Char Siu

Posted on December 26, 2011 by sparecake

This recipe has nothing to do with recently observed holidays, but I don’t celebrate Christmas anyway, so…here’s some pork! I’ve made this recipe a few times, and it’s super easy and delicious. Kyle and Alex hadn’t had it before, and both thought it was restaurant-good. It’s pretty much that red pork you get at Chinese restaurants, but without the food coloring.

Ingredients:

  • 2 1/2 pounds pork butt
  • 3/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup rice wine/dry sherry
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder

Cut the pork into 1/2 inch thick strips. I asked the man at the meat counter to do this, which was a tremendously good idea – so much simpler!

Combine all the other ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Add the meat and make sure each slice has gotten covered in the sauce.

Marinade in the fridge for 2 to 24 hours the longer the better. Pouring it all into a ziplock, squeezing out the air, and sealing is a pretty convenient way to keep it for the time. That way, you can flip it a time or two during the day to make sure it’s all evenly coated.

Grill over medium heat until tender, about ten minutes on each side.

This is great as-is, maybe with some fried rice or something, or you can make it into bao (buns), like so.

Hope you got all the presents you hoped for and/or nice time with your families.

Char Siu

Adapted from whats4eats.

  • 2 1/2 pounds pork butt
  • 3/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 1/2 cup soy sauce
  • 1/2 cup rice wine/dry sherry
  • 1/3 cup honey
  • 1 tablespoon sugar
  • 1/4 teaspoon ginger powder

Cut pork into 1/2 inch thick strips.

Combine all the other ingredients in a large bowl and stir well. Add the meat and turn to coat. Marinate 2 -24 hours in the refrigerator.

Grill over medium heat until tender, about ten minutes on each side.

Posted in Dinner | Tagged , | 4 Comments

Parmesan Herb Bread

Posted on December 23, 2011 by sparecake

I’ve had this bread bookmarked for ages, but it’s supposed to be cooked in a dutch oven, which I didn’t have. My roommate Alex brought one home recently, so I was finally able to check it out. This particular dutch oven is a huge, heavy, cast iron beast, so it was a bit of a challenge to swing in and out of a hot oven, but the bread was worth it! Other than heaving a huge pot around (and you may have a lighter, enameled version…), it’s super simple – doesn’t even require kneading, and it smells and tastes great.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 3/4 tablespoon of kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic powder

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl.

Stir everything together until even. It won’t be a smooth dough at this point, but that’s fine.

Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours.

Thickly dust a kitchen towel with flour. After the rest, the dough will be wetter and sticky. Wet your hands and shape the dough into a ball. Set the dough seam-side down on the towel. Fold the towel over the dough and let it rise another 2 hours.

With 30 minutes left in the rise, place a five quart dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

I was in the middle of making tons of cake when I did this, so I preheated the dutch oven on the stove. This worked fine until I was ready to put the dutch oven into the oven, and realized I hadn’t taken out the oven racks, so I had super hot things all over the kitchen. Oops!

When the rise is over and your dutch oven is hot, pull out the dutch oven and flip the dough off the towel into the dutch oven. Shake briefly to even the dough out, then cover and put back in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake another 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove the bread from the hot dutch oven, and cool on a wire rack.

Delicious!

I’m looking forward to trying more dutch oven recipes! I’ll be posting this one to yeastspotting. (I won a bagel miter, which I hadn’t even known existed before then, from yeastspotting recently. Woo!)

Parmesan Herb Bread

From What’s Cookin’ Chicago?

  • 3 cups bread flour
  • 1/4 teaspoon instant yeast
  • 3/4 tablespoon of kosher salt
  • 1 1/2 cups warm water
  • 1/2 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1/2 teaspoon granulated garlic powder

Combine all the ingredients in a large bowl. Stir everything together until evenly mixed but still shaggy. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and let sit 12-20 hours.

Dust a kitchen towel well with flour. Wet your hands and shape the dough into a ball. Set the dough seam-side down on the towel. Fold the towel over the dough and let it rise another 2 hours.

