Banana Bread

I was standing in my kitchen and saw some ripe bananas in my fruit basket that I didn't want to go to waste. Since I was heading out to spend some time with family, why not bring along some banana bread for them. So I am looking around my cabinets to see what I can mix into this. Mmm, coconut and almonds sounds good. I made them banana bread before with coconut and walnuts and they loved it but since I have no walnuts on hand, almonds should do. This loaf came out great but if you don't like almonds or coconut, just skip that mix-in. Enjoy!

Banana Bread with Coconut and Slivered Almonds
Recipe by Gold Medal Flour (with slight modifications)
Makes one large loaf

Ingredients:
1 ¼ cups sugar
½ cup butter or ½ cup margarine, softened
2 eggs
1 ½ cups mashed very ripe bananas (3-4 medium)
½ cup buttermilk (No buttermilk? Use a ½ cup of plain yogurt or sour cream or mix ½ cup of regular milk with ½ tbsp of lemon juice)
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup, if desired (I used ½ cup of slivered almonds and ½ shredded coconut plus some extra for the top of loaf)

Ready to go in the oven.

Directions: Heat oven to 350°. Grease bottom and sides of a loaf pan. In large bowl, mix sugar and butter. Add eggs, bananas, buttermilk and vanilla; beat with electric mixer (I used my Kitchen Aid) on medium speed until smooth. Stir in flour, baking soda, salt and 1 cup nuts and coconut (if using) just until moistened (Careful not to over mix). Pour batter into pan. Sprinkle some coconut and slivered almonds on the top of the batter. Bake for one hour or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes. Loosen sides of loaf pan; remove from pan to cooling rack. Cool about 1 hour before slicing.




Pizza Night

Today was one of those days where I just didn’t feel like cooking but I also didn’t want to spend the money to buy anything. Plus, I love to cook so I should able to make something quick and easy...like what though? Aha – pizza! It's 2PM and if I want to have dinner ready in time, I need to start making the dough ASAP. I discovered a great new blog recently that featured a pizza dough that that looked quick and easy. The pizza dough recipe I have been using lately is good but didn’t really have any impactful flavor to it. I gave this new recipe a whirl and it was great – definitely a keeper. It paired perfectly with our favorite toppings of mozzarella and pineapple. Actually this recipe made enough dough for two large pizzas. This great blog also featured another recipe for a Mexican pizza which I want to try with the other half of dough...maybe next week.

Pizza Dough
Recipe by A Couple Cooks
Makes 2 large pizzas

Ingredients:
4 cups white flour
2 teaspoons active dry yeast (1 package)
½ tablespoon olive oil
1 ¾ cups warm water
Kosher salt (I used 1 Tbsp regular iodized salt)

Directions: In a food processor (I used my Kitchen Aid stand mixer with a dough hook), combine flour, 2 teaspoons yeast, ½ tablespoon olive oil, and salt. With the food processor on, slowly (I mean slowly, like over 30 seconds) start pouring in 1 ½ to 1 ¾ cups of warm water. Stop adding water when the dough form a single ball. If you add too much water and the dough gets sticky, just add a bit more flour. Leave the food processor on for about 10 more seconds to knead the dough a bit. Place the dough ball in a floured bowl, cover it with a towel, and allow it to rise for about an hour. After an hour, reform the risen dough into a ball. Divide it into two equal parts and either freeze it or allow it to relax for immediate use (See info below). To stretch the dough, gently press it out on the counter into a circle shape, about half the size of the final pizza. Then drape the dough over both of your knuckles and rotate it around, allowing it to stretch itself to a larger circle, about 10 inches in diameter. If the dough starts to resist stretching, put it down and allow it to rest for about 5 minutes, at which point it will stretch more easily.

To freeze: Place each dough ball in a zip-top bag and put in the freezer. The morning that you are going to use the dough, remove it from the freezer and place it in the fridge to thaw. About 30 minutes before making the pizza, take it out of the baggie and allow it to relax on the counter, covered with plastic wrap. To use immediately: Cover each dough ball with plastic wrap, and let them sit on the counter for another 30 minutes to relax.

The final product.

Fast & Easy Mid-Week Appetizer: Guacamole!

I bought a couple of avocados last weekend at the farmer's market which I wanted to use for my tasty guacamole recipe. This is my own spin on the classic although; all guacamoles pretty much consist of the same ingredients. I like my guac chunky and with a kick so here it is. Enjoy!

Guacamole
A Heart for Cooking original recipe
Makes enough for 4 people (or 2 greedy ones like my husband and me)

My chunky guacamole ready to serve.

Ingredients:
2 avocados
2 limes
1 lemon
½ cup chopped red onion
1 ripe, medium chopped tomato
2 Tbsp cilantro, chopped
Salt and fresh pepper, to taste
Tabasco

Directions: Peel and seed the 2 avocados into a large bowl. Take one of the limes and roll it against the counter with the palm of your hand to soften the lime and make it easier to juice. Squeeze the lime over the avocados and then gently mash the avocados, leaving some chunks. Next add the red onions, tomatoes and the remaining lime and lemon to the avocado mixture and stir together. Mix in the cilantro and add as much salt and fresh pepper to your liking. I then add 3 splashes of Tabasco and mix again. This can now be covered and refrigerated until ready to serve with tortilla chips or added to your favorite dish.

Spinach & Mixed Berry Salads

So I usually make breakfast and lunches for my husband and myself and wanted to make a spinach salad for tomorrow. We went to Costco last weekend and bought huge containers of strawberries and blueberries and I wanted to use them up before they went bad. So what to make but a berry salad! I originally got this idea from a salad I had at Panera Bread this past Summer. It had berries and pineapple chunks in it and was yummy however; it is not available during the winter. So, here is my own version of it which I prepare and package up the night before.

Packaged and ready to go.

Spinach & Mixed Berry Salad
My own recipe which is inspired by Panera Bread
Makes 2 salads

Ingredients:
4 cups of baby spinach
1 cup of strawberries, quartered
1 cup of blueberries
½ cup candied walnuts
2 slices of goat cheese
Balsamic vinaigrette

Directions: In two large Tupperware containers, divide 2 cups of baby spinach in each. Top each salad with half of the strawberries and blueberries. Place one slice of the goat cheese on each salad and then close Tupperware containers and place in refrigerator. I then divide the ½ cup candied walnuts into two plastic baggies and seal. I don't put these on the salad until I am ready to have my lunch since they tend to get a little soggy if I refrigerator them on the salad. I then divide the vinaigrette into little containers so that I don't have to take the whole bottle in my lunch bag. Viola -- lunch is ready!

Shortbread Cookies Dipped in Chocolate

I am heading to a baby shower tomorrow and need to bring a dessert. I decided to make cookies but wanted to make something different that I haven't made before...how about shortbread? I went ahead and made a basic recipe which a friend gave me a while back with some of my own tweaks incorporated -- like dipping them in chocolate with pink sprinkles! My friend Erika knows she is having a baby girl and I had some pink sprinkles in the house -- it was perfect. These came out great and the extra chocolate that was left over I spread onto wax paper and made into shapes -- I can use these as toppers to cupcakes or a cake another day.

Shortbread Recipe
My original recipe

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups of cake flour
1 cup of room temperature butter
½ cup confectioners sugar
2 tsp vanilla
½ cup chocolate chips
¼ sprinkles of your choice

Directions: Mix butter and sugar in an electric mixer or by hand until well combined. Add vanilla and mix again until smooth and fluffy. Add all the cake flour and mix until completely combined. Take a 20" long sheet of wax or parchment paper and lay flat on a counter. Pour all of the dough into the center of paper and shape into a rectangle. Fold over half the paper and smooth the rectangle out until it is about a ½" thick and about 3 inches high. Fold over the sides and top of wax paper and mold into a smooth edged rectangle and refrigerate for 2-4 hours. When you are ready to bake the cookies, take the dough out of the refrigerator and preheat oven to 350°. Cut the dough into ¼" slices and place on an ungreased cookie sheet about an inch apart. Bake for 16-18 minutes or until the edges are almost browned. You don't want the cookies to brown too much instead keep there light color. Remove the cookies from the oven and place them on a cooling rack. Let cookies cool completely before dipping into chocolate.


After mixing all the ingredients together, I molded the shortbread into a ½" thick rectangle.



Once the dough is chilled, dice it up into ¼" thick slices.

To make the chocolate dipping sauce, place the chocolate chips in the microwave for one minute and then mix with a metal spoon. If it is not melted enough, put in microwave for another 30 seconds and mix again. You can then start dipping the cooled cookies in the chocolate and place on a waxed sheet of paper. Sprinkle your topping choice on the chocolate part before it dries.

Finished cookies.

