Aug 16 2010

Nutella and Banana Wontons

Posted by savorysweetlife in Step-by-Step Recipes

Our good friend Alice of Sweet Savory Life is back with another fun recipe, this time from Tasty Kitchen member Miss Mischief. She also patiently shows us how to properly fill, seal and fry wontons, so you can take this idea and run with it! But please listen to Alice and don’t run where there’s a pot of hot oil. Take it away, Alice!

I love the versatility of wonton wrappers. Most commonly used in Chinese cuisine, wontons are often filled with a savory pork and cabbage filling then boiled as part of a delicious soup or deep fried as an appetizer. However, I’m seeing wonton wrappers being creatively used as an alternative to traditional ravioli pasta dough or fried in strips to use as crunchy croutons on tops of salads. This time, we’re going to fill them as a sweet bite-sized treat. Today I’m happy to share with you an easy chocolate-hazelnut-filled dessert everyone will love.

If you’ve ever been to a crepe bar/restaurant, one of the most popular fillings is Nutella and bananas. There is something irresistible about a chocolaty hazelnut spread as smooth as creamy peanut butter but as decadent as chocolate ganache. Now imagine this filling paired with the wonderful flavor of banana then deep fried in a paper thin shell. What you have is a crispy golden brown morsel filled with heavenly goodness.

This recipe by TK member Miss Mischief (Meredith) for Nutella Banana Wontons is so easy and yet it is a crowd pleaser guaranteed to disappear quickly! So let’s get started!

Here is what you’ll need: wonton wrappers, canola oil or peanut oil, Nutella hazelnut spread, bananas, egg, cinnamon sugar or powdered sugar.

This recipe works best if you streamline each step.

Line a few cookie sheets with wonton wrappers.

Lay them side by side in single file rows.

Thinly slice bananas so each banana makes approximately 24 pieces. The best way to do this is by scoring the tops of each banana but making dent marks with your knife. Keep dividing and marking the banana in successively smaller halves, repeating the process until you have 24 pieces. After you’ve scored each one, cut along your marks. The picture above shows I’ve scored 12 pieces on each banana which were approximately ¼” thick. But I found these were too big and realized I should have cut them even smaller. Ideally, each slice should be about 1/8″ thick (.3 cm).

Open up a ziplock bag and fold the top over itself.

Place the bag in a cup with the edges overlapping the rim of your mug. Spoon approximately ½ cup of Nutella into the mug.

Tip: To remove as much Nutella as possible from the spoon, place your fingertips on the outside of the bag and use them to scrape off as much spread as you can against the spoon as you lift it up and out of the bag.

Snip one of the bottom corners of the ziplock bag. This will become a make-shift pastry bag. Seal the top edge. Point the bag with the cut tip facing down and twist the top of the bag so most of the Nutella is pushed downward until the spread meets the opening (think toothpaste).

Pipe a small Hershey Kiss sized dollop in the center of each wonton wrapper.

Place a banana slice over each dollop and press down slightly.

Prepare the egg mixture by beating the egg. This will be the glue which will hold the wrapper together.

Place a filled wonton in the palm of your least-used (non-writing) hand. With your other hand, dip your pointer or middle finger in the egg mixture and use it like a paint brush to wet two adjoining sides of the wrapper.

Fold the wet sides over the dry ones to form a triangle. Using both hands, pointer fingers, and thumbs, glue the wonton sides together by placing the edges between your fingers and pressing down along the seams to seal them.

Place completed wontons back on a cookie sheet.

Pour oil in a medium-large, non-reactive frying pan, skillet, or pot and set burner to high heat. To check if your oil is ready to use, carefully flick a drop of water in the pan. If it starts sizzling upon contact, your oil is ready.

Using a metal spatula or a large spoon, place as many wontons into the hot oil as your pan will fit without them overlapping. Fry each side until golden brown. It only took me about 15 seconds per side so be sure to not leave your pan unattended. Because we’re not cooking raw meat like a traditional wonton, what you’re really looking for is a golden crispy color when frying these. Your cooking times will vary and it’s best to eyeball your wontons by color as a time measure.

