Food Odyssey: November 2020

It is already December folks! My semester just ended and I am so excited to spend more time reading and studying God’s word. I have so many topics that I want to discuss on my blog, but have hardly had any time to write. God willing, I will be spending the winter break reading, writing and, of course, doing lab work. I have papers to publish, people.

But you didn’t click on this post to hear my life story. You came for food. I respect that about you. Here’s my reminder to you that nothing is sponsored in this post. I look through blogs and cookbooks, find recipes that look good and try new things. That’s it.

Let’s start with the sweet. Banana pancakes. You know them. You love them. You probably don’t make them from scratch at home. I feel you on that one. I’m not ashamed to tell you that I use Bisquick. It gives you good pancakes and waffles every time. But this recipe I’m sharing with you today gives you these nice, fluffy banana pancakes every time.

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The Once Upon a Chef recipe blog gives a simple banana pancake recipe that can be put together in no time. The recipe is great without modification, but you know I can’t help but to modify it. The recipe calls for low fat milk, but I’m pretty sure I’ve used everything except that. I have tried almond milk, buttermilk and whole milk. All of them work well with this recipe. I have added cinnamon and pie spice. Of course that tasted great. You can add nuts, chocolate chips, etc. It’s a pancake. You do what you want with it to make your breakfast amazing. That’s the way it should be.

You know what else makes for an amazing calorie filled breakfast? Apple fritters. Did you like my transition? Sometimes I feel like I’m really reaching. But back to apple fritters. There is this magical place in Madison, WI called Greenbush. They have gigantic apple fritters that are larger than your head and they are soooo good! You would think something that big wouldn’t taste that great, but they are the best apple fritters I have ever had. I don’t understand how they do it. That being said, these homemade apple fritters are not those, but they are still delicious.

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There are a lot of recipes out there for apple fritters and I admit that I have only tried this one. Laura’s doughs are usually easy to make and easy to work with, so I went with this recipe. If you do use Laura’s recipes, you should know that her YouTube videos are much better than her written instructions. I recommend watching the video before attempting the recipe. The apple fritters worked out well and satisfied my cravings. For the glaze, I made a bourbon maple glaze and it was a nice flavor addition. Despite the fact that I used a lot of bourbon maple syrup, the flavor isn’t as strong as you would expect. I recommend it.

Now we aren’t done with Laura’s recipes just yet. She also came out with an apple almond tart recipe.

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The picture may make it look like a complex and time consuming recipe, but that could not be further from the truth. If you use a store-bought pie crust, you can throw this together in about 15 minutes. It looks impressive and the taste is heavenly. When my friend tried a piece, she told me the orange zest was really the star of the tart and I have to agree. The citrus and almond flavor combination cannot be beat.

Being that it is the holiday season, I could not resist making something pumpkin pie related. Pumpkin pie pecan bars? I had to try it.

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The Magnolia Bakery Handbook came out somewhat recently, so I was excited to try one of the recipes. Instead of the canned pumpkin puree that they call for, I used my homemade pumpkin puree. I am pretty sure that affected the texture of the filling a little. Mine seems a little more gooey than theirs, which was fine for me. I also think I overbaked the shortbread a little because the sides that baked next to the wall of the pan were quite hard, so be careful of that. Other than that, I think this recipe was pretty good. I enjoyed it most when I warmed it up a little in the microwave and added whipped cream. Was it my favorite? No. Do I recommend it for pumpkin and pecan pie lovers? Sure. Not bad at all. If you try it, let me know what you think.

So in my apartment building, I live next to a lot of retirement aged folks. I absolutely love it because it’s almost always quiet in my building and I feel like I am surrounded by supportive grandparents. One of the ladies in my apartment building sent me some of her homemade soup and bread in this pretty handcrafted bowl that her friend made. She told me to keep the bowl and enjoy the soup. It meant so much to me as I was preparing to head into a difficult week. As a thank you to her generosity, I made a big tin of cookies for her and her family to enjoy. One of those cookies were these browned butter chocolate chip cookies.

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I couldn’t just make simple Tollhouse chocolate chip cookies. Anyone can do that. When I saw the recipe for these brown butter chocolate chip cookies, I knew I had to make them for her. Brown butter makes everything better. Not to mention that this recipe calls for chopped bittersweet chocolate instead of chocolate chips, which makes these even fancier. If you make these cookies, make sure to read the instructions on cook times. I tried to make these chewier, but just a minute more in the oven can make these cookies go from chewy to crunchy. She really loved these by the way. I think you’ll love them too.

On to the savory. What better way to kick off savory than a hearty beef curry.

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I have shared a recipe from Seonkyoung Longest for Korean seafood green onion pancakes in a previous post. This is an easy, modifiable ground beef curry. It doesn’t even have to be ground beef. You can use your favorite ground protein. You can also use a different brand of curry than the one she suggests. I used the Golden Curry brand instead of Vermont Curry brand that she suggests because that was what was available at my local Asian market. You don’t have to do the runny egg on top, but it’s a lovely addition if you’re into that sort of thing. This recipe is the epitome of warm winter comfort food. I would gladly make this again.

Speaking of Asian comfort food, how often do you all make fried rice? Fried rice has become a staple for me. I always seem to have leftover rice in the fridge and vegetables that need to be used. In this case, I made my own variation of kimchi fried rice.

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I bought a big jar of ponytail radish kimchi and decided I wanted to make a fried rice with it. Let me tell you something about ponytail radish kimchi: it smells like death. You open up the jar and it is pungent! If you do not seal the jar properly, your whole fridge will smell. But don’t let the smell deter you! If you like kimchi, chances are you will like this variation. But back to the recipe. I sauteed chopped ponytail radish kimchi and tuna, threw in the rice with some kimchi juice and soy sauce, then I scrambled a couple eggs into the mixture. That’s it. I liked it. My fried rice combinations don’t always turn out the best, but I enjoyed this one. Eat it with some bibimbap sauce and you’ll thank me later.

Last, but not least, is this beautiful lamb flatbread recipe. I don’t eat lamb often, but I went out and bought some when I saw this recipe.

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You all know how much I love the combination of sweet and savory. This recipe is all about that. The meat is seasoned with garlic, coriander, cumin, Aleppo pepper, turmeric, cinnamon, tomatoes and pomegranate molasses. The pomegranate molasses makes the meat really sweet, but when you add it to the flatbread and serve it with some mint and lemony yogurt, it’s fantastic. I’m not going to lie. I cheated and used some store-bought flatbread instead of baking the meat into a homemade flatbread dough. Still good folks. Still good. Highly recommend this one.

That’s all I have to share for November 2020. Remember to share your recipes, thoughts and comments down below. Please enjoy this picture of Hunter on your way to the comment section. He has grown increasingly stubborn and resistant to taking pictures in the park, so you may soon have to settle for blurry pictures of him running away from me.

God bless you and keep you all. Have a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!