A year in the "making"

Banana Cream Pie

Saw this recipe for banana cream pie in the last months Bon Appétit magazine. It was just a small paragraph at the bottom of the page with a close up photo of the side of the disposable pie dish and just a hint of banana cream showing under a mound of fresh whip cream. (Click link to see) The recipe look super simple, much easier than the banana cream pie I made 2 years ago that took me a week to make. I thought maybe simple is better and I gave it a go. Do note the only change I made to this recipe was to melt the chocolate in the hot crust instead of add oil and melting it then brushing it on the crust and to give you a list of ingredients.

1 premade pie crust

2 oz bittersweet chocolate chopped fine

3 large egg yolks

1/2 cup sugar

3 tablespoons cornstarch

a pinch of salt

2 cups whole milk

2 tablespoons unsalted butter

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 sliced bananas

1 cup chilled heavy cream

2 tablespoons sugar

1/4 teaspoon vanilla

Bake pie crust as directed, remove from oven and while still warm sprinkle the finely chopped in the bottom of the warm crust and spread the melting evenly to coat bottom of the crust.

Meanwhile, whisk 3 large egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons cornstarch, and a pinch of salt in a medium saucepan, off heat, until smooth. Gradually whisk in 2 cups whole milk. Whisking constantly, bring to a full boil over medium heat and boil until the custard pulls away from the sides of the saucepan, about 3 minutes. Remove from heat and whisk in 2 tablespoons unsalted butter and 2 teaspoons vanilla extract. Fold in 3 sliced bananas and let cool slightly. Pour filling into prepared pie crust, cover with plastic wrap, and chill until firm, at least 3 hours and up to 1 day. Beat 1 cup chilled heavy cream with 2 tablespoons sugar and 1/4 teaspoon vanilla extract until firm peaks form; spoon over pie and swirl decoratively.

This pie was very easy to make, I was done in less than an hour (believe it or not). But I can see why they took the photograph at that angle because when sliced it was more like a pudding than a pie. Mind you a delicious pudding but a pie it was not. The ratio of thicken to liquids was off. A few slices the Banana cream actually slid right off the crust. Glad I made it, it was a yummy banana pudding but still on the search for a go-to banana cream pie recipe.

(Source: bonappetit.com)

Huevos Rancheros

This week Huevos is two corn tortilla filled with refried white beans topped with a sunnyside up egg covered with hot salsa, salsa verde then sprinkled with queso blano, onions and cilantro. Good morning to me.

Thousand Island Dressing

Jumping in the way back machine again for this week’s salad dressing, its Thousand Island dressing which was very popular in the 50’s. This dressing if done right is pink, creamy, sweet, tart and a bit chunky. It is great on a salad, on a Rueben sandwich and is rumored to be that “Special Sauce” on that Big Mac you ate last week.

¼ cup light mayonnaise

1/8 cup chili sauce

1 tbs sweet pickle relish

1 tbs finely diced dill pickle

2 tbs finely diced Peppadew hot sweet peppers or roasted red peppers

1 tbs finely diced capers

1 tbs finely diced red onion

1 tbs fresh lemon juice

3 dashes Worcestershire Sauce

Pinch of salt

A bit of fresh ground pepper

In a bowl stir all ingredients together, salt and pepper to taste. Will keep in fridge for up to a week.

At last, it is Sunday. Let us review.

This week I made Grilled Miso Salmon and Baby Bok Choy, from now om am only eating my Bok Choy grilled, Hearts of Palm Salad, not great, Fish Sandwich, oh so good, Linguine with Vodka Pancetta Sauce, liked this a lot, Grilled Chicken and Caesar Salad, always good and Egg on Prosciutto Wrapped Asparagus and Whole Wheat Toast, oh how I love a good breakfast.

What are you making?

Linguine with Vodka Pancetta Sauce

It should be spring but it’s cold and rainy. I need some crappy weather comfort food with a bit of booze – time to make Vodka Sauce with Pancetta to put on a big pile of whole wheat linguine. This is recipe tweaked from Cook’s Illustrated Cookbooks

1 tsp light olive oil

3 oz. Pancetta cut into 1/2” pieces

½ small onion diced

1 tbs tomato paste

Pinch of red pepper flakes

2 cloves garlic pressed

1 28 oz. can San Marzano peeled whole tomatoes

1/3 cup vodka

1/8 cup heavy cream

Minced Basil for garnish

While making the sauce bring a big pot of salted water to a boil and cook the pasta.

Heat olive oil in a large sauté pan over medium heat, when hot add pancetta and cook until brown and crispy. Remove pancetta from pan with a slotted spoon onto a paper towel to drain, set aside.

Into the skillet with the delicious pancetta fat add onion, sauté until soft, stir in tomato paste until onions are coated. Add garlic and red pepper flakes sauté until fragrant careful not to burn. Pour in can of tomatoes, turn heat down to low stir occasionally breaking up tomatoes as they cook, about 5 minutes. Stir in vodka, bring to a simmer and cook for 5-10 minutes stirring frequently until thickened to desired consistency. Add cream, cook for 1 minute until heated through. Ladle sauce onto pasta top with pancetta chunks and basil.

Yum.

Fish Sandwich

I made a simple baked cod with tartar sauce for dinner last night and had a big hunk of fish leftover so I made a Fish Sandwich. Toasted whole wheat roll, tartar sauce, lettuce, tomato, baked cod and a bit of ketchup. Best lunch I’ve had in weeks.

I love leftovers.