Going Bananas

We recently had a little family luau, or 'Tiki Party,' as my son called it. Along with some old favorites, we tried out some new recipes as well. We had particularly good luck with bananas. Let me share the two fantastic banana recipes we discovered.

This is a great way to use up some extra bananas if you need a change from making banana bread!

Royal Hawaiian Pie

Ingredients:

2 (9 inch) pie shells
4 cups sliced bananas
1/2 cup sweetened pineapple juice
1/2 cup white sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons butter

Directions:

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Place sliced bananas in a medium bowl and cover with pineapple juice. Toss gently until slices are coated. Let soak for 30 minutes, then drain. Place bananas in pie shell.

In a small bowl, mix sugar and cinnamon. Sift over top of bananas. Dot with slices of butter. Put on top crust and seal, slashing two to three vents near center. Bake in preheated oven until crust is golden brown, about 30 minutes. Pie can be served hot or cold.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by Cathy. You can find it here.

Notes: My mom was worried that this would taste like baby food. Far from it! The bananas stayed pretty firm...almost the texture of apple pie. The flavor of the bananas paired with the pie crust was great. A wonderful, tasty surprise!

Hawaiian Baked Bananas

Ingredients:

4 bananas, peeled
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup orange or pineapple juice
3 tablespoons sherry, optional
1 dash nutmeg
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup chopped almonds or macadamia nuts, optional

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Slice bananas in half lengthwise. Place the bananas in a small glass baking dish. Stir together the brown sugar, juice, and sherry (if using); pour over the bananas, then sprinkle with nutmeg. Melt the butter in a small pan over medium heat. Stir in chopped nuts, and cook until lightly browned, about 4 minutes. Sprinkle over the banana mixture.

Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes until bananas are tender, and have become slightly glazed.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by LADYC20054. You can find it here.

Notes: We skipped the nuts because of my son's allergies. Even so, these were really, really good! You have to try them!

A Taste of Paradise

For our second luau, we made our old favorites, which you can find here, we went bananas (see here), and discovered a few new keepers, which you will find below.

1. 

Island Kielbasa in a Slow Cooker

Ingredients:

2 pounds kielbasa sausage, sliced into 1/2 inch pieces
2 cups ketchup
2 cups brown sugar
1 (15 ounce) can pineapple chunks, undrained

Directions:

Place the sausage, ketchup, sugar, and pineapple in the slow cooker and mix together.

Cover and cook on low setting for 5 to 6 hours, until sausage is cooked through.

Source: Allrecipes.com, submitted by Denise. You can find it here.

Notes: We really liked this a lot. You could also use crushed pineapple or pineapple tidbits in place of the pineapple chunks, if you would like.

Tropical Punch

Ingredients:

1 (12-ounce) can frozen pineapple juice concentrate
5 cups seltzer
5 cups ginger ale
4 cups cranberry juice
2 cups orange juice
1 lemon
2 limes

Directions:

Place 1 12-oz. can frozen pineapple juice concentrate (thawed) in a large pitcher; pour in 5 cups seltzer and 5 cups ginger ale. Stir vigorously until well blended. Stir in 4 cups cranberry juice and 2 cups orange juice; mix well. Scrub 1 lemon and 2 limes, then thinly slice. Just before serving, add sliced lemon and limes to pitcher and pour punch over ice.

Source: All You, July 2008, found on MyRecipes.com. You can find the recipe here.

Battle of the Barbecued Chicken

 

Okay, so it doesn't really have to be a battle. Everyone is a winner here!

I like making homemade barbecue sauce because it is so easy and it tastes so amazing. There is a place for bottled barbecue sauce...but it is not here.

I still have a lot of barbecue chicken recipes that I want to try, but there can be other posts in the future. For now, enjoy these two recipes that I recently tried. They are both very good!

Barbecued Chicken

Ingredients:

1/2 cup ketchup
1 teaspoon hot sauce
1/3 cup cider vinegar
3 tablespoons Dijon mustard
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 cup light-brown sugar
1/4 cup molasses
1 cup-up chicken (3 pounds)
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
Coarse salt and ground pepper

Directions:

Heat grill to medium. Simmer sauce ingredients (first seven ingredients) in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to about 1 1/4 cups, 5 to 7 minutes. Divide barbecue sauce between two bowls; use one for basting and set aside the other for serving.

In a large bowl, toss chicken with vegetable oil; season well with coarse salt and ground pepper.

Lightly oil grates; place chicken on grill. Cover grill; cook, turning frequently, until chicken registers 165 degrees on an instant-read thermometer, 10 to 15 minutes. Uncover grill; continue cooking, basting frequently with sauce, until chicken is glazed thoroughly, 3 to 4 minutes more. Serve with remaining sauce.

