Lots of Bang for the Buck

No, I haven’t fallen off the planet, so the 3 of you that read this can stop worrying!  :-)  I had back-to-back catering jobs (very challenging in my little kitchen) and a baby shower cake to put together.

Here ‘tis…

Can’t say I was terribly thrilled with the cake itself. Very moist and tasty, but not so sturdy given the drive I had to make in a hot car. But it survived. I did have fun making all of the little animals, though.

In addition to the cake, I brought along this fruit tureen, which I totally hijacked from Martha’s site. It was so popular the first time around that I actually added it as a fruit option for one of my catered breakfasts. Very healthy, and it goes together quickly, which is always an added plus!

It holds up to heat a lot better than cream cheese frosting, let me tell you.

Mixed Berry Tureen

2 cups clear juice (I used white cranberry)
½ cup sugar
2 packets plain gelatin
About 3 cups of fruit*

In a small saucepan, combine ¼ cup of the juice and the sugar. Bring to a boil and continue to cook and stir until the sugar dissolves. Remove from the heat. In a small bowl, combine another ¼ cup of the juice with the gelatin. Stir until mixture is thoroughly combined.

Add the gelatin mixture to the juice in the pan. Stir until gelatin dissolves. Stir in the remaining 1 ½ cups juice.

In a loaf pan, layer the different fruits, leaving the cut sides of the strawberries (if using) facing up. Slowly pour the juice mixture over the fruit. Press fruit down slightly.

Chill for at least 3 hours. To unmold, run a knife around the edges of the loaf pan and then dip the outside of the pan in hot water for about 5 seconds. Invert onto a plate.

*My first time making this, I used about a cup of blackberries, a little less than half a cup of raspberries, and then made up the difference in strawberries slice in half. The second round I substituted chopped nectarine for the raspberries.

Goin' Bananas

As planned, I put together a curry for G & C in celebration of G’s birthday. I’m not going to share the recipe here because I’d still like to tweak it a bit. In essence, though, I made a chicken curry with rice and served it with a tray of condiments, which allowed everyone to pick and choose which toppings they liked. It’s a good way to experiment with combos.

Condiments included:

Candied ginger
Chopped cashews
Bacon
Chopped hard-boiled egg
Toasted coconut
Chopped banana
Mango Chutney (recipe coming soon)
Golden raisins (sultanas)

I wanted a dessert that would compliment the meal and kind of winged this one. I knew I wanted to use bananas since I bought some to serve as condiments for the curry. And, since I had opened a can of condensed milk for the Honey Walnut Shrimp, I decided to use the remainder of it to make a dulce de leche, which amounted to putting the condensed milk in a double boiler and cooking it for about an hour until it began to caramelize. Of course, hard on the heels of making this I totally spaced it and also made the spiced apple caramel from Thanksgiving.

What can I say? SHORT attention span.

I also figured I’d throw in a chocolate sauce and made Alton Brown’s version (see link below).

So, when it all came together it looked something like this…

Phyllo Wrapped Bananas

4 firm, but ripe bananas
12 sheets phyllo dough, thawed
½ stick butter, melted
5 tsp sugar
4 tsp cinnamon

Dulce de leche (or other caramel), heated
Cocoa Syrup (recipe here)

Spicy Caramel Apple Sauce (recipe here)

Combine sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl (this is an approximate measurement - make more if needed depending on how generous you want to be).

Preheat oven to 375º.  On a work surface, lay out one sheet of the phyllo.  Using a pastry brush, brush with a light coat of the melted butter.  Sprinkle with about 1 tsp of the sugar/cinnamon mixture.  Lay another sheet of the phyllo evenly on top of the first sheet.  Coat it with more butter and then sprinkle with another tsp of cinnamon sugar.  Repeat with the final layer.  Place one peeled banana at the end of your stacked sheets.  Roll the phyllo over the banana and tuck under the loose ends.  Place on a cookie sheet.

Repeat with other bananas.  Coat with more melted butter.  Sprinkle more cinnamon sugar on top of the rolled bananas if desired.
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, or until the phyllo is golden brown.
To assemble:  'Paint a small portion of dulce de leche on the bottom of the plate.  Place a baked banana over the top and drizzle with spiced caramel and cocoa syrup.  Sprinkle with toasted almonds and powdered sugar.

Enjoy!