Banana Bread with Chocolate and Coconut

With a small break in the searing New York heat last week, and a few browning bananas on our counter, I saw the perfect opportunity for some banana bread! It also makes it feel a bit more like fall, which I am so excited for I can't stand it!

This was a great banana bread recipe and I loved the addition of chocolate and coconut! If you enjoy nuts in your bread, you could add toasted almonds and make it a true Almond Joy Banana Bread, but I chose to stick with the chocolate chips and coconut. The original recipe calls for yogurt, but I used sour cream since I already had it in my refrigerator.

Banana Bread with Chocolate Chips and Coconut
Adapted from My Baking Addiction

2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting pan
3/4 cups sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 very ripe, soft, darkly speckled large bananas mashed well (about 1 1/2 C), mashed
1/4 cup sour cream
2 large eggs, beaten lightly
6 Tablespoons (3/4 stick) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
3/4 cup mini chocolate chips
3/4 cup shredded sweetened coconut

Adjust an oven rack to the lower-middle position and heat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease the bottom and sides of a 9 by 5-inch loaf pan; dust with flour, tapping out the excess.

Whisk the flour, sugar, baking soda, salt, and walnuts together in a large bowl; set aside. Mix the mashed bananas, yogurt, eggs, butter, and vanilla with a wooden spoon in a medium bowl. Lightly fold the banana mixture into the dry ingredients with a rubber spatula until just combined and the batter looks thick and chunky.

Gently stir in the mini chocolate chips and coconut. Scrape the batter into the prepared loaf pan.

Bake until the loaf is golden brown and a tooth-pick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 55 minutes. Cool in the pan for 5 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve warm or at room temperature. (the bread can be wrapped with plastic wrap and stored at room temperature for up to 3 days.)

Greek Tortellini Salad

This pasta salad and I are now BFFs (best friends forever). We just got along swimmingly! I loved everything about it! The dressing just perfectly complemented all the ingredients and there was such a wonderful tang when you bit into a tortellini! I used three cheese tortellini, but I'm sure any will do. It would no doubt be extra fun to make your own tortellini for this too! I made this as a side dish for 3 people and we had more than enough left over for my lunch the next day. I'm making plans as we speak to make and devour more of this salad, thats how good it is!

Greek Tortellini Salad
Adapted from All Recipes

1 9-oz package tortellini
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons red wine vinegar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon chopped, fresh parsely
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/8 teaspoon salt
3 eggs
1 cup baby spinach leaves
1/4 cup crumbled feta cheese
1/4 cup slivered red onion

Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to a boil. Add tortellini, and cook for 7 minutes or until al dente; drain.

In a large bowl, mix the olive oil, lemon juice, red wine vinegar, balsamic vinegar, parsley, oregano, and salt. Place the cooked tortellini in the bowl, and toss to coat. Cover, and chill at least 2 hours in the refrigerator.

Place eggs in a saucepan with enough water to cover, and bring to a boil. Remove from heat, and allow eggs to sit in the hot water for 10 to 12 minutes. Drain, cool, peel, and quarter.

Gently mix the spinach, feta cheese, and onion into the bowl with the pasta. Arrange the quartered eggs around the salad to serve.

S'mores Whoopie Pies

I read an article awhile back (I can't even remember where it was from) that said whoopie pies are going to be the new cupcake. The argument is that everything people love about cupcakes (its portability and blend of cake and frosting to name a few), holds true for whoopie pies as well! And I LOVE me a good whoopie pie!

These are much more elegant than your average frosting sandwhiched between two cakey-cookies whoopie pie. It is made with a specialty pan that my dorky self picked up at Williams Sonoma. The "cookies" are made with a chocolate cake recipe, which would make it very difficult to do this without the specialty pan, although I'm sure you could use any cookie recipe and get great results!



I got to play around with our kitchen torch to brown the marshmallow filling, which always makes for a fun time in the kitchen. And when it is put together, the cake is topped with chocolate ganache and crumbled graham crackers.

This is definitely a whoopie pie that you will need a plate to eat, but you will certainly not be sorry! YUM!



S'mores Whoopie Pies
From My Baking Addiction

1 cup white sugar
3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/4 cup and 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 egg
1/2 cup milk
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup boiling water

4 egg whites
1 cup of sugar
¼ teaspoon of cream of tartar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

5 ounces of semisweet chocolate
½ cup heavy cream

graham cracker crumbs for garnish

For the cake:

Heat oven to 320 F. Spray your whoopee pie pan with non-stick cooking spray.

