pear walnut crescents

at some point in the past, i was discussing nutella bombs with my sister (crescent rolls with nutella baked inside), and we started brainstorming other worthwhile additions to crescent rolls.  these things aren't limited to just hot dogs, you know!

at any rate, one potential recipe we both thought sounded interesting was pears and honey.  over time, i refined what i thought should be used...and i finally got around to implementing the recipe.

total prep/cook time for this is about 30 minutes.

ingredients:

- 1 can crescent rolls (8 count)

- 1 pear (i used d'angou)

- walnuts

- honey

- butter

- cinnamon

preparation:

coarsely chop a handful of walnuts and one-quarter of a pear, and mix in a small bowl.  immediately eat the rest of the pear (this step is very important).

in  a separate bowl, melt a couple tablespoons of butter in the microwave.  stir in a little honey and cinnamon and reheat a tad just to loosen it all up.  pour honey-butter mixture over the nuts and fruit and stir to coat.

unfold the crescent rolls, spoon on a little fruit/nut mixture, and wrap up the crescents.  drizzle a little extra honey-butter on top.  place on a cookie sheet and bake at 375°F for approximately 12 minutes (or until golden brown).

verdict:
this was a neat experiment, and i rather enjoyed the results.  however, there were a few points that i recognized as being problem.  first, the pear wasn't quite ripe enough.  i tend to prefer crunchy pears for eating, but in this case, i think a little riper/softer/juicier would have improved the overall flavor of the stuffed crescent roll.

second, i don't think i used enough honey.  i added a good dollop to the butter, but it really didn't go far enough in terms of sweetness.  i don't mind savory by any means, but i had expected this to be more like a sweet dessert.  so next time, i need to have a little more honey in the butter...and brush the top of the crescents with it before baking (instead of just spooning a little on top).

finally, i will provide a caution: a quarter of a pear and a handful of walnuts goes a loooong way.  these crescent rolls are pretty small, and you can't really fit a whole lot in them.  i ended up eating the last few spoons of pear/walnut mixture because they didn't fit in the rolls.

addendum:
i think the crescents work even better the next day.  i refrigerated them and popped one in the toaster oven this morning, and it was wonderful.  the flavors melded a little overnight, and i took the crescent out of the toaster when the outside was nice and warm -- but when the pear bits were still a little chilled.  that juxtaposition was rather pleasant.

banana pudding

i've recently been trying several of my mom's recipes for the first time.  in this case, i followed up the banana bread with another banana recipe last weekend: banana pudding!

as far as banana puddings go, most seem to be confections full of whipped cream, and i'll admit that i'm not a fan...i'm much more partial to my mom's recipe.  granted, my preference is probably related to the fact that this is what i grew up with...and that growing up with something means other versions aren't generally as good.  but i'm okay with that.

when i was talking to my mom about it, she told me that she learned the pudding recipe during a microwave cooking class she took many moons ago.  and she simply added bananas to it.  simple and easy!

in fact, this only takes about 20 minutes (if that) to make.  and it makes about 8 servings.

ingredients:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 3 tablespoons corn starch
- pinch of salt
- 2 cups milk
- 3 egg yolks, slightly beaten
- 2 tablespoons butter or margarine
- 1 teaspoon vanilla

- vanilla wafers
- bananas (not overripe, about 4)

preparation:
combine the sugar, corn starch,, and salt in a two quart bowl.  gradually stir in milk.  microwave for 8 minutes (or until thickened) on medium high, interrupting thet cooking time twice to stir with a wire whisk.  once thickened, stir a little of the hot mix into the egg yolks and then blend the warmed yolks into the hot mix.  microwave 1-1.5 minutes on medium high or until the custard coats a metal spoon and stir well.  stir in butter and vanilla until the butter melts.

while the pudding is cooling, layer whole vanilla wafers at the bottom of a large bowl (my mom always used a large, square corningware dish, but alas, i don't have one the correct size).  the wafers should be all along the bottom and extend up the side (at least part of the way).  slice bananas (as much as you prefer; i used about two), and layer the banana medallions on the wafers.  spoon about half the pudding on top.  add a layer of crushed vanilla wafers.  add another layer of sliced bananas, the rest of the pudding, and more crushed wafers.

you can eat it warm or cold!

verdict:
when i was making the pudding itself, the mixture looked sort of lumpy.  however, its ultimate consistency was fine (no lumps were noticed during taste testing), so i don't think i did anything wrong.

all in all, i was fairly pleased with how i made this pudding.  it wasn't quite as perfect as my mom's, but then again, this was my first attempt.  i also think that part of the problem was that i obtained reduced fat nilla wafers (they were on sale...).  these particular wafers weren't as brittle as i remembered regular nilla wafers; instead of breaking easily/cleanly, they were rather too crunchy.  this tends to make the warm pudding a little less enjoyable because you end up with a whole wafer in your mouth since the spoon/fork won't break the cookie in half.

when cold, however, it works just fine.  fresh out of the fridge, the cookies are adequately softened.  yum!

i wonder whether mixing in pulverized banana chips would be a worthwhile experiment...?

Grilled Spicy Sweet Potato w/ Tangy Sauce

*Guest Entrée Entry*

Grilled Spicy Sweet Potato w/ Tangy Sauce

 

Ingredients

~2lbs sweet potatoes

Oil (your cooking preference, I like grapeseed oil because of the high smoke point)
½ tsp ground cumin
2 pinches cayenne pepper
4 oz sour cream
1 Lime
Lime salt (Spice it to a Tea – Brevard, NC)
Ground pepper
 
Boil ~2lbs sweet potatoes ~45 minutes or until the skin becomes “loose” but not too soft
Place in cool water for ~15 minutes and then transfer whole sweet potatoes into refrigerator x 1 hour
 
Sweet Potato Seasoning
Heat 2 tbsp of oil in a sauce pan
Add in ½ tsp ground cumin
Add 2 pinches of cayenne pepper
Stir until evenly mixed, set aside to cool
 
Remove skin from sweet potatoes and slice lengthwise into about 6 thick pieces per potato
Evenly lightly coat each slice with the seasoning prepared above (it just makes it with little to spare)
Place these in 1 layer on a cookie sheet
While waiting for the grill to heat up…
 
Tangy Sauce
In a small bowl, mix 4oz sour cream (I used light sour cream) with the zest of 1 lime along with its juice
Season with lime salt and pepper to taste
 
Grill the sweet potatoes about 4 minutes on each side.  Serve with a delicious medium rare Sirloin steak!

 

Verdict:  The mild sweetness of the potato, the heat from the seasoning, and the tanginess from the sauce is phenomenal!  The flavor combination is out of this world.  I was very skeptical when I looked this recipe over, but I am so glad I gave it a chance along with a few alterations!  I will definitely be doing this again!  Since then, I’ve mixed up the tangy sauce and used it on fish tacos.  It’s a really interesting topping. 

banana bread

what do you do when you have some brown, mushy bananas that aren't really worth eating just by themselves?  make banana bread out of it, of course.  so that's what i did this past weekend.

my mom says this recipe comes from my great-grandmother(mother ruth).  honestly, i've never cooked this recipe before, but i remember having it growing up.  as it turns out, it's very simple...and very tasty.

ingredients:
- 3-4 ripe bananas
- 1 cup sugar
- 2 cups plain flour
- 2 eggs
- dash salt
- 1 teaspoon baking soda
- 1/3 cup melted butter
- 1 cup nuts (i used pecans)

preparation:
smush the bananas, and mix in all the other ingredients.  pour into a greased, floured pan, and bake at 300°F until done.  apparently, the recipe doesn't have a time listed, so i was very careful not to burn the bread.  the pan was in the oven about 52 minutes before it was golden-brown on top.  doneness is verified with a toothpick stuck into the top (the toothpick should come out clean and relatively dry).

i let the pan sit out for about 10 minute before i removed the bread and put it on a rack to cool.
 

verdict:
as i said, it is very tasty.  however, it should be noted that the banana bread is not quite as good toasted as it is just plain.  when toasted, it dries out just a bit too much, and spreading butter on it isn't sufficient to rehydrate it.  the bread doesn't need to be eaten warm, but zapping it in the microwave would probably be perfectly fine if you insisted on something more than room temperature.

the pan i used made a weird-looking loaf (very oval, yes?), but it certainly worked out well.  i approve.

put your paws in the air like you just don't care!

this is the first jigsaw puzzle i've done in many a year.  it otter be included on this blog, if i do say so myself.  and no, not because i'm going to cook him...

i completed it a couple weekends ago, and it's just begging to be captioned.  here are a few options i came up with:

"damn it, jim...i'm a doctor, not an engineer!"

"i can't work under these conditions!"

"hooray...it's friday!"

"this yoga stuff is hard to do in the water..."


 what other things is the otter saying?

bacon-wrapped pork chops

ah, spring...beautifully warm weather, windows open, hummingbird feeder installed, and bacon-wrapped pork chops.

i mean, what else would you have for dinner??

seriously though, i haven't cooked anything particularly exciting recently, so i decided to play with my kitchen today and make it smell nice.  there were some nice pork chops on sale at the grocery store earlier in the week, and i decided adding bacon can't be wrong.

this particular experiment took me about 15 minutes to prepare and about 40 minutes to cook.  total time to the plate can be under an hour, but i wrapped the chops earlier in the afternoon and left them in the fridge to let the spices infuse the meat.

with steamed broccoli and rice (cunningly flavored with garlic powder and rosemary), this made a wonderful dinner.

 

ingredients:
- bone-in pork chops (i would estimate about 1/2 pound apiece)
- bacon (not thick cut)
- brown sugar
- seasonings (jamaican jerk seasoning, tarragon, oregano, black pepper, garlic salt, paprika)

preparation:
spread some brown sugar on top of the pork chops (i used just enough to cover the top).  sprinkle liberal amounts of seasonings on, and pat the mixture into the meat.  wrap each pork chop in bacon (it took about four slices apiece to fully cover the chop).  apply more black pepper, oregano, and paprika to the outsides.

brown chops on stovetop (medium-high) for approximately three minutes on a side.  transfer meat to an oven-safe pan and bake (covered) at 350°F for approximately 30 minutes.  remove aluminum foil and increase heat to 425°F for approximately 10 minutes.  there was a lot of juice (well...probably bacon grease).

 verdict:
when cooking, this food smelled wonderful; i think oregano is just about my favorite herb, and it always makes the kitchen  smell nice.  that said, with the brown sugar, i didn't get nearly the fiery flavor of the jamaican jerk seasoning as i expected -- it could have used some extra heat.

additionally, although the pork chops had a nice pink smoky ring on the exterior (presumably from the bacon), portions of the bacon didn't get quite crispy enough.  i probably need to pre-cook some of the bacon...brown it up in the pan and wrap the chops when the bacon is halfway done.

would do again!