Portobello Mushroom Burger with Avocado, Bacon & zesty chipotle aioli.

This is my recipe. Yes, one would think i'd take credit for a more complex dish but no, I'm not that good. Most of my cooking comes from other people's recipes. This one, I put together because I had ingredients that needed to be used or tossed soon enough. Voila the portobello mushroom burger with avocado, bacon and zesty chipotle aioli. You can also make this vegetarian/vegan (just take away the bacon)...and the aioli I made, I used "fake" mayo. Again, I only cook little..for two people. If you want more, add more. Its customizable and you can add literally whatever you want. I personally find these ingredients to be a complete palette: the crunch, the green, the zest and the cream.

Ingredients:
2 big portobello mushroom. Remove stems, wash, throw some salt n pepper, cover with papertowels to soak up excess water.
1 avocado. Cut in pieces. No salt needed if you're using bacon.
1 leaf of romaine lettuce.
10 pieces of bacon. (Husband and I have 5 each)
2 brioche buns (any buns you want)

Just sea salt and ground pepper

Cook the bacon first. Set aside in paper towel to soak up extra fat. Drain half of the fat left and use it to cook your mushrooms and toast the buns. For vegetarian option, ignore the bacon and use olive oil

For zesty chipotle aioli:

Spoon of ketchup, spoon of "fake" or real mayo,  small spoon of dijon mustard.

Season it with garlic powder, onion powder, chipotle paprika and table spoon of pickled olive juice. Mix together and voila! Your buns are ready to be sauced!

Make sure the mushrooms are cooked throughly...as in, once they "let" the water out. Otherwise, your buns will be soaked in shroom juice. Unless thats something you like. You can also grill them....which you know, having 2 Weber's 10 feet from me, one would think I wouldn't stink up the house with bacon but whatever, the cats enjoy it.

Add the greenery and enjoy!

Banana Bread filled with Eurocrem & toasted almonds

You asked and here I am delivering. Here is the recipe for this delicious banana loaf. I've made it so many times and its absolutely tried & true. You can basically fill it with anything you want. I've made it with chopped walnuts and filled it with sweet cream cheese and little bit of honey. Anything goes. I chose the chocolate cream (brand is Takovo, made in Gornji Milanovac, Serbia) because its my favorite chocolate spread on the planet. Many would pick Nutella, but Eurocrem is my holy grail for toast and crepes (palacinke.) Plus its better than Nutella. Come at me bro.

This recipe makes 1 loaf, so if you want more...obviously double up :)

Ingredients:

3 ripe bananas. (Or 4 if you have small ones. I have made them with fresh ones, and it was not as sweet as I would have liked. Make sure your bananas are RIPE. Mush them - chunks are ok. Gives your loaf more texture. Set aside. Bananas will be folded in.)

1 large egg

1/4 cup of light brown sugar

1/4 cup of regular granulated sugar

1/4 cup of sour cream or Greek yogurt. (THIS is important. Its what keeps the loaf moist)

1/2 cup of melted butter (1 stick. Personally, I like to melt it in a pan but microwave is just fine too.)

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract.

1 cup of flour

1/2 teaspoon of baking soda

1/2 teaspoon of baking powder.

Pinch of salt.

Directions:

Combine sugars, butter, egg, sour cream and vanilla extract together. You can use a whisk or electric mixer. Pour the mushed bananas and fold them in. Once all combined, add the flour (little by little as you fold), baking powder, baking soda and salt. Combine well. 

This is where you can get creative and its totally up to your preferences. I put in chopped slivered almonds. About half a cup. You can throw in chocolate chips, walnuts, pecans...whatever you want.

Grease a 9"x5" loaf pan well. (I made a mistake of taking it easy on the greasing, and the bread was completely stuck and destroyed once i tried to pry it off, grease your pan well.)

Pour half of the mixture in the pan. On top, spread Eurokrem or Nutella, no specific amount. I think I put about half a cup of it. Once its nice and spread, pour the other half of the mixture on top.

350F, 50 minutes, use toothpick to check the center and voila, done!

Cool in the pan for 15,20  minutes before dumping it out on a serving dish.