(Magnolia Bakery) Banana Pudding

1 1/2 cups cold water
1 (14oz) can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup instant vanilla pudding powder
3 cups heavy cream
One box Nilla wafers
3 to 4 medium banana, sliced

With an electric mixer, blend the water, millk, and pudding powder until
thoroughly mixed, about 1 minute. Refrigerate for at least 4 hours or
overnight until firm. In a seperate bowl, whip the heavy cream until soft
peaks form. (that means if you pull the beater out of the cream, it will
hold the shape.) Gently fold the pudding mixture into the whipped cream
until well incorporated. In a large bowl, starting with the wafers, make
five to six layers with Nilla wafers, sliced bananas, and then pudding
mixture, until all of the pudding mixture is gone. End with pudding and
decorate with crushed wafers on top if desired. Refrigerate about 30
minutes before serving and refrigerate any leftovers. Serves 10-12

Banana....Bread?

Beat 2 mashed bananas
1/2 cup oil
1 1/4 cup sugar
2 eggs
Add 2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1 cup coconut
1 cup buttermilk
and mix well with wooden spoon. Add 1 cup chopped nuts. AND the chocolate chips - no measuring here, just what seems good to you. At least one cup, at least. Bake 350 oven about 50 minutes - depending on if you make muffins, have large or small bread tins - I even use cake pans for this if I am some where where I don't have the use of a bread pan. As for buttermilk, if it is not something you can find there, just use sour milk: add a little red vinegar to some regular milk, like one tsp. If no red vinegar, use white vinegar.

Delicious Pumpkin Soup

Saute 1/4 cup butter with 1 cup chopped onion and 1 clove garlic crushed.
Add 1 tsp. curry powder (I would recommend less, maybe 1/2 tsp.), 1/2 tsp salt, 1/4 tsp. coriander, 1/4 tsp.
crushed red pepper.
Cook 1 minute to blend and then add 3 cups vegetable broth - boil gently
uncovered, 20 minutes. Stir in 1 16 ounce can Libbys Solid Pack Pumpkin
and 1 cup 1/2 and 1/2. Cook 5 minutes. This is that soup both of you
liked so much. easy as hell and SO tasty. Everyone likes it.

Minestrone Soup

The basic recipe calls for sauteeing some strips of good quality bacon
then adding the following, but I don't do that. I just start with some
good quality olive oil and sautee 2 onions, sliced thinly, 2 cups
celery, chopped thinly, 2 cloves garlic, or more, some zucchini and some
crookneck squash , and 1 tsp. basil leaves, crushed. Try for fresh
basil - sure makes a difference. I sautee this mixture untill the onions
are browning, then add some vegetable broth, and a few cans of tomatoes,
any kind will do - experiment with flavors of canned tomatoes, and
different types of tomatoes. Or
I especially like to slice up fresh tomatoes when I have them from the
garden and squish them up when they have cooked down a bit. I like to
add white beans ( the recipe the guy gave me calls for a few cans of Bean
and Bacon soup, Campbells, but oh well...) but you can add some canned
cannelini beans, and I especially like to add garbanzos, kidney beans,
lots of kidneys. I don't drain the cans, just add the juices. Cook this
down for a few hours, soaking up the flavors, then add a head of cabbage,
all cut up in thin slices, and your favorite pasta. I find that I cook
the pasta first because if you add it to hot soup to cook down, the
pasta gets all mushy and gives the soups a very papery, crappy taste. So
my rule is to cook all pastas before adding them to any soups. I like
to use the ditalini, small tube pasta for this soup, more authentic.
Experiment with different vegetables. I have made it with carrots,
broccoli, asparagus - what ever is handy. The more stuff in it, the
better. I even have added butternut squash. Oh my gawd... Make it at
least a day or two before serving it to guests - the flavors have time
to meld. And it makes great crock pot soup. and it freezes SO well. I
serve it with a great crusty garlic bread, tons ofd garlic, and some
fresh grated parmesan to taste.

