Banana Parfait

I've noticed over the course of writing over the past few years about this, that and the other ingredient that there are a few things that folks have a particular love and devotion for.   One of those things is bananas.  We do love our bananas!  And what's not to love - they are the perfect, scrumptious, portable, non-sticky/drippy/messy fruit.  (Not that I don't sometimes love peach juice running down my chin.)

 

And one of the others is chocolate.  Duh.  So when I run into a recipe that has both chocolate and bananas, I know that soon I'm going to be digging into something good.  It happened to me with the Banana Bites that are still one of my most popular posts EVER, and here we go again...and this time with some angel food cake, a few almonds, some mascarpone cheese, all in a dessert that will take you, oh, about 15 minutes to assemble, and that's if you are going really slow.

Here's the scoop.  Find some pretty wine glasses, the rounder the better.  Now take some angel food cake (the kind you can buy in the bakery section of your supermarket is perfectly fine) and slice it up.  You want the initial slices to be about an inch high, and then trim those into whatever shape will fit nicely into your wine glasses. Don't worry too much about making them pretty and precise, because they are going to be drowned in this.

That's my mind-blowingly good favorite chocolate sauce from the mind-blowingly good Stonewall Kitchen, but you use whatever your favorite is.

Next you are going to whip up a mixture of mascarpone cheese (which is like a sweet cream cheese, and you can find it in the supermarket either in the cheese section or sometimes right near the cream cheese), some sugar, a little cream and if you are feeling frisky, a little amaretto.  And here we go!  Drop a piece of cake in the wineglass.  Add in some banana slices, a spoonful of the cheese mixture, some chocolate sauce and a few sliced almonds.  Repeat the layers, ending with the almonds.

The perfect, perfect ending to that special dinner party.  Or you can go ahead and have it on a regular Tuesday night.  Or both!

Banana Parfaits, adapted from Bon Appetit

• Your favorite chocolate sauce
• 2 tablespoons heavy whipping cream, divided
• 3/4 cup mascarpone cheese
• 3 tablespoons amaretto
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 8 1/2-inch-thick angel food cake slices
• 24 1/3-inch-thick diagonal banana slices (from about 3 bananas)
• 1/3 cup (about) sliced almonds, toasted

1. Whisk mascarpone, amaretto, sugar, and 2 tablespoons cream in medium bowl until blended.
2. Using 2 1/2-inch-diameter cookie cutter, cut out round from each angel food cake slice, or just cut into irregular pieces - either is fine. Place 1 cake round in each of 4 wine goblets or old-fashioned glasses. 

3. Top each cake round with 3 banana slices, 1 heaping tablespoon mascarpone mixture, bittersweet chocolate sauce, and sprinkling of almonds. Repeat parfait layering 1 more time and serve.

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Creamy Pasta with Roasted Zucchini, Almonds and Basil

We are now in the wonderful midst of the lazy, hazy, wonderful days of summer, and that means the best local veggies of the year.  Fresh local vegetable season is over before you know it, and so I throw them into everything I can think of these days.  This week our local farmers market had a giant mountain of zucchini that was still warm from the sunny field, and that was all the excuse I needed to make this one....and it had the extra added advantage of also needing some basil, which I have about 100 acres of at the moment.

Now this DOES involve turning on your oven, which is usually against the rules in my house during the months of July and August unless Absolutely Necessary, but let me tell you that the delicious roasted crispy edges of the zucchini make it Absolutely Necessary.    Once it is done, it gets tossed with a quick little cream sauce that includes lemon zest (yum!) and a few tablespoons of your favorite goat cheese.  My favorite goat cheese comes from these guys:

And if you want to know the full story behind those adorable faces, please click here.  Otherwise, please proceed with making this fabulous pasta dish, while the zucchini is in full swing.

