Bananas in a jam

It's UFO time again - this morning I opened the door to my freezer and out tumbled three packages, only two of which I could identify because I had the clarity of mind to write the contents on the wrapper. The third package...a total mystery. Feeling the contents, I thought they were brat sausages at first, but remembered distinctly looking through the freezer several weeks ago for some and not finding any. Chorizos perhaps? Nope. When I unwrapped the solid, slightly bent, brown items from the plastic bag they were hiding in, I laughed out loud: they were bananas!!

I tend to buy bananas with the utmost sincere intention of eating them. I'll eat one the day I buy them, perhaps another one the next day, and then I forget about them. Three days later on the counter, they've turned brown and ripe and there is no way I can stomach the mushy contents. Why is it that bananas in the store are green, solid and weeks away from being edible and yet, when you bring them home, they go from green to overripe practically overnight? At that point for me they are too mushy, soft and squishy to eat without gagging.

Frugal (read: cheap) as I am, I can't face throwing the bananas away so I throw them in the freezer instead. Within no time they're frozen solid. The skin will turn a dark brown hue but the flesh will stay golden yellow. These bananas work great for last minute banana bread, oatmeal cookies or anything else that benefits from bananas.

Now.....I'm not a big banana bread fan. For one, I have yet to find a recipe that pleases me to the point where I feel I am truly eating banana bread and not some cardboard concoction with a vague hint of stale bananas. But here I am on a Sunday afternoon with only ten pounds of roasted peppers to can and now, with twelve frozen bananas on the counter, slowly thawing in a puddle of banana juice. Since I'm going to be running the canner anyway, I tried to find a recipe for these bananas and guess what? I found one for banana jam......yummie!!

Pectin and I are not great friends: undoubtedly not pectin's fault but mine, for not being more attentive. One day it will set the jam, another day it just makes it into a pourable sauce. Today's batch turned into a slightly thick, lovely sweet banana sauce. Beautiful on toast and a gorgeous addition to vanilla ice cream!

Banana Jam

10 to twelve bananas, very happily ripe but not brown on the inside

1/4 cup of bottled lemon juice
6 cups of sugar
6 oz of liquid pectin

Mash the bananas, add the lemon juice and the sugar and slowly bring up to a boil. (You may want to puree the mush with an immersion blender for a smooth consistency). Bring up to a rolling boil, where the bubbles will continue to surface even though you stir constantly, for an entire minute, then take the pan off the stove, stir in the pectin and put it back on the stove, stirring and boiling for another minute. The sauce will be rather thick and will burn easily, so keep that spoon going!

In the meantime, have your jars, lids and rings ready to go. Ladle the sauce in the jars, leave a 1/2 inch of headspace, adjust lids and rings and process in a hot boiling water canner for 10 minutes.

Once opened, refrigerate the jar. This quantity will make enough for 7 half pint jars.

Strawberry Sour Cream Pie

I'm back from my trip, and I've brought home the most amazing recipes! Hurrah!! My bag is still unpacked, and there is a huge stack of mail on the counter, but who cares.....I *must* share this recipe with you. On my way to Bryce Canyon in Utah, I stopped in a town so small it didn't even show on the map. Looking for a bite to eat, I ended up in a tiny little café called Mom's Café and had one of the most memorable meals ever, partly because of the excellent food, and partly because of the friendliness of the staff. 

The last part of that meal was of course dessert and when I hesitated because I was already so full, the waitress said I could not possibly leave without trying the sour cream pie. Well, call me a sucker, but who says no to a piece of pie? I, for one, don't and I'm sure glad I didn't. And hopefully, after you tasted it yourself, you're glad I didn't either!!

When I asked for the recipe, I received the typical "oh a cup of this and a tablespoon of that" but no clear directions. I took notes as well as I could, and when I got home, the first thing I did was to pull out a couple of pie shells I keep in the freezer for emergencies, like this :-)

The dough is neither salt nor sweet so is perfect for either quiches, pies or empanadas, so make sure you always have one or two at hand! They thaw in a heartbeat and provide their own pan which saves on dishes to wash.

Since I didn't get proper measurements, I've been trial baking for the last couple of days, much to everybody's enjoyment. The recipe below produces a pie that comes closest to my Utah experience.

Strawberry Sour Cream Pie
1 unbaked pie shell
2 medium eggs
1 cup of sugar
2 cups of sour cream
1/4 cup of all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For topping:
1 lb fresh strawberries
1 tablespoon of sugar

Heat the oven at 350. Pull the pie shell out of the freezer and set aside. In the meantime, unearth the mixer and beat the two eggs for about five minutes at medium speed, until they've doubled in volume. While mixing, pour in the sugar in three stages, each time waiting until the eggs have successfully absorbed the sugar and mixed it well. After you have mixed in all the sugar, continue to mix until the eggs and sugar combination doubles again in volume, add the sour cream and continue to mix until the dough has a consistent light yellow coloring and a thicker consistency, usually after another five minutes of medium mixing.

