Mango Spice Banana Bread

Mango Spice Banana Bread

Necessity was again the mother of invention when it came to this new version of Banana Bread. I'm not sure why Spouse keeps buying so many bananas when they never seem to all get eaten before they start to get over ripe. This time a sweet, very ripe mango shared the bottom of the fruit bowl with the bananas. First, I figured I'd make spice muffins with the mango and banana bread with the bananas but then it occurred to me, "Why not combine the two?" The result was really delicious and well worth trying.

Make sure you dice the mango quite small (under 1/2 inch), especially of it is very ripe, to make sure the mango pieces stay evenly distributed in the batter. This is my new favorite banana bread. These flavors really do go together exceptionally well.

Mango Spice Banana Bread

Recipe by Barry C. Parsons

A different mango and spice twist on a traditional banana bread. A great addition to packed lunches or as an afternoon snack. Makes a terrific bake sale contribution too.

Prep time: Approximately 20 minutes

Cook time: 45 minutes
Total time: Apprroximately 1 hour 15 miutes
Yield: 1 large or 2 small loaves
Ingredients

• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• ½ cup vegetable oil vegetable oil
• 2 eggs, beaten
• 3 medium ripe bananas, mashed
• 2 cups flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 2 tsp powdered ginger
• 1/4 cup orange juice
• 1 tsp orange zest, finely minced
• 1 large ripe mango, diced small

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.
2. Beat sugar and oil in a bowl. Add eggs, mashed banana and orange zest.
3. Sift together dry ingredients and fold into banana mixture alternately with orange juice.
4. Fold in diced mango.
5. Pour batter into 1 large or two small greased loaf pans and sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar if desired for a little extra crunch.
6. Bake for 45 minutes to an hour depending upon pan size. A toothpick inserted in the center which comes out clean is the best indicator that the loaf is fully baked. 

Soft and Chewy Raisin Spice Cookies

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Soft and Chewy Raisin Spice Cookies

Raisin spice cookies are always high on my favorites list at the Holidays. Just the scent of these baking is sure to evoke Christmas memories. This is a great recipe with plenty of fragrant spice and sweet raisins in a crispy, chewy cookie.
Don't like raisins? These are terrific as plain spice cookies and because I love the combination of chocolate and spice, I've added chocolate chips to them in the past too.

Soft and Chewy Raisin Spice Cookies

Recipe by Barry C. Parsons

Soft and Chewy Raisin Spice Cookies - The best raisin spice cookie I've ever had. Soft and chewy with crispy edges, these delicious cookies will fill your house with spicy scent as they bake. I hear they are one of Santa's very favorites too. ;)

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 12-15 minutes
Total time: About 30 minutes
Yield: 12 - 18 cookies depending on the size you choose to make them.

Ingredients

• 1 1/2 cups cups all purose flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking soda
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground allspice
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/2 cup light brown sugar
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 egg
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
•  3/4 cup raisins

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350. Lightly spray one cookie sheet with spray oil or line with parchment paper.
2. In a medium sized bowl whisk together flour, salt, cinnamon, cloves, allspice, nutmeg and baking soda.
3. In a large bowl, cream together the butter and sugars until light and fluffy. Add the egg and vanilla and combine thoroughly.
4. Add the flour mixture to the creamed butter mixture. Mix only enough to incorporate flour. Do not over mix. Fold in the raisins.
5. The dough can be baked immediately but I find I have better results when the dough is chilled for at least an hour.
6. Form cookies by dropping a rounded teaspoon of dough on the prepared cookie sheet two inches apart.
7. Bake until light brown around the edges, about 12-15 minutes, depending on cookie size.
8. Over baking is the biggest problem with most soft and chewy cookie recipes. Your oven temperature and the type of cookie sheet you use will vary the baking times considerably. When they are golden brown around the edges is the time to remove them from the oven. Thinking they are a little underdone is probably a good thing. Experiment by baking only a couple of cookies at a time to see what the perfect baking time is for your oven. If your experimental batch spreads too much try turning the heat up to 375 degrees F.
9. Cool for 10 minutes on the baking sheet before removing to a wire rack to cool thoroughly.
10. Store in an airtight container. These cookies freeze well too.

Soft Pumpkin Spice Cookies

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Soft Pumpkin Spice Cookies

I liked the soft cakey texture of these cookies but decided to depart from the original recipe by putting the spices on the outside of the cookies rather than incorporated into the pumpkin flavored cookie dough. I think this helps the pumpkin flavor and gives a little extra texture to the outside of the cookies as well.

These are quite delicious all on their own but I do love pairing aromatic spices with chocolate so I also made half the batch sandwiched together with some easy chocolate ganache...scrumptious!

