Effortless Entree -- Recipe #19: BeeBeeFurter

Sometimes, I just don't feel like really cooking. As good as pasta sounds, as much as that chicken piccata is calling my name, I just can't muster the energy to break out all the pans and all the ingredients and spend an hour in the kitchen. On days like this, I take an easy way out with recipes like this one.

Though I guess that by my standards, I wouldn't consider this *technically* a recipe, since I don't really specify any measurements, it's a deliciously nitrate-ful plate of tastiness.

I grew up in a small town in eastern Connecticut. I have lots of good memories, and most of my family still lives there. In that town, there used to be a mall. The building is still there, but the vast majority of stores are long-gone. There was Puppy Love (a pet store that was like torture for two little animal-loving girls), Caldor, Shetucket Harness, the Candy Carousel (chocolate non-pareils = one of God's greatest creations), but more importantly... Bee Bee Dairy.



It was a little restaurant/diner that was a local icon -- though the one at the mall closed a few years ago, there's still actually a Facebook group dedicated to the restaurant being a landmark in Mystic, Connecticut. I can remember going with my mom when we'd stop at the mall, and I remember the first time she took us there specially for the recipe I'm about to share, known as the BeeBeeFurter.

It is just what it sounds like -- a hot dog special. It was made with a foot long frankfurter (though I had to substitute in my version, since our supermarket apparently doesn't sell footlong hotdogs), and TONS of fixins, most of which were up to you to apply from the four way condiment topper that was standard with Bee Bee's fare. At my mom's urging, of course, we tried it all. Even though it sounded odd at first, we managed to fit every available topping on top of that hot dog, and regret not one second of it.

By the way, not having a footlong dog didn't really detract from this. That's because I had the one part of this "recipe" that you truly need -- a buttered and pan-toasted (fried?) bun. It gives it that delicious greasy spoon taste.

It's not that this recipe is complicated. It's not that we had it all the time (or all of our cholesterol levels would be over 300). It's not that it's hard to make or SOOO crazy. But bottom line, it's delicious. The recipe below is intentionally vague -- add or subtract as you prefer. But this is the good ol' fashioned way that WE enjoyed our BeeBeeFurters.

Ingredients
hot dog (footlong preferable)
ketchup
spicy mustard
diced onions
American cheese
bacon
relish
butter
hot dog bun

Cook hot dog -- either in butter in a pan, or boiled. I prefer boiled.

While preparing, cook bacon in microwave until very crispy -- place one piece cut into two pieces in the bottom of a microwave-safe bowl, cover with paper towel, and microwave on high for two minutes. Check to see how crispy it is (different microwaves have different temperature settings), and cook for lesser intervals until crispy.


...And I mean crispy.

Melt butter in a skillet on medium. When melted, add bun. Turn to toast the other side in butter. Repeat until both sides are crispy and golden brown but not burnt.



Remove bun, and line the bottom with cheese. Set the hot dog in the bun to allow the cheese to start to melt.



Add toppings of your choice and serve. Enjoy!

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Recipe #18: Banana Walnut Bread

A looong time ago, in a kitchen far far away, my great grandmother Gibby (though I'm still not sure why we called her that) made her mark on our family. She passed away in 1997 at age 85, but I will never forget her. She was the kind of person whose home you never minded going over even as a little kid, even though she didn't have any toys for us to play with. My sister and I had "tea parties" with her using her old decorative tiny saucers and cups. She was a great lady, and I miss her.


Gibby with me and my sister (I'm the one on the left) in front of my grandparents' house. This was Easter Sunday sometime in the late '80s.

I can remember her personality, her sense of humor, her piano -- she could rock it out, and did. But most of all, when I think of Gibby, I think of her banana bread. We LOVED it. There wasn't a person alive who could eat a slice without going back for a second (or third or fourth) piece. My dad in particular was a big fan.

Since I hadn't had the bread since Gibby passed away, I started looking around for recipes to try and make for my dad. I came across a few very good ones, but they were missing some tastes, some smells, some tweeks to make it just like Gibby's. The below recipe is my best attempt at recreating the banana bread I so fondly remember from childhood. I hope you enjoy it as much as everyone I've made it for in the past few weeks. Though it's great right out of the oven, trust me when I say that if you wrap it in saran wrap or foil and let it relax in the fridge overnight... it is even better the next day.

