Camping Recipes: Banana Boats

Why do holiday weekends fly by so quickly?  It felt like the Memorial Day Weekend ended almost as soon as it started.  

We headed up to Taylor Park near Crested Butte for a 4 day camping trip and ATV extravaganza.  I've always said I couldn't decide if ATVs or camping cooking was what draws me most to camping, but luckily there's no need to pick a side...they can both be equally loved.

Let's talk camping cuisine.  There are just so many fantastic things to cook outdoors or over an open flame.  Roasted marshmallows are an obvious example.

Is there anything that compares to the crunchy outer roasted layer?  Do you pull it off and then stick the marshmallow back into the fire to roast again?  Thought so. 

I know s'mores are the classic camping favorite, but I'm partial to banana boats. Chocolate, bananas and melted marshmallows....it's like a banana split without the ice cream.   You can mix up the fillings to include peanut butter (we made those for the dogs), Snickers, Reeses peanut butter cups, coconut, pineapple or just about anything you can think of that tastes fantastic with bananas. 

You really only want to cook it long enough for the chocolate and marshmallows to melt--if you cook it too long the bananas become mushy.  No es bueno. 

Our campsite was pretty remote so when you looked around all you could see was that amazing Rocky Mountain beauty.    Great for taking in a book in the sunshine. 

Brooklyn was a bit hesitant at first but it wasn't long before she fell in love with the great outdoors...or freedom and no leashes as she saw it.  Throw in some stolen Pedigree dog food from the other dogs, and bits of fallen Cheetos, hot dogs, monkey bread, cookies and about a zillion other junk foods she'd never even dreamed of, and it quite possibly became the happiest weekend of her little peanut life 

Boston butt.

And the finished banana boat.  Good stuff fo sho.

Banana Boats

Bananas
chocolate chips
marshmallows
aluminum foil

1. Slit banana lengthwise but without cutting through bottom peel; place on sheet of foil
2. Stuff cut banana with chocolate chips, marshmallows and any other yumminess you can think of. Loosely wrap foil around banana.
3. Place in coals and heat until marshmallows and chocolate are melted but banana is not cooked and mushy (anywhere form 5-10 minutes depending upon coals)

Memorial Day

Thank you to all the brave men and women who have served, are currently serving, or have given their lives or their loved ones for our great country.

Glazed Donut French Toast

I spent a lot of time at Dunkin Donuts during my college years.  They had huge cups of pretty darned good coffee, quick access to donuts and were open late for studying.  I also had a friend from Boston (the city that puts Dunkin Donuts on both sides of the street so you don't have to cross to get your donut fix) who insisted that Dunkin Donuts was his "second favorite restaurant."  He really did call it a restaurant.  Yep, yep, yep,  I spent a looooooot of time at Dunkin Donuts.  I still love that place and donuts will forever have a place in my heart as a comfort food. I'm a boston cream or jam filled donut kind of girl.  I think it's been at least 10 years since I've had one.  How sad is that?

Dunkin Donuts are few and far between here in Denver--it's a Krispy Kreme kind of town.  The glazed donuts are no Dunkin Donuts filled donut but they have a charm all of their own.  Invariably, there are always leftovers though and you have to admit they lose a bit of their fabulousness the next day. 

Enter, glazed donut french toast. 

These are the perfect way to use up leftover glazed donuts and are a perfect use for those $1 day old donuts in the clearance section of the market.  You may not want to eat those, but you sure can make french toast. 

Is this over the top?  Probably, but isn't that what the internet is all about....finding over the top recipes? Most everyone already knows how to make regular french toast.  And, if you think about it, all we've added is eggs, milk and fresh fruit.  You've really just turned the donut practically into health food.  C'est vrai, n'est-ce pas?  Add strawberries and blueberries and you have a perfect Memorial Day colors breakfast.

And it is Memorial Day weekend...I love me a 3 day weekend.  In my case it's a 4 day weekend and we are heading off for our first camping trip of the season up in the high country.  My friends are the "let's offroad to camp site at 10,000 feet" type of people.  Have you ever slept at 2 miles above sea level?  Me neither, because it's too flippin cold to actually ever fall asleep.  But it is beautiful and when you live in Colorado, you have to camp at least once or twice each year.  

They kick you out of the state if you don't.  

I like to pack my things in a backpack to make it look rugged when I carry from the house to the car and then then from the car to the ATV. That's backpacking right?

Some of us are less enthused with the what the great outdoors entails, namely this little pup who just hates wearing anything.  I figure her disgust is better than realizing after she's followed the other dogs into a high country lake, that she's not the natural born swimming type.  There is no human I know that's jumping into what is essentially barely melted snow to save flailing Boston Terriers.  

