inaugural banana bread

Safely relocated and mostly moved into the new digs, I woke up this morning absurdly cold and decided it was time to test out the new oven with some early morning baking.

With my beautiful red stand mixer (BEST. BIRTHDAY GIFT. EVER.) claiming some counter space, this recipe was a breeze. Sometimes banana bread turns out overly moist and sticky, but this recipe results in a slightly sweet, fairly light textured breakfast bread. The wheat flour and toasted nuts balance out the sweetness, and give the bread a little depth. Do enjoy straight from the oven, possibly with a touch of butter. Possibly have another slice for lunch as well.


Banana Nut Bread

8 tbs butter (1 stick), room temperature
3/4 c sugar
2 eggs
1 tsp vanilla extract

1 c all-purpose flour
1/2 c whole wheat flour
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg

1 c mashed very ripe bananas (2-3 bananas)
1/2 c plain yogurt (or sour cream)
1/2 c chopped toasted walnuts or pecans (don't be a noob and burn them like I did)

Put on a hoodie.

Preheat oven to 350°F, butter a loaf pan. Cream the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the eggs beating well.

In another bowl, mix dry ingredients together and add to butter mixture. Blend well. Add the yogurt and bananas. Mix, mix, mix. Stir in the nuts and pour into the pan. Bake 45-60 mins until the middle springs back when you push down on it. If it's getting too brown and it's not done, cover the loaf with foil and keep baking.

Try not to burn yourself as you cut yourself a piece and bask in the warmth of your kitchen.

fast fruit tarts

I had some precious handmade puff pastry left over from the bakery gig, and was looking to put it to good use. Laziness + awesome puff pastry = amazing. You'll hardly lift a finger but look like a pro because anything with puff pastry looks fancy schmancy.


What you do:

Find yourself some puff pastry better than that frozen Pepperidge Farm stuff. Consider begging your local bakery to give you some.

Cut 2 squares of thawed puff pastry out.
Top one with a few slices of apple left over from your apple pie, sprinkle with brown sugar, and dot with butter.

Top the other square with a spoon or two of peach preserves you made a few months ago because you're nuts, and some of those frozen blueberries that you picked, too. (Other jam and fruit combos work quite tastily as well. Raspberry/blackberry anyone?)

Pop in the oven at 450 degrees for 20 minutes, or until pastry is puffed and golden, and the fruit looks done. Pat yourself on the back and serve with ice cream.

summer in a jar

Recall the peach jamboree madness? Here's what happened to a mere 3 pounds of them back in June. Risking burned limbs and anaerobic bacterial growth, I had a little foray into canning. Sadly, I lost my photographic adventures of this project, but thought I aught to document it for my own edification anyway.

Peach Preserves

What you need:
4 1/2-pint mason jars and new lids, washed

3 lbs. peeled and roughly sliced peaches , about 5 cups of fruit
2/3 c sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 1/2 tbs. lemon juice
a very healthy splash or two of triple sec

Toss peaches, sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice together in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap, and let stand 3 or 4 hours. This is what we call macerating.

Place a colander in a big skillet or wok. Pour fruit and juice through colander, and let drain for 20 minutes. Remove fruit to a bowl. Measure depth of juice in pan with a chopstick.

Bring the juice to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat enough to keep the juice boiling fairly rapidly (the surface will appear foamy with small bubbles covering the entire surface). Boil until the juice is reduced by half. This will take about 20 minutes. To test the amount of reduction, place the chopstick in the pan and see where the surface hits in relation to the original measurement. By this time, the juice has become a light, slightly glistening syrup.

Get a pot of gently boiling water going.

Add the fruit, any additional juice that has accumulated, and the triple sec. Continue cooking until the peaches begin to take on a translucent, caramelized look around the edges, and the syrup is quite thick. This will take about 15 minutes. There will be lots of splattering of screaming hot sugar, so protect your hands and arms to avoid battle scars.

Remove the mixture from the heat. Ladle the hot jam into one hot jar at a time, leaving 1/4-inch headspace. Wipe jar rim clean. Attach lid. Fill and close remaining jars. submerge jars in pot of boiling water for 10 minutes. Turn off heat and let cool till you can safely fish out the jars. Let sit on the counter overnight. Hopefully a seal should form. Nurse your burns and take pride that you'll be enjoying your peaches year-round.

hatch chile apple pie

Pie and chiles, you say? A la mode, you say?

This basic apple pie gets its twist from roasted hatch chile. The roasting mellows out the chile, and adds a mild spicy background that adds another layer to the traditional spice combo in the pie. Perfect with a scoop of vanilla ice cream to cool down the heat.


Hatch Chile Apple Pie
Adapted from Central Market's Hatch Chile Apple Cobbler

your favorite double pie crust recipe

1 hatch chile
5 or 6 granny smith or golden delicious apples, peeled and sliced to your preference
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon cider vinegar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon allspice
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
2 tbs cornstarch

1 egg, beaten

Make your pie crust dough. Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Broil chile for a few minutes on each side, till skin is charred and blistered. Remove from oven and cover with foil while you prep everything else. When you're good and ready, peel the skin, discard seeds, and chop up the remaining chile.

