CARAMEL POPCORN

My sister's class was having a bake sale for a fundraiser.  I usually try to donate something, but this year I was going to be out of town, so I needed something that would stay fresh for a couple of days.  I decided on caramel popcorn.  I had recently seen this recipe on the KAF website, so I gave it a shot.  It is sooo easy! I  followed it exactly.  It should be named "addictive caramel corn", luckily I was giving it away so temptation was removed.  Several reviewers on the website mentioned that adding the syrup to the peanuts and popcorn left the peanuts uncoated in the bottom of the bowl, so for the first bowl I added the peanuts after the syrup.  They still ended up in the bottom of the bowl.  The next batch, I added the peanuts to the syrup before pouring it over the popcorn and that worked wonderfully.  The addition of the baking soda makes the syrup not so sticky and baking it in the oven gives a great crunch to the corn.  The website says that it can be formed into balls before the baking step.  I'm making another batch tomorrow to share with family for the holiday.

Carol’s Caramel Corn

(From KAF website)

15 cups popped corn (9 tablespoons kernels, popped)

2 tablespoons molasses

1 cup brown sugar, packed

1/2 cup salted butter

1/4 cup light corn syrup

1/2 teaspoon baking soda

1)      Preheat your oven to 200°F and line a half-sheet pan (18" x 13" pan) with parchment paper. Pour the popped corn into a large bowl, at least 6 quarts, and set aside)

2)       In a large saucepan over medium-high heat bring the molasses, brown sugar, butter, and corn syrup to a boil. Boil, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes.

3)      Remove the pan from the heat and add the baking soda. Stir well as the mixture turns foamy

4)      Immediately (and carefully) pour the hot syrup over the popped corn and stir until the corn is well coated.

5)      Spread the hot caramel corn into the parchment-lined pan. Bake at 200°F for one hour. Stir the corn every 15 minutes during this time.

6)      Remove from the oven. This caramel corn is a warm, sticky, sweet and crunchy treat straight from the oven. It can also be cooled and stored airtight for several days. This recipe doubles and triples very well

Rye Bread

 

I actually tried two different rye bread recipes on the same day. I made them to eat with the great brats we were going to get from the Octoberfest at Valley View Church in Lowry City.  This one was a little more complicated, but worth the extra effort, plus the I thought the loaf came out just gorgeous.  Not to mention, delicious.  I followed the recipe pretty closely, I did cut the caraway seed down to one tablespoon and that seemed just right to me.  I know this may look a little daunting, but the steps are actually very easy, just choose a day where you'll be at home doing other things and come back to the bread when you need to.



New York Deli Rye Bread
Adapted from The Bread Bible
Makes one 1 3/4-pound round loaf
Sponge
3/4 cup (4 ounces, 117 grams) bread flour
3/4 cup (3.3 ounces, 95 grams) rye flour
1/2 teaspoon (1.6 grams) instant yeast
1 1/2 tablespoons (0.6 ounces, 18.7 grams) sugar
1/2 tablespoon (4.6 grams) malt powder (or barley malt syrup or honey (10.5 grams), or sugar (6.2 grams))
1 1/2 cups (12.5 ounces, 354 grams) water, at room temperature
Flour Mixture
2 1/4 cups (12.5 ounces, 351 grams) bread flour
1/2 plus 1/8 teaspoon (2 grams) instant yeast
2 tablespoons (0.5 ounces, 14 grams) caraway seeds (you can grind these if you want to avoid the crunch)
1/2 tablespoon (0.3 ounces, 10.5 grams) coarse salt
Dough and Baking
1/2 tablespoon (0.25 ounces, 6.7 grams) vegetable oil
about 2 teaspoons (about 0.5 ounces, 16 grams) cornmeal for sprinkling
Make the sponge: Combine sponge ingredients in a large or mixer bowl and whisk until very smooth, to intentionally incorporate air — this will yield a thick batter. Set it aside.
Make the flour mixture and cover the sponge: In a separate large bowl, whisk together the flour mixture and gently scoop it over the sponge to cover it completely. Cover the bowl tightly with plastic wrap and allow it to ferment for 1 to 4 hours at room temperature. (The sponge will bubble through the flour mixture in places.)
Mix the dough [Either with a mixer] Add the oil and mix with the dough hook on low speed for about 1 minute, until the flour is moistened enough to form a rough dough. then raise the speed to medium and mix it for 10 minutes. The dough should be very smooth and elastic, and it should jump back when pressed with a fingertip; if it is sticky, turn it out on a counter and knead in a little extra flour.
[Or by hand] Add the oil and, with a wooden spoon or your hand, stir until the flour is moistened. Knead the dough in the bowl until it comes together, then scrape it onto a very lightly floured counter. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, after which it might be a little sticky. Cover it with the inverted bowl and allow it to rest for 20 minutes. (Resting the dough makes it less sticky and magically easier to work with. Trust me.) Knead the dough for another 5 to 10 minutes or until it is very smooth and elastic and your upper arms are strapless gown-ready.
Let the dough rise: Place the dough in a large container or bowl, lightly oiled. Oil the top of the dough as well. Allow the dough to rise until doubled, 1 1/2 to 2 hours. Flip the bowl over and let the dough fall out on to a lightly floured counter, press it down gently, fold or form it back into a square-ish ball and allow it to rise a second time, back in the (re-oiled) bowl covered with plastic wrap for about 45 minutes.
Shape it and wait out the final rise: Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured counter and gently press it down again. Round it into a ball and set it on a cornmeal sprinkled baking sheet. Cover it with oiled plastic wrap and let it rise until almost doubled, about 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes. [Skim ahead to preheating your oven, which you should do soon.] When it is gently press with a fingertip, the depression will very slowly fill in.
Preheat the oven: Preheat the oven to 450°F as early as you can tolerate. (Beranbaum suggests an hour, I do 30 minutes but I know others don’t like to feel like they’re wasting heat. But, you want your oven blazing hot to get the best crust.) On a shelf at the lowest level, place a baking sheet or bread stone. [If you want to get fancy and bread-oven like: Place a cast-iron skillet or sheet pan on the floor of the oven to preheat.]
Slash and bake the bread: With a sharp knife or singled-edged razor blade, make 1/4- to 1/2-inch-deep slashes in the top of the dough. Mist the dough with water and quickly but gently set the baking sheet on the hot stone or hot baking sheet. [If you've decided to get fancy and bread oven-like: Toss 1/2 cup of ice cubes into the pan beneath and immediately shut the door.] Bake for 15 minutes, lower the temperature to 400°F and continue baking for 30 to 40 minutes or until the bread is golden brown and a skewer inserted into the middle comes out clean (or a thermometer inserted into the center reads 190°F).  Cool the bread on a wire rack.

