The Manor Born Banana Cake with Coffee Buttercream

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I love bananas in dessert.  They add such a wonderful flavor and creamy texture, and somehow any dessert with bananas evokes some great far-off memory I can never quite put my finger on.  Banana splits, banana pudding, banana bread- they are all delicious.  I came across this recipe in Saveur Magazine, and wow- it is something else.  The coffee flavor in the frosting is so amazing with the banana flavor in the cake.   This one is definitely a crowd pleaser and one to keep on hand!  And it works perfectly as a cake or as mini cupcakes.  The recipe is originally from Serendipity 3 in Manhattan- and according to Saveur, while it has not been on the menu since the 1960’s, it is still one of the owner’s favorite desserts.  Who can argue with that!

The Manor Born Banana Cake with Coffee Buttercream

Ingredients:

For the Cake:

8 tbsp. unsalted butter, softened
2 1/4  cups cake flour
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1/4 tsp. salt
1 1/3 cups sugarhttps://thesouthwillrise.com/wp-admin/post-new.php
1 cup mashed ripe bananas (from about 2 medium bananas)
2 eggs
Scant 1/2 cup buttermilk
1 cup coarsely chopped shelled unsalted pecans

For the Frosting:

1 cup sugar
2 tbsp. instant espresso powder
6 egg yolks
1 lb. unsalted butter, cut into small pieces and softened

Directions:

For the cake: Preheat oven to 375°. Use 1 tbsp. of the butter to grease three 8″ round cake pans, line each pan with parchment paper, and set aside. Sift flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt together into a medium bowl and set aside. Beat remaining 7 tbsp. butter and sugar together in a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until fluffy, 3–4 minutes. Add bananas and beat on medium speed until well combined. Add eggs and buttermilk and beat until fully incorporated. Add flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon until just incorporated, then fold in pecans. Divide batter equally between prepared pans, smoothing tops with the spatula. Bake until cakes are golden brown and spring back when touched, 10–15 minutes. Cool cakes in their pans for 5 minutes on a wire rack, then remove them from pans, peel off parchment, and allow cakes to cool completely on the rack.

For the frosting: Combine sugar and 1/2 cup water in a small saucepan and boil over medium heat until sugar dissolves and syrup reaches 238° on a candy thermometer, 15–20 minutes. Meanwhile, dissolve espresso powder with 1 tsp. boiling water in a small bowl and set aside. Beat egg yolks in a medium mixing bowl with an electric mixer on high speed until pale yellow, 4–5 minutes. Gradually add hot sugar syrup to yolks in a slow steady steam down the side of the bowl, beating constantly on medium speed, and continue beating until mixture cools to room temperature, about 5 minutes. Add butter, one piece at a time, beating thoroughly on medium speed after each addition, and continue beating frosting until light and fluffy, about 5 minutes. Beat in espresso and set aside.

To assemble the cake, stack cake layers on top of each other on a cake plate, spreading about 1 cup of the frosting between each layer, then ice side and top of assembled cake with remaining frosting. Decorate cake by piping some of the frosting on top and garnishing with coffee beans, if you like. Refrigerate cake until frosting is set. Bring cake to room temperature before serving.

L’USINE and Jet Lag Dreams

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Happy New Year to everyone!!  I am finally coming out of the fog of jet lag from our trip to Vietnam which was awesome!  It was such an amazing trip, and I am the luckiest girl to have gotten to spend such a special vacation with my family.  I feel so lucky and blessed that I forwent (is that a real word?) eating the traditional black eyed peas and collard greens on New Years Day mainly because I really do feel so lucky, and I really do detest them, so it worked out.  First I want to give a quick up date on the trip.  The food was phenomenal.  Walker, of course was much more adventurous than I, but everything I had was fantastic.  I need to tell you about them most wonderful restaurant we went to.  Corby, Walker and I had a day of wandering around District 1, doing some shopping and attempting to go to the Vietnam War Remnants Museum (it was closed- hence the attempt).  Walker was quite the trooper dealing with me and Corby and all we wanted to see, especially since Walker’s cousins who live in Vietnam and had already seen all this stuff, were back at the house swimming and watching TV.  After several hours of walking in the heat, we decided lunch was in order.  My sister had mentioned a place called L’Usine that all the locals know about and love, and she had pointed out the alley you walk down to find the staircase that leads you to the restaurant.  Fortunately, we were right around the same area, and I managed to find the alley.  Walker was very skeptical.  As we climbed the stairs and finally found L’Usine (http://www.lusinespace.com/), we actually realized we had found heaven.  It was like walking out of Vietnam and into the coolest Manhattan downtown loft space ever.  It also helped that one of the first things we saw was a huge display of cupcakes.   We sat down to a delicious menu.  Walker ordered the baby squid and clam linguini while I ordered a delectable cheese plate. It was a fantastic lunch, and Corby I think just about fell in love with that place and would make the 30 hour trip to Vietnam just to go back.  We then ordered cupcakes that came from a bakery called Sweet and Sour run by a girl from Wilmington, NC- no wonder they were so good!  Anyway, L’Usine was definitely a highlight of the trip!!

