30,000 Pounds of Bananas

Well, not quite 30,000 pounds.

Last week I decided to do a banana bread smack down.

In this corner, from Cook for Good, fighting in the whole white wheat flour, weighing in with four bananas. Made with brown sugar and containing less sugar and oil than most quick bread recipes... Ladies and gentlemen, More Banana Banana Bread.

And in this corner, from the recipe cards at Starbucks around the world, weighing in with three bananas. Made with more oil and sugar than his opponent. Ladies and gentlemen, Starbucks Banana Walnut Bread.

Now fight fans, "Let's get ready to rumble!"

Interestingly, the More Banana recipe and the Starbucks version contain the same amount of liquid. One has 1/2 cup of milk and a few tablespoons of oil and the other has 1/2 cup of oil and a few tablespoons of milk. Both recipes contain walnuts.

After careful review and thoughtful deliberation, the winner was the Starbucks version. This more traditional version was described by reviewers as having more banana flavor. It could be that the vanilla increased the intensity of the banana. In addition, it was more moist (hardly surprising since it had a bit of oil in it).

Who does this?

The other day I was doing some baking. I went to pull out the baking powder -- you know, the one in the red can. Well, I pulled it out along with the baking soda -- the one in the yellow box -- and I noticed something strange. The red can was, you guessed it, baking soda! I had to run to the store to get the right thing. I was so mad at the packaging people at Trader Joe's for trying to trick me like this!

I have tasted the caramel filling and it is good!

Last night I tried the Samoas Bar recipe that I've been eyeing. Basically, you make a shortbread crust and let that cool. Then toast coconut and use that to make a caramel filling to spread on the shortbread. Once that has cooled, cut it into bars and dip the bottom in chocolate and finally drizzle chocolate on top. DH was in charge of the chocolate portion.

DH and I split one last night after the chocolate had hardened and DH pronounced it "a winner."

While waiting for all that cooling to take place, I went ahead and tried another recipe that I had an eye on -- M&M Oat Bars.   I thought that the recipe looked interesting and I am always on the lookout for nut-free items since they are easier for my grandfather to eat. 

Treats for holiday helpers

Hannah and Emma have provided a lot of assistance this holiday season. They have been very patient and they have dealt with human oddities such as bringing a tree into the house and dancing to Last Christmas by Wham! (see player below) They deserved their own special treats and today I baked some treats for our holiday helpers.

Above: The final product. A selection of treats on a plate after baking.

Apple-Oatmeal-Honey treats

1 apple, cored and diced (small dice)
1/2 cup applesauce
1/4 cup honey
1/2 cup water
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon carob powder
1 cup rolled oats
1 3/4 cups whole wheat flour, divided
1/4 cup carob powder

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Combine apple, apple sauce, honey, water, cinnamon, carob and rolled oats in a large bowl. Gradually sift in 1 1/2 cups of the flour until dough becomes very stiff.

Place the remaining 1/4 cup flour and 1/4 cup carob powder in a pie plate and combine. Shape the dough into walnut-size balls and roll in the flour/carob mixture to coat. Place on a baking sheet and flatten with the flat bottom of a measuring cup or spatula. If the dough sticks a little as you lift off, dip the bottom in the flour/carob mixture before pressing the next treat into a flattened disk.

Above: After flattening the treats out into disks, before baking.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes. Remove from oven, flip treats over and return to the oven for another 30 minutes.

Turn oven off and let treats remain in oven for 2 or overnight.

Hannah and Emma both thought that these treats were delicious. They give the recipe two paws up!

Yield: About 40 treats

Spritz

For the past several years, DH and I have gone a little bit crazy with gift baskets of homemade candy.  DH likes to bring these treats into work and give them to his friends.

When discussing plans for this year's annual sugarfest, DH selected this weekend. We went over the recipes of what was needed for the baskets and DH said that we needed to have spice cookies and spritz cookies too. I won't even discuss how much sugar we went through this weekend.  Please note that these cookies were made with the understanding that I am not serving two week old cookies for Christmas. 