With 30 minutes left in the rise, place a five quart dutch oven in the oven and preheat to 450 degrees.

When the rise is over and your dutch oven is hot, pull the dutch oven out of the oven and flip the dough off the towel into the dutch oven. Shake briefly to even the dough out, then cover and put back in the oven for 30 minutes. After 30 minutes, remove the lid and bake another 15-20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Remove the bread from both ovens and cool on a wire rack.

Posted in Bread | Tagged , , | 2 Comments

Brownie Muffins

Posted on December 21, 2011 by sparecake

I was wandering around mrbreakfast.com again recently, and saw a review of one recipe that called the food an “[e]xcellent source of chocolate.” Can’t turn that down! Brownie muffins are exactly what they sound like – they taste like brownies, and are somewhere between brownie and muffin in texture. Not light and fluffy, but not overly thick and chewy either. A lovely breakfast-dessert!

I got ten muffins out of this recipe. The recipe calls for 1/4 cup of nuts, which I left out. I think if you added the nuts, you’d make it to an 11th muffin, but they’d be awful tiny if you divided the batter into 12 muffins.

Ingredients:

  • 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 1/4 cup walnuts or pecans – chopped
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 large eggs – lightly beaten
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I only used half)
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • additional 2 or 3 Tablespoons chocolate chips for topping
  • additional 1 or 2 Tablespoons chopped nuts for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Line on grease a muffin pan.

In a small bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, and cinnamon. Set aside.

In a small pan, melt the butter on the stove over low heat. Stir in the cocoa and chocolate chips and continue stirring until the chocolate melts. Remove from the heat and set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, sugar, and vanilla.

Add the flour and chocolate mixtures to the large bowl, and the nuts too if you’re using them, and stir everything together until just mixed. Spoon the mixture into the muffin tin, filling each about 3/4ths full.

Sprinkle some extra chocolate chips and nuts on top. Bake 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the middle of one comes out clean.

Let cool in the pan for five or so minutes, then remove to a rack to cool the rest of the way. Or, yknow, eat for breakfast!

No breakfast is complete without some chocolate!

Brownie Muffins

From Mr. Breakfast.

  • 1/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
  • 1/4 cup cocoa
  • 1/4 cup walnuts or pecans – chopped
  • 1/2 cup unsalted butter
  • 2 large eggs – lightly beaten
  • 1 cup sugar
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
  • 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
  • additional 2 or 3 Tablespoons chocolate chips for topping
  • additional 1 or 2 Tablespoons chopped nuts for topping

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease or line a muffin plan.

In a small bowl, stir together flour, baking powder and cinnamon. Set aside.

Melt the butter in a small pan over low heat. Stir in cocoa and chocolate chips and continue to stir until chocolate is melted. Set aside.

In a large bowl, combine the egg, sugar and vanilla extract. Add the chocolate mixture, the flour mixture, and the chopped pecans. Stir until just blended. Spoon batter into prepared pan, filling each cup 3/4 full.

Sprinkle each muffin with a few chocolate chips and a pinch of chopped nuts. Bake 20 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in a muffin comes out clean.

Cool in pans for 5 minutes, then remove to a rack to cool completely.

Posted in Breakfast, Dessert | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

Cranberry Glazed Pork Ribs

Posted on December 19, 2011 by sparecake

Alex’s mom gave him some herb and spice kit at some point, and he recently decided he wanted to use one of the cinnamon sticks that came in it. A brief search of AllRecipes, and bam! Delicious dinner!

There's a lot going on in this picture...

Ingredients:

  • 1 (8 ounce) can whole cranberry sauce
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
  • 1 1/2 pounds country style pork ribs

Stir together the cranberry sauce, cinnamon stick, mustard, and orange zest in a small pot. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes or until bubbly.

Not the single greatest looking stage, but it already smells grand!

Send your roommate outside to preheat the grill until the coals are medium hot.

Brush the sauce over the ribs and send your roommate back out to put the ribs on the grill. It’s cold out there!

Cover the grill and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Go out several times (2 or 3) to brush on additional sauce. Cook until ribs are tender but no longer pink. We didn’t flip them at all.