Creamy Pasta with Roasted Zucchini, Almonds and Basil, from The New York Times

• 2 medium zucchini, cut into
• 1/2-inch cubes (about 3 cups)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
• 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• Pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons slivered almonds
• 1/3 cup heavy cream
• 1 sprig basil, with leaves and stem
• 3 tablespoons goat cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
• 6 ounces whole-wheat spaghetti or linguine.

1. Heat oven to 500 degrees. Toss the zucchini and oil with 1/2 teaspoon salt and pepper to taste. Arrange zucchini on a baking sheet in a single layer. Roast, tossing occasionally, until golden and tender, 20 to 30 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, toast the almonds in a skillet over medium heat until golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a small bowl.
3. Simmer the cream and basil sprig in a small saucepan over medium heat until reduced to 1/4 cup, about 7 minutes. Whisk in the goat cheese until the sauce is smooth. Remove from heat; stir in lemon zest and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Cover and keep warm.
4. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Cook the pasta according to the package directions. Drain well. Toss the pasta with the cream sauce. Serve topped with the zucchini and almonds.

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Salted Toffee Chocolate Squares

These quick little babies are a cross between cookie and candy, and are a close cousin to the cookie brittle I made over the holidays. Both of them involve taking a layer of crackers, laying them out in a single layer on a cookie sheets, spreading them with a variety of sweet and sinful stuff, baking them, and standing back, because there is an immediate stampede to the kitchen.

Now, my single best piece of advice on both of these recipes is this: Reynolds Non-Stick Foil. That stuff has changed my life, sticky-cooking-stuff-wise, almost as much as my Silpats have. Layer your baking pan with a sheet of that stuff and your sticking worries are over forever.

Once you have your foil down, put a single layer of graham crackers down. Sprinkle them with toffee bits (you can find these in your supermarket next to the chocolate chips, usually the Heath brand), and then with the chopped nuts of your choice. I like chopped almonds for this one but that's just me -- go for whatever you like. I'm going to try macadamia nuts next. Don't worry if some of the nuts and toffee fall off to the sides -- this is all going to melt into a glorious mess anyway.

Next you make a super-simple syrup of melted butter and sugar and pour it over the graham crackers. Pop it into the over until it bubbles, take it out and sprinkle chocolate chips and just a teeny bit of coarse salt on the top. Trust me on the salt thing -- it is what turns this recipe from great to mind-blowing. Let the thing cool until it is just cooled enough to handle but not hardened yet, and then grab your handy pizza cutter and a spatula. It will be a little hard to see the edges of the graham crackers amid all the fabulous topping, but do your best to cut around the edges of each square, and then lift each one out with a spatula and put it on a cooling rack.

Here is the most important step. Try one when they are still warm, and then try another when they are cooled. It's important for the serious cook to be able to form an opinion about which is better. I am still testing them, myself, just to be totally sure.

Salted Toffee Chocolate Squares, adapted from Everyday Food

12 graham crackers broken into squares
1 8 oz bag toffee pieces (found in the baking aisle)
1 1/2 cups roasted, salted almonds, roughly chopped
1 cup unsalted butter
1/2 cup granulated sugar
3/4 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips
3/4 tsp sea salt

Set the oven rack in the middle of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees. Line a rimmed baking sheet with non-stick foil.

Lay the graham crackers on the baking sheet, touching each other. Sprinkle the toffee pieces and the chopped almonds evenly over the crackers. Set aside.

Combine the sugar and butter in a small saucepan and cook over medium-high heat, stirring occasionally. Bring the mixture to a boil and then reduce the heat to medium-low. Simmer for a few minutes, until the mixture has the consistency of a syrup. Remove from heat and pour over the graham crackers, trying to soak all of them.

Bake for about 12 minutes until the top is bubbly. Remove and immediately sprinkle with the chocolate chips and sea salt. Let cool for about 10 minutes, and then use a pizza cutter to cut into 2 inch squares. Transfer the squares to a cooling rack.

Click here for printable recipe