2 Favorites You Shouldn't Mix

Listed as the celebrity dish in Cooking Pleasures magazine, Chocolate Banana Bread by Tyler Florence sounded just up my ally. I quickly realized that I should keep my chocolate cake and banana bread recipes separate. This recipe came out too dense for my liking, almost to the point where it was hard to swallow. It was also very dry which did not help a bite going down easily. The chocolate was too overwhelming of the banana, which I don't know about you, but when I make banana bread, of any kind, its for that banana flavor. I was dissapointed. I did end up throwing half of the loaf away, but I felt bad about it. So I sliced and froze the other slices individually. The next night, i took out a slice and microwaved it and topped it with some ice cream! It made a nicer pseudo brownie a la mode. So all in all I'll give the bread 2 yums.

• 2 c. flour
• 3/4 c. sugar
• 1/4 c. unsweetened cocoa
• 1 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 c. unsalted butter, softened
• 4 oz. bittersweet chocolate, melted
• 2 eggs
• 1 1/3 c. mashed ripe bananas (about 3 bananas)
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• powdered sugar for sprinkling (optional)
  

Heat oven to 350'. Butter a 9x5 loaf pan. Whisk the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking powder and salt in a bowl. Beat the butter in a large bowl at medium speed until fluffy. Beat in the chocolate, eggs, bananas and vanilla. Stir in the flour mixture just until combined. Pour batter into pan. Bake for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

I Tried Gnocchi

I love gnocchi. I usually get it when I see it on menu at a restaurant. So when my mom gave me a new cookbook, Good Housekeepings 100 Best Pasta Recipes, and I saw Ricotta Gnocchi with Brown Butter and Fresh Herbs, I instantly decided that was the first dish I was going to try from the book. There were no potatoes involved so I thought it would be a very easy way to make gnocchi with the homemade taste. They were very easy make, but if you saw what the picture in the book looked like, and you compare to the picture above....you would laugh. The gnocchi in the book are actually GREEN! Now I didn't use fresh parsley like the recipe called for....but I don't feel like using dried would have much of an impact on the color, especially the way they are prepared.

• 3 tbsp butter
• 1 tsp chopped fresh sage
• 3/4 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp pepper
• 1 15 oz container of ricotta
• 6 tbsp freshly grated parmesean cheese
• 3/4 c. chopped fresh parsley
• 3/4 c. flour or as needed

Combine the ricotta, parmesean, parsley and salt. Sprinkle flour over ricotta mixture and work mixture into a soft, smooth dough with your hands. If dough is sticky add more flour. Do not overwork.

Break off piece of dough and on a floured surface, roll into a 3/4 inch thick rope. Cut rope into 3/4 inch pieces. Place a piece of dough on the inside curve of a fork tine and roll off so that one side has ridges. Repeat for the rest of the dough. (You can make the gnocchi ahead of time and refridgerate up to 4 hrs.)

In a sauce pan,melt the butter over medium heat. When the butter begins to turn golden brown, remove from heat and add the sage and a little salt and pepper. Set aside.

In a large pot, boil water. Add the gnocchi in batchs and cook until they float to the surface, about 3 minutes. Transfer gnocchi with a slotted spoon to a serving bowl. Toss the gnocchi with the sage butter and serve.
I want to point out that this recipe claimed to serve 8 first courses. I probably got 2.5 first course servings. So don't plan on feeding a party with this recipe. The gnocchi were alright. I think the fresh parsley would have given a lighter fresher taste. The dried parsley was a bit overwhelming after a while. The butter sage sauce was delicious and I woul definately use it for other light pasta dishes, like homemade ravioli made out of wantons. I'll give this 3 yums. Wasn't spectacular, but wasn't horrible. And next time I get in the mood to try homemade gnocchi, I think I set aside a cold rainy day and try the real thing with potatoes.