Banana Crisps

I'm calling these crisps because when you think "banana chips" you think of the super sweet (and delicious)---but packed with extra sugars--snacks you find in the bulk bins. These are way too easy to make and so wonderful. Took them up to the top of Pinnacle Saturday morning to enjoy them!


To make:
Slice banana(s) into really thin slices. I tried to get them as thin as I could but it depends on the texture you desire. Arrange on a parchment-covered baking sheet, can be as close to one another without touching. 

Spray with lemon juice. Bake for 1hr to 1hr 45min. Let cool for awhile before moving to a different container (I let mine dry overnight just because it was most convenient and that worked really well).

And since I never posted pictures of my bagels:

Heavenly.

Delicious bagels

These bagels are just about the best I've had (even better than those we got in NY where they can get away with selling any bagel as "the best New York bagels). Perfectly soft and moist on the inside, with the hard glossy outside making for the best bite!

My bagels didn't necessarily rise to ideal height, I think I may have over molded them during the tossing process.

Maybe this tip left by a reviewer on the recipe could help: "I let the yeast rest with the salt and sugar in the hot water for a few moments before adding it to the other dry ingredients - years of making dough has taught me this is the way I get them to rise better."

Ingredients

• 4 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 (.25 ounce) packages active dry yeast
• 1 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
• 3 tablespoons white sugar
• 1 tablespoon salt
• 1 tablespoon white sugar

Directions

1. In large bowl, combine 1-1/2 cups flour and yeast. Mix water, 3 tablespoons sugar and salt together, and add to the dry ingredients. Beat with a mixer for half a minute at a low speed, scraping the sides of the bowl clean. Beat at a higher speed for 3 minutes. Then, by hand, mix in enough flour to make a moderately stiff dough.
2. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead until smooth and elastic (8-10 minutes). Cover, let rest for 15 minutes.
3. Cut into 12 portions, shape into smooth balls. Poke a hole in the center with your finger, and gently enlarge the hole while working the bagel into a uniform shape. Cover, let rise 20 minutes.
4. Meanwhile, start a gallon of water boiling. Put 1 tablespoon of sugar in it, mix it around a bit. Reduce to simmering.
5. When the bagels are ready, put 4 or 5 bagels into the water, and cook 7 minutes, turning once. Drain them. Place on a greased baking sheet, and bake at 375 degrees F (190 degrees C) for 30 to 35 minutes. Remove from oven, eat hot or cold.
6. Broiling option: For a glossier surface, place raised bagels on an ungreased baking sheet prior to boiling them. Broil them five inches from heat for 1 to 1-1/2 minutes on each side. Then put them into the hot water to be boiled as above. Note: do not bake broiled bagels as long as non-broiled ones, 25 minutes should be long enough.

These yield about 7-9 large bagels, and 12 or more smaller bagels.

I added toppings: cinnamon and cloves, granola and brown sugar, poppyseed, jalapeno, there are so many options!

(the granola and brown sugar was DELICIOUS)

Do not fear these! They're so simple!

And Mom/Laura, we'll make them in a few days!

Squash infused vodka

I read about a cocktail using pumpkin infused vodka - a winter csa.  It looked tasty.  The vodka should be ready in two weeks!  In the meantime I'm looking for ginger syrup.

http://www.designspongeonline.com/2011/03/behind-the-bar-morris-kitchens-winter-csa.html

Spaghetti with Lemon and Olive Oil [Spaghetti al Limone]

I found this on smitten kitchen this morning and think I will try it for supper tonite.  Empty larder.  Parsley in the garden.  Hoping I have lemons.  Probably skipping the cream.
Rach it should be cheap, too!

This is one of those recipes that are almost better off without one — every ingredient can be adjusted to taste and the technique is just tossing everything about. I consulted a bunch of recipes but ended up being lured in by Cook’s Illustrated’s January 2011 version, as it had so much less heavy cream and olive oil than the others and the threat of bathing suits was a mere 48 hours away! But, I ended up not using the recipe as more than an outline; I didn’t think shallots belonged in the dish, I wanted more lemon juice and I didn’t care for their resting technique — the cheese just glued itself to the pot and not the noodles when I did this — the “toss, toss, toss!” method I used in last year’s Cacio e Pepe does a better, quicker job.
1 pound spaghetti or linguine
Salt
3 lemons
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil , plus additional for serving
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 ounce finely grated Parmesan cheese (about 1/2 cup), plus additional for serving
Ground black pepper
Small handful fresh basil or arugula (what I used, deliciously, in a pinch) leaves, shredded
Cook linguine or spaghetti in well-salted water to your al dente tastes in a large, wide-bottomed pot. (You’ll have fewer dishes to wash if you use this pot to assemble the dish as well.)
While pasta is cooking, zest lemons until you have a little shy of a tablespoon of zest. Juice lemons — you’ll have anywhere from 1/3 to 1/2 cup lemon juice.
Drain pasta, reserving 1 1/2 cups of pasta cooking water. Dry out your pot, then boil the olive oil, cream, zest and 1 cup of the reserved pasta water together for two minutes over high heat. Return pasta to pot and stir until coated. Add the cheese and 1/4 cup lemon juice and toss, toss, toss everything together. Add more pasta water, 1/4 cup at a time, if you’d like your dish a little looser. Quickly taste a strand of pasta and see if you want to add the remaining lemon juice (we did). Stir in basil or arugula and season generously with salt and pepper.
Serve immediately, drizzling individual portions with a bit of extra olive oil and sprinkling with extra Parmesan. cheese.