Banana Walnut Bread

Cook time: 60 minutes
Chill time: Up to 24 hours

Ingredients
3 mashed/pureed bananas*
1 cup plus one tablespoon of flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cocoa powder*
2 eggs, beaten*
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup softened salted butter
2 tablespoons salted butter (to top bread)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
pinch of salt
cooking spray for greasing the pan

Tools
2 mixing bowls
Stand mixer or hand mixer
5x9 loaf pan
large (gallon-size) Ziploc freezer bag (optional)*

Grease loaf pan well with cooking spray. Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Sift together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cocoa powder, salt, and cinnamon in large mixing bowl. In a separate bowl, beat eggs with vanilla. Set both aside.

Cream together sugar and butter in a stand mixer or with hand mixer.



Add egg and vanilla mixture to bowl (while on low speed). When combined, add banana. A little at a time, add the sifted ingredients until no raw powder is visible. Remove bowl from mixer, fold in walnuts.



Pour into pan and use a rubber spatula to distribute evenly. Cut remaining butter into four pieces, and place in pan on top of batter.



Bake for one hour. Allow to cool for 20 minutes to half an hour.



After cooled, remove from pan, wrap in aluminum foil or plastic wrap and allow to cool overnight in the refrigerator. Slice just before serving.




*Comments:
-Eggs: I used Eggland's Best eggs -- which I was able to try for free through Foodbuzz's Tastemaker program -- for this recipe.



I like using Eggland's Best because, aside from the fact that they're almost the same price (within about 20 cents) of the store brand and saving money is important to me, I also never have to worry about getting a "bad egg."

-Mashed bananas: I have a seven-month old son, and I like to have him help me in the kitchen as much as he can (future chef?). To mash or puree the bananas for this recipe, you CAN use a food processor, or just a fork in a bowl. But to get my little guy involved, I employ the use of a very simple kitchen tool... a gallon-size Ziploc freezer bag. I put my three bananas into the bag, seal it up, and start the mashing process myself (to get things started), and then I hand over the bag to the littlest chef in our house. Of course, at seven months old he wants to put it in his mouth, but he gets some good squishing in, too.



Using the bag also makes it easier to add the bananas to the batter -- rather than trying to scoop as much as you can out of the bag, you can cut one corner off and squeeze it out. Much easier!



-Ripeness of bananas: This recipe is a great use of bananas that are past the point of snack-eating and into browning and overripening. Instread of throwing them away, use them in a banana bread recipe and the ripening brings out the sweetness of the bananas. On the other hand, the bananas don't HAVE to be browning for you to use them, especially because that requires planning ahead of time -- buying, letting them sit -- and that's really not something I have time to do as a working mom. Use what you have. If you happen to have a few bananas that you want to save instead of throw away, use them. You will notice that with the riper bananas, your batter may be slightly darker, even a little grayish in color. That's a-OK -- it's going to get good and brown in the oven anyway. If you're just in the mood for some bread and pick up whatever's at the supermarket, fresh yellow bananas will work just fine too.

-Bread rising: Anyone who has made bread from scratch knows that this "bread" isn't a bread in the conventional sense -- there is no dough. This is a quickbread made from a batter (trust me, that makes it no less delicious). With that said, this bread doesn't rise a whole lot. That's OK. The baking powder does help it a bit (thanks for the tip, Chrissy!), but it's just not something that is going to rise and crest like other loaves. That's OK. What it lacks in appearance it greatly makes up for in taste.

Enjoy!

Recipe #17: Chocolate Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce

First off, I apologize for taking a break -- between holidays, a sick baby, and having my wisdom teeth out, I've been a busy lady. Anywho, on with the show!

The first time I ever had Panna Cotta was at Pompeii Caesar inside Mohegan Sun Casino. It's a very expensive (albeit absolutely delicious) Italian restaurant inside the older part of the casino. I went there to have lunch with a reporter from Rolling Stone for an interview she was doing on myself and a bunch of other teen girls from my town (the rest of this is such another story for another day/blog/etc.). While we were there, the reporter let me order anything I wanted and after whatever my entree was, and at the tender age of 14, as long as it was being paid for by someone else, of course I wanted dessert.

I'd never had it before, but with literally the first bite, I was IN LOVE. It was creamy and delicious and like a little bite of heaven.

