Archive for May, 2010

Use 13 x9 cake pan

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (I wait till they get very spotted then put in fridge until they turn black on the outside)

1- 2 tsp lemon juice

3/4 cup unsalted butter

2  1/8 cups white sugar

3 large eggs

2 tsp vanilla extract

1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1/4 tsp salt

1  1/2 cups milk  (with at least 2% milk fat)

3 cups flour

Frosting

1- 8oz pkg cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup unsalted butter

3 1/2 cups confectioners sugar

For cake: With hand blender cream butter, sugar, and eggs.  Add bananas, vanilla, salt, baking soda, lemon juice, and milk.  Slowly add flour and incorporate well each time, then add more until all flour is used.  Pour into greased 13×9 cake pan.  Bake for 70 minutes at 275 degrees.  Check the cake after 60 minutes then remove when appropriate, every oven is different. 

For frosting: simply blend cream cheese, butter, and confectioners sugar.  Spread on top of cooled cake.  This cake is best when stored in the refrigerator.  Soooo good cold with a tall glass of milk!

This recipe was found on RecipeZaar

Some of you have probably seen Steven Raichlen, host of “Primal Grill” on PBS, or maybe you own one of his 28 cookbooks.  He’s a five time James Beard winner, founder of Barbecue University and also has other cooking shows airing on PBS and in Quebec.  He is the BBQ MAN, there is no doubt, and now his new book titled “Planet Barbecue” is hitting the stores!  I couldn’t be more excited to partner up with Workman Publishing to give my readers a few copies of this awesome book!

Raichlen visited 60 countries over the span of five years to compile 309 recipes into this vividly photographed 630 page book.  He has it all covered for you, literally.  Wow diner guests with Brazilian roasted pineapples or spice up any potluck with Puerto Rican lechon asado!! It’s all delicious and right here in this book.  Grilling in Austrailia, Argentina, Canada, Germany, France… you’ll never look at grilling quite the same way ever again!

How to enter my giveaway!!

This will be a contest/giveaway.  I’m looking for the hottest, foodtrampilicious barbecue recipe in your recipe box!  It doesn’t have to be original, but give credit where credit is due.  Here are the steps to enter:

1) Become a fan of Food Tramp Diaries on Facebook click here to “like” me .  If you don’t have facebook follow me on twitter here

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4) You may enter as many times as you like, just refer a new friend to my page each time.

Makes 6-10 servings

cook time 30 min at 350 degrees

Ingredients

10 soft flour tortillas

1lb ground beef

1pkg rice-a-roni spanish rice or sometimes I just use 2 cups leftover rice of any kind

16 oz sour cream

1 can cream of mushroom soup

1 pkt taco seasoning

1/3 to 1/2 cup pace picante sauce

Lots of cheese, monterey/cheddar blend (about 4 cups)

1 small can sliced olives

Directions

Using a large skillet, brown ground beef, drain fat. Add rice, taco seasoning, salsa, 1/2 of cream of mushroom soup, half of sour cream, 1/2 can of olives, and 1 to 1 1/2 cups of cheese.  Mix together well.

Spray a 13×9 in pan with cooking spray.  Take tortilla and fill with a portion of your mix in the skillet.  Roll up and line in pan. Use 8-10 tortillas..depending on how much you fill each one, you could use less or more, do what you’d like. 

Mix up remaining sour cream, soup, and olives together in bowl then spread over the top of enchiladas lined in pan.  Cover well with lots of cheese!  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes then turn on broiler for final 1o minutes to get the cheese nice and baked on.

I actually got a hot tip about Lobby’s Beef, Burgers, Dogs from one of my readers!!  What a good tip to get.   I’ve been very behind on being able to review restaurants due to my child’s health issues.  However, things are getting much better and I’ve been able to get out a little more, so Lobby’s has been on my list for months now, and I needed to check it off. 

Lobby Syregelas grew up in Chicago, and his family had always been in the restaurant business. Already owning Butterfields Pancake House, he knew his entreprenuership was not over.  He had fond memories of enjoying beefs at Portillo’s and wanted to share the love of Chicago style beefs, burgers, and dogs in the valley of the sun.  When you walk into Lobby’s you automatically feel the love and the passion from Lobby as he is up at the register greeting all of his customers.  “Hi there, this your first time here?” The first thing Lobby will say to you…if it is your first time, he will then explain the simple, but all homemade menu to you and offer suggestions.  He’s such a nice guy and his passion for this restaurant shows in everything they do.

My husband Jeremy really wanted to do the Lobby’s 3lb burger challenge. Ten years ago he had conquered a 96oz steak challenge in Tucson at the Texas T-Bone, so he figured a 3lb burger would be nothing! I wanted to try a single burger out myself and then at the last minute I added a maxwell sausage because I love caramelized onions.  Can’t forget an order of Chicago style fries, cooked up in older oil that gives them a deep color and great flavor.  Lobby only cooks french fries in his fryers and nothing else so they taste perfect every time. 

Mario putting J's 9 patties on the grill

Owner, Lobby Syregalas presenting the massive meat!

before the timer started

Jeremy had  ten minutes to finish this massive burger.  It was hot, temperature wise, and big…but I still thought he had this in the bag!! However, after seven minutes only 4 patties were down and I feared the worse.  I tried to encourage him, told him he had three more minutes and it was time to hustle…but he just couldn’t make it happen. He told Lobby that the meat was so good that he couldn’t eat it too fast..he was actually enjoying the flavor of the beef so much. 

get a load of that toasty bun and all that cheese

Lobby prepares all of the items on his menu when you order them, every morning they ball up their fresh ground beef even bigger than 1/3 lb so that when they cook it , you’re truly getting 1/3 lb.  Lettuce, tomato, your choice of real cheese, and even homemade pickles he orders from Chicago.  Lobby also makes a simple sauce that goes onto all of his burgers.  I’m tasting mayonnaise, ketchup, and cayenne pepper, he says I’m partially correct, but won’t spill the beans.  Another thing I love are the buns..not your normal sesame seed bun, it’s a lighter bun and the grill master Mario butters them and toasts them on both sides so when you take a bite, you immediately taste the toasted seeds…IT’S SO GOOD!!!

I’m not gonna lie, I ate my whole 1/3 lb burger, the maxwell dog and the fries.  Maybe I should have taken that challenge, lol.  Lobby’s maxwell was the bomb!  The onions were caramelized when I ordered it in real butter and you could totally taste it, I was hooked.  The bun was a traditional Chicago style poppy seed bun, yum.  The fries are a crinkle cut, and normally I really don’t like any crinkle cut fries, but these browned right up and with a little salt tasted delicious, no ketchup needed.

I can definitely say that this is now my favorite Chicago style eatery in the Phoenix area.  Simple menu, fresh ingredients, and quality you can taste!  I’m already craving another bacon cheddar burger and thinking about asking for those caramelized onions on top, YUM!

You better listen to Lobby!