DOORBELL

We were startled awake Sunday morning by the doorbell.  4:58 AM SUNDAY MORNING! Who could it be? When we went to the door this is what we saw:

How did they reach the button?

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

PESTO IS THE BESTO!

I've never had pesto  before, the jars in the grocery have never seemed appetizing to me, it always looked like an oily, olive green sludge. To make it at home you need 2 cups of packed basil leaves, that's a lot of basil.  Especially when it's sold in the local grocery for 3 dollars for a couple of scrawny sprigs.  But this year I had an abundance of basil that had to be picked due to the frost.  So why not try it?  Really it has several of my favorite things, basil, garlic, parmesan and olive oil, how bad could it be?  It's great!  Easy to make and packs a big flavor in a small amount.  I used a scant tablespoon for my pasta and really it would have been enough for two servings of pasta instead of just one.  There are many ways to use it to add flavor to sauces, pasta, vegetables or meat.

Basil Pesto with Lemon

Makes about 1 1/2 cups pesto

2 cups fresh basil leaves (packed into measuring cup)
3-4 cloves fresh garlic, peeled and sliced
1/2 cup extra-virgin olive oil (choose a a flavorful olive oil for pesto)
1/2 cup pine nuts
3/4 cup coarsely grated Parmesan cheese
1/4 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice
sea salt and fresh ground black pepper to taste.

Wash basil leaves if needed and spin dry or dry with paper towels. Put basil leaves and sliced garlic into food processor that's been fitted with the steel blade and process until basil and garlic is finely chopped, adding oil through the feed tube as you process. (You may need to take off the lid and scrape the sides with a rubber scraper if you have a hard time getting the basil all chopped.)

Add pine nuts, Parmesan cheese, and lemon juice to the chopped basil mixture and process 1-2 minutes more, until the pesto is mostly pureed and well mixed. (I like to keep it slightly chunky, but you can make it as finely pureed as you wish.)

Season to taste with salt and fresh ground black pepper and pulse a few times more.

Store basil pesto in the refrigerator in a glass jar, where it will keep for more than a week. Pesto can also be frozen.

BRAISED BEEF

So I found a multi-step recipe involving braised beef, buttermilk mashed potatoes and a marsala mushroom sauce.  Sounded good and I gave it a shot, Marsala cream sauce-just so-so and really mashed potatoes are just mashed potatoes.  But the beef - Wow! Tender, yet firm, flavorful but not overpowered by any one flavor.  Since B generally only eats beef, I make a lot of pot roasts in a lot of different ways, but this is one I will make again and again. I took the photo before tasting the dish, or I would have just taken a shot of the meat.  You can see it peeking out in between the potatoes and the mushrooms.