Cut to 11 years later, and I'm trying to come up with a nice dessert to make my husband after a long week of taking care of me after I had my wisdom teeth out. I thought of panna cotta, but there's only one problem -- he won't eat anything vanilla, custardy, pudding-like or creamy. No problem, I'll add chocolate and a touch of raspberry. Please note -- I usually include photos of my entire process, but since the first part, where I actually made the cream that I used, went so quickly, I didn't really get any photos. I did take photos while making the raspberry sauce, because that process was actually tougher. But trust me when I say that the words alone will be enough. It's a pretty simple recipe.

In the end, he loved it, and he's actually the one who suggested I blog my recipe. We thought it was delicious, and considering it made 8 servings, we'll happily be enjoying it for dessert for a couple more days.

Chocolate Panna Cotta with Raspberry Sauce

Cook time: 10 minutes
Cooling time: 15 minutes
Chill time: 4 to 24 hours

1 small packet unflavored gelatin
4 cups heavy cream or whipping cram
1 cup sugar
2 tablespoons plus one teaspoon water
1 8-ounce container of sour cream
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 tablespoon cocoa powder
4 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips
1/2 cup fresh raspberries

Tools
large saucepan
mixing bowl
8 medium-sized (about 4 oz.) ramekins or containers for serving
ladle/large mixing spoon
food processor (optional)
small saucepan
handheld strainer/sifter

Melt chocolate chips in a double boiler, or microwave for 30 second intervals and stir, until melted. Set aside.

Take 1 cup heavy cream and whip until stiff peaks form. Set aside.

Mix gelatin with 2 tablespoons water and set aside. This will set in the container within 2 or 3 minutes. That's OK. It's supposed to.

In large saucepan, heat 1/2 cup sugar, cream, cocoa powder and vanilla over medium heat, but stir continuously to avoid boiling. Once heated through, add the set gelatin mixture. Stir until you don't feel any grainy pieces of the gelatin and remove from heat immediately. Pour in melted chocolate and stir to combine. Allow to cool thoroughly for about 15 minutes.

In mixing bowl, empty sour cream container. Once the cream-sugar mixture has completely cooled, use ladle to add spoonfuls of the mixture to the sour cream. Whisk to keep airy/light. Add the whipped cream. Once completely combined, pour into ramekins or serving containers and chill for at least for (up to 24) hours in refrigerator.

For raspberry sauce: Add raspberries to food processor and puree. If you do not have a food processor, use a fork to crush the raspberries, or a knife to chop. Add to small saucepan with remaining 1/2 cup sugar and teaspoon of water.



Cook over medium high heat until sugar has caramelized and is melted completely. Mixture should be bubbling.



Remove from heat. Set strainer/sifter on top of a bowl, and pour raspberry mix into it. Using a fork or spoon, move raspberry mixture around so as to move the remaining flesh and juice into the bowl, keeping seeds in sifter.



Please note: The yellow on the right hand side in the below picture is the reflection of the light in my kitchen. I didn't add anything to the mixture. :)



Panna cotta can be served in the ramekin/container or on a plate. To remove from ramekin, run a knife around the edge and turn ramekin over onto plate and tap the bottom. If the panna cotta doesn't come out right away, continue running the knife around the edges. This will separate it from the container.

Serve topped with raspberry sauce.



*Comments:

-Strainer/sifter: If you don't know what I'm talking about, here's a better picture of this tool.

And the winner is…

Jamie

at Momma's Playground

The faaabulous item she chose to receive is the

Reversible Meat Tenderizer



(It looks dirty, but it's not.)

Congratulations, Jamie!

Happy New Year -- My first giveaway! *updated*

For quite a while now, I've wanted to do a giveaway on my blog. Since winning the "Pay It Forward" giveaway from Amanda at Funny Days With Mommy and Maddie (visit them!), I've been searching trying to come up with an idea, and I think I finally have one.

Who isn't a fan of Williams-Sonoma? Their high-quality cookware and servingware has graced the tables and kitchens of many around the country for over 50 years. Just looking at the products on their site makes me want to throw a dinner party.

Here's where my lucky readers can benefit from my obsession with Williams Sonoma -- I'm giving you the chance to win your favorite Williams-Sonoma product (under $40)!

Here are the rules -- you must be a follower of my blog to enter, and you must agree to host your own "Pay It Forward" giveaway if you win (the "prize" is up to you). All you have to do is leave me a comment on this post telling me which product from the Williams-Sonoma web site -- $40 or under -- you'd like to win before the deadline, tomorrow night, January 4, 2010 at 11:59pm EST. I will choose a random winner from all entries (via Random.org) to win the product they chose and announce it on my blog Tuesday morning, January 4, 2010. Please be sure to include your email, or be sure your email is located somewhere on your blog so I may notify you!