Heat the remaining sauce until bubbling again to kill any pork-germs that got in when you were brushing the pork, pull out and toss the cinnamon stick, and serve the extra sauce with the ribs.

The ribs came off the grill and there was a panicked "oh wait what do we eat with this??"

These were good. Really, very very good. It makes enough for 2ish people hungry people, who will soon be happy people!

Cranberry Glazed Pork Ribs

From AllRecipes.

  • 1 (8 ounce) can whole cranberry sauce
  • 1 cinnamon stick
  • 1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
  • 1 teaspoon grated orange zest
  • 1 1/2 pounds country style pork ribs

Stir together the cranberry sauce, cinnamon stick, mustard, and orange zest in a small pot. Heat over medium heat for 5 minutes or until bubbly.

Preheat the grill until the coals are medium hot. Brush the sauce over the ribs and put them on the grill. Cover the grill and cook for 45 minutes to an hour. Go out several times (2 or 3) to brush on additional sauce. Cook until ribs are tender but no longer pink.

Heat the remaining sauce until bubbling again, pull out and toss the cinnamon stick, and serve the extra sauce with the ribs.

Posted in Dinner | Tagged , , | 1 Comment

Homemade Funfetti

Posted on December 16, 2011 by sparecake

Who wants to have a good time?

BAM! Party accomplished.

When I first read this recipe, I noticed that the person who wrote it wanted a slightly butterier flavored cake, but used vanilla and almond extracts. I was pretty pleased to find somewhere to use the butter extract I bought a while ago on a whim at Whole Foods to fix that problem.

Daaaang this smells good!

Ingredients:

Cake:

  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 cup milk, divided
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter extract
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
  • 8 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening
  • 1/3 cup multi-colored sprinkles

Frosting:

  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 sticks softened unsalted butter
  • 6 tablespoons milk
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9″ cake pans. I also lined mine with parchment and greased the parchment as well.

In a small bowl, mix the egg whites, 1/4 cup of the milk, and the extracts. Whisk together briefly with a fork and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir together well. Add the butter and shortening and mix for thirty seconds, until well combined.

Add the remaining milk and mix for about three minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the egg mixture in 3 or 4 batches, mixing between each. Mix another minute.

Gently fold in the sprinkles.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pans 5 minutes, then turn out to cool completely on wire racks.

Beat all frosting ingredients together until smooth, and frost cake.

That’s purdy!

Mine got a bit more ridiculous here, as I made 3 more batches of cake batter, and two of marshmallow fondant. Practice wedding cake!

The dots only went halfway, it was an experiment. A success, I think.

Homemade Funfetti

Lightly adapted from The Kitchn.

Cake:

  • 4 large egg whites
  • 1 cup milk, divided
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1/2 teaspoon butter extract
  • 3 cups cake flour
  • 1 1/2 cups white sugar
  • 4 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 4 tablespoons softened unsalted butter
  • 8 tablespoons non-hydrogenated shortening
  • 1/3 cup multi-colored sprinkles

Frosting:

  • 4 cups powdered sugar
  • 2 sticks softened unsalted butter
  • 6 tablespoons milk
  • 4 teaspoons vanilla

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease two 9″ cake pans.

In a small bowl, combine the egg whites, 1/4 cup of the milk, and the extracts. Whisk together briefly with a fork and set aside.

In a large bowl, mix the cake flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Stir together well. Add the butter and shortening and mix for thirty seconds, until well combined. Add the remaining milk and mix for about three minutes.

Scrape down the sides of the bowl, then add the egg mixture in 3 or 4 batches, mixing between each. Mix another minute. Gently fold in the sprinkles.

Divide the batter between the prepared pans.

Bake 25 to 30 minutes. Cool in the pans 5 minutes, then turn out to cool completely on wire racks.

Beat all frosting ingredients together until smooth, and frost cake.

Posted in Dessert, Party! | Tagged , , , , | 6 Comments

Crock Pot Chicken Wings

Posted on December 14, 2011 by sparecake

Wooo crockpots, you make life so easy! These wings are super simple, tasty, and tender. I like ’em!

