Mr. Flavor Bakes? Fudge Brownie-Banana Vanilla Ice Cream Sundae

First off, Happy Valentine's Day! It's important to show love all 365 days of the year, and we all know it's a Hallmark holiday- but it nice to be a bit more gushy on this chocolatey romantic day! We honestly do not have anything planned. We worked, paid a ginormous bill, and budgeted- how romantic! Paying bills is sexy to me...ok not really...

Saturday, my daughter wanted ice cream after a cold day's out at the playground. She really does ask for random things at random times. She asks for sausages when she first wakes up, or asks where's my doughnut before we kiss her goodnight. Haha...food is always on her mind!  Anyway, she asked for ice cream- BANILLA ice cream to be precise. For some reason when she asked for it, I became nostalgic for Baskin Robbins Hot Fudge brownie Banana Sundae. Not sure what the name is exactly, all I know is I ate it by the bucket-loads during my first pregnancy. When we told the little ones about the dessert plan, they were most certainly down.

The brownie recipe was my first successful baking recipe  a few years back. It's posted here with some changes.  This time, my husband and I agreed thinner brownies are better for this and we also added about 1/3 cup of semisweet chocolate chips to the batter. Use any brownie recipe you like. This one is a good one, though! Also, if cooking in a 13 by 9 pan bake for about 17-23 minutes.

The husband took the lead on this one and he didn't do bad at all :) Great way for us to spend some much needed time together, too. Happy Valentine's Day! This is great for anytime of the year if you ask me ;) We forgot to buy heavy cream to make whipped cream, but you don't really need it. Unless you're kinky like that ....

You will need:
A Brownie Recipe
Vanilla Ice Cream- homemade or purchased (we bought Haegen-Daaz)
2 ripe bananas
Your choice of toppings such as melted semi-sweet chocolate, toasted walnuts, whipped cream cherries, etc

Directions:
Once brownies are slightly cooled, cut 'em up, top with ice cream, sliced bananas,  melted chocolate and nuts (or whatever you want)

And voila! Easy peasy husband pleasy ;)



His toes are curlin' ;)

Enjoy!!!

Being Broke Brings Out the Best!

I am not really creative but when times get rough, I can get the creative juices flowing. This past week, the kids and I were holed up in the house with colds and $20 in the bank. Sick AND broke??? How fuuuuun is that??!!! All that matters is the bills were paid and there was some food in the fridge and pantry.  So I had to be creative in the kitchen and for Halloween. Recently we were hit HARD by our gas and electric company. Too much to explain, so long story short we're paying an equivalent of 1200 bucks a month until February! So that forces me to tap my creative side with our food budget and Halloween costumes. My daughter really wanted to be a cat, so I made her costume up myself..though I had to purchase some things. My eldest son was a 'cheap ass' ghost. Basically a sheet with holes. Luckily they are cuties so my creation didn't look too horrific!  And again, like my daughter's birthday cake, all that matters is if they're happy. So on that note,  next year, in March even, I will be purchasing their costumes online ehehe! My daughter loooved hers, my son likes the idea of being a ghost rather than being a ghost. My baby didn't care, he's 19  months old hehe.

My friend Becca made the cat ears for her!!

Now on to the cheap ass food.

Monday I made a simple but soooo delicious Pork Belly from Jamie Oliver. This is actually one of my husband's favorite meals, but it's a guarantee hit with the kids and pork belly is so cheap. I paid only 1 dollar for 1 lb which is enough for us!  My daughter LOVES everything pork and potatoes. She is a meat and potatoes kind of girl, who loves vegetables. On Tuesday she ate 5 large carrots.......in one sitting. How can I say no to carrots?? But yeah, any night I make beef or pork, she will be more than likely to eat almost everything!  Also my Ninja Baby, who didn't eat meat for 6 months until he rediscovered Bacon, enjoyed the pork belly. So now Bacon, pork belly, and chicken are the only meats he will eat! 