Beer Braised Beef

Ingredients:

1 (2-1/2 pound) boneless beef chuck roast

Kosher salt and ground pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour

4 tablespoons vegetable oil

2 medium yellow onions, halved and sliced thinly

2 tablespoons balsamic vinegar

2 (12-ounces) bottles lager beer, like Budweiser

3 beef bouillon cubes

3 sprigs fresh thyme

1 6-inch sprig rosemary

Preheat the oven to 300 degrees F.  Cut the beef in large 2 or 3-inch chunks.  Season the beef generously with salt and pepper.  Place the beef in a ziplock bag and add the flour.  Seal the bag and shake the beef until each piece is dredged and coated in flour. Add three tablespoons vegetable oil to a large heavy duty pot and heat over medium-high heat.  Brown the beef on all sides, and then transfer to a plate.  Add the remaining tablespoon of vegetable oil to the pot and add the onions.  Cook the onions for 20 minutes until they are soft and slightly caramelized.  Stir in the balsamic vinegar, beer, and bouillon cubes.  Bring the mixture to boil, scraping up the brown bits from the bottom.  Add the beef and the juices from the plate back to the pot and give everything a good stir.  Cover the pot with a lid and place it in the oven for 2-1/2 hours.

*Note : The rosemary was just supposed to be used  as a garnish, but I put it in with the beef,

Summer Tomato Salad

A simple, beautiful, delicious salad.  Just fresh from the garden red and yellow tomatoes, red onions, fresh basil and fresh mozzarella.  Add a little salt, pepper, balsamic vinegar and olive oil and you have near perfection.

Easy Five Spice Chicken

Five spice Chicken, yellow tomatoes and brown rice pilaf

 

 

This was easy & tasty, not too overpowering with the spices.  I halved the recipe, used boneless skinless chicken breasts and cut the bake time to 40 minutes.  The chicken came out cooked to perfect doneness, juicy and moist.

 Easy Roasted Five-Spice Chicken

4 garlic cloves, minced or put through a press
1 Tbls. kosher salt
2 Tbls. toasted sesame oil
1 tsp. five-spice powder
1 Tbls. rice wine vinegar
6 chicken leg quarters, 4 1/2 – 5 lbs.
chili flakes, for garnish
minced parsley and/or sliced scallion, for garnish
Serves about 4

Make the marinade

Put garlic, salt, sesame oil and the five spice power in a bowl, add the rice wine vinegar.  (Rice vinegar comes plain or seasoned with salt and sugar. Use the plain kind for this recipe. The sugar in the seasoned version might burn. Rice vinegar gives the marinade a little acid, which balances the flavors.)  Whisk to combine.

Marinate the chicken

Grab your chicken leg quarters. Give them a quick rinse under cold water, then pat them dry (get them as dry as you can).  Toss each piece of chicken into the bowl and roll it around to coat in marinade. (You can also transfer your marinade to  gallon-sized, zip-top bags if you prefer to marinate that way.)
Let the chicken sit (covered, in the fridge) in the marinade for a few hours, or overnight, if you like. If you don’t want to wait, roast away!

Roast the chicken

Preheat your oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and/or parchment paper.  Spread the chicken out in a single layer.  Roast the chicken for about 50 minutes, until the skin is golden brown and crisp, and the chicken juices run clear. (On a meat thermometer, you’re aiming for about 155-160 degrees…be sure you’re not hitting a bone when you take its temp.)
Let the chicken sit, loosely tented under a piece of foil, for about 10 minutes to let the juices settle. Don’t tent it tightly-you want to keep the skin crispy.  Transfer the chicken to a serving platter. Sprinkle with chili flakes and chopped parsley (or sliced scallion).

BUSY DAY PEACH COBBLER

For my son William, from the   "Texas Braggin' Rights" cookbook he sent my for my birthday.  William, this was very good, easy and quick.  I actually halved the recipe so I could cook it in the toaster oven, because it is too blasted hot here to do any real baking!

BUSY DAY PEACH COBBLER       

1 Stick butter

¾ cup flour

4 cups sliced peaches

1 ½ cups sugar

½ teaspoon salt

2/3 cup milk    

¼ teaspoon cinnamon

Melt butter in a 2 quart baking dish

Combine dry ingredients, reserving1/2 cup sugar for the peaches.  Stir the dry ingredients into the melted butter in the baking dish.  Add milk and stir again.  Bring the peaches, sugar and cinnamon to a boil.  As soon as it boils, take it off the heat and pour over the batter.  Do not stir.  Bake at 350 degrees for 30 minutes or until golden brown. 

Jo Ann Glenn-First Place 1991 Parker County Peach Festival, Weatherford, TX

Roasted Eggplant

I'm the first to admit that I'm not a fan of eggplants.  I've tried them prepared several different ways and they always seem either mushy or bitter or just not worth the preparation trouble. But at the farmer's market they had such a beautiful white perfect eggplant that I couldn't resist buying it.  So once I got it I needed a recipe, I happened to check into the website No Take Out and they had the recipe below.  I just had the one eggplant so I quartered the recipe, it was very good, the combination of the marinated tomatoes, feta cheese and the fresh herbs was delicious.  It was almost like a bruschetta using the eggplant as a base instead of bread.  The grilled eggplant went with it very well, my only complaint was that the eggplant skin was rather tough.  I might peel some of the skin next time.  I did substitute feta cheese for the goat cheese and used balsamic vinegar.