When wontons are done frying, carefully remove them and place them on a cooking sheet lined with paper towels. Repeat the frying process until all the wontons are cooked.

To finish these wontons off, coat them in cinnamon sugar. The best way to do this is by placing cinnamon sugar in a small bowl with tall sides. Place each wonton inside the bowl and give it a gentle shake back and forth. Turn the wonton over and repeat.

Or you can sprinkle powdered sugar over the tops of each wonton for a beautiful effect on one side.

Pretty!

Allow wontons to slightly cool for a few minutes before serving them.

Didn’t I tell you you’d have a crispy golden brown morsel filled with heavenly goodness?

Just for fun, place one wonton in a bowl of ice cream for a fancy treat.

A few tips and suggestions:

1. When deep frying anything, be sure to use a cooking oil such as peanut, canola, or safflower which can handle high heat and has a high smoking point.

2. Do not use too much Nutella or thick banana slices. It’s difficult to fold the wrapper over itself and seal the edges if there is too much filling.

3. Always attend the stove while deep frying. These wontons cook very fast (under 30 seconds each side) and will burn if left unattended.

4. Never use wet utensils when frying. If water droplets come into contact with hot oil, it will splatter and you may get burned or your clothes may become oil-stained.

5. Recipe makes 48 pieces. Serving suggestion is 2 wontons per person. Realistically, a person could easily eat between 3-5 of these, so plan accordingly.

6. Coating these with powdered sugar looks better but the cinnamon-sugar mix tastes better.

Many thanks to Tasty Kitchen member Miss Mischief for this fabulous recipe!

Printable Recipe

Nutella and Banana Wontons

by Miss Mischief on May 31, 2010 in Desserts

5.00 Mitt(s) 8 Rating(s) 8 votes, average: 5.00 out of 5

Description

I made these the other day for a party and they were a HUGE hit with both the kids and adults!

Ingredients

1 package (12 Oz. Package) Wonton Wrappers
2 cups Canola Oil
1 jar (13 Oz. Jar) Nutella Hazelnut Spread
2 whole Bananas, Cut Into Pieces
1 whole Egg, Beaten
2 Tablespoons Cinnamon Sugar

Preparation Instructions

Defrost wonton wrappers in the refrigerator at least a day in advance. Heat canola oil over medium-high heat in a small fry pan (just big enough for 1 wonton at a time). I had about 3/4 of an inch of oil in my pan, just enough to suspend the wonton while frying. Make an assembly line with the Nutella, bananas, and egg wash. Place about 1 teaspoon of Nutella in the center of a wonton wrapper then put a banana on top. Wet all four edges of the wrapper with the egg wash and seal into a triangle shape. Fry until golden brown on each side, remove from the oil and place on a paper towel to drain. Sprinkle each side with cinnamon sugar. Recipe makes about 40 wontons.

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Alice Currah is the force behind Sweet Savory Life and Everyday Alice. She and her husband Rob are the proud parents of three children: Abbi, Mimi, and Elli. Alice is the winner of Saveur’s Cover Contest and is on the Forbes.com list of Eight of The Very Best Food Bloggers. She’s the best-est.

Aug 11 2010

The Theme Is … Peaches!

Posted by Erika (TK) in The Theme Is...

August is National Peach Month (Happy Peach Month!). So today’s theme post is dedicated to this classic summer fruit that brings with it such memories as homemade peach ice cream, getting sticky all over from biting into a juicy ripe peach, or the scent of crates or bushels of peaches perfuming the kitchen, bringing with it the promise of warm peach cobbler before the day’s end.

Speaking of cobblers, why don’t we start there? Many peach recipes involve cobblers or crisps in some form, and we’ve got our share of those treats here. There’s something about the sweet, soft fruit paired with perfectly baked batter or the contrasting texture of crunchy topping that just tastes like they were made for each other. (Of course, throw in some of Ree’s Maple Cream Sauce, and no one had better try to put that match asunder.)

Clockwise from top left: Peach Cobbler from mrsbmw09, Peach Cobbler from ThreeManyCooks, Peach Crisp with Maple Cream Sauce from Ree, Peach Crunch Cake from Bakerella, Gluten Free Peach Cobbler from whatlifedishesout, and Peach Crisp (Revised) from elanaspantry.