Curried Butternut Squash Soup

Curried Butternut squash soup:
1 medium butternut squash ,baked in the oven
2 tblsp olive oil
1 1/2 cups chopped onion
1 large leek, washed, sliced into rings - very important ingredient -
makes the soup!
2 cups corn, either frozen or canned
6 cloves garlic
1 tsp. ground cumin
1 tsp. curry powder
1/2 tsp. ground coriander
1/4 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp. salt
5 cups vegetable broth or water (Broth is so much better)

Bake the Bnut squash - scrape flesh out and set aside. Heat olive oil in
large pot over medium heat - add onions, leeks, corn and all the spices.
Sautee about 10 minutes. Add squash, salt and broth - bring to boil ,
reduce heat and simmer about half an hour. Working in batches, puree
soup in processor or blender untill smooth. Return soup to same pot,
bring to boil. Reduce heat and simmer . The original recipe calls to add
a potato to thicken and also add 1/2 cup whipping cream to thicken. I
have never done this, as I find it is plenty thick and no sense in adding
extra calories with the cream. I know you will like this soup. Also
freezes well in quart jars.

Cumin Dusted Salmon Steaks

Ingredients:
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp paprika
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
4ea 6 oz salmon fillets (about 1 inch thick) skinned
cooking spray

Directions:
1. Combine first 4 ingrediants in a small bowl. Sprinkle both sides of fish with spice mixture (I rub it in)
2. Heat a large non stick skillet coated with cooking spray (or a bit of oil) over medium heat and add fish.
3. Cook 6 minutes on each side or until fish flakes easily when tested with a fork. (don't over cook or will get dry!)

Herbed Lentils and Rice

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups vegetable or chicken broth
¾ cup dried lentils
½ cup brown rice
¼ cup white wine
½ teaspoon dried basil (crushed)
½ teaspoon dried oregano (crushed)
½ teaspoon dried thyme (crushed)
¼ teaspoon salt
4 cloves garlic
¼ teaspoon pepper
4 oz. cheese (Swiss is in the recipe, I used Edam)

Directions:
1. Combine all ingredients including ½ (2 oz.) of the shredded cheese and mix together. Turn onto 1 ½ quart casserole dish.
2. Bake covered in 350 degree oven for 1 ½ - 2 hours or until lentils and rice are done, stirring twice.
3. Cut remaining cheese into slices and place on top of casserole.
4. Uncover casserole and bake 2 additional minutes.

Hoppin' John

Ingredients:
1 1/3 cups dried black eyed peas (the recipe says to soak in cold water overnight and drain, but I found them to be a little smooshy in the end. Maybe soak for 4-6 hours or not at all?? Or maybe not boil as long below ? this was my first time cooking with dried beans requiring soaking.)
2 pints water
1 ½ teaspoons salt
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium chopped onion
4 cloves garlic (added to recipe)
14 oz. canned tomatoes
¼ teaspoon cayenne pepper
½ teaspoon black pepper
¼ teaspoon cumin (added to recipe)
¼ teaspoon Italian seasoning (added to recipe)
1 1/3 cups long grain rice
¾ cup fresh cilantro (added to recipe)

Directions:
1. Place beans in large sauce pan and pour in water and 1 teaspoon salt.
2. Place pan over moderately high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low, partially cover pan and simmer 1 ½ hours.
3. In separate pan combine oil, onions, garlic, and seasoning and cook over medium heat for five minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer for 10 minutes.
4. After the black-eyed peas have cooked for 1 ½ hours (do not drain water) stir in vegetable/seasoning/tomato mixture, rice, and cilantro and simmer for 15 minutes (or until rice is done).

Lentil Stew

Ingredients
6 Sun-dried plum tomatoes
Coarse sea salt
1.5 C Green lentils
3 Tsp Olive oil
1 Onion
1 Carrot
1 Celery stalk
6 C Vegetable stock
1 lb. Red potatoes
1 Tsp Rosemary

Directions:
1. Rinse the lentils and soak them for 1 hour.
2. Saute vegetables until soft.
3. Add lentils and potatoes and simmer for 30-40 minutes.
4. Add sun-dried tomatoes and rosemary and simmer for another 15 minutes.

