This Banana Rum Cake is a deliciously moist cake with a distinct banana flavor. It makes a lovely dessert presentation for company. The recipe makes approximately two cups of glaze. Use extra portions as an ice cream topping or sauté ripe bananas with the glaze in a saucepan.
Ingredients
CAKE 2 ripe bananas, mashed
4 eggs
1/2 cup vegetable oil
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup banana liqueur
1/4 cup rum
15.25 oz. package yellow cake mix
4 oz. package instant vanilla pudding mix
GLAZE 1 cup sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup banana liqueur
1/4 cup rum
Directions
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Combine mashed bananas, eggs, vegetable oil, 1/2 cup water, 1/4 cup banana liqueur, and 1/4 cup rum together in a bowl. Add cake mix and pudding mix and stir until batter is smooth. Pour batter into a well-greased fluted tube pan. Bake for 50 minutes.
Prepare the glaze – Bring sugar, butter, and 1/4 cup water to a boil in a saucepan. Stir in 1/4 cup banana liqueur and 1/4 cup rum and blend. Remove from heat and pour glaze into a glass measuring cup.
When cake is done, remove pan from oven. Set on rack for 15-20 minutes and then invert cake onto plate. Pour glaze over top and sides of warm cake. Cool until ready to serve and then cut into slices. Serves 16-20.
CHICKEN WITH BANANA RUM SAUCE
If you don’t wish to make another dessert with the leftover sauce, consider pouring it over three boneless chicken breasts in a greased baking dish and baking in the oven at 350 degrees for one hour. Slice and serve. Serves 4-6.
With the holidays rapidly approaching, you’ll be thinking about menu items for your festive dinners. These items are some favorites of mine, aside from the traditional roast turkey meal. Personally, I look forward to the leftovers more than anything. These are dishes you can try on other nights or add them to your holiday menu.
BUTTERNUT SQUASH SOUP
This soup serves as a starter dish for a dinner party or can be a meal in itself with a salad on the side. It’s perfect for chilly fall evenings.
Melt butter over medium heat in large soup pot. Add onion and cook until translucent. Then add squash and carrots. Cook for 4 to 5 minutes, stirring often. Add spices and cook until vegetables start to caramelize. Add chicken broth and thyme. Simmer for 20 minutes.
Remove from heat and discard thyme sprigs. Using an immersion blender, puree the soup. (It can be frozen at this stage.) Stir in molasses to blend. Add half-and-half and mix to combine. Ladle into individual bowls and serve hot.
If frozen, defrost gradually and then reheat in large pot. Stir in molasses and half-and-half and serve as above.
TURKEY TENDERLOINS
I love roast turkey same as anyone, but this is an alternative if you don’t feel like roasting a whole bird or even making a boneless breast of turkey. You can slice the tenderloins into serving sizes and make a nice presentation with the sauce. If the liquids get absorbed during cooking and the tenderloins aren’t done, add more broth.
Ingredients
2 lb. turkey tenderloins
2 Tbsp. butter
½ cup chicken broth
½ tsp. dried thyme
4 Tbsp. molasses
2 Tbsp. light rum
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Brown turkey on both sides in melted butter in large skillet. Remove tenderloins from pan and place into greased baking dish. Deglaze pan with chicken broth and pour drippings over turkey. Sprinkle with thyme. In a separate bowl, combine molasses and rum. Spoon over tenderloins. Bake turkey in oven uncovered for 45 minutes or until cooked through. Slice and serve warm. Makes 6-8 servings.
RITZ CRACKER DRESSING
I use the terms ‘stuffing’ and ‘dressing’ interchangeably. However, if you want to be technical, stuffing is a seasoned mixture of bread, vegetables, and oil or butter that is stuffed inside poultry. Dressing is cooked in a separate dish on the side. In the South, cornbread dressings are popular. This recipe is inherited from my mother.
Ingredients
3 or more rolls of Ritz Crackers
2 Tbsp. olive oil
2 eggs or ½ cup egg substitute
8 oz. container chopped onions
8 oz. container chopped celery
6 oz. matchstick carrots
Garlic powder
Salt
White wine (optional)
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Crumple crackers into a large bowl. Add eggs, mix, and set aside. In a frypan, sauté chopped onions and celery in olive oil until wilted. Add to crackers along with grated carrots. Sprinkle in salt and garlic powder to taste. If you want to moisten the mixture further, add some white wine. Bake until heated through, about 20 minutes.
