Culinary Concoctions by Peabody

So, I am the first to admit that I am a lazy person. So when I hurt my foot I thought it would be no problem to sit around and be a sloth. Turns out, I’m a fairly active sloth. I am definitely going stir crazy…which is bad because I am doing things on my foot I am not allowed to do. I broke down and baked. But I did do most of the mixing while sitting down and so I wasn’t really on my foot that much. I chose to make these because my husband was in charge of grocery shopping, which he did a good job at(he normally does not grocery shop). I put bananas on the list but unfortunately I forgot to say how many. So I got a lot of bananas. And as you know, they go bad quickly and you must do something with them. The original recipe called for a caramel espresso frosting, which I would have liked to try but hubby likes cream cheese frosting so I went with that since homemade anything has not been coming out of my kitchen.
I found these to have a nice, but not overpowering banana flavor and they were incredibly moist. I want to make it again but this time with a caramel rum mousse, which is what we had for our wedding cake.

Banana Cake

2 ½ cups cake flour
1 ½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp salt
2 tsp ground cinnamon
1 ½ cups well mashed very ripe bananas(about 3 large)
½ cup sour cream
11 TBSP unsalted butter, softened
6 TBSP canola oil
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed brown sugar
3 large eggs
1 ½ tsp vanilla extract
1 cup chopped walnuts

1.Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat the oven to 350F. Grease cupcake pans and dust with flour.
2.Sift together the cake flour, baking soda, salt and cinnamon into a medium bowl. Whisk to combine and set aside.
3.In a small bowl, combine the bananas and the sour cream; set aside.
4.In the bowl of an electric mixer, using the paddle attachment, beat the butter at medium-high speed until creamy, about 30 seconds. Add the oil and both sugars and beat at high speed until creamy and light, about 3 minutes. At medium speed, add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Beat in the vanilla extract. At low speed, add the flour mixture in three additions, alternating it with the banana mixture in two additions and mixing just until blended.
5.Remove the bowl from the mixer stand and stir in the walnuts by hand. Scrape the batter into the muffin pans(I used and ice cream scoop).
6.Bake for 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean.
7.Let cool and frost with your choice of frosting…I went with cream cheese frosting.

Source: Adapted from The Cake Book by Tish Boyle, 2006

Cream Cheese Frosting

1/4 cup butter
1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature
1 pound confectioners’ sugar, sifted
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
PREPARATION:
Directions for cream cheese frosting
Combine all ingredients in large mixing bowl; beat well until smooth. Makes enough cream cheese frosting for a 2-layer cake.

My friend L and I decided to go to lunch to catch up. We had just planned to go local to one of the places on the east side when she came out of the blue and asked if I would be willing to go to Bainbridge Island. Sure I thought, I had never been. She said that she had seen a show on the Food Network and they highlighted a cafe on the island…I saw that show too. So off we went in search of Cafe Nola. We were smart and made reservations since we figured it might be busier than usual since being featured on the almighty Food Network. Except oops…we missed our ferry. Luckily, they were nice and just pushed back our reservations and we caught the next ferry. It was a bit farther than the Food Network would let on but not too far(we walked it). It was quite busy when we got there with a 45 minute wait for those without reservations…we of course, got right in. I was torn on what to have. I had looked at their on-line menu before I came and couldn’t decide then either. L had what they featured on the show, caramel pecan french toast made with challah bread and served with fruit and bacon.

I seriously considered it, but for the sake of the blog I chose something different, the fresh dungenuss crab melt. I was a little nervous to order it, so many times when you order something with crab, they skimp on the crab. Not the case here. As you can see from the photo there is plenty of crab tucked under that cheese.

It has simple flavors of just the focaccia bread, crab and cheese…each one standing out on it’s own. I will definitely be going back and bringing the hubby along this time, as I know he will love the crab melt. This next time I think I will try the Smoked Duck and Brie sandwich. We had a great day…up until the tearing my ligament part that is :). I know my hubby loved sitting in the Urgent Care lobby for over 2 hours.

I actually made these around New Year’s but didn’t put them up because of the fact that I was sticking to a French pastry theme and these just didn’t seem to fit the bill. I had told myself at the time, I would post about it at Superbowl time…then I realized today…it is Superbowl time. This recipe comes from Kathy Kasey, a Pacific Northwest food maven. Before coming to the PNW I had never heard of her but I am glad that I discovered her. Kathy doesn’t have a restaurant but a studio where she hosts classes and events. This recipe comes from Dishing with Kathy Casey, the first cookbook I owned by her, and my favorite out of the ones I have. These are pretty spicy for me but others seemed to enjoy them. Much better than just some mayo and egg yolk smooshed together.
Thanks to everyone for the well wishes. My foot still hurts, sadly more than I anticipated…I had hoped to be back at hockey on the 13th, but alas I do not see that happening. I get off of crutches on Monday(I hope). I did try baking brownie cupcakes which my foot thought was a horrible idea, but it was nice to bake again.

Thai Curry-Spiced Stuffed Eggs with Shrimp

1 dozen eggs
2 tsp Thai yellow curry paste
1 tsp minced garlic
2 tsp Dijion mustard
1/4 tsp Tabasco
1/2 cup mayonnaise
4 ounces bay shrimp, well drained and chopped
1 TBSP chopped fresh cilantro
1 TBSP chopped fresh mint

Place eggs in a saucepan and cover with cool water to 1 inch above the eggs. Bring to a boil over medium-high heat, then time 10 minutes. After eggs have cooked for 10 minutes, remove from the heat and run cool water over them. When they are cool, carefully peel under running water.
Cut the eggs in half lengthwise and move yolks to a mixing bowl. Set the egg white halves on a platter, cover and refrigerate.
Place curry paste in bowl with yolks and whip until smooth. Add the garlic, ginger, Dijon mustard, Tabasco and mayonnaise, and mix until smooth. Mix in half of the chopped shrimp.
Spoon the yolk mixture into a pastry bag fitted with a plain or large star tp and then pipe the mixture evenly into the egg white halves. If you don’t have a pipe bag, simply spoon the mixture in.
In a small bowl, mix together the remaining chopped shrimp, cilantro and mint. Top each egg half with a bit of the mixture, dividing it evenly among the eggs.