I got the recipe from my mom who I think got if from a Wisconsin Electric Company recipe book in about 1970.

Cream Cheese Spritz

2 1/2 cups flour 1/2 tsp salt 1/4 tsp cinnamon 3 oz cream cheese

1 cup butter 1 cup sugar 1 egg yolk 1 tsp vanilla

Sift flour, salt and cinnamon onto baking parchment. Cream cream cheese and butter. Beat in 1 cup sugar. Blend well. Beat in egg yolk and vanilla. Stir in sifted ingredients a little at a time. Chill dough until firm. Put in press and mold on cold, ungreased cookie sheet. Sprinkle with colored sugars.

Bake at 335F for 12-13 minutes or until edges are brown.

Coffeehouse Coffee Cake

About once a month I have a baking night where I make something nice for DH. I really enjoy baking so this is a treat for me too. I love the way it makes the house smell and licking the bowl isn't too tough to handle either!

This month's selection was coffee cake with a generous amount of crumb topping. We settled on Enlightened Starbucks Coffeecake. I followed the recipe as published with the exception of making the crumb topping in the food processor and making it in an 8x8 pan since I don't have an 9x9 pan.

I am happy to report that DH gave this recipe his seal of approval.

Tomatoland

Our grape tomato plants are going crazy. We've been getting more than a quart of tomatoes every day and that's at lot of grape tomatoes for two people to eat. I've already made several batches of pizza sauce for the freezer and today I made some oven roasted tomatoes using a recipe from Vegetable Harvest by Patricia Wells. I've made this recipe before but I had forgotten just how good it is.

Oven-Roasted Cherry Tomatoes

2 pounds fresh cherry tomatoes, rinsed and halved
Fine sea salt to taste
A pinch of confectioners’ sugar
2 sprigs fresh thyme, stemmed

• Preheat the oven to the lowest possible setting, about 200 degrees F.
• Arrange the tomato halves side by side on a baking sheet. Sprinkle each side lightly with salt, pepper and confectioner's sugar. Scatter the thyme leaves over the tomatoes. Place in the oven and roast until the tomatoes are very soft, about 1 hour. Turn the tomatoes, baste with the juices, and cook until meltingly tender, and reduced to about half their size, about 2 hours total. Check the tomatoes from time to time: They should remain moist and soft. Remove from the oven and allow to cool thoroughly.
• Transfer the tomatoes to a jar, cover with the cooking juices, cover securely, and refrigerate, for up to 1 week. Use in salads, on sandwiches, for pasta, or anywhere you want a rich, pure, tomato flavor.

WOR butterscotch bars

This year, DH participated in the Carolina Canoe Club's Week of Rivers (WOR) for the second year. For the second year, I stayed home. Seriously, for the non whitewater crowd, there are really no organized activities and I don't mind hanging out with Hannah and Emma. WOR is one of the main events planned by the canoe club and it involves camping and whitewater -- and I think beer too. They go on the Nantahala and the Tuck. It is always Fourth of July week. He went with a friend this year and they returned Wednesday after getting on the rivers Sunday through Wednesday. I hope to have him guest blog about it.

For the past two years, I have made butterscotch bars for DH to take on WOR.

Butterscotch Blondies

3/4 cup butter (softened)
3/4 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
2 eggs
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1 bag butterscotch chips (10 oz. bag, about 1 2/3 cups)
1 cup walnuts

Preheat oven to 350°.
Grease 13 x 9 inch baking pan.
Beat butter and sugars in a large mixing bowl until creamy. Reserve butter wrapper.
Add eggs; beat well.
Stir together flour, baking soda and salt; gradually add to butter mixture, blending well.
Stir in butterscotch chips and nuts.
Spread into prepared pan. The batter will be very thick. I use the reserved butter wrapper to press the dough into the pan.
Bake 30 to 35 minutes or until top is golden brown and center is set. Leave them a little underdone since they will set up as they cool.
Cool completely in pan, cut and serve.