SWEET POTATOES WITH MARSHMALLOWS
You all have your favorite sweet potato recipes for the holidays, and here’s mine. It’s quick and easy, which is how I like to cook.For a larger crowd, add extra cans of potatoes.
Ingredients
(2) 40-oz. can sweet potatoes or yams
½ cup unsalted butter, melted
½ cup light corn syrup
1 bag mini marshmallows
Directions
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Drain and mash potatoes and put into large bowl. Stir in melted butter and corn syrup. Pour into greased 9x13x2 inch baking dish. Sprinkle marshmallows on top and bake 20 minutes or so, until dish is heated through. Remove when marshmallows are lightly browned. Serves 8 to 10.
CRANBERRY SAUCE
Personally, I prefer jellied cranberry sauce and buy the cans for expediency. This recipe is easy if you want a healthier version.
Ingredients
12 oz. bag fresh cranberries
¾ cup sugar
1 tsp. grated lemon peel
1 cup water
Directions
In a medium pot, mix all ingredients. Bring to a boil then reduce heat and simmer about 10 minutes or until cranberries are softened. Cool and store in refrigerator until served. Makes 2 cups.
PUMPKIN MOUSSE
This is a light dessert if you want an alternative to pumpkin pie.
Ingredients
1 ½ cups fat free milk
1 oz. package sugar free instant butterscotch pudding mix
½ cup canned pumpkin
½ tsp. ground cinnamon
¼ tsp. ground ginger
¼ tsp. ground allspice
½ cup fat free whipped topping
¼ tsp. freshly grated nutmeg
Directions
Whisk milk and pudding mix in large bowl for two minutes. Set aside. In another bowl, combine the pumpkin, cinnamon, ginger, and allspice. Add to the pudding mixture. Gently fold in whipped topping until blended. Spoon into individual dessert cups. Sprinkle nutmeg on top. Refrigerate until ready to serve. Serves 4 to 6.
For more recipes, check out A Bad Hair Day Cookbookavailable at most online bookstores. With 160+ recipes, plus anecdotes and cooking tips offered by savvy sleuth Marla Vail, this award-winning title will become a handy reference guide for quick and easy meals.
Deals and Steals
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September is an exciting month for us with family birthdays. We get to enjoy several celebrations, in some cases trying new restaurants to add to our roster of Orlando eateries.
For our first experience, we ate at Hamilton’s Kitchen in the Alfond Inn at Winter Park. It was a lovely place for brunch in a boutique hotel, and I could easily return there.
The next occasion found us in The Taproom at Dubsdread again for Sunday brunch. This place is set on a golf course and is always a favorite.
Dining at Las Lomas Mexican Grill in Altamonte Springs was a new experience. It’s a gaily decorated restaurant with an enticing menu and generous portions.
Finally, we topped off the month at TooJay’s in Altamonte Springs with Rosh Hashanah dinner since nobody could host due to travels or kitchen renovations.
Between September birthdays, Orlando’s Magical Dining Month and Epcot’s Food and Wine Festival, it’s a festive time of year!
GIVEAWAYS
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Publix Aprons Cooking School classes are always enjoyable. You can choose from demonstration or hands-on models. I prefer the chef demos because then we can sit at white-clothed tables, sip wine, and watch the chefs do all the work. We get to taste the food, which equates to a gourmet meal, sample different wines, and take the recipes home. Plus, these classes are reasonably priced for what you’d find elsewhere. Here we are with our machatonim, Es and Rick Cohen. (See Machatonim – The Jewish Chronicle (thejc.com) for a definition)
June 18, 2021 – Food Heaven: Indulgent Ingredients and Wines
We were greeted with a Luc Belaire Rare Rose, a pleasant sparkling rose wine. This set the jovial mood for the good food to come.
Crab and Fennel Bisque with Lemony Crème Fraiche – I really liked this tasty soup that was accompanied by a Jean Bouchard Chablis. The wine was fair in my opinion, a bit too light on body and flavor.
Lobster Rolls with Heirloom Tomatoes, Bacon and Tarragon Aioli – This dish was interesting to taste but a salad would have been a better course here. I could see substituting baby shrimp to make this at home. I’d also serve it for lunch rather than dinner. This came with a B&G Bordeaux Sauvignon Blanc wine that had a slightly fruity aroma.
Dijon and Herb Crusted Beef Tenderloin with Roasted Shallow Jus and Smashed Potatoes – Very tender and deliciously prepared piece of beef worth the price of admission alone. I liked the Michael David Lust Zinfandel that accompanied this dish. It was dry with a moderate body and legs, in wine terms.
