sapphires, I don't even like bananas, I don't even eat banana bread, but I eat this cake. Ashley says it's her favorite, the best she's ever had and it is darned good. It was posted on the Cooking Forum by a former poster, J. Garner, who worked as a pastry chef. Banana Cake (Rose Levy BerenbaumÂs Cordon Rose Cake) Jgarner-Cooking Forum (good as layer cake, elegant, delicate texture) mix together: sifted cake flour 2 cups sugar 3/4 c + 2 Tbs baking soda 1 tsp baking powder 3/4 tsp salt 1/2 tsp puree together: 2 large ripe bananas 1 c sour cream 2 Tbs or up to 1/2 c 2 large eggs 2 grated lemon zest 2 tsp (I left this out since I don't like the flavor of lemon with banana) vanilla 1-1/2 tsp soften: Butter 10 Tbs (5 oz) Add butter and half of pureed mixture to dry ingredients in stand mixer and mix at medium with paddle for 1-1/2 minutes. Scrape bowl and add rest of banana mixture in two batches, mixing 20 seconds after each addition. Pour into 9"x2" round pan (I just lined the bottom with parchment, no spray or butter) and bake at 350 F for 30 to 40 minutes. Cool for 10 minutes in pan and then turn out onto rack to cool completely. Hint: Use smallest amount of sour cream and 3 bananas for more pronounced banana flavor Cream Cheese Icing Cream cheese, softened 8 oz. Butter, softened 5 TBS (2.5 oz) Sour cream 1 Tbs Vanilla extract 1/2 tsp. Rum 1 Tbs Powdered sugar 1 1/4 C (5 oz) Process (yeah, the food processor) or beat cream cheese, butter, sour cream, and vanilla until smooth. Add powdered sugar and pulse until smooth. Makes enough to frost the top of a 9x13 sheet cake. I used regular flour, because I never have cake flour, and it always comes out great. Annie

Easy Italian Chicken 4-6 chicken breasts 1 very large tomato 1 large bottle Italian dressing (fat free is ok too) Grated Parmesan cheese (as much or as little as you like) Place chicken in baking dish. Pour Italian dressing over top.Cut up tomatoes to bite size pieces and place on top of chicken. Add cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for at least an hour or until juices run clear. Serve white rice and pour juice over rice from the chicken. Source: SOAR My way of making this: I use skinless, boneless chicken breasts & cut each breast into thirds. Ive never used a whole bottle of Italian dressing. I like to sprinkle dried rosemary and dried basil over the chicken & tomatoes along with some garlic powder and dried red pepper flakes. I usually serve with vermicelli on the side. You can make everything the night before, cover with saran wrap and refrigerate until ready to bake. Sweet Potato Casserole 4 large sweet potatoes ½ cup granulated sugar ½ stick butter 1 Tbsp Half & Half (or more if it needs thinning) 1 tsp. Vanilla extract Walnut or pecan halves ½ cup Brown sugar 1/3 bag Miniature Marshmallows Boil, peel & mash sweet potatoes. Add butter, granulated sugar, Half & Half. Then add vanilla. Whip potato mixture in electric mixer until smooth. Pour into casserole dish; swirl in brown sugar and about 1/3 bag of miniature marshmallows. Top with walnut or pecan halves. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes. (Recipe can be made ahead and refrigerated. Bring to room temperature before baking.) Note: I have also added the miniature marshmallows towards the end of the baking time so that theyre partially intact/melted. This is delicious! Thin Noodles with Bacon This was a favorite supper of mine as a kid. Cook noodles or thin spaghetti or orzo until al dente. After draining and placing in bowl, I add butter and then parmesan (either grind up a wedge or get the Digiorno shredded in the little plastic container). Salt and freshly ground black pepper. (sometimes I squirt a little fresh lemon juice over the pasta at this point). Then I sprinkle with crisp bacon cut in bite size pieces . Serve this with a tossed salad with vinaigrette or Italian dressing. You might want to just start with the noodles, butter and bacon to see if your family likes it and add the parmesan on your own serving. Meat Loaf 2 eggs 3 oz tomato paste ½ cup water 1 tsp salt 15 grinds fresh black pepper (probably should use way less ) ¼ tsp cayenne pepper 2 lbs ground beef, 85-90% lean ½ cup plain breadcrumbs 1 small onion, finely chopped 1 garlic clove, pressed Preheat the oven to 350. Whisk together the eggs, tomato paste, water, salt, pepper and cayenne in a large mixing bowl. Add the remaining ingredients and work together completely until all the ingredients are evenly distributed. Place the meat mixture into a baking pan and shape into a loaf about 11" x 4" wide. The loaf should be in the middle of the pan. Blend some ketchup, a little chili sauce, Worcestershire sauce, garlic powder and a little bottled BBQ sauce and spread over the meatloaf. Cover with foil. Bake 45 minutes, then uncover, and remove as much liquid as possible. Return to oven uncovered and bake another 15 minutes. Source: I adapted this recipe from Dave Liebermans recipe, "Bubbys Meatloaf". You can cut back on the onions, black pepper and cayenne pepper a bit.--Ann Great with whipped potatoes (I like to add butter, milk or Half & Half, salt & pepper and a little garlic powder, to boiled potatoes, then whip in electric mixer until very smooth).

