I love making banana bread....I love it hot from the oven with cream cheese. Ben and I made some this weekend...it rises high and is very luscious.
Have fun and HAPPY SPRING!
Cook's Illustrated Best Banana Bread
On September 27th, Shelburne Orchard hosted its 7th annual Pie Fest. M and I entered two pies. Well I made both but he supervised. LOL We had been testing pies for over 4 weeks in preparation for the big day.
McIntosh, Pippin, Wolf, Paula Red....the list of apples goes on and on. My dining room table was covered in apples. I tried several kinds of crusts - All butter, butter and Crisco, butter and lard, butter and cream cheese.....butter butter butter.... The fillings were basic as the contest was a classic apple pie contest. M kept wanting to get fancy and I think ultimately wore himself out. For a man who does not like apples, he sure put away alot of apple pie. The ultimate compliment I think and I thank him for his tenacity.
I had a couple of meltdowns. Crust was not pretty enough...pie exhaustion. But we finished at 4am the day of the contest. Before I reveal the pics....here are my top tips.
My submission for the Newman's Own summer recipe contest.
Newman’s Own Lighten Up! Italian Grilled Vegetable Salad
Serves/Makes: 6 Prep: 30 minutes
Ingredients:
8 ounces boxed couscous
2 red peppers – sliced into 1inch chunks
1 green pepper – sliced into 1 inch chunks
1 red onion - sliced into 1 inch chunks
4 tablespoons olive oil
½ teaspoon kosher salt
½ teaspoon fresh ground pepper
4 ounces fresh spinach, chopped
2 teaspoons roasted minced garlic (available in your produce section by the jarred garlic) - optional
1 tablespoon fresh oregano, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh Italian parsley, chopped
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup Newman’s Own Lighten Up! Salad Dressing
4 ounces Feta cheese, crumbled
Wooden skewers
Directions:
Prep and heat grill for vegetables.
Cook couscous according to package directions. Set aside and cool.
Toss the red and green peppers and the red onion in 2 tablespoons of the olive oil and salt and pepper. Slide the vegetable chunks (kabob style) onto wood skewers. Place the skewers on a hot grill until vegetables have grill marks and are softened. Approx. 10 minutes.
Add grilled vegetables, fresh spinach, oregano, parsley, lemon juice, and the Newman’s dressing to the couscous and toss mixture. Chill salad for 1 hour.
Toss with Feta cheese before serving.
So my mother recently came to visit me. I seem to have my food habits from my mother. We both love southern comfort - cut our teeth on it actually. But we both are a little too vain to just let ourselves eat to the point that they have to cut us out of the trailer. So we have this strange love/hate thing with food. We both make decadent food and then ask ourselves out of eating it. So during her last visit I asked her to help me make some healthy meals.
A side note: My mother is a fabulous cook. See past posts for more of her mighty tasty recipes.
Cabbage Hash: Simple, healthy but tastes so good!
1 head of cabbage, shredded
1 turkey kielbasa, diced
2 red peppers, diced
1 large sweet onion, diced
2 tsp olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Heat a large dutch oven and add 2 tsp olive oil. Add the turkey sausage and onions. Saute until the onions are translucent. Add red pepper and saute until softened. Lower heat to medium, Add cabbage and saute until soft cabbage is soft. Add more oil if the cabbage is slow to soften. Add salt and pepper to taste.
Lots of fiber - plus salty and a little sweet from the red pepper!
As soon as I posted my rice cooker praise, Miss Brandy e-mailed me with this post from her friend Cinnamon. I have met Cinnamon several times and find her to be very sweet and amazingly creative. She makes beautiful purses.
Cinnamon also has written about the almighty rice cooker for Gaper's Block. She has some really great, simple recipes.
See I am not alone. :-)
It's flu season and even though JB and I had our flu shots, we seemed to have both caught some strange virus. Mine caused me to sleep non-stop for three days and JB's played havoc with his insides. So how does food come into all of this? JB needed a more sedate diet to help him recover. His request? Rice.
I hate making rice. It's just hard to get rice right. Mine comes out too chewy, too mushy...too too and those bags are just messy. So low and behold I was watching PBS and there was a cooking show touting the benefits of a rice cooker. Since I never was a rice fan - I steered away from this gadget. My kitchen is not that big so I need to watch what I buy. But I watched in fascination when I learned you cook almost everything in a rice cooker. Not to mention that I could CURE JB with my fabulous cooking. Strange fantasy I have - ALISE CURES CANCER WITH STICKY BUN RECIPE!!!!!!!!!
So I bought a Rival 3 Cup Rice Cooker from Target. $14.99 and a bright cherry red. A very cute appliance if I might say so myself.
I made this dish all in the rice cooker. Clean up was so easy and JB loved the result. The spices were toned down in his version - hence the sick food - so add more than I have listed here.
