Banana Pudding

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Banana pudding holds a special place in my heart. It was one of the first things I made with my husband when we were dating. It’s incredibly easy to make and there is almost no way to make it not taste delicious.

That’s why when I was assigned Wendy from “A Day in the Life on the Farm” for this month’s Secret Recipe Club, my decision was easy. Wendy and her husband Frank are retired police officers that escaped the city and live on a 12-acre farm. She made this pudding for brunch after Christmas which reminded me that it’s a great crowd pleaser. It fit the bill perfectly for my brother-in-law’s girlfriend that was visiting from out of town for a dinner party at our place.

It’s impossible not to like banana pudding! It’s absolutely delicious. To elevate it a little bit more I drizzled some salted caramel sauce on top. I served these in highball glasses as dessert. I can also attest to the fact that they are good in the morning because I ate all the leftovers for breakfast the next day — Wendy was smart serving this at brunch!

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Banana Pudding Recipe

By nicole Published: July 27, 2015

  • Yield: 14 Servings
  • Prep: 5 mins

From A Day in the Life, Kraft

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Place vanilla wafers in bottom of serving dish making a single layer. Cut bananas into slices. Layer half the sliced bananas over the cookies.
  2. Whisk together pudding mix and milk for 2 minutes. Pour half of the unset pudding over the wafers and bananas.
  3. Repeat the layers.
  4. If making whipped cream: Using a stand mixer with whisk attachment, beat the cream to semi stiff peaks. Top pudding with cream.
  5. Refrigerate for at least one hour. Garnish with additional cookies right before serving.

Cardamom Pear Muffins

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After I moved into my new home last year, my friend gifted me with a box of last Harry & David Royal Riveria Pears. I used the very last one to make these muffins and took them with me on a bus trip up to New York City, where I attended the Coffee & Tea Festival with her.

These muffins are extremely straightforward to put together. Unlike some recipes, they do require creaming together butter and sugar, but even with that step, the batter comes together in about 6 minutes. Buttermilk keeps the crumb moist and helps to offset the earthy flavors. To further balance the cardamom, which can be strong, especially if you grind it straight from the pod, I added just a hint of cinnamon and nutmeg.

The muffins are light and tender of crumb and a bite that marries the pear with cardamom has a sweet, fruity, lightly spiced flavor. They make a great breakfast that won’t send you crashing from a sugar high, and pair nicely with green tea.

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Cardamom Pear Muffins Recipe

By nicole Published: July 20, 2015

  • Yield: 12 muffins
  • Prep: 15 mins
  • Cook: 15 mins
  • Ready In: 30 mins

From Serious Eats

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and preheat oven to 375°F. Line muffin cups with paper liners or grease with butter.
  2. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, cardamom, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Set aside.
  3. In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. Beat in eggs, one at a time. Beat in vanilla. Add ½ dry ingredients to bowl, followed by buttermilk, then the remaining dry ingredients. Stir together just until last of flour mixture is incorporated. Stir in diced pears.
  4. Divide batter between muffin cups, filling about ¾ full. Bake until golden on top and a cake tester inserted into the middle of the muffin comes out clean, 18-20 minutes.
  5. Let cool 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack to finish cooling. Muffins are best on the day that they're made, but you can store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 3 days.

Quinoa Sorrento Salad

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It’s been sticky and humid this summer so it’s refreshing to bite into something that doesn’t require heating up the whole house. I don’t typically like salads because I start feeling like a rabbit chomping on grass. The addition of protein-rich (and easy to cook!) quinoa into this salad mix mixes it up. One scoop is good as a side along dinner, or a big bowl of it will make a tasty lunch.

The vinaigrette made out of shallot and red whine vinegar is acidic and robust without being to pungent. It’s easy to add whatever pits of crunchy, sweet, or salty items you have laying around the house too. Any dried fruit or nut mixture will work, but make sure not to skip the cucumber — it’s crucial to the lightness of the salad.