Now, here is a quick little recipe that I came up with at 4 am dealing with jet lag.  I know that I am not the first person to think of this, but I thought it sounded great and so easy!  I love Pilsbury Crescent Rolls- but what about before you roll them up, sprinkle some grated cheddar cheese and bits of bacon in them.  Or for a breakfast treat- sprinkle cinnamon sugar in them- roll them up and then sprinkle more on top.  Just a little twist that I am going to try out this weekend!!

 

Best Holiday Gift- Hot Fudge Sauce

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I was looking around for easy fun gift ideas for friends when I saw in Southern Living (www.southernliving.com) the idea of gift jars of hot fudge sauce.  I had a few nights before fixed Corby and Walker ice cream for dessert and had found some hot fudge in the refrigerator.  I heated it up and poured some on Corby’s ice cream.  This is not something that we have very often at all, and I am wondering now why we don’t have it very often because it is awesome.  For some reason, it is just not something I think about adding to ice cream, and it makes ice cream- especially oreo ice cream so much better!  So, this gift idea really appealed to me, and of course they had an awesome recipe to go with it.  Find some mason jars and fill them with hot fudge sauce- which by the way is super easy to make, tie a ribbon around them, and you have become the hero of Christmas!

Hot Fudge Sauce

Ingredients:

1 (8-ounce) package unsweetened chocolate baking squares
1/2 cup butter or margarine
2 cups sugar
1 cup milk
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon salt

Directions:

Melt chocolate and butter in a large, heavy saucepan over low heat, stirring constantly. Add sugar, stirring until dissolved. Add milk, and cook, stirring constantly, 2 to 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. (Do not boil.) Remove from heat. Stir in vanilla extract and salt. Cover and chill leftover sauce up to 2 weeks.
To reheat: Microwave sauce in a glass bowl at HIGH 1 minute. Stir and microwave at HIGH 1 more minute or until sauce is thoroughly heated.

MMMM Eggnog

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So winter finally decided to visit Charleston, and it is now freezing!  I am sure the cold won’t last but while it does, what is better than eggnog and a fire?  Pretty sure it is at the top of the list.  It is great for parties, it is great for Sunday afternoon, and last night, it was great for Wednesday night.  And while I really do love eggnog, I find it to be a little like candy corns, I think it is probably best that they only come out at Halloween.  Eggnog is a Christmas thing, and that makes it even better.  Here is a great recipe for eggnog for the adults, and another on for the kids.

Eggnog (adult version)

Ingredients:

6 large eggs
3/4 cups vanilla sugar
1 quarts half and half (or light cream)
1 cup brandy
2 cups bourbon or dark rum
freshly grated nutmeg

Directions:

In large bowl, beat eggs until pale yellow and slightly frothy. Add sugar and half and half, and stir until well blended. Add brandy or bourbon (or dark rum) and stir. Transfer to large pitcher and chill until cold, at least 3 hours. Divide between 6 punch cups, garnish each with sprinkle of nutmeg, and serve.

Eggnog (for kids)

Ingredients:

3 cups whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

1/2 cup sugar

4 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

freshly grated nutmeg

Directions:

Whisk together the milk, cream, sugar, and eggs in a medium-sized nonreactive saucepan.

Cook over low heat, whisking constantly, until the mixture thickens slightly and coats the back of a spoon, about 5 minutes. Do not let it boil. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla extract.

