Boozy Bananas with Spiced Chocolate Sauce

Another way to spiffy up bananas.

Serves 2-3

Ingredients:
Chocolate Sauce
3/8 cup heavy whipping cream
3 oz. semi-sweet chocolate, chopped
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/8 tsp. ground cloves
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract

Bananas
2-3 small bananas
1 1/2 tbsp. butter or buttery spread
1 1/2 tbsp. packed brown sugar
1 tbsp. rum
1/2 tbsp. tequila

Ice cream

Method:
1. Make the chocolate sauce by combining the cream, chocolate, cinnamon, and cloves in a heavy-bottomed saucepan. Cook over low heat until the chocolate is melted. Do not allow the mixture to boil. Stir in the vanilla and remove from the heat. The sauce can be made up to 4 days ahead. Just cover and refrigerate it until ready to use.

2. Cut the bananas crosswise in half. Melt the butter in a large skillet over medium heat. Increase the heat to high and add the bananas and brown sugar. Cook 2 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the bananas are soft and the sugar has created a syrupy sauce. Add the rum and tequila and boil 1-2 minutes or until slightly thickened.

3. Scoop ice cream into bowls and surround it with the banana mixture. Drizzle with the chocolate sauce and enjoy immediately.

Reference:
Banana Sundaes with Mexican Chocolate Sauce from the August/September 2001 issue of Cooking Pleasures.

Baked Bananas (with Rum!)

The only thing better than cooked fruit: fruit cooked with booze. ;)

Makes a fantastic quick dessert. Great served with ice cream (or you could be good and serve it with fresh berries).

I'm 99% sure this is vegan if you make it with the non-dairy spread.

The photo does not even begin to do this justice...


Serves 2

Ingredients:
1/2 tsp. butter or non-hydrogenated non-dairy spread
1/2 tsp. freshly-squeezed lemon juice
1 tbsp. maple syrup
1/2 tbsp. rum
Pinch of ground cinnamon
2 ripe (but firm) bananas, peeled and sliced in half lengthwise

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 F.

2. Melt the butter and then mix it in with the lemon juice, maple syrup, rum, and cinnamon.

3. Put the bananas in a shallow dish then spoon the buttered rum mixture over them. Bake about 8 minutes or until soft.

4. Remove the bananas from the oven and then preheat the broiler. Broil a couple minutes until the sauce turns into a glaze. Garnish with fresh berries if desired. Serve with ice cream, frozen yoghurt, or non-dairy ice cream.

Reference:
Bananas Baked with Buttered Rum from The Occasional Vegetarian.

The only change I made was to use mango rum in place of the dark rum called for in the recipe. (I was home alone and couldn't reach the good stuff in the back of the liquor cabinet so I grabbed what was available).
The mango rum worked out great but I'll have to try this with some of the yummy Appleton run we brought back from Jamaica...

Banana and Black Bean Empanadas

Bored with banana bread? Want a new way to use up those ripe bananas? Then you have to try these!

I actually made these a while ago and never got around to blogging them. They were just so fantastic, I can't leave them out! :)
I had this version of the Argentinean pastry as a meal with rice and a big salad but they would make great appetizers.

Note: The crust needs to be refrigerated for at least one hour (up to overnight) so plan ahead for that.

Makes 12 empanadas (6 servings)

Ingredients:
Crust
1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. chili powder
4 tbsp. non-dairy, non-hydrogenated margarine cut into small cubes (Earth Balance)
1/2 cup unsweetened applesauce (Make your own if you have time!)
1 tbsp. white wine vinegar

Filling
1 tbsp. olive oil
1 cup onion, chopped
1 cup cooked black beans
1 clove garlic, smushed or finely diced
1 cup peeled, diced bananas (the riper, the better!)
1 tsp. ground cumin
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp. ground coriander
2 tbsp. chopped fresh cilantro
1 tsp. hot sauce

Method:
1. As mentioned above, you'll need to make the crust in advance. Here's how:
*Sift flowers, salt, and chili powder together in a bowl. Use your fingers to mix in the margarine like you would if you were making a pie crust.
*Whisk the applesauce, vinegar, and 1/3 cup cold water in a separate bowl.
*Add the applesauce mixture to the flour until a dough forms. You can add up to 1/4 cup more cold water if needed.
*Knead the dough on a floured surface. Form a ball, wrap in plastic wrap, chill.

2. While the dough chills, work on the filling. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Saute the onion in the oil for 4-5 minutes (until soft). Add the black beans and garlic and reduce the heat to medium. Cook the bean mixture for 3 minutes.

3. Add the bananas, cumin, cayenne, and coriander to the bean mixture and cook for 2 minutes or until the bananas just begin to break down (this smells amazing!) Remove from the heat and stir in the cilantro and hot sauce.

4. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees, prepare a cookie sheet by spraying it with cooking spray, and lightly flour your work surface. Divide the dough into 12 balls and roll out each ball into a 6-inch round (about 1/4-inch thick).

5. Fill each dough round with a couple tablespoons of the filling and brush the edges with water. Fold the dough in half to make a semi-circle and press to close the edges. Use a fork to crimp the edges/seal the empanadas.