Source: Everyday Food, July/August 2004. You can find it here.

Notes: I really liked this. It was really easy. I think in the future, I would use chicken pieces (such as drumsticks) or boneless skinless chicken breasts. Also, I think I would decrease the apple cider vinegar to 1/4 cup instead of 1/3 cup. It was slightly too tangy for my tastes...however, even so, it was really delicious and worth a try!

Grilled Chicken with Honey-Chipotle BBQ Sauce

You can also use 8 thighs or 8 drumsticks or 4 pieces of each; cook about 10 minutes per side.

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil
1/4 cup minced shallots
1/2 cup lower-sodium ketchup
2 tablespoons water
1 1/2 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoon dry mustard
1/2 teaspoon chipotle chile powder
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt, divided
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4 bone-in chicken leg-thigh quarters, skinned
Cooking spray

Directions:

Preheat grill to medium-high heat.

Heat a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Add oil; swirl to coat. Add shallots; saute 2 minutes or until tender. Stir in ketchup, next 5 ingredients (through chile powder), and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Reduce heat to low, and cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Combine 1/4 teaspoon salt, garlic powder, cumin, and black pepper; sprinkle over chicken. Place chicken on grill rack coated with cooking spray; grill 15 minutes on each side or until done. Baste chicken generously with sauce; turn over, and grill 1 minute. Baste again; turn over, and grill 1 minute. Serve with remaining sauce.

Serves 4.

Nutrition information (1 leg quarter): 256 calories, 9.8 g fat, 25.9 g protein, 16.3 g carb, 0.6g fiber, 139 mg cholesterol, 1.5 mg iron, 366 mg sodium, 25 mg calcium.

Source: Cooking Light, July 2013 issue.

Notes: I simply used boneless skinless chicken breasts. I also didn't really measure the spices to sprinkle over the chicken (the salt, garlic powder, cumin, and black pepper). I eyeballed it, and seasoned it according to my taste. I thought that the spices added to the chicken prior to basting it with barbecue sauce really added to the depth of flavor in this recipe. I really loved this.

A Recipe You Should Make More Than Once

I actually made this recipe for my birthday a few years back (and posted it at that time...you can find the original post here).

However, this recipe is just so good, that it deserves to be highlighted again.

Macaroni Grill Chicken Scaloppine (My version)

Ingredients:

Lemon Butter Sauce (my version):

1 cup whole milk or 1 can evaporated whole milk
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 stick butter
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 tablespoon capers, drained

Chicken and Pasta:

8 (3 ounce) chicken breasts, pounded thin
Oil and butter for sauteing chicken
3/4 cup flour, seasoned with salt and pepper, for dredging
6 ounces pancetta (I used prosciutto instead of pancetta because that's what Macaroni Grill uses)
12 ounces mushrooms, sliced
12 ounces artichoke hearts, sliced
1 tablespoon capers
1 pound cappellini pasta, cooked
Chopped parsley, for garnish, if desired

Directions:

To make the sauce:

Melt butter in a saucepan. Remove from heat, and allow to cool slightly. Using a wire whisk, very slowly add whole milk or evaporated milk and lemon juice. Then simmer over low heat until completely heated. Season with salt and pepper. Add capers. Remove from heat and keep warm.

To make the chicken and pasta:

Heat a small amount of oil and two tablespoons butter in a large skillet. Dredge chicken in flour and saute in pan, turning once, until browned and cooked through. Remove chicken from pan and add pancetta or prosciutto, mushrooms, artichoke hearts, and capers. Heat until mushrooms soften and are cooked; add chicken back to pan.

Cook pasta according to package directions.

To serve:

In a large serving bowl or platter, toss pasta, chicken mixture, and sauce all together. Forget the parsley because you almost always forget to add the parsley garnish anyway! Serve!

Notes: My only warning with using milk instead of the traditional cream in the sauce is that you can't add the milk while the butter is super hot, otherwise the milk will curdle. If this happens, I suggest adding a little cornstarch, and then bringing the sauce to a low boil to thicken the mixture. The cornstarch thickening the sauce will help the sauce look smoother, and it will coat the pasta better. However, if you use evaporated milk, you won't have to worry about it curdling.

I pounded the chicken thin and cut it into medallion-sized pieces. In the future, I might actually slice the chicken into strips before tossing it with the pasta.

I would suggest sprinkling the prosciutto into the mixture rather than throwing it in all at once. I put mine in all at once the first time I made this and the prosciutto kind of stuck together.

Above: So many wonderful flavors in this pasta.

