Simply Awesome Chocolate Chip and Banana Muffins

I love banana's.  Most of the time I'm eating them with peanut butter and Nutella.  Today I wanted to make something that I could have for breakfast or even a late night snack.  I found this recipe on the web but I changed it just a tad.

Chocolate Chip and Banana Muffins
1 cup white sugar
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
1 1/2 cup butter melted (unsalted)
2 cups mashed overripe bananas (I used 3 big ones)
3 eggs
2 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 1/2 tsps. of baking soda
1 tsp. salt
1/2 cup of chocolate chips (coated in flour)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees and line two 6-cup muffin tins with liners.  I had extra batter so I did another 6 cups later.  In a large bowl, combine the sugars, melted butter, bananas, and eggs; mix well.  In another bowl combine the flour, baking soda and salt.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet and whisk until the batter is evenly moistened.  Stir in the chocolate chips.
Spoon the batter into the prepared muffin cups, bake for about 25-28 minutes, until a toothpick is inserted in the center and comes out clean.  Let the muffins cool for about 10 minutes, before turning them out on a rack to cool.

Serve with ice cold milk! Enjoy!

Recent Comments/ New Job

I just wanted to thank everybody who left comments on my blog, it makes me happy that people are actually reading this.  Oh by the way I am WORKING now... I am a teachers aide/assistant/lunch helper/diaper changer.. I'm having a lot of fun teaching the little kids, mostly the 2 year olds.  Not too fun is getting sick from the many germ refrigerators that I play with each day.  I've been getting colds more often that I can even remember and I think I had some sort of flu last week... So back to making chicken soup or Jewish penicillin this weekend definitely!!!

POM Glazed Pork Chops

About a week ago I received a case of  POM Wonderful 100% pomegranate juice, I was so happy I got in the kitchen and started to cook again.  I decided to make glazed pork chops.  I know that pork and fruit go pretty good together so I wanted to give this a try. I served this with roasted cauliflower.


4 center cut pork chops

1 8oz bottle of POM wonderful 100% pomegranate   juice
2 garlic cloves
2 tsp finely chopped rosemary
1/4 orange juice
2 TBS brown sugar
a pinch of red pepper flakes
salt and pepper
olive oil

Heat olive oil in the pan, season the pork chops with salt and pepper, brown the chops.  After brown, add the POM, garlic, rosemary, orange juice, brown sugar and lower the heat to medium.  Cook the pork in the sauce until the internal temperature of the pork is 170 degrees. Take out the Pork chops and let them rest, Bring the sauce to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, add red pepper flakes.  Continue to simmer until the sauce reduces to about half.  Enjoy.

I'm Thinking...

I'm thinking about changing the name of my blog to something like "Unemployed and blogging".  I've been unemployed for over two years now, I'm educated, street smart and probably smarter than some of the people who try to fix my computer over the phone. I hate to say that but it's true.
 I love to cook, read recipes, and other food blogs.  I think blogging makes me happy and I'm really going to work harder to update this page more often.  I'm also addicted to Twitter. That's all for now.  I'll be cooking soon and posting pictures.

I'm Back....

It's been a while since I've blogged, I've been cooking and I even took a cooking class with my sister at Whole Foods Market.  It was a class on Julia Child's Classical French Techniques. We made Petites Chaussons with Roquefort Cheese, Soufflé aux Épinards, Coq au Vin, Fonds d' Artichants Mornay,  Gratin Dauphinois and La Tarte des Demoiselles Tatin.  The instructor was very cheerful and answered all our culinary questions.

When we made the Coq au vin (chicken in red wine with onions, mushrooms and bacon) we were taught how to cut a whole chicken into eight pieces.  It was a little messy... (this is my sister, she wasn't too happy)

Sourdough Starter... Yummy Bread... Part two

I woke up from my dream, ran downstairs and checked on my starter.... it was happy bubbly and mighty smelly, but other than that it did not take over my whole kitchen.  I used a recipe that I found on youtube and it was really easy. 
This is the recipe:
1 cup starter
1 cup water
2 tsp salt
3 cups flour...... easy as 123!

In a bowl mix the starter, water, salt, and the flour.  Mix, but do not knead.  Let the dough rise in a warm place, in the bowl covered loosely with a towel.  Let the dough double in bulk just like a yeast bread dough.  You can tell when the dough has doubled if you poke your finger into the top of the dough and it doesn't bounce back. Probably 8-10 hours, so it's better to start this in the morning.  Ok ya got all that, take the dough out of the bowl and put it on the counter (put a little flour down first cause the dough is a little sticky).  Form the dough into a ball, try not to knead the dough just fold it, you want to keep the bubbles in the dough.  I used a Dutch oven to bake the bread in; I pre-heated the dutch oven with the lid in the oven at 450.  BE CAREFUL TAKING THE LID OFF, it's very hot.  Put the dough in the Dutch oven covered for 30 minutes, then lower the temperature to 400, take the lid off and set the timer for 20 minutes.

Sourdough Starter...Part one.

