Dusting off the cookbooks

So, I've pretty much posted nothing interesting since moving my cooking blog over here to blogger. There were a couple reasons for this:

1. I wasn't really trying a whole lot of new recipes
2. Even when I did make a new recipe to share, it's actually a bit of a pain to write out the recipe in a way that I hope is understandable. And I take really crappy food photos. And it all just seemed like a lot of work when no one was really reading the blog anyway.

Sooooo.

I'm revamping the blog format (in a way that is partly inspired by pinterest). I'm just going to share photos and links of online recipes that I've tried, and maybe give some commentary about changes I made and opinions about the results.

There's the plan. I'll be posting soon! :)

Pee-wee's Ice Cream Bread

Ice cream....bread?

I dunno. I haven't tried it, but a friend did, and supposedly it works! The recipe first appeared on twitter...posted by Peewee Herman.

ICE CREAM BREAD

Ingredients:
1.5 cups of self-rising flour
1 pint of softened ice cream

Instructions:
Butter and flour an 8"x4" loaf pan.
Mix flour and ice cream.
Put mixture in the pan.
Bake for 40-45 minutes at 350º.
Before removing from the oven, test with a toothpick; it should NOT come out clean (i.e., a few crumbs should be stuck to it).
Cool on a wire rack.

Banana Yeast Bread with Cinnamon Swirl

Chef's Notes: Rotten bananas multiply in my house. It's like some weird algebraic formula regarding produce. I always toss the ugly little guys in the freezer with plans to use them for something. One day, randomly, I wondered if you could use the "bananas noir" for a yeast bread instead of the traditional quick bread. 

Google answered yes. 

Most of the recipes I found required a bread machine (which I don't have), but I found a few that were made the old-fashioned way. And then I wondered if, instead of putting cinnamon into the dough, you could make it like cinnamon bread with a cinnamon-sugar swirl? 

And, thus, Banana Yeast Bread with Cinnamon Swirl (in all its wonderful cinnamon banana-y yumminess) was born. 

Banana Yeast Bread with Cinnamon Swirl
Yields: 2 loaves

5-6 C. flour
1/2 cup sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 pkg. dry yeast
1/3 cup evaporated milk
1/3 cup water
1/3 cup butter
2 eggs, room temperature
2 or 3 very ripe bananas, mashed to yield 1 cup

In a large bowl, mix together 1-1/4 cups flour with sugar, salt and yeast. Heat the evaporated milk, water and butter to 120 degrees. Add to dry ingredients; beat for 2 minutes at medium speed of mixer. Add in eggs, banana and 1 cup of flour; beat at high speed for 2 minutes. By hand, stir in enough remaining flour to make a stiff dough. Knead for 8-10 minutes, adding additional flour as needed. (Note: The dough is a little sticky to work with. Be careful not to add too much extra flour or the bread will be tough.)

Place dough in large bowl that is coated with cooking oil. Turn dough so that all sides are oiled. Let rise until doubled, about 1 hour.

For bread to rise, it needs three things - warmth, moisture, and no drafts. To create this environment, heat your oven to no more than 110 degrees. (Preheat at lowest temperature and then allow to cool down slightly). Remember: if it's too hot, it will kill the yeast and the dough won't rise.  When the oven is the correct temperature, place a bowl of water on the bottom rack and the bowl of dough on the upper rack. Cover the dough with a linen towel.

When the dough has risen, punch it down and divide into two equal portions. Use a rolling pin to roll each portion of dough into a 14X9-inch rectangle. Spread about 1 tablespoon melted butter onto each rectangle. In a small bowl, mix together 3/4 cup brown sugar and 2 teaspoons cinnamon; sprinkle this mixture evenly over each rectangle.

Beginning at the 9-inch end of the rectangle, tightly roll the dough and shape into loaves. Place in two greased 9X5X3-inch loaf plans. Let rise a second time, until doubled, about 1 hour.

Remove the loaves (and the bowl of water if you used if for the rising process) from the oven. Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Bake loaves for 45 minutes or until golden brown and sound hollow when tapped. (Check after 30 minutes. If they are browning too quickly, cover with a foil tent.)

Remove the loaves from the pans and cool on a wire rack.

I think this would be delicious toasted and spread with Ginger Butter. I didn't try it this way though.

Have Your Cake And Eat It Too

I recently read "Julie and Julie." (It was horrible. Don't read it. Watch the movie instead.) It made me want to bake Julia Child's Reine de Saba, which is the just about the most delicious chocolate cake I've ever had - all gooey and decadent. Read the recipe HERE.

I also recently read "To Kill A Mockingbird." If you've never read it, you MUST. Absolutely stellar. There are several mentions of Lane Cake in the book, so I decided to look up the recipe. It's a buttery cake (almost like a pound cake, I think) with a mixture of raisins, pecans, coconut, and bourbon between the layers and as an icing. It sounds ridiculously rich! Read the recipe HERE.

