Coq au Vin

So I made this with a few basic modifications. Here is what I did:

1 bottle of wine
2 handfuls mirepoix blend
2 minced cloves garlic
2.25 chicken drumisticks
4 oz bacon, chopped
1/2 bag frozen pearl onions
8 oz crimini mushrooms
flour
salt & pepper

Combine the mirepoix, garlic and the wine, reduce til half (or a third!). Sieve. Coat the drumsticks in seasoned flour. Render the fat from the bacon, and remove the cooked bacon. Brown the drumsticks in the bacon fat, and remove to the platter. Caramelize the onions in the fat, add the mushrooms. Cook five or so minutes, and remove the onions&mushrooms to a separate plate. Deglaze with the strained, reduced wine. Whisk in about a tbsp of flour. Whisk well. Add the chicken & bacon pieces. Cover and simmer for around 40 minutes - an hour. Add the mushrooms & onions back in. Simmer 20 minutes, covered if it's thick enough and partially uncovered if it's too thin.

If you're making it ahead of time, feel free to fridge it anytime after you add the mushrooms & onions. If this is the case, it is also easy to remove the bones and separate the chicken into bite sized pieces before you reheat everything. That is what I did.

I served it on smushed boiled baby gold potatoes, but any sort of potatoes (mashed, roasted, etc) pasta or starch would do. Leftovers will be fabulous.

Cheating (piglets in a blanket)

I've been cutting coupons lately, and sometimes there are little recipe dealies and whatnot using the brands they want you to buy. And! There was one for lil smokie pigs in a blanket, which had two whole ingredients: lil smokies and refridgerated crescent rolls.

Directions:
Preheat to 375F, line a baking sheet in parchment or foil. Cut the crescent rolls into quarters and wrap messily around the lil smokies. Put on aforementioned lined baking sheet. Pop into the oven for 15 minutes, and serve with bbq sauce, or whatever else.
I think my favorite sauce for this is/will be thousand island - or mayo, dijon, ketchup, relish & tabasco mixed together. Woo.

Oh and as far as a football snack goes, this is cheap. Lil Reduced Fat Smokies were 2.00, and crescent rolls were $1.40. Not terrible

Smores on a Stick!

Totally stole this from gimme some oven via notmartha.org. Maybe borrowed is the better word.

Anyway, after you made cookies but before you leave:
put a bunch of sticks into large marshmallows
crush a bunch of graham crackers into little pieces and put into a shallow bowl
melt a bunch of semi-sweet chocolate in another bowl

1. Dip marshmallow-on-a-stick into chocolate, using a spoon to help spread a thin layer of chocolate all over, including all around where the stick goes in.
2. Dip chocolate-covered-marshmallow-on-a-stick into the graham cracker crumbs, pressing in on each side to pick up biggish pieces, and a spoon to coat the top.
3. Place on parchment paper, or a serving type platter.
(optional)4. Refrigerate or put into treat baggies or both.
(non-optional)5. Enjoy!

Definitely a good crowd pleaser easy dessert. The sticks and the bags I have on hand, so those aren't counting towards the total costs. I think it'd be about $5ish. Used generic low-fat grahams (albertsons, <$2), generic marshmallows (albs, $1.50), and tollhouse semi-sweet chips (albs or vons $1.88 right now). Used about 1/6 the grahams, 1/2 the mallows and 1/2 the chips.

Anyway. Probably not the healtiest thing ever, but delicious!

Bread

SO! I tried the basic bread in the 5 minute artisan bread book. From this article (note: i'm linking to the printable version because its all on one page. just click cancel when the print screen comes up). I made a half batch because my only larger bowls are huge metal bowls that would take up way too much space in the fridge. The proportions are 6:3:3:13. 6 cups water to 3 tbsp yeast to 3 tbsp