The Naptime Chef

There is nothing quite like homemade banana bread to soothe my nerves. No matter the situation, one bite of mom’s bread and all my concerns melt away for a few blissful moments. In fact, this bread has such power over me that while I was primping for my wedding ceremony, my brother slipped me a few slices. It was a clever move on his part. Casually snacking on my favorite food was the perfect way to calm my jitters, ensuring I wouldn’t faint dead away during my vows (I didn’t).

Luckily for me, my mother wrote her banana bread recipe on a card with her name on top, “Carla’s Kitchen”, and gave it to me when I moved to New York. Since then I have been baking it regularly – as evidenced by the stockpile of bananas in my freezer – and it was even one of my daughter’s first solid foods. Of course, like any good home baker, I am always happy to entertain new variations of homemade banana bread recipes. I have tried dozens over the years, even tucking a few into my permanent recipe binder. You might remember that last winter I shared one of Molly’s favorite banana bread recipes, when I reviewed her book. I love her method and have made it several times since. However, no matter how interesting or unique the variation, Mom’s homestyle version is still my top choice.

I love Naptime Chef-ing homemade banana bread for many reasons, not the least of which are that the batter is a snap to prepare, and the final product guarantees several days of snacking pleasure. Even just being in my apartment while it bakes is a treat in itself. I am always seduced by the aroma of warm banana and sweet spices that wafts through our home, making the process of letting it cool before I dig in an exercise in self-restraint. Sometimes I add chocolate chips as a treat, which adds another delicious element to the sweet fragrance. In my opinion the best thing about this bread is it’s genuine banana flavor. It is neat and clean, unadulterated by overwhelming spices or additional ingredients. Instead, the cinnamon and nutmeg gently highlight the fresh banana flavor without muddling it up. This bread is perfect for children, as well. Even though my daughter can’t articulate her feelings yet, by the way she devours slice after slice, I can already see that it has become a favorite of hers, too.

Christmas in June? I hope not – though with the weather in NYC lately anything is possible. Either way, this sweet and spicy Gingersnap Ice Cream is the perfect way to enjoy the flavors of the holidays in summer style. After making this you will agree, there is no reason the classic flavor of gingersnaps needs to be confined to the winter months. Simply crank up the ice-cream maker and enjoy! Like your ice-cream extra spicy? Be sure to read the notes at the bottom, they indicate how to turn up the heat. If you think you can handle it.

I am not the kind of person who spends much time worrying about being trendy. I don’t replace my entire wardrobe seasonally, redecorate my house yearly, or choose vacation destinations based on their celebrity quotient. Instead, I like to feel out the latest trends before I invest my time or money. Some fads come and go in a blink, while others become mainstays that are worth getting to know. This recently happened with the food trend of browned butter, which is regular butter that is toasted until it becomes golden brown and adopts a warm nutty taste. A few years ago most home cooks had no idea what it was, but these days it is all the rage.

I’ll be the first admit that I did not initially embrace the concept of browned butter. I simply didn’t understand how or why browned butter could really change the flavor of a dish. In fact, I don’t think I would ever have started cooking with it had it not been for my mother-in-law’s browned butter sage sauce. She served it over chicken last fall and, after one bite of the warm almost almond-like flavor, I was hooked. I started searching for recipes with browned butter and made several interesting discoveries, including one from Cook’s Illustrated which cited browned butter as the key ingredient in their best-ever chocolate chip cookies. In keeping with this trend, last month’s Vogue featured an article by Jeffrey Steingarten devoted entirely to the unique taste of browned butter, chiding us all for not seeing it’s benefits earlier.

I knew my conversion to being a browned butter-devotee was complete when it became my go-to method for all of my favorite homemade risotto recipes. Risotto has always been a big family favorite of ours, and now it is even more so. When risotto is prepared with browned butter, it’s normally light creamy flavor gets deeper and richer. The toasted butter adds a whole new dimension, it’s nutty flavor seems to enhance the dish’s rich earthy chicken and vegetable flavors.

Cooking my go-to recipe for Browned Butter Asparagus Risotto is fairly simple. To save myself time in the evening, during my daughter’s afternoon naptime I begin my meal preparation by chopping the onion, blanching the asparagus and preparing chicken stock. This way, when it comes to dinnertime, making the risotto is merely a matter of combining the ingredients and stirring lazily with my wooden spoon. To add salt to this particular meal I like to make baked prosciutto “chips,” these lend the toothsome rice a nice light crunch. I know that in my household browned butter is here to stay, and, I think, after you try this recipe you will agree. Browned butter is no longer a trend, it is a classic.

I was thrilled when Monica Bhide, the present-day authority on contemporary Indian cooking, gave me the opportunity to participate in a “virtual potluck dinner” celebrating the launch of her new cookbook, Modern Spice. I have been a longtime fan of her work and am always eager to cook from her repertoire, the recipes never disappoint.

