Banana Cherry Smoothie

Hot weather calls for a cold drink. Here's a simple easy smoothie that's healthy and good for you, but also refreshing. Take a couple of bananas, some cherries, a couple splashes of pomegranate juice and some ice. Blend the whole thing and in within minutes you've got yourself a delicious drink. Can you say Jamba-what? Save me a couple of bucks right there. Though, I'll have to attempt to recreate my fave smoothie ever. The Mango-a-go-go. More on that next time.

I don't have a cherry pitter. I just quartered and halved them to take the seed out. This left me with slightly red fingers. Don't worry it washes off, unlike beets. I was going to puree the whole thing any way, so it didn't matter if I had them whole or not. That's another thing to add to my every-growing list of kitchen do-dads to have.

Look at the little cherry swimming a pool of fruity goodness. Grab yourself a glass and sit back, relax and enjoy each sip. It'll satisfy your thirst.

Serves 2-3.





Banana Cherry Smoothie

2 ripe bananas
1 dozen cherries (stemed and pitted)
a couple splashes of pomegranate juice.
2 c Ice

Blend all three ingredients together in a food processor or blender. Blend into a smooth texture.

Enjoy!

Grilled Shrimp Skewers

It's grillin' time again. For this go around, I made some shrimp with pineapple skewers. Who wouldn't love some shrimpy goodness? Unless you're allergic, then you're excused.

These little shrimpies were marinated in a simple soy sauce, lemon and garlic mixture That I marinated for a little over an hour. Skewered it with some fresh cut pineapple and grilled away. The smell around the house with the shrimp and pineapple cooking away. It was tempting not to take a bite, but I slightly burned my tongue on a lone shrimp that had no skewer to attach to. I couldn't resist. Don't tell me you haven't tried taking a bite or a sip of something right from the cooker, only to give the tongue a beating. No matter how many times I say "I won't do that again," I always do.

I served this with a side of Little J's Potato Salad. Little J, being one of my nicknames. Recipe for that coming soon. I also used some of the leftover marinade as a dipping sauce.

This will make roughly 6 skewers.



Grilled Shrimp Skewers

1 lb Shrimp (deveined and shelled)
Pineapple chunks
1 c soy sauce
Juice of one lemon
1 large garlic clove (minced)
6 Skewers

Marinate the shrimp in the soy sauce, lemon juice and garlic for at least 30min to an hour. This may be done in advance.

Prepare your grill.

Soak the skewers in water for at least 30min. This will prevent the sticks from burning while on the grill. Skewer a shrimp and pineapple on the stick, alternating each until you reach the top.

Cook the shrimp until they turn a nice shade white and pink. Roughly 3-5 min per side depending on the heat of your grill.

Serve warm.

Baked Nectarine Tart

Sometimes baked goods aren't that photogenic. This tart is one of them. But looks can be deceiving as its taste is amazing. Nectarines are in abundance right now as well as plums and peaches. One of the reasons I like summer is the various produce that are in season.

I paired it with a mascarpone base similar to the ones made for tiramisu, just without the espresso and an addition of a cinnamon-sugar topping. It tastes a bit like a danish, which I found to be quite pleasant.



Baked Nectarine Tart

3 firm and ripe nectarines
1 puff pastry sheet
6 oz mascarpone cheese
2 egg yolks
1 1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp melted butter

topping:
1 1/2 Tbsp brown sugar
1 Tbsp cinnamon
2 Tbsp butter or margarine (softened)


Preheat oven to 400˚F

Combine the butter, brown sugar and cinnamon. Set aside. This will be the topping for the tart.

In another bowl, combine together the mascarpone, egg yolks, and granulated sugar until smoothe. Set aside

Cut the nectarines into thin wedges. You may remove or keep the skins.

Take the puff pastry and place it in a lightly greased baking sheet. Take a knife and 1/2-inch from the edges, lightly score 4 lines creating an inner square. This will be the crust. With a fork perforate the dough several times, this will help when it bakes.

Take the mascarpone mixture and spread it even on the puff pastry, not passing the edge mark. Then place the nectarine slices over in a pattern to your liking. Spread the topping mixture after.

