Oh Snap! Banana Pudding

While I'm still a fan of the straight-from-the-box, Nillas and Nanners, made with Cool-Whip and instant pudding, I decided to try something a little more classic. This supposedly was the original recipe on the back of the Nilla wafer box. Me I used some hippie whole wheat cookies, but they were actually better that way with a flavor crossed between a graham cracker and a nilla wafer, put none of that hydro-gee-nated vegetable oil.

3/4 c sugar
3 Tbls All Purpose flour
dash of salt
4 eggs
 2 c milk
1/2 t vanilla
vanilla wafers
5 or 6 fully ripe, medium bananas, sliced

Combine 1/2 c sugar, flour, and salt in top of dbl boiler. Mix in 1 whole egg and 3 egg yolks. Stir in milk. Cook uncovered over boiling water, stirring constantly, until thickened. Remove from heat and stir in vanilla.
Spread small amount in bottom of 1 1/2 qt casserole. top w/nilla wafer, layer of bananas. Pour about a 1/3 of custard over bananas. Continue to layer, ending with custard.
Make a meringue of the 3 egg whites beating them until dry before adding the remaining 1/4 cup of sugar. Beat until stiff peaks form. Pile on top of pudding covering entire surface.Bake in preheated 425 oven 5 minutes or until lightly browned. Serve warm or chilled.

Lamb Stroganoff(ish)

I made this recipe up, so forgive not staying true to any recipe here.

I had some lamb stew meat left over from the 1/2 lamb we purchased back in March. I wanted to cook the lamb up slow to get all the flavor out. I did note the flavor of the meat definitely improved the longer I cooked it (slowly mind you).

Slow cooked sauce:

3 large shallot bulbs, sliced into rings (~1/2 cup)
olive oil
1 cup lamb stew meat
1 carton of baby portabellas, sliced (~2 cups)
2 cloves garlic, minced
1/4 fresh italian parsley, chopped.
1/2 cup heart red wine
1 cup chicken broth
water to keep sauce slow cooking
salt, paprika to taste

In a large saute pan, I browned the lamb bits on high for a few minutes with a little olive oil, then turned down to medium heat to saute the shallots and mushrooms. Once the shallots started to turn translucent, I tossed in the garlic and parsley, sauteing only about 30 seconds, then splash in the red wine, add the chicken broth and set the pan on low for 2-3 hours. I'd recommend not salting until the mixture cooks down a little, especially if your chicken broth is salted.
Add water if the sauce needs to cook longer and it has become too thick. You want to finish with something resembling the consistency of spaghetti sauce.

To brighten up the affair I decided to add extra veggies to the sauce at the end along with the pasta. English peas are in season so I added a bunch, snap peas would work if you can't get them.

olive oil
1 cup crimini mushrooms, sliced
i clove garlic, minced.
1 cup of English peas (shelled)

1 large dollop of sour cream.
1/4 cup fresh italian parsley, chopped
2/3 pound fettucine or parpadelle noodles
paprika to taste (see below)

Start the water boiling for pasta. When the water starts boil, start sauteing your mushrooms in the olive oil over medium heat and drop the pasta for cooking. (You can always cook the pasta in advance) When the mushrooms reach a nice texture (I sauteed about 5 minutes) add the garlic and cook an additional 30-60sec. Turn the heat down to low, add the sour cream, parsley,your initial lamb sauce, and peas to mixture. Add paprika to taste. NOTE: We had both smoked and spicy paprika, I used a little of both. The smokiness adds a rich flavor and just a little spice works well with the sweetness of the peas. The peas should only cook a few minutes. Taste them occasionally while cooking. They should be bright and tasty but not crunchy. Toss in the pasta once it is cooked and garnish with more italian parsley.

Serve with a hearty red wine.