Stir together sugar, flour, cocoa, baking powder, baking soda and salt in large bowl. Add egg, milk, oil and vanilla; beat on medium speed of mixer 2 minutes. Stir in boiling water (batter will be thin). Pour 1 ½ tablespoons of batter into each well of the whoopie pie pan.

Bake 8-10 minutes or until wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes in the pan then invert the pan and allow the whoopies to cool completely on wire racks.

Wash and dry the pan and re-spray with non-stick cooking spray and repeat with the remaining batter. You will end up with 36 whoopie cakes that once sandwiched will yield 18 whoopie pies.

Once your whoopies are cool, prepare the marshmallow frosting.

For the frosting:

Place egg whites, sugar, and cream of tartar in the heatproof bowl of an electric mixer. Set over a saucepan with simmering water. Whisk constantly until sugar is dissolved and whites are warm to the touch, 3 to 4 minutes.

Transfer bowl to electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, and beat, starting on low speed, gradually increasing to high, until stiff, glossy peaks form, 5 to 7 minutes. Add vanilla, and mix until combined.

For the topping:

Place the chocolate into a medium bowl. Heat the cream in a small sauce pan over medium heat. Bring just to a boil, watching very carefully because if it boils for a few seconds, it will boil out of the pot. When the cream has come to a boil, pour over the chopped chocolate, and allow to sit for a few minutes. Whisk until smooth.

Assembly:

Pipe filling on the flat sides of half the cakes (18 of them).

Use a kitchen torch to lightly toast the marshmallow frosting. Top each with one of the remaining cakes; flat side down.

Place a spoonful of ganache on top of each whoopee pie and spread in a circular pattern; garnish with graham cracker crumbs and allow the ganache to set up.

Mediterranean Orzo Salad

There's nothing like making a huge batch of pasta to have for lunches all week long. And this Orzo Salad did just the trick. In fact, I had more than was enough for a weeks worth of lunches! I love most foods Greek/Mediterranean so I knew I would like this one which has a great addition of vegetables. I'd never had orzo before, but what a unique little pasta! This would really be good with any kind of pasta and I may try penne next time. This recipe would be great for a picnic or another potluck-type gathering.

I found this recipe on Tasty Kitchen, a great resource for new recipes!

Mediterranean Orzo Salad
Tasty Kitchen

16 ounces, weight Orzo Pasta

1 whole Red Pepper, Chopped

1 whole Medium Tomato Chopped

½ cups Kalamata Olives, Chopped

1 cup Fresh Spinach, Finely Chopped

½ cups Fresh Basil, Finely Chopped

½ cups Feta Crumbles

1 dash Salt

1 dash Pepper

½ cups Olive Oil

½ cups Balsamic Vinegar

Cook orzo according to package directions. Rinse with cold water and drain. In a large bowl, toss pasta with chopped bell pepper, tomato, olives, spinach, basil and feta. Season with salt and pepper, to taste. In a medium bowl, whisk together olive oil and vinegar. Pour over pasta vegetable mixture and stir to combine. Chill before serving.

Double Cookie Dough Ice Cream

So the other day I got a craving for Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough Ice Cream. As any normal person would in a pinch, I picked some up from the grocery store. I take it home and upon first bite, I recoil! Hmmm...it seems that my constant production of homemade ice cream has made me sour at the store-bought versions.

Not to worry, I was able to whip up some Cookie Dough Ice Cream and have even managed to polish it off, while the store-bought stuff still sits in our freezer.

This isn't any Cookie Dough Ice Cream, either. Its DOUBLE Cookie Dough! And really, I'm not sure you can get much better. This ranks right up there with Cake Batter Ice Cream. Meaning, I have to exercise extra self control not to each the entire container at once (this seems to be a constant problem with me...hmmm)! I used 2% milk and half and half to make it slightly healthier. But please, use the good stuff if you have more self-control than I!

Double Cookie Dough Ice Cream
From Annie's Eats

For the cookie dough:
5 tbsp. salted butter, melted (or unsalted butter plus ¼ tsp. salt)
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
¼ cup flour
½ tsp. vanilla extract
¾ cup chocolate chips (I used mini chips)

For the ice cream:
3 tbsp. unsalted butter
2 cups half and half
2/3 cup dark brown sugar
4 large egg yolks
Pinch of coarse salt
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1½ cups 2%milk
1 cup chocolate chips (semisweet or bittersweet)

To make the cookie dough, stir together the butter and sugar in a mixing bowl until smooth.  Mix in the flour, then the vanilla and chocolate chips.  Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until firm.

