Peanut Butter Banana Bread Smoothie

 

Like many people these days, I am trying to get more protein and fiber in my diet.   I was craving banana bread after tasting some my friend Sheila made yesterday, so I thought I'd try to make a smoothie to match those great flavors.   Besides being delicious, this smoothie features 7 g fiber and 21 g protein.  Plus, it's got a nutritious boost of calcium - almost 30% of my daily requirement.  

Peanut Butter Banana Bread Smoothie

2 bananas, peeled, sliced and frozen
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup old-fashioned oats (uncooked)
1 container (5.3 oz) plain non-fat Icelandic or Greek yogurt 
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/8 teaspoon ground cinnamon
pinch of ground nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon maple syrup
2 T. peanut butter powder

Add all ingredients to a blender and pulse until smooth.  Garnish with bananas and peanuts, if desired. Serve immediately.

Mini Pasties Appetizer

Yesterday, the city of Hancock celebrated Heikinpäivä,   The celebration’s themes are taken from Finnish folk saying associated with the name day for Heikki (St. Henrik's Day, Jan. 19th):

“Heikki heinät jakaa.” 

Translated, it means "Heikki divides the hay." It was a time when the farmer took stock of his hay, grains and other commodities, making sure that there was at least half left.  So we celebrate winter being halfway over here.   

The Copper Country Community Arts Center hosts an exhibit "Animals of the Kalevala" theme.   Each year, I make some art featuring a pike.   I volunteered to help with refreshments, and I made mini pasties.   A long time ago, this recipe was featured in the Ann Arbor News, and when we were newlyweds, I made them often for parties.    I forgot all about it and lost my newspaper clipping, but my friend Leah shared her recipe with me that was similar to the Ann Arbor News one, complete with a rich butter and cream cheese crust.   I tweaked her recipe a bit and here is how I make them.  I am so thankful she reminded me of this popular appetizer.

Mini Pasties

makes about 75 appetizers

Crust

2 1/2 c flour
1 t. salt
1 c. butter cut into cubes
8 oz. cream cheese, cut into cubes
1/4 c heavy cream (approximately

In the bowl of a stand mixer, mix all ingredients except the cream until crumbly.   Add enough heavy cream to make the dough come together.   Form into 2 disks and wrap in plastic wrap and chill in fridge while making the filling.

Filling

1 lb ground beef
1 medium onion, chopped fine
1 t. thyme
1 t. garlic powder
2 T. Tabasco sauce
3 slices white bread
salt and pepper, to taste

Brown ground beef and onion in a large skillet.   Drain fat.   Add thyme, garlic powder, Tabasco sauce and salt and pepper.   Soak bread in water and wring out and add to pan.   Using a potato masher or a ground beef chopper, work soaked bread into ground beef until mixture is chopped very fine.  Adjust seasonings as needed.

Roll out the crust to 1/8" and use a 3 inch biscuit cutter to cut dough into circles.  Fill with filling and crimp with a fork.  Brush with an egg wash (mix one egg with 2 T water) and bake for 20-25 mins. at 400 F.  

Traditionally, pasties are served with ketchup; I served these yesterday with Heinz Dill Pickle Ketchup for added flavor.  

 

Onion Souffle Dip

 I was reminiscing about a place I loved in Elizabethtown KY called the Back Home Restaurant that started out 40 years ago as a crafts and antique emporium, and then they added a cafe so the husbands could have something to do while their wives shopped.   The cuisine is homestyle comfort food, and I was hoping they wrote a cookbook I could get.   I didn't find one, but noticed they had something called "Sweet Onion Souffle Dip", which sounded really interesting.    A quick googling resulted in my learning that the original came from a Memphis Junior League Cookbook, and it sounded so delicious, I had to try it!  I found a recipe in a food blog I like, but I tweaked it a bit to my taste.   I forgot to take a picture of it, so I will borrow this one from that food blog and include the link to it

photo courtesy of White on Rice Couple blog

  

This dip tastes just like French onion soup.   So delicious!  The traditional southern treatment is to serve it with Fritos, but since I always have homemade sourdough on hand, I served it with thin slices of bread like the WoR couple suggested.   Here's how I made it:

Sweet Onion Souffle Dip

8 ounces cream cheese 

1/2 cup mayo (I only use Helmans) 

1 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese 

1 1/2  cup diced sweet onion like Vidalia or Walla Walla

2 teaspoons  freshly cracked black pepper 

Preheat the oven to 350°F 

In a bowl, mix together the cream cheese, mayonnaise, Parmesan, onion, and black pepper and until everything is thoroughly combined. Pour and gently spread the mixture into a 8" cast iron fry pan 

Bake at 350°F (175°C) for 50 minutes to one hour, or until everything is melted together the crust is a deep brown. When the top crust is brown and almost burnt-looking, the dip is ready. The darker brown the crust becomes, the better the flavors are.

They also suggested make big batches, and then just dish out the un-baked dip into baking containers and then bake it whenever you need to serve it, so this would be a great idea to whip up a big batch during the holiday season and it can be your dish to pass wherever you go.   I think that is a great idea!