Combine the apples, brown sugar, cornstarch, chile, cider vinegar, and spices in a bowl. Mix well.
Roll out your pie crust and put it in the pan. Pour in the apple mixture. If you're OCD, proceed to lattice your pie. If not, make a normal double-crusted pie. Paint the top with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar to make pretty.

Bake for 45 to 50 minutes or until the filling looks brown, bubbly, and delicious.

goodness that is mango

Be still my heart - it's mango season! My love for this fruit is greater than the risk of phalange loss when cutting them, especially with my propensity for kitchen injury. How the hell I work in a bakery, I have no idea. But with all 10 fingers, I shall blog about mango... in bread form!

Once again facilitated by the incredible powers of procrastination vested in Google Reader, I found this recipe for fresh mango bread from Joy the Baker. Drawn by the unique combination of ingredients (mango, apple, raisins, lime zest...), it seemed like a nice change of pace from my usual arsenal of quick breads.

Verdict? The cinnamon and ginger flavors make your palate think holidays, and then the bites of mango make you think, "Why didn't I put mango in my bread sooner?"

I didn't have any raisins, but threw in a handful of toasted walnuts instead. Also, I had a little trouble getting the very middle of the bread to bake through using a shallower but longer 13 3/8 " x 4 7/8 " pan. Can someone explain those dimensions, by the way? They don't even come out to even numbers in metric... Regardless, this one's a keeper and I'll be making it again soon.

Fresh Mango Lime Bread
Adapted from Joy the Baker adapted from Dorie Greenspan

3 large eggs
3/4 cup canola oil
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/4 cups whole wheat flour
3/4 cup sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 1/2 teaspoons fresh ground ginger
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup brown sugar

1 to 1 1/4 cup diced mangos from 1 large peeled and pitted mango
1 cup grated apple from 1 peeled Granny Smith apple
3/4 cup toasted walnuts, chopped
grated zest of 1/2 lime

Preheat oven 350 degrees F. Grease a 8-1/2 x 4-1/2 inch loaf pan. Put the pan on a baking sheet. This extra insulation will keep the bottom of the bread from over baking.

Whisk the eggs and the oil together.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, spices and salt. Rub the brown sugar between your palms into the bowl, breaking up any lumps, then stir it in. Pour the wet ingredients over the dry, switch to a sturdy rubber spatula or wooden spoon and mix until blended- the batter will be very thick (really more like a dough than a batter) and not easily mixed, but persevere, it will soon come together. Stir in the mango, apples, raisins and zest. Batter into the pan!

Bake 1 1/2 hours, or until it is golden brown and a thin knife inserted into the center comes out clean. If the bread looks as if it’s getting too brown as it bakes, cover loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the pan to a rack and cool for 5 minutes before running a knife around the sides of the pan and unmolding. Invert and cool to room temperature right side up on the rack. Eat a lot of it.

mrr?

smell of fresh baked cookies + smell of rendering bacon = confusingly delicious

tom yum goong

Tom yum goong, or Thai lemongrass prawn soup, is distinctly not a baked good, but guaranteed to fill your home with yummy smells. This is one of those traditional dishes open to a million interpretations, but they all get their distinctive flavor from lemongrass, nam-prik pao (roasted red chili paste), and kaffir lime leaves if you're ever so lucky to have some. The lemongrass and lime leaves impart that addictive flavor you find in Thai cooking, and the roasted chili paste (which contains shrimp paste) adds a deliciously complex salty and spicy quality to the broth. You can totally find this paste in the Asian foods isle at the market.

Not up to making prawn stock from prawn heads and shells, I made this quick and dirty, non-authentic but tasty version cleaning out the fridge. The longer you can simmer it, the better. The coconut milk gives it a satisfying richness. Serve this over some vermicelli and you could make a meal out of it.

Quick and Dirty Tom Yum Goong

3 ½ cups chicken broth
1 cup water
¼ cup coconut milk

1 shallot, minced
1 jalapeno, cut into strips
2 pieces of ginger, 1” each
2 stalks lemon grass, discard outer layer and dry ends, cut into 2” pieces
3 kaffir lime leaves, crushed up a bit
1 lime, juiced
2 tbs fish sauce
1 tbs nam-prik pao (roasted red chili paste)

15 shitake mushrooms, sliced
½ block of tofu, cut into chunks
Handful of coarsely chopped cilantro
10 prawns

Get a sizeable pot. Heat a little oil over low heat. Soften shallots and jalapeno. Add mushrooms. Soften.

Add broth and water. Throw in everything else, except prawns. Bring to a boil, then reduce to a simmer for at least 30 minutes.

Throw in prawns a few minutes before you want to serve. Done when you're hungry.