To make the ice cream, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat.  Continue heating, stirring often, until the butter is a deep golden brown color, being careful not to burn it.  Whisk in the half and half and heat until simmering.  Meanwhile in a medium bowl, whisk together the brown sugar and the egg yolks until pale and fluffy.  Once the cream mixture is warm, add a small amount to the bowl with the egg yolks, whisking constantly.  Slowly whisk in the rest of the cream.  Mix in the salt.  Return the egg-cream mixture to the saucepan and heat until just slightly thickened, and the temperature reads 170-175˚ F on an instant-read thermometer.  Immediately remove the mixture from the heat and pour through a fine mesh sieve into a bowl.  Stir in the vanilla extract and the 2% milk.  Cover and chill thoroughly in the refrigerator.

Once the mixture is chilled, freeze in an ice cream maker according to the manufacturer’s instructions.  Chop the disk of cookie dough into small chunks.  As soon as the mixture is done churning, transfer to a bowl or airtight container and stir in the chocolate chips and the chunks of cookie dough.  Store in the freezer until firm.

Cupcake Pebble Treats

So I've got an issue with sugary cereals. Actually, the issue is all mine because if I buy sugary cereal I just end up eating all of it straight out of the box in one sitting.

That's why, when I discovered Cupcake Pebbles at the grocery store, I knew I would have to make something with them. And what's better on a hot day than giving the oven a rest and making a form of Rice Krispies Treats?

These were just simply awesome. The Cupcake Pebbles are just as delicious as the Cocoa Pebbles and make a wonderful marshmallow treat!



Cupcake Pebbles Treats

1/4 cup butter
1 10.5-oz. package marshmallows
1 11-oz. package Cupcake Pebbles Cereal

Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Add marshmallows and stir until they are melted. Remove from heat and add cereal.

Press mixture into a 9 by 9 inch pan coated with cooking spray. Allow to cool completely before cutting into squares.

Risotto with Spring Vegetables

Risotto is such an interesting dish. I always find it somewhat fascinating that adding liquid slowly and constantly stirring can turn rice into a creamy dish. Not only that, but I find it delicious!

This risotto was was very fresh and summery with all the vegetables. If you can get past the fairly constant stirring, it really is easy to make. I really enjoyed the crunch from the asparagus in between creamy rice bites in this. Such an interesting contrast! I liked this just fine the day I made it, but loved it even more the second day!

Risotto with Spring Vegetables
Adapted from Cooking Light May 2010

1 cup frozen green peas
4 cups low-sodium chicken broth
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
1 cup chopped shallots
1 cup chopped carrot
1 cup uncooked Carnaroli or Arborio rice or other medium grain rice
½ cup white wine
1 cup grated fresh Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese
½ cup fresh parsley
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ teaspoon ground black pepper

Cook peas in boiling water 2 minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water; drain well.

Bring chicken stock to a simmer in a small saucepan (do not boil). Keep warm over low heat.

Heat oil in a large dutch oven over medium heat. Add shallots and carrot to pan; cook 4 minutes or until tender, stirring occasionally. Add rice; cook 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in wine; cook 30 seconds or until the liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add 1 cup stock; cook 4 minutes or until liquid is nearly absorbed, stirring constantly. Add remaining stock, ½ cup at a time, stirring constantly until each portion of stock is absorbed before adding the next (about 25 minutes total).

Stir in peas and asparagus with last addition of stock. Remove from heat; stir in cheese, parsley, salt and pepper.

Cupcakes are soooo last year...

That is all I have been hearing, cupcakes are over, ca-put, finished, washed up. I took this news as any food enthusiast would, I sat in my room and cried while shoving delicious Crumbs cupcakes into my mouth, and we are not talking the mini ones my friends. For months I have been refusing to acknowledge the new trend, macarons. They seemed too little and airy to be delicious and dessert worthy. But after reading countless recipes and seeing them EVERYWHERE I figured I owed it to you and to my belly to see what all the fuss is about.

I must admit after doing a little macaron research I was a little intimidated. Almost every post I read about the little guys said I had no hope of getting them right on the first try. There were so many rules to follow exactly or my little puffs wouldn't get the feet they need to be considered true macarons.  I found a recipe that seemed relatively easy and followed it exactly as Annie's Eats said.  The only change I made was to make sure that the egg whites were aged for 48 hours before using.



