BANANA BREAD

Posted in Desserts, Sweets, Vegetarian-friendly by sallybr

I realize the world has no shortage of banana bread recipes, as a quick google produces 5,580,000 hits! You’ll find all shapes and styles: moist, classic, healthy, vegan, gluten-free, low-calorie (!?!?), with nuts, chocolate chips, blueberries, cinnamon, with sour cream or pumpkin…. if you dream it, chances are someone already made it and spread the word about it. Once I hit “publish”, you’ll have at least 5,580,001 options! I am sure you will sleep better tonigt… 😉

This recipe comes from cookbook author extraordinaire (and very dear net-friend), Glenys Morgan, and makes a moist, very pure, dense but not heavy, banana bread. She doesn’t recommend using this recipe to bake muffins, so stick to a regular loaf pan.

GLENY’S BEST BANANA BREAD
(from Glenys Morgan)

1 cup mashed bananas (2 large or 3 medium, very ripe bananas)
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter
1 egg
1 + 1/3 cups flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon vanilla or dark rum (optional)

Heat the oven to 375F.

Mash or purée the bananas and buttermilk until smooth. Add the baking soda and mix.
Cream the brown sugar and butter together until smooth. Beat in the egg. Add the banana purée and combine. The mixture will seem curdle.

Add the baking powder to the flour, mix well. Gradually add it to the banana mixture. Stir just enough to combine evenly. Add the vanilla or rum.

Pour into sprayed or greased 8 1/2 x 4 1/2-inch pan, filling the pan to 2/3 full of its capacity. Bake for 45-50 minutes until a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the cake comes out clean. Leave in the pan for 10-15 minutes before turning out. Do not leave in the pan as the loaves sweat and become soggy.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: The most important thing in this recipe is to use very ripe bananas, those that are black, soft, begging to be put out of their misery. Usually I peel them, mash lightly and stick in a zip-lock bag (writing on the bag how many bananas are inside). You can also freeze the bananas whole, but sometimes they can be tricky to peel. Some people like nuts and other bells and whistles in their banana bread, I am more of a purist, and find this recipe absolutely perfect. Our graduate students seemed to agree, as the loaf was gone in minutes! 😉

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3Apr2010

MELLOW BAKERS: LIGHT RYE BREAD

Posted in Breads by sallybr

My first bread in this long journey, Hamelman’s light rye bread, requires a sourdough rye starter. So if you’re like me, and only have white flour starter, then you’ll need to feed it once or twice with rye flour to convert it into rye. Once your sourdough is actively bubbling, this bread will come together in minutes. The final dough only contains 15% rye, so the flavor is mellow, just like our virtual group… 😉

I was pleased with the lightness of the crumb, which was more open than I expected for a rye bread. That was from the high proportion of white flour in the formula (85%). I made a silly mistake in shaping the bread: I forgot to flour the countertop. Yes, it’s hard to believe I was so absent-minded, but… it happens. To shorten a long story, I had to re-shape it, and the extra handling resulted in a bread that was a little too long and a little too flat. Still, it didn’t compromise the internal structure or the taste, and a recipe that withstands my boo-boos is a recipe worth keeping!

Similarly to what happened in the Bread Baker’s Apprentice Challenge, we will not post the recipes for this group project. The Light Rye Bread can be found on page 197 of Hamelman’s BREAD. It is also available online.

2Apr2010

COME MELLOW WITH US!

Posted in Breads, General by sallybr

As more and more fellow bakers finished the BBA Challenge, a net-gossip started: what should we do next? It was so much fun to bake together, cheering each others’ successes and commiserating over the failures, that we all felt a void when the party was over.

The idea of baking another complete bread book, from beginning to end, didn’t appeal to me because of the tight scheduling required. So when Paul proposed “Mellow Bakers,” it was just what I was looking for: we’ll bake Hamelman’s “BREAD” at a leisurely pace, and I’ll even emphasize the “mellowness,” by skipping some of breads. In fact, they already made hot cross buns while I only watched from a safe distance… 😉

So here is an invitation for you: for a nice bread project that will expose you to delicious recipes by a great author, Jeffrey Hamelman, first jump to Paul’s site to read all about it, and then to the Mellow Bakers forum to introduce yourself and join the party!

I’ll see you in the forum!

31Mar2010

SPRING ROLLS on a SPRING DAY

Posted in Appetizers, Seafood by sallybr

March is a wild month. It’s the beginning of Spring in the Southwest, but Winter still occasionally shows its teeth, bringing low temperatures, freezing rain, snow and nasty winds. It’s enough to make a tropical creature sob. This past Saturday I fought back, ignoring the cloudy skies, the intermittent rain and the 25mph winds… I went ahead and brought a burst of Spring air into the house.