Pear Frangipane Crostata

I needed to bring a dessert to our friends house for a potluck dinner tonight. So, I was browsing through my binder which contains printed recipes that catch my attention on-line or either that I rip out of my magazines. This recipe for a Pear Frangipane Crostata looked yummy and I have never made anything like this before. Plus, I had all the ingredients I needed at home already -- minus the almond paste which was super expensive ($6 for a 7 ounce tube!) I made my own pie crust for the first time which really wasn't hard to make if you own a food processor. The Crostata came out great and we served it with Tahitian vanilla ice cream. This recipe is a keeper!

Perfect Piecrust
Recipe complements of Ladies Home Journal magazine
Prep: 15 min

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
1 Tbsp sugar
12 tbsp (1 ½ sticks) cold, unsalted butter, cut into pieces
¼ cup chilled shortening
1 Tbsp white vinegar
½ cup very cold water

Directions: In a food processor, pulse together the flour, salt and sugar. Add the butter and shortening. Pulse 8 to 10 times or until mixture is coarse crumbs and some of the butter is pea-size. (Alternately, combine in a bowl using a pastry blender or a fork.) In a measuring cup, combine vinegar with ½ cup cold water. While pulsing processor, drizzle in just enough water mixture to form dough, 5 to 8 tbsp. (Dough may be slightly dry but will hold together when you pinch it.) Halve dough, wrap in plastic wrap and press into disks. Chill 1 hour or until ready to use. May be frozen for up to 2 months.

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Pear Frangipane Crostata
Recipe complements of Ladies Home Journal magazine
Prep: 35 min, Start to finish: 1 hr 15 min

All assembled and ready for the oven.

Ingredients:
4 oz almond paste
2 eggs
4 tsp cornstarch

⅛ tsp salt
1 single crust of Perfect Piecrust (see recipe above)
3 pears, cored, cut into 1/2-inch slices
1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
2 tbsp apricot preserves
¼ cup sliced almonds, toasted

Directions: Heat oven to 375° with rack in the lower third. In a food processor, combine almond paste, 1 egg, cornstarch and salt until completely blended. Roll crust on flour-dusted parchment into a 12- to 13-inch circle. Spread almond mixture in the center, leaving a 2-inch space around the edge. Toss pears with lemon juice and arrange on top of almond mixture. Gently fold over crust edge,pleating, just covering edges of pears. Transfer crostata, on parchment, to a baking sheet. Whisk remaining egg and brush edge of crust with a little egg wash. Bake until crust is deep golden and pears are soft, about 40 min; cover crostata loosely with foil for the last 10 min to prevent over browning. Heat apricot preserves and brush over pears. Sprinkle with almonds and serve warm or cooled. Makes 6 servings.

All dressed and ready for the party.

3-Course Meal

For three years while our dining room was being renovated, we really didn't have too many people over for dinner. Honestly, who really enjoys eating a nice dinner on their lap? So now that our dining room is done, I just love having people over for dinner. Since it was a holiday yesterday and I didn't have to work, we had some friends over for a dinner. We had a three-course meal -- for starter I made a Roasted Pear Spinach Salad and two loaves of homemade french bread, for the main course it was Beer-Can Roasted Chicken with sweet potatoes and onion and for dessert a Creme Brulee with berries on the side. I used three different recipes, two which I found in the magazines I was reading this week (Better Home and Gardens and Martha Stewart Living) and one from on-line. The salad and chicken recipes are definitely keepers but I may have to try a different Creme Brulee recipe next time. Here they are:

Roasted Pear Spinach Salad

Recipe by Stonewall Kitchen Winter Celebrations cookbook

Ingredients: (original recipe calls for ciabatta bread and blue cheese but I made my own french bread. For full recipe click on link above)
1 teaspoon butter 2 pears
1 ½ teaspoons sugar
½ cup sliced almonds
1 cup dried cranberries
⅓ cup cider vinegar
2 tablespoons honey
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil
6 ounces baby spinach

Directions: Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Grease baking sheet with butter. Core pears and cut each into 8 wedges; toss with sugar and place on baking sheet, cut sides down. Bake 15 minutes until soft and browned on undersides. Transfer to waxed paper to cool. Place almonds on an ungreased baking sheet and toast 3 to 5 minutes, then transfer to a bowl. Stir in half of the cranberries and set aside. Meanwhile, in blender, combine the remaining cranberries, vinegar, honey, and mustard. Blend until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. With blender running, add ⅓ cup oil in a slow steady stream. In a bowl, toss together the spinach, half the almond mixture, and vinaigrette to taste. Divide greens among tumblers; top with pears, toasts, and additional almond mixture. Serve immediately.

