Banana Lumpia

August 27: National Banana Lovers Day

“Cutie Bites” was the name of the snack for which Islander and Mary Ann B., her childhood best friend, won first place in their junior high honors class many years ago. Their banana lumpia (also known as turon in the Philippines and banana spring rolls or fritters in other parts of Asia and the Pacific Rim) was the best-in-show at a school food fair. Although they only made a few dollars profit, the lessons were invaluable as they learned about food preparation, packaging, marketing and sales. The young entrepreneur’s slogan was: “To be specific, ‘Cutie Bites’ are terrific!” Banana lovers will agree—banana lumpia is a terrific treat for National Banana Lovers Day.

Recipe

Ingredients

• ripe bananas or sweet plantains
• spring roll wrappers
• sugar or cinnamon-sugar
• 1 egg
• oil for frying

Directions

Beat the egg with a tablespoon of water and set aside. Defrost the spring roll wrappers, separate the sheets, place in a container and cover with a damp cloth until ready to use.

Peel the bananas and slice them into quarters. Place a slice in the middle of the wrapper (with one corner pointing down) as shown below. Sprinkle a little bit of sugar or cinnamon-sugar on it. Fold the sides of the wrapper inward. Then fold the bottom of the wrapper upward and roll tightly toward the top corner.

Moisten the top corner of the wrapper with the egg wash. Roll and seal. Place each spring roll in a container lined with wax paper. Continue rolling all the bananas, separating each layer with a sheet of wax paper.

Cover the container with foil and freeze until solid. Transfer the frozen banana lumpia to zipper-top freezer bags until ready to cook. Heat the oil in a deep fryer. Do not defrost the banana lumpia.  Carefully plunge them frozen into the hot oil and fry until crisp and golden brown. Drain on paper towels and sprinkle with sugar or cinnamon-sugar before serving.

Notes

• Islander and Mary Ann B. worked together again on another award-winning project as high school freshmen. Their topic, “How Do Colors Affect Humans?,” won an honorable mention in the science fair display category. See our blog recipe post for colorful sugar cookies on July 9 (National Sugar Cookie Day).
• Banana lumpia can be served as simply as a street food—hot from the vendor’s cart. Or they can be served as fancy as a restaurant-style dessert—cut a couple of them in half diagonally, arrange on a plate with a large scoop of ice cream and drizzle with chocolate sauce or sprinkle with powdered sugar and/or cinnamon-sugar.
• Search our blog for other posts about banana recipes.

Filbert Cake with

Frangelico Dobash Frosting

August 20: Feast Day of St. Philibert

Highlander travels to work on engineering projects occasionally in Oregon where he noticed that the locals call hazelnuts “filberts.” The nut, also known as “cobnut,” was named after Philibert of Jumièges, a seventh century French abbot who cultivated the nut trees. The nuts ripened in the late summer, around August 20, his feast day. Europeans introduced filberts to North America in the 17th century and the wild nuts have been used as an ingredient in some Native American recipes [see our blog recipe post for paganens (Algonquin wild nut soup) for the Feast Day of Blessed Kateri Tekakwitha on July 14]. Prior to 1940, filberts were imported from Europe but are now grown commercially in Oregon and Washington in the United States and British Columbia in Canada.

In observance of the Feast Day of St. Philibert, we baked a filbert cake, decorated it with a filbert-based liqueur (Frangelico) dobash frosting and topped it off with toasted filberts.

Recipe

(Adapted from About Recipes)

For the filbert cake

• 2 cups flour
• 1 ½ teaspoons baking powder
• ¾ teasppon baking soda
• ½ teaspoon salt
• 6 eggs, divided
• 1 cup butter, softened
• 1 ¼ cups sugar, granulated white
• 1 tablespoon Frangelico
• 1 cup sour cream
• 2 cups filberts/hazelnuts, finely ground

Directions

Sift the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Beat the egg whites until white and fluffy. In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter with the egg yolks. Stir in the Frangelico. Gradually blend in the flour, alternating with the ground nuts and sour cream, until the batter is smooth.

