6 foot 7 foot banana bread! {with vanilla granola}

innie made banana bread and as always it was off the chain.  it takes only 15 minutes to prepare and after baking for about 1 hour 20 minutes you can easily serve 16+ {aka angelina jolie and antonio cromartie kids combined}.  believe me, you are out of your mind if you skip on this america.  all you need are three to four ripe bananas and follow the rest below:

beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer set at medium speed until light and fluffy.  add granulated sugar and brown sugar - beat well {...and listen to some beats, i recommend the lil' wayne banger embedded above}.  add egg, egg whites and vanilla.  beat until well blended.  add mashed banana, and beat on high speed 30 seconds.
combine flour, baking soda, salt and baking powder in medium bowl.  add flour mixture to butter mixture alternately with cream, ending with flour mixture.  add half a cup of vanilla granola to the batter {i prefer the whole foods brand but do you}.  mix well.

pour batter evenly into prepared loaf pan.  bake until browned and a toothpick inserted near center comes out clean, about 1 hour 20 minutes.

like tunechi says, "young money eating, all you haters do is add salt"!

holiday prime rib roast

i throw my hands up in the air sometimes saying ay-oh!!!

salt, scallion, black pepper, garlic, fresh rosemary, and butter

voila

happy holidays

 

pork buns: the chinatown remix

i enjoy delicious pork buns as much as anybody else but at 2 for $8 or $9 at certain restaurants i had to figure out a bootleg production.  for real, you would swear i was chinese the way how i duck sauce.   

all you need to do is buy a cucumber, a package of frozen buns (aisle 6 in the hong kong supermarket at 157 hester st. btw bowery & elizabeth), thick-cut bacon instead of brining then slow roasting your own pork belly and make sure you have hoisin sauce and sriracha hot chili sauce in the crib.  i'm telling you man, potluck dinner season is coming up and if you brought this stuff into my house i wouldn't even bother asking you to take off your shoes...just get to it and get it in my belly.  this is why it's hot.   

ingredients

1 package of frozen pork buns
1 cucumber
1/2 pound of extra thick cut bacon
1 bottle of Lee Kum Kee Hoisin Sauce
1 bottle of Tuong Ot Sriracha Hot Chili Sauce (Rooster Sauce)
optional: iceberg lettuce or endives



wash and prepare the cucumber and lettuce so that it can fit neatly into one bun.  next, simmer the bacon in a saute pan on a med-high flame until brown on both sides and set up a rack with boiling water to steam the frozen buns for approximately 3-5 minutes.  next, remove your buns when soft and add hoisin sauce followed by the lettuce, cooked bacon, cucumber slices, and a splatter of hot chili sauce.  ni hao ma!!!

ingredients for a pork bun surprise

short-cut to slow roasting an entire pork belly

steamed buns comin' at cha

sauce is boss

yum yum in your tum tum

yields approximately 6-8 buns
cooking time: 7-10 minutes

sweet n' spicy beets amuse bouche

where i'm from, if you start talking about 'beets' timbaland and n*e*r*d are immediately thrown into the convo but that's not where my head's at. i tried the bbq beets taco served up at mexicue and got the thinkity thankin'. errybody and their mama's cousin twice removed have a schmancy taco these days. ya dig. i enjoy beets and i destroy beats because i spit hot fiyah mon! seriously. i just kick it from my head. you know what i'm sayin'? i can do that. no disrespect, but that's how i am... so i'm coming to ya correct with an idea for sweet n' spicy beets served on endives. it's an amuse bouche. if ya don't know ask wikipedia. the best part, it's simple and faaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaast.



ok you get the point. now on to the foodies...

1 bunch of endives
1 bottle of rick's picks phat beets (pickled beets)
1 bottle of frank's redhot orginal
fresh feta cheese
honey
parsley or chives

i inifinitely respect your game if you don't want to shell out $9 for a bottle of aromatic pickled beets so feel free to prepare them fresh yourself. however, using the pickled joints is flava and it makes prep time faster. now that we are past the disclaimer, wash your endives and peel. next, cut your beets into cubes and pour frank's redhot orginal to taste onto the cubes in a bowl. finally arrange the beets onto the endive, add crumbled feta, a drop of honey, and minced parsley or chives. F-A-S-T-D-O-N-T-L-I-EEEEEEEEEEEE

several servings are possible

approximate cooking time: 5-8 minutes

recipe zeit! smoked salmon sandwich

oh yeaaaaaaa!  smoked salmon with lime juice and cream cheese topped with fresh chives.  watch out...i might be in your kitchen shawty cookin' with ya pots...