Bittersweet Chocolate Tart with Pretzel Crust and Mandarin Orange Whipped Cream – This chocolate dessert melted in one’s mouth. It was divine. I also enjoyed the Lola Pinot Noir although by then I’d had enough food and drink that I might have liked anything. This tart was the perfect dish to finish a delightful evening.
Home cooking can get tiresome under forced isolation, but not with easy-to-make comfort foods. I’ve been rummaging in the kitchen of our new house trying to find where I’ve put things while preparing meals. Maybe you can find inspiration in some of these dishes that have been on our dinner table in the past week.
We had the kids over for brunch last weekend. I made this Zucchini Biscuit Bake with the recipe from my cookbook, although I added fresh mushrooms this time. I’d also served a Costco quiche, plus thin bagels with cream cheese. Dessert was peach cobbler.
Because we’d cut up too many zucchini and onions, I put some aside and made this stir-fry dish for dinner. Sliced hot dogs became the go-to protein addition.
Once those leftovers were gone, the next order was to use the multitude of strawberries we picked before they spoiled. So I made my first strawberry bread using a recipe I found on Pinterest.
Next dinner I made these Swedish meatballs with white rice for dinner, accompanied by a premade salad. If there’s any gravy left, I freeze it to use in Shepherd’s Pie. I’ll share this recipe with you.
Swedish Meatballs
Ingredients
1 lb. lean ground beef
1 egg, beaten
tsp. garlic powder
1 cup finely chopped onions, divided
cup dry bread crumbs
12 oz. bottle chili sauce
18 oz. jar grape jelly
15 oz. can tomato sauce
1/4 cup sweet Marsala wine
Directions
Make meatballs: Mix ground beef with beaten egg, garlic powder, ½ cup chopped onions, and bread crumbs. Form into small balls. Set aside. (Or use frozen turkey meatballs instead of making them from scratch).
In a large saucepan over medium-high heat, blend together chili sauce, grape jelly, and tomato sauce until jelly is melted. Toss in remaining onions and add wine. When mixture is bubbly, add meatballs to pot. Stir gently to coat with sauce.
Cover and reduce heat to simmer. Periodically lift lid, being careful of steam, and stir. Cook for 1 hour on low heat (or ½ hour if using frozen meatballs). Serve over cooked rice as an entrée or by itself as a party appetizer.
Meal Planning is difficult when you are on a forced staycation for months at a time. Normally, I like cooking at home, but it’s nice to take a break at a restaurant where you can be served and you don’t have to do the dishes. This experience is off the table these days. We have all become home cooks, so what to make?
I plan ahead for a week at a time. Breakfast is easy. It can be cereal or eggs or a quiche I’ve made previously and stuck in the freezer. Frozen waffles or homemade blueberry pancakes are treats if the ingredients are available. We’ll also buy premade hard boiled eggs to eat with toast or for egg salad.
Lunches are more difficult. Sandwiches or salads are our usual fare but these get tiresome. Soups, quiches, or even pasta might add variety. Here’s where going out to eat would be a welcome choice. In its stead, we can order home delivery. But to be safe, this should ideally be hot food that can be reheated to zap the germs. Is it risking my health to order delivery of tuna and pasta salads and even nova on a bagel?
Dinners are much easier for me to plan. So I’ll share some of these ideas with you. Get used to leftovers. The more nights a dish can stretch, the better. You might get two to four nights out of one dish, depending on how many people are involved. Or freeze a portion for later use. You can add your own side dishes or a salad. Note that most of these recipes can be found in A BAD HAIR DAY COOKBOOK.
This past weekend, we attended a cooking class at Publix Aprons Cooking School. The guest speaker was from Noble Vines Winery, describing the wines that accompanied our meal. These are from the Delicato Family Wines in California. We started out with a welcome aperitif. I liked the Noble Vines 242 Sauvignon Blanc. It wasn’t too fruity and would make a pleasant drink just to sip or perhaps to accompany fish or poultry. Meanwhile, the chefs were busy creating our dishes and demonstrating how to make them.
Noble Vines 446 Chardonnay was paired with the first course, clams with linguini. While our friends indulged in this dish, I had written ahead to request mushrooms instead of clams. I am not a big shellfish eater except for shrimp. The linguini with mushrooms was delicious and would make a satisfying meal in itself. We liked the Chardonnay as well. In fact, all the wines tonight were really good.