I'd never frozen these cookies before but did stick some in the freezer to test them They have been there for a week now and as of this morning they thawed well and the kids say they taste yummy, so I'll call that a success.

Soft Pumpkin Spice Chocolate Ganache Cookies

Soft Pumpkin Spice Cookies

Recipe by Barry C. Parsons

Soft Pumpkin Spice Cookies - soft pumpkin cookies rolled in spiced sugar. Absolutely delicious with or without the chocolate ganache to sandwich them together.

Prep time: About 1 hour 10 minutes, including time to chill the dough.
Cook time: 10 minutes per tray
Total time: About 1 1/2 hours
Yield: About 3 dozen cookies or 1 1/2 dozen sandwich cookies.

Ingredients

• 1/2 cup canola oil (or other vegetable oil)
• 1/2 cup butter
• 1 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup icing sugar (powdered sugar)
• 1 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup roasted pumpkin puree (or canned pumpkin puree; NOT pumpkin pie filling)
• 2 eggs
• 4 cups flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• FOR THE SPICED SUGAR
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• 1/4 tsp allspice
• 1/2 tsp freshly ground nutmeg
• FOR THE CHOCOLATE GANACHE
• 2 cup semisweet or dark chocolate chips
• 1/4 cup whipping cream

Directions

1. Sift together the flour and baking powder and set aside.
2. In the bowl of an electric mixer beat the oil, butter, sugar, icing sugar and vanilla for a few minutes.
3. Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
4. Mix in the pumpkin puree.
5. Slowly fold in the flour and baking powder mixture until a soft dough forms.
6. Chill the dough for at least an hour.
7. Mix together the 1/2 cup of sugar and all the spices.
8. Roll the dough in 1 1/4 inch balls, then roll them into the spiced sugar.
9. Place on a parchment lined baking sheet about 2 inches apart and press down with the bottom of a drinking glass to flatten slightly.
10. Bake in a preheated 350 degree F for 8 - 10 minutes or until the cookies start to turn brown at the edges and spring back when pressed at the center.
11. Cool cookies on a wire rack. Sandwich together with a spoonful of chocolate ganache if desired.
12. To make the chocolate ganache simply melt together the whipping cream and chocolate in a double boiler being careful not to overheat it. Stir the whole time while the chocolate is melting and as soon as it is smoothly melted, remove it immediately from the heat.

The Best Cajun Spice Rub

The Best Cajun Spice Rub Surf and Turf

Is there really a best Cajun Spice Rub? If you search the internet, you will probably find thousands of them and celebrity chefs have made small fortunes branding and marketing their own "secret blends". The truth is that for the most part, many of these are composed of the same basic ingredients in different ratios. 

Over the years, I have experimented with adding a little more of this, a little less of that, adding a new ingredient etc., until I came up with one that suited my own taste and that's exactly what I encourage you to do. Feel free to reduce the heat or salt content or pump up the smokiness by using all smoked paprika in place of the two mentioned here...adding some ground chipotle powder will also add some smoky heat. The point is that the best Cajun spice rub is YOUR personal favorite blend, so get out there and start working on your own. Here's a great place to start. ;)

Mix together:

• 3 tbsp paprika
• 3 tbsp smoked paprika
• 3 tbsp onion powder
• 2 tbsp garlic powder
• 1 tbsp chili powder
• 2 tbsp dried oregano
• 2 tbsp dried basil
• 1 1/2 ground thyme
• 1/2 tbsp crushed chili flakes
• 1 tbsp cayenne pepper
• 1 tbsp coarsely ground black pepper
• 1 tbsp white pepper
• 1 tbsp celery salt
• 2 tbsp kosher salt

In the photos above we have used this great Cajun spice rub  in this mouth-watering Surf and Turf. When using it on seafood like these sweet, succulent shrimp and scallops, I generally just toss them in the spice rub and put them directly onto the grill. When using it on beef, like this beautiful rib-eye steak, I like to give it as much time as possible. I rub plenty of it all over the surface of the steaks and leave them in the fridge for the day or at at least a few hours if possible. I then add a little more when I take them out of the fridge and let the steaks come up to room temperature before hitting the preheated hot grill.

Grilling any good cut of steak straight out of the fridge is, I think, the most common mistake that folks make when trying to grill the perfect steak. It is ESSENTIAL to take the steaks out of the fridge for at least an hour depending on the thickness of the cut in order to achieve the perfect rare, medium or even well-done steak.

Rum and Spice Glazed Pork Tenderloin

Rum and Spice Glazed Pork Tenderloin

The inspiration for this recipe came from one of the guys at work whose version of this recipe he had made several times and had become a favorite pork dish. I can easily see why. He describes it as, "Really easy and incredibly delicious." I have to agree with that summation.

