Dessert! Frozen Bananas, Dipped in Chocolate

This is so easy but so impressive. Again, I'm using Thug Kitchen because dude has easy recipes that work (and it makes me laugh).

It'll take you about 10 minutes to make these babies, but you have to be prepared. You've got to have popsicle sticks. OR, if you're like me, you'll use whatever you could find. I found fondue forks and they worked beautifully. The second time (see photos) I used wooden barbecue sticks and I do NOT recommend them. You want something that is not a tube so they can't roll around.

You'll also need to melt chocolate using a double boiler or the microwave. I made a double boiler with a small pot on the bottom and a metal bowl on top that was big enough to not sit on the bottom of the pot. You follow? You want a space between the bottom of your top bowl/pot and the water in the lower pot. Chocolate goes on top and water goes in the bottom.

Why all this trouble to melt chocolate? Chocolate will never harden again if it's heated too much! The good news is you'll be freezing this stuff so it's not too critical that you get the melting just right.

I promise this is actually really easy, even the first time.

Prep time: 15 minutes
Cook time: 3-5 minutes

Gear:
8 popsicle sticks, or something similar
a cookie sheet covered in baking paper, wax paper, or aluminum foil
a freezer

Ingredients:

4 bananas (makes 8 pops, adjust as appropriate)
200g semi-sweet chocolate (bar, chips, chunks) cut or broken into small pieces
2 tbs roasted, chopped nuts (optional)


Peel your bananas and cut them in half widthwise (so they're half as long as a whole banana). The popsicle sticks - or tiny forks - get gently pushed into the flat end. Don't push them in too far or you risk splitting the banana. Set them up so they're lying where they'll be when they go in the freezer, so you know you've got space for all of them.

Setting up the double boiler for chocolate melting... a pot goes on the stove over low heat with about an inch of water in it. Then you place an all metal bowl or another pot on top with the chocolate in it. The top bowl can touch the water, but not the bottom of the bottom pot.

Or, use a microwave and heat the chocolate in 25 second increments, stirring between each 25 seconds, until it's melted.

The hardest part is getting the chocolate to evenly cover the bananas. I dipped them as best I could, but ended up using a butter knife to spread chocolate where it was missing. I even scooped chocolate over the bananas when necessary. Drip as much excess chocolate off as possible.

Lie each popsicle on the cookie sheet and don't move it again. A pool of chocolate may form underneath, but it'll be just fine. Sprinkle your roasted, chopped nuts over the visible side. The second time I did this I used shredded coconut. Mmmm tropical.

Easy Eggplant / Aubergine Dip Recipe

What to do with eggplant? Or aubergine, if you will.

I have never, ever bought or successfully cooked an eggplant before today. I don't like them. There was one time when a friend gave us some eggplants fresh from the garden, and I turned them into a badly textured curry mush catastrophe.

So I was facing off against an eggplant in the fridge (more like ignoring it) and was lucky to stumble on this recipe from Thug Kitchen. Warning, that is a website absolutely full of expletives! It's also vegan, and this is a vegan eggplant dip recipe, incidentally.

It turned out delicious and it was super easy. I urge you to start with half the lemon juice and work up to the full amount if you are at all unsure whether your eggplant is indeed 'medium' sized. Otherwise, you can't really go wrong, even if you don't like eggplant at all. This is the easiest thing to do with eggplant, guaranteed.

Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 25-30 minutes

Ingredients:

1 medium sized eggplant (2.5 lbs or so)
2 tbs lemon juice (the juice of half a lemon)
2 tbs chopped parsley
1/4 tb salt
1-2 tbs chili powder
2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
2 tbs olive oil and/or tahini (I didn't have tahini on hand, but I love it and will try it next time)


Start by roasting the eggplant. If you like to grill, you can grill eggplants whole. I heated the oven to 190 C (375F). I smeared a bit of butter on the bottom side of the eggplant and set it on a small baking sheet, then I carefully poked a few holes in it with a fork. It took about 30 minutes for the eggplant to get totally soft, which I tested by nudging it with a wooden spoon.

While the aubergine roasts, you can prep the rest of the ingredients. Chop things finely and mix all the other ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Easy eggplant dip = not complicated. Leave out a sprinkle of parsley and chili powder for garnish later.

When the aubergine is squishy soft (it can't be too soft for this so go long on the roast rather than cut it short) let it cool then cut it in half, lengthwise. I didn't let mine cool because I was impatient, but I managed to cut it in half without burning myself. I used a knife and a spoon to scoop, shovel the eggplant meat out of it's skin and onto a cutting board. I then chopped it up a bit to make it easier to stir into the rest of the dip ingredients.  Mix it all up and you're done!

Alternatively! You can throw everything into a blender or food processor, or use a stab mixer, and create a super creamy eggplant dip that way. I used a fork to mash everything together and I think I prefer the results, but you're the one who'll be eating this so do what you prefer. If you use a machine, leave out the parsley until the very end.

Enjoy on crackers or bread or with pita or tortillas.

Wasn't that easy? And guess what? It makes eggplant edible.