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Beer-Can Roasted Chicken with Fig-Jam Pan Sauce
Recipe by MarthaStewart.com
Prep: 15 minutes Total: 1 hour 20 minutes, Serves 4 to 6

Chicken before adding the sweet potatoes and then going into the oven.

Ingredients: (I unfortunately could not find fig jam so substituted it with Apricot Jam. Also, I added sweet potatoes and onions to this recipe)
1 whole chicken (about 4 1/2 pounds)
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Coarse salt
1 can stout, such as Guinness
1 small bunch fresh thyme
¼ cup water
1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons fig jam
My additions: 3 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" cubes and one medium Spanish onion thinly sliced

Directions: Preheat oven to 450 degrees, with rack in lowest position. Pat chicken dry with paper towels. Rub skin with butter, and season with salt. Pour out ½ cup stout from can; reserve. Poke holes in top of can using a church key. Place thyme in can, and set in a large ovenproof skillet (I used a roasting pan). Place chicken over can, balancing legs to keep it standing like a tripod. Toss the sweet potatoes and onions in olive oil and spread on the bottom of the pan with the chicken.

Carefully transfer chicken to oven, breast side first. Roast for 20 minutes. Baste with pan juices. Roast, basting twice, until juices run clear and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reaches 155 degrees, about 25 minutes more.

Carefully remove skillet from oven. (Steady chicken with 1 hand, using paper towels or mitts to protect your hand.) Let chicken rest (it will continue to cook) until an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of a thigh reaches 165 degrees, about 10 minutes, then remove from can. Let chicken rest for 10 minutes before serving.

Meanwhile, discard can, and pour pan juices into a cup; skim fat. Return juices to skillet over medium-high heat. Pour in reserved ½ cup stout, and bring to a simmer, scraping up brown bits. Mix together water and flour. Whisk into skillet. Boil for 1 minute. Whisk in jam. Simmer until thick, about 2 minutes. Serve chicken with sauce.

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As for the Dessert recipe, since it is not a keeper in my book, I am not going to display the entire recipe however, it is available here.

Focaccia anybody?

So today I was a little creative and made focaccia. Yet another great recipe from the Artisan Breads Every Day book. We had some friends over today and I made this wonderful bread with an equally yummy asparagus soup. Unfortunately I can't share the bread recipe (you need to buy the book) but I can with the soup. This was the second time I made it and I just love how easy it is to make. This recipe is by Sunny Anderson from Food Network and on her show she said that you can substitute the asparagus with any vegetable--I am going to try it with cauliflower next time. Here is the recipe for the soup along with some pictures of my focaccia. Until next time!

Cream of Asparagus Soup
Recipe by Sunny Anderson

Ingredients:
½  stick unsalted butter
½  onion, chopped, (about 1/2 cup)
1 clove garlic, crushed
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
2 pounds asparagus, ends trimmed and cut into 1-inch pieces
6 cups chicken stock
1 pint sour cream, room temperature

Directions: Melt butter in a large saucepan over medium-high heat. Add onion and garlic, and saute 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper. Add asparagus and saute another 4 minutes. Add the chicken stock and bring to a boil. Reduce to simmer and cook for 30 minutes, until asparagus is very tender. *Carefully transfer to a blender saucepan, stir in sour cream and season with salt and pepper, to taste. Transfer to serving bowls.

*When blending hot liquids: Remove liquid from the heat and allow to cool for at least 5 minutes. Transfer liquid to a blender or food processor and fill it no more than halfway. If using a blender, release one corner of the lid. This prevents the vacuum effect that creates heat explosions. Place a towel over the top of the machine, pulse a few times then process on high speed until smooth.


Focaccia before.



Focaccia after.

I made bagels and loved it!

This Christmas, Santa brought me the bread book I have been wanting by Peter Reinhart titled Artisan Breads Every Day. I made his bagel recipe last week and let me tell you how great they came out!  I made the plain bagels twice and then got bold and made cinnamon raisin bagels -- YUM! This Sunday I made whole wheat bagels but they didn't come out as good but I think I used the wrong type of wheat flour so, I will give those another try this weekend.

Plain bagels after they were boiled and topped with poppy seeds.

Hot and fresh out of the oven.

Cinnamon Raisin bagels.

 


Welcome to Heart for Cooking!

You could say that I have always enjoyed cooking but now I am totally in love with cooking and all food! Heart for Cooking will explore my adventures with the new recipes that I discover either on-line or in books and magazines. I collect all of these recipes in my little binder until the day that I make them and then determine whether it is a "keeper." I am so excited to be able to share this journey with you. So welcome to my Heart for Cooking!