When I planned my menu the other week I really wanted to make spring rolls. I love the little packets of goodness and they make great lunches for later in the week. However, a cold kind of derailed my intentions, but I still wanted spring rolls. So … deconstructed spring rolls it was. Easy to make, still kind of pretty on the plate and they work for lunch also. No reheating required.

In this case – cut up a bunch of veggies (pepper, carrot, cucumber, scallions) and fry up some tofu with a spicy peanut sauce, make some rice and plate. It really was that simple and took maybe twenty minutes. Cutting up the vegetables was the longest part of this. The peanut dipping sauce does doubt duty as the glaze for the tofu and the sauce on top of the “rolls”. It works.

There is no specific recipe for the dipping sauce. I pretty much take:

• Peanut butter (1/3 cup)
• Soy sauce (3-5 tablespoons)
• Honey (1 tablespoon)
• Chili garlic sauce (1-3 tablespoons)
• Lime juice (1/2 lime)
• Rice vinegar (0-1 tablespoon)

and adjust the amounts as needed. I don’t measure, but I do taste along the way and it tends to work out. For a dressing, I add a little water, but if you add more than two tablespoons you will need to add more peanut butter as the flavor dilutes too much.

There is something very comforting about baking. There is something fairly stressful about baking with a dog trying to help. But Arthas is cute, so I put up with it and do my best to keep him from taste testing what I’m making.

Is there anything better on a rainy Sunday morning than fresh cinnamon rolls? There might be, but they are pretty darn good. I decided to use up the last of the buttermilk I had on hand (from waffles the week before) and make cinnamon rolls. This was the first time I used buttermilk in the dough and wasn’t certain how it would come out, but the final result … oh my good.

Recipe: (adapted from genius kitchen)

• 1/2 tablespoon yeast
• 1/4 cup warm water (I used warm tap water for this)
• 1 1/2 cup buttermilk (room temperature or slightly warmed)
• 1/2 cup oil
• 4 cups flour + more for kneading and rolling
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• melted butter (about 1/2 stick, 1/4 cup)
  • Filling (mix together)
    • 1 cup brown sugar
    • 2 tablespoons cinnamon

In a small bowl, place the water and top with yeast. Let sit at least ten minutes (up to 45 minutes) to proof. Transfer to large bowl and add buttermilk and oil. Mix. Add one cup of flour and mix. Add salt and baking soda then mix again. Add flour, 1/2 cup at a time until a soft, but not sticky dough, forms.

Flour a clean surface and dump dough onto the flour. (I like to leave a little to coat the top of the dough and my hands too.) Knead dough, adding a little flour at a time if needed to prevent sticking, for about two minutes. Return to bowl, cover and let rise for about ten to twenty minutes – dough should rise, but not double.

Divide dough in half. Using a floured silpat as a base, roll the dough to cover the silpat. Brush the dough with melted butter. Add 1/2 of sugar mixture and spread to evenly coat dough. Roll the dough starting from the long side, pulling tight through each roll. Cut into rolls, about 1.5-2 inches thick. Place in a buttered pan (I ended up using an 8×11 and an 8×8 pan, but I think a 9×13 would work). Repeat with second half of the dough. Allow to rise for 30 minutes in a draft free place (I use the oven, just not turned on).

Heat the oven to 400 degrees. Brush the tops of the risen rolls with melted butter and bake for about 20 minutes. Remove from oven and glaze while still hot with a mixture of milk and confectioners sugar or glaze of your choice.

Best served warm/hot

Lately I’ve been on a baking kick. I’ve made coconut cupcakes that totally didn’t turn out, lime buttercream that totally did turn out (which caused me to make vanilla cupcakes for the lime buttercream), malted cupcakes with mocha malt buttercream (cakes were great, buttercream only ok) and a coconut-lime pie where the curd and the crust were fantastic, the cream tasted good, but had a weird texture. My experiments have been a little . . . interesting lately.

This weekend the experiment was banana pie. I’m of mixed minds when it comes to banana pie – I love banana and I love pie, but sometimes banana in pie isn’t great. So I decided to start with mom’s banana pudding recipe, make my own caramel and top it with a lightly sweetened whipped cream.

The one thing I can say about this pie is that the caramel and banana work really well together. Match made well. Bob liked it – calling it one of my best pies – so there is a definite reason to keep this recipe. The only thing I would do differently is use a vanilla wafer or traditional pastry crust instead of the cinnamon graham cracker crust. But it is still really good.

Recipe:

• Caramel:
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup heavy cream
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a medium saucepan, heat sugar over medium heat until it melts and turns an amber color. Stir as little as possible to prevent crystal formation. Reduce heat to low (or remove from heat) and add butter, stirring to incorporate. If on heat, remove from heat and add vanilla and heavy cream. Mix well and allow to cool. (I ran it through a strainer just to get it super smooth, but that is unnecessary, really.)

• Pie filling:
• 1.5 cups whole milk
• 2 eggs
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 3 tablespoons corn starch
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla
• pinch of salt

Combine all ingredients in a medium sauce pan and cook, stirring frequently, over medium heat until it thickens. (I did add the vanilla at the end of the cooking, just because I forgot to add it, and it still worked.) Whisk frequently so lumps do not form, and allow to cool before filling the pie crust.

To assemble the pie, take the crust (graham cracker, vanilla wafer or traditional pastry) and coat the bottom with about half the caramel mixture. Spread to an even coating.

Chop one banana and layer the slices over the caramel to cover the bottom of the pie dish.

Pour pudding over banana even out to a relatively uniform layer. Add whipped cream (~3/4 cup heavy cream and 1 tablespoon confectioners sugar) over pudding layer. Cover and chill for about two hours.