I did make some additions to the original recipe to bump up the spice and add a little more heat and most importantly, added some dark rum to create a fantastic glaze to serve with it. The pork tenderloin cooks quickly, to moist tender perfection, making it an ideal quick workday dinner which Spouse declared to be the best pork dish she had ever had.

• 2 to 3 lbs pork tenderloin

Rum Glaze

In a small saucepan over medium low heat add:

• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 3 cloves minced garlic

Saute for only a minute until the garlic softens, then add

• 1 cup brown sugar
• pinch salt
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp minced fresh ginger
• 4 ounces dark rum
• 2 to 3 tbsp Tabasco sauce
• 1 tsp minced jalapeno pepper (optional if you like a little extra heat)

Simmer slowly for about 5 minutes until the glaze thickens slightly.

Spice Rub

• 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp. ground ginger
• 2 tsp. kosher salt
• 2 tsp. ground cumin
• ½ tsp. ground black pepper
• 2 tsp. chili powder

Mix together and rub over the entire surface of the pork tenderloin/s.

To a skillet or frying pan on medium heat add:

• 2 tbsp vegetable oil

Lightly brown the pork tenderloin/s on all sides.

Brush some of the glaze onto the pork tenderloin before placing it in a preheated 375 degree oven for about 20-25 minutes depending on the thickness of the tenderloins being used. I use a meat thermometer to test the meat and take it out of the oven when the temperature reaches 140-150 degrees F. You can brush more glaze onto the meat half way through the cooking time.

It is important to cover the meat with aluminum foil and let it rest for 10 minutes before slicing and serving. Spoon extra glaze over the pork when serving.

Spiced Pear Phyllo Bundles

The in-laws dropped by for lunch yesterday and I threw together these Spiced Pear Phyllo Bundles as a quick dessert. I make these in several versions. The recipe works well for apples, peaches or plums as well. I've even made them with mango. These can even be frozen before baking and then thawed and baked as needed. Just leave the egg wash and sugar off when freezing them and do those steps when the pastries have thawed before baking.

Makes 8 pastries

16 sheets frozen phyllo pastry (aprox 12x18 inch sheets)
¾ cup melted butter
½ cup sugar + more for sprinkling on the phyllo sheets
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp freshly grated nutmeg
½ tsp ground cardamom
4 large ripe pears, peeled, cored and cut in half
1 egg + 2 tbsp water (beaten together for eggwash)
Turbinado sugar (optional)

Mix together spices and ½ cup sugar and set aside.

Brush a sheet of phyllo pastry with butter and sprinkle the entire surface with about 1 tsp sugar. Top with a second sheet of phyllo pastry. Brush half this sheet with butter and sprinkle with about ½ tsp sugar. Fold the sheet in half to make about a 9x12 inch rectangle which will now have 4 layers of phyllo pastry. Place a pear half in the center of the shorter side of the rectangle and spoon about 2 tsp of the sugar and spice mixture over the pear half. Fold the two longest sides of the pastry to meet at the center of the sheet covering the pear half. Roll up the pear in the phyllo, leaving the seam on the bottom of the pastry covered pear.

Repeat for the other pear halves.

Brush the tops of the pastries with the egg wash and sprinkle the tops with turbinado sugar if desired.

Place the pastries, seam side down on a parchment covered cookie sheet. Bake at 350 degrees F for 20-25 minutes until the pastry is evenly golden brown.

Moroccan Spiced Braised Chicken with Mission Figs

Moroccan Spiced Braised Chicken with Mission Figs

This one is worth trying just to enjoy the smell through the house as it's cooking.

Pictured on a bed of Israeli couscous.

1 whole chicken cut in pieces or 3 pounds chicken drumsticks and/or thighs
(dark meat does braise best) Season chicken pieces with salt and pepper.
In a large heavy bottomed skillet brown the chicken pieces well on all sides in 3 tbsp olive oil.

Transfer the browned pieces to a covered roasting pan.

In a large bowl add and combine well

1 ¼ cups chicken stock
1 ¼ cups apple juice
1 cup chopped mission figs (dates make a good substitution if you prefer)
¼ cup brown sugar
1 chopped onion
4 cloves garlic minced
2 tablespoons finely chopped fresh ginger root
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp cracked black pepper
1 tsp cinnamon
½ tsp ground cloves
1 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1 teaspoon coriander

Pour over the chicken pieces, cover and cook in a 300 degree oven for 2 hours. You can reduce the sauce to thicken by boiling it on the stovetop for a few minutes if desired. Shown served on a bed of Israeli couscous but can be served on rice as well.