Roasted Eggplant & Goat Cheese

4 small eggplants

4 medium, ripe tomatoes

1 bunch basil

1 bunch sage

1 bunch rosemary

4 to 6 ounces (120-180g) fresh goat cheese

Pantry Items

Black pepper, freshly ground

Extra-virgin olive oil

Sea salt

Sherry wine vinegar

Sugar

Preheat the oven to 450F

Trim the stem end from the eggplant. Cut the eggplant into 1/2-inch thick, lengthwise slices. Arrange them in a single layer in the pan. Sprinkle them evenly with salt and pepper.  As soon as the oven is hot (even if it’s not up to temperature), put the eggplant in and roast until the slices are golden on one side, about 15 minutes, then flip and roast on the other side until they’re tender through, 10-15 minutes.

While the eggplant is roasting, peel, core and seed the tomatoes. Cut them into small dice and place them in a bowl. Season with 3/4 tsp. salt, 3/4 tsp. sugar, and 3/4 tsp. vinegar, mix well and place in a fine strainer that is resting in a bowl.  Let them drain until you’re ready to serve them.

Rinse and pat dry the herbs. Pluck 3/4 cup firmly packed leaves from the basil, about 8 sage leaves and 2 tbsps. rosemary leaves.

Mince the herbs and put them in a bowl. Cover them with 1/3 cup oil, and season with some salt.

Check the eggplant. If it’s cooked, remove it from the oven and transfer the slices to a serving platter.

Spoon the tomatoes over the eggplant, then crumble the goat cheese over all. Drizzle with the herbs and oil. Season with salt and pepper.

Cranberry Orange Bread

This recipe was originally for pecan orange bread, but cranberries sounded much better to me, and I totally think it works much better this way.  It was a moist flavorful bread, with a distinctively orange flavor and color with the cranberries adding a definite layer of flavor interest.  Warming the cranberries in the juice imparts some moisture and plumpness to them making the berries a better fit for the bread.

Cranberry Orange Bread               

1 stick of butter softened

¾ cups sugar

2 eggs separated

Grated rind of 1 large orange

1 ½ cup flour

1 ½ teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

Pinch of salt

½ cup fresh orange juice

1 cup dried cranberries

2 additional tablespoons of flour           

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Add the orange juice to the dried cranberries and microwave until warm, set aside until cool.  Grease one large or two smaller loaf pans.  Cream butter, add sugar and beat until light and fluffy.  Beat in egg yolks one at a time then add the orange rind.  Sift flour with the baking powder, baking soda and salt.  Drain orange juice from cranberries and add the juice to the batter alternately with the ½ cup orange juice beginning and ending with the flour.   Sift the two tablespoons of flour over the cranberries and gently stir until coated.  Shake off excess flour and add to the batter, mixing in gently.  Beat the egg whites until stiff and fold into the batter.  Pour the batter in the pan or pans and bake 50 to 60 minutes for a large pan and less for the smaller pans.  Meanwhile make glaze.  When bread is done, remove from oven and pans and put on cooling rack.  Spoon hot glaze over bread as soon as it comes out of the pans.

Glaze

¼ cup fresh orange juice

¼ cup sugar

Combine juice and sugar in a small pan and simmer gently for 5 minutes stirring occasionally until light syrup forms.

MARINATED GRILLED SHRIMP

This is my very favorite way to prepare shrimp.  This garlicky, white wine based marinade made with freshly squeezed lime juice and basil picked fresh from the garden makes for the best shrimp you can have.  Keep the leftovers (if you have any) for a fabulous shrimp salad the next day. To make this even better, I got to use the two new kitchen toys I got this weekend, a new cork screw that pulled the cork from my sauvignon blanc very smoothly and a juicer that is not only cute, but got the last drop of juice from my lime.

Marinated Grilled Shrimp

1 lb cleaned shrimp
4 cloves garlic, minced
½ cup white wine or Sake
4 tablespoons olive oil
Juice of one lemon (or lime)
1 teaspoon dry or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped basil
1 teaspoon dry or 1 tablespoon fresh chopped parsley
Pepper to taste

Mix all ingredients and add shrimp. Let marinade 30 to 60 minutes.
Skewer shrimp and grill over hot coals until shrimp is pink. 1 to 3 minutes per side, depending on how hot your coals are.