While you continue to mix, add the salt and the flour and the vanilla extract, beat until all the flour has been integrated into the mix and pour it into the pie shell. Place the shell in the preheated oven and set the timer for 30 minutes.

For the topping, wash and hull the strawberries, then chop them in little inch-size pieces and toss in a bowl with the sugar. Place in refrigerator.

Bake the pie until the middle is set, or 30 minutes, and set aside to cool. Chill for at least three hours, and place the strawberries on top right before serving. As with everyting, this pie tastes better the next day.

You can replace the strawberries with blueberries, peaches, plums or chocolate shavings.
Okay, it's time for you to get cooking and for me to get my luggage unpacked, see you in a day or two for more road trip recipes!

Mixed Berry Cobbler

When I opened the ad circular of one of our local stores, the words "Freezer Frenzy: March is National Frozen Food Month!" stared me straight in the face, as if mocking me. For the last three days, I have been down with a nasty flu. Just thinking about cooking or food was enough to send me straight back to bed, and I have not made any progress on getting our freezers emptied out. How frustrating!

Looking at the ads again this evening I groan, not so much at the sight of food (I must be getting better!), but because I am missing out on some great deals. It's been "freezer frenzy" in my house since last October and I am not even close to having enough space cleaned out so I can buy new food!

The National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) has been coordinating the March National Frozen Food Month promotion for 21 years. Why? Because it works, they say. The sales numbers of frozen foods increase considerably during that month, enough to organize a $10,000 sweepstakes. They also provide recipes and tips at http://www.bringustoyourtable.com/.

Here I learn that not only is March Frozen Food month, but that in the June/July timeframe we can expect a Summer Favorites Ice Cream and Novelties sales event. And when I read that October is the Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Festival month, I am encouraged to continue with my own freezer frenzy project. I may have my freezers empty just in time for the festival! How about you?


Mixed Berry Cobbler

2 cups of frozen berry mix
1 cup of sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/8 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup and 2 tablespoons milk, room temperature
1 tablespoon butter, melted

Preheat the oven and set at 350F. Mix the frozen berries with a 1/4 cup of the sugar and set to the side. Stir flour, 1/2 cup of the sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Pour in the milk and stir until you have a smooth batter.

Place the butter in a 9 inch pie pan and swirl around so you cover the bottom of the pan. Pour in the batter, then put the berries on top, spreading them evenly. Bake for 45 minutes or until golden on the middle rack of the oven. Sprinkle the remaining 1/4 cup sugar over the pie when it comes out of the oven. Serve warm with some vanilla ice cream.

Blueberry Crumble

The online Merriam-Webster dictionary (http://www.m-w.com/) gives the following definitions for "flush":

1. Verb; to expose or chase from a place of concealment
2. Noun: a rinsing or cleansing as if with a flush of water
3. Adjective: filled to overflowing

Well, I can't say they're not appropriate. So today I am starting the daunting task of dealing with whatever it is that my freezers hold, starting with the items that I readily recognize......
The first thing I see when I open the top freezer door on our refrigerator is half a bag of frozen blueberries. I cannot for the life of me remember what I did with the other half but since I'm having friends coming over dinner today, I guess I can make a dessert with blueberries. I also spot a bag with two blueberry bagels, leftovers from a weekend breakfast some time ago.

By the way, if your supermarket sports a Quick Sale section for day old breads or bagels, grab a bag or two on your way out, as bagels freeze beautifully. Slice them, if they don't come pre-sliced, before you freeze them so all you have to do is pop them in the toaster and hey presto! fresh bagels for all :-)

Blueberry Crumble

1 cup (or whatever you have left) of frozen blueberries
2 apples, peeled, cored and wedged
2 blueberry bagels
1/2 cup of brown sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1/4 stick butter, divided

Place apples, half of the butter, the cinnamon and ginger and one tablespoon of brown sugar in a microwave bowl and zap them for 2 minutes. All microwaves are different but the goal is for the butter and sugar to melt and soften the apples. If you are not sure how long that will take, go with one minute first, poke the apples with a fork to see if they've tendered, and if not zap them a little longer. When done, pour the apples with the butter/cinnamon sauce in a baking dish, and top with the frozen blueberries. In the meantime, cut the bagels up in little pieces and put them through the blender, until you have a coarse crumbles. Preheat the oven at 350F. Mix the bagel crumbles with the remainder of the sugar and cut in the butter until the mixture is crumbly. (I never said this was low-cal, no-carb!) Cover the blueberries with the topping. Bake for about 30 minutes, or until bubbly.

Hurrah! I've made a dent, albeit small, in my freezer surplus. By the way, you can vary this recipe with whatever you have available. Cinnamon-raisin bagels are great for an all apple crumble, and onion bagels really add body and taste to a potato gratin dish. Be creative!