Honey Glazed Fried Bananas

Fried bananas are a wonderful dessert to serve alone or with ice cream (I like Haagen Dazs Hawaiian Lehua Honey & Sweet Cream). A good drizzle of honey sweetens this dessert to suit your taste. I made this one on an impulse when we had a lot of bananas left over from smoothies, and we were instantly sold.

You’ll need bananas (1 banana makes 4 pieces), sugar, peanut oil for frying, and a light tempura batter.

Peel the bananas, cut them in half, and slice each half lengthwise.

Firmly press each slice with your fingers to soften the banana. Lay the banana pieces out evenly and cover them with a generous layer of sugar. You really want to coat the bananas in a good layer of sugar, which will caramelize into a sweet crust when fried.

Roll the bananas over and coat the other side, so the sugar covers the entire surface.

Roll the bananas in tempura batter.

Using an appropriate fryer, heat the peanut oil to 400 F. Make sure not to overload the fryer, or the bananas won’t be crispy. Do a few batches if you have to. Let the bananas fry until they take on an even golden brown.

Serve the fried bananas with a generous coating of honey, drizzled over the plate. Top it off with a dusting of powdered sugar.

Chicken Curry Cous Cous

Chicken Curry Cous Cous is my husband’s creation. It’s his most famous dish, and everyone who’s tried it has raved. I got him to stand in the kitchen and direct me to make it just like he does. Here’s what he said:

You’ll need the following ingredients:

3 chicken breasts

1/2 a vidalia onion

1 green pepper (red also works)

1 bag of spinach

6-8 cloves of roasted garlic

Cous Cous (get the “Mediterranean Curry” flavor of “Near East” brand or add 2.5 tbl spoons of curry to some plain cous cous if you can’t find the boxed brand).

Kosher Salt

Sugar

Chili Oil (look in the Asian Foods section of your grocery store. “Mongolian Fire Oil” is the best)

Fish Sauce (look in the Asian Foods section of your grocery store)

Black Pepper

Cayenne Pepper/Paprika

Dried Chives

Ginger

Chopped Basil (from a jar. If you want to use fresh basil, just double the amount called for)

Heat about 2 tablespoons of cooking oil in a medium sized pan (enough to coat the surface). Roll the oil around so that it covers the bottom of the pan. Chop the onion and pepper into long, thin slices and let them simmer in the oil. Pour 2-3 tablespoons of chili oil over the top (using a bottle, crisscross the veggies with the oil until they’re well coated, as shown below).

Allow the peppers and onion to simmer over low to medium heat until they’re softened. Add 1/2 tbl spoon of curry powder and a teaspoon of sugar, and cook for another few minutes without stirring. When the sugar begins to caramelize on the veggies and they want to stick when you scrape them from the pan (they’ll look slightly brown in spots), remove from heat. They should look something like this:

Cut the chicken breasts into wide, flat pieces. Slice the roasted garlic. Fill a large pan with cooking oil about a half an inch deep. You want just enough oil to cover the chicken when you add it to the pan. Add 2 tablespoons of fish sauce to the oil. Fish sauce is really stinky when added at this point, but it mellows into a wonderfully mild flavor when heated. When the oil has warmed over low heat, add the chicken and garlic. Simmer until the chicken is no longer pink. This can take a little longer, but you want to cook the chicken slowly over a low heat setting for more tender, juicy bites.

When the chicken doesn’t appear pink anymore, remove the pan from the heat and pour off the excess oil, removing as much as you can. Return the pan to the burner and turn the heat up to medium. Don’t stir the chicken for a couple of minutes, allowing it to sear slightly. Stir, then allow it to sear again. When the chicken has been seared, add the spices. You’ll want to add 2 pinches of kosher salt, 1 pinch of sugar, 1 teaspoon of black pepper, 1 teaspoon of ginger powder or freshly shaved ginger, 1 tablespoon of freeze dried chives, 1 teaspoon chopped basil, and 1/4 teaspoon of cayenne pepper. If you don’t like spicy foods, then substitute 1 teaspoon of paprika for cayenne.

Following the directions on the box, make the cous cous (bring water to a boil, add cous cous and allow to sit off the heat for 5 minutes, usually). Fluff the cous cous with a fork.

Chop up the bag of spinach into long shredded pieces.

Combine the peppers, onions, and lettuce with the cous cous, tossing it so everything is evenly distributed. Dole out a generous portion of cous cous on a plate, and cover with chicken. I eat it as is, but my husband has a thing for insanely hot foods. He covers his plate with a good dusting of cayenne pepper. Try this for yourself, but be warned. It’s hot!

Greek Quesadillas

Quesadillas are always a great appetizer. This recipe includes feta cheese, kalamata olives, and roasted garlic to create a distinctive Greek flavor. You’ll need tortillas, melting cheese (I used pepperjack), a few cloves of roasted garlic (sliced thinly), crumbled feta, and diced kalamata olives.

Spray your pan with a cooking spray, turn on burner to medium heat, and lay the tortilla in the pan. Before the tortilla gets too hot, use your fingers to slide it around the pan, so the the oil is evenly distributed. Next lay down a layer of your melting cheese, then sprinkle the olives, garlic, and feta over the top. You should cover half the tortilla with your ingredients, leaving the other half free to fold over.

Using a pair of tongs, grab the free edge of the tortilla, and flip it over the the cheesy half to make a semicircular quesadilla. The bottom should be the perfect shade of golden brown, but if it isn’t as thoroughly browned as you’d like, then let it simmer a minute longer, flipping it once to get the other side.

This makes a great snack for 1 person as it’s described above. If you plan to serve Greek Quesadillas as an appetizer for a larger party, then you can modify the recipe as follows:

When laying down the ingredients, cover the entire tortilla (as opposed to half the tortilla). I added cilantro to this one, which was really tasty.

Then cover this cheesy layer with a second tortilla. Flip to brown the top layer.

Transfer to a cutting board. Slice the quesadilla like a pie into 6 even slices and serve.

Shrimp Tempura for Sushi Rolls

The first few times I made sushi, I wasn’t quite happy with the fried shrimp. It naturally curls up when cooked, and you want to use nice straight ingredients when rolling sushi. I’ve tried a few different things, and this is the best way I’ve come up with to fry the perfect shrimp for sushi.

Begin by selecting large high quality shrimp (4 shrimp per roll). Remove the shell and tail and devein the shrimp.

Skewer the shrimp with a wooden skewer (they’re longer than toothpicks).

Sprinkle the shrimp generously with salt and pepper.

Scramble 3 or 4 eggs and 2 tablespoons of water together in a medium sized bowl. Dip the shrimp in the egg and roll them in breadcrumbs. You can find the right kind of breadcrumbs in the Asian Foods section of your grocery store.

Fry the shrimp until they’re golden brown.

Let the shrimp cool for 1-2 minutes and pull the skewer out. The result is perfectly straight shrimp that will easily roll up to make delicious, crispy sushi.