VIETNAMESE-STYLE SPRING ROLLS
(from the Bewitching Kitchen)

4 rice paper rounds
1 oz dry bean threads or rice vermicelli
cooked shrimp, cut in half lengthwise
carrots, cut in long julienne strips
cucumbers, cut in long matchstick pieces
lettuce, cut in strips
cilantro leaves

for dipping sauce
6 Tbs soy sauce
2 Tbs water
2 Tbs rice wine vinegar
2 Tbs brown sugar
1 tsp sesame oil
1 tsp grated fresh ginger

Cut the vegetables, cook the shrimp, and have everything ready to use on your kitchen counter. Prepare the dipping sauce by mixing well all its ingredients.

Cook the noodles according to the directions on the package (they vary according to type). Rinse them in cold water and set aside (you can add a tiny bit of sesame oil or olive oil to prevent them from sticking, but it’s not absolutely necessary if you rinse them well).

Fill a bowl large enough to hold the rice paper with very warm water. Open a damp cloth over your work surface. Soak the rice paper in the warm water until it is soft and pliable. Carefully lift it and place it over the damp cloth. Line your ingredients, starting with the cut shrimp, then the noodles, veggies, herbs. Add 1/2 tsp of dipping sauce (or just a few sprinkles of soy sauce) to the filling, and roll the paper around them. Repeat with the remaining rice papers. To serve, cut each roll at an angle and serve with a small bowl of dipping sauce.

Think about birds chirping, flowers blooming, and ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: What I love about these rolls is that you can improvise and use lots of different things in the filling. Granted, this practice might compromise their authenticity, but unless you’re having a Vietnamese guest for lunch, no harm done. Keep in mind that you can have too much of a good thing: avoid using 6 different veggies, two types of meat, 5 herbs, and a smear of peanut butter inside. 😉 These rolls are supposed to be delicate, fresh, and light. Perfect for the warm weather that is certainly peeking at us (fingers crossed).

Click here for a quick tutorial on how to prepare them (plus a cool song in the background!)…

28Mar2010

PORK TENDERLOIN and BLUE CHEESE

Posted in Pork by sallybr

…. so Happy Together!

Here’s a great combination, in a recipe from Bauer’s Secrets of Success, a cookbook quite popular in this bewitched place…

GRILLED PORK MEDALLIONS with BLUE CHEESE SAUCE
(cookbook Secrets of Success, original recipe from chef Ruggero Gadaldi)

1 qt water
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup pickling spices
1/4 cup cider vinegar
1 carrot, chopped
1 celery stalk, chopped
1/2 onion, chopped
1 tsp kosher salt
2 pork tenderloins
6 large skewers (metal or bamboo)
olive oil

for sauce:
1/2 cup heavy cream
3 ounces Gorgonzola cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper

Make the brine for the pork by bringing the water to a boil, adding the brown sugar, spices, vinegar, carrot, celery, onion, and salt. Simmer gently for 20 minutes, allow it to cool to room temperature. Cut each tenderloin in 10 medallions, and submerge the pieces in the brine (you can use a plastic bag). Refrigerate from 4 hours to overnight.

Turn your grill on high, remove the pieces of pork from the brine and pat dry. Thread the pieces onto skewers (if using wood skewers, allow them to soak in water for several hours to prevent burning). Season lightly with salt and pepper and brush the meat with a little olive oil. Grill for about 5 minutes per side, until medium-cooked.

Make the sauce by pouring the cream in a small saucepan. Simmer over medium heat until it starts to thicken (5-10 minutes), add the gorgonzola cheese, and stir until dissolved.

Serve alongside soft-cooked polenta.

ENJOY!

to print the recipe, click here

Comments: This is a perfect recipe for weeknights, as the pork can brine during the day. I normally prepare the brining component in the evening, and submerge the tenderloin early next morning, before leaving for work. The brine does two great things for the meat: it imparts a subtle sweet flavor, and it promotes browning on the grill, thanks to its sugar content. The gorgonzola sauce couldn’t be easier to prepare; it comes together in minutes. In his restaurant, chef Gadaldi’s serves the medallions alongside soft-cooked polenta. I did the same, but also included broccoli. It was nice dinner in less than 30 minutes (and I’m not even Rachael Ray… ;-)).

(if prepared without the polenta, this meal is appropriate for people on low-carb diets)