Since I do most of my cooking and baking while my daughter naps, it was ideal when Monica asked me to bake a batch of her Saffron-Cardamom Macaroons. They are chic enough for any dinner party, humble enough to serve at home, and easy to prepare ahead of time. As expected, preparing them was a snap. I simply whipped the egg whites, added a pinch of salt so they would hold their peaks, and folded them into the coconut mixture. I will admit, however, that I did take a small detour with my ingredients. Per Monica’s suggestion, I chose to add a dash of cinnamon to my batter, since it is my favorite spice.

Once the baking was completed I let the macaroons cool before consumption. I should let you know that this process – letting them cool before eating – was extremely difficult. When they had been baking, my apartment had filled with the mouth-watering aroma of toasting coconut and warm nutty spices. I couldn’t wait to dig in. After what felt like hours (it was, in fact, minutes) I finally took my first bite and was immediately transported. The unusual combination of saffron, cardamom and cinnamon woven with sweet coconut created a delicious layer of flavors that was bold, but not overwhelming. Unlike most macaroons I eat, these were neither too overly sweet or sticky. Instead, they had an amazing depth of flavor with a light, flaky texture, and were perfect to enjoy while I sipped my cup of tea.

I’ll admit that I ate several macaroons in one sitting and, later, my husband did, too. He even agreed that I should start experimenting with the jars on my lazy susan to come up with new macaroon flavors based on Monica’s recipe. I can’t wait to get started. In the mean time, I will be making this recipe again shortly. I am hosting a dinner party soon, and am serving these for dessert.

Order your own copy of Modern Spice HERE!:

Nicole and I believe that variety is the spice of life, which is why we agree it is a good idea to include sorbet recipes in TNCGICF. I mean, almost everyone we know loves sorbet just as much as ice-cream, and sometimes even more. This recipe for pineapple mint sorbet was inspired by the fresh mint in Nicole’s garden. We love this combination of flavors, the cool mint with the sweet pineapple makes for a refreshing summer dessert any day of the week.

If the world fell apart I am pretty sure I would be alright as long as I had my family, and chocolate chip cookies. It is a well known fact amongst my family and friends that I am a total snob when it comes the most classic cookie flavor known to man. In fact, my ever-expanding recipe binder has a special section – equal in size to the “pasta” chapter – devoted entirely to chocolate chip cookie recipes. I take no small amount of pride in this well-edited recipe collection. After all, I am a ruthless taste-tester, having spent years studying how the perfect combination of butter and chocolate should melt in my mouth. Of course, like any good collector, I am always open to trying new recipes that come my way. But, if the end results is not up to snuff, the recipe tossed in the garbage. Permanently.

I chose to make my Neiman-Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe last week because I needed a big batch of delicious cookies, fast. Like most people I know, I received a version of this recipe from a forwarded email several years ago. The note included a lengthy urban myth about a woman’s revenge at being charged $250 at Neiman’s, for a recipe she thought she was receiving for free. Thus, she circulated the recipe as widely as possible via the internet, to ensure nobody would ever have to pay for the recipe again. Of course, it is widely acknowledged that this story is complete fiction, there is not one ounce of truth in it. But, urban myth or not, I baked a batch just to see what they were like, and am still making them today.

My favorite part about the taste of these cookies is that the texture is unlike any other I’ve tried. This comes from unusual addition of blended oatmeal. Instead of calling for whole flakes of oatmeal, like we normally eat at breakfast, this recipe instructs that the grains be ground into a fine powder. The result is nothing short of genius. The blended oatmeal imbues the cookies with a sweet nutty flavor, but avoids giving them the dry crumbly texture usually associated with oatmeal-laden cookies. The shredded Hershey bar also creates an unexpected twist. The thin milk-chocolate flakes melt into the dough while baking, creating a subtle chocolate flavor that isn’t overwhelming.

Making these cookies during my daughter’s afternoon naptime is a cinch. The best part for her is that when she wakes up our home smells like her favorite bakery, and I let her enjoy a cookie for her afternoon snack. In the end, I doubt any of us will ever learn the true origins of the faux Neiman-Marcus Chocolate Chip Cookie recipe. But, the truth doesn’t really matter to me. This recipe has earned a permanent spot in my binder. Which is right where it belongs.

Malted milk is a classic flavor which conjures up images of ice-cream parlors and poodle skirts for many. While malt powder is somewhat out of vogue these days, my family still adores it. We always have a container of it in the cupboard, Ovaltine being our preferred brand of choice. This ice-cream flavor brings me straight back to the days of ordering chocolate malt shakes with my Dad at Red Nugget Ice-Cream in Cooperstown. I hope it brings back happy memories for you, as well.