Banana dessert rolls

There isn't really a recipe for this...I just kind of threw these things together. My inspiration for these bananas came from friend bananas at the Thai restaurants we love, as well as Banana Spring Rolls with Coconut Ice Cream from P.F. Chang's.

I thought they were a bit too banana-y for me, but would love to replace the banana with berries, or peaches. Bananas aren't exactly my favorite fruit...but the man friend loves them and keeps begging for this dessert (and telling me I could sell it. Ssshhh, don't tell him I just gave you the recipe).

Ingredients:
2-3 sheets phyllo dough
2 tbsp butter
1/4 cup sugar
2 tbsp cinnamon
Nutella
2 bananas

Preheat oven to 350.

Take a sheet of phyllo dough and lay it on a large cutting board. Melt buttress and brush it on the dough. Sprinkle cinnamon and sugar over sheet. Place a second sheet of phyllo on top. Repeat process if going to use a third sheet. Once the last sheet is placed, cut phyllo stack into 6 equal sections.

Coat top piece of phyllo with nutella, staying 1/2 inch from all sides. Cut each banana into three equal sections. Roll phyllo around a piece of banana and fold ends in. Brush with melted butter and place on a cookie sheet. Repeat with remaining.

Bake for 5-7 minutes, until phyllo is golden brown. Remove from oven and serve warm.

Mochi!

Aka, rice cakes...

Mochi is made from mochiko (glutinous rice flour).  I am a mere beginner at working with mochiko, being that I've never had rice cakes until this past year.  The manfriend really likes them, so when we ran across the box of rice flour at the grocery store, he did not protest when I casually slipped it into the cart.

The process for making mochi is very simple, basically mixing water (or a different liquid of your choice, like green tea or orange juice) with rice flour and some sugar and microwaving it until it's elastic and somewhat transparent.

I've tried many different fillings for my mochi in the few days we've had rice flour...peanut butter, chocolate, strawberries, coconut, pecans, mint chocolate...to name a few.  So far the favorite creation has been Raspberry Mint Green Tea Mochi.  The green tea is mixed into the rice flour, and the mochi has been wrapped around raspberries and mint from the garden.

Forgive the not-so-pretty picture, I'm still practicing how to form the mochi into beautiful balls.  Thankfully, presentation doesn't affect the taste.

Next up...savory mochi... we'll see how that goes...