Crunchy fried banana


My son developed this craving for fried bananas after dining at a Carribean restaurant. I have never tried frying a banana before, because it never occured to me that fruits could be fried. Anyway it turned out mushy when I first fried it. I somehow managed to satisfy his palette by frying it again after rolling it in flour. It turned out well this time and he enjoyed it too. But my imagination by now had scaled to different heights I wanted to do much more than that. Being a south indian myself I was enamoured by stuffed banana recipes from Kerala and Thasneen's blog post on pan fried bananas stuffed with coconut and raisins, kind of inspired me. But no, coz my kids with their canadian taste buds would deem it too sweet. So I decided to stuff the bananas with a mixture of nuts and nutella and also give it a crunchy outer crust. So I did with success and served it with vanilla ice-cream. It turned out to be a big hit.!
Ingredients:
Medium ripe bananas- 2
Nutella - 2 tblspns
Mixed nuts chopped (Almonds and pistachios or just walnuts) - 1/4 cup
Egg -1
White flour - 1/4cup
Corn flakes - 1/2 cup crushed
Enough Oil to deep fry

Method: 
Peel the bananas, cut into 2 pieces hotizontally and set aside. Beat the egg and get two half plates ready - one with white flour and the other with corn flakes. Chop the nuts into small pieces, add nutella to it and mix well. Slit the bananas lengthwise, stuff them gently with the nutella nut mix and close them by pinching the opened edges together with your fingers and smoothen the closed slit well so that it is fully secured. Take each stuffed banana piece, roll it in flour, then roll it in beaten egg and finally roll it again in the crushed cornflakes. Repeat the same procedure for all the stuffed pieces and set aside. Put the oil in an electric deep fryer or frying pan and set it to medium heat. To test if the oil is hot enough just put a small crumb in the pan and if it sizzles it means it is ready for frying. Do not fry them on high heat, nor put them in the pan when the oil is not hot enugh. Deep fry two or three pieces at a time (not more than that as they might burst due to change in temperature). Drain them on paper towlels and seve them hot on a bed of cold vanilla ice-cream. You might think it is weird eating a hot and cold dessert. But it a great experience. Try it.





Happy Croissant Sandwich




I call it the happy sandwich because everybody loves it. Fast to make, good to eat - a yummy lunch for school kids! 

Ingredients: 

Frozen Croissants
Chicken breast
Romaine or Leaf Lettuce
Tomatoes
Swiss cheese singles
Lemon pepper/Mango Chipotle powder or spices of your choice
Mayonnaise
Dijon Mustard sauce
Olive oil
Ketchup - optional

Method: Thaw the frozen croissants according to instructions and bake them till golden brown. Meanwhile cut the chicken breast into thin slices or strips. Rub with lemon pepper, or chipotle mango powder or any spices of your choice. (I used chipotle mango powder from Costco) Add some olive oil and roast or broil them in the oven till done. Remove from the oven and let it cool down to room temperature. Slice the tomatoes, wash, towel dry the lettuce and keep aside. When the croissants cool down a bit, slice them in the center with a bread knife more than half way through, without separating the two slices. Spread some mayo & dijon mustard lightly on the inside, add the chicken then top with swiss cheese, tomato slices and lettuce. Add some ketchup to the chicken if you want, just a few drops. Now close the sandwich and serve for lunch with some garden salad. You may also wrap it with cling wrap and pack it for lunch. The Happy Croissant Sandwich is ready to go!