Mini Banana Cream Pies

 It was -22°C today in Toronto, -30°C with the wind chill.  That sort of temperature does not inspire me to want to go outside.  Ever.  Instead I stayed in and thought about all the warm and tropical places I would rather be. And after I accepted the reality that I’m stuck here for at least 2 more months of winter I decided to spend the day baking.  However, deciding what to bake is never an easy task.  As usual, I spent an absurd amount of time scanning recipes and trying to find something that I felt like making and for which I also had all the ingredients, because as previously discussed, there was no way I was going outside.

Then I saw some bananas sitting on the counter and narrowed my search to banana recipes.  I should really have more banana recipes in my repertoire and should make them more often because The Boy likes “anything with banana”.  I mentioned my boyfriend in my last post, (and how he’s not impressed with my oversized male roommate…) but despite the only recent mention, he’s not new and he’s actually existed on my blog for quite some time, albeit in various disguises.  If you’ve been around Jumbo Empanadas since the early days, you may also know The Boy as a certain Ukrainian Princess who refused to eat pierogies… 

Other than that though, he’s a pretty good eater, likes sweets and will generally try anything I put in front of him, (pierogies being the obvious exception).  As I said, he especially likes anything with banana.  He also likes pudding.  Given those two facts, it seems like banana cream pie should be one of his favourite desserts.  While looking at recipes with bananas, I sent him a quick message asking his opinion of said pie, as I thought it odd he had never requested it.  Turns out he’s never had banana cream pie.  How is that possible?

I shouldn’t be surprised though, this sort of situation happens quite often.  I ask him what he thinks of something, he replies he’s never had it and I then add it to the “list of things to make The Boy”.  Unfortunately, despite the fact that I evidently ending up making banana cream pies, they’re still on The Boy’s list.  He lives in another city and didn’t get to try any of these.  But I figure if I keep making banana desserts like this he’ll have to come visit me more often…

 Banana Cream Pie (from Dorie Greenspan’s Baking From My Home to Yours)

2 cups whole milk
6 large egg yolks
1/2 cup (packed) light brown sugar, pressed through a sieve
1/3 cup cornstarch, sifted
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cold, unsalted butter, cut into bits
3 ripe but firm bananas, sliced

To make the custard, bring the milk to a boil.  In a separate saucepan, whisk together the eggs, sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt until blended and thick.  Whisking without stopping, drizzle in about ¼ of the hot milk.  Continue to whisk while slowly pouring in the remainder of the milk.  Bring the mixture to a boil while whisking and continue to whisk for 2 minutes at a boil.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the vanilla.  Let cool 5 minutes before whisking in the bits of butter until fully incorporated and the mixture is smooth.  Cover the surface of the custard with plastic wrap and refrigerate until cool.  Remove from the fridge and whisk again before scooping into tart shells, alternating with a layer of sliced banana until you reach the top of the shell.

***I used Dorie’s recipe for the custard only.  For the tart shells I used a 3-2-1 pie dough, fully baked and cooled.  I topped the mini pies with lightly sweetened whipped cream and a banana slice with caramelized cinnamon sugar on top.  There are chocolate curls beside the tarts in the photos, but afterwards I added those on top too.

Platonic Pretzel Rolls

A number of people who I’ve talked to find it strange that I have a male roommate.  One of my coworkers said she would only live with girls and wouldn’t know how to deal with a male roommate who wasn‘t her boyfriend, (particularly one found off Craigslist).  Another person told me it was impossible for members of the opposite sex to live together platonically.  I disagree with both of those people.  For one thing, guys are far easier to live with than girls because in general, they’re pretty direct.  If there’s a problem in the house, they’ll just tell you about it instead of leaving a sticky note on the fridge and then avoiding you for a week.  And it works both ways, if something your guy roommate is doing is pissing you off, you can yell at them without worrying about hurting their feelings.  They’ll take it in stride, either fix the problem, (or not…) and move on. 

Secondly, not only is it possible for members of the opposite sex to live together without being anything more than friends, it’s absolutely necessary.  When roommates date, it always ends poorly and generally results in someone having to move out.  It took me over a month of solid looking just to find a place to live and I have no intention of having to repeat that process because of something silly like dating my roommate.  Furthermore, I have a boyfriend who does not want to even entertain the idea of roommates dating.  He has nothing to worry about though, because my roommate Diesel doesn’t have a sweet tooth and doesn’t really care about food and that’s essentially in direct opposition to everything that I believe in.    

When I first moved in I tried to be a good roommate and share some cookies that I had made.  I gave Diesel the cookies along with my rent cheque and he politely accepted them but didn’t seem too enthusiastic.  I thought maybe he just wasn’t feeling well.  But then on a separate occasion I baked some banana and chocolate chip muffins and left some with a note to help himself.  He didn’t touch them.  Another day I left cookies cooling on a rack, open for the taking and he couldn’t have cared less.  Eventually he told me he just didn’t have a sweet tooth and would rather have chips or a salty snack than baked goods.  At that point I considered moving out because I couldn’t possibly be friends with someone who would reject my baking.  I calmed down though and got over it, more for me. 

I thought maybe he would appreciate good savoury food at least, that is until I found out that his main concern with his meals was quantity over quality.  He told me he’d been to a few ‘fancy’ restaurants with multiple course meals and that he wasn’t very impressed as he always left hungry.  I suspect he’s a fan of All You Can Eat buffets.  When I made a roast chicken he commented that I could have just bought one already roasted at the supermarket for $9.99 so why bother making it at home?  When I bake bread he tells me they sell that at the supermarket too.  These comments are met with great sighs from me.  On the upside, however, it should leave my boyfriend feeling very confident that I will never, ever want to date my roommate.  I couldn’t even consider dating someone who wouldn’t appreciate the food I made for them and would rather order Dominoes than eat a homemade gourmet pizza.  And do I even need to go into detail about how much it would break my heart to try to date someone who refused my baked goods?  It’s the biggest insult I can think of.

