Banana Cake

I had some leftover bananas and wasn't in the mood for banana bread so I had to give this cake a try.  AWESOME.

2/3 cup sugar

1/2 cup sour cream (I used fat-free)

1 egg

1 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

2 large or 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed

1 tsp vanilla 

1 cup flour

1/4 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking soda

 

Cream together sugar, sour cream, butter, egg.  Add bananas and vanilla, mix well.  Stir in salt, baking soda, and flour.  Pour into a greased 8x8 or 9x13 pan (I made mine a 9x13 pan it was a lot thinner but I was feeding a lot of people, still delicious but if you want a thicker cake use an 8x8 pan or double the recipe for a 9x13).  Bake at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes until lightly browned.

 

I frosted my cake with a Brown-sugar glaze...

 

3 Tbsp butter, melted
3 Tbsp  brown sugar
2 Tbsp milk
1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 – 2 cups powdered sugar

 

Blend together melted butter, brown sugar, milk, and vanilla.  Stir in powdered sugar until desired consistency.  Spread over warm cake and serve.

Carmalized Garlic and Baked Brie

I recently returned from Las Vegas where I had a wonderful lunch at the Mon Ami Gabi restaurant at the Paris Casino and Hotel.

One of the appetizers we tried was the baked brie.  It was drizzled with honey, toasted hazelnuts, and caramelized garlic cloves.  Seriously so good, I couldn't even believe they were garlic cloves.  When I got home I wanted to try to recreate this delight and this combo is pretty darn close.

I adapted from the following sources: Baked Brie, Caramelized garlic.

Brie:
1 wheel of Brie (12-14oz)
honey
hazelnuts

Place Brie wheel in the center of a 8x8 glass pan.  Drizzle with honey and sprinkle hazelnuts over the top.  Bake at 350 degrees for 10-20 minutes until soft and hazelnuts smell toasted (it is okay to leave it in for awhile, the original recipe calls for 10 minutes I left mine in for 20).

Caramelized Garlic:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 Tbsp butter
2 Tbsp cooking white wine (could substitute with apple juice or just water, but cooking wine is inexpensive, non-alcoholic, and lends the right taste)
2 Tbsp water
1/2-1 cup fresh peeled garlic cloves (I buy the fresh peeled cloves from Costco.  You a lot more garlic for just $1 more and all the hard work is done).

Place garlic cloves in boiling water and cook for 2 minutes.  Remove from boiling water and place in cold water to stop cooking.  This tenderizes the garlic.  Drain on paper towel.

In a heavy skillet, add butter, brown sugar, and cooking wine.  Place over medium heat and stir constantly until well mixed and butter melted.  Add water and swirl pan to incorporate.  If thickening too quickly turn down the heat.  Add garlic and stir to coat.  Allow to sauté while stirring occasionally over low heat until garlic is tender and the caramelization thickens up.  This takes about 10 minutes.

Spoon with a bit of sauce over the baked brie.  Serve brie with toasted baguette slices.

Eggplant Parmesan

I had never bought or used Eggplant but it was really cheap a couple of weeks ago at Winco and I remembered that any time I had eaten Eggplant Parmesan I liked it so why not make some.

This ended up being very easy!  I adapted a recipe from allrecipes.com.  My adaptation is for an 8x8 pan.

Eggplant Parmesan

1 medium-large eggplant, peeled and sliced

1 egg, beaten

1 cup of Italian breadcrumbs

Shredded mozzarella cheese

Prego Spaghetti sauce of choice

1/4 grated parmesan cheese

1 tsp dry basil

 

Slice eggplant into 1/3 inch slices.  Dip each slice in the beaten egg and then in bread crumbs.  Lay on lightly greased baking sheet and bake at 350 degrees for 10-15 minutes until browned and tender.

 

 

In an 8x8 pan spread a layer of sauce on bottom.  Layer eggplant on top of sauce and sprinkle with some mozzarella cheese and some parmesan cheese (I like a lot of cheese so I didn't write amounts.  Suggested amount for whole recipe is 8 oz).  Layer sauce on top of cheese, and repeat with eggplant, mozzarella cheese, parmesan cheese until pan is full.  End with cheese on top.  Sprinkle with basil.

 

Cover pan with aluminum foil and bake in preheated oven (350 degrees) for 30-40 minutes, removing foil for last 5-10 minutes.  Serve with pasta or breadsticks.