Baked banana, walnut oatmeal

In the evening before bed:
Soak 2 cups oats in 1 cup water plus 1 tbs vinegar, overnight. Cover with foil, plastic wrap or dish towel.

The next day:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Grease 8 inch square baking pan/dish.

Roughly chop 1 cup of toasted walnuts. You can either chop first or toast first, it doesn't matter.

Slice one banana in 1/4 inch thin rounds. The size doesn't have to be exact, just not too thin or too thick. Place the bananas around the bottom of the baking pan, sprinkle with cinnamon, top with a few of the toasted walnuts (not all of them just a few,) drizzle with honey.



Melt 4 tbs of butter and add to the oats. Mix 1 egg with 1/2 cup milk and 1 tsp vanilla. Now add this to the oat/butter mix.

Combine 1/2 cup sugar with 1 tsp baking powder with 1/2 tsp baking soda with 1 tsp salt, and 1 tsp cinnamon, stir and add to oat mixture.

Roughly chop one more banana add it and the walnuts to the oat mixture.



Pour batter over the bananas, walnuts and honey. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 mins. When cooled you can turn over, slice and serve with fresh whipped cream.

To whip cream pour 1/4 cup - 1/2 cup cold heavy whipping cream into a bowl and whisk vigorously until desired firmness is achieved. I like mine a little bit loose.

Strawberries and cream- ice cream

I created this ice cream one day on a whim. It is so easy to make and the end result is very lovely!

1 small bag of frozen strawberries

1/4- 1/2 cup white sugar

1 vanilla bean

1 cup whole milk

1 cup heavy cream

In a saucepan over medium heat add a dash of water, followed by the strawberries. Next scrape the seeds from the vanilla bean into the saucepan with the strawberries and water. Stir to combine, now toss the left over vanilla bean pods into the saucepan as well. Let this mixture cook down, as it is cooking use your spoon to mash the strawberries as they get soft. Add a pinch of salt. Cook until the mixture is completely soft, yummy and full of lots of love! Remove from the heat and place pan in your refrigerator and allow to cool. Once cooled add the milk and cream, stir to incorporate. Add this to your ice cream machine and follow your owners manual.

*Note: If you have never used fresh vanilla beans before it is really quit simple. Lay the bean on a cutting board and using a sharp knife slice the bean down the middle from end to end (the long way.) Using the blunt edge of your knife scrape the black seeds out of the bean. Just one nice steady motion is all it should take.

**Note: I have tried virtually all types of ice cream machines. I have had much success starting fires and blowing up my machines. Take it from me when I give you this suggestion on what machine to invest your money in. Cuisinart frozen yogurt-ice cream and sorbet maker, 1 and 1/2 quart capacity. This machine does NOT require salt or ice. Yah!!!

Best ever parfait!

I have created the best ever: vanilla infused granola, blueberries and lemon cream parfait! I repeat BEST EVER!!!

Just look at this picture if you aren't sold by it and it alone, then you might as well move on. I have to admit that the recipes individually were not my own, but finding them and weaving them together is where I will take the credit. LOL!

I have NEVER had homemade granola that was remotely good. I have been eyeballing these pretty little bags of locally made granola at Whole Foods. But paying eight bucks for the small bag wasn't very appealing to me. So I decided to get back on the horse and find that one awesome granola recipe that I knew had to be online some where! I found that recipe with Alton Brown. For some that will be no big surprise I am sure. I did make a couple of changes to his recipe just so I wouldn't have to run out to the store and buy any ingredients.

I used walnuts rather then cashews. I added a little but of unmelted coconut oil only because I thought I was out of shredded coconut. Then I looked in my freezer and found a big jar of it! Hurray, so it had both. I tried grinding up just a Tbs or so of flax seeds to add to it. But sadly my grinder was jammed. WHICH by the way, if you are new to grinding your own flax seed make sure you clean your grinder very well, or you may be in for a little not so nice surprise the next time you pull it out of your cabinet. Gurrrr! So I added a couple spoonfuls of sunflower seeds to my little bitty food processor and the flax seed and tried to grind it up that way (the flax alone wouldn't have ground up in it) some ground up and some stayed whole. WHAT EVER, its not important really! Also I omitted the raisins. I then stored the granola in mason jars with vanilla pods, to lightly infuse it! All I did was slice the pods length wise, scrape the seeds out and place the pods inside the mason jars, then fill them up with the granola.

