Category: Breads

Banana Pancakes – Student Showcase

Posted on by Dawn Jacobs

Banana Pancakes

Culinary Creativity Unleashed: Student Recipe Showdown

In our vibrant culinary classroom, the aroma of innovation recently filled the air as students embarked on a delightful challenge: transforming a simple recipe into something uniquely delicious. Armed with just a medium banana, an egg, a dash of flour, and a sprinkle of cinnamon, they were tasked with crafting their own twist on this basic mix. The results? Pure deliciousness, crowned by a taste test that revealed our champions!

Banana Pancakes:  By Marilyn Wommack

 

INGREDIENTS 

  • 1 medium banana, with a few brown spots

  • 1 large egg

  • 2 tbsp flour (see notes)

  • 1/4 tsp cinnamon (optional)

 

INSTRUCTIONS 

  • Mash: in a medium bowl, mash the banana until very smooth with only a few lumps.

  • Add: add in the flour, egg and cinnamon (if using).

  • Mix: with a fork or whisk, mix until everything is combined. 

  • Cook: heat a medium skillet over medium heat, spray with cooking spray or add a little butter if needed. Drop one tablespoon of batter on the skillet and let cook for 3-4 minutes or until the sides are starting to become firm and the bottoms are golden brown. You will not see any bubbles like traditional pancakes. Flip and cook for another 2-3 minutes or until golden brown. 

  • Serve: let cool slightly and serve. 

First Period Winners: A Sweet Twist on Tradition

Meet our culinary creators who took the morning by storm!

Olive P.’s Gourmet Delight:

  • Ingredients: 1 medium banana, 1 large egg, 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1 tablespoon of sugar, 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract, 1/8 cup of chocolate chips

  • The Twist: Olive enhanced the natural sweetness of the banana with a spoonful of sugar and a generous teaspoon of vanilla, rounding it off with chocolate chips for a melt-in-your-mouth experience.

Drew’s Chocolate Chip Sensation:

  • Ingredients: 1 medium banana, 1 large egg, 2 tablespoons of flour, 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon, 2 teaspoons of vanilla extract, a handful of chocolate chips

  • The Twist: Doubling down on vanilla and tossing in a handful of chocolate chips, Drew’s recipe is perfect for those who love their treats rich and flavorful.

Fourth period 

Breanna H. showcased her creativity by making chocolate chip happy faces and crafting a heart-shaped design with chocolate chips on her pancakes. She followed the base recipe, adding 1 teaspoon of vanilla, and concentrated her efforts on the artistic presentation of her pancakes.

Join the Culinary Adventure:

Why not take these recipes for a spin in your own kitchen? Whether you stick to the script or throw in your own twist, there’s a world of flavors just waiting to be explored. Share your creations with us, and let’s keep the culinary creativity flowing!

Happy cooking!

 

 

Fajitas on the Griddle

Posted on by Rodney Jacobs

 

Fajitas on the Griddle

At our home, summer unofficially starts on Cinco de Mayo.  Being from Southern California, we were influenced by the culture of the area.

This weekend, we had some friends over and made fajitas with homemade flour tortillas.  We bought pre sliced steak and marinated it for a couple hours. 

The marinade recipe is below.

  • 1/4 cup soy sauce or coconut aminos (full of flavor with less salt)
  • 1 cup pineapple juice
  • 1 1/2 tsp minced garlic
  • 1/2 cup vegetable oil 

Mix it up and set aside about 1/2 cup of the marinade for later.  Add the marinade to a 1 gallon bag with the steaks making sure that all of the meat gets coated.  You should let the meat marinate for 2-12 hours.

While that marinated, we put our friends to work mixing up some tortilla dough.  We wanted about a dozen tortillas, so we mixed up a batch using the recipe below.

  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1 1/2 tsp salt
  • 6-8 Tbsp butter flavored shortening
  • 1 cup water (hot from the tap)

In a large bowl, combine the flour and salt. Add the shortening and mix with your hand until it is well combined with the flour mix.  You should end up with lots of small crumbles and no clumps.  

Next add the hot water and it will make a wet dough similar in texture to sourdough.  Keep mixing it with your hand until all of the water is absorbed, then turn it out onto the counter and knead the dough until it gets a fairly smooth texture (3-4 minutes).   

Use a dough scraper or any knife to divide the dough into 12 equal parts which can be rolled into balls with your hands.  Put them on a plate, cover with plastic wrap and put them into the fridge for 30 minutes.  

We have a tortilla press, which works great for corn tortillas.  We added some sheets of paper to make the tortillas thinner and it worked well.  No tortilla press?  No problem, you can roll them nice and thin into about 8″ rounds on a lightly floured surface.  

Cook them in a hot skillet (medium-high on my stove) until they bubble up and start to char.  Flip and repeat, and you have some yummy tortillas.  

With the tortillas going, it was time to cook the fajitas.  We had the griddle heated to a fairly high setting and a light coating of avocado oil was added.  We roughly chopped 1 whole onion, one red  and one yellow bell pepper with the seeds removed.  

I cooked the meat first, letting it cook until the bottom was lightly charred and juices formed on the top, then turned it over.  This is a thin cut of meat, so it cooks really quick.  I then cut it into slices right on the griddle and put them into a bowl and set aside. 

Next I threw on the onion and let it start cooking.  You want this to get nice and soft.  I also put the bell peppers on to get some nice charring on them.  After about 5 minutes, the onions were ready, so I mixed them with the bell peppers and added one finely diced jalapeno pepper.  I also seasoned with salt and pepper.

We’re almost done and it smells amazing!

I added the meat to the veggies, mixed it up to blend all of the wonderful flavors and then transferred it to a serving dish.

 Serve hot off of the griddle with the homemade tortillas and enjoy!