Cranberry Banana Bread

Chef's Notes: Being snowed in (or iced in, to be more accurate) inspired me to bake. And I have a neighbor who has been very helpful about dealing with the weather, so I made this Cranberry Banana Bread for him to say thank you.

The original recipe (I think) is from Smitten Kitchen. I changed the spices a bit, and used rum instead of bourbon, and half wheat flour instead of all white.

Cranberry Banana Bread
(1 loaf)

1 C. smashed very ripe bananas, about 3 or 4
1/3 cup melted butter
3/4 cup light brown sugar
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon bourbon (I used rum)
1 teaspoon baking soda
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cloves
1/4 teaspoon allspice
1/4 teaspoon ginger
Smidge (1/32 teaspoon) black pepper
1 1/2 cup of flour (I used half wheat, half white)
1 cup fresh cranberries

Preheat the oven to 350°F. With a wooden spoon, mix butter into the mashed bananas in a large mixing bowl. Mix in the sugar, egg, vanilla and bourbon/rum, then the spices. Sprinkle the baking soda and salt over the mixture and mix in. Add the flour, mix. Add the cranberries, and stir until just incorporated. Pour mixture into a buttered 4×8 inch loaf pan. Bake for 1 hour. Cool on a rack. Remove from pan and slice to serve.

Creamy Cheesy Chicken with Broccoli and Cauliflower

Chef's Notes: This is a variation on this recipe which was recommended by my cousin Amber. It satisfies that winter need for comfort food while still being low-carb and reasonably healthy.

Creamy Cheesy Chicken with Broccoli and Cauliflower
(serves 4)

Ingredients

1 pound boneless chicken thighs (or breasts)
2 C. chicken broth
2 tsp. parsley
2 tsp. tarragon
1 clove garlic, minced
1/2 C. onion, minced
Fresh ground pepper
***
4 oz. cream cheese, cubed
4 oz. monterey (or cheddar) cheese, cubed
***
2 C. broccoli florets
2 C. cauliflower florets

Directions

Place chicken thighs, broth, onion, garlic, and spices in crock pot and cook on low 6 - 8 hours. Shred the chicken and drain off most of the liquid. Stir in the cream cheese and monterey cheese and cook on low for an additional 30 minutes to 1 hour.

While the chicken finishes cooking, steam the broccoli and cauliflower until crisp-tender.

To serve, divide the broccoli & cauliflower onto 4 plates and top with an equal portion of chicken mixture.

Calories: 344: Fat: 23; Carbs: 6.5; Protein 32

4 Pepper 4 Bean Chili

Chef’s Notes: A lot of experiments led to this chili recipe that, in my opinion, is just about perfect. Often, chili is either all about heat with little flavor, or it is bland and tastes like tomato soup with hamburger. And having nothing but kidney beans leads to a boring mouthfeel.

In this recipe, four different types of peppers add a depth and complexity of both flavor and heat, and four different types of beans create a unique shape and texture experience. (I purchased the dried peppers from Penzeys.)

One notable missing ingredient is chili powder. Because chili powder is a blend of peppers, cumin, oregano, and garlic, I just added these ingredients to the recipe instead.

Four Pepper Four Bean Chili

(8 servings)

PART ONE

1 48-oz can tomato juice

4 roasted tomatoes (see note below)

1 14-oz jar roasted red peppers, chopped

1 dried ancho chili pepper

2 dried cascabel chili pepper

2 dried guajillo chili peppers

1 C. chopped onion

4 cloves garlic

1 T. cumin

2 tsp. brown mustard seed

2 tsp. Mexican oregano

2 tsp. Mrs. Dash extra spicy seasoning blend

1 tsp. salt

1/2 tsp. thyme

1/4 tsp. cayenne red pepper powder

Soak dried peppers in hot water until soft, about 10 minutes, then cut into chunks. Sauté onions in small skillet with a bit of oil. Mince garlic cloves, sprinkle with a small amount of salt, and then mash them into a paste using the flat side of knife.

Combine all ingredients in 4-quart crock pot. Cook on low 3 – 4 hours. Remove the dried peppers. Taste. If you’d like it spicer, add 2 – 4 T. hot sauce.

PART TWO

1# ground beef (or turkey, chicken, or venison)

1/2 C. chopped onion

1 T. worchestershire sauce

3/4 C. canned red kidney beans

3/4 C. canned black beans

3/4 C. canned Great Northern beans

3/4 C. canned butter beans

Brown ground beef with onion and worchestershire sauce. Drain and rinse beans. Add beef and beans to crock pot.. Cook on warm (or low) for 1 hour.

Additional notes

I roast fresh garden tomatoes in the summer and freeze them. Alternately, you could probably use a can of roasted whole tomatoes.

You will have about 2 1/2 cups leftover beans; place the combined beans in a quart bag, freeze, and use in the next batch of chili.