Best ever homemade granola recipe ~thank you Alton Brown!~

Next I went out to search for an alternative to using yogurt in my parfait. I am not sure how I stumbled onto this recipe but it is so insanely good you have to use it instead of yogurt!!! Its tart and refreshing and adds the perfect zip to this parfait! I added more lemon juice at the end to make it as tangy as I like. This recipe hails from the Tasty Kitchen site. If by the way you haven't used this site before its time to get going! Its just like Allrecipes only it is newer and seems to be a little more human friendly (I have had recipes pending to be published on that site for MANY years now.)

The third and final layer in this parfait is fruit. I choose blueberries and it was the perfect simple healthy option! I wouldn't change that as long as they are in season.

All you have to do is layer these in pretty glasses or use a small mason jar like I did for a nice country effect. I used a wide zester to make pretty little lemon curls on top, which are totally edible!

Here are the links to the two main recipes:

Granola: http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/alton-brown/granola-recipe/index.html

Lemon Cream: http://tastykitchen.com/recipes/desserts/lemon-cream-fruit-dip/old into the lemon mixture. Add boiling water and cook in the double boiler until glossy and thick (about 10-15 minutes). Remove from heat and allow to thoroughly cool. Whip cream and powdered sugar until soft peaks form. Fold into the lemon sauce.

Banana Cake with Banana pudding and Cream cheese frosting

This is the easiest cake recipe, that will undoubtedly leave your guests thinking you spent a VERY long time in the kitchen. You can of course make this recipe entirely from scratch but I am going to tell you what to do for a quick cake. All you need is one box of yellow cake mix, and mix it according to the box, then simply mash two to three very ripe bananas add 1 tsp of baking soda to the bananas and then add this into your yellow cake mix. Bake according to the box. I made my cake in two round pans. Now for the icing, you will need one tub of cream cheese frosting and one box of instant banana pudding. Make the pudding but only use half the milk called for. This will make the pudding thicker. Once your pudding is firm (I left mine in the fridge while my cake baked) fold it into the cream cheese frosting. Now all that is left is frosting the cake. I think a cake looks great with icing smeared all over it, with no fuss. Some people prefer the look of a cake that is smooth. One tip is to cut the very tip top of your cake off, leaving it with a flat surface. This is especially helpful if you are layering cakes. I cut the tops off of my cake, ate them and then iced the cakes. Yum Yum!!!

Ingredients:

1 box yellow cake mix

2-3 ripe bananas

1 tsp baking soda

1 tub cream cheese frosting

1 box instant banana pudding

Instructions listed above.

I am still here!

It has been a long time since my last post on this blog. But as you can imagine school has fully taken over my time and life. I am loving every second of it and learning so much! I plan to post all the wonderful things I have been learning soon, but soon may not be as soon as it use to be...lol. I have only two more classes after I finish my current class then I have to go out into the real world and do what is called and externship (work for free at a restaurant.)Any ways I just wanted to pop on here and let you know the life of this blog is not over and soon will be filled with wonderful food tips, ideas, and more!

Cooking, eating and thinking...

First a note on the picture: It was an after thought! After eating about 12 (yes,TWELVE)crepes I thought I better take a picture for the blog...

As I type this apples are sauteing and crepes are cooking (hold on while I flip one...ok maybe cooking and typing isn't a good idea...HA!) As I was preparing my crepe batter questions started swirling around in my mind. Not just the normal questions like would duck eggs make this better and shall I add 1/2 tsp of vanilla or go for a whole tsp. But rather questions like why does crepe batter seem to work better after resting for about a half hour in the fridge. And why was the crepe batter I made last time so airy? They turned out more like fish net stockings then thin sweet little paper pancakes. Why were they airy last time and not this time or the million other times I have made them? I wonder if the high fat butter content of the raw milk I am using this time will make them taste and feel any different and if so why? But of course my thoughts don't stop there. I also sit back and wonder if someone is starting a love affair with crepes for the very first time, are they on a side street some where in Paris, and will they go home and try and recreate this very moment in their own kitchen? I know I relive Paris every time I eat crepes!

