Count It All Joy: March 2013

Monday, March 25, 2013

Banana Pudding Love

For the past four months I've been eating citrus fruits and enjoying them thoroughly. Winter is citrus season and I try really hard to eat food "in season" and as "local" (meaning at least from this side of the country!) as possible. With the exception of that Texas red grapefruit (that really is soooo delicious), I've done a pretty good job with this endeavor. Along with the oranges and grapefruits, I can still find Henderson County apples in the stores and I have bags of berries that I grew, coming out of my freezer. I've carefully rationed those SC peaches (that I canned in the summer) and I think it's possible that I might make them last until it's time to pick peaches again. Let me tell you, this has been an exercise in discipline. Now that spring's here, the thoughts of local strawberries, followed by every other berry and melon is weighing heavily on my mind. I'm so ready for them!

Now, let's talk bananas. One would think bananas have no special season, because they are always available. They seem about as american as apples and oranges, so we might forget that they've had to do some hard traveling before they appear in our stores. Don't get me wrong, I like bananas just fine. But when I start to reach for them, I think twice about how far they've had to come and usually put them back. I'd rather support farmers a little closer to home. Thank you Florida for being on my side of the country! But this bag of organic bananas marked downed to $1.50 crumbled my resolve, because I'm also a sucker for a really good deal. By the time I was at the checkout counter, I had already developed my plan for how I was going to use all those bananas. Top of the list was to make a banana pudding. So now I'm ready to step off my "locavore" soapbox and show you how to make a dreamy dessert.

Banana pudding is a southern speciality. I grew up eating it in my home and had it at my Nana's more times than I could count. Every potluck seems to have at least one pudding among the spread and because it's such a comfort food, it is graciously offered to those who are on the receiving end of compassionate service. Admittedly, it won't take away your problems, but it might just help you to forget them for a few minutes.

There are a couple of different methods for making this delicacy. Some involve jello pudding, a can of sweetened condensed milk and cool whip. I've tried them all. But believe me when I tell you, there is no substitute for the real thing, made with home made vanilla custard. You might question how a dessert that has three main components, namely bananas, cookies and custard, could make a grown woman swoon, but I'm telling you, it's that home made custard! It's amazing! And, it's not hard at all to make.

In a medium pot over low heat, I mixed sugar with cornstarch and slowly added milk. I think whole milk works best, but we only drink skim milk, so since I had some half and half that needed to be used... You know where this is going, don't you?

Directions also call for this to be made in a double boiler, but I don't have one of those either, so I just kept a close eye and stirring hand nearby and it worked fine for me.

I separated four of my lovely eggs (thank you little red hens),

reserving the whites for the meringue.

When the milk began to thicken, I took a small amount and added it to the egg yolks to heat them a bit before adding to the milk. This is called tempering and prevents the yolks from scrambling in the hot milk. Don't skip this step, because scrambled eggs are not what we're going for here. At this point, pour the eggs into the milk, stir and cook a couple more minutes.

Off of the heat, I added a half a stick of butter

and a teaspoon of vanilla, stirring until the butter had melted.

Then of course, you must taste test, just to make sure it turned out the way it's supposed to.

Holy moly is this stuff good! Now quickly, before you are tempted to just pour it in a bowl and go at it with a spoon, begin to layer the ingredients.

Start with a little custard on the bottom,

add bananas next,

and top with Nilla wafers. Yes, use Nilla's, 'cause they are the best! I like to go heavy on the wafers, because that's Mark's favorite part. It doesn't matter how many I put in the pudding, he still pulls the box from the cabinet and adds more to his bowl.

Then just keep on layering until you run out of custard.

Sometimes people stop at this point and call it a done deal. But I think the top looks a little naked and I like meringue on my pudding. I'm sorry to say, there are those individuals who don't like meringue and even go so far as to call it "cow slobber", (can you imagine?), but I'm of the opinion that if you don't like it, it's easy enough to push to the side. This cook likes it!

I whipped up the egg whites with cream of tartar and a little sugar, until I had some nice peaks.