LAMINGTONS

An Australian favorite supposedly sold at bake sales like cupcakes are here, these are a little more trouble than cupcakes, but definitely worth the extra trouble.  A firm, moist yellow cake cut into squares then dipped in chocolate sauce then rolled in coconut.  What could be more delicious? 
Just one tip, let one of the squares rest on the edge of your bowl to let the excess sauce drip off while you cover one with the coconut.  This will cut down on the amount of  "chocolate clumps" in the coconut.

Lamingtons

24 individual cakes.

Cake:

1 3/4 cups bleached all-purpose fl our, plus more for the pan

2 teaspoons baking powder

12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) salted butter, at room temperature

1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

1 1/2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

3 large eggs

1 cup whole milk

Chocolate sauce:

4 cups confectioners’ sugar

1/2 cup unsweetened cocoa powder

4 tablespoons (1/2 stick) salted butter, melted

2/3 cup boiling water

3 to 4 cups shredded unsweetened coconut

Move oven rack to the lower third position and preheat the oven to 350°F. Grease and flour a 13 x 9 x 2–inch baking pan.  Whisk flour and baking powder in a medium bowl. Beat butter in a large bowl with an electric mixer on medium speed until smooth.  Add 1/4 cup of the sugar and the vanilla and beat for 30 seconds.  While beating, gradually add the remaining 1 1/4 cups sugar.  Scrape the bowl and beater, then beat for 5 minutes on medium high speed. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each.  On low speed, add the fl our mixture in 3 additions alternately with the milk in 2 additions, beginning and ending with the dry ingredients and beating only until smooth.  Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes, until the cake is golden brown and pulls away slightly from the sides of the pan and a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean.  Cool the cake in its pan on a wire rack for 15 minutes, then cover the cake pan with a wire rack and invert the two. Remove the pan, cover the cake with another rack, and invert the cake again to cool completely right side up. Drape the cake loosely with a kitchen towel and leave at room temperature overnight.  To make the chocolate sauce, in a medium metal bowl whisk together the confectioners’ sugar, cocoa, butter, and boiling water until smooth. Set the bowl into a pan of very hot water to keep the sauce fluid.  Spread the coconut in a shallow dish or pie plate.  Drop a piece of cake into the chocolate sauce and use two long-tined forks to turn the cake quickly in the sauce to coat all surfaces.  Lift the cake out of the sauce, letting excess sauce drip back into the bowl, and transfer the cake to the bowl of coconut.  Use your fingers to sprinkle the cake with coconut, rolling it around to coat all surfaces well. Remove the cake from the coconut and set it on a wire cooling rack. Repeat with the remaining cake.  Leave the cakes on the wire racks to dry for 1 to 2 hours before serving. Lamingtons keep well for 3 to 4 days, stored in an airtight container at room temperature

Dinner Rolls

These were great, two 9x13 pans bit too much for my now small family, but great none the less. Very light & tasty, a little on the sweet side.  I  actually kind of screwed these up when I made them, working from the laptop in a different room sometimes isn't the best idea.  I put in too much water (1 cup) and too much butter (1 stick).  But they still turned out wonderful.  Next time I will halve the recipe and maybe make 20 instead of 12, these were very large rolls!

Dinner Rolls

2 c. whole milk

½ c. + 1 Tbsp. sugar, divided
1/3 c. (5 1/3 Tbsp.) butter
2 tsp. Kosher salt
2 pkgs. active dry yeast (or 4 1/2 tsp.), preferably bread machine yeast
2/3 c. warm (105-115-degree) water
8-9 c. all-purpose flour
3 beaten eggs

Combine milk, 1/2 c. sugar, butter, and salt in a medium saucepan. Heat over medium heat until butter melts. Remove from heat. Allow to cool to lukewarm.  While the milk mixture is cooling, dissolve the yeast and 1 Tbsp. sugar in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes.  In a large mixing bowl, combine 3 c. flour and milk mixture. Beat on low for 30 seconds, scraping sides of bowl constantly. Add yeast mixture and beat on high for 3 minutes.  Add beaten eggs. Stir in as much remaining flour as needed to make a soft dough. This dough should be very soft–it will be coming away from the sides of the bowl, but it will still stick to your finger when you touch it. Don’t worry, it will firm up during the rising process. Part of what makes these rolls so good is that they’re so soft and light; if you add too much flour, they will be heavy and dense. Place the bowl in a warm place and cover with a clean towel; allow to rise 1 hour.  Punch down dough. Lightly flour your work surface and turn dough out onto surface. Divide in half.  Spray 2 9×13 glass pans with cooking spray. Roll first portion of dough into a rectangle and then cut it into 12 equal-sized pieces.  Shape each piece into a ball and place in prepared pan. Repeat with remaining dough in the second pan.  Cover with a clean cloth and allow to rise in a warm place for about 30 minutes. When dough has about 15-20 minutes to go (depending on your oven), preheat oven to 375.  Bake for 15-18 minutes or until golden-brown.  When done, remove from oven.  Rub a stick of cold butter over the tops of the rolls.