Serve immediately, topped with freshly grated nutmeg to taste. Or you may refrigerate it, serve it cold, or reheat it before serving. If it thickens with refrigeration, simply thin with a little extra milk.

Lemonade and Gingerbread Angels

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I am trying so hard to get into the Christmas spirit!!  But when it is over 80 degrees, and Walker and two of his buddies have a ragingly successful lemonade stand in the middle of December, it just does not feel like Christmas.  So to combat the feelings of summer, I made gingerbread angels over the weekend.  They are so pretty, and now the house smells like cinnamon and nutmeg and all sorts of Christmasy smells, and it is back in the frigid 70s today, so a little less like summer.  I got a very cute picture of my angels pre decorations and wanted to get one post decorations, but Walker and his friends ate them too quickly.  I love this recipe because it is so easy, but the one trick I think is to make sure you roll out the dough thinly enough because the gingerbread definitely rises in the oven.

Gingerbread Men (or Angels)

Cream:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup dark molasses

Sift:
3 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cloves
2 tsp cinnamon
2 tsp ginger
2 tsp nutmeg
1/2 tsp salt

Add dry ingredients to the butter- sugar mixture alternately with about 1/4- 1/2 cup water, or enough to be able to roll out the dough.  Cut into shapes for a house or into gingerbread men and bake on double waxed paper.  Bake at 350 for 10-15 minutes.

Skirt Steak with a Chimichurri Sauce

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We had a few people over for dinner this past Friday night, and while I have heard that you are never supposed to serve something new at a dinner party, these were my best friends, so I thought that I could experiment on them.  Everything I made was a first time attempt.  It was a little nerve wracking, so I can see why people say not to do this.  However, things turned out very well, if I do say so myself.  I made skirt steak in a chimichurri marinade.  I had been served this at a dinner party over the summer, and it was amazing.  I googled chimichurri marinade, and several different recipes turned up.  The main difference between the recipes was the use of vinegar or not.  I chose one on www.epicurious.com that came from Bon Appetit.  It wasn’t until after I had read and reviewed about 15 different recipes and chosen this one as the best that I realized it was a Matt and Ted Lee recipe.  I should not be surprised as they are the best!  The only thing that I did slightly wrong was not leave the meat on the grill long enough.  I had bought about 4 lbs of meat in 2 pieces.  The directions I had read said to grill for 5 minutes per side.  I think my steaks were a little bit thicker but in fear of over cooking, I followed the 5 minute rule without checking the inside.  It was a little rare for my taste, but I put the middle section of the steak under the broiler for a few minutes, and it was great.  This is an awesome marinade and a delicious meal to serve- it will definitely be on my go to list!

Here is the recipe for the marinade.

Chimicurri Marinade

Ingredients:

1/2 cup red wine vinegar
1 teaspoon kosher salt plus more
3–4 garlic cloves, thinly sliced or minced
1 shallot, finely chhttps://thesouthwillrise.com/wp-admin/post-new.phpopped
1 Fresno chile or red jalapeño, finely chopped*
2 cups minced fresh cilantro
1 cup minced fresh flat-leaf parsley
1/3 cup finely chopped fresh oregano
3/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
*At Whole Foods, I could not find a Fresno chili or red jalapeno, so I got a green one.  It turns out there is no difference between a red and green jalapeno other than the color and season in which they are grown.*

Directions:

Combine vinegar, 1 teaspoon salt, garlic, shallot, and chile in a medium bowl and let stand for 10 minutes. Stir in cilantro, parsley, and oregano. Using a fork, whisk in oil. Remove 1/2 cup chimichurri to a small bowl, season with salt to taste, and reserve as sauce. Put meat in a glass, stainless-steel, or ceramic dish. Toss with remaining marinade. Cover and chill for at least 3 hours or overnight.

Remove meat from marinade, pat dry, and grill.

Happy Halloween!

