cook for his creations, but the side dish was all mine. I sliced two large potatoes very thin and layered them in another cast iron skillet, brushing melted butter on each layer, and seasoning them with chopped fresh rosemary, salt and pepper.



Instead of making a big salad like I usually do, I hollowed out a tomato and filled it with some baby greens tossed with balsamic vinaigrette.



The photos don't lie - it was a great dinner...

Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir-Fry

I've wanted to make this dish since I first saw it on the cover of the March issue of the Food Network Magazine. The article is titled, "11,375 Stir-Fries," and it offers a five step recipe to create, well apparently, that many different dinners.

First you pick your protein. Could be beef, pork, shrimp, chicken or tofu. Then you marinade your chosen protein, prep 3 cups of vegetables in any combination, and choose from one of five sauces.

The secret of a good stir-fry is making sure everything is prepped before hand. Because once it's time to actually cook, it all goes pretty quickly.

Add a nice winter salad with baby greens, pears, yellow peppers, cukes, red onions, toasted pecans and gorgonzola. Drizzle with a maple balsamic dressing and you are in veggie and flavor heaven.



The Recipe:

Shrimp and Snow Pea Stir-Fry

Protein:
3/4 pound large shrimp, peeled and deveined

Marinade:
1 egg white
1 tablespoon rice wine or dry sherry
1 tablespoon cornstarch

Veggies:
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon minced ginger
3/4 cup baby carrots (the smallest ones you can find)
1 medium onion thinly sliced vertically
1/2 cup sliced yellow bell pepper
1 cup snow peas

Clear Sauce:
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 tablespoon cornstarch
2 tablespoons rice wine or dry sherry
1/2 teaspoon sesame oil
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon sugar

For marinade, whisk egg white, sherry and cornstarch. Toss with shrimp, cover and refrigerate for one hour. Prep veggies. For sauce mix all ingredients together.

Drain excess marinade from shrimp and place all ingredients near stove. Heat 4 tablespoons olive oil in wok or skillet over medium high heat. Add shrimp and for about three minutes until both sides are pink, turning once halfway through. Remove from pan.

Add 1 - 2 more tablespoons of oil to the pan and heat add the garlic and ginger. Stir-fry for about 30 seconds. Add the vegetables in order starting with the ones that take the longest to cook and stir-fry until crisp tender. Add the shrimp and the sauce and stir until the sauce is thickened and the shrimp is heated through, about 3 minutes.