stuck in the wormhole

I'm still cooking, I swear! But hot dang, I have no spare time to blog. In the coming posts, you can look forward to:

- buckwheat pancakes
- banana bread
- snickerdoodles (another learning experience)
- apple pie
- pumpkin filling cookies
- Araya's Vegetarian Place

Comment if you wanna see any of those more than the others, so I can post that first.

Well, I'm now a month gluten-free, and doing fine. Although, my eczema is still here. In fact, it hasn't changed a bit. *sigh* I'm a little bit addicted to the challenge of a gluten-free existence, though, and feel a heap healthier. Learning to bake again is a ball. I wish I had one of those commercial kitchens with the big mixing equipment and the calibrated oven and huge sinks for washing dishes with one of those sprayer things... and large bags of gluten-free flours and such. And fresh fruit up the yin-yang... Really, though, I'd settle for a nice KitchenAid.

I'm discovering all sorts of cool grains... Quinoa I've got down. Millet I'm currently conquering... next is amaranth.

I'm trying to like millet. But right now, I think it smells like budgies... :-S

Bananas, Almonds, and Hot Fudge

Bananas are fun. You can whirl them in the blender for a smoothie. You can eat them like a monkey. You can chop them for fruit salad. My latest favorite? Fryyyyy them :D

So, OK, fried banana. I thought it would make a good dessert because... you know, bananas are healthy. *grin* Oh, but you know what would be good with it? Hot fudge. Oooh! And toasted almonds! Man, I was so excited when I thought of all this and realized the ingredients were on hand. Stoked. So I got everything together, Robert fried up the bananas (he being the master of anything that's heated in a pan with fat), and put them all together. It needed a mint leaf. Which we didn't have.

So I used a basil leaf. Shh, don't tell anyone. Basil actually tastes good with chocolate... *shifty eyes*

BANANAS, ALMONDS, AND HOT FUDGE
1-2 tbsp butter
2 large bananas, ripe but not TOO ripe, peeled
4oz dark chocolate
3 tbsp milk or cream (we used lowfat lactose-free, since that's what was on hand)
2 tbsp butter
2-3 tbsp sugar
pinch salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
1/4 cup sliced almonds, toasted
mint sprig(s) for garnish



1. Heat butter in a 10" skillet over medium-low heat. Slice bananas in half lengthwise.

2. When butter begins to foam, add bananas to pan, cut side down.

3. Meanwhile, place chocolate, milk, butter, sugar, and salt in a glass bowl or top half of a double boiler. Place over a pan containing about an inch of gently simmering water.

4. When bananas are lightly golden brown on one side, gently (and quickly) flip them over to brown the second side.



5. Stir chocolate with a spatula until it melts and mixture looks homogenous. Dip your finger in it and taste it. Add whatever you think you need (sugar, milk, butter). Repeat once with all 9 other digits. Add vanilla at the very end and stir to incorporate, then take off the heat.



6. Remove banana halves from pan when browned to your liking and put on a serving plate. Drizzle some fudge sauce over the top, sprinkle on your toasted almonds, drizzle some more fudge sauce over them, and garnish with mint. Oh, boy.





PROS: Hard to go wrong with this one, unless you over-toast your almonds or something... versatile, you can make your chocolate how you like it, and put as much or as little on as possible. Bananas are healthy!
CONS: uh... not good if you don't like chocolate. Or bananas. Or nuts.

Pan-Seared Sea Scallops

I am not a true vegetarian. I don't eat beef, chicken, pork, turkey, lamb, goat, duck, rabbit, lizards, or most other vertebrates. But I do eat seafood (so that would make me... a pescetarian?). And I love me some mollusks.

Friday night, we cooked. Delicious scallops, salad, and dessert was had - more about the latter two in future posts - and all was devoured devilishly. Good times. Of course, a large (nearly full) bottle of extra-virgin olive oil was shattered all over the floor... but lucky for us, we'd already made salad dressing. *wipes brow* Anyway, onto the main course.

Sweet, succulent scallops are excellent served as an appetizer or as the main feature of a meal. High heat and a short cooking time ensure they will form a golden, flavorful exterior and remain tender inside (I sound like a cookbook in a good way, right?).

PAN-SEARED SEA SCALLOPS
12 large sea scallops
2 tbsp olive oil
1/2 tsp sea salt
1 1/2 tbsp butter
3 tbsp lemon juice
1 1/2 tbsp capers
1/4 cup chopped flat-leaf parsley
Freshly ground pepper to taste

1. Heat a 10"-12" heavy skillet over medium-high heat.

2. Pat scallops dry on paper towels. Coat well with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.



3. When pan is hot, add scallops as quickly as possible. Do not move scallops once they've been placed in the pan. Sear two minutes or until golden brown on bottom.

4. Turn scallops with spatula. Again, do not move scallops once they've been turned. Cook approximately two more minutes. To test for doneness, press the top of a scallop with your finger: when you begin to feel resistance, remove from heat immediately and transfer scallops to a serving dish.





5. Deglaze the pan by adding butter, lemon juice, capers, and parsley. Stir to mix and remove stuck-on bits (the fond) from pan. Spoon over scallops and serve hot, seasoning to taste with pepper.





Did I mention that we ate them all up?



PROS: exquisite, versatile dish, flavors compliment each other well
CONS: very easy to overcook scallops; scallops tend to stick to the pan, scallops are expensive