If you’d rather have something cold instead, then fight the heat of this summer with some frozen peach treats. I had a wonderful friend named Ruth who would tell me stories of the time she and her husband lived next to a peach orchard. Every summer, they would buy fresh peaches that were so sweet and juicy that one bite sent juice streaming down their shirts. All they had to do was mix them with cream—no sugar needed—to make the most incredible peach ice cream ever. “By the end of the summer, you had to roll us out the doors after all the ice cream we’d been eating,” she said.

According to her, the best way to pick a peach is to simply smell it. Also check the area around the stem; you want to see it with a creamy yellow color. If it looks green, it was picked too early, and if the skin looks wrinkled, it was picked too long ago. When you do find the right peach, oh what a delight it is when made into ice cream. Or sorbet. Or frozen yogurt. And every time I have a scoop, I think of dear old Ruthie with peach juice running down her chin.

Clockwise from top left: Peach Sorbet from bunkycooks, White Peach Ice Cream from daydreamerdesserts, and Brown Sugar and Peach Frozen Yogurt from tallmisto, and Peach Sour Cream Ice Creamfrom oneordinaryday.

Peaches also lend their wonderful flavor well to savory dishes and fruit salsas. The combination of slight tartness and natural sweetness can really enhance main course recipes. It’s okay if you have canned peaches and not fresh ones. The peaches that are canned are processed within 24 hours of being picked, and so they still retain their nutritional value.

Clockwise from top left: “Can-Time” Pork from daniellawilson, Peach Noodle Kugel from Ree, Mango and Peach Salsa from soyonb, and Peachy Sweet and Sour Tofu Stir-Fry from lizzygoesdutch.

Another way to enjoy the flavor of peaches is in drinks. Peach iced tea is one of my favorite flavors of iced tea, and it’s a great drink component especially in cases where the recipe calls for passionfruit and you don’t have any on hand. Of course, it’s so much more than just a stand-in. Just take a look at Jaden’s Peach, Passionfruit and Prosecco below, or that Sunshine Nectar from goodlifeeats and maybe you too will be tempted to plan a meal tonight that will give you an excuse to make these drinks.

For all its versatility, there is no denying that peaches are really most popular in desserts. Not just as cobblers and crisps as we highlighted at the beginning of this post, but in so many other ways. Whether in muffins or tarts, cakes or pies, or even just sliced in half, grilled and then dressed up, you can always count on peaches to give a dish that extra summery feel.

Clockwise from top left: Peach Cups from jillskitchen, Peach, Raspberry and Almond Cake from runningwithtweezers, Fresh Peach Pie from jlclawson, Grilled Peaches with Ricotta Cheese and Balsamic Reduction from savorysweetlife, Peach Tartlets from Cooking Ventures, and Rhubarb Ginger Peach Muffins from Tracy (sugarcrafter).

And that’s our nod to National Peach Month! How about you? Do you have any peachy stories to share? (Sorry, bad pun.) Any memories that make you feel all warm and … fuzzy? (Oh dear. Make me stop.)

I think I’ll sign off now before you start passing around a petition to have me impeached.

Aug 10 2010

Meet Calli

Posted by Erika (TK) in Meet the Member!

Our featured member this week has a lot of skills under her belt. From cooking to sewing to beautiful crafts, there isn’t much that she can’t do. Let’s all say hello to the lovely Calli of callimakesdo!

Calli is a stay-at-home mom who loves spending time with her family, whether it be on the slopes or around a campfire. She has three children with ages ranging from 8 to 9. “No, that wasn’t a typo,” she explains. “I had three kids in 18 months, something I wouldn’t recommend to anyone who likes their sanity.” She loves the smell of baking bread, her garden, her camera, hiking shoes, and her sewing machine. She gets a kick out of being resourceful, and her blog Make It Do showcases her resourcefulness and hardworking nature.

Of course, we know her here from the wonderful recipes in her recipe box. Calli enjoys being creative when it comes to cooking, trying out new recipes and experimenting. “Cooking is also very aesthetic for me,” she adds. “I love the smells, colors, textures, and tastes of cooking.” She loves sitting down every night for dinner with her family, talking and enjoying each other, and she says good food makes it all better. Especially when even the bit player side dishes look good enough to be the main course.

