Many Chinese restaurants serve deep-fried bananas covered in syrup and dipped into ice water to make them crunchy. I have found that serving the bananas with a warm, sugary syrup and sesame seeds is even more delightful.

4 medium size ripe but firm bananas
3 cups canola or vegetable oil for deep-frying

Batter:
1 egg
¼ cup water
½ cup all-purpose flour

Syrup:
¼ cup sugar
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon sesame seeds

Preparation:
Peel bananas and slice each diagonally 4 times into 1 inch thick pieces. In a medium sized bowl, wisk the egg together with water and then add flour. Stir constantly until a fairly smooth batter is formed. Add bananas into bowl. Coat each piece thoroughly with the batter and set aside.

To Cook:
Heat oil in wok or a deep fryer over medium-high heat. While the oil is heating, dissolve the sugar into the water in a small saucepan. Bring to a boil over medium-low  heat and boil for approximately 5 minutes until the mixture becomes a light syrup. Stir in sesame seeds and turn off heat. When the oil is hot, use a pair of chopsticks or tongs to drop the batter coated banana, one piece at the time, into the hot oil. Deep-fry 10 pieces together until golden brown, approximately 2 to 3 minutes. Remove fried bananas onto a large serving plate. Repeat and deep-fry 10 more banana pieces. After deep-frying all of the bananas, reheat the syrup for a few seconds. Remove the saucepan from the heat and immediately spoon the hot sesame syrup evenly over the fried bananas. Serve warm.

Makes 20 pieces
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Cooking time: total about 18 minutes

A light, nutty and crunchy cookie great with tea. What makes these cookies so unique: the Cashew nut!

1 large egg
¾ cup brown sugar
1 cup roasted and salted cashews nuts (5 oz.)
¼ cup creamy peanut butter (Skippy brand)
¾ cups all-purpose flour
Powder sugar

Preparation:
In a large bowl, beat the egg and brown sugar together until smooth. Use a food processor to finely ground the cashews into a powder. Add the finely grounded cashews and peanut butter to the egg and sugar mixture. Mix until smooth. Add flour to bowl. Knead into a soft, workable dough. Place the dough on a floured board and divide into four equal parts. Roll each piece into a long rope. Divide each rope in half and then into quarters, totaling 32 pieces. Using the palms of your hands, roll each piece into a ball. Use a rolling pin to gently flatten each piece into a 1/8 inch thick, 3 inch round circle. The edge of the cookies will be slightly jagged.

To Cook:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Place cookies on 2 large ungreased cookie sheets. Bake the cookies in the center of the oven for 6 to 7 minutes, until light golden brown. Be careful not to burn. Remove cookies from oven. Cool until the cookies become crisp. Dust with powder sugar.

Makes 32 cookies
Preparation time: 20 to 25 minutes
Cooking time: 6 to 7 minutes

Happy Holidays! I am addressing my holidays cards now and thought I would share Austin’s first visit with Santa! He was super…

And here’s another one of Lucy’s easy recipes that may come in handy. Candied Pecans are wonderful snack served alone or with ice cream and yogurt. In Chinese restaurants, the pecans are deep-fried. Baked pecans however, are just as tasty.

1 pound package planter’s pecan halves (16 oz.)
4 cups water
1 cup sugar

To Cook
Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a medium size pot, bring pecan halves and water to a full boil over medium-high heat. Boil uncovered for 5 minutes. Remove the pecan halves from the stove and drain through a colander. In a bowl, toss the hot pecan halves with sugar. Line tin foil on a large cookie sheet. Place the sugar coated pecan halves evenly and flat on the cookie sheet. Bake for 30 minutes. Use a wooden spoon to stir the pecans twice after baking for 15 minutes. This is to prevent the pecans from sticking to the tinfoil while baking. After baking for 30 minutes, the pecans will turn slightly darker and the sugar will dry, sticking to the pecans. Remove the pecans from the oven, stir and let the pecans cool for at least one hour. When the pecans are cooled to room temperature and they will become crispy. Store pecans in an air tight jar. Pecans can be kept for many weeks.

Boiling time: 5 minutes
Baking time: 30 minutes

In China, sweet potatoes are popular sweets and snacks. In the spirit of Thanksgiving, we thought we would share a sweet potato recipe. This cake goes great with ice cream for dessert or your  morning cup of coffee!

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2  teaspoon salt
1 pound and 13 oz. canned sweet potatoes in syrup
3 eggs
1 cup brown sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
1/3 cup canola or vegetable oil
Canola oil or Pam cooking spray
powder sugar

*Preheat oven to 350 degrees

Preparation:
In a small bowl, combine dry ingredients: flour, baking soda, cinnamon and salt.  Mix and set aside.  Drain syrup from sweet potatoes and cut into 1/2 inch cubes (approx. 4 cups).  In a large bowl, beat eggs with brown sugar until smooth.  Add vanilla, oil and sweet potato cubes.  Stir in the dry ingredients.  Mix together throughly into a soft thick paste.

To Bake:
Spray 12 cup bundt pan with cooking spray.  Spoon batter evenly into greased bundt pan.  Bake for 40 minutes or until an inserted fork comes out clean.  Cool for 10 minutes.  Invert onto serving plate.  Dust with powder sugar.  Wonderful when served warm!

Makes 12 servings
Preparation time: 20 minutes
Baking time: 40 minutes

A simple, tasty dessert topped with a dollop of whipped cream and YUM! Sweet Mandarin oranges are a popular Chinese fruit and this recipe is really easy! After all, it comes canned. I personally like to keep a can of Mandarin oranges handy at all times to spruce up a spinach salad but dessert is just an added bonus. This is truly a one of a kind creation meant to enjoy the wonderful flavor of the Mandarin orange.

1 cup all purpose flour
½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
½ teaspoon salt
2 eggs
1 cup sugar
¼ cup non-fat milk or plain light soy milk
2 tablespoons canola or vegetable oil
2 teaspoons finely grated orange peel
1 can whole peeled mandarin orange segments (15 oz.) drained
canola oil or pam cooking spray
whipped cream (optional)

Preparation:
In a small bowl, combine flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Set aside.
In a large bowl, beat 2 eggs with sugar until smooth. Add milk, oil, orange peel and mix together thoroughly. Combine liquid ingredients with the flour mixture to form a soft batter. Fold in the drained mandarin orange slices.

To Bake:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Spray a 9 inch round non-stick cake pan with cooking spray. Add batter to pan and bake for approximately 28 to 30 minutes (until an inserted fork comes out clean). Remove from oven and let cool. Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream.

Tip: If you are not planning to serve the cake right away, cover with tin foil while warm to keep moist until ready to serve.

Makes 8 servings
Preparation time: 10 minutes
Baking time: 28 to 30 minutes