1 packet smoked salmon

1 lime

cream cheese

bread (i used organic french sourdough)

chives

butter

butter is easier to schmear on bread if it's out of the fridge for a short while.  once the butter is soft and spread on your bread, use a pan to toast it until you get a delicious golden brown color (i prefer to hook it up on both sides). next, spread the cream cheese and lay the smoked salmon on top.  finally drizzle fresh lime juice and sprinkle minced chives.

serves 1

approximate cooking time: 10 minutes

recipe zeit! seared & poached scallops

6 scallops
1 bunch of scallion
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
2 strips of bacon (seared scallops)
sea salt
2 limes (seared scallops)
1 orange (poached scallops)
butter

clean/prep/season

grab a bowl to clean/prep your scallops then rinse in cold water.  next soften up a lime to release its juices and mix in with the scallops to get rid of the 'fresh off da boat' aroma.  nice!  pat dry your scallops and place in a dry bowl.  crush your black peppercorns to season the scallops and also add your sea salt to taste.

poached scallops

reserve some orange zest then peel and cut a orange crosswise ahead of time to set under your finished scallops.  next, bring a pan of salted water to a boil while you rinse and trim the edges of your scallion.  place the scallion in the salted water to cook for 2-3 minutes.  next, remove the scallion and place your cleaned and seasoned scallops (salt and black pepper) in the simmering salted water and cook on a medium-high fire for approximately 2 minutes on each side or until firm.  be sure to avoid over cooking otherwise your scallops will not be FIYAH!  serve the scallops on top of the orange slice with orange zest and scallion.

seared scallops

cut a lime crosswise ahead of time to set under your finished scallops then cook your bacon strips.  when finished pour out most of the oil and add approximately 1 tablespoon of butter.  once the butter has melted in the pan place your cleaned and seasoned scallops (salt and black pepper) in the pan on medium-high heat to simmer on each side for approximately 90 seconds on each side, again, be sure to avoid over cooking.  before removing, rub the scallops into the glaze on the bottom of the pan (note: tongs come in very handy here).  serve the scallops on top of the lime slice with a sprinkle of lime juice,bacon and minced scallion.

serves 2 (appetizer portion)
approximate cooking time: 10 minutes

wash this tasty appetizer down with choya umeshu (pronounced wu-meh-shoo) served chilled.  you can peep a photo of the bottle in the earlier post titled "chessboxin' with scallops".  ask your girlfriends, ain't nothin' like plum wine sizzurp with hints of apricot and peach to make you drop it like its hot.

recipe zeit! garlic & rosemary leg of lamb with russian fingerling potatoes

1.5 - 2lb leg of lamb
4-6 cloves of garlic
1/2 teaspoon whole black peppercorns
1/2 teaspoon whole white peppercorns
sea salt
2 sprigs of rosemary
extra viirgin olive oil

1/2lb of fingerling potatoes
1 teaspoon dried rosemary
sea salt
black pepper
dash of cayenne pepper
extra virgin olive oil

pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees on the bake setting.  clean/prep your lamb (i used cold water and a lemon) and tie crosswise with clean butchers twine in order to hold a desireble shape that will retain the juices and allow the meat to cook evenly.  to season, take at least 2 garlic cloves and cut them crosswise.  after making slits in several parts of the lamb stuff each cavity with the garlic.  next, chop your rosemary leaves finely after you have removed the stem, dice the remaining garlic and crush your peppercorns.  evenly spread your rosemary, minced garlic, black pepper, white pepper, and sea salt onto the leg of lamb.  finally, spread just enough olive oil to coat the lamb and you are in business.

to prepare the fingerling potatoes, cut them lengthwise then add half a teaspoon of pepper, salt, olive oil and dried rosemary (a dash of cayenne pepper is optional). 

i added a little water to the bottom of the roasting pan hoping to keep my lamb moist then set the lamb on the rack.  add your potatoes, cover and bake at 350 degrees until the thickest part of the lamb registers 155 - 160 degrees (medium rare).  for a 1.5 - 2 lb leg of lamb, you'll be ready in about 1 hour or 1 hour 15 minuntes but remember to let the meat rest for about 10 mins. 

serves 2-3

where's that recipe son?

last nights dinner was pretty awesome and surprisingly easy to prepare.  don't be cheap...get yourself a whole natural chicken and a kitchen aid roasting pan with a rack.  you'll get a real juicy bird.

1 whole chicken
1 lemon
3-5 sprigs of thyme (dried thyme will do)
hungarian paprika
old bay seasoning
sea salt
black pepper (i prefer whole madagascar peppercorns)
butter
parsley
garlic cloves
chicken stock

you'll need to soften up some butter so go ahead and pull it out of the fridge then pre-heat your oven to 450 degrees on the bake setting.  clean/prep your chicken with some cold water and lime juice.  cut your garlic cloves in half and stuff them under the skin.  next, i like to add some flava to my butter by mixing it in with chopped up parsley, black pepper, garlic, & sea salt.  spread that deliciousness on the outside and under the skin.  to season, coat the chicken inside and out with thyme, pepper, hungarian paprika, and old bay seasoning liberally then add your salt cautiously.  halve a lemon and stuff inside of the chicken.

in the roasting pan, pour your chicken stock to just cover the base and set your chicken on the rack.  cover and bake at 350 degrees until the thigh temp registers 170.  depending on the size of your chicken this can take anywhere from 40 - 60 mins or more.

hint: add celery cut about 1-inch, potatoes, and carrots about half way through.  you can stuff it inside the chicken but sauce is boss so it's best to add it to the chicken broth/drip drip on the bottom of your roasting pan.