Ingredients:

  • 12 to 18 chicken wings
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 green onions minced
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 teaspoons oil

Really all you do is combine everything but the chicken in the crock pot, stir it about for a second, then throw in the chicken as well. Toss for a second to coat, then leave them alone to cool for 6-8 hours on low.

It seems like very little sauce for the amount of chicken, but you can get a thin coating on all the wings at the start, and as they cook moisture comes out of the wings which helps each piece get flavored. I cooked mine for 7 hours and they were soft enough to fall off the bone.

Easy and delicious! These would be popular at a party, I have no doubt.

Crock Pot Wings

From About.com.

  • 12 to 18 chicken wings
  • 1/3 cup soy sauce
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 2 garlic cloves minced
  • 2 green onions minced
  • 1 tablespoon honey
  • 2 teaspoons oil

Combine all ingredients except wings in crock pot and stir together. Add wings and toss to coat. Cook on low 6-8 hours.

Posted in Dinner, Party! | Tagged , , | Leave a comment

No Commitment Sourdough

Posted on December 12, 2011 by sparecake

I don’t know about you, but the idea of having sourdough starter in my fridge for the rest of forever seems like way too much commitment to me. I’d much rather just have a Tamagotchi or something. Because I like delicious things, though, I am definitely willing to leave a bowl of stuff around for just two days when necessary for some pretty delicious sourdough bread.

I considered not sharing this recipe, as my bread came out weirdly flat, but my coworkers thought it was super delicious, and it worked well to eat pizza dip on, so if nothing else, they might want this recipe!

Ingredients:

  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 3 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F), divided
  • 7 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • Cornmeal

In a large plastic or glass bowl combine the yeast with two cups of the warm water. Let it stand for five minutes. Add two cups of flour and stir until smooth.

Cover loosely with a clean towel and place somewhere warm – in the oven with the oven light on is perfect. Let it stand for 48 hours, stirring several times a day. When you wake up, get home from work, and go to bed should be enough. Liquid will separate out and it’ll smell tangy, but just stir the liquid back in and put it back in the oven – it’s fine.

Stir in the milk powder, butter, sugar, salt, the remaining cup and a half of water, and 4 cups of flour. Stir in as much of the remaining cup of flour as necessary to make a soft dough – I put it all in.

Cover and let rise in a warm place (back in the oven’s good!) until doubled, about an hour and a half. Mine rose all the way to fill that bowl.

Heavily grease two baking sheets, then sprinkle them with cornmeal.

Punch down the risen dough, then knead briefly to get out any remaining air. Divide the dough in half and shape each into a round loaf. Put each on one of the prepared pans. Mine was sort of more of a gloop than a dough, so ball was out of the question.

Cover and let rise another half an hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the bread is risen, cut three slashes across the top of each loaf and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with cold water, then back a further 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool on wire racks.

I’m not sure why mine was so flat (I think I made this a few years ago and didn’t have that issue?) but thinly sliced it was good for dip or appetizers!

Sourdough Bread

From allrecipes.

  • 1 package active dry yeast
  • 3 1/2 cups warm water (110 degrees F to 115 degrees F), divided
  • 7 cups all-purpose flour, divided
  • 1/4 cup nonfat dry milk powder
  • 2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted
  • 2 tablespoons sugar
  • 2 teaspoons salt
  • Cornmeal

In a large plastic or glass bowl combine the yeast with two cups of the warm water. Let stand for five minutes then stir in two cups of flour until smooth.

Cover loosely with a clean towel and place somewhere warm to stand for 48 hours. Stir several times a day.

Stir in the milk powder, butter, sugar, salt, remaining  water, and 4 cups of flour. Stir in as much of the remaining cup of flour as necessary to make a soft dough.

Cover and let rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour and a half.

Heavily grease two baking sheets and sprinkle them with cornmeal.

Punch down the risen dough, then knead briefly to get out any remaining air. Divide the dough in half and shape each into a round loaf. Put each on one of the prepared pans.