Next up was pan-roasted duck breast served with mushroom farro and cherry vinaigrette. I’d never had farro before, and I liked this grain that reminded me of barley. The duck was tender. It was paired with Noble Vines 667 Pinot Noir. I could have eaten this dish for a meal alone.
The main dish was grilled Korean beef short ribs with coconut rice and wok-friend bok choy. Noble Vines 337 Cabernet Sauvignon was the accompanying wine. The short ribs were done just right, but I’ve had better. Actually, the ones I tasted recently in my blog post about the Epcot Festival of the Arts were much more tender. I prefer short ribs slowly braised or done in a slow cooker so that the meat practically falls off the bone. The rice was okay but the bok choy had more taste.
We left enough room for the dark chocolate raspberry tart and the Noble Vines 515 Rose wine. What’s not to like about chocolate?
By now, we were more than stuffed and woozy from all the wine. It had been an enjoyable evening with entertainment and an appealing meal experience. The best part is that we got to take the recipes home.
GIVEAWAY
Enter Here March 1-18 to win a free book from Booklover’s Bench
We attended a Publix Aprons Cooking School Class featuring the Willamette Valley in Oregon. I always enjoy these demonstrations with a sampling of different wines and recipes to take home.
We started out with a taste of Elouan Rose wine. It was light and on the dry side and a pleasant welcome drink.
STARTER COURSE
The first course was Coriander Encrusted Sea Scallops with Cauliflower Puree and Apricot-Shallot Jam. This was delicious. Normally I wouldn’t make scallops at home or order them in a restaurant because they can become rubbery if overcooked, but these were tender and done just right. They paired well with the jam. The accompanying wine was a Chateau St. Michelle Sauvignon Blanc that was a pale yellow color with a slightly fruity taste.
Cooking Tips from the Chef (any errors are due to my misinterpretation):
Iodized salt, like table salt, can turn bitter when you cook with it. He prefers Morton kosher salt, which does not contain iodine and is consistent in quality. A second choice would be sea salt, but characteristics can vary depending on place of origin.
The chef prefers grapeseed oil as you can cook at higher temperatures with it. He suggests you don’t use extra virgin olive oil for cooking as it burns at a lower temperature. Vegetable oil or regular olive oil is okay. Use the EVOO in salad dressings and such.
If oil isn’t hot enough, the food can absorb it. Test with a popcorn kernel. When it pops, the oil is the right temperature.
When preparing scallops, remove the abductor muscle.
SALAD COURSE
Baby Kale Salad with Pears, Burrata, Bacon, and Spiced Yogurt Vinaigrette was our salad. The dressing went well with it. The accompanying wine was A to Z Pinot Grigio. We liked this one.
Cooking Tips
Slice an onion from root to stem, not the other way.
Burrata cheese is a mozzarella cheese stuffed with a ricotta-like cheese. It comes in a ball, and you can find it in the specialty cheese section.
MAIN ENTREE
Pan Roasted Duck Breast with Orange-Cherry Gastrique and Shiitake Risotto was a tasty entrée and fairly easy to make. The accompanying wine was a Sidur 2017 Pinot Noir. This was okay but I like a Cabernet better.
Cooking Tips
You can buy the boneless duck breasts in the frozen food section. Defrost and slash the fat side to prevent it from curling when cooking.
Put honey for 20 seconds in the microwave to liquefy if it’s crystalized.
DESSERT
Peach Panna Cotta with Biscotti Crumble and Blueberry Compote wasn’t overly sweet and was paired with an A to Z Riesling.
GIVEAWAY
Enter Sept. 1 – 18 to win a free book from the Prize Vault at Booklover’s Bench.
Continuing our tradition of trying new places to eat in Orlando, we dined at Toledo, the new rooftop restaurant inside Disney’s Coronado Springs Resort. A magical elevator takes you to the top floor where you emerge into a spacious lounge area. You can come for drinks and the view if you don’t care to stay for dinner. Here we are gazing toward Hollywood Studios. You can see the new Star Wars land under construction and the Tower of Terror.
Inside the restaurant, we were led to a quiet table among the bustle. We began our meal with an olive medley and flatbread with melted cheese for appetizers.
I ordered tilefish for my entrée and was pleasantly surprised by the tasty dish. Dessert was the best, a couple of chocolate concoctions that we all shared.
Our other days in Orlando were taken up with family visits. On this night, we were celebrating our son’s birthday. We’ll soon have a lot more to celebrate as my husband and I become grandparents for the first time later this year.
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