Take the melted butter and baste the edges.

Bake for 15-20 until browned.

10 Fun Food Facts of the Day and a couple of awards

It's that time again. Woohoo...fun food facts!!!!! Enjoy!!


one -
Did you know that butter is one of our oldest foods?

(Hooray for butter!!! I don't know what I'd do without you!!)


two -
The candy bar "Baby Ruth" was named after the daughter of U.S. President Grover Cleveland in 1921.


three -
In 1919, a molasses flood killed 21 people in the north end of Boston.

(Wow how much of molasses do you think it took?!)


four-
In 1930, Ruth Wakefield of Massachusetts, invented the chocolate chip cookie. At that time, it was known as the "Chocolate Crispie"

(Thank you, Mrs. Wakefield. If it weren't for you, I wouldn't be a chocoholic!!!)

five -
There are over 240 varieties of fish and shellfish sold in the fish markets and grocery stores.


six-
In 1953, a 1 pound can of lobster cost a nickel! It was also commonly used as farm fertilizer and was considered "Poor Man's Food"

(oh, how the tides have turned on this beloved crustacean.)

seven -
Carrots really can help you see in the dark! Vitamin A is known to prevent "night blindness," and carrots are loaded with Vitamin A.

(So be sure to eat your carrots, folks. Bugs Bunny did!!)


eight -
It takes 50,000 bees to produce 500 pounds of honey in one year!


nine -
Asparagus is related to onions, leeks, and garlic.


ten-
More than 96 billion pounds of edible "surplus" food is thrown away in the U.S. each year. It is estimated that almost 27% of our food supply is wasted.

(Which is why I don't like to waste. I'm all about making use of any leftovers.)

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Sources:
http://www.foodfunandfacts.com/foodtrivia.htm
http://www.vvsd.org/districtdept/food/foodfacts.htm#popcorn
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I'd also like to acknowledge a couple of awards that I recived this week. The first is from ValleyWriter at Adventures in the Pioneer Valley. She had passed along to me the Kreativ Blogger award.


Second is from Laura at Hey What's for Dinner Mom? She passed along to me the Hard Working Food Blogger award.


Thank you ladies!!!! Please be sure to check out their blogs. They got some wonderful stuff and you won't be disappoint. ;-)

S.L.T

Just like the B.L.T., this sandwich is simple and easy. A sausage, lettuce and tomato sandwich. I didn't have any bacon on hand, so I used the next best thing. I still had that Hickory Farm's sausage. Well, actually a nub of it. But the nub still seemed big. Then I remember that I had opened a can of vienna sausages the other day. I was planning to use if for something, but I never did end up making whatever I had planned. I can't even remember why I wanted to use it in the first place.

I grew up with vienna sausages as with spam. My mom sometimes puts it in her spaghetti sauce rather than hot dog as many Filipinos households do. That's our version of doing meatballs. For some odd reason, as I began to slice the sausages in half, I found myself just chopping them to bits. I don't know why I did that, but I just did. It still worked out in the end. I just found it completely random act on my part. Don't worry didn't chop the tomato or lettuce. I used some dijon mustard for the base on the bread for give the sandwich a little twang and topped it with some swiss cheese. I put in the broiler for 1-2 min to let the cheese melt.

Anyway...a delicious and a quick meal. Only takes minutes to make. Perfect for those busy days. Sometimes canned meats don't have to be scary.

Serves 2.




S.L.T (Sausage, Lettuce, Tomato)

2 sandwich Loaves (sliced open)
1 small can vienna sausage (chopped or sliced into halves)
2 small tomato (sliced)
a few pieces of romaine lettuce.
mustard
2 sandwich slices of swiss cheese (halved)

Cook the vienna sausage in the skillet. Do not use any oil as the sausage will cook in its own fats. You just want to heat it up until they start to brown.

Putting it together:
Spread some of the mustard on both sides of the bread. Top the bottom with lettuce and tomato, the with some of the sausage. Take two pieces of the halved cheese and place the top half of the bread.