And look at these babies! After baking and tasting the final product, I have to admit cupcakes are so last year...

Chocolate Macarons with Espresso Ganache Filling

from: Annie's Eats



Ingredients:
For the macarons:
110 gm blanched slivered almonds
200 gm minus 2 tbsp. confectioners’ sugar
2 tbsp. cocoa powder (Dutch-process preferred)
100 gm egg whites (from about 3 eggs), aged at room temperature for 12-24 hours
50 gm granulated sugar

For the espresso ganache:
½ cup heavy cream
1 tbsp. unsalted butter
1 tbsp. granulated sugar
4 tbsp. bittersweet chocolate
1½ tsp. espresso powder

Directions:

Pulse the almonds in the bowl of a food processor until finely ground. This takes longer than you would think. You want to make sure the almonds and the confectioner's sugar blend well. Add the confectioners’ sugar and cocoa powder to the bowl and process until blended. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, whip the egg whites on medium-high speed until foamy.

Gradually add the granulated sugar and continue beating until a smooth, shiny meringue with stiff peaks forms.
Add the almond mixture to the bowl with the meringue and  gently fold together until no streaks remain.  The batter will be on the thick side, but it should still flow off the end of the spatula.

Line two baking sheets with silicone baking mats or greased parchment paper.  Transfer the batter to a piping bag fitted with a plain wide round tip.  Pipe into  rounds on the prepared baking sheets, you can make these guys any size you want I made some big ones and some babies just make sure you have a match for each cookie.  Let sit at room temperature for about an hour to develop a shell.

Preheat the oven to 300˚F.  Bake for 8-10 minutes, depending on size.  Transfer the pans to a wire cooling rack and let cool completely before moving the cookies. It took my cookies about an hour before I was able to move them.

While the cookies are cooling, make the ganache.  Combine the cream, butter and sugar in a small saucepan over medium-high heat.   Bring the cream mixture to a simmer, remove from the heat and add chocolate.  Let stand 2 minutes, then whisk gently until the ganache forms.  Blend in the espresso powder.  Stick the bowl to the freezer or refrigerator and let cool, stirring every 10 minutes until thickened.

Once the cookies are totally cooled, match them up by size.  Pipe a layer of ganache onto the flat side of one cookie of each pair.  Sandwich together with the remaining cookie, pushing the filling to the edges.  Store in an airtight container in the fridge if they last that long!

No-Bake Brownies

No bake. In a brownie. What a genius concept! Martha people, you amaze me everyday!

Its been hard this summer to motivate myself to turn on our oven. So I have been searching high and low for no-bake "baking" approaches. Enter the brownie. I wasn't expecting a miracle on these, but I was pleasantly surprised! These were fudgy and very chocolatey. You definitely need to chill them for awhile before biting into one, but they taste just like a regular brownie!

No-Bake Fudge Brownies
Martha Stewart Living August 2010

 12 ounces bittersweet chocolate, chopped
1 ¼ cups evaporated milk (from one 12-oz can)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 cups finely ground chocolate wafer cookies (from 2 9-oz packages)
2 cups plus 2 tablespoons sweetened shredded coconut
½ cup confectioners’ sugar
Salt

Line a 9-inch square baking dish with plastic wrap, leaving a 1-inch overhang on all sides.

Heat chocolate and evaporated milk in a saucepan over medium heat, stirring, until chocolate melts and is smooth. Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla. Set aside 1/3 cup.

Combine cookies, 2 cups coconut, the sugar and ½ teaspoon salt in a bowl. Pour in chocolate mixture; stir until combined.

Spread mixture evenly into dish. Spread reserved 1/3 cup chocolate over top. Finely chop remaining 2 tablespoons coconut and sprinkle evenly over chocolate.

Refrigerate until set, about 2 hours. Remove brownies from pan by lifting plastic wrap. Remove plastic, and cut into 24 brownies.

Grilled Swordfish Kabobs

As a kid, I was the epitome of a picky eater. And it didn't end there. My picky eating carried itself all the way through my college years. Thankfully, common sense prevailed and I have since become quite an adventurous eater!

I called my family while we were making these swordfish kabobs and they thought it was the funniest thing that I was eating swordfish! And I have to say, I have been begging Spice for months to help me make it!

Luckily, last weekend, after a lovely day at the beach, we went to the seafood store and picked out some perfect swordfish steaks to help us usher in Shark Week on The Discovery Channel.