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The day is finally here!!  Tunnel construction has begun, and according to Walker and my dad- it is going to be a 22nd Century Scare.  The 21st century is way to passee- obviously!  The ideas that they have and are trying to institute this year are maybe beyond ridiculous, but as long as they are happy, I am not going to get in the way.  My only job so far is to download scary music for Walker to play in the tunnel.  As a quick little aside, I made the pumpkin pudding from Blackberry Farm last night and it was amazing.  It did take longer to bake than the 30-40 minutes the recipe said, but I was very please with the way it turned out.  And the hard icing is so sinfully good!  I can’t wait to post pictures from the tunnel, and I can’t wait for all of this candy to go away because the amount I have eaten is getting silly.  I feel like I need awesome salad ideas and great veggie recipes.  That will be for November.  Here is a shot of Walker’s “army man” pumpkin. Hope everyone has a great night!

 

Halloween Costumes and Pumpkin Cheese Puffs

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Halloween has always been Walker’s favorite holiday especially since we have moved back to Charleston.  He loves the carnival at school and of course the candy is great, but Walker actually doesn’t go in for trick or treating. Every year, Walker and my dad build a haunted tunnel up the front steps of my parents house, and Walker hides in the tunnel and scares the trick-or-treaters.  As he has gotten older, he has gotten much scarier in the tunnel.  We now have to ask children and their parents whether or not they want a big scare or a little scare.  If they want a big scare, then Walker has full reign to jump out and scare the living daylights out of them.  If they actually don’t want to be scared, then we have to yell to Walker in the tunnel to “tone it down” at which point he comes out completely disgusted and lets the children through the tunnel without scaring them.  While all this is going on, Corby, my dad and mom, and myself are sitting on the front porch (at the top of the tunnel) drinking wine and handing out candy.  By the end of the night, we are laughing so hard at Walker scaring people that he gets mad that we are ruining it and not making it scary enough.  To be honest, with this whole tradition, Halloween is my favorite holiday as well.  Here are some pictures of Walker through the years- first when I got to dress him up in whatever I thought was cute- then we moved on to a “Star Wars” stage (my favorite is the jazz hands Darth Vader), and then we got scary- initially with the Headless Horseman, and now he is just a zombie.  This year, I think I will add to the wine and candy aspect of the evening with this great recipe for Pumpkin Cheese Puffs that I found on www.tasteofhome.com.

Pumpkin Cheese Puffs

Ingredients:

2 tablespoons cream cheese, softened
1/2 teaspoon balsamic vinegar
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup butter, cubed
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
4 drops yellow paste food coloring
1 drop red paste food coloring
1/2 cup grated Romano cheese
2 eggs
20 sprigs fresh Italian parsley, stems removed

Directions:

In a small bowl, combine cream cheese and vinegar. Cover and refrigerate. In a large saucepan, bring the water, butter and salt to a boil. Add flour all at once and stir until a smooth ball forms. Remove from the heat; let stand for 5 minutes.
In a small bowl, combine the yellow and red food coloring; stir Romano cheese and food coloring into dough. Add eggs, one at a time; beating well after each addition. Continue beating until mixture is smooth and shiny.
Drop by level tablespoonfuls 3 in. apart onto a greased baking sheet. Bake at 400° for 15-20 minutes or until lightly browned. Remove to a wire rack to cool.
Using a star tip and reserved cream cheese mixture, pipe stems onto puffs. Add parsley sprigs. Refrigerate leftovers. Yield: 10 servings.

Lowcountry Local First Field Feast- Food is Good

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We went to the 4th annual Lowcountry Local First Field Feast on Sunday, and it was as expected- AMAZING!! The setting was spectacular out at Rosebank Farm on Wadmalaw Island.  The tent  was set up by the river, we enjoyed cocktails on the lawn with Long Miles played, and then we moseyed down to the dock for a cool breeze and a raw bar.  I had gone over the menu when we arrived, and by the time we sat down, I almost couldn’t contain my excitement for the meal.   Fire charred bread was served with pumpkin seed condiment and a yogurt dip.  We snacked on this yumminess while introductions and thank yous were given, and then we heard from the farmer about the cow named Link that we were about to enjoy.  Okra soup followed, and then we were onto the meat.  Plate after plate of the best meat and sauces and vegetables and beans came out of the side yard where it was all prepared by Chef Mike Lata and his unbelievable staff from FIG (which stands for Food Is Good and they are so right).  I am in awe of this group.  It was a little warm on Sunday, the bugs were out, and the serving staff from FIG had been there all day on their day off no less.  While they passed around the drinks and appetizers, helped cook and serve us all dinner (and there were about 180 of us), dealt with the rain that came pouring down right after the soup course- they all smiled, were cheerful, were the best wait staff I have ever seen.  I could not be more impressed.  Now, I need to make special mention of dessert.  Because I am still dreaming about it.  On the menu, it just said Sea Island Milk Candy.  I was curious.  When dessert was served, it was cream stuffed crepes with a caramel sauce that was just special.  I don’t want to even degrade it by superfluous adjectives.  It was just special. This is by far and away my favorite event in Charleston, and if you are ever able to go, I would jump on the tickets as fast as possible, and if you can’t make it, then you should just eat at FIG because it is the next best thing.

