Kitchen Experiments: Not all successes

I have tried a few new things in the kitchen lately. Some good, some not so good. Unfortunately I haven't been good at taking a picture either way.

First on the menu was Mongolian Beef from Confessions of a Foodie Bride. I have to confess - we weren't impressed. The sauce was too gravy-like for me, and I don't know why. Maybe I let it cook too long waiting for the rice cooker to be done or maybe it just wasn't sweet enough. It left a taste of liver and onions in my mouth - and I don't like liver.

Next - Banana Scallops! This was part my own creation and part stolen from something similar I saw in a magazine and honestly - I don't have a clue which one or when.

I took fresh bananas and cut them to the same thickness as a scallop and dipped end cut end into sugar and then put them in a hot skillet. I cooked them on high heat just until each side was caramelized.

Then I took some chocolate-caramel spread (kind of like Nutella but no nut flavor) and melted it in the microwave so I can drizzle it on a plate. I placed the "scallops" on the plate and then took a scoop of really, really good dark chocolate ice cream for the middle.

I wish I had taken a photo of this because it looked good --- and tasted good.

Lastly, I made a Strawberry Cream Cheese Pie. This one was easy and not rocket science by any stretch of the imagination.

Shortbread crust (you could cheat and buy one)
cream cheese and powdered sugar, spread in bottom of crust
clean strawberries, place a few large nice ones whole, point up, in the cream cheese mixture
smash the rest, mix with some cornstarch, water and sugar and cook until thick
pour over pie and chill
top with whipped cream

Voila! Again I forgot to take a photo - but it was good.