Okay, I might jump in for this face but I'd definitely lay the guilt trip on thick for years to come.

Wishing you a happy and safe Memorial Day and weekend!! 

Glazed Donut French Toast

Ingredients:
8 day-old glazed donuts(not to be confused with 8 day old glazed donuts)
4 large eggs
1 1/4 cup milk
1 tsp cinnamon
pinch of salt
butter for pan
powdered sugar and fresh fruit for serving

Directions

1. Whisk together eggs, milk, cinnamon and salt in  shallow dish 
2. Cut donuts in half lengthwise
3. Heat a nonstick skillet (cast iron is fantastic for this recipe) over medium low heat and melt 1 tsp butter
4. Dip donut into egg batter and then place in skillet, cut side down first and cook until golden brown
5. Flip and cook on other side for 2-3 minutes
6. Continue cooking remaining donuts
7. Remove and serve with powdered sugar and fresh fruit

Scallops with Caramel Orange Sauce

I'm not the biggest fan of french food.  I know, that's almost a travesty in the food realm.  French cheeses,  pastries and market fresh foods, oh heck yeah.  There's nothing quite like a hot baguette, a chunk of some fantastic french cheese and some freshly made tapenade from a street market vendor.  I'm convinced that is a perfectly acceptable meal any and everyday.    My experience with french cooking though usually involved some exotic meaty ingredients  and I'm far from the adventurous type when it comes to meat.   

That being said, I'm not sure what possessed me to pick up Dorie's around my french table cookbook (cookbook #85) aside from the fact that it is Dorie Greenspan, whom I adore.  One of the first recipes I flipped to was for a chicken bisteeya, which I also adore.  Those two factors overrode my initial hesitancy and this cookbook made its way home with me.  It's one of my few cookbooks that elicits a bit of buyers remorse as I see it sitting so forlorn and unused on the shelf.  If you are a lover of exotic meaty type dishes that include beef cheeks, duck or meat on the bone, then I'd think this cookbook would be awesome.

The cookbook is beautiful....truly.  It's as hefty as Dorie's baking cookbook and full of intros that make you want to hop on a flight to France.  The food photography is gorgeous of course, and ultimately that seems to be the seduction that I can't resist. When flip through this cookbook filled with hope and resolve that I will find a recipe to make, I end up closing it without having seen anything that I wanted to eat.  That is aside from the bisteeya of course, but I figured since that's really Morroccan, it was a bit of a cop out for me.  I really wanted to try something more french in the spirit of the cookbook--and then served my choice with risotto.  Go figure.  

These sea scallops were sweet and a little tart from the orange juice--the caramel, orange and wine reduction added a fantastic kick of flavor to the scallops.  I'd absolutely make this again.   

Sea Scallops with Caramel-Orange Sauce
from Around my French Table by Dorie Greenspan

Ingredients

2 tablespoons sugar
1/2 cup dry white wine
1-2 large oranges or enough for generous 1/3 c juice
1 lb sea scallops
1/2-1 tablespoon olive oil
salt and fresh ground white pepper
1 tablespoon cold butter, cut into 3 pieces

Directions

1. Sprinkle the sugar into a small saucepan. Place the pan over medium-high heat and warm the sugar until it starts to melt and color. As soon as you see it turn brown, begin to gently swirl the pan. 
2. When the sugar has turned a deep caramel color (about 3 minutes), stand back and add the white wine and orange juice. It may bubble and spatter, so watch out. 
3. Turn the heat up to high, stir with a wooden spoon, and boil the sauce until it is reduced by half — you should have about 1/3 cup. Pull the pan from the heat and set it aside. (You can make the sauce up to 2 days ahead and keep it covered in the refrigerator.)
4. Pat the scallops dry between two paper towels. Slice or pull off the little muscle attached to the sides of the scallops. 
5. Put a heavy-bottomed skillet over high heat. When the pan is hot, pour in 1 1/2 teaspoons olive oil and swirl to coat the bottom. 
6. Add the scallops, season them with salt and pepper, add a little more oil if needed, and cook for another 1 to 2 minutes, or until the scallops are firm on the outside and just barely opaque in the center — nick one to test. Transfer the scallops to the serving platter.
7. Check that the caramel sauce is hot. Pull the pan from the heat and toss in the butter, bit by bit, swirling the pan until the butter is melted and the sauce is glistening. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Drizzle some of the sauce over the scallops and pass the rest at the table.

Tangerine Margaritas

Cinco de Mayo may have come and gone, but luckily, margaritas can still be had any of the other 364 days of the year.  I love citrus and I love that bite of tequila you get with a great margarita.   The pink grapefruit margaritas from Barefoot Contessa is still one of my favorites, but these tangerine margaritas adapted from Bobby Flay's Mesa Grill cookbook are a pretty close second.  As with most alcoholic beverages, you can adapt the amount of liquor to your taste.