Banana Muffins

I got out of the blogging habit while I was on the road for five weeks for work.  Too much trouble to lug two laptops and power cords onto the plane along with my regular carry on.  Not to mention I wasn't doing much cooking.
Anyway, I ended up with an excess of ripe banana in the freezer.  Enough that I used two different recipes to make Banana Muffins and they both turned out beautifully.  Even though the recipes were very different, the end results really were quite similar.  The only change I made was to add a simple crumb topping to dress them up a little. And of course the baking time needed to be reduced for the recipe that I adjusted for muffins instead of a loaf. 

Banana Pecan Muffins

2 cups flour

1 tablespoon baking powder

½ teaspoon salt

½ cup chopped pecans or walnuts

½ cup shortening

1 cup sugar

2 eggs

1 1/3 to 1 ½ cup mashed bananas (about 3)

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Blend the flour, baking powder and salt together in a mixing bow.  Mix in the chopped nuts.  In a second bowl, cream the shortening and sugar together until light and fluffy.  Add the eggs one at a time and beat well.  Blend in the mashed banana.  Add the wet ingredients to the dry stirring just enough to moisten, about 20 seconds. Spoon the muffing batter into a greased muffin tin and bake for 20 – 25 minutes until the muffins are golden brown and the tops spring back when touched.

Classic Banana Bread


2 cups all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup butter, softened
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe banana (about 3 bananas)
1/3 cup plain low-fat yogurt
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Cooking spray
Preheat oven to 350°.
Lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine the flour, baking soda, and salt, stirring with a whisk.
Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute). Add the eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, yogurt, and vanilla; beat until blended. Add flour mixture; beat at low speed just until moist. Spoon batter into an 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack; remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.
Yield: 1 loaf, 14 servings (serving size: 1 slice)

Topping

¼ cup brown sugar

1/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats

2 tablespoons flour

1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon soft butter

Lemon-Herb Zucchini Fettuccine

The last lemon post (for now).  I used my last lemon in this main dish recipe from best bites.  It was pretty tasty and quick to make.  I was afraid that the whole dish might be too overpowering lemony since it uses 2 lemons and the zest of one.  That's a lot of lemon flavor!  But it wasn't overpowering, it was lemony, but the basil balanced it out.  It needed a little more salt.  But other than that it was delicious.  Also, if you decide to try this recipe, mix everything together, add the cheese and quickly stir.  Otherwise you will get lumps of cheese stuck together.  Take a look at the cute bowl from Dan & Carey- very cute!  Thanks guys!


Lemon-Herb Zucchini Fettuccine
recipe by Our Best Bites

2 large boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 lemons
2 T Red Wine Vinegar
Olive Oil
1/2 lb Fettuccine
2 medium zucchini
1 C shredded parmesan cheese (about :)
5-6 cloves garlic
Fresh Basil (about 1/2 C)
Fresh Oregano (about 1/4 C) If you don’t have fresh oregano, just add a little dried.
Olive oil
Salt and Pepper
Prepare grill. You could also do this on the stove top in a skillet, or a grill pan.
Place chicken in a zip-lock bag with the juice of one lemon, a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and a couple tablespoons of red wine vinegar. Smoosh around and set bag aside while you get your other things ready. (If you’ve got time to spare, let the chicken marinade for 30 minutes, if you don’t, just take what you can get. I did mine for 15 min and it was great.)
Put the pot on the stove to boil water for the pasta. While you’re waiting for the water to boil, slice the zucchini in half length-wise. Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper.
Press, or finely mince garlic cloves. In a small sauce pan on the stove, place 1/4 C olive oil and add garlic. Turn burner onto low-med heat. It shouldn’t be popping and frying, it should just slowly warm, infusing the oil with the garlic and removing that zing fresh garlic has.
When water boils, add pasta and a spoonful of salt

Remove chicken from bag and salt and pepper both sides. Place chicken, and zucchini on grill.
While chicken and zuchs are grilling and pasta is boiling, chop herbs and get out cheese. Zest both lemons and juice the one that hasn’t been juiced.
See, now you’re all ready. When everything is done cookin’ you can throw it together! Keep an eye on that garlic. You DON’T want it to get brown and crispy. It should still look nice and white. Give it a stir. If it starts really cooking, just take it off the heat and set aside.
When zuch and chicken are done take them off the grill and chop ‘em up.
Reserve about 1/2 C pasta water. Drain pasta and immediately place in a big bowl. Place chopped zuch and chicken on top. Add lemon zest, lemon juice, cheese, herbs, and garlic-olive oil mixture. Just pile it all in there.