Apple & Cranberry Pork Chops

Ingredients
4 Tsp Unsalted Butter
2 Shallots
2 Tart apples (peel, 1/4 inch slices)
1/2 C fresh/frozen cranberries
4 Loin chops
1/2 tsp coarse salt
1/2 tsp ground pepper
3/4 C Cider/apple juice
1/2 tsp fresh sage

Directions:
1. High heat, melt 2 Tsp butter.
2. Add shallots and apples, saute for about 5 minutes.
3. Add cranberries, saute for another minute.
4. Salt and pepper the loin chops and brown each side for a minute with 1 Tsp butter. On low heat, cook each side for 2 minutes covered.
5. Add the sauted mix, juice, and sage.
6. Cook on high until liquid is reduced by half.
7. Add additional 1 Tsp of butter and serve.

String Beans with Honey-Lemon Vinaigrette

Ingredients

3 pounds string beans, ends removed
1/2 Cup pine nuts (pignolis)
1/4 Cup freshly squeezed lemon juice
2 Tbs. Dijon-style mustard
2 Tbs. mild honey
5 Tbs. + 1/2 tsp sea salt
6 Tbs. extra-virgin olive oil
pinch of freshly ground black pepper

Directions
1. Preheat oven to 350∞.
2. Bring a large pot of water to a boil, with 5 Tbs. of salt.
3. Spread the pine nuts out evenly on a sheet pan and toast them in the oven until lightly brown and fragrant, roughly 5 minutes. Watch them closely; they burn easily.
4. Drop the green beans in the boiling water and cook, uncovered for 4-6 minutes. You want them to be bright green and crunchy, but tender. Drain the beans and allow them to cool slightly.
5. Make the vinaigrette by whisking together in a bowl: lemon juice, mustard, black pepper, honey, 1/2-tsp salt. Add the oil last, whisking continuously.
6. Toss the green beans, vinaigrette and pine nuts together. Let marinate for about 10 minutes before eating.

Maple Roasted Winter Squash

Ingredients
2 3 – 4 pound winter squash, any variety
5 Tbs maple syrup
3 Tbs olive oil or melted unsalted butter
1 1/2 tsp sea salt, plus more to taste

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 450∞.
2. Halve the squashes with a large knife. Scoop out the seeds and slice squash into chunks or slices.
3. In a large bowl, combine the maple syrup, olive oil and salt. Add the squash and toss well.
4. Transfer the squash to a large baking dish and roast uncovered, for 35-40 minutes, until fork-tender. Stir the squash every 10 minutes or so, to insure even cooking.

Black Sticky Rice

Ingredients
4 cups black sticky rice
7 cups water
1 tsp sea salt
2 bunch of scallions sliced, green parts only
2 yellow bell pepper, diced
3/4 cup dried cranberries


Directions
1. Rinse rice in cold water until water runs clear. Put rice in a medium pot with water and salt and bring to a boil.
2. Cover tightly and lower heat. Simmer for 35 minutes without stirring. Remove from heat. Stir in the cranberries and veggies and let sit covered for 5 – 10 minutes.
3. Adjust seasoning to taste.

Herbed Adzuki Bean Soup

Ingredients (serves 8-10)
2 cups dry aduki beans, rinsed and soaked overnight
4 Qts water
4 inch piece of kombu
4 carrots, peeled and sliced
2 onion, peeled and sliced
2 Tbs olive oil
4 cloves garlic, minced
2 thin slice of fresh ginger
2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp dried thyme
juice of 1 lemon
1/2 tsp sea salt


Directions

1. Discard soaking water and rinse the adzuki beans.
2. Put the beans in a large soup pot with kombu and water.
3. Bring to a boil. Lower to a simmer and cook for 45 minutes.
4. Add the carrots and cook 10 more minutes or until tender.
5. Saute the onions, ginger and garlic in the olive oil. Add the herbs and cook until the onions are soft. Add them to the simmering soup. Deglaze the pan with the lemon juice.
6. Stir in the sea salt and adjust seasoning to your taste.