The Whole Pig

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I have eaten a lot of pulled pork in the last two weekends.  It has been pretty awesome.  What I have been amazed at is the different ways said pork has been prepared and how tasty each different one is.  The first round of BBQ sandwiches was last weekend when we spent the day on the dock down in Wadmalaw.  My fantastic friends Brooke and Jodie said they were bringing some BBQ which was great because while I had dinner planned out, I had not done anything for lunch.  When we all got hungry from not catching any fish, Brooke ran up to the house to heat up the BBQ.  He came down with Jack Daniels new line of “ready to eat meats” Pulled Pork (http://jackdanielsmeats.com/products/PulledPork/index.html).  I must admit I was skeptical as I am not usually a fan of that kind of stuff, but this was really good.  The sauce was great, the meat was delicious, and it was so easy, and also the perfect size for just a few people.  Definitely a great thing to have in the fridge when you have a craving for BBQ.

The second event for pulled pork was this past Saturday night.  My brother and his wife have just recently moved to Charleston, and they had a house warming party.  Mac and cheese, biscuits, and pulled pork were on the dinner menu, and bourbon banana pudding and apple pie was for dessert.  It was pretty special.  Corby has cooked pulled pork on the grill a couple of times before, and it has been really delicious, but it takes forever!  He has to let it marinade in a brine for 24 hours and then he puts it on the grill for 8-10 hours, and it is just a huge effort that doesn’t happen very often.  Clearly, the low and slow technique is what good BBQ is all about, so why had I never thought to cook it in my crock pot like my sister in law did for Saturday night- genius!  As much as I love my crock pot and BBQ, I can not believe I have never done this!  Here is a great recipe I found for crock pot pulled pork- it is at the bottom.

Now, the third eating of pulled pork was last night at a Lowcountry Local First (www.lowcountrylocalfirst.org) event out at some friend’s house on Sullivans Island.  It was a great event to raise money for LLF which is a great group supporting local farmers and connecting them with restaurants and people to buy local and eat local.  The hosts had spent some time getting ready for the party.  The house is amazing and looked beautiful, they had a great band, and they had cooked an entire pig in a pit in their yard.  A big, huge pig in a hole- slow cooked for hours and hours.  It was pretty impressive and oh my god good.  So basically, from store bought to crock pot to whole pig in the ground- pulled pork BBQ is pretty awesome no matter what.

Crock Pot Pulled Pork

Ingredients:

1 pork roast or butt (size depends on how much you want)

1 large Vidalia onion, sliced thin
2 tablespoons brown sugar
1 tablespoon paprika
2 teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 (4-6 lb) boneless pork butt or shoulder
¾ cup cider vinegar
4 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce
1 ½ teaspoons crushed red pepper flakes
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoons dry mustard
½ teaspoon garlic salt
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper

Directions:

Rinse pork roast under cold water and pat dry with paper towels.

Place onions in crock-pot. In a small bowl, combine brown sugar, paprika, kosher salt and pepper; mix thoroughly. Rub mixture all over roast and place the roast on top of the onions.

In a medium bowl, combine vinegar, Worcestershire, red pepper flakes, sugar, mustard, garlic salt and cayenne pepper; whisk to combine. Drizzle about 1/3 of vinegar mixture over roast. Cover and refrigerate remaining vinegar mixture.

Cover crockpot; cook on low for 10-12 hours. Drizzle about 1/3 of reserved vinegar mixture over roast during last ½ hour of cooking.

Remove meat and onions; drain. Chop or shred meat and onions. Serve with remaining vinegar mixture or your favorite barbeque sauce.