Winter & Comfort Food

It's winter and I've been practicing comfort food classic recipes.  This Martha Stewart Mac & Cheese has been in high demand since I made it for Christmas Eve dinner at my parents' house.

Macaroni & Cheese

I used to cut this recipe in half and used Gruyere cheese.  Since Christmas Eve, I made the full recipe using Pecorino Romano (pronounced with an Italian accent) and sprinkled panko crumbs on top instead of the buttered bread cubes.  It tastes so much better with Pecorino Romano, probably because it's saltier than Gruyere.  I'm not sure what's better for you: Kraft Dinner full of processed chemicals made to taste like cheddar; or cheddar and pecorino romano cheeses, milk, and butter??

Last summer, I picked up a copy of Jamie's Food Revolution from Costco because the recipes looked approachable with lots of pictures.  I finally attempted his Lamb Rogan Josh recipe and it was very tasty!  I don't think it was authentic, but it was quick, simple, and tasty.

What's Baking?

Just before Christmas, I participated in a cookie exchange at work.  I ended up baking green tea shortbread and made them into sandwich cookies filled my green tea icing recipe.  It wasn't too difficult to make (just 5 ingredients!), but there was a lot of butter in them.  I couldn't find a leaf cookie-cutter I liked, so I just cut the dough into 2 inch squares and used the back of a knife to imprint lines onto the dough.

Green Tea Shortbread Sandwich Cookies

And back by popular demand, green tea cupcakes!

Green Tea Cupcakes with Green Tea Buttercream Icing

One more goodie to take with you - Chocolate Banana Bundt Cake.  So easy and delicious!

• 1 cup All-Purpose Flour
• 1 cup Cake & Pastry Flour
• 2/3 cup Cocoa Powder
• 1 + 1/2 teaspoon Baking Soda
• 1/2 teaspoon Salt
• 1 + 1/3 cup Granulated Sugar
• 1/4 cup Canola Oil
• 1 + 1/2 cups Hot Water
• 1 teaspoon Vanilla Extract
• 3 Bananas, mashed
• 1/2 cup pecan or walnut pieces, optional

1. Pre-heat oven to 350F.  Spray a bundt pan with non-stick cooking spray (or lightly grease with oil).
2. In a large bowl, sift flours, cocoa powder, baking soda, and salt.  Add sugar to dry ingredients and whisk until ingredients are blended.
3. To the flour mixture add the canola oil, hot water, and vanilla extract; mix well.
4. Now add the mashed bananas and stir batter until well blended.
5. If adding nuts, fold nuts into batter with a spatula.
6. The batter will be quite water-y.  Pour the batter into the the bundt pan.  Bake for about 45 - 60 minutes or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.  (My cake was done after 45 min.)
7. Move the bundt pan to a cooling rack and let it cool for 15-20 minutes.  Use a wooden skewer or spatula to loosen the edges of the cake from the pan.  Remove the pan from the rack and place the rack over the open side of the pan and invert the cake onto the cooling rack.  Continue to cool the cake completely before serving.  Dust icing sugar over the cake and voilà!  Bon appetit!