All in One Pot Comfort Meal
1 1/2 cups brown rice
3 cups organic, free range chicken stock
1 red pepper, chopped
1 green pepper, chopped
1/2 sweet onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, pressed
1 boneless, skinless chicken breast - bite size pieces
Tamari sauce to taste
Salt and pepper
1 cup frozen peas
Add the rice and chicken stock as instructed by your rice cooker. If you have a steamer, place on top of the rice mixture. If you do not have a steamer, it works to just put the vegetables on the rice/broth. Layer your veggies - placing the garlic on the very top of the heap. Then add your chicken pieces. The goal is to cook the chicken on top of the veggies infusing the chicken with the extra flavor. Turn rice cooker on. About 10 minutes before the cooker turns off add your peas. Peas only need to be heated up.
Note: Some may gasp at putting raw chicken on top of the other ingredients. *JB did. The steam will cook the chicken thoroughly and bring all of the ingredients to a very high temperature. Just make sure to check your chicken by cutting into the thicker pieces for doneness. No pinkness should be left in the chicken. This is a wise thing to do with ALL chicken dishes.
We loved this dish. The chicken was very tender. The rice was perfect. For well eaters, add more spices to the dish. Here is a link to some excellent rice cooker recipes I intend to try.
Every October, my mom calls me from California and asks what I want for Christmas. I always rack my brain and try to think of something I need. To be truthful - there is not much I need. I am very fortunate to have all my needs met - so that makes Christmas purely about wants. I try to have balance. Some for me - some for charity and some years I win out and some years charities win. Last year I won.
I asked my mother for a bound book full of her favorite recipes and some of our family favorites. She made a face. As soon as the request was out of my mouth I WAS REALLY EXCITED! You would have thought I said diamonds. This gift was perfect. It was me and it would be something I could pass on -- to -- to -- to my cats. Mom was not as thrilled. LOVED the idea of it...not thrilled about the work. But I pestered, I whined, I became 8 again. And it worked!
A beautiful leather bound book of family recipes - complete with family anecdotes. "Everyone loved this one in the 70's!" "Your grandmother always served this at parties". Here is the breakdown of what treasures I received.
Mom's recipes: All her favorites - mostly healthy or California inspired and my childhood favorites. Meatloaf, etc. She truly is a magnificent cook. Oh, she also told to me to tell you that she also took me to Greens and Millenium for the first time AND steered me towards organics. Thanks mom. ;-)
My grandmothers recipes - both great grandma and mama: Tipsy Cake (remind me to post around Christmas - yes, it does indeed make you tipsy), her biscuits, and other Southern favorites
My Aunt J's favorites: It was a lovely surprise to see her handwriting and her comments. My favorite aunt on my mom's side. Hopefully she will send some more of her wonderful recipes.
My Stepdad's Mom: Candied Orange Peel - B's favorite from when he was a kid.
My Aunt A: One of my favorite memories of Aunt A was her roast beef hash. I loved it. Everytime I flew to see her, I requested this dish. I was a bit disappointed when I realized it was straight from a can. But that's my aunt A for you.
This was the best gift - it has blank pages and I have started adding my own. Mom has promised to add more each year.
Recently, I had the privilege of cooking for my mom in an effort to speed her recovery from shoulder surgery. We had a great time. She watched me cook and asked questions. I loved every minute of that exhausting night. I was able to take care of her in a way that I knew would help her.
Thank you mom for the book and for all that you give me. See you soon!
Love, A
Mom's Cream Cheese Poundcake
INGREDIENTS:
1 (8 ounce) package cream cheese
1 1/2 cups butter
3 cups white sugar
6 eggs
3 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon vanilla extract (thrown in a bit more for me if you like!)
DIRECTIONS:
1. Preheat oven to 325 degrees F, grease and flour a 10 inch tube pan.
2. In a large bowl, cream butter and cream cheese until smooth. Add sugar gradually and beat until fluffy.
3. Add eggs two at a time, beating well with each addition. Add the flour all at once and mix in. Add vanilla.
4. Pour into a 10 inch tube pan. Bake at 325 degrees F for 1 hour and 20 minutes. Check for doneness at 1 hour. A toothpick inserted into center of cake will come out clean.
The fabulous tart from the Sunday brunch I blogged about! Thanks B!
Goat Cheese and Tomato Tart
Pastry for one tart (I used butter yesterday but usually I use butter and chili oil instead of water or to replace some at least)
1 T dijon mustard
3/4 C grated Gruyere cheese
4 or 5 Roma tomatoes, sliced
8 oz. goat cheese, sliced
brushing oil: (combine all ingredients)
1/2 C extra virgin olive oil
2 T fresh chopped herbs (I used basil and parsley yesterday, but anything you like will do)
1 or 2 garlic cloves, crushed (I opt for 2 usually)
salt and pepper
Preheat oven to 375 and place a baking sheet in oven.
Roll our pastry dough and place in a 12 inch tart pan. Spread dijon mustard over bottom of tart shell, then spread grated gruyere cheese over bottom. Alternate tomato slices and goat cheese in overlapping layers, then brush with all but two T of herbed oil ove the top.
Put tart on baking sheet and bake for 35 minutes (I used my convection oven so it was a little less time). Remove from oven and brush remaining herbed oil over the top.
I have made this tart numerous times and it is always a hit. It is nice for lunch as well as brunch.