Gently fold in the egg whites. Pour the batter into a well-greased cake pan. Bake in a preheated oven at 325 degrees for 45-55 minutes, testing the cake with a toothpick for doneness. Remove from the oven and cool on a wire rack over a larger pan.

For the Frangelico dobash frosting

(Adapted from Hawaiian Electric Company)

• ½ cup unsweetened cocoa powder
• 1/3 cup corn starch
• ½ cup Frangelico
• 1 ½ cups water
• 1 cup sugar
• ¼ teaspoon salt
• ¼ cup (½ stick) butter
• roasted filberts/hazelnuts

Directions

In a mixing bowl, sift the cocoa powder and cornstarch to remove any lumps. Stir in the Frangelico and mix until smooth. In a saucepan, combine the water, sugar, butter and salt. Stir and bring to a boil. Pour the Frangelico mix into the boiling saucepan. Lower the heat and continue stirring until smooth. Remove from the stove top and cool slightly. If necessary, strain the frosting through a sieve to remove remaining lumps.

Pour the frosting over the top of the cake and spread with a spatula. Let the frosting drip down the sides of the cake and run through the wire rack. Smooth the sides with a spatula. Allow the frosting to set at room temperature. Transfer the cake to a serving dish or board. Decorate with filberts/hazelnuts. Refrigerate the cake until ready to slice and serve.

Notes

• Some sources say that St. Philibert’s feast day is on August 22.
• Thanks to Lisa L. who provided the pulverized nuts for the filbert cake. Ground hazelnuts (or hazelnut flour/meal) also can be ordered online from Bob’s Red Mill.
• Search our blog for other recipes using filberts/hazelnuts as an ingredient.

Kartoffelsalat (German Potato Salad)

August 19: National Potato Day

Wilkommen (Welcome) to HI Cookery’s guest chef, Lisa L., our German-American friend who currently lives in Northern Germany (two hours’ drive west of Berlin). Islander traveled to Deutschland a few years ago to be Lisa’s matron of honor and make an American-style wedding cake. What an adventure it was trying to convert measurements and read German cooking directions on packages. But Islander thoroughly enjoyed the experience of sharing the kitchen space with other non-English speaking frauen (women) from the village who were helping with the preparations for the wedding!

When Lisa recently came back to visit her American homeland, she cooked a whole German meal for her friends and family. Her menu included jägerschnitzel (fried breaded pork cutlets) with mushroom gravy, bratwurst (sausages), spätzle (egg noodles), rhubarber-schneemousse torte (rhubarb meringue cake) and kartoffelsalat (potato salad). Planning ahead for a blog recipe post on National Potato Day, Islander chronicled Lisa’s preparation of a traditional German potato salad from a generational recipe shared by a fellow frau in her village. Viel spaß damit und guten appetit (have fun and enjoy your meal)!

Recipe

(Adapted from Kerstin P.)

Ingredients

• 8 large potatoes (3-4 pounds or 1.5-2 kilograms)
• 1 cup onion, chopped
• 1 cup sugar
• ½ – 1 cup cider vinegar
• 1 cup water
• 1 package of cooked real bacon pieces (we have used Hormel and Oscar Mayer brands)
• 1 cup sunflower or vegetable oil
• salt and pepper to taste
• chopped fresh parsley or chives to garnish (optional)

Directions

Wash and scrub the potatoes. Fill a large pot of water enough to cover all of the potatoes. Cover the pot and boil until the potatoes are cooked through (about 15-20 minutes). Drain, cool and peel the potatoes. Cut them into small chunks and place in a large mixing bowl.  Set aside. Combine onions, sugar, vinegar and water in a skillet and heat for about five minutes. Pour this liquid mixture into the bowl of potatoes.

Toss in the bacon pieces. Add the oil and mix well. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Cover the bowl and refrigerate to allow the liquid to be absorbed and the flavors to blend with the potatoes. Garnish with parsley or chives before serving.

Notes

• National Potato Day is also celebrated on October 27. Search our blog for more posts on potato recipes.
• Unlike American potato salad, the German version does not contain mayonnaise as an ingredient.
• See our blog recipe post for wienerschnitzel cooked by our friendly guest chef, Lisa L., for National Wienerschnitzel Day on September 9.