Author: arielleclementine

One-Bite Banana Cookies

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This cookie is scratching me right where I itch.

Haha! Did that put you off cookies forever?  Really though- these are fabulous, and are my new go-to cookie for lots of reasons.  Here are some of them! They call for one ripe banana, which is perfect for me because I always have just one- not enough for banana bread.  I almost always have all of these ingredients on hand.  They don’t have eggs or nuts in them, so they’re safe for babies! They are unspeakably delicious.  (As in, Andy and I eat ungodly numbers of them warm from the oven, flecked with sea salt.  Little Henry loves them too!)  And they’re really unique- I’d have never thought to use curry powder in a cookie, but it’s a lovely little touch that, as gingerroot (the mastermind behind these treats) said, ends up making the cookies taste a bit like gingerbread.    Also, they can be very easily vegan-ized by subbing margarine for the butter. Have I convinced you? I hope so.  The world should know the glory of these cookies!

One-Bite Banana Cookies
from gingerroot via food52

Makes about 3 1/2 dozen

  • 6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
  • 1/4 cup light brown sugar, packed
  • 1/4 cup granulated sugar
  • 1/4 cup mashed ripe banana (from one small or ½ of a larger banana), in a bowl
  • 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
  • 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
  • 1 cup AP flour
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder
  • Pinch of salt
  • 3 tablespoons unsweetened shredded coconut
  • Fleur de sel for sprinkling

  1. Preheat oven to 300° F.
  2. Cream the butter and sugars together until light and fluffy.
  3. Add ½ t baking soda to mashed banana. Set aside for a minute.
  4. In a bowl, stir together flour, curry powder and salt.
  5. Mix banana mixture into butter mixture. Add vanilla, mixing to evenly combine.
  6. Add half of dry mixture to wet ingredients and mix for 10 seconds. Add remaining dry ingredients and mix until just combined, using a spatula to scrape down the sides. Fold in unsweetened coconut.
  7. Drop by the teaspoonful on two parchment lined baking sheets, leaving about an inch between each. Bake, one sheet at a time, until golden brown, about 14-16 minutes, rotating the pan once halfway through. Sprinkle hot cookies with fleur de sel if desired. Transfer to wire racks to cool. Best enjoyed warm.

Coconut Oil Granola

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  Photo courtesy of Helen Allen, http://helenthenanny.blogspot.com/
If you’ve seen or talked to me in the past month, chances are I’ve mentioned this granola to you.  One of my food52 friends blogged about the recipe in January, and we’ve eaten it for breakfast pretty much every day since, served atop a few spoonfuls of the very sour but delightful whole milk White Mountain Bulgarian Yogurt, sweetened with a squirt of honey. (The yogurt claims to have “up to 90 billion live probiotics per serving”!)  Anyhow- this is the best granola I’ve ever eaten, and it’s wonderfully convenient to make a batch and have it for breakfast for the whole week.  There are, in my opinion, two things that make this yogurt exceptional.  The first is the half cup of extra virgin coconut oil, which lends the granola an incredibly warm, buttery quality.  It’s a little pricey, but I can get a jar for $6.99 at Central Market and that makes 4-5 batches of granola. There’s the added benefit that virgin coconut oil is insanely good for you. The second thing that sets this granola apart is the freshly ground cardamom.  If you don’t want to take the time to pop the cardamom seeds out of six pods and grind them with a bit of salt in a mortar and pestle, you can substitute freshly ground nutmeg- it just won’t be quite as wonderful. 
A note about the recipe:  I make this without the 3/4 cup of maple syrup the recipe calls for.  This makes the granola drier, less clumpy, and more like a deliciously crisp cereal.  I found we like it better this way, and it seems very nearly sweet enough to me with just the brown and muscovado sugars. Plus, 3/4 cup of grade B maple syrup costs nearly $9 at CM, so it’s more economical to leave it out. Completely your call!
Coconut Oil Granola

from Jennifer Hess, with inspiration from Melissa Clark

  • 3 cups rolled oats
  • 1 cup raw almonds (feel free to substitute other nuts here, or combine almonds with pistachios or another nut of your choosing – I just used what we had on hand)
  • ¼ cup flax seeds
  • ¼ cup sunflower seeds
  • ½ cup pumpkin seeds
  • ½ cup toasted wheat germ (I usually omit this)
  • 1 cup unsweetened coconut (I like the shards)
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 6 cardamom pods, shells removed and seeds ground with 1 teaspoon coarse sea or kosher salt
  • ½ cup organic virgin coconut oil, liquefied (you can substitute an equal amount of extra-virgin olive oil)
  • ¾ cup grade B maple syrup (optional)
  • ¼ cup organic light brown sugar
  • ¼ cup muscovado sugar
  • ¾ cup chopped dried fruit (I always use dried cranberries, but Jennifer encourages you to use a combination of your favorites.)
  1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.
  2. Combine all the ingredients except the dried fruit in a large bowl, and stir to combine. Spread the mixture on a large, ungreased baking sheet and bake for a total of 45 minutes, stirring the mixture gently at 10 minute intervals.
  3. Remove the baking sheet from the oven, scatter the dried fruit over the top, and allow to cool, then transfer to a large air-tight container.
  4. Serve over plain yogurt sweetened with a teaspoon or so of local honey. 

Komé

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Nice shot, huh? I’ve got a real eye for photography- the way I was careful to include the parking lot and that car and whatever that kettle thing is on the roof.  Bad shot aside, komé is a really fun new spot on Airport Boulevard- a place that could use some fun new spots (House Pizzeria aside- that place has still got it!).

It’s super adorable and bright and tidy inside, and it was buzzing with an early lunch crowd when we arrived.  I really wanted to try everything on the menu.  I ended up being torn between sushi, because I don’t get to eat it very often anymore, donburi (rice bowls), and ramen, because I have never had a real, legit bowl of ramen.  It’s just not something you see a lot in Austin.  Here’s what I ended up getting:

This is the Una-Don bowl- BBQ eel over rice, which came with clear soup and Japanese pickles.  I loved it.  Really, probably the best eel I’ve had- so buttery and melty, and Henry got to eat some too! The broth was clear and simple- it tasted like miso soup without the miso, which sounds weird, but I think that’s what it was.  The pickles were fun too.

No- this isn’t all my sushi- as much as I’d have liked to eat three rolls in addition to my slab of eel.  I picked one simple (read: one of the cheapest on the menu at $6) little roll, the Sunshine Roll, with salmon, mango, and avocado (it’s the roll in the middle of the plate).  I ate the whole thing happily, but it wasn’t anywhere near as good as the eel rice bowl.  I’m far from a sushi expert, but it seemed like the rice was a little underdone- my friend’s roll (on the right) sort of collapsed into tiny rice heaps when you prodded it lightly with a chopstick.  Also, I’m not in the habit of dipping rolls like this in soy sauce because I figure the chefs have already seasoned it the way they think it will taste best.  I think they must plan on you using soy though, because the flavors seemed a little flat. Komé- heed M.I.A’s advice and salt and pepper that mango.

Anyway, I will return to komé happily, and hopefully soon, to eat more of that delicious eel and to try the ramen! Do give me a shout if you’ve tried the ramen here!