This is Ina Garten's method (The Barefoot Contessa) and if I could get it right, anybody can. FILET OF BEEF Serves 8 to 10 1 whole filet of beef (4 to 5 pounds), trimmed and tied 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature 1 tablespoon salt 1 tablespoon coarsely ground pepper 1. Heat oven to 500. Place beef on a baking sheet; pat the outside dry with a paper towel. Spread butter on with your hands. Sprinkle evenly with salt and pepper. Roast for exactly 22 minutes for rare and 25 minutes for medium rare. 2. Remove from oven; cover tightly with foil and allow to rest at room temperature for 20 minutes. Remove the strings and slice the filet thickly. Serve with Gorgonzola Sauce. Gorgonzola Sauce Copyright, 2001, Barefoot Contessa Parties!, All rights reserved Prep Time: 10 minutes Cook Time: 50 minutes Yield: 3 cups 4 cups heavy cream 3 to 4 ounces crumbly Gorgonzola (not creamy or "dolce") 3 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan 3/4 teaspoon kosher salt 3/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 3 tablespoons minced fresh parsley Bring the heavy cream to a full boil in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat, then continue to boil rapidly for 45 to 50 minutes, until thickened like a white sauce, stirring occasionally. Off the heat, add the Gorgonzola, Parmesan, salt, pepper, and parsley. Whisk rapidly until the cheeses melt and serve warm. If you must reheat, warm the sauce over low heat until melted, then whisk vigorously until the sauce comes together.

I have been making Beef Tacos for about 50 years (was taught by a mexican) and really haven't varied how I do them. Instead of browning my ground beef, I now microwave it in a large bowl so I can pour out the fat. It takes about 4 times at 4 minutes to get to a browned state. I add 4 oz of diced green chiles after the first 4 minutes for each pound of beef that I cook. I will tell you the fried way, though. Fry l pound of ground beef, about 15% fat for flavor stir in 4 oz can of diced green chiles into meat when you start to cook the meat so they give the meat flavor. Heat vegetable oil in a small iron skillet to very hot and use tongs to place a corn tortilla into oil on one side. Let it sit for a few seconds and then flip it over, bending it softly at that time to make the shell and let the outside crisp up and turn it over for the other side to crisp. Remove and drain shell open side down on paper towels or brown paper bags to remove the excess oil. there is a right and wrong side to a tortilla and for the life of me I can't figure out which side, but I like the side that bubbles up and separates on the outside. I put the beef into the corn taco shells and then place them out for filling. I personally fill in the order below. green or red taco sauce sprinkled on the meat chopped onions chopped tomatoes shredded lettuce shredded jack and/or cheddar cheese on top We like to take several tacos and the fillings on our individual plates so we don't have to keep coming back and fill each taco again from the serving spot. My daughter fills her uncooked corn shells with the beef and then cooks them in the vegetable oil. A lot of mexican restaurants do it this way, also. You get a lot of spitting from the beef into the oil when you do this, but it sure is good. If you want to serve shredded beef, brisket cooked well done and then shredded and browned a little works. The thought of tacos is making me hungry, but I am alone tonight so I think I'll head down to Pepe's for the Taco combo, bring it home and enjoy it.