Monday, January 30, 2006

New to us flavor combinations....

The recipes I made for dinner tonight are a little out of the norm of what we would usually make. Over the years we have slowly been trying to branch out on different combinations of food and spices. Tonight's combination is why we try these things out, because if we didn't, we would have had no idea we've been missing out on some great food!

The first recipe, Banana Corn Fritters, brought a whole new level to bananas . The combination of everything sounded kind of odd, but in the end it worked out quite well. These savory little cakes are sweet, spicy, and a little smoky from using ground chipotle chiles. Coaresly mashed bananas are mixed with flour and crunchy cornmeal for a bit of texture. They are quickly pan fried and then tranferred into the oven to bake until puffy. The sweetness from the bananas brings down the heat from the chipotles just enough to balance it out.

The soup for tonight, Curried Peanut-Squash Soup, is what really drew some attention while I was prepping. I got several looks of "what in the world are you doing" when I was measuring out the peanut butter along side of rice, edamame, carrots and butternut squash. I did use pre-cut butternut from Trader Joes to cut down on prep time. The original recipe called for peas, but I used shelled edamame instead. The combination of a hot madras curry powder with sweet carrots and squash was quite an interesting experience. I loved the taste and texture that smooth peanut butter added to the soup. It took a few spoonfuls for us to warm up to it, but in the end we both liked it. The combination of sweet and spicy went over quite well. It was hard to get a semi decent picture as it does not have the best apperance.

This was our entry for the Virtual Recipe Club - Check for the round up here.


12 comments:

  1. Don't you think in general it's really hard to get a good photo of soup? Especially if it's not very chunky. I think your soup looks and sounds great. And I'm very jealous about the pre-cut up butternut squash.

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  2. The banana corn fritters is a recipe I noticed in EW--that's the type of thing that's just strange enough but good sounding that makes me want to try it. I'm glad to see a good review!

    I agree w/ Kalyn about photos of soup. I've taken some pretty bad pictures (esp. with my brown bowls). oh well.

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  3. Both dishes look wonderful! Especially the soup ...

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  4. Hum..this Banana Corn Fritters recipe sounds "oddly delicious" !! I'll give it a try..probably tonight. I have some bananas I wanted to make something original with...you definitely read in my mind. :)
    sabine.

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  5. The banana corn fritters sound so very intriguing...I will have to make some myself! :)

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  6. Everything looks and sounds delicious.

    Thanks for sharing something new to me too.

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  7. The soup sounds wonderful and gives me great ideas to help jazz up a peanut soup mix I have waiting to be used. The banana corn muffins sound awesome too! I'm really jealous of those yummy looking cupcakes you posted while I was gone though!

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  8. The ground chipotle chili puzzles me. I know what chipotles are but where do you buy them ground? Or do you grind them yourself?

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  9. The soup and the fritters both sound absoulutely delicious - wish I had some right now!

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  10. kalyn - Yeah I agree, soups are very tough to take photos of! I'm very happy to have that precut butternut... so much less work!

    JJ - Yep, strange but really good!

    ivonne - Thanks!

    Thanks Sabine! Let me know if you give them a try!

    Alice - Please do! They are good!

    Ruth - Thank you!

    Michelle - Oh man, the cupcakes! I have one left in the freezer too... snack for tomorrow.. can't wait!

    Valyn - I find it in pretty much any supermarket here - but you could grind them yourself if needed!

    Rorie - Thanks! Wish I could send you some to test!

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  11. Banana Corn Fritters review : As delicious as I thought. the point was to find the fine substitution for the ground chipotle chiles (where the hell could I find ground chipotle chiles in FRANCE : ) ) I used jalapeno and a pinch of "piment d'espelette" to get the best sweet-and-spicy savour with a french touch. I must confess I let my guets taste the Banana Corn Fritters first and then I told them what were in there...they look puzzled, suprised and then they nodded with a big smile and said " j'aurai jamais cru mais c'est super bon" !!!
    a great success for this easy-quicky-funny recipe, that reminded me some creole dishes I tasted once.

    MERCI BEAUCOUP again Joe. sabine :)

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  12. sabine - Thats great! Thanks for letting me know you tried it.. they are really good!

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