Cover and let rise another half an hour. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. When the bread is risen, cut three slashes across the top of each loaf and bake for 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and brush with cold water, then back a further 35-40 minutes, until golden brown.

Cool on wire racks.

Posted in Bread | Tagged | Leave a comment

Pepperoni Pizza Dip

Posted on December 9, 2011 by sparecake

Sure I posted a pizza recipe Wednesday, but this is pizza dip, which is totally different! It’s great for parties, or to bring to work if you’re looking to feed some coworkers.

Ingredients:

  • 1 6 ounce package of pepperoni
  • 1 15 ounce can pizza sauce
  • 4 green onions
  • 2 1/4 ounce can sliced black olives, drained
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • 4 ounces softened cream cheese
  • a 14.5 ounce can diced, peeled tomatoes, drained a bit
  • a big handful of shredded parmesan

Start off by blending roughly half the pepperoni and the drained can of diced tomatoes together in the blender.

Slice the remaining pepperoni into small slices and finely chop the green onions.

Combine all the ingredients in a pot over medium heat on the stove. Cook 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cream cheese is melted and everything is well mixed.

Serve with chips or thinly sliced bread, maybe even celery sticks?

Jeremy made sandwiches with it

Viet enjoyed it!

Pepperoni Pizza Dip

Adapted from Noble Pig. (I love that blog, by the way!)

  • 1 6 ounce package of pepperoni
  • 1 15 ounce can pizza sauce
  • 4 green onions
  • 2 1/4 ounce can sliced black olives, drained
  • 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  • 2 cups shredded mozzarella
  • 4 ounces softened cream cheese
  • a 14.5 ounce can diced, peeled tomatoes, partially drained
  • a big handful of shredded parmesan

Blend half the pepperoni and the drained can of diced tomatoes together in the blender.

Slice the remaining pepperoni into small slices and finely chop the green onions.

Combine all the ingredients in a pot over medium heat on the stove. Cook 7-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the cream cheese is melted and everything is well mixed.

Serve with chips or thinly sliced bread.

Posted in Dinner, Lunch, Party! | Tagged , | 6 Comments

Cast Iron Pizza

Posted on December 7, 2011 by sparecake

While Chicago style pizza is not my absolute favorite (nothing compares to Windham House of Pizza, obviously), I do appreciate a good thick crust pizza now and again. Now that I have a cast iron pan, I can make a good one at home easily! Sean, who I made this pizza with, thought the crust was a bit sweet (in a good way), which I guess comes from the cornmeal, as there’s no sugar in there.

Ingredients:

Crust:

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup cornmeal
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 package dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tb. warm water
  • 3 tb. Olive oil (42 g.) plus more for the pan

Pizza:

  • one recipe dough
  • 1/2 pound of shredded mozzarella
  • 1/2 pound cooked crumbled chorizo (or whatever meat/toppings you like)
  • 2 chopped cloves of garlic
  • one 14 ounce can of chopped tomatoes, drained well in a strainer
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • handful grated parmesan cheese

Put the yeast in the water in a large bowl and let sit for five minutes. Add the rest of the dough ingredients and stir together until well mixed. Knead briefly – you can do this just in the bowl, with one hand. Cover loosely and let rise either in a warm place for an hour, or in the refrigerator overnight.

Once the dough has risen, preheat your oven to 500 degrees. Pour a teaspoon or so of oil into your cast iron pan and tilt it around. Flatten the dough with your hands and press it into the bottom of the pan and up the sides.

Add the mozzarella.

Top it with the chorizo, then the garlic, the tomatoes, oregano, and lastly the handful of parmesan.

Put the pizza in your preheated oven and reduce the temperature to 400. Bake for 35 minutes.

Delicious! We just ate it straight out of the pan, classy-style. Food that makes it to the table probably wasn’t worth eating anyway.

PS: Wooo 100 posts! There’ll be a cake in a week or two when I get time…

Cast Iron Pizza

From a thread on pizzamaking.com.