Meyers Lemons

All the recipes below specifically called for meyer lemons.  So my question is what's the difference between them and just regular grocery store lemons?  Well, when you put a meyer lemon side by side with a regular lemon you can really see the difference.  The meyer lemon is smoother and a darker lemon color.  They are also (by my taste test) a little sweeter and less bitter.  I think it might be because the skin is thinner so less of the bitter white part of the lemon.  I have one lemon left and was going to make some lemon ginger scones, but Cassandra beat me to it.  So I'm now looking for another good lemon recipe. Any ideas?

Lemon Vinaigrette

Continuing on the lemon week.  This was a lovely, sweet, tart flavorful dressing.  So much better than store bought and very easy to make.  As usual with salad dressing recipes, I cut the oil in half. Also I substituted white wine vinegar instead of red wine vinegar, mainly because I didn't have any of the red.  Besides I always think white wine goes better with lemon. Otherwise I followed the recipe pretty exactly, although I only made a half recipe. I used it on a spinach strawberry salad.  Very nice.

Lemon Vinaigrette

2 1/2 Meyer Lemons (juiced for a total of 1/2 cup lemon juice)
2 Tablespoons Red wine vinegar
2 garlic cloves
1 Tablespoon whole grain prepared mustard
1 Tablespoon dried italian herbs
2 Tablespoons honey
1 Tablespoon granulated sugar
pinch of salt
1/1/2 cups olive oil

Combine all ingredients except oil in a blender.  Pulse a few times to chop garlic thoroughly and mix ingredients together.  On low speed, slowly add olive oil to mixture in a steady stream.  Add oil until mixture has emulsified to a vinaigrette.  When completely blended, serve over salad.  Yield 1 pint

Lemon Tart

Second installment of lemon week, Lemon Tart.  I had found this recipe some time ago, but since it called specifically for a Meyer lemon I put it in the back of my mind.  I figured it was doubtful that I would be able to make it for awhile since down here in the boonies it's sometimes hard to find anything out of the ordinary.  But I was surprised to find a bag of 4 large, luscious looking Meyer lemons at my Walmart last week, which I immediately snatched up. So for the tart pastry, I used a recipe from my new King Arthur flour cookbook, it seemed a perfect pairing for a lemon tart.  It was a basic pastry recipe with a tablespoon sugar, some lemon zest and a teaspoon of vanilla added.  The recipe doesn't address the issue of seeds, but I removed them before processing  I thought that even with intense blending, they might add a weird texture or make the mixture bitter.  Otherwise, I made it exactly as the recipe states.  Very easy and very delicious, so delicious in fact that I had to eat two pieces, just to make sure!

Lemon Tart

1 large meyer lemon cut into 8 pieces (seeds removed)

1 1/2 cup superfine sugar (I used regular sugar)

1 stick butter

1 tsp vanilla

4 eggs

your favorite tart shell

Put all ingredients (except tart shell) into a blender and whirl like crazy!

Pour into tart shell

Bake 40 minutes at 350 degrees (watch that the top does not burn)

(I also sprinkled the top with some powdered sugar to dress it up)

Lemon Basil Pasta

2 oz whole wheat pasta

It's Lemon Monday because its sunny after 4 days of clouds, snow, sleet and rain and I have a bag of Meyer lemons.  Lemon Basil Pasta, Lemon Vinaigrette, and an Easy Lemon Tart.  Today I'm posting the Lemon Basil Pasta.  I found some recipes online that were one serving, easy to prepare and less than 500 calories.  This is one of them - with some changes that work better for me.  I'll post the original with my changes noted in italics.  Even though this is supposed to be one serving, it seemed a bit much, especially with a spinach salad and knowing that I would be having lemon tart for desert, so half tonight for dinner and the rest for lunch tomorrow.  This is a very easy recipe and you can adjust it for your preferences without changing the main flavors of lemon and basil.

Lemon Basil Pasta

2 ounces (2/3 cup) dry whole wheat pasta
1/2 cup chopped zucchini (one cup sliced )
1/2 cup chopped yellow squash (1/2 cup chopped grape tomatoes)
1/2 cup canned white beans, rinsed and drained (2 oz chopped cooked chicken breast)
 Juice of one lemon
1/4 cup chopped fresh basil
1 tablespoon grated Parmesan cheese (left this out entirely)
1 tablespoon olive oil (1 teaspoon)

Boil pasta as directed, drain then add other ingredients and toss.  Salt & pepper to taste.


 

BEEF BULGOGI

This is a Korean-style dish.  I was afraid that with all the garlic and ginger it would be too spicy, but the marinade had a very good flavor and wasn't over spiced.  I thinly sliced a sirloin steak and marinated it over night, then put it in a pre-heated skillet and quickly stir fried.  It was delicious.  I used the leftovers with rice and some stir fry vegetables the next day and it was still good.