Clockwise from top left: Buddy Loves Baked Beans, Easy Peasy Bread Sticks, and D’s Southwest Chicken Tortilla Soup.

When asked about her go-to meal, Calli’s answer is simple: salad. She rarely serves a meal without a salad, either as a side or as the main course. She loves main dish salads with grilled chicken, fish, or steak, and Calli tries to make her salads according to the season. “My kids don’t eat everything I serve,” she says, “but I serve it nonetheless.” As a result, her children have become quite daring eaters. Calli also offers that one way to get kids to eat salad is by always having buttermilk ranch dressing on hand.

Clockwise from top left: Chicken Milanese, Cabbage Rolls, Chicken Salad Sandwiches , Chicken Enchiladas, and Eggplant Parmesan.

Calli loves food with lots of flavor, preferably on the spicy side. She also loves anything sour and uses a lot of onion and garlic in her cooking. Her palate is ecclectic and runs the gamut, from Tortellini Soup to Chicken Tikka Masala to a Greek salad with chicken and Carnitas Dulce. We even see that kind of variety in her breakfast recipes, from Busy Day Bran Muffins to a delightful Mexican-style Green Chile Egg Casserole and a lovely Harvest Vegetable Quiche.

Her snack of choice is popcorn with butter and Parmesan cheese sprinkled on top. “I love popcorn,” she admits. “I try really hard to limit myself to eating it once a week.” She confesses that she has most trouble in the kitchen when it comes to cookies. “I like to blame it on the altitude,” she explains. “If I don’t adjust my recipe, I often end up with pancake cookies.” Calli, from the looks of all your wonderful dessert recipes, I think you have that adjusting part down pat.

Clockwise from top left: Famous Mint Brownies, Orange Poppy Seed Bread, Lovely Little Chocolate Bundtlettes, Eva’s Apple Pie, and Peanut Butter Cup Cookies.

I’ll take one of each, please. And if you want to make it a double, I won’t complain.

I know you want to learn more about Calli, so let’s get right into the interview!

Q: Tell us more about yourself.
A: I once worked a summer in a fish cannery in Alaska … and I still love to eat fish. I am and love being a Cub Scout leader; 8-year-old boys are a kick to be around. One of my favorite movies is “Waking Ned Devine.” I hate coconut. Apparently, I hum in my sleep. And I always see the glass as half full.

Q: Who inspires you?
A: My mom and dad. They are both wonderful cooks. And their home seems to always be full of hungry people. They have at least 25 people to Sunday dinner on a regular basis. They are never daunted cooking for a crowd and everything they make tastes amazing. I’ve learned from my mom how to find a few favorite recipes and work with them until they’re perfected.

Q: Any strange food preferences?
A: I usually eat pancakes without syrup. I scrape the frosting off of my cake if it’s too sweet and I never eat the center from an Oreo cookie … unless it’s mint. I also love mustard pickles. It’s a canned concoction of pickling cukes, pearl onions, red pepper and cauliflower in a mustard sauce. I love it on roast or ham. It’s an old-fashioned canning tradition and most people have never heard of it.

Q: Do you have a memorable kitchen disaster to share with us?
A: My husband’s grandmother was an amazing pie maker. Before she died, my husband went to her house to help her make her Thanksgiving pies. Luckily he wrote everything down, because her family-favorite apple pie didn’t have a recipe other than what was in her head. After she passed away, I took on the challenge of making pies for Thanksgiving. But the dinner wouldn’t be the same without her apple pie. The day before Thanksgiving, I made her recipe carefully, following my husband’s handwritten instructions to the letter. I baked off the pie scraps with cinnamon and sugar and to my delight the crust was flaky and delicious. Since, I wanted it to be fresh for Thanksgiving, I decided to bake the already filled pie the following morning. I covered the unbaked pie with plastic wrap and tossed it in the refrigerator. The next day I baked the pie as planned. It came out of the oven looking beautiful and smelling even better. But when it came time to serve it, I was in for a shock. The whole bottom crust was straight mush, absolutely horrible. My failure was made so much worse because it was Eva’s Apple Pie. I learned the hard way that an unbaked pie crust needs to be baked immediately after the filling goes in. You live and learn, don’t you? And I can laugh about it … now.