So yes, it’s very possible to live with a member of the opposite sex and have a completely platonic relationship, it’s especially easy if you disagree on fundamental life basics.  These pretzel rolls are the only thing Diesel has eaten that I’ve made that’s elicited a bit of a positive response.  It went something like this: “Those bread things you made weren’t bad, but you know can buy bread at the store, right?.”  High praise.

I found the recipe for these pretzel rolls over at Sweet Pea’s Kitchen and she found them at Stresscake.  Make them and enjoy!

Hey! I Make Sandwiches!

One of the benefits, (as far as food blogging goes) of moving into a new place is that the changes that occur during this process usually make for some interesting stories.  In my case, acquiring a new and previously unknown roommate means that everyday is something of an adventure.  As stated in my last post, Diesel, (the roommate) and I have very different eating habits.  I have yet to witness him cook a meal that takes more than 5 minutes and doesn’t require the use of a microwave.

The other night Diesel had a friend over.  The two of them were hanging out and having a couple beers when I came home.  As our kitchen, living room, dining room and Diesel’s den are all just one room, it meant that while I went about preparing my dinner and doing dishes, I was randomly drawn into their conversation.  After asking me about what I was making the friend proceeded to ask if Diesel had cooked me dinner yet.  I looked at him with a bit of a puzzled expression and replied that I didn’t think Diesel cooked.  Period.  It was at this point that Diesel’s head swung in our direction indignantly as he said “Hey! I make sandwiches!”

Ah yes, sandwiches.  The height of culinary achievements.  Now don’t get me wrong, some sandwiches are pretty awesome, like this bacon and avocado grilled cheese on homemade bread.  Diesel’s sandwiches, however, are more of the 4th grader lunch box variety: pre-sliced bread, deli meat and processed cheese.  He’s got some work to do before he’s allowed to make me a sandwich.  If it ever comes to that though and he decides on a grilled cheese, I hope he makes them the way I do.  I like to start my grilled cheese on the stove top, fried in butter so that the toast has nice colour but then I finish it in the oven so that the cheese is melty all the way through.  MMMmmm melty cheese….

Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup

I was reminded over the holidays that I had stopped writing my blog.  It happened a few times, but the person who brought it up was usually my Mom.  When she did this, other people would feign interest and ask why I wasn’t writing anymore.  Not that they ever really read my blog in the first place, but apparently people become concerned if you stop doing something.  I haven’t stopped cooking, although my circumstances have changed once again. 

I’m back in the city and working a new job and living in a teeny tiny condo with a random roommate I found on Craigslist.  Part and parcel with condo living is a lack of space, the biggest sacrifice for me being the lack of kitchen space.  Or the lack of a kitchen.  The room that houses the kitchen, (if you can call it that) is also the living room, dining room and my roommate’s office.  It’s just one room, the kitchen being one wall of that room, with no island or counter space to speak of.  I’m not exaggerating when I say I have about one and a half square feet of counter space, if that.  A portion of that counter space is taken up by a toaster and a paper towel holder.  I’d put the toasted somewhere else if there was anywhere to put it.  There are no drawers in my kitchen. 

The only upside to all this is that despite the fact that I’m sharing this incredibly tiny excuse for a kitchen, my roommate doesn’t cook.  I will henceforth refer to him as Diesel, (as in Vin Diesel…) as he seems to consume little more than protein shakes and things that can be microwaved.  For example, he popped a frozen pizza in the microwave tonight and announced “Dinner is served in two minutes!”.  I proceeded to joke that that wasn’t real food.  He informed me that it was indeed real food and that he was in fact a balanced eater as he drinks his vegetables in the form of V8, occasionally eats a piece of fruit and has yogurt, which is healthy.  Diesel is the type of guy who lifts very heavy weights at the gym.  I consider him a personal alarm system for the condo.  He’s great really.  As far as random Craigslist finds go, I could have done much, much worse.  And I love that he doesn’t cook because it means more space for me and my kitchen gadgets, I just have to rearrange his jugs of protein powder sometimes…

Speaking of kitchen gadgets, I had to downsize mine when I moved into the condo.  So I don’t have all my fancy baking pans, or my food processor, or more than two mugs, but I’ve got most of the basics.  Granted, my basics are very different from a lot of other people’s basics, like Diesel’s.  Prior to moving in I asked him what sort of kitchen stuff he had so that I would know what to bring and not duplicate anything as there’s no room for that here.  He told me he had all the basics.  I arrived to find exactly ONE pot and ONE pan, four plates, two mugs and a handful of cutlery.  There wasn’t even a cutting board.  Needless to say, I couldn’t live like that and somehow found room amidst the protein powder to stash my kitchenaid mixer and various other essentials.  I quickly ran out of room in the kitchen though and have devoted one of the drawers of my bedroom dresser to kitchen wares.

All of this to say that my cooking adventures have been somewhat subdued, but not completely squashed.  I’ve been baking for the people at work again and on the weekends I tend to cover the kitchen/living room/dining room/den with dishes as I make meals for the upcoming week.  One of the tastiest things I’ve made recently is this Vietnamese Chicken Noodle Soup from none other than the fabulous Dorie Greenspan.  Having finally acquired her most recent book, Around My French Table, for Christmas, I’ve gotten right into creating from it and this was the first recipe I tried.  I’m never disappointed by Dorie and this soup was no exception.  It was fresh and flavourful and everything you’d expect from something labelled Vietnamese.  And it was wonderfully warming on a cold and dreary winter day.