I will post the recipe I use for crepes, you can alter it making it better suited for savory crepes or adjust it for sweet crepes.

1 cup AP flour
1 tsp - 2 Tbs sugar (use less for savory dishes, and more for sweet dishes)
1/4 tsp salt (I prefer slightly more then this amount)
3 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 Tbs melted butter

In large mixing bowl, sift dry ingredients.

In separate mixing bowl beat eggs, milk and vanilla.

Beat the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until smooth. At the end still in the melted butter.

Heat a small amount of oil in a pan and ladle approximately 1/4 cup batter into pan. Using the back of your ladle swish the batter around the pan making a nice thin layer. You will need to work fast smoothing it out. Or if you are extremely talented you can simply hold the handle of you pan and swish the batter around with a few quick tilts.

For fillings you can saute apple slices, or add nutella, nuts, banana slices and whipped cream. Also peach preserves taste heavenly in crepes. The sky is truly the limit on what to use as a filling! Enjoy!!!

Into the bleu

Today brings me great joy and excitement. I am thrilled to say that it is official, I have signed on as a new student at Le Cordon Bleu! There were many dotted lines to be signed and initials to be made. I am quit sure I didn't sign over my first born, but there was a fair amount of small print.

The school is brimming with life! Students working and toiling over projects. Staff walking this way and that. Then the smells...ahh glorious smells. Today something was roasting or smoking or perhaps the combination of both, what ever it was the smell was permeating the entire school house and making me hungrier then ever!

The class rooms are large restaurant style kitchens. The front of each class room is a giant window. Passersby can stop and watch the young chefs learning new techniques. The chef instructors wear tall hats and all eyes are fixated on them. Not a move to be missed by students eager to learn more about their passion!

I learned from my advisor that my specific Le Cordon Bleu school house was designed to look exactly like the school house in France! The school boasts its very own restaurant were students work and feed real live customers...can you even imagine?!!?

Once my paper work was completed I filled out a form stating my shoe size, coat and pant size. I will receive 5 sets of uniforms. Hats, scarves, jackets, pants, aprons and shoes. I will also receive an enormous amount of books, for which I am most thrilled! I have been having a love affair recently with books on food, in any form or fashion. We will also be receiving our "tool kits." Which house knives, scrapers, slicers, piters, tips, bags, you name it, its there. It will surely feel like Christmas (the kind I knew as a child) as I go threw all my school supplies. I hope I can remember to breathe and keep a level head about myself!

My only stress at the moment is figuring out my gi bill. It use to be simply, one choice. The Montgomery gi-bill. But now the VA has created a new gi-bill called the post 911 gi-bill. I only served 11 months post 9-11 before separating active duty (4 Honorable years served.) I am not sure if I am just over analyzing things but I do want to insure I get the most money that I am entitled to. My culinary education will not be cheap and I need to watch every cent of my gi-bill money. Ahh so if you are reading this you might be wondering how much does an education such as this cost a young stay at home mother (or anyone else for that matter?) Since the schools freely give out that information I really don't mind telling you. I am not huge on secrets as it is! Also I hope to inspire others to follow their dreams (your dream???) so here it is: $41,000 for 21 months in Culinary Arts. Of course this all gets broken down by quarters and isn't expected to be paid up front and in full.

So now what? Well I will attend a couple meetings before my official start date: an orientation and a health card meeting. I am still trying to grasp what the health card meeting is. It was explained to me that we will be watching videos on health and cleanliness in the kitchen, and even be given a hepatitis shot! Yikes, did I fell to mention to these people I don't believe in vaccinations. Opps! I guess I will take one for the team (Team Michelle-thats me!) and do what is necessary in following my dreams. I look forward to updating you every step of the way. Follow my posts starting after February 15th 2010 and see what culinary school is all about. And until then continue to follow me and see whats happening in my kitchen!