Monday, April 27, 2009

The Breakfast That Ticky Missed.

Ahhhh ... Ticky, Ticky, Ticky. Tsk, tsk, tsk. Just look at what you missed.
Sunday morning for breakfast I wanted something special, something different, something "outside the box," so to speak. (And I hate that expression.) Oh heck, I wanted to "push the envelope."
I was inspired by my creme fraiche/lime/cilantro dip for this part of this recipe. I pulled out my plain creme fraiche, (Plain creme fraiche? An oxymoron if I ever heard one. Let's say unadulterated creme fraiche, or virgin creme fraiche, or unadorned creme fraiche.) an orange, and Mr. Hawthorne's sourwood honey.
A tablespoon or two of honey in the creme fraiche.
I zested an orange ...
... and added that to my honeyed creme fraiche.
I'm doing fried plaintains. Here are the ingredients for my batter: just club soda and Bisquick.
One cup Bisquick and 3/4 cup club soda. I love the bubbly foamy.
Then I thought to add in vanilla, the good vanilla, of course. (Nod to Ina. Wink to shrikes)
I sliced my plantains and put them in the batter.
I heated vegetable oil in my pan, then added the battered slices of plantains. Do not crowd the pan. Just do a few at a time.
I fried them on both sides, then I drained them on paper towels.
And here's breakfast fare for the Hawthornes. Fried plantains sprinkled with powdered sugar, with assorted fruits, and an orange-honey creme fraiche.
Now, I know everyone recognizes the strawberries, the blackberries, the blueberries, and the raspberries (which I could have done without since I am not at all a fan of raspberries). But does anyone know what that other mass of matter is on the left? Sadly, I forgot to take a picture of it before I peeled it and plated it. But thank goodness for Google Images. Here it is. Upon first looking at the fruit, Mr. Hawthorne thought it was an artichoke. I guess he didn't look very hard, since it didn't have leaves like an artichoke, although when I looked at the image on the link above, I can see why he might have thought it was artichoke. Here's another picture. Anyone know what it is? ... Respectful pause while my readers ponder ... It is a cherimoya. And here's more interesting information about the cherimoya. And more. What did it taste like? To me, it was like custard, taste-wise and texture-wise. Daughter Hawthorne floved it. But alas, the Hawthorne Household won't be having this fruit on a regular basis. When Ticky and I went to Harris Teeter on Saturday, we were looking in the produce department and came upon this item. The description described the taste as mango, maybe strawberry, and some other fruits I can't remember. It didn't have a price on it, but I wanted to try something different. I tossed it in my cart and it wasn't until I scanned the item at checkout that I found the darn thing was over $5.00.
I thought this a very pretty presentation and found it to be delicious. When I make it again, and I most certainly will, I will substitute bananas for the plantains. The plantains didn't have the flavor I expected of them. I thought they would taste like bananas, but they didn't. They just looked like bananas. And I actually thought I was buying bananas, when I picked up the plantain which was right next to the cherimoya. Note to self: Put on your glasses when shopping the produce section at Harris Teeter. Definitely, bananas would put this over the top. If you like plantains, then go with them. But bananas would be absolutely divine.
As for the batter, it was everything you'd look for in a batter - light, crisp, fresh, and complementary to the food it was encasing. Plus it had that hint of vanilla in it. This was an excellent batter and one that I'll use again (sans vanilla), for fish, for vegetables, for ... you name it. OK, so I Sandra-Lee'd it with the Bisquick. Just kill me now. The soda water is what put the batter over the top. As I said, an excellent batter.

3 comments:

Kathy said...

I guess my decision not to stay another night isn't reversible?

Marilyn said...

At least you didn't use the cap to 'measure' out the vanilla. And that is how you are supposed to semi-Ho things.

I had never seen that fruit before. Interesting. Can't see getting my crew to try something like that, though.

Rosie Hawthorne said...

Ticky, you're welcome here anytime, for any meal.

And Marilyn, you could sneak some cherimoya in say, a fruit salad.
It tastes like a custard.