Yield: 36 bars

DH loves these blondies but I can't have them in the house with me they are so addictive!

Source: RecpeZaar

Biking with the Band

This weekend was really busy, rides and cooking and lots of stuff. Good busy but still busy.

Biking with the Band on Saturday was was good. It was my first MS150 training ride of the year. This is the first time that they had it in May. Before it was in August and that was good until the Jimmy V Ride for Research started on the same weekend. I like the route even though it's closer to 68 than 62 (which freaks some people out since 100k is 62 miles). Who ever was in charge of the weather this year needs to be drafted into that role again next year! It was great fantastic terrific weather -- sunny, temperature in the low 70s. I'm not sure that we could have asked for more!

Oh, in case you are wondering, it's called Biking with the Band fund raiser for the Middle Creek High School band. We had marching band music as we pulled out to start the ride. As a former band member and current cyclist, how could I pass this up?

After the ride on Saturday morning, I visited my grandmother, went to Costco and got Hannah's prescription refilled and got some supplies for my cooking experiment, put together a gazillion meals, and watched 27 Dresses. In an effort to get ahead of the game on weeknights that I have training rides, I decided to try to do some freezer recipes from Saving Dinner. We'll see how that goes. This involved the shopping, preparation and packaging.

On Sunday I went on my regular group ride and finished the gazillion dinners. Oh, and I had blueberry pancakes for dinner. YUM.

While I was busy with this, DH was in the western part of the state in a whitewater kayaking clinic near Bryson City. He spent some time at Fontana Lake on Saturday morning and kayaked on the Nantahala River both days. Overall, I think that it was a fun and tiring weekend for him!

DH relayed one story that was entertaining. On Sunday, one of the people in his group wanted to try a new kayak. The group loaded up the boats, went to the rental place to pick up the other boat, unloaded the already loaded boats to fit the additional one on, and went off to the put in point. After a few miles, what should appear on the road in from of them but a bright yellow kayak that had come flying off the top of the car. DH's bright yellow kayak. Someone said, "Nice boof!" The kayak, which was unharmed since it had skidded along the roadway on it's bottom, was reloaded and tied more securely.

Sunday bread

I bake bread most Sundays -- at least until it gets too hot. One of our favorite recipes we call "buttermilk bread." It's based on a recipe from "Frannie's Fast, Fabulous Buttermilk Bread" in Crescent Dragonwagon's Soup and Bread. It makes two loaves and one of our modification is making one of them into cinnamon raisin bread. Most of the time DH slices and freezes this loaf and gets out pieces to toast each morning.

Buttermilk bread

Bread dough
1/4 cup lukewarm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
2 cups buttermilk (lowfat)
4 tablespoons butter (1/2 stick)
2 cups whole wheat flour
2-3 cups bread flour or all purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
2 tablespoons sugar

Raisin Bread topping and filling
3/4 cup raisins, plumped
3 tablespoons butter
1/3 cup sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon

• Combine lukewarm water and yeast. Let stand until foamy. As the yeast proofs, combine 4 tablespoons of butter and buttermilk and heat until butter melts. I measure the buttermilk into a 2 cup measuring cup, add the butter (cut into pieces) and microwave for a minute or two, checking the progress. Don't worry if the buttermilk curdles.
• In a stand mixer, combine 2 cups of whole wheat flour, 2 cups of white flour, salt, baking soda and 2 tablespoons of sugar. Add the buttermilk and combine. This should bring down the temperature of a bit and keep the yeast happy. The add the proofed yeast. Process until the dough comes together forming a ball that does not stick to the sides or bottom of the bowl. If the dough is too moist, add flour 2 tablespoons at at time.
• Transfer the dough to a lightly floured surface and knead for 5-7 minutes until the dough is smooth and elastic. Butter a large bowl and place the dough in it. Cover and let rise in a warm place until double in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours. Punch it down and let it rise again until double, this time about 45 minutes.
• Divide the dough into two equal portions. Place one loaf into a buttered loaf pan. If you are making two plain loaves, add the second piece of dough to the other loaf pan. Let rise for 45 minutes.
• If making raisin bread, plumb the raisins by pouring hot water over them and letting them sit for 5 minutes, then drain. While the raisins are plumping, combine the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl and melt 3 tablespoons of butter in another small bowl. Roll out the dough no wider than the loaf pan, about 8 x 24 . Using a pastry brush, cover the loaf with most of the melted butter (reserving some for the topping), sprinkle most of the cinnamon sugar(reserving some for the topping) evenly over the buttered dough and then sprinkle the raisins over the cinnamon sugar. Roll the loaf from the narrowest side to and fit it into the pan. Let rise for 45 minutes. Towards the end of the final rise, brush the top of the loaf with the reserved butter and sprinkle it with the reserved cinnamon sugar.
• Towards the end of the final rise, preheat the oven to 350. Bake the loaves until nicely golden and turn onto wire racks to cool. If you are unsure about when the bread is done, check to see that the internal temperature is 200 degrees.
  

Smallville (or cookies in small batches)

DH and I were very happy to see the recent small batches posted on Cookie Madness. With just two of us, it's sometimes difficult to satisfy my desire to bake cookies and DH's desire to eat them without either of us looking like one of Knat's cows.

Tonight I made Outrageous Cookies. They batch makes only 10 cookies and that's great! They look wonderful and I'm hoping that they get come decent review from DH's office.

Why are they called outrageous. Hmmm. A 2 ounce bar of bittersweet chocolate and and 6 ounces of cut up flavored chocolate bar are in the 10 cookies! We had some two bars that I got on sale in the house so this batch contains one 3 ounce bar of Endangered Species 52% milk chocolate with almonds along with a less glamorous 3.5 ounce bar of Cocao Reserve 65% extra dark chocolate with cocao nibs in addition to the 2 ounce bar of Dagoba Organic New Moon 74% bittersweet chocolate purchased specifically for this recipe and melted into the batter. Chocolatey enough?

Giant cookies! Oh my!

This weekend I tried out the Super Small Batch Extra Large Chunk Cookies posted in Cookie Madness. They were huge and very yummy! I've never made cookies before where cookies were one of the ingredients! I've never had Selma's cookies so I don't know how these compare but they were a hit at our house. I made them on Saturday afternoon when I got back from my regular bike ride and we ate them at the Carolina Hurricanes game on Saturday night.

I also tried Mark Bittman's Quick Whole Wheat and Molasses Bread posted in the New York Times' Bitten blog.

Batter bread

I baked bread yesterday afternoon, as I do many Sunday afternoons during the winter. We decided to use a one loaf recipe that I have had for about forever. I first made this bread in about 1991. It's hard to believe that I've been making this recipe for so long.

I received this cookbook for Christmas either my junior or senior year of college after saying that I had a hard time cooking much because everything seemed to take so many ingredients. The kitchen in my apartment was tiny and we had no spices or anything. We had salt and pepper but that was about it. I didn't start using this recipe until after graduation, though. I was attracted to it because the kitchen in my first place in Raleigh -- Cumberland Cove -- had most of the counter space devoted to a bar area. That meant no place to knead bread.

Easy Batter Bread

1 package dry yeast
1 1/4 cups water (105° to 115°F)
3 tablespoons honey
2 teaspoons butter
1 teaspoon salt
3 cups bread flour

Combine yeast, water and honey in a small bowl; stir slightly. Let stand until doubled in size, about 10 minutes.

