Pavlova with Bananas in Cardamom Praline Sauce
Yields: 1 large Pavlova or 4 mini ones (4 servings)
Banana recipe can be found here.
For the pavlova:
3 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar
1/2 tsp. vinegar
1/2 tsp. cornstarch
1/2 tsp. vanilla
For the bananas:
1/2 stick unsalted butter
4 bananas, haved lengthwise, then crosswise
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup heavy cream
pinch of ground cardamom
3/4 tsp. lime juice
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
To make the pavlovas, preheat the oven to 250 F and line a baking sheet with parchment paper, set aside. In a stand mixer, whisk the egg whites until soft peaks form. Slowly add the sugar, 1 tbsn. at a time, beating well after each addition. Beat until the mixture is smooth to the touch and their is no graininess. Fold in the cornstarch, vinegar and vanilla. Pour mixture onto your prepared baking sheet and form into a round (of four mini ones, if you want), creating a shallow depression in the center of each. Bake for 1 hour and 15 minutes or until the pavlova is cream colored and the surface is dry and crisp. Turn off the oven and leave the oven door ajar. Allow the pavlovas to cool in the oven until they can be handled.
To make the bananas, heat 1 tbsn. butter in a 10 inch heavy skillet over moderately high heat until the foam subsides. Then saute half of the bananas, cut sides down first, turning over once, until golden, 1 1/2 to 2 minutes total. Transfer with a slotted spatula to a bowl. Repeat with remaining bananas. Melt remaining 2 tbsn. butter in skillet over moderate heat, then add brown sugar, cream, cardamom, and a pinch of salt and simmer, stirring occasionally, until sauce is slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in lime juice. When ready to serve, place the bananas on top of the pavlova, top with ice cream then spoon sauce over everything.
Some places are simply known for their one item; that item that headlines their entire menu and restaurant. Gaja, located in Torrance/ Lomita, is known for their okonomiyaki.
Gaja is special because they have tables where you can cook your own, making it interactive and authentic! My favorite part is conversing with your dining mates while waiting for the okonokiyaki to sizzle and crisp up. But that's soon topped once you grab a piece for yourself and chow down.
There's tons of options on toppings, from sauces, to bonito flakes and Japanese mayonnaise. It's all necessary, yes ALL of it. Mmmm okonomiyaki!
What to buy? What to make? Oh the possibilities! I ended up making Daifuku, or Japanese mochi treats. I can't think of anything more fitting to welcome in the new season. Luscious strawberries wrapped in green tea tinged mochi. A perfectly refreshing snack for these warm sunny days.
At first, I followed the recipe to a tee which yielded in hard, very unmanageable mochi! Ick. But after some further research, I found that the mochi mixture only needs to be zapped in the microwave for a couple minutes (it's fixed in the recipe). Other than that, this is a quick snack that is fun to make and fun to eat, plus it's looks don't hurt either. So cute!
As a baker, you get a lot of praise, because well, you make things that people love and then that love transfers over to you. Nice huh? Well with that said, sometimes I feel like a cheat. Most of the time I use recipes rather than making things of my own doing because baking is a science and one that I haven't particularly mastered yet. I know, I know!
It makes me sad to say I do not whisk these ideas up in my own head and I nod my head in shame when people say, "I love YOUR recipe." Well, thanks but no thanks because it's not my recipe, but that's fine by me too because the joy of spreading good recipes is a reward all in itself. My favorite kind of recipes are the ones you can change to your liking, that way I can feel like the recipe has just a little bit of me in it.
For example, this olive oil granola. I don't even know the path this granola took to find me but the last hand off was Shannalee of Food Loves Writing and boy I'm glad I was next in line for this one! I don't usually eat granola often. Granola bars? Yes. Oatmeal? Yes. Regular ole' granola? No. After reading Shannalee's awesome blog post on this beauty, I knew I had to make it. Well, I did and guess what? I simply love it. Wholesome and filled with all kinds of customizable goodness. Add/ subtract/ change what you'd like, and even with all that math, you still end up with some good eats!
Olive OIl Granola
Yields: about 5 cups
Adapted from here.
3 cups old fashioned rolled oats
1 cup chopped walnuts
1/2 cup almonds, roughly chopped
1 cup coconut flakes
1/4 cup flax seeds
3/4 cup pure maple syrup
1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp. kosher salt
1/2 tsp. ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp. ground cardamom
heaping 1/2 cup dried apricots, chopped
heaping 1/4 cup dried cherries, chopped
Preheat oven to 300 F. In a large bowl, combine the oats, nuts, flax, coconut, maple syrup, olive oil, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon and cardamom. Spread mixture on a rimmed baking sheet in an even layer (use parchment paper or a silpat to make it easier to transfer the mixture later). Bake for 45 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes, until golden brown and toasted. Transfer granola to a large bowl and add apricots and cherries, tossing to combine.
So, with that, I decided to use her yummy recipe as a base for a creation of my own doing. Matcha pancakes. Minus a couple ingredients here, add a couple ingredients there, tweak some things here and there and voila! Matcha pancakes. I added quite a bit of Matcha powder which just gave the pancakes a hint of that earthy, green tea flavor. It's really hard to get a prominent Matcha flavor but the suggestive flavor is really beautiful.Matcha Pancakes
Yields: 20 - 30 medium sized pancakes
Adapted from Joy the Baker, which can be found here.
2 eggs
1 cup flour
1 cup whole wheat flour (you can use all regular flour)
3 tbsn. sugar
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. baking soda
1 tsp. salt
2 tbsn. matcha powder (or more, for more matcha flavor)
1 1/2 cups buttermilk
1/2 cup water
4 tbsn. butter, melted and cooled
1/2 tsp. vanilla
oil or cooking spray, for cooking
In a large bowl, beat the eggs. In a small bowl, mix the matcha powder with the water until well combined. Add the buttermilk, matcha mixture, butter and vanilla to the eggs and mix well. Add the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Mix until smooth, let sit for a few minutes. Heat pan over medium heat. Add tsp. of oil or spray with cooking spray. Once pan is hot, pour two tbsn. of batter onto the pan and cook until bubbles start to form on the top, about 1 - 2 minutes. Flip over and cook another 1 - 2 minutes or until golden brown.
It ain't easy being green:
