Hummingbird Cake

Hummingbird Cake is made up of bananas, pineapples and nuts topped with buttery cream cheese frosting!

When I received my latest Cooking Club magazine, I wound up chomping at the bit to try this recipe. So much so that I whipped out bananas from the freezer to thaw the next day, sure that I'd be baking this cake immediately. That wasn't the case.

I'm not even a fan of bananas, which constitute a good portion of the recipe, but was intrigued by the fact that we had almost, almost everything to make this cake! Plus it would utilize a number of bananas we have stowed in the freezer. Putting it off until I went to the grocery store to get the last item, a can of pineapple chunks in juice, I was finally able to get started on it.

Hummingbird Cake

3 c sifted all-purpose flour
2 c sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
2 c mashed ripe bananas
1 c chopped pecans
3 eggs, beaten
3/4 c canola oil
1 (8-oz.) can crushed pineapple in 100% juice
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 c cream cheese (4 oz.), softened
3 tbsp unsalted butter, softened
2 c powdered sugar
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/3 c finely chopped pecans

Heat oven to 350°F. Spray 13x9-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Sprinkle with flour, tapping out excess.

Really bang on your 9x13 with the palm of your fist while holding it inverted over your sink.  This was excess I later banged out.

Whisk flour, sugar, cinnamon, baking soda and salt in large bowl.

Gently stir in bananas, 1 cup pecans, eggs, oil, pineapple with juice and 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla until blended (batter will be thick).


Spread in pan.

Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out with some moist crumbs attached, top is deep golden brown and cake just begins to pull away from sides of pan. Cool completely in pan on wire rack (or in microwave overnight).

Look at night-time cake vs day-time cake!

Beat cream cheese and butter in large bowl at medium speed 2 to 3 minutes or until smooth and creamy.


Beat in powdered sugar and 1/2 teaspoon vanilla until well-blended.


Stir in 1/3 cup pecans. Or not.

Spread frosting over cake. Sprinkle nuts over frosted cake if you forgot to stir them into the frosting.


Store in refrigerator. Serve at room temperature.


Assuming you are the chef or master-baker in your household, chances are you have served up items much classier than this one such as flaming goods or foods made completely of sugar. But if you aren't a chef or master-baker or cook-extraordinaire of any means, get some of this before you are left with this:

The Last Bite.

You'll regret it if you don't because this cake is good even if you aren't a banana fan.

Cost:

• bananas: $1.20 (a hefty SWAG)
• eggs: $0.43
• crushed pineapple in juice: $0.89
• cream cheese: $0.75

Total: $3.27, but this doesn't take into account the pecans, oil, sugars etc. So I'll add in another $2, no $3, bringing total cost for this cake to $6.27. That makes each of 16 servings $0.39. Yep, thirty-nine cents.

NOTE: the thawed age of bananas did not detract at all from this recipe.  If anything, the juicy-leaky banana component ADDED to the moistness of the cake, which is something I've observed in banana bread.  And now there is another experiment to be executed: fresh ripe bananas vs frozen ripe bananas recently thawed vs frozen ripe bananas thawed and sitting the fridge a good while.  This may take a lab notebook and interns to execute well unless Voters clue me in and save me from doing this myelf.*

*I realize full well that I'll be executing this personally one day but recently realized I enjoy writing as though I have millions of readers willing to do my suggested bidding.

Napa Valley Pizza and Pasta Co. BBQ Chicken Pizza

After having BBQ Chicken pizza from Napa Valley Pizza and Pasta Co. for dinner the other day, Rodney went back and had another slice about 2 hours later. That's unusual. And he ate a slice the following day. That's verging on insanity. Rodney doesn't do that; he doesn't like pizza that much.

Since then Rodney raved about how good that pizza was. We pondered whether Napa Valley made the pizza extra special just because we were new customers. The more we considered it, the more plausible the situation seemed to be. The question had to be answered. So we ordered another one.

Again with the weighty, hot pie. Again with the crust-to-crust, even distribution of toppings. Again with the chunks of chicken. Again with the fresh cilantro. And the little cups of fresh-grated cheese and crushed red pepper!

Believe it or not, I thought this one was even better than the last one! It seemed the ratio of toppings was more equal. The chicken wasn't on the brink of excess, allowing the subtlety of red onions to step out a little more.

Last time, I didn't get a good image illustrating the quality and chunkiness chicken. Get an eye full:

Lickin' your chops? Their number is on the Napa Valley Pizza and Pasta Co. website. Call 'em up. You'll thank me later.

Outrageous Carrot Cake

Looking at it's suggested simplicity, you'd assume a vanilla or maybe a chocolate cake under a simple icing. What you can't see is that it's three layers of the most decadent carrot cake, covered in the most luxurious creamy frosting.

Click here for the recipe.

Chilaquiles-Spiced Chicken for Chicken Soft Tacos

I spied this Chicken Chilaquiles recipe on Tastespotting (I think) a few weeks ago and wanted to try it.  Being short on time tonight, I wanted to make chicken tacos.  Modifying this recipe worked out perfectly to make those chicken soft tacos.

Chilaquiles-Spiced Chicken for Chicken Soft Tacos
adapted from Chicken Chilaquiles by Meseidy at The Noshery

4 chicken thighs and 4 drums, skinless bone-in
2 tbsp olive oil, divided
1 1/2 tsp cumin
1 tsp chili powder
1/2 tsp coriander
1 tsp course salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/2 cup onions, diced
3 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 c mild red salsa
1/4 cup medium green salsa

Place chicken thighs and drums in a medium sized bowl, drizzle with one tablespoon oil.

Season the chicken with cumin, chili powder, salt and pepper. Stir chicken to evenly coat with spices.
 

In a hot 12" skillet, heat 1 tablespoon of olive oil at a medium high heat.


Add onions and garlic to the skillet; cook for a few minutes until onions and garlic begin to become translucent.


Add seasoned chicken to the skillet; turning to brown evenly on all sides, approximately 5–7 minutes.


Once the chicken is browned, add salsas and lime juice.


Reduce heat; continue cooking chicken until completely cooked, approximately 20 minutes.

Transfer chicken to a cutting board to cool. Pull chicken meat from bones and coarsely chop the meat.


Make your tacos with whatever you have available: flour or corn tortillas, cheese, cilantro and onion, olives, lettuces, tomatoes, beans, and any additional salsas.  Have chips too if you have them.


These were totally awesome tacos!  Rodney and I could've continued eating these tacos until the cows came home, made them into tacos and kept on eating, they were that good.  Rodney especially went into overdrive when it came to exclamations on how great this chicken was.  And I was a little nervous about the quantity of cumin since the cumin-overload-on-chicken recipe...silly me.  This is the latest winner of the Rodney's pick's prize.  Well, there's no prize, other than the label itself.

Cost:

• chicken: $3
• spices, salsas and onions and all that other stuff: $1

Total: while completely SWAGged, I think it's about right on, making each serving $1. Taco fixin's not included.  

Slow Cooker Roast Beef in Red Wine

Roast beef in red wine cooked in a slow cooker alongside smashed potatoes.

This is another recipe from the Recipe Box section of my Cooking Club magazine. I chose it because the picture was pretty and recipe submitter Stacy Ann Hornung of Kansas raises Black Angus and should have a pretty slammin' beef recipe.

The only thing I did different from the original recipe was to use a 3.5 lb rather than a 2.5-3 lb roast.

Slow Cooker Roast Beef with Red Wine

3.5 lb beef chuck roast

1.5 c red wine, I used Merlot
22 oz beef broth

1.5 c frozen pearl onions

8 oz mushrooms, sliced

10 bacon slices, chopped
1/2 c all-purpose flour
3/4 tsp pepper
1/2 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried thyme

Cut roast into 2" pieces and place in a 1 gallon Ziploc bag.

Add red wine; place in refrigerator up to 24 hours, turning bag occasionally.


Remove beef from marinade, reserving marinade; place on paper towel and pat dry.

Heat slow cooker to high. Add broth, onions and mushrooms.

Cook chopped bacon in large skillet over medium heat 3-5 minutes or until browned. Drain on paper towel, reserving drippings in skillet. Add bacon to slow cooker.

Combine flour, pepper, onion and garlic powders in large bag. Add beef in batches, shaking to coat after each addition.

Brown beef in bacon drippings in batches over medium-high heat 3-5 minutes until browned on all sides. Place beef in slow cooker.

Add any remaining flour mixture (I didn't have any) to drippings in skillet; cook and stir over medium heat 1 minute. Add 1 cup of the reserved wine marinade; bring to a boil, stirring to scrape up browned bits from skillet. Pour into slow cooker.

Add remaining marinade and thyme to slow cooker.

Cook over low heat 7-9 hours or until beef is tender.


Remove beef and vegetables.

Pour liquid into large skillet; boil over high heat 3 minutes or until slightly thickened.

Pour over beef and vegetables.

Rodney decided straight away that this was worthy of becoming the latest induction to Rodney's picks.  I've tried about 200 different recipes so far and less than 10% have been named worthy of such labeling.  The dude is picky!

As for me, the beef was very tender and certainly flavorful.  Unfortunately, the wine part was a bit much.  I wonder if that was due to the Merlot, which I'd never had before.  Could a Cabernet Sauvignon or Chianti been a better choice?  It's tough for me to tell.  Rodney won't mind if I try it with those wines, I'm sure. 

Also, it was a bit saucier than I prefer.  There was a lot of sauce, maybe because I didn't have enough flour mixture to thicken initially (my roast was up to 1 lb too large) and I didn't reduce it enough at the end.  I'll consider these points when I make it next time.  Additionally, to reduce waste, I'll drain the beef in a colander rather than place the pieces on a huge pile of paper towel.  

Cost:

• chuck roast: $7.08
• red wine: $4.49
• pearl onions: $0.60
• mushrooms: $2.49
• bacon: $1.50

Total: $16.16 or $2.69 for each of six servings.