These were very easy to make. I made the dip in about 3 minutes, and the only prep for the swordfish was to cut it into cubs and stick it on a skewer with a little salt and pepper. Spice used her grill pan and these were on there for about 10 or 15 minutes until they were perfectly cooked.

I can't wait to make this again. Next time, to make it even easier, I think I'll just stick the steaks themselves on the grill and then top it with the sauce when they come off!



Swordfish Kebabs with Orange Basil Sauce
Cooking Light June 2010

 1 orange
2 cups basil leaves
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 garlic cloves
1 ½ pounds swordfish, cut into 1-inch pieces

Prepare grill (or grill pan) or medium-high heat. Squeeze orange juice to extract ¼ cup juice. Combine orange juice, basil leaves, olive oil and garlic cloves in a mini chopper; add ¼ teaspoon salt. Process basil leaf mixture until finely chopped. Sprinkle ¼ teaspoon salt and 1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper evenly over fish; thread fish onto 4 (12-inch) skewers leaving a little space between the swordfish pieces for even cooking. Grill fish 10 minutes or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork or until desired degree of doneness, turning occasionally. Drizzle fish with sauce, or serve sauce separately.

Summer Berry Pie

Even in New York City, the Concrete Jungle, there are individuals and organizations devoted to bringing residents fresh, local produce. The Union Square Greenmarket is such a place. It is located on Union Square West between 15th and 17th streets from Broadway to Park Avenue South. I had the pleasure of shopping here one lovely Saturday several weeks ago (the market is open Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Saturdays).



It was fun wandering through, talking to the vedors and picking out things to buy. So much fresh fruits and vegetables I didn't even know where to start! I ended up with some cherry tomatoes that were just about to burst in the hot shade they were set up under.



There were flowers everywhere as well! I specifically enjoyed the ginormous sunflowers! They were so large and vibrant!



I wasn't really there for flowers, however. I had another motive: Berry Pie! So of course, I headed straight for the berries which were lined up in several tents, row upon row!



For this berry pie, I wanted an assortment of blueberries, blackberries and raspberries. I found all of them at the market! My reasons for choosing a berry pie are pretty obvious: the rancid heat in the city makes me want to throw our oven down the stairs and squish it with the jaws of life. The only part of this pie you need the oven for is the crust, and even then its only for a few minutes. Saved!

This pie turned out great! I really enjoyed the jelly layer set up below all the berries. It contributed to the tang and the graham cracker crust worked itself in beautifully!

Summer Berry Pie

The New Best Recipe

 9 graham crackers (5-ounces), broken into rough pieces
2 tablespoons sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted and kept warm

2 cups (about 9 ounces) raspberries
2 cups (about 11 ounces) blackberries
2 cups (about 10 ounces) blueberries
½ cup (3 ½ ounces) sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon juice from 1 lemon
2 tablespoons red currant jelly (I used strawberry jelly)

For the crust: Adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 325 degrees.

In a food processor, process the graham crackers until evenly fine, about 30 seconds. Add the sugar and pulse to combine. Continue to pulse while adding the warm melted butter in a steady stream; pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand. Transfer the crumbs to a 9-inch glass pie plate. Use the bottom of a ramekin or measuring cup to press the crumbs evenly into the bottom and up the sides, forming a crust. Bake the crust until it is fragrant and beginning to brown, 15 to 18 minutes; transfer to a wire rack and cool completely while making the filling.

For the Filling: Combine the berries in a large colander and gently rinse; spread the berries on a paper towel=lined rimmed baking sheet and gently pat dry with additional paper towels.

In a food processor, puree 2 ½ cups of the mixed berries until smooth and fully pureed, about 1 minute. Strain the puree through a mesh strainer into a small non-reactive saucepan, scraping and pressing on the seeds to extract as much puree as possible (you should have 1 ¼ to 1 ½ cups). Whisk the sugar, cornstarch and salt in a small bowl to combine, then whisk the mixture into the puree. Bring the puree to a boil over medium heat, stirring constantly with a wooden spoon; when the mixture reaches a boil and is thickened to the consistency of pudding, remove from the heat, stir in the lemon juice, and set aside to cool slightly.

While the puree is cooling, place the remaining berries in a medium bowl. Heat the jelly in a second small saucepan over low heat until fully melted. Combine the jelly with the berries, pour the berry puree into the cooled crust, and distribute the glazed berries over the puree. Loosely cover the pie with plastic wrap; refrigerate until chilled and the puree has set, about 3 hours up to 1 day. Cut the pie into wedges and serve with whipped cream.