In the chaotic kitchen of a recipe developer, you get a food blog called FoodMayhem.
I'm Jessica, an Asian-American, born and raised in NYC, and that's Lon, my Jewish, white husband. While professionally trained as a French culinary- and pastry chef, many of FoodMayhem recipes are my attempt to preserve and share authentic Chinese and Taiwanese recipes learned from my mom. We don't eat Chinese food every day, so you'll get a little bit of anything we find delicious enough to share: from our Eastern European side; recipes and techniques learned from my restaurant days; restaurant reviews, food travel tips; and a few other juicy bits along the way. Welcome to FoodMayhem!
I couldn’t decide what to make for #NYCookieSwap 2011. It’s a big deal with cookie greats like Dorie Greenspan attending! Lon saved the day and came up with an idea I loved: a way to combine three classic cookies that everyone loves. What’s better than your favorite cookie? Three of your favorite cookies in one! It’s a Chocolate Chip Cookie in the center with a ring of Chocolate Cookie around it, with another ring of Peanut Butter Cookie around that.
I had so much left over pie dough from making a Strawberry Rhubarb Pie and Lon has been asking, what are you going to do with it? He claims he doesn’t like dessert, but he eats every dessert that walks by.
Suddenly, late afternoon, I started craving chocolate chip cookies and I thought, how perfect, I’ll make a cookie pie. I saw this recipe, on Bakerella, that was so interesting because it doesn’t start with creaming the butter and sugar. The pictures looked delicious and convinced me to try this method, although I did alter a bit. Eating these really made me feel like a kid again. I don’t know why, considering I never had cookie pie as a kid but, hey whatever makes us feel young right?
Every year at Passover, I can’t wait till we get to dessert, mostly because of Bonnie’s (Lon’s mom) Chocolate Chip Pecan Mandelbrot. If you haven’t had Mandelbrot, it’s a cross between biscotti and scones. I love it!
I had Chocolate Cream Cheese Frosting left-over from the Drunken Cupcakes and I couldn’t just let it go to waste. Instead of more cupcakes, I decided on cookies. (Most frosting are great as a cookie filling too.) These Chocolate Oatmeal Sandwich Cookies are not sophisticated; they’re more the kind kids love to eat and smear all over themselves. They are very chocolaty and somewhat chewy and some said they were like brownies.
Our niece Sabrina had a fabulous backyard first birthday party yesterday. Bonnie, Sabrina’s grandma, made burgers, hot dogs, cedar plank salmon, potato and pasta salads, fruit, and desserts, the works! Of course, I had to make something. Sabrina doesn’t eat much solid food yet but she’ll see these pictures in the future and I am just ensuring my spot as favorite aunt.
I have been waiting till after the wedding to make peanut butter cups because they are pretty decadent.
My friend Angie has been raving about Emeril’s Banana Cream Pie for a while. She had it in Florida years ago and has been hoping to have it again one day. For her birthday, I invited her over for dinner and surprised her with Emeril’s Banana Cream Pie. She said, it tasted just like she remembers.
All of us agree that it is a phenomenally delicious pie but there were a couple of issue with the recipe that I’d like to point out (notes are in red).
Here’s the recipe, from WCHSTV:
Ingredients
Directions for the Pie
In a mixing bowl, combine the egg yolks, cornstarch and 1 cup of the heavy cream. Whisk to blend well. Set aside. Combine the remaining 2 cups cream, 1 1/2 cups of the sugar, and the vanilla bean in a large heavy-bottom saucepan over medium heat, Whisk to dissolve the sugar and bring to a gentle boil, about 10 minutes.
Slowly add the egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly until it thickens, about 5 minutes. Be forewarned: the mixture will break. Don’t be alarmed! (The mixture should not break!!! )Pour it into a glass bowl. Press a piece of plastic wrap down over the surface of the mixture to prevent a skin from forming. Let cool completely at room temperature.
When cooled, remove the vanilla bean and pour the mixture into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a wire whip. Beat at medium-speed to combine the mixture. If it will not combine, warm another 1/2 cup heavy cream and slowly add it to the mixture. Whip until you have a thick and creamy custard. (Did not do this part since I did not break the custard!)
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a mixing bowl, combine the graham cracker crumbs, the remaining sugar and the mashed banana. Mix thoroughly. Add the butter and mix well. Press the mixture into a 9-inch pie pan. Bake until browned, about 25 minutes. Remove the pan from the oven and cool, for about 10 minutes.
Directions for the Caramel Sauce (Again, not necessary)
1. In a small, heavy-bottomed saucepan, combine the sugar and water and bring the mixture to a boil, stirring often. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the mixture is a deep caramel color and has the consistency of a thin syrup, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the heat. Stir in the cream, return the saucepan to the high heat and boil the sauce until it regains the consistency of a thick syrup, about 2 minutes. Cool.
2. The sauce can be refrigerated until ready to use. Allow it to reach room temperature before drizzling it over the pie.
Directions for the Chocolate Sauce (Again, forget it)
1. Combine the half-and-half and butter in a small heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Heat the mixture until a thin paperlike skin appears on the top. Do not boil. Add the chocolate and vanilla and stir until the chocolate melts and the mixture is smooth.
2. Remove from the heat and let cool.
3. The sauce can be kept refrigerated for several days, but it must be returned to room temperature before serving.
Assembling Directions
1. To assemble, spread about 1/2 cup of the custard on the bottom of the crust. Arrange about a third of the banana slices, crowding them close together over the custard. Next, spread 1 cup of the custard over the bananas. Arrange another third of the banana slices close together over the custard. Top with 1 cup custard and the remaining banana slices. Top with the remaining custard, covering the bananas completely to prevent them from turning brown. (If you use recommended quantities, bananas and custard will start sliding off the pie and making a mess.)
2. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours.
3. To serve, cut pie into wedges and drizzle on the caramel sauce and chocolate sauce. Top with the whipped cream and shaved chocolate. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar. (I thought it would look nicer if I put the sauce, whip cream, and shaved chocolate on top before slicing so that it would be served complete.)
Yields: One 9-inch pie, 8 to 10 servings
In summary, I recommend making this recipe in a pan with higher sides like a 9-inch springform or just use less custard and bananas. Or, better yet, just make it as a trifle! It would be absolutely perfect. Also, just forget the caramel and chocolate sauces. They don’t add anything to the already delicious banana and real vanilla flavor.
