Banana Cream Cake

Paula Deen's Banana Cream Cake

Makes 1 (13x9 inch) cake

3/4 cup butter, softened

1 1/2 cups sugar

3 large eggs

2 cups mashed ripe bananas

1 tsp vanilla extract

2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1/3 cup plus 2 tbsp whole buttermilk

1 (3.4 oz) box instant banana cream-flavored pudding mix

2 cups whole milk

1 (12 oz) container frozen whipped topping, thawed

Garnish finely grated chocolate

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 13x9 inch baking pan with nonstick baking spray with flour.

In a large bowl combine butter and sugar. Beat at medium speed with a mixer until fluffy. Add eggs, one at a time, beating well after each addition. Add mashed bananas and vanilla, beating until combined.

In a medium bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add to butter mixture alternately with buttermilk, beginning and ending with flour mixture, beating just until combined after each addition. Pour batter into prepared pan. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Let cool for 10 minutes. With handle of a wooden spoon, poke holes halfway through cake in half inch intervals.

In a medium bowl combine pudding mix and milk. Whisk until sooth and slightly thickened, about 2 minutes. Pour over top of cake. Loosely cover cake and refrigerate 2-4 hours. Spread whipped topping over top of cake; sprinkle with grated chocolate if desired. Cut into squares to serve.

Comments: I'm enjoying the merits of being a fourth year. I loved making this cake! The batter smelled delicious and the textures are just so rich and thick in the mixing. When I brought it to work, the residents, attendings, and MAs were happy. They were celebrating Friday like it should be celebrated. Thanks, Paula Deen. :P I guess it's also a time to celebrate being a fourth year- yay, I made it!

Kim Chi Stew and Curry Apple Couscous

It's been a great culmination to my peds rotation, and my third year of medical school. Woohoo! It's true what they say, that celebrating the end of a rotation is sweetest if you worked hard and pushed yourself to be the best that you could be. So these good thoughts inspired two dishes this weekend.

1) Kim Chi Stew

Ingredients: 

1 lb kim chi 

1 lb tofu

1/2 lb assorted fish    

balls

1/4 lb spinach 

1/4 lb shitake mushrooms

1/4 lb baby bok choy

Water

Instructions:

In a large pot, place kim chi and water and bring to boil. Then add cubed tofu (of any consistency you like, we used medium firm) and shitake mushrooms and let cook until they soften. Then add sliced spinach, baby bok choy, and fish balls to the pot and cook until the veggies are cooked thoroughly and the fish balls rise to the top of the liquid. Enjoy!

Notes: This was enjoyable to make, fills the kitchen with the warm, spicy aroma of kim chi. Makes you think of home, even if you're not Korean. You can adjust the degree of spiciness of the soup by removing some soup as it cooks and replacing it with fresh water. If you use soft silken tofu, you more closely recreate soondubu, the traditional Korean soft tofu meal that you put BCD Tofu House on the map. Definitely eat this with rice, brown or white, to give your belly a comforting cushion to the spicy soup.

2) Curry and Apple Couscous

Ingredients: 

4 tablespoons unsalted butter

1 tablespoon curry powder

1 medium apple, cored and chopped

3 green onions, washed, trimmed and thinly sliced

1 cup whole wheat couscous

1 3/4 cup water

1 teaspoon sea salt

1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted

small handful of mint, chopped

Instructions: 

In a large saucepan over medium-high heat add 3 tablespoons of the butter, the curry powder and a couple generous pinches of salt, and cook for a minute or until the spices are fragrant.  Stir in the chopped apples and cook for about 3 minutes, enough time for the apples to soften up a bit and absorb some of the curry.  Scoop the apple from the pan and set aside in a separate bowl.

 

In the same pan, again over medium-high heat, add the remaining table spoon of butter.  Stir in the green onions, let them soften up a bit and then add the water and salt.  Bring to a boil, stir in the couscous, cover and remove from the heat.  Steam for 5 to 10 minutes and then use a fork to fluff up the couscous.  Stir in the apples, pine nuts, and shopped mint.  Season with more salt and curry powder to taste.

Notes: This is a recipe that my mom shared with me from her ladies cooking group which focuses on making healthy whole grain meals. My mom made this for me once and I loved it so much that I needed to make it. Absolutely no regrets. The couscous was light and aromatic and the apples gave a nice crunchy sweet contrast to the fluffiness of the couscous. It was my first time cooking with couscous, such an interesting grain. According to Wiki, it's a grain derived from semolina wheat that originated in Northern African countries such as Algeria and Morocco. Although some people confuse couscous with quinoa (another sand size whole grain), it is very different. Couscous is actually a very small pasta and it is processed. Quinoa is the preserved, natural state of the grain from which it is derived. Hope you try this recipe soon!