Add the delicious sauce or 'jus' made from veg roasted in the fats and juices of the belly, along with water or more flavorful chicken stock and you have a winner! It's simple and delicious. I paired it with super simple mashed potatoes, the veg in the roaster and those microwavable steamed veg (they're awesome!!!) and I had a cheapo winner. Must try fo sho!

Pork Belly Roast

From Jamie Oliver (I halved everything but the garlic!)

Ingredients

1lb pork belly

sea salt and freshly ground pepper

1 onion thickly sliced

1 carrot, peeled and halved lengthwise and then halved crosswise

1 celery stalk,  halved crosswise

1 bulb of garlic

small bunch of thyme, leaves picked

1 1/4 cup water or stock

Preheat oven to full blast. It needs to be at least 220C or 425F.

Place pork on a clean work surface, skin-side up. With a small knife, score about 1/2 inch apart though the skin into the fat, but not too deep that you cut into the meat. Rub salt into the scores, pulling apart a little. Brush any excess salt off the surface and turn over, then  season rest of meat lightly. Place in a pan big enough for both pork belly and vegetables.

Roast for 15 to 30 minutes until the skin of the pork starts to puff and you see LOVELY crackling beginning to form. Turn the  heat down to 180C/350F and roast for another 30 minutes. 

Take out of the oven and baste with the fat at the bottom of the pan. Carefully lift the pork up to transfer to a clean chopping board. Add all of the veg, garlic, and thyme to the pan and stir in them into the fat. Place the pork on top of everything and put it all back into the oven. Roast another 30 minutes. Carefully move meat to a serving dish, cover with foil, and leave to rest while you prepare the gravy..

Spoon fat from tray, then add water or stock and place it on the burner. Bring to a boil and simmer for a few minutes stirring constantly with a wooden spoon to scrape up tasty brown bits.  When you have a dark gravy,  pour it along with the veg and garlic through a sieve. PUSH down all the veg to get all the flavor from it as you can! Add salt and pepper to taste. Serve with whatever you want. The crackling is AWESOME! My baby loved this the best hehe. I hope you all enjoy!!!!Save as Draft

Naughty Sunday Dinner: Sweet Chili Root Beer Ribs with Grilled Corn with Spiced Butter

I love ribs. They're cheap and yummy to eat. My children love them some pork, so I was sure this would be a hit! It's not so healthy, but hey Sunday is a cheat on healthy food week. Though healthy cooking/eating is just as wonderful as the naughty stuff!

I got the recipe from one of my favorite cookery magazines, FineCooking. The original recipe called for the ribs to be baby back ribs and grilled. Living in Germany, finding baby back ribs is a task!! We could have bought the frozen stuff, but this was last minute, so we went with spare ribs. Also the original recipe called for a sauce called kecap manis. The commissary does not stock that (not surprisingly) and as it was Sunday, all German shops are closed so I had to come up with my own replacement. Kecap  Manis is a sweet thick Indonesian soy sauce made with palm sugar, galangal, anise, garlic, and among other ingredients (FineCooking, pg 88, June/July 2010 issue). I am sure you stateside dwellers will have no problem finding this. I, living in Germany may have to tour the Asian Shops in my city! Lastly we roasted the ribs as our grill in on its last leg and slow cooking ribs for 2 hours would not be the greatest idea! We felt our grill could only handle grilling the corn.

 Also the butter for the corn was supposed to be flavored using tasso- a smoked cajun pork, bit I just omitted the tasso ham altogether. Again, it's something else I am sure is difficult to find here. If you want to use meat to flavor the butter, and can not find tasso, look for any smoked ham.

So here is my version of the recipe. I hope you all enjoy!

Sweet Chili Garlic Root Beer Spare Ribs
Adapted from FineCooking
1 rack of Spare ribs, silverskin removed***
Kosher salt
1/4 cup soy sauce
1/4 cup plus 2 Tbs. brown sugar
1/4 cup root beer
1/4 cup honey
1/4 cup chili garlic sauce
2 Tbs. hot chili sauce also known as sriaicha


Let the ribs sit at room temperature for about 1 hour.