Beef Bulgogi

4 servings

Ingredients

1 pound flank steak, thinly sliced

5 tablespoons  low sodium soy sauce

2 tablespoons brown sugar

1 1/2 tablespoons grated ginger

1/4 cup chopped green onion

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoons sesame seeds

2 tablespoons sesame oil

1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Place the beef in a shallow dish. Combine soy sauce, sugar, ginger, green onion, garlic, sesame seeds, sesame oil, and ground black pepper in a small bowl. Pour over beef. Cover and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or overnight.

Preheat an outdoor grill for high heat, and lightly oil the grate.

Quickly grill beef on hot grill until slightly charred and cooked through, 1 to 2 minutes per side.

Happy Valentine's Day

To my daughter Cassandra:

Chocolate Dipped Strawberries



To my husband Bill:

Peanut Butter Cookies with Chocolate Chips
Chocolate Cookies with Peanut Butter Chips

SPINACH PIZZA

Spinach Pizza

One 14 Pizza Crust 

olive oil

1/2 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese

One 6-ounce bag baby spinach, coarsely chopped

1 plum tomatoes, thinly slice

2 mushrooms, sliced

3 ounces mozzarella cut into ½ pieces

Preheat the oven to 400°. Spread the dough on a baking sheet and brush with olive oil, then sprinkle with  the Parmesan. Bake for 8 minutes. Toss the spinach with about 1 tablespoon olive oil. Top the crust with the spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms and cheese. Season with salt and pepper to taste.  Put back in oven and  bake for 15 minutes more.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

I've had these at several different restaurants. And this recipe can easily compete with the best of the restaurant varieties.  They are sometimes offered as an entree and sometimes as an appetizer.  They always have lettuce, either iceberg or romaine and chicken.  The side vegetables vary - crispy noodles, bean sprouts, shredded carrots, sliced green peppers, sweet and sour cucumbers or water chestnuts.  The sauces can be sweet and sour, peanut sauce, hoisin sauce or a teriyaki chili sauce. Here at home I use whatever I happen to have, though I am partial to the sweet & sour cucumbers,  just mix equal parts of rice wine vinegar and sugar and add the cucumber sticks.  The chicken itself is spicy and moist with a little heat from the ginger. This is really a pretty easy recipe and is a complete meal.

Asian Lettuce Wraps

1 tablespoon olive oil

1 lb chopped turkey or chicken

2 tablespoons minced garlic

2 tablespoon finely minced ginger

2⁄3 cup teriyaki sauce

Lettuce leaves, rinsed and dried

Grated carrots

Julienne Cucumbers

Bean sprouts

Sliced radish

Chinese noodles

Hoisin Sauce

Heat oil in a large skillet and brown chicken. Add garlic and ginger and sauté briefly. Add teriyaki sauce and simmer for 10 minutes while preparing the vegetables. Place filling and vegetables in center of a large platter, then surround with lettuce leaves. Serve with Hoisin sauce or other Asian sauce of your choice.

Baked Zucchini Fries

A new way to prepare Zucchini, one of my favorite vegetables.  These were pretty good, not too hard to make.  When the recipe says to only use a little bit of the dry mixture at a time, really take it seriously.  Those panko crumbs soak up liquid like a sponge.

Baked Zucchini Fries
Recipe adapted by Our Best Bites from Aggie's Kitchen

About 1 lb. zucchini
1/2 c. Italian-seasoned panko bread crumbs
1/4 c. grated Parmesan cheese (the crumbly stuff, not shreds)
2 eggs

Preheat oven to 425. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil and spray with non-stick cooking spray. Set aside.

Combine bread crumbs and Parmesan cheese. Set aside.

Whisk 2 eggs together in a shallow pie plate and set aside.

Cut the ends off the zucchini and then cut the zucchini in half so you have two short, stubby pieces. Set one piece on its end and cut it in half lengthwise. Cut that half in half, making 2 planks. Repeat with the remaining halves (so you'll get 16 planks per zucchini).

Stack 2 planks on top of each other and cut into strips. Thicker strips will yield "meatier" fries with more zucchini flavor while thin strips will be crispy and taste virtually nothing like zucchini. When all the fries are cut, blot the pieces with a paper towel.

Working with a small handful at a time, dip the zucchini sticks in the egg, shake them to remove any excess, and then roll them in about 2-3 tablespoons of bread crumbs at a time, adding more as needed; you just don't want to work with all the bread crumbs at once because they'll soak up moisture from the egg and won't stick to the zucchini. Place the coated strips on the prepared baking sheet and repeat until all the zucchini strips have been coated. Bake for 10-12 minutes in the prepared oven then remove from oven, flip the fries, and bake for another 10-12 minutes or until the zucchini is not soggy and the coating is crisp and golden brown. Serve immediately. Serves 6-8 as a side dish.

Weight Watchers Points:
2 (for 8 servings) or 3 (for 6 servings)