Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes

I've been waiting a few years now for weekends like this. For the chance to sleep in with a puppy curled next to my back and a husband under my arm. For a side by side comparison of espresso, drip, and French pressed coffee because we have the time. For a long debate on pancakes which finally ends in peanut butter banana. For beach days involving elaborate picnic rituals with no mind to the time or the cell phone gods.

I'd cruised many a weekend solo as my industrious other half ran a business. I'm happy to tell you my weekends are revived now that said business is sold. We are beyond ourselves with relief and happiness. We are more than ready to move on to other things.

Other things include some sailing and roadtripping, more on that later. For now, I'm pretty excited about weekends.

Peanut Butter Banana Pancakes
inspired by Joy the Baker

1 egg
2 TBL melted butter, plus more for cooking
2 TBL peanut butter
1 cup buttermilk or milk
1 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup flour
1 TBL sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
3 apple bananas, sliced (or 2 regular bananas)
maple syrup to serve

In a medium bowl mix egg, melted butter, peanut butter, milk, and vanilla until smooth. Add flour, sugar, baking powder, soda, and salt and mix until well combined. Fold in banana slices.

In a pan over medium heat add a little butter or oil. Spoon about 2 TBL batter and 4 banana slices into the pan for each pancake. When little bubbles start to form in the batter, flip and cook for another minute or so. Repeat, repeat until all batter is used up.

Top with more banana slices, if desired, and pure maple syrup. Enjoy!

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes

Ladies and gentlemen I have officially completed my first catering gig. Thanks to a friend from work who knows I'm kind of into cooking, I busted out 6 dozen pineapple upside down cupcakes and 12 dozen Kona coffee brigadeiros for a wedding. Phew! This was a lot of work for my tiny kitchen. Good news is, I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Need some goodies for an event? Shoot me an email: gwenedwards82@gmail.com

In the meantime, wow the crowd with these precious little cupcakes. Recipe below.

Pineapple Upside Down Cupcakes
adapted from Betty Crocker
makes 12

For cake:
1 1/4 cup flour
1 cup sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 cup milk
1/3 cup butter
1 egg
1 tsp vanilla

For topping:
1/4 cup butter
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
6 pineapple slices, fresh or canned
6 maraschino cherries

Preheat oven to 350. To prepare the batter for the cake, measure all ingredients into a large bowl. Blend 30 seconds on low, scraping bowl constantly. Beat on high for 3 minutes, scraping occasionally. 

To prepare topping, cut the 1/4 cup butter into 12 equal pieces, placing each one into a cupcake tin. Place cupcake pan in oven for a minute or until butter melts. Sprinkle brown sugar into each tin (about 1 tsp in each) and top with a piece of pineapple and 1/2 maraschino cherry. You will need to cut the pineapple to fit, in whatever shape you like. You only want one layer of fruit. 

Spoon cake batter over topping in each tin and bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean. Invert onto a baking sheet, leaving the pan over the cakes for a few minutes. This gives the topping a chance to stick to the cake. Enjoy!

Avocado Kim Chee Potstickers

As promised, below is the recipe I entered in this weekend's Big Island Avocado Festival. While the recipe didn't snag any awards, I do think it is a fun vegetarian version of potstickers that is totally unexpected.

They do take some time to assemble, so if you can borrow an extra set of hands, that would make the process much faster.

Avocado Kim Chee Potstickers

By

Gwen Edwards

For potstickers:

·      1 package locally made potsticker/gyoza wrappers  (you'll need about 50)

·      1 ripe Big Island avocado

·      1 fresh egg

·      1 cup locally made kim chee

·      1 chopped Big Island green onion

·      ¼ cup chopped Big Island cilantro

·      ¼ cup chopped Thai basil

·      1 Big Island lime

·      Salt to taste

·      About 6 TBL spoons coconut oil

For dipping sauce:

(adapted from For the Love of Cooking)

·      ½ cup Hawaiian shoyu

·      ½ cup water

·      4 TBL spoons rice vinegar

·      4 tsp Hawaiian sugar

·      4 tsp sesame oil

·      1 chopped green onion

·      2 chopped garlic cloves

·      1 tsp chopped ginger

Instructions:

Make dipping sauce first, so it can marinate.  Combine ingredients in a mason jar and shake well.

In a small bowl, combine and mash avocado, chopped herbs, lime juice and salt.

In a food processer, pulse kim chee until shredded.

In another small bowl, beat the egg.

Working one at a time, fill each wrapper with 1 tsp avocado mixture and 1 tsp kim chee.

With your finger, put a little egg on edge of wrapper, fold over and press to seal.

In a skillet over medium heat, add about 1 tsp coconut oil.

Cook 6 – 10 potstickers at a time - do not crowd in pan.

Cook covered for 2 minutes, flip and cook another 2 minutes uncovered.

Repeat until all potstickers are cooked, adding coconut oil as needed.

Serve with dipping sauce and enjoy!

Big Island Avocado Festival & Recipe Contest

The creamy green fruit was celebrated once again at the 7th Annual Avocado Festival held at the Sheraton Kona.

The free event included a variety of food and craft vendors, live music and hula, a recipe contest, and appearances by Miss Kona Coffee and Avocado Man.

10 foot tall Avocado Man

Samples of recipe contest entries were on offer and included a number of creative and delicious dishes including the overall winner, Avocado Truffles and the People's Choice winner, Mushroom and Avocado Flan. My entry, Avocado Kim Chee Potstickers, got a nod for creativity. I'll be posting the recipe soon.

Avocado Kim Chee Potstickers

If you missed this free community event this year, look for it again next spring. And work on those avocado recipes!