Q: Complete the sentence: “I panic when I realize that I’m out of …”
A: Olive oil. But maybe that’s because I recently did run out and I didn’t know how to make dinner without it.

Q: What is your favorite kitchen tool?
A: That is a hard one. I love my Universal Bosch for breadmaking, my santoku knife, and I love my 8-cup Pyrex measuring bowl. But if I have to pick my very favorite, it would have to be my Le Creuset cookware. They are the hardest working pans in my kitchen and I especially love my Dutch oven.

Q: What food item do you always make at home and never buy at the store anymore?
A: For years I was intimidated by making pie crust. I had tried here and there to make crusts with mixed results. I usually bought frozen crusts from the grocery store when it really mattered. Finally I got smart and called my mom to ask for a lesson. After making them with her and really watching her techniques I’ve became a lot more confident. I also made a small investment in an inexpensive fabric pastry frame, which I love. I love making pie and a homemade crust is so much better than a frozen store-bought crust. There are just some things in the kitchen that take practice.

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Thanks, Calli!

Check out more of Calli’s recipes in her Tasty Kitchen recipe box. For even more recipes and fun stuff like crafts, sewing projects and tutorials, cleaning tips and so much more, visit her blog Make It Do, where she shows us the many ways to “Make it. Do it.”

Aug 9 2010

Zand Gebak

Posted by Erica Lea in Baking, Step-by-Step Recipes

Today, Erica Lea will share with us this incredible Tasty Kitchen recipe she found. The name may sound funny and strange to some of you, but oh my. It’s absolutely beautiful. Let’s watch as Erica walks us through it!

I know what you’re thinking, because I thought it as well:

“Zand what?!”

Then I read the description: shortbread cookies topped with mocha butter topped with chocolate topped with pecans/almonds. Irresistible. A little research revealed that zandgebak is just Dutch for shortbread.

This recipe, brought to us by emmyd, is surprisingly easy and forgiving. Confession: I (accidentally) halved the butter in this recipe. I read “1 cup of butter,” and my mind said “1 stick of butter.” Oddly enough, the cookies still turned out delicious. However, they were more like sugar cookies than shortbread.

Warning: Zand Gebak cookies are potentially addictive. It will be hard to eat just one. Proceed with caution.

Here’s what you’ll need: butter (twice as much as I have pictured), sugar, vanilla, salt, an egg, baking powder, flour, strong coffee (I used espresso), chocolate chips (I like bittersweet), and pecans or almonds.

Place your butter and sugar in a bowl. Just image there’s another stick of butter in there. Cream the butter and sugar. Add the vanilla, salt, egg and baking powder and mix.

Dump in the flour.

Mix until you have a rollable dough, adding more flour if necessary.

Place dough on a lightly floured surface. Roll out thinly and cut with a 2-inch cookie cutter. Place on an ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 350°F for about 10-15 minutes. Do not let the cookies brown. They should be a cream color. Remove to a wire rack to cool.

Now for my favorite part: the mocha butter! Place the butter in a bowl (again, imagine another stick of butter). Add the sugar and coffee. Beat until well blended. I used an immersion blender. Spread each cookie with about a teaspoon of the mocha butter.

Put the cookies on a tray and place in the freezer until firm.

Meanwhile, melt the chocolate with a little butter. Allow to cool slightly.

Drop a little chocolate on each cookie and spread out a bit.

While the chocolate is still soft, add a pecan or almond to each cookie.

Store in the freezer or refrigerator. I doubt if you’ll need to store them for long.

Notes: Even though these cookies were wonderful with half of the butter, I wish to make them again with the proper amount. Also, I will add more coffee to the mocha butter. It was delicious, but not strong enough. Perhaps I will try toasting or candying the nuts as well.

We polished off these cookies in two days. I will consider making a double batch next time.

Thank you, emmyd, for sharing this scrumptious recipe with us!

Printable Recipe