You are not required to post about, comment on Facebook or retweet the giveaway, but if you do help spread the word, I'd be much appreciative!

*Update: In an effort to give more people a chance to win, I'm expanding the giveaway rules. Since some readers may not have a Google account and/or may not be able to "follow" me, I'm offering an alternative. If you would still like to enter but can't "follow" my blog, you can either retweet the giveaway or make a post about it on your blog, and leave your comment below with the product you'd like and letting me know which method you chose to enter. If you "retweeted," please leave me your username so I can follow you! Thanks everyone!

Good luck!


*Disclaimer: I have not been paid or otherwise compensated for offering this giveaway. This prize has not been provided by Williams-Sonoma, and the company claims no such endorsement or responsibility for this giveaway.

**The winner of this giveaway will be chosen completely at random from all entrants who have commented on the post before January 4, 2010 11:59pm EST through Random.org.

Recipe #16: Caffe NV's Shrimp Saganaki

Without exaggeration, this dish really is my favorite food ever. If I had to live on only one thing for the rest of my life, I'd choose Shrimp Saganaki. I cannot take credit for this deliciously magical wonderful culinary creation -- it's the work of the chefs at Caffe NV in Waterford, Connecticut, my favorite restaurant. This is the only entree I've ordered there in the seven years I've been going to Caffe NV, and not once has it been anything less than stellar.

I've mentioned Caffe NV before -- my look-alike of their goat cheese spread makes a wonderful accompaniment to this dish, and can be found here -- and I really do mean it with all my heart (and stomach) when I tell you that their food is delicious, and they have not paid me a word to say that!

A local newspaper printed this recipe a few years ago, in their food column. I Googled the name of the dish, to see if by chance -- even though the restaurant doesn't have a website -- maybe someone else had a similar dish. I had finally found it! I can't find the recipe online anymore, but please understand -- this is NOT my original creation. I am reposting it here and showing how I've made it, but it is not my recipe. It's easy, requires only ingredients most people have in their kitchens already, and is so worth it! Please note -- wherever you see a (*) next to an ingredient or tool, there is a comment about it below the recipe. Enjoy!

Caffe NV's Shrimp Saganaki

Cook time: 25 minutes

Ingredients
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/4 pound shrimp, peeled and deveined*
salt and pepper to taste
3 cloves chopped garlic*
2 ounces white wine
2 ounces hot sauce*
2 diced plum tomatoes
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1/2 cup feta cheese

Tools
Saute pan
Small casserole dish or pie plate

Heat the oil in a sauté pan. Cook shrimp on both sides until they start to turn pink. Add the garlic and sauté until tender.



Add the white wine and hot sauce and cook about 3 to 5 minutes, or until mixture has reduced a bit.



Add the diced tomatoes and the tomato sauce, salt and pepper to taste, and cook about 7 minutes.



Transfer to an oven-proof dish and top with feta cheese (use crumbled only).



Bake in a 350-degree oven 7 to 10 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve with sliced crusty bread as an appetizer or toss with pasta and serve as an entree (my preferred serving suggestion).



Yields four entree servings.


*Comments:
-Shrimp: I used the shrimp I had on hand which were 31-40 count (meaning 31-40 = about a pound), but I found them a little small. I'd recommend using 16-20 count. Though slightly pricier, this recipe only calls for a quarter pound. Even if you use more than the recipe calls for, you can likely get half a pound for $6 or less.

-Garlic: I don't usually use fresh garlic when I cook, unless it's going to be almost raw in the dish. What I use instead is a huge jar of Spice World minced garlic. It saves me the time of having to chop (and have my hands smell like) garlic for any given recipe. For this recipe, if you use the jarred garlic, use one tablespoon.

-Hot sauce: I've tried all kinds and brands in this recipe, and the best flavor, by far, comes from using Frank's Red Hot sauce. Tabasco or a generic "Louisiana hot sauce" will do in a pinch, but to me, Frank's isn't just hot, it's also got a lot of flavor.

-Entree vs. appetizer: I love having this as an entree. To do that, I cooked one pound of penne in salted water, while the shrimp and tomatoes were sauteeing. It was timed perfectly -- by the time the shrimp and tomatoes came out of the oven, the pasta was just finished draining. Toss sauce with pasta in a large bowl and serve. One pound of pasta and the sauce makes enough for four.