Butter Cookies

For years when we wanted to use cookie cutters, this was the cookie.  The recipe is found in Master Recipes by Stephen Schmidt.

Ingredients:

1stick of butter

1/2 cup of sugar

2 large egg yolks

1 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups of unbleached flour

Place butter, sugar, egg yolks and vanilla in a mixing bowl.  Beat til smooth and creamy and beginning to lighten.  Sprinkle flour on top and continue to blend.  

To roll for cutting:  

Chill dough briefly.  Then roll on a slightly floured surface 3/16 of an inch.  Place cookies on a lightly greased baking sheet.  Bake at 350 for 11-15 minutes.

If you want to just make round cookies:

Pinch off pieces of dough and roll into a ball in your hands.  Place the balls on the prepared cookie sheet.  Lightly butter the bottom of a drinking glass and dip in sugar.  Flatten the dough into disks with the sugar coated glass bottom.

Grandma's Ginger Crisps

I'm searching for the perfect ginger snap.  I tried these tonight.  I love the texture - crisp and soft in the middle.  Very buttery - yum!  The cookies could be spicier.

I'll continue to look.  Obviously right butter to flour ratio.  Just want more molasses and spices.

found on The Cast-Iron blog

Ingredients:

3/4 c shortening
1 c white sugar, plus a bit extra
1 egg
1/4 c molasses
2 c flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1 tsp ground ginger

1. Cream the shortening and 1 cup of sugar; add the egg and molasses and mix until creamy.

2. Mix the dry ingredients together and add the dry to the wet and mix until you get something that looks like cookie dough.

3.  Lightly grease a couple of baking sheets, or line them with parchment paper. Make 1.5 tbs balls of dough and roll in some white sugar. Place the dough balls about 1.5" apart on the baking sheet. Press each ball down gently with a fork.

4. Bake for 10-12 minutes (watch them after 10 minutes!) in a 375ºF oven. Let cool, then devour them all and share them with no one. No no. I didn't mean that. I mean wrap them up and give them to friends and family in the spirit of the season.

Bombay Aloo

(I'll post photos of the delicious blackbean pumpkin soup shortly--after congealing in the fridge overnight it was like baked black beans! So yummmmmmy.)


Although I've seen so many soups that look irresistible, we currently have lots of soup in the fridge and are running out of pots to hold them.  Also, I still have a lot of that garam masala I made so I figured why not put it to use with this recipe:

Bombay Aloo (Serves 4)

3 potatoes, peeled and chopped into bite-size pieces

2 tsp salt

1 tsp turmeric

1/2 onion, finely chopped

2" piece fresh ginger, grated

4 cloves of garlic, thinly sliced

1 tsp garam masala (I use homemade)

1 tsp cumin powder

1 tsp chilli powder

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 onion, sliced

1/2 green capsicum, deseeded & sliced  (apparently this is just a bell pepper, she's a Brit living in Spain, they make words up over there I hear)

2 tbsp tomato puree

1 tbsp lemon juice

1 tomato, skin & core removed, cut into 8 pieces

4 tbsp chopped coriander

Boil the potatoes in water with a little 2 tsp salt and the turmeric until cooked.

Meanwhile, heat the oil in a karahi or deep frying pan and fry the finely chopped onion for about 3 minutes, until translucent.

Add the ginger, garlic, garam masala, cumin and chilli powder, stir fry for 2 minutes.

Add the 1/2 tsp of salt, the sliced onion, capsicum, tomato puree, lemon juice and cut tomato, stir fry for 2 minutes.

Drain the potatoes and add to the pan. Mix well and serve immediately sprinkled with coriander.

Note: This dish can be made ahead and re-heated.

from http://debskitchencreations.blogspot.com/2010/11/bombay-aloo.html


Sounds easy enough, right?