6. Place the assembled pastries on the cookie sheet and chill for 10 minutes. Once chilled, bake them for 20 minutes or until golden brown. Cool slightly before serving.

Reference:
From the March 2009 issue of Vegetarian Times magazine.
I honestly didn't change anything from the original recipe... (except the cooking temp. - original called for 400).
I may try adding some chopped avocado next time or maybe even adding a little cocoa powder to do some sort of mole-esque thing. Watch this space! I love to experiment! ;)

Lickety Split

It has been muffin madness in my kitchen lately with three new muffin recipes this last week! All successful despite some weird yield amounts (which may have a lot to do with all the additions I made to each one). These ones are probably my favourite of all of them!

These started out as a banana-split muffin recipe so I wanted to keep the ice-cream parlour theme going as I made a couple changes. To do that, I added in some extra nuts and flaked coconut. Next time I may try some crushed pineapple and I'd also like to add some wheat germ (nothing to do with the ice-cream theme!)
I can't wait to enjoy these for breakfast during the week.

This made 12 standard-size muffins (even though I halved the original 12-muffin recipe!)

Ingredients:
1 1/2 very ripe bananas, smushed up
1/4 cup firm tofu, smushed up (egg substitute)
1/4 cup turbinado (raw) sugar
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil (butter substitute)
1/2 tbsp. vanilla
1/2 cup whole-wheat flour
1/2 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1/2 tbsp. aluminium-free baking powder
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp. salt
3/8 cup non-dairy, semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/8 cup dried Bing cherries
1/4 cup chopped walnuts
1/4 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup coconut

Method:
1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a muffin pan with unbleached cupcake papers or lightly grease with vegetable oil or non-dairy butter.

2. In a large bowl, stir together the flours, baking powder, cinnamon, and salt. In another bowl, combine the mashed bananas, mashed tofu, turbinado sugar, olive oil, and vanilla.

3. Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and pour the banana mixture into the well. Stir to combine but be careful not to over-mix. Gently stir in the chocolate chips, nuts, cherries, and coconut.

4. Scoop the mixture into the prepared muffin tin, filling each muffin cup about 3/4 full. Bake the muffins at 350 degrees for 15 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Let them cool on a wire rack (but make sure you try one while they're still slightly warm!)


Reference:
This recipe is based on the Banana-Split Muffins recipe from the November/December 2008 issue of VegNews magazine.

My changes/additions:
*I used half-and-half on the flours - 1/2 cup whole-wheat and 1/2 cup all-purpose (original called for all whole-wheat flour).
*I added the pecans, coconut, and cinnamon.
*I changed the method around a bit.

Tip:
Really make sure you smash that tofu up! My taste-test muffin had little white chunks in it :) Hmmm... I wonder what that could be? Obviously, it won't change the taste at all but you'll want to try to avoid that, especially if you're serving these to others.

Double-Chocolate Banana Bread

A little twist on the original banana bread idea. This will make one regular-sized loaf or about 16 slices. Great with a cup of coffee.

Ingredients:
1 cup sugar
2 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil (or applesauce)
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa
1 tsp. baking soda
1 1/4 cups mashed bananas
1 cup chocolate chips

Method:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray the bottom of an 8-inch loaf pan with nonstick spray.

2. In a large bowl, beat the sugar, eggs, and oil (or applesauce) at medium speed until mixed (use an electric mixer or stand mixer). Beat in vanilla. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, cocoa, and baking soda; beat into sugar mixture at low speed just until combined. Stir in bananas and chocolate chips.

3. Spoon batter into loaf pan. Bake 60-70 minutes. Cool 10 minutes then remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Reference:
The original recipe came from a copy of Cooking Pleasures Magazine which is published by the Cooking Club of America.

Banana Bread

To get the best banana flavour, always use the ripest ones you can find - they should be starting to turn dark. The nuts are optional but I always make it with nuts (unless, of course, someone who will be eating it has an allergy!)
Good news! So I just read in Self Magazine that walnuts act as a fat blocker (these quick breads are really fatty!)... all those Omega-3s in the nuts reverse the saturated fats (I never knew that.. thought they were just antioxidants). Yippee!!! So, if you're not allergic, the nuts are not optional!! lol

This makes one full-sized loaf/about 16 slices

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/4 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1 egg
1 cup mashed bananas (about 3 medium-sized ones)
3/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cooking oil (you can substitute 1/4 cup applesauce to make it a little lower fat)
1 tsp. finely shredded lemon peel
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Method:
1. Grease the bottom and 1/2 inch up the sides of an 8x4x2-inch loaf pan; set aside. In a medium bowl, combine the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, and 1/8 tsp. salt. Make a well in the center of dry mixture; set aside.

2. In another bowl, combine the egg, bananas, sugar, and cooking oil (or applesauce). Add egg mixture all at once to dry mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts.

3. Spoon batter into the prepared pan. Bake in a 350 degree oven 50-55 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool in the pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove loaf from pan; cool on rack. Wrap and store overnight before slicing.


Reference:
Original recipe was found in the Better Homes and Gardens Cook Book.
Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen (1996). Better Homes and Gardens New Cook Book. Meredith Publishing Group: Des Moines, IA.