Crust:

  • 1 3/4 cups flour
  • 1/4 cup cornmeal
  • 1/2 tsp. salt
  • 1/2 package dry yeast
  • 1/2 cup plus 1 1/2 tb. warm water
  • 3 tb. Olive oil (42 g.) plus more for the pan

Pizza:

  • one recipe dough
  • 1/2 pound of shredded mozzarella
  • 1/2 pound cooked crumbled chorizo (or whatever meat/toppings you like)
  • 2 chopped cloves of garlic
  • one 14 ounce can of chopped tomatoes, drained well in a strainer
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano
  • handful grated parmesan cheese

Combine the warm water and yeast in a large bowl and let sit 5 minutes. Add remaining crust ingredients, stir well, then knead briefly. Cover loosely and let rise 1 hour on the counter or overnight in the refrigerator.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees. Lightly grease a 10 1/2″ cast iron skillet. Flatten the dough with your hands, then press into the bottom and up the sides of the pan.

Top crust with remaining ingredients in the following order: mozzarella, chorizo, garlic, tomatoes, oregano, parmesan.

Put pizza in preheated oven and reduce heat to 400. Bake 35 minutes, then serve.

Posted in Dinner | Tagged , , | 5 Comments

Banana Beignets

Posted on December 5, 2011 by sparecake

I’ve had this recipe bookmarked for well over a year as a thing to make with Jon. He just moved to a new house with a nice big kitchen, and the time had come! They were super delicious – wish we’d made them ages ago! Jon’s vegan, so we made some substitutes that I’ll list in the ingredients…

One of Jon's new roommates has magnetic poetry...

Ingredients:

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for frying
  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg (we used 1 teaspoon of ground flax seed and 3 teaspoons of water, left to sit together for 10 minutes)
  • 1/2 cup whole milk (we used almond milk)
  • 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 overripe banana)
  • 1/4 teaspoon banana extract (optional)
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Fill a large skilled with oil until about 2″ deep. Heat over medium-high heat until 375 degrees.

Mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a shallow bowl and set aside. Put the powdered sugar in another shallow bowl.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar together in a large bowl.

Whisk together the egg, milk, banana, and 2 tablespoons of oil, and extract if using it, in another bowl.

Mix the liquid mixture into the dry goods until just evenly moistened.

Working several at a time, drop rounded spoonfuls of batter into the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 15 seconds per side. It’s easiest to have one person spooning and another flipping/removing.

Pull the cooked beignets out and let them drain briefly on paper towel.

Roll the warm beignets in the cinnamon sugar, the powdered sugar, or both!

I think ours may technically have been a bit undercooked because the inside was squishy, but we both really liked it that way so…no harm done!

Serious eats!

Don’t wait as long as we did to make these!

Oh, and my new replacement camera arrived after this, so hopefully there should be some nice looking pictures soon! Or just me playing around. It does cool things!

Banana Beignets

From Baseball Baking and Books.

  • 2 tablespoons vegetable oil, plus more for frying
  • 1 1/2 cups cake flour
  • 2 teaspoons baking powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
  • 1/3 cup plus 1/2 cup granulated sugar
  • 1 large egg
  • 1/2 cup whole milk
  • 1/2 cup mashed banana (about 1 overripe banana)
  • 1/4 teaspoon banana extract (optional)
  • 1/2 cup powdered sugar

Fill a large skilled with oil until about 2″ deep. Heat over medium-high heat until 375 degrees.

Mix 1/2 cup granulated sugar and 1 teaspoon cinnamon in a shallow bowl and set aside. Put the powdered sugar in another shallow bowl and set aside as well.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, salt, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon and 1/3 cup sugar together in a large bowl.

Whisk together the egg, milk, banana, and 2 tablespoons of oil, and extract if using it, in another bowl.

Mix the liquid mixture into the dry goods until just evenly moistened.

Working several at a time, drop rounded teaspoonfuls of batter into the hot oil and fry until golden brown, about 15 seconds per side. Remove and drain briefly on paper towel.

Roll the warm beignets in the cinnamon sugar and/or the powdered sugar.

Posted in Dessert | Tagged , , , | Leave a comment