Maduros Withdrawal (Fried Sweet Plantains)

Brown-Sugar-Baked Bananas with Rum and Lime

Fairtrade Recipes

Oh my goodness! I have been thinking about making baked or fried desserts, based solely on bananas, for a while now. After an extended stay in Miami Beach I am now hooked on Maduros...and the influence of my half-Cuban roommate, Cristina.
Now, the picture above does not represent what I'm craving, but it is a great recipe that I ran across and couldn't help but to post it!
This is maduros:

RIPE PLANTAIN CASSEROLE WITH STRING BEANS (a Dominican Republic dish)

[PASTELÓN DE PLÁTANOS MADUROS CON VAINITAS]

Via: Dominican Republic

Ingredients:

5 ripe plantains
5 eggs
1 can of evaporated milk
1 tablespoon of wheat flour
1 cup of grated cheddar cheese
** Salt to taste
** 4 cups of cooked string beans (marinated in advance)
Preparation:
Peel the ripe plantains and cut lengthwise (in strips). Fry them in hot oil and set them aside on paper towels. Mix the evaporated milk, cheese, eggs, flour and salt together.
Grease a mold and place a layer of ripe plantains on it. Then place a layer of string beans over it, then another layer of plantains, another layer of string beans, and so on.
Then pour the milk mixture in and spread grated cheese on the top. Baked in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees F for 20 minutes. Let cool and serve.

Istanbul On the Rise

I know folks go crazy over the art and architecture in Europe, mainly Italy, but Middle Eastern tastes distract me to far greater debts. The patterns and colors are so dusty, rustic, and intricate. I've always wanted to go to India,

but Istanbul is my latest destination of interest!

Inside the Blue Mosque

Hagia Sophia entrance

Topkapi Palace

Whirling Dervishes

These photos were found via rasims1 flickr page.

"Arriving in Istanbul"

Ciragan Palace

Ortakoy Camii

These photos were found via aa440 flickr page.

Blue Mosque Interior

Basilica Cistern

"Constructed in the 6th century during the reign of imperator Justinianus, it is 70m width and 140 m in length. 9800 sq.m., 226 marble columns"

If there are any Bachelorette fans out there, you might recognize this scene season 6 of the Bachelorette where Ali takes Frank on a date here. Oh so beautiful.

These photos were found via dmartynkin flickr page.

Hagia Sophia

This photo was found via tazzina in de uorld's flickr page.

What a splendid shot!

Turkish kitties? Even better.

I want to see the everyday life things...

These photographs were found via nefisdurun flickr page.

I really like these pictures. They're very reminiscent of Catier Bresson.

Endlessly Fascinated by Susan Worsham

I am enthralled by the work of Susan Worsham.

I love when food is a part of a photograph.

Beautiful color.

Here is the link to her website.

A New Love: Medium Format Photography

          Holga & Diana F+ differences          Cross Processing (Xpro) film

Cleansing is Complete!

Now all there is left to do is enjoy delicious food that accompanies a lifestyle change.

I can say that I have never in my life eaten like this for an extended period of time. I am proud of myself for working towards this goal. The best part of the whole thing is that I am not going back to the old "foodie" me!

It's veggies, fruit, and deliciousness from here on out!

Remember me writing that I love sun-dried tomatoes??

Well I am definitely looking for ways use them and this one has been terrific!

I sauteed my chicken with oregano, dried basil, salt, and pepper, and put in the oven.

I added the tiniest bit of Italian dressing to my Thomas Bagel Thin half, then topped the chicken and tomatoes off with spinach leaves! Mm.

I have had this sandwich twice now in one week!

This particular day was extremely busy with two back-to-back meetings, a UGA basketball, my roommate's birthday/her birthday dinner...

So I basically had to pack enough food to last me from 3:30pm to 9:00pm!

I surprisingly didn't even go through all of it!

Boredom Led to a Sweet Potato

I found the greenbean recipe on cookthink.com.

(I dislike cilantro, so I left that out.)

I once again needed to spice up my veggies.

Fresh greenbeans did the trick!

But to make them a little more appealing I had to add a little extra something: GINGER.

This is another one of my Favorite flavors.

First I boiled the green beans until they were bright green, then I drained the water and threw them in a pan where olive oil, ginger, and garlic were sizzling together.

They basically sauteed and I paired this side with my sweet potato:

The potato cooked in the oven at 350 degrees in a little bit of olive oil.

I then sliced it open and squeezed the juice of an orange over it!

Added some salt and (of course) tons of cracked pepper.

Day 15 - Delectable Yellows

(taken with AF-S Micro Nikkor 105mm lens F/2.8)

Hello delicious banana and blueberry breakfast!

Actually this was just a precursor for my oatmeal (which was also delicious).

Mood switch:

Welcome to lunch.

Instead of using green bell peppers in one of my favorite dishes, I opted for yellow! It's amazing how much of a difference color can make in a meal. I felt like I was eating something completely different, but in actuality it was still the same old favorite.

The Favorite: onions and garlic sauteed in olive oil, then you just throw in peppers! MMM

As seen here, I add cracked pepper and Parmesan cheese on top.

Oh yeah, and black beans (I used to put the onions and peppers on top of a bed of orzo and feta cheese...also extremely delicious.)

On a flavorful spinach and herb tortilla!