Sauteed Asparagus and Snap Peas

See? There's proof that I AM a med student- it only took me a month to write a second post... given, I did cook up some decent pasta tofu salad from the Whole Foods recipe archive, but tonight, I'm making something even more exciting. 

Sauteed asparagus and snap peas. Ina Garten-style. Who doesn't like her calm and soothing voice and cute blunt bang hairstyle?

Ingredients

1 pound asparagus

3/4-pound sugar snap peas

2 tablespoons good olive oil

Kosher salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Red pepper flakes, optional

Sea salt, for serving

Methods

Cut off the tough ends of the asparagus and slice the stalks diagonally into 2-inch pieces. Snap off the stem ends of the snap peas and pull the string down the length of the vegetable. Warm the olive oil in a large saute pan over a medium heat and add the asparagus and snap peas. Add the salt, pepper, and red pepper flakes, to taste, if desired. Cook for approximately 5 to10 minutes until al dente, tossing occasionally. Sprinkle with sea salt and serve hot.

Explanation for the quips: I'm just in a good mood. Almost half-way through peds rotation (which I'm loving). This is my fourth week on outpatient. Next week, I start inpatient. Yay. :)

Anyways, I'm diligently following Ina's fresh and simple recipe. It is quite therapeutic as a break in between studying. The greens of the asparagus and snap peas look so great swirled together in olive oil. With the heat, the intensity of their green livens up to a deeper, more verdant hue. :) Then I add a twist of my own- soft tofu- to contrast the al-dente veggies and, more importantly, to provide an excuse to try out the new sweet ginger chili sauce that Paul just brought me from the shhhhh...Stanford farmers market. :)

Just for fun, I also use up some of the other ingredients in the fridge that I've been meaning to put to use- eggs and green onions. I fried these up like my mom makes them.

The end product was simple and beautiful. I crushed some roasted cashews to sprinkle on top of the dish as a finishing touch. It added a little crunch to contrast. Contrast was definitely the theme of this dish. And the ginger sauce added a nice kick to boot.

After eating this, I felt quite satisfied that I had done something healthy.

Savory Tofu Lettuce Wraps

Happy New Year to me and all who are reading. Inspired by the Julie/Julia Project by Julie Powell, I am also committing to a year of cooking through the online Whole Foods Market recipe archives. The first stop is Savory Tofu Lettuce Wraps.

http://www.wholefoodsmarket.com/recipes/1906

Ingredients

1 to 2 tablespoons canola oil* 
1/2 cup finely chopped yellow onion 
1/2 cup finely chopped zucchini 
1/2 cup chopped carrot 
1 (8-ounce) package baked tofu, oriental or teriyaki style, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1 tablespoon finely chopped mint 
1/2 cup chopped green onions 
1 (8-ounce) can sliced water chestnuts, drained* 
1/4 cup hoisin sauce, plus more for dipping* 
1 head butter lettuce 
Lime wedges

Method

Heat oil in a large skillet over medium high heat. Add onions, zucchini and carrots and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Stir in tofu, mint, green onions and water chestnuts. Add 1/4 cup of the hoisin sauce and let simmer 5 to 7 minutes, stirring often. Remove from heat and serve tofu mixture with lettuce leaves for wrapping, lime wedges for squeezing and additional sauce for dipping, if you like.

This is a fresh, easy and delectable dish which was perfect for my boyfriend and I on New Year's Eve. I recommend a substitution of persian cucumber for zucchini to give the dish a more juicy and crunchy texture. I also recommend a substitution of dried bean curd for fresh tofu for a unique, savory flavor. Dried bean curd is a simple way to kick this dish up a notch. It's one of my favorite Chinese ingredients and can be found in any Asian supermarket. One final substitution I recommend is cilantro for mint, which gives the dish a more zesty instead of cooling character. I just sprinkled the top of the onion, carrot, persian cucumber, green onion, and dried bean curd mixture with the cilantro. Then I used a mixture of fresh organic peanut butter, soy sauce, sesame oil, honey, and garlic salt to create a hoisin-like dipping sauce for the lettuce wraps. We ran out of butter lettuce leaflets so you should buy an extra head of lettuce just in case to avoid running out when you serve this dish. Also, the butter lettuce leaflets tend to be quite soft so if you desire a crunchier wrap, you can use iceberg lettuce.

Last notes- this dish is fun to prepare as it requires lots of fine chopping and mixing ingredients, so prepare to have fun. It is even more fun to eat. The crunchiness of the water chestnuts contrasts the savoriness of the dried bean curd, and the juiciness of the vegetable mixture and lettuce wrap. Paired with four-cheese blend quesadillas, the lettuce wraps are a great, upbeat dish perfect for a romantic dinner at home or a party. I hope you try it out!