You Call This Pesto....Well, Yes, I Do

Usually when one hears the word pesto, basil comes to mind.  But our garden produced a lot of cilantro this year.  Unfortunately, a lot of it went to seed and I don't know how to do the coriander thing, so I decided to make these two recipes that use cilantro instead of basil.

THAI PESTO (The darker one)

1 bunch cilantro
1/4 c. peanut butter
3 cloves garlic, minced
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
1 1/2 tablespoons fish sauce
1 tablespoon brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper

Blend cilantro, peanut butter, garlic, olive oil, ginger, fish sauce, brown sugar, and cayenne pepper in a blender until smooth.

Add to noodles, salad, rice or any dish to give it a Thai flavor.

Source:  Allrecipes.com

Cook's note:  This has a good flavor but is quite spicy.  Adjust accordingly.  Also, I used a food processor.

MEXICAN PESTO  (The lighter green)

1/4 c. hulled pumpkin seeds (pepitas)
1 bunch cilantro
1/4 c. grated cotija cheese
4 cloves garlic
1 serrano chili pepper, seeded
1/2 t. salt
6 tablespoons olive oil

Place the pumpkin seeds in a food processor or blender, pulse until coarsely chopped.  Add cilantro, cheese, garlic, chile pepper, salt, and olive oil; cover and process until smooth, scraping the sides of the bowl with a spatula as necessary.

Source:  Allrecipes.com

Cook's note:  I made the mistake of buying roasted pumpkin seeds.  I was too lazy to try to hull them, so I ground them up really fine.  People eat the shells anyway, right?  Well, the cojita cheese is quite salty (much like mizithra) and so the pesto came out really, really salty.  Also, I was getting to the end of my cilantro, so it could have used more.  I'm going to make another batch and leave out the pumpkin seeds altogether.  I don't think it needs it.  But the flavor was very, very promising.

Pesto, Pesto, Do Your Very Besto

Our garden is full of basil and what do you make when you have a lot of basil?  Well, Pesto, of course!  Oh, wait!  Pesto has pine nuts......except when it doesn't!

I did a search and found these two recipes that don't have nuts (we are nut free due to a sweet little grandson with fatal nut allergies) and can be frozen.  What the ????  Best of both worlds.  If you search our blog, you will see that a lot of our recipes call for pesto.  Why?  Lots of flavor, little punch.  These two recipes were so, so easy.  I'm gonna make and freeze and save myself mucho $$$$ for a long time to come!

SUN DRIED TOMATO PESTO (NO NUTS)

1 c. sun dried tomatoes
1/2 c. fresh basil
2 tablespoons shredded Parmesan cheese
1 tablespoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon salt
3/4 c. olive oil

1.  Place sun dried tomatoes in a small pot and cover with water.  Bring to a boil.  Remove from heat and let tomatoes soften, about 10 minutes.

2.  Blend tomatoes, basil, Parmesan cheese, garlic, and salt in a blender until mixed.  Slowly add olive oil, about 1/4 cup at a time.  Blend until smooth.

Source:  Allrecipes.com

Cooks note:  A blender will work, but a food processor would be easier.  Can be mixed with cooked pasta for a quick weeknight meal.

BASIL PESTO "PISTOU"

3 c. fresh basil leaves
2 - 3 cloves garlic
About 1/4 c. quality parmesan cheese, grated
Splash of fresh lemon juice
About 1/2 c. olive oil
Salt and pepper to taste

1.  In food processor blender, chop up the garlic until it is minced.
2.  Add in the basil and cheese and start to blend.  Slowly drizzle in the olive oil while the machine is running.  Blend until smooth.
3.  Squeeze in a little lemon juice and add salt and pepper to taste.
4.  Taste the sauce and adjust to your liking.
5.  Put in freezer container and freeze, if you wish; or use it right away.

Source:  twopeasandtheirpodrecipes.com. You can find it here.

I found this when I did a search for nut free pesto recipes.

Oh, finally, the title is from an old movie "Houseboat."  Cary Grant & Sophia Loren.  It's a song that gets in your mind and stays there for days.  Except that the song is actually Presto, Presto, Do Your Very Besto.  If you want to blow your mind, check it out here.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I9IvNh4Iba8

Popeye Power

Sometimes it is so hard to fit those veggies in! It can be especially hard to get your kids to eat their veggies. Well, here is a good way to do it. Blend it and sip it up!

My sister-in-law shared this recipe for a great way to add more veggies to your diet.

Green Smoothie

Ingredients:

2 cups spinach, loosely packed
1 peach, halved and pitted
1 frozen banana
1 cup almond milk (or substitute regular milk--you could even add 1/2 teaspoon almond extract)

Directions:

Place all ingredients in a blender. Blend until smooth.

Source: My wonderful sister-in-law, Shandie. Thanks!