I slathered it all over the top, trying to seal the edges as best I could. In a 350 degree oven I baked it for about ten minutes, until it looked

like this. Now, tell me, isn't that just lovely?

It almost looked too pretty to eat, and even though it's not nearly as photogenic spooned into a bowl, oh my gosh, does it taste good! You might even be tempted to lick the bowl if no one's looking. I prefer my pudding a little on the warm to room temperature side, although if I'm lucky enough to have any left over, I wouldn't object to a few bites from the refrigerator as a late night snack.

Banana Pudding

3/4 cup sugar

2 T. cornstarch

3 cups milk

4 egg yolks

1 t. vanilla

1/2 stick butter

sliced bananas

Nilla wafers

Mix together sugar and cornstarch. Slowly add milk and cook over medium low heat,

stirring constantly, until it thickens. (This takes a little while) Slightly beat the egg

yolks and temper with a small amount of the hot milk. Add egg mixture to milk and

cook for about two minutes. Remove from heat and add butter and vanilla. Stir. Let

cool slightly before layering. Layer custard, bananas, and wafers in at least two layers.

Top with meringue.

Meringue

3 egg whites

1/4 t. cream of tartar

1/4 cup sugar

Beat egg whites and cream of tartar. Slowly add sugar and beat until peaks form.

Spread onto pudding and bake at 350 for 10 minutes or until meringue is browned.

Wednesday, March 13, 2013

February's Preparedness Goals

Check out the preparedness tab at the top of the page to see what I accomplished in February and what I'm working on this month. I'm loving these spring days that lure me out to begin working the soil. Planting begins soon!

Thursday, March 7, 2013

How To Make Beef Stock and A Killer Beef and Barley Soup

Making your own beef or chicken stock is really easy. All it takes is a few basic ingredients and time. I keep bags with onion peels, carrot and celery scraps in my freezer. Whenever I'm cooking dinner and use any of these items, I just add the scrap pieces to the bag. Over time, I have enough to make stock.

When I order my local beef, I always have a few packages of soup bones. Today, that's what I used to make my stock, but you can use any leftover beef bones, from steaks or roasts that you've cooked. Just keep them in the freezer in a bag, just like the vegetables, until you're ready to use them.

Raw meat does not a pretty picture make, but I wanted you to see the whole process. I started out with cold water and added the soup bones to the pot. Some proteins only dissolve in cold water and albumin is one of them. Albumin helps clarify the stock, and that means it looks nicer when you're finished. Just a little stock trivia for you.

I added the rest of the contents of my vegetable crisper to the veggies in the freezer bags. Carrots, celery and onion are the makings of mirepoix, which are the flavorings for stocks and lots of other wonderful foods. Here's a more detailed article about mirepoix (in case your interested). Real, honest to goodness, chef people, would use exact proportions of these three depending on the type of stock they were making. Frugal homemakers like me just use what they've got.

Now you pretty much forget about it and just let it cook for a long time. The flavors blend and the liquid will concentrate and after a few hours (or more) on a low temperature it will be done. I was running short on time today and wasn't able to cook this as long as I would've liked, but this is what I ended up with after straining all the meat and vegetables - almost three quarts of stock. I put it in the refrigerator overnight and used it the next day to make soup. You can see the layer of fat that accumulates on the top. Just take that right off before using.

The next day: I cut up a piece of sirloin into chunks. Again, sorry about the raw meat picture, but this is actually some really pretty meat (as meat goes).

I browned it in a little oil in my dutch oven.

Then I added my beef stock

and barley, along with some water and let it cook for about an hour.

Next I chopped up celery,

carrots and onions (aka, mirepoix) and added them to the pot.

After another forty-five minutes of cooking time, the veggies and meat were fork tender and I stirred in some frozen green peas. I loved this soup! It was hearty and absolutely perfect for dinner on a cold evening. With a rustic loaf of bread, you've got a meal that sticks to your ribs. You can get the recipe here if you'd like to try it yourself.