Hello there,

It's time for Steemit Iron Chef again. The first time I knew abut this week's theme, I was a bit afraid. Why? Because I dont like banana! Well I used to like banana but recently I hate the smell of banana that makes me dont want to eat them. But still, I dont want to miss SIC just because I dont like them. Strange things did happen! During all the preparations, I completely forgot that I dont like banana and the smell didn't bother me at all. Thanks SIC I finally can eat banana again!! :-D

For this week, I did a lot of work for SIC. The dish itself looks simple, but I can tell you there are a lot of works behind that. I wanted to do this because I have three days off so I can really focus on preparing this dish. I didn't have to rush because I have to go to work. I was doing it slowly but sure. I am quite happy with the results even though there are always room for improvement :-)

Banana Mousse

Ingredients

• 50 gr dark brown sugar
• 10 ml dark rum
• 2 tsp lemon juice
• 1 star anise
• 1 quill cinnamon
• 2 medium ripe bananas, cut into chunks
• 150 ml heavy whipping cream
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 gelatin sheets, softened in cold water for 5 minutes
• 170 gr superfine sugar
• 60 ml water
• 5 egg yolks
• 375 ml cold heavy whipping cream

Directions

• In a sauce pan, place dark brown sugar, rum, lemon juice, star anise and cinnamon, cook over medium heat until sugar dissolves.
• Add in banana chunks and continue cooking until it turns soft.
• Add in 150 ml heavy cream, stir to combine.
• Squeeze the gelatin sheets and add in the mixture then add in salt. Stir until well combined.
• Transfer to a blender and mix well. Set aside.
• In another sauce pan, place sugar and water and bring to boil over medium heat, simmer for about 4-5 minutes.
• While waiting for the sugar to be ready, using hand mixer, whisk egg yolks until the color turns pale.
• When the sugar ready, add in gradually the hot sugar into egg yolks, keep whisking until the sugar is done and set aside.
• In a large bowl, beat the cold heavy cream until soft peaks.
• Fold in egg yolks mixture into banana mixture, then followed by whipped cream.
• Pour into a silicon mold and freeze overnight.
• Unmold right before serving.

Banana Nuggets

Ingredients

• 500 gr ripe bananas, mashed
• 100 gr all purpose flour
• 50 gr milk powder
• 15 gr granulated sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• frying oil

for coating

• all purpose flour as needed
• 2 beaten large eggs
• breadcrumbs as needed

Directions

• In a large bowl, combine all ingredients except the oil, mix well using hand mixer.
• Spray your rectangular baking pan or any pan, I used round pan, with baking spray, pour the batter in it.
• Steam for about 25 minutes and leave it to cool.
• Cut into your desired shape, coat with all purpose flour, then dip in the beaten eggs then coat again with breadcrumbs and fry until golden brown.
• Ready to serve.

Chocolate Banana Ice Cream

Ingredients

• 400 gr banana, frozen
• 70 gr sweet condensed milk
• 6 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder

Directions

• Place all ingredients in a bowl of a food processor, pulse until it becomes smooth and creamy.
• Transfer to a container and leave it overnight to set. If you prefer soft, you may freeze for minimum 4 hours.
• Ready to serve.

Salted Caramel

Ingredients

• 125 g superfine sugar
• 50 ml water
• 60 gr cold butter, cut into big chunks
• 5 gr salt
• 200 ml heavy cream, warmed

Directions

• In a sauce pan, mix sugar and water over low heat until sugar dissolves. Turn the heat to medium high and continue cooking until the sugar mixture turns dark brown. Be careful not to burn your sugar mixture!!
• Add in the cold butter gradually. Again, be careful, hot caramel may splash and it's hot.
• Add in salt then pour the cream gradually. Mix it well.
• Turn the heat to low, let it simmer until the mixture is slightly thickened.
• Let it cool before using.

Snickerdoodles Cookie Crumble

Basically, this is the recipe of Snickerdoodles Cookies. For my crumble, I took some cookies and crushed them like crumble.

Ingredients

• 230 gr unsalted butter at room temperature
• 260 gr granulated sugar
• 1 large egg
• 2 tsp pure vanilla extract
• 375 all purpose flour
• 2 tsp cream of tartar
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 tsp salt

for topping

• 50 gr superfine sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

Directions

• Preheat oven to 190°C, line two baking tray with silicone baking mat or parchment paper.
• For topping mixture: mix all ingredients in a small bowl, set aside.
• In a bowl of a stand mixer fitted with paddle attachment, cream the butter until the color becomes pale. Add in sugar and mix again until creamy. Mix in egg and vanilla extract.
• In a bowl, place the flour, cream of tartar, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Mix until well combined.
• With the stand mixer running in low speed, add in gradually the dry ingredients. The dough will be thick.
• Spoon out 1.5 tbsp of the dough and roll them out into balls and dip them in the topping mixture.
• Place them on the baking tray and bake for about 12 minutes.
• Let it cool before serving.

For the meringue cookies recipe, I've shared previously on my blog and you can check it here. I opted something neat for the plating, as you may see in the picture, I arranged everything next to each other. Simple and neat. I added also some salted pistachio on top of the mousse along with Thai basil since I didn't have mint leaves on hand. It worked well with the banana mousse. I should have put some more.

Tomorrow I'm back to work again, time for rest now :-( I wish I have more holidays. Anyway, glad that I could submit my entry just in time and no rush.

Thank you everyone for reading and to those who are attending Steemfest, enjoy Steemfest to the max!! :-)

Cheers,

All content and images are original and mine. Photos were taken with Panasonic Lumix DMC-FZ1000.