You may melt the cheese in the broiler for 2 min or leave it as it is.

Serve as a warm or cold sandwich.

Banana Cue

I'm still in my summer Filipino treats mode. You already saw my Sago at Gulaman concoction. If not, go check it out after you finish reading today's delicious dish. I had bought a couple of plantains from the grocery a couple days ago. They looked fresh and there was only a few left. I took the opportunity to take 'em. You want to get them just right before they turn ripe. It's the best kind when you fry these puppies. Banana cue is another common treat found from street vendors in the Philippines.

They are plantains that are fried with brown sugar giving it a firm caramel coat. Kind of like candied bananas or almost like a bananas foster in a way. In the Philippine language, a banana is called saging (sa-ging). It's close relative treat is the turon (to-ron), which is a plantain and a piece of jack fruit wrapped in an egg roll wrapper, fried and coated with brown sugar. The banana cue is similar but it's strictly just the banana and served on a skewer. Easy portability. I'll be making the turon soon.

You'd think that frying a banana would cook it inside and out. Yes and no. The key is to just brown the outer layer, then sealing it with a brown sugar coating until it caramelizes. The outside of it has a nice firm sugar crust. When you bite into it, it's got a little itty-bitty crunch then you get into the nice, yellow, soft and warm inside of the plantain. My mom once told me she used to eat these with her classmates during recess when she was a little child.

I didn't put any time measurements as you need to keep an eye out on them. You got to get a feeling for them while they cook. I think that's the secret to making delicious banana cues. Can you see that chunky piece of crystalized sugar?? Those are the best parts. It goes really well with ice cream.

I could eat these all day. Have a piece of fruit while satisfying the sweet tooth, what could be better than that, right?



Banana Cue

2 Large Plantain (nearly ripe)
4 Tbsp brown sugar
Skewers

Oil (canola, vegetable, peanut = You choice)

Remove the skins of the plantains, cut them in half.

In a frying pan, heat some oil. Just enough to go half way up the banana. When the oil is really hot, carfully drop in the plantains. You'd want the outside to have a slight browning. Turn, if needed.

When the bananas have browned slightly all around, sprinkle the brown sugar. You may add more. Keep an eye while they fry you want the sugar to melt and coat the plaintains. Roughly 5-10min. turn them ocassionaly to cook all around.

When the sugar has completely coated the plantains and looks firm, remove from then oil and insert a skewer lengthwise. Two will fit on one stick.

Serve warm.

Coconut Crusted Baked Chicken Nuggets

Chicken and rice. I've seen quite a few recipes lately featuring these two delectable dishes. So I decided upon myself to have some chicken and rice. Luckily, I still had some white rice in the fridge that hadn't spoiled yet. That saved me the trouble of having to cook a new batch. I made some Pinoy Style Garlic Fried Rice.

I've been wanting to do something with chicken nuggets. I had gotten some coconut flakes over the weekend and I figured why not use that for the breading. Mix it in with some panko crumbs. another great excuse to use up another chicken breast from the big bag from Costco.

A herby-coconut flavor that I had dipped in some banana ketchup and I was happy and filled and later went to bed happy. Did I mention that this is baked? No? Well, they are. and they're really good. Better than that those Mcd's "nuggets".


Serve 2-3



Coconut Crusted Baked Chicken Nuggets

1 Large Chicken Breast
3 Tbsp All Purpose Flour
1 egg (beaten)
1 c panko crumbs
1 c coconut flakes
salt
pepper
1 tsp dry thyme
1 tsp dry oregano
1 tsp dry parsley


Preheat oven 375˚F

Pat the chicken breast dry of any water and cut into cubes. Season with salt, pepper, thyme, oregano, and parsley. Then coat the chicken with the all purpose flour.

In two separate dishes, one should contain the beaten egg and the combines panko and coconut in another. Season both with a little salt.

After coating the chicken with the flour, dredge them in the egg and then into the coconut mixture.

Place them on a lightly greased baking sheet.

Baked for 20-25 min. After 12-15 min, turn the chicken to get an even browning on both sides.