It all started out by watching hours and hours of Youtube videos on "How to make a sourdough starter". I was going to do this, although this takes time and patience which I do not have.  I want instant gratification and I was determined to make a sourdough starter.  I got my container (I used a Chinese soup container), flour and purified water.  I was told in every video to use "purified" water just because there are too many chemicals and other stuff  that could ruin my starter.  I started out with equal parts flour and water (1/2 cup of each).  Then put the lid on, not tight and left the starter to do its magic.  I was also told that I needed to "feed" it every 4 hours.  Ok, no problem!  I opened the container and added some more flour (oh by the way I used white bread flour) and water, covered it and left it alone again.  Well, by this time I was ready for bed so I fed it one more time and left the container on the counter.  In the meantime I did see some bubbles so I was really happy that my "starter" was starting. I went to bed.

As I slept I dreamt of my starter, it took over the whole kitchen, the living room and the dining room.  It was crawling up the walls and creeping up the steps.  There was floury goo and sour smell all over the house.  Everything was covered!  It was ALIVE!!! Ahhhh haaaaa!! ….to be continued….

Whooo Hooo!

It's official I'm on a Foodie Blog roll!!

Hamantaschen,Humentash,Hamantash

Here’s the recipe: No matter how you spell it, it’s still a tasty triangle treat. Either filled with prune butter (lekvar), cherries, fruit preserves or even chocolate it’s a traditional cookie that is eaten during the Jewish holiday of Purim. I remember my Mom-Mom would make these for us and now if you ask her the recipe she doesn't remember.  It’s sad, my Mom-Mom was such a wonderful cook and we always looked forward to the holidays to enjoy her cooking, now we take her recipes and cook for her. 

1 cup of sugar

3 eggs 

3 1/2 cup flour

3 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt (not kosher)

1 Tbsp orange juice

zest of an orange

Lekvar, cherry filling, apricot preserves

...or anything you really want to fill them with.

In a bowl, beat sugar, oil and eggs till creamy.  Sift the flour, baking powder and salt in another bowl.  Add the flour mixture to the sugar mixture with the orange juice and zest.  Mix till dough comes together.  (I made a double batch) Wrap in saran wrap tightly and put in the fridge for an hour or until the dough is chilled. (The colder the dough the better) After the dough has chilled, roll out the dough about a 1/4 inch and cut into circles about 3 inches.  Put about a heaping teaspoon in the middle and fold the edges up like a triangle. Pinch the ends so they won't open when they bake.  Bake at 425 for about 17 min.

CHOCOLAT REVIEW......

I was craving chocolate with sea salt and while I was in Wholefoods market I found this....
Mo's Bacon Bar made by Vosges Haut Chocolat. I figured since I like love bacon what could be bad about deep milk chocolate, applewood smoked bacon and alderwood smoked salt all packaged in a petite tin foil wrapper. I could have bought the "big" one but I settled for the .5oz for $2.49. I unwrapped the chocolate treat, and followed the directions on the back of the box.

Breathe... See... Smell... Snap... Taste....  wow... within seconds as promised I was in heaven.  I really prefer dark chocolate (the darker the better) but I was happily satisfied with the deep milk chocolate melting in my mouth.

TOM KHA GAI (Thai coconut soup)

I think my favorite soup besides Matzo ball is Tom Kha Gai (Thai coconut soup).
I found this recipe and it's easy and so delish! Thanks to Kahakai Kitchen for this recipe.

1 can (14oz) coconut milk (you can use light to cut down the fat)
1 can (14oz) reduced-sodium chicken broth
6 quarter size slices of fresh ginger
Cut 1 stalk of fresh lemongrass into 1 inch pieces.
1 cup sliced mushrooms ( I used shitake)
1/2 cup frozen peas
1 Tbs lime juice
1 Tbs Fish sauce
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp of Thai Chili paste (I used Sriracha)

In a medium saucepan, combine coconut milk, reduced-sodium chicken broth, ginger, lemongrass to the pan. Bring to a boil over high heat. Add sliced mushrooms; peas, fresh lime juice and fish sauce, sugar and Thai chili paste. Reduce heat and simmer, 5-10 minutes. Garnish each serving with 1 Tbsp each of fresh basil leaves or cilantro. Discard lemongrass. Serves 4.

It's cold! So let's go out to EAT.....

It's Saturday night and nobody wants to cook dinner.  We head out to one of our favorite Mexican restaurant, only to find that it's been closed... bummer! Since everyone in the car wanted Mexican food, (even the three year old) we were on a mission to find another restaurant. We end up at Fajita Grill in Alpharetta, GA. The food was authentic, although I'm not Mexican so I guess I can't really say that, but it was really good.  The salsa was good and there was plenty of it. The best part was the guacamole, a rough chop of avocado's, red onions, cilantro, tomato's and jalapeños.

It snowed yesterday in Georgia, so what did I do? I made Roasted Red Peppers!

The weatherman said it was going to snow 1-3 inches here in GA.  When it snows here everything shuts down just because they don't have the equipment to handle all of the snow.  So run to the markets, gas stations and movie stores to get what you need because you won't be leaving your house for a couple days.  I was lucky I started out early before the snow and bought about 5lbs of red peppers.  I was on a mission to make lots of sweet garlicky peppers. 

