Yum

Are you having a full moon kind of day? …. Did you have a full moon kind of week? Feeling like finding a way to incorporate booze into your life, when a drink is not only appropriate but also inevitable? I’m not a drinker. I will admit that I went through a phase, actually probably more than one, where some could say I drank to excess. But it was all in good fun and I still have a clear criminal record. I don’t even really like the taste of booze even though I grew up with the chest-warming feel of rum in most of the Czech chocolate in desserts. Having a drink, though seemingly fitting, just hasn’t really been my thing.

It was just one of those kinds of days at work. I call it a ‘Calgon’ day. The dog is barking and spreading dirt around the house, the kids are crying, the pot of water is bubbling and spilling over, the phone is ringing and the woman screams out… “Calgon take me away” CUT to the screen where she is soaking in a tub full of lavish bubbles, her hair loosely pinned up instead of disheveled around her face, she is completely relaxed and far away from the insanity. It’s a cliché I know but a well impressed one if you ever watched television in the 70’s or 80’s. As it was first released in the 70’s and then I suppose so representative of how women were feeling, rereleased again in the 80’s. It’s one I love because it absolutely embodies the kind of day I was having, people weren’t just crying but barking, someone was spreading something in the waiting area and it wasn’t pleasant, the phone wouldn’t stop ringing and the strangest things came up while my work wife was away. How dare she take time off when I suspect there may have been a full moon. 😉 I’m sure that there wasn’t actually a full moon but for some people every day is a full moon inducing kind of day and I dealt with a few of those this past week.

It was one of those days when even if you close the office door, if you’re fortunate enough to have one, people bang on it… scramble to get in… and do so relentlessly. It was the kind of day I should have made this version of banana bread and shared it with staff at work… for brunch! 🙂 I certainly wasn’t alone in the insanity.

So if you can’t run away to a hot bubble bath in the midst of a crazy day, or if you feel want something super special then this is the super easy but very fancy tasting dish for you.

This warm banana bread with bourbon that I found in the Food and Wine magazine a while back fits the bill on all accounts. When I first saw it I was intrigued and had to make it. It was well worth it. So good. So warm. So simple to make. The sauce is gooey and delicious and the bourbon heats up the banana bread in a way that is not overly conspicuous but rather subtle enough to make alcohol taste amazingly good for those of us who don’t like to be assaulted by straight booze. Served with a bit of ice cream this dessert has become one of my favorites.

Maple Bourbon Banana Bread Pudding (As found in Food and Wine)

Batter

• 6 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup icing sugar (or superfine sugar)
• 1 overripe banana (mashed)
• 1 large egg
• 1 cup milk (calls for whole but I used skim and it was fine)
• 1 cup flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• pinch of salt

 Liquid

• ¾ cup maple syrup
• ½ cup water
• ½ brown sugar
• 2 tablespoons bourbon

• pecans for the top
• ice cream for the side

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. In a 2 quart baking dish melt the butter and then whisk in the sugar and mash in the banana then add in the egg and milk until combined.

Mix the flour, baking powder and salt and add that into the dish with the wet ingredients.

In a glass or plastic measuring cup add the maple syrup, water, sugar and bourbon and microwave on high for about a minute or until hot. Then drizzle this mixture over the batter. Some of it will seep to the bottom and some of it may stay on top… don’t worry about it… and do not stir… the concoction will do its magic in the oven, seeping to the bottom and creating a gooey maple bourbon mess that is delicious, much like the topping of the best cinnamon buns you’ve ever had… with a slight kick!  Top with pecans and bake for about 40 minutes or until the cake is golden brown. Let it sit for a little bit and then serve with ice cream.

I’ve made this the morning of and left it on the counter so that we could have it room temperature after dinner and it was very good.   That way it makes for a very easy dessert if you’re having people over an need the oven for the main meal.     

Enjoy! 

Yum

Dare I say these are just as good as Beignets?  I’ll admit, as much as I try to stay off carbs I can’t help craving these.  One of our favourite things when we were on our trip to New Orleans this past summer were the beignets.  So fluffy, so light, so unbelievably good.  We had one almost every night with a frozen coffee… Okay, one means order which is actually 3 so we split it … most people eat the whole order themselves and don’t share… we shared.  Crazy I know because you could easily eat a half dozen of these on your own without even blinking.. they are highly addictive… Yes, lots of calories but so so good.

I tried to recreate the beignets a while back and I have to say they did not turn out very well.  Our friends who shared in them hadn’t had beignets so they thought they were good – or they were just being polite but they were very far from the original.  I had looked up lots of recipes.  I even went so far as to go out and buy coconut oil since in New Orleans they use cottonseed oil and I had a hard time finding a way to get my hands on some of that.  Coconut was as close as I could get.

Beignets are finicky, don’t over mix, make sure the temperature of the oil is just right.  Even though it’s baking and not cooking it’s just far too precise for me.  And clearly I’m not that great at following instructions because they just didn’t turn out, they were dense and heavy.  Beignets are all about being light and fluffy.

My mother was getting a little fed up with my raving about the beignets, I think, because she emailed me a recipe one day and said… screw the beignets and try these. So I did.

OMG… seriously… not nearly as finicky and pretty much as good.  Yes, I’ll admit there is something lacking, like the above 100 degree weather, the music, the iced coffee, the outdoor patio, who am I kidding… the feel of New Orleans!  But if I turn up the heat in the house, throw my coffee in a blender with ice and close my eyes these could easily pass!

If you have or even if you haven’t had beignets I suggest you try these, dare I say better than beignets!  If you google ‘vdolky’ you will see that the Czech version is often served with preserves or jam and/or whipping cream on top.  It was suggested to me that if I wanted to serve them this way then I should squish a dip in the centre before frying to create a little groove for a filling… I was more intent on pretending I was back in NOLA.   😉

Also these can be fried or baked…. I chose to jump ALL IN and fry them… next time I’ll maybe give baking a shot.  And if you’re going to mitigate the caloric intake by baking let me know how they turn out for you.

Vdolky

• 250 ml milk
• 25 grams fresh yeast (1 Tablespoon of dry)
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

• 500 grams flour
• 2 tablespoons powdered sugar (fine or icing)
• 40 grams melted butter (unsalted)
• 3 egg yolks
• 10 tablespoons milk
• zest of one orange or lemon (optional – more Czech than beignet so leave out for a beignet taste)
• sprinkle of salt
• extra icing sugar to sprinkle on top (okay LOTS)

Heat the milk until hot to the touch, mix in the granulated sugar and yeast and allow to bloom. In a separate bowl mix the flour, salt, powdered sugar and lemon or orange zest if you like.   Melt the butter and allow to cool enough so it isn’t hot, then add to the milk and yeast mixture, mix in the egg yolks and extra milk and place in a large mixer with dough hook.  Add the dry ingredients and mix slowly at first and once it starts to come together turn it up to almost medium speed.

Mix or knead the dough for a good 10 minutes.  Your dough should be soft and silky and still a little sticky.

Place a splash of oil in a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl cover and let it rest/rise for an hour or until doubled in size covered somewhere warm. I often turn the oven on for a couple of minutes to warm it up then turn it off and place the bowl in the warm oven just make sure you turned it off.  You should also roll the dough in the bowl so that the dough it’s covered in oil otherwise it’ll develop a dry skin which isn’t great.

Once it’s risen then flour a dry clean surface and sprinkle with flour and roll it out to about an inch thick.  Cover with a clean tea towel and let it rise another 15 – 20 minutes.   In the meantime fill a frying pan about a 1/2 inch with oil and bring to medium heat.  Cut the dough into squares or rectangles and fry, turning them over when they are just golden brown.  They will rise like crazy as they cook. Place on a papertowel and quickly cover with icing sugar.

Sprinkle with as much icing sugar as you think… then double that amount to get the NOLA feel… So So Good.