In a large bowl, combine yeast mixture, butter, salt and 2 cups of flour. If using a mixer, beat on low speed until blended. Beat at medium speed for about 1 minutes. Stir in remaining flour with wooden spoon. Cover and let rise in a warm place, about 1 hour or until doubled in size.
Sir batter down spoon into greased 9x5-inch loaf pan. Cover and let rise in a warm place, about 45 minutes or until doubled in size.

Bake at 375°F for 35 to 45 minutes or until browned and bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan and cool on rack. Makes 1 loaf.

Recipe Source: Six Ingredients or Less by Carlean Johnson

While the bread was doing it's thing, I made a big batch of marinara and made stuffed shells. Yum!

Holiday spice cookies

These are some of my favorite holiday cookies, not that I've met many home baked cookies that I didn't like. I love the combination of spices and the fact that they are not at all fussy to make. My only complaint is that they kind of need a different name since they are only balls going into the oven. I'd hate to rename them, though, since they are named for someone's grandmother.

If you've never used freshly ground nutmeg before, this should convert you! It make a real difference.

Ruth Moulton's Spice Balls

Note that these "balls" will be flat after baking.

12 Tbs ( 1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
1 1/4 cups sugar
1 large egg
1/4 cup molasses
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp table salt

• Combine the butter and 1 cup of the sugar in the bowl of an electric mixer. Beat until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes. Beat in the egg and molasses.

• Sift the flour, soda, cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger, and salt together onto a piece of parchment. Add to the butter mixture in 2 batches, beating just until combined. Cover with plastic wrap and chill for 2 to 3 hours.

• Preheat the oven to 350°F. Place the remaining 1/4 cup sugar in a pie plate. Shape the dough into walnut-size balls and roll in the sugar to coat. Arrange 2 inches apart on greased baking sheets (Silpat works fine) and bake until cracked and dry but still soft, about 10 minutes. Cool on the baking sheets for 5 minutes, then transfer to cool on wire racks.

Yield: about 48 cookies

Source: Sara Moulton Cooks at Home

Making Buckeye Candy

This weekend DH and I embarked on our annual candy making extravaganza. We made two batches of buckeyes, chocolate covered orange mints, peanut butter fudge, chocolate fudge, nut brittle and peppermint bark. We like to make a variety of candies and give them to friends and neighbors. One of our favorites is buckeye candies which are a delicious combination of peanut butter and chocolate.

The candies are named for their resemblance of the the buckeye seed, described as "hard, brown, shiny, and slightly irregular." Buckeyes are inedible members of the horse-chestnut family and are actually a nutlike seed. It is said that Native Americans called the seeds the "eye of the buck" and that is the origin of the name buckeye. A lot of other folklore is associated with word buckeye as well.

We had some help cleaning up after I made the filling.

Buckeyes

1 cup creamy peanut butter
¼ cup butter or margarine, softened (a half stick)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2½ to 3 cups confectioner's sugar
5 ounces dark chocolate candy coating
1 ounce baking chocolate or semi-sweet chocolate chips

• Line a baking sheet with waxed paper.

• In a large mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, butter, and vanilla by hand or with an electric mixed. Gradually add the powdered sugar, blending until smooth and the mixture can be shaped into balls. Shape into ball ¾ to 1 inch in diameter. Place the balls on the lined baking sheet. Cover and chill or freeze for 20 minutes or longer.

• Cover a large counter top area or a large baking sheet with waxed paper.

• Melt the candy coating. Insert a toothpick into the top of each ball and dip the bottom two-thirds of each ball into the melted chocolate, leaving one-third uncoated. Carefully slide teh balls onto waxed paper so that the undipped portion is pointed upwards. Remove the toothpicks. Using a knife or metal spatula, smooth over the whole left by the toothpick. Let stand until chocolate is firm. Store in an airtight container.