Quinoa Sorrento Salad Recipe

By nicole Published: July 6, 2015

  • Yield: 2 Servings
  • Prep: 10 mins
  • Cook: 15 mins
  • Ready In: 25 mins

Adapted from Blue Apron

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Heat a medium pot of salted water to boiling on high. Small dice the cucumber. Peel and mince the shallot to get 2 tablespoons of minced shallot (you may have extra); place in a small bowl with the vinegar.
  2. Rinse the quinoa under cold water and drain thoroughly. Add the rinsed quinoa to the pot of boiling water and cook 14 to 16 minutes, or until tender. Thoroughly drain the cooked quinoa and transfer to a large bowl.
  3. Season the shallot-vinegar mixture with salt and pepper to taste. Slowly whisk in 2 tablespoons of olive oil until well combined.
  4. To the bowl of cooked quinoa, add the cucumber and greens. Season with salt and pepper. Add enough of the vinaigrette to coat the salad (you may have extra vinaigrette). Gently toss to coat; season with salt and pepper to taste.

Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs

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For this month’s Secret Recipe Club I had the honor of being paired up with the owner, Sarah of Fantastical Sharing of Recipes.  Sadly, it won’t be a surprise that I had her blog since she sends out the assignments, but hopefully I can surprise her with what recipe I chose from her massive list.

I combed through her recipe index, pausing on Almost White Castle Burgers, Fauxtisserie Chicken, Dulce de leche Cheesecake Bars. My husband helped me decide on Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs since we had been craving some ribs and he’s always a sucker for barbecue sauce.

We recently purchased a slow cooker, so have been looking for new ways to use it. Unfortunately, we have the smallest Crock-Pot in existence so we have to be careful when reading recipes. We made ⅓ of the recipe and it fit perfectly into a 3 quart pot. It was hard to find only 2 pounds of ribs but our local grocery store luckily had smaller portions pre-packaged.

These ribs turned out finger-licking-good (literally). The meat fell right off the bone and the charred bits from the broiler were my favorite part. Served with chips or smashed potatoes, I was transported to a outdoor summer picnic (while still sitting in my air-conditioned dining room.

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Slow Cooker BBQ Ribs Recipe

By nicole Published: June 22, 2015

  • Yield: 2 pounds (2 Servings)
  • Prep: 5 mins
  • Cook: 6 hrs 0 min
  • Ready In: 6 hrs 35 mins

From Fantastical Sharing

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Mix together spices and rub on ribs. You can make it as spicy or sweet as you like, the main flavor will be the bbq sauce.
  2. Place the ribs in your slow cooker so that the meat side is touching the sides of the bowl. Pour bbq sauce on top and cover. Cook on low for 6 to 8 hours.
  3. Prepare your broiler pan with aluminum foil and cooking spray. Remove ribs and place meat side down.
  4. Pour some of the liquid from the slow cooker into a small saucepan. Simmer for about 15 minutes or until thickened. Salt and pepper to taste.
  5. Brush ribs with sauce and broil for 2 to 4 minutes.
  6. Flip the ribs and brush with more sauce. Broil that side for about 10 minutes, coating with more sauce about 3 more times.
  7. Remove from oven. Tent with foil and let rest for 10 minutes.

Gingerousse

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Inspired by the recent publication of a homemade green tea vodka in Bon Appétit magazine, we decided to put some of my tea to work.

One of the great things about my husband working from home is that when I plop down on the couch after a muggy, sweaty, and stinky commute from the office, he knows just the thing to cheer me up. “Want a cocktail?”

He couldn’t decide on which of our fruit liqueurs to use, so combined them all with a Peach Apple Crisp Black Tea-infused vodka we had started making over the weekend. After topping with some ginger ale it smelled like a delightful, fresh sangria, and it was just as refreshing.

If you haven’t tried infusing your own spirits, I encourage you to! It’s incredibly easy and fast. When trying out new flavors, you can try just a cup or two at a time to ebb some apprehension.

Gingerousse Recipe

By nicole Published: June 9, 2015

  • Yield: 1 drink
  • Prep: 5 mins

Inspired by the recent publication of a homemade green tea vodka in Bon Appétit magazine, we decided to put some of my tea to …

Ingredients

Instructions

  1. Add 1 teaspoon of Peach Apple tea with 1 cup of vodka and infuse for 6-12 hours.
  2. Combine vodka and fruit liqueurs into a cocktail shaker with ice and shake until cold.
  3. Strain and top with ginger ale.