Sort of.
I had Friday off after working a late weekend shift, and I decided to return to the kitchen with the extra "me" time.
I made lasagna for the first time in my life. But this wasn't your traditional lasagna. It called for asparagus, onions, garlic for the filling and a combination of sun-dried tomatoes and basil for the top and bottom. I left out the pancetta because it was a Friday, and it's Lent.
The good news: the dish turned out.
The bad news: it looked good, but didn't taste that good. And I had a hell of a time combining the tomatoes and the basil in the blender. I think I need a fancy food processor because this wasn't the first time that my blender didn't deliver. It's too bad that the dish wasn't phenomenal, as I had hoped. The jars of sun-dried tomatoes were expensive -- so expensive that I won't repeat the cost here.
Today was a better day in the kitchen. I made banana bread. Ben and I traditionally make it together. But he's busting his butt studying for the GMAT, so I decided to stop whining for his help and do it myself. I'm pleased to report that I don't need a man when it comes to banana bread. I'm quite good at it. Plus, I clean up afterward:)
The recipe comes from a former colleague. It's ultra basic, which means it's easy -- even for challenged people like me. So I'm sharing it with you. If you have a banana bread recipe of your own, please post it in the comments section.
Banana bread
From Trish's kitchen
Makes one loaf
Ingredients:
Mix in large bowl
1 c sugar
1/2 c butter
2 large eggs
Mix in small bowl
2 c flour (I used one cup each of wheat and white flour)
3/4 tsp soda
1/2 tsp salt
Combine two bowls into large bowl. Mix well. Add three large ripe bananas and mash thoroughly with a fork. Mix well.
Bake at 350 degrees for about one hour or until toothpick comes out clean from center. (I did not use a dark pan, so it took closer to one hour and 15 minutes.)
2 comments:
Mmmmmm! That looks good!
I wanted to let you know that I made the chips on Sunday and yesterday we had a friend over and it was requested that I make them again!!
They're a huge hit!
The first batch I made didn't turn out so great because, instead of brushing the olive oil and lime concoction, I dipped...
Big mistake!
They were kind of soggy, but Joe was still in love with them.
This time I pulled out the brush and followed proper protocol and they were crispy and delicious!
Our friend said that they reminded him of "Chipotle or something like that".
Thanks for the chip recipe!!!
Oh! I wanted to tell you about seven layer brownies!
Okay, so I got this from the side of the brownie box... but still!!
We made them when we went over to our friend's house on Saturday where we had the best fricken dinner ever (Pasta bar. We made our own meal which sounds odd, but it was FAN-FRICKEN-TASTIC!! and totally fun for a small dinner party!)
Basically for the pasta bar part, they set out different cut up meats (spicy Italian sausage, chicken, etc.) and a whole-lotta veggies and you take turns sauteing your veggies and meat in olive oil with spices, etc. Then you add your sauce and the precooked pasta and voilà!
You stick the finished pasta in a warm oven until everyone is done, this is why it has to be done with a small group of people...
Anyway, back to the seven layer brownie bars...
You mix the dry brownie mix with 1 egg and a stick of butter and bake for 10 minutes.
Then you dump a bag of sweetened coconut, a bag of dark chocolate chips, a bag of toffee chips, and a bag of chopped walnuts (I premixed them in a bowl and then spooned them on to the brownies) and once you have topped your brownies evenly with the candy and nuts, you pour a 14 oz. can of sweetened condensed milk on the top, bake for 40-45 minutes and you have awesome bars!
They were good!
Just thought I'd let you know!
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