6-10 Red Peppers, washed, cored, cut into strips

Garlic, as much as you want, peeled and smashed

Olive Oil

Kosher salt

Cracked Pepper

Garlic Powder

Make sure you line your baking pan with tin foil; it's easier to clean up later. Spread the peppers evenly inside side up.  Sprinkle with salt, pepper, garlic powder. Add the garlic cloves. Drizzle with olive oil, lots of olive oil.  Mix so each pepper is wet with oil and seasonings.  Oven--425 for about 35 mins.  Watch the peppers, and you can mix them so they don't get burned.  I like mine a little black....I think the darker they are the sweeter they taste. Enjoy with nice crusty bread and provolone cheese...YUMMM

Wow these are spicy! Jalapeño Poppers!

I was craving something spicy and not too fatting so I decided to make my version of Jalapeño  Pepper Poppers. You can really put anything into a won ton wrapper and you can make these as spicy as you want.

Make sure that you make a lot because they go really fast.

Ingredients
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese, softened
1 (4 ounce) can diced jalapeno peppers
20 (3.5 inch square) wonton wrappers
1/2 tsp garlic powder
dash of lemon pepper
1/2 cup duck sauce
Kosher salt

Directions

In a medium bowl, stir together the cream cheese and jalapeno peppers, garlic powder and lemon pepper. Arrange wonton wrappers a few at a time on a clean dry surface. Set a cup or small bowl of water nearby. Place about a teaspoon of the cream cheese mixture onto the center of each wrapper. Moisten your fingertip in the bowl of water and trace the edges of the wonton wrappers. Fold into triangles or follow directions on the package for desired shapes. This part can be done ahead of time and refrigerated or frozen.

Pre-heat oven to 400, spray the wontons with cooking spray and cook for about 10 minutes or until brown and crispy looking. Sprinkle with Kosher salt.

Gnocchi~ Little fluffy potato pillows~~~supposed to be, right????

~~So, it's raining and I'm in the mood for some comfort food. I was surfing the net and I came across a recipe/blog and since her's was so beautiful I attempted to make mine as well. Well baking the potatoes in the oven was easy and then scooping them out was fine. I think it all went downhill when I tried to make the potato logs. I made them too fat and too short. Well, as you can see I had to pretty much fix all of my little potato pillows. Ok, then I cooked them, or overcooked them and well, my little pillows of potato fluff…ended up to be mush. I tried? 
I'm not going to give up, I will try this again and again until my Gnocchi look and taste and yummy as the ones that I posted. I want to thank A taseful's garden for inspiring me to make this.  Thank you!! I will keep you posted!!!

Onions ~Don't cry they won't hurt you!

"Onions, one of the oldest vegetables, are found in a large number of recipes and preparations spanning almost the totality of the world's cultures. They are now available in fresh, frozen, canned, caramelized, pickled, powdered, chopped, and dehydrated forms. Onions can be used, usually chopped or sliced, in almost every type of food, including cooked foods and fresh salads and as a spicy garnish. They are rarely eaten on their own, but usually act as accompaniment to the main course. Depending on the variety, an onion can be sharp, spicy, tangy and pungent or mild and sweet."~~~Wikipeda

Caramelizing onions, by slowly cooking them in a little olive oil until they are richly browned, is a wonderful way to pull flavor out of the simplest of ingredients. Onions are naturally sweet; and as caramel comes from the simple cooking of sugar, when you slowly cook onions over an extended period of time, the natural sugars in the onions caramelize, making the result intensely and wonderfully flavorful.

Pickled Tickled Cabbage

Pickled tickled cabbage, I found this recipe on a Food Buzz blog. Although I'm not a vegetarian I like to make lots of colorful salads and vegetable dishes. I renamed it Pickled Tickled Cabbage because the red onions tickled my nose as sliced them. The recipe is as follows:

1 head red cabbage, sliced thin

2 red onions, sliced thin
2 jalapeño peppers seeded, diced

5 cups boiling water

2tsp salt

2Tbs sugar

Apple cider vinegar
Mexican Oregano

Add sliced cabbage, onions and jalapeño peppers to a bowl, cover with boiling water for about a minute, drain. Transfer to a glass container and fill with the apple cider vinegar just to cover the cabbage, add salt, sugar and oregano, mix and keep covered in the fridge for a couple days.

Lasagna

Definitions of: lasagna
Definition: A baked dish of layers of lasagna{2} pasta with sauce and cheese and meat or vegetables; -- a popular dish of Italian cuisine.

Lasagna- do you love it? How can anyone not love lasagna? Ok, I can understand if you are lactose intolerant or a vegetarian (for the meat lover’s lasagna) but other than that it’s the perfect food. Cheese, Pasta, Tomato Sauce and really whatever you want to put in your 13 X 9 pan. I found this recipe and I decided to make it my own. By using no boil noodles this takes no time at all. I love bubbly cheese and pasta. Don't you?