Mapril Dim Sum Sunday

HAPPY MAPRIL!

HAPPY DIM SUM SUNDAY!

HAPPY MARCH MADNESS!

I had to throw that last one in there because the Kansas Jayhawks pulled off the upset last night and it's pretty much been insanity here in the prairie hood. But back to Mapril. As you recall, the inspiration for Mapril is to celebrate all things Maple in the dreary time that is the end of March and hopefully the end of winter and the beginning of April and spring. My good Canadian friend to the north, Susan of 29 Black Street, still has bits of ice and snow and gray in her world. She needs some hot pink flowers and lovely maple dishes to blow those winter blahs away. For some of us, spring apparently is done and we're heading into summer. Our predicted high today is 88 degrees so hot pink sunburn may be in my future.

I had three maple dishes lined up for Mapril Dim Sum Sunday. Sadly it was not to be and I have no one to blame except myself and not trusting my own damn common sense. You see when searching the internets for inspiration and ideas, I generally use Google image to find potential recipes. Generally my theory is if a photo makes me salivate then it must be, at the very least, a decent recipe. This has worked out fairly well in the past. Bit me in ass this weekend. You see I saw a photo and ended up at this recipe. They used a quick soak method of cooking beans but only had 30 minutes of post soak cooking time. This is where I learn culinary life lessons so you don't have to. Dried beans don't cook in 30 minutes. I don't think dried beans soaked over night cook to tender in 30 minutes. I don't know how long these freaking beans took because I spent all evening with them, gently tending to their needs. I finally decided that I actually wanted to get some sleep so I dumped them into the crock pot and went to bed. This morning found them tender but all the other ingredients cooked to mush. They are ok taste-wise. I'm sad for the cup of beautiful maple syrup that boiled away in the process. I am glad to know that I should stick with the chefs, authors, and websites that I trust. People who actually know how to cook, test and write recipes for the general public. My only guess is that someone was writing a recipe for a pressure cooker version of baked beans but forgot to cook in a pressure cooker because that's the only way this recipe is so not wrong.

Still, they do make for some pretty on this hot Sunday. Guess I'm the April Fool for making this recipe. Keep visiting the comments during the day to see who else decided to get all maplely (yes I know it's not a word...).

Simplicity

It's March 23. Last March we were still dealing with winter, grayness and snow. It was so bad that I was trying to cheer up my good Canadian buddy with a series of recipes celebrating Mapril. I was planning to do it again this year but winter was a no show here in KC. We've already had a week of weather in the low 80s. LOW 80s! Right now things are growing.

Things are blooming.

Things are....happening.

Them bunnies is FORNICATING under there, I SEES THEM!

As you can imagine, we are ecstatic about the weather but it leaves us confused as to seasonal cooking. It's too hot for stews and soups, way too soon for spring veggies. I pondered this as I was sitting on my couch and eating a banana. I love bananas. This particular banana, just beginning to turn ripe, triggered a flash of curiosity. This banana would taste good paired with rosemary. I didn't know how and it's not very often that I have these sort of insights regarding food. Real chefs do, they do all the time. They dream of food and wake up ready to make the recipes they dreamed the night before. I am not a real "chef". However I am a good googler. Not too much out there in planet google on "bananas with rosemary" except for one very lovely recipe. Yes ladies, it's the very pretty Eric Ripert in a short little video making grilled bananas with rosemary and maple.

I LOVE simple. AND it has maple. So I'm calling it, a MAPRIL 2012 recipe. Brush some softened butter on a cookie sheet or broiler pan lined with aluminum foil. Peel your slightly under-ripe bananas and cut them in length-wise. Brush the bananas with softened butter. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Brush with maple syrup. Top with rosemary leaves and broil roughly 4 - 5 minutes. When browned and removed from the broiler, lightly brush with bourbon.

Serve while still warm. Eric suggests this would be a good side dish for white meats such as chicken or pork and because your bananas are under-ripe and not yet overly sweet and you've roasted them, they are a starchy almost like a potato especially when you salt and pepper them. The rosemary is a perfect pairing with the flavor of the bananas and the maple syrup. I'm not totally sold that you need the bourbon but who am I to argue with Eric Ripert. No, I'll thank him instead for a stupid simple dish.

Mapril - Day Two

Let's face it, maple makes most things better. For instance, take the lowly parsnip.

Not much to look at is it? A cross between a carrot and a turnip. The Romans considered them to be an aphrodisiac. Which is why Nigella Lawson has a Maple Roasted Parsnip recipe.

Some parsnips, some maple syrup, some time spent in the oven and Voila...

...Maple goodness.

Celebrating Mapril

What is Mapril and why are we celebrating? It's pushing the month of March out the door and getting a jump on April. Why? Because my good blog buddy, Susan of 29 Black Street, gets the blahs at the end of March. Instead of focusing on the last gasps of winter, we're focusing on the joys of Maple. Did I mention Susan is Canadian? Did I mention that occasionally she sends me pure Canadian Maple syrup? I didn't? Did I mention how much I appreciate this? I do especially if you've seen the price of maple syrup lately. In an attempt to cheer Susan up, I made her Candied Maple Bacon. Hopefully I've got some more maple mischief up my sleeve for the rest of Mapril. Feel free to join in and cheer Susan up. By eating more bacon and maple. God Bless America and Canada.