Transitions

We have reached the time of transition between winter and spring, and not a day too soon. When we first moved here spring was generally something that started up in February and really got going in March with the apple blossoms finishing things up in early April.

The last four or five years it seems like the rainy season last longer and the warming up takes place much closer to the timetable I remember as a child on the East Coast. The fruit trees still seem to follow the old schedule, so we have finished seeing the almond blossoms in February, plums in March and we are now seeing the pear, quince and apple blossoms.

Everything else, like the tulips and other bulbs have been much slower so they are just now hitting their peak. As you might have guessed from my gushing on about the garden and growing things, my attention has turned to those topics, too. Now that it isn't raining everyday I've been able to do some weeding, some soil preparation, and a bit of pruning.

Indoors I've gotten the seedlings going with hopes to plant them out in mid-April.

Food is still making its way to the table of course, but being creative in the kitchen has taken a back seat to other pursuits.

I did make up some festive 'brownies-in-a-jar" for a fundraiser which was fun. If you want to do the same...perhaps for and adult's Easter basket or for a hostess gift? the URL for how to make the jar of ingredients and also the recipe for baking up the brownies is HERE. There are lots of variations, too. Love mint and chocolate? Just add some chopped up peppermint patties instead of all or part of the chocolate chips. That's just an example...lots more are at the referenced post.

The other recent creative flight of fancy was taking my favorite bread pudding recipe and making a rum-raisin and bannana version. Here is where the transition part comes in because bread pudding is a cosy, winter type of dish and the additions are also easily found in winter most places...but the flavors speak of palm trees and balmy breezes and wicked drinks with paper parasols, the sort of place that almost shouts 'spring break'. This is not the most photogenic of dishes but you get a moist pudding soaked bread, soft and mellow bannanas, raisins spiked with rum, some walnuts for crunch, and nicly browned bready crust on top, too.

Banana Bread Pudding with Rum Raisins

Variation on a recipe from 1971, from a Fredicksburg, Maryland friend

4 cups dry bread cubes
1/4 cup rum
1/4 cup raisins
3 cups milk, scalded
1 tablespoon butter
4 slightly beaten eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 sliced ripe, peeled bananas
1/2 cup chopped walnuts (optional)


1) Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
2) Place the rum and raisins in a microwave safe dish. Cook in the microwave 1 minute at high power. Set aside until cool.
2) Melt the butter in the milk. Add a little of the milk to the beaten eggs, then add eggs to rest of milk. Stir in the brown sugar, salt, and vanilla. Mix to combine.
3) Put the bread cubes in a large bowl. Pour the egg/sugar/milk mixture over, stir gently, and let sit 15 minutes.
4) Butter a large baking pan. A deep one will give a softer center, a shallower one will give more crispy crust. Gently stir banana slices, rum/raisin mixture and chopped walnuts into bread mixture and pour into baking pan.
5) Bake in a pan of hot water until firm, about 1 hour. Serve warm.

Waiter, We're Tropical Grillin'

The gas grill has gotten a workout this summer. Grilled salmon, pork, chicken, Italian turkey sausages, ribs, plus pounds and pounds of summer squash have all been grilled by Sweetie. He presents quite a picture sitting by the grill with Merlin the cat on his lap, smoke swirling up from the grill, and a good book drawing his attention away from the food...but never for too long.

One day he came in while the pork roast was still cooking away and held out a tray of bannana halves that he has cooked on the grill. They were warm and sort of gooey in a good way, like caramel but a little firmer. The flavor was smoky and sweet and very tropical.

When Jeanne of Cooksister announced that this month's Waiter event was "Waiter, there's something in my... meatless barbecue", the grilled bananas immediately came to mind. Should I make grilled bannana financiers? Grilled bannana bread? Grilled bannana and peanut butter sandwich? A tart with grilled bannanas and mango curd? Too many possibilities.

Then decision was easy once we purchased some fresh pineapple. Grilled bannanas and grilled pineapple spears would go perfectly with some coconut pineapple ice cream garnished with a little toasted coconut. Tropical grillin' at it's best. The hot bannanas and pineapple contrasted nicely with the cold sweet ice cream and slight crunch of the toasted coconut. The great thing about this recipe is that it will work anytime you have ripe bannanas and some good fresh pineapple and the weather is OK for grilling. You could also grill other kinds of fruit to add to the fun.

A mention should be made about the ice cream. I used some store bought pineapple coconut light ice cream and it was very good. The part that I didn't anticipate is that the hot fruit melted quite a lot of the ice cream. If I did this again, I would make scoops of the ice cream and then freeze the scoops on a try in the freezer until they were very solid. That way the ice cream would start out hard and the hot fruit would soften it nicely instead of melting it into pools. Live and learn. I wrote the recipe with the addition of freezing the ice cream balls.

Tropical Grilled Fruit over Ice Cream with Coconut

1 pint HaagenDaz Rich and Light Pineapple and Coconut ice cream (or a flavor of your choice)

3 medium bannanas, sliced lengthwise, skins left on

1 tsp. light olive oil or salad oil

3 spears fresh pineapple

1/4 cup sweetened shredded coconut

Scoop the ice cream into balls. Place on a cookie sheet and freeze until firm. Leave in freezer until after fruit has been grilled.

Lightly brush the cut side of the bannanas with the oil. Place the bannanas and pineapple on a tray.

In a small cast iron skillet or heavy bottomed pan, toast the coconut, stirring often, until most of the coconut is lightly toasted. Set aside.

Over medium heat, grill the bannanas, cut side down first, and the pineapple spears, turning once as soon as the first side carmelizes where it touches the grill, about 4-5 minutes. Continue grilling on the second side until the bannanas are softened and the pineapple carmelizes where it touches the grill. The bannana skins will hold the softened bannanas like little boats. Return to the tray and cut the pineapple into chunks.

Remove the ice cream balls from the freezer and place two or three in a bowl. Place pieces of the grilled bannana and chunks of the grilled pineapple in the bowls and sprinkle with the toasted coconut. Serve at once. Serves 3 or 4.