Yield: 48 pieces

Recipe Source: Who Wants Candy? by Jane Sharrock

What's for dinner? White chili

Meal planning can be challenging. We eat dinner at home six or seven nights a week and we eat together about as often. Even two people can make up a family and we make an effort to have meals together. Finding recipes that we like that aren't too time consuming, calorically dense or sodium filled -- or leave us with a month of leftovers -- can take some effort!

Last night we tried a recipe for white chili for the first time. It was a hit! I used some homemade broth but I did use canned white kidney beans. The cumin and oregano were both from Penzey's. I make it a habit to use bulk spices from Penzey's, The Spice House or the bulk section at Whole Foods.

White Chili

1 teaspoon canola oil
1 small onion, chopped
4 ounces ground chicken or turkey breast
1 4-ounce can chopped green chills
1/4 teaspoon dried oregano
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin seed
1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
1 15-ounce can white beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup reduced sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon cider vinegar (or 2 teaspoons lime juice)

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. Add onion and cook until softened, about 5 minutes. Add the ground chicken/turkey and increase the heat to medium-high. Cook until browned, about 2 minutes. Stir in chills and spices. Cook, stirring occasionally, until fragrant, about 1 minutes. Stir in drained beans and broth, bring to a simmer. Cook, stirring occasionally, until slightly reduced, about 10 minutes. Add vinegar (or lime juice).

Source: Eating Well: Serves Two

Tonight, we just had omelets but I think that I should get bonus points for making the dough for tomorrow's pizza!

Hannah's birthday

(imported from FB, used original posting date)

5:41pm Sunday, Aug 5

Hannah turned thirteen today and she had an opportunity to leap for liver. I made Leaping for Liver "cake" for her and filled it with a "ganache" of ricotta cheese and then frosted it with sour cream.

Hannah shared her two layers of canine heaven with her sister, Emma.

Leap for Liver
From Real Food for Dogs, by Arden Moore

1 pound sliced beef liver (save the juice)
1/4 cup water
1 small box corn muffin mix (Jiffy brand 8.5 oz size)

• Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
• In a food processor or blender, blend the liver one slice at a time on high until liquefied. Add a little water as you add each slice.
• Pour the corn muffin mix into a large bowl. Then add the liver liquid and mix thoroughly.
• Line a 7-by-9-inch baking pan with foile and spray the foil with nonstick spray.
• Pour the liver slurry into the pan.
• Bake for 20 to 25 minutes, or until the middle springs back at your touch.
• Cool and cut into small cubes. Store the cubes in resealable plastic bags in the freezer.

Hannah's cake was two layer Leap for Liver goodness filled with ricotta cheese and frosted with sour cream.

Canine Cranberry Muffins recipe

(imported from FB)

9:39pm Tuesday, Jun 5

Muffins:
2 1/3 cups whole wheat flour
4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1 cup skim milk
1/2 cup unsweetened apple sauce
1 egg (beaten)
1/3 cup honey
1 1/2 cups dried cranberries

Frosting:
6 oz low fat whipped cream cheese and
2 Tbs honey

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Lightly grease muffin tins or use silicon bakeware. Combine moist ingredients (excluding frosting mix) in a bowl. Combine dry ingredients in a separate bowl. Add dry ingredients to moist ingredients. Fold cranberries into mix. Fill muffin tins with batter.

Bake for approximately 20 minutes for mini muffins or 25 minutes for regular size muffins. Let cool.

When muffins have cooled, make the frosting by combining the low fat cream cheese and honey, mixing to a smooth consistency. Lightly ice the muffins. Refrigerate.

Servings: 18
Yield: 18 muffins or 36 mini muffins

Cooking Tips
These stuck to the mini muffin cups like crazy. It made 24 mini muffins and 7 regular muffins. I did the regular muffins in silicone baking cups and baked them for 25 minutes. The bottoms were a tiny bit brown but they did come out of the cups just fine. Next time, do 18 muffins instead of 36 mini muffins.


Source: Outer Barks newsletter