Preheat oven to 300F/150C

Sprinkle the meat side of the ribs with 2 tsp. salt. Arrange the ribs bone side down on a shallow roasting tray. Roast ribs about 2 hours. To test if they’re done, insert a knife into the rib meat—if it slides out without pulling at the meat, they’re ready. The meat should be tender but not falling off the bone.

Increase the temperature of the indirect grill fire to 350°F. In a medium bowl, mix the brown sugar, root beer, honey and both chili sauces. Set aside 1/2 cup of the sauce for serving. Brush the ribs on all sides with the remaining sauce. Cover rack with foil, then return the ribs to the oven. Cook another 30 minutes tuning once.

Let the ribs rest, tented with foil, for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving with the reserved sauce for dipping or for drizzling over the ribs.




Grilled Corn with Spiced Butter
2 oz. (4 Tbs.) unsalted butter, softened
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. sweet pimentón (smoked paprika)
1/2 tsp. honey
1/4 tsp. ground mace
1/4 tsp. dried sage
1/8 tsp. cayenne
1/8 tsp. dried thyme
2 medium ears corn, shucked
Kosher salt


In a small bowl, mix the butter, garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, honey, mace, sage, cayenne, and thyme until well combined. (The tasso butter can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks or frozen for up to 2 months.) 

Prepare a gas or charcoal grill fire for direct cooking over medium (450°F) heat. Grill the corn, turning occasionally, until tender and browned in spots, about 10 minutes. (The corn can be grilled 1 day ahead.)

Cut the corn kernels from the cobs. In a 12-inch skillet over medium heat, melt 2 Tbs. of the tasso butter. Add the corn and toss until heated through, 2 to 3 minutes. Season to taste with salt. Transfer to a warm serving bowl, garnish with a dollop of the remaining butter, and serve immediately.


****SILVERSKIN REMOVAL
On the boneside, there's a thin white membrane on the ribs. it keep flavors from penetrating and the ribs from getting to their optimum moistyness yes, I said moistyness! So with a paper towel, pull that baby off. It's easy. If you need help, here's a link showing you how: http://www.finecooking.com/item/16067/how-to-remove-silverskin-from-ribs

Chunky Chicken Korma

My husband brought home a book from England called "Simple Curries", so I thought I'd give a few recipes a whirl. There are some things I do not like about the book, which is the use of jarred sauces. I know these curry recipes are supposed to be simple and quick, but I am a simply a from scratch kind of gal. I'm am sure there I can figure out how to make the sauces on my own, and that's what I will do. Or I'll search for a similar recipe online and put my own spin on the dish.

So Sunday night I made, Chunky Chicken Korma. It was delicious and not too spicy. My husband and I loooove spicy, but the kids do not.

Recipe:
2 chicken thighs
2 drumsticks
2 tablespoons of olive oil
Salt and freshly ground pepper
1 onion, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed
1 red chili, finely chopped
1 tablespoon of fresh grated ginger, peeled
1 teaspoon of garam masala
1 teaspoon of turmeric
1- 14oz or 400g can of coconut milk
2 tablespoons of greek yogurt
a handful of coriander/cilantro

Preheat oven to 200C/400F, Rub chicken with 1 tablespoon of olive oil and season with salt and pepper. Heat a large oven-proof skillet w/cover on the hob and fry the chicken until skin becomes golden on all sides. Remove from pan, and set aside.

Clean the skillet out with paper towel and return to heat. Add remaining oil, and sauté until onion becomes translucent. Add garlic, ginger, chili and spices and cook for 2 more minutes. Pour over the coconut milk and bring to a simmer, the return chicken to pan.

Cover and bake in preheated oven for 30 minutes until chicken is cooked through. Top up with a little hot water if pan becomes too dry. About 5 minutes before cooking ends, add yogurt and coriander/cilantro.


Add more chicken to your liking! Hope you enjoy as much as my family did.

MWF