Pisco Sour

Recipe for your Pisco Sour:

For a full blender jar which will render approximately 10 pisco size glasses…about 4 ounces:

Blend one egg white

Add ½ cup of white sugar or “jarabe de goma” according to taste
Blend, and then add:
One full ice maker container (Aprox. 14 ice cubes…)
Add 1 cup of pisco (8 oz)
Add ¾ cup of lime juice
Blend on high speed
Serve in the pisco cups and if desired, add 1 or 2 drops of  angostura bitters on each cup (Possibly the most popular brand of bitters, Angostura, should be considered a must when stocking a bar of any seriousness. The story begins with Johann Gottlieb Benjamin Siegert, a German doctor who found himself in Angostura, Venezuela in 1824 where he created this secret blend of tropical herbs and plants with the intent of curing a variety of illnesses. The brand is now produced in Trinidad and the blend is still a well-kept, but much appreciated secret. The oversized, awkward label has also become a trademark of the brand. It's said that the wrong size was ordered and everyone in the facility thought someone else would fix the mistake, no one did and the label remains)
This is a variation for people without access to Pisco:  Add 1 cup of good white rum instead of the Pisco and it will give you an approximate taste to the original cocktail.  Why not use Whisky, also?  After all, the whisky sour was the real inspiration for the creation of the pisco sour in the Morris Bar,  Jirón de la Unión, Calle Boza, in Lima, in the 1920’s  and was variated  with the addition of the egg white( never used before…instead, they added one cup of mineral water) in the Hotels Maury and Bolivar by the barmen who worked in the bar until its closing in 1933? (these barmen are cited as Alfonso Bregoye, Graciano Cabrera and Alberto Mezarina).

Banana Bread Pudding

Banana Bread Pudding
From the Canadian Magazine: Dairy Goodness

What better way to use up ripe bananas than this easy dessert. The ultimate in comfort food, bread pudding never goes out of sty
Prep. Time 15 mins
Cooking Time 1 hr
Yields 6 to 8 servings
Preparation
What You Need
2 tbsp (30 mL) butter, softened
1 loaf crusty French bread or bakery-style multi-grain bread (about 1
lb/500 g)
4 eggs
3/4 cup (180 mL) packed brown sugar
4 cups (1 l) milk
1 1/2 cups (375 mL) mashed ripe banana
1 tbsp (15 mL) vanilla extract
1 cup (250 mL) dried cranberries or tart cherries (optional)
Icing sugar

Instructions
Preheat oven to 350 °F (180 °C). Spread butter into 13 x 9-inch (33 x 23 cm) glass baking dish; set aside.

Cut bread into 1-inch (2.5 cm) cubes; set aside. In large bowl, whisk together eggs and sugar; whisk in milk, banana and vanilla extract. Add bread and cranberries (if using) to bowl and toss gently to coat. Let stand at room temperature for 10 min or until bread is soaked through.

Pour into prepared baking dish. Bake for about 50 to 60 min or until puffed, golden and knife inserted in centre comes out clean. Serve warm or cold. Dust with icing sugar before serving.


Very ripe bananas (with brown spots) give the best flavour to baked goods. As bananas ripen, pop them (unpeeled) in a resealable freezer bag and freeze. To use, thaw in a bowl in the refrigerator or defrost in the microwave, remove peel and mash.

For the Adventurous:
For a more decadent dessert, add 1/2 cup (125 mL) chopped bittersweet chocolate with bread cubes; serve topped with 35 % whipped cream.