Tangerine Margaritas
adapted from Mesa Grill by Bobby Flay

1 c tequila
1/2 c Cointreau or Triple Sec
1/2 c fresh lime juice
2 c freshly squeezed tangerine juice
2 tbsp honey
Grated zest of 1 tangerine
Ice cubes
salt for dipping glasses (optional)

Directions

1. Dip rims of glasses in water and then salt if desired
2. Combine the tequila, orange liqueur, lime juice, tangerine concentrate, honey, and zest in a blender and blend until smooth. Pour over ice in rocks glasses and garnish each with a tangerine slice and a mint sprig.

Mac & Cheese Stuffed Poblanos

I love fusion food.  Is it japanese or is it mexican?  How awesome is combining vietnamese with cuban?  Thai and french? With fusion, you don't have to decide on one nationality of food, you can have the awesomeness of all different kinds of food rolled up into one presentation. 

Maybe I like it so much because I'm the human equivalent of fusion.  When people can't guess my nationality because my features go back and forth between my two nationalities, they usually just ask "what are you?"  I think I'm going to just start saying I'm fusion.  "Who me? I'm fusion."

This fusion recipe all began with this cheddar. Yes, it's chipotle cheddar.  That's pretty remarkable cheddar right?  I knew I wanted to make mac and cheese with it.  American with a mexican twist. 

                           

And then I was roasting peppers for the corn salsa recipe I made last week and  wondered what would happen if the mac and cheese and the poblano had a little meet and greet.

They look pretty happy together. And of course a generous topping of more cheese on top can't hurt.

Here we have the mini cast iron skillets again.  I wasn't lying when I said I use these ALL the time.  I throw them on the grill sometimes and they look no worse for the wear.

Mac and cheese inside of roasted poblanos is a pretty outstanding flavor combo.  Love the fiery spicy flavor, but it still has the creamy noodle goodness you associate with mac and cheese. If you can't find chipotle cheddar you could opt to leave it out, or you could throw in 1 minced chipotle pepper with a teaspoon of sauce into the mac and cheese if you like more fire.  Either way, the flavor of the poblano still shines and that's what it's all about. 

Don't let this one fool you, she's fusion too.  She's only one part cuteness. The other part is pure rotten. 

Mac and Cheese Stuffed Poblanos

5 poblanos
3 tablespoons butter
1/4 cup whole wheat pastry flour
1/2 teaspoon mustard powder
1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1 teaspoon sea salt
2 cups milk
2 cups grated chipotle cheddar cheese, plus more for topping
1/2 cup grated Gruyère
1/2 cup chipotle cheddar--cubed smallish
1/2 pound elbow macaroni
1/2 cup bread crumbs mixed with additional 2 tbsp butter, melted

Directions:

1. Place a large pan of water onto boil  and preheat grill to high
2. Preheat grill to high and char poblanos until blackened, turning often to char each side equally. Place in bowl and cover with plate.
3. Cook macaroni until outside of pasta is cooked and the inside is underdone, 5 to 6 minutes.
4. Transfer the macaroni to a colander, rinse under cold running water, and drain well.
5. Melt butter in a pan over medium heat. When the butter bubbles, add the flour and spices.
6. Cook, stirring, 2 minutes. This is super duper important as it cooks out the grainy raw flour taste.
7. While whisking, pour in milk and whisk vigorously while heating. Continue cooking, whisking constantly, until the mixture bubbles and becomes thick.
8. Remove the pan from the heat. Stir in shredded cheddar cheese, and Gruyère and stir well. 
9. Peel poblanos, slice one side open and remove seeds.
10. Add cubed cheddar to the mac and cheese and stir again.  The cubes shouldn't melt in the sauce--they'll melt inside the pepper leaving melty oozy pockets of cheese
11. Stuff mac and cheese into peppers, sprinkle additional cheese on top, place in cast iron pan or casserole dish and cook on med grill for 10-15 minutes or in 375 oven for 15-20 mins.

Raspberry Dutch Babies

Have you ever forgotten about a food and then when you are reunited you wonder how you could possibly have let such a perfect food escape your mind for so long?  

Dutch babies are just plain awesome lunch food...or breakfast food for those who like sweets in the morning.  They not only taste fantastic, but they literally come together with just a few minutes of prep. All of the actual dutch baby ingredients go into a blender and are then poured into the pan. You can top with fruit before baking or after baking...the rules are pretty fast and loose. 

So I'd forgotten about the wonder and joy of these super duper easy, but oh so schmance looking and tasting treats since last time I posted about them a couple of years ago.  Yeah, I can't believe it's been a couple of years either.  I pulled this month's Martha Stewart Living from my mailbox and flipped almost immediately to a beautiful picture of individual sized dutch babies with fresh blueberries.  I actually went into the kitchen and made them immediately using a hybrid of Martha's recipe with the recipe I used last time which included egg whites.  The ingredients for dutch babies are few and the process is minimal so recipes don't vary all that much, but I had a couple of egg whites to use up. I also really like the lighter, less eggy flavor of using egg whites.  Oranges are plentiful in this house so opted to zest those but these could really be made with any combination of fresh berries and zest.

I am finding that I love cast iron more and more recently.  While I have both All-Clad and Le Creuset skillets, I very often just leave my plain 'ole cast iron skillet from Target on the stove top as a default all purpose pan.  It's well seasoned and just feels so homey to be cooking in it.  

I bought these little individual sized ones awhile back at World Market ( $5.99 each and with a coupon I bought 5 for $20--gotta love that)  They are definitely not a one food wonder but are perfect for so many things....I use them for individual breakfast skillets, baking cornbread for serving at the table, baking individual sized cookies and about a zillion other things.  They are perfectly sized for individual dutch babies.  

I would hope it goes without saying but when preheating the skillets or serving in them, remember that these little suckas get hot, hot, hot.  

So perfectly puffy in the oven.  Have to say I love a recipe where a deflated food is considered successful.

Aren't they adorable little guys? Literally minutes to throw together here...can't beat that.

Raspberry Dutch Babies

adapted from Martha Stewart Living, June 2012

4 tsps butter, cut into one tsp slices

1 cup flour

3 tablespoons sugar

1/2 tsp finely grated orange zest

1/4 teaspoon kosher salt

1 cup milk

2 large eggs

2 large egg whites
1 tsp vanilla extract

9 oz fresh raspberries, gently washed

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Place 4 individual sized cast iron pans in oven to preheat. (or one 10 inch cast iron skillet)
2. Place the flour, sugar, salt, milk, vanilla, eggs and zest into blender and process for 30 seconds. Let rest for 1 hour at room temp or overnight in refrigerator. (If refrigerating, allow batter to come to room temp prior to baking)
3. Carefully remove hot pans from oven and place 1 tsp of  butter into each.  Swirl to melt.
4. Carefully pour the batter into the preheated skillet. Sprinkle with half of the fresh raspberries
5. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are puffed and brown.
6. Sprinkle with remaining fresh raspberries and dust with powdered sugar before serving. 

Poblano Corn Salsa

I'm not a huge fast food person but when it's necessary, I am utterly predictable...Chipotle all the way. Last week when I was in training, I went to Chipotle every day.  You'd think it would get old, but as it turns out, I could eat those burrito bowls every day.  In honor of Cinco de Mayo coming up, I've been keeping mexican type flavors in the kitchen this week.  I'm guessing burrito bowls are hardly the most authentic mexican food, but the grilled, charred, spicy chili and lime flavors in this salsa is a nod to the fabulousness that is mexican food.

I know I already posted the recipe rather recently on making these burrito bowls at home, but just recently tried my hand at a corn salsa that similar to Chipotles.  Food Network posted a recipe in their Copycat recipe area and it's pretty delish.  I opted to grill the veggies and all the peppers for a slightly more charred flavor, but the corn could also be boiled or you could even use frozen corn that's been cooked for a few minutes.

Grilling is so yummy though...

Anyone else think that  flame roasted peppers are one of life's beautiful sites to behold?

And of course it all comes together.  I threw it on the burrito bowl but truthfully, the salsa was just as good by the spoonful....sweetness from the corn is balanced by the fire from the chilies and the tang of the lime and salt.  

Almost-Famous Corn Salsa

adapted from Food Network Magazine

Ingredients
1 poblano chile pepper,
1 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
4-5 medium-large ears of corn
2  small jalapeno peppers
3-4 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro
3 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1/4 c fresh lime juice

salt and pepper to taste

Directions

1. Preheat a grill to medium high. 
2. Bring a large pot of water to boil and cook corn for two minutes.  Remove from water and drain well.
3. Brush the poblano with  olive oil and grill turning as each side chars 
4. Add corn and and jalapeños to grill and turn to char on each side
5. Remove all from heat and allow to cool slightly
6. Cut corn from cob and place in medium bowl
7. Peel poblano and remove seeds and stem.  Chop into smaller dice and place in bowl with corn
8. Remove seeds and step from jalapeños and and dice.  Add to corn and poblanos
9. Add onion and cilantro to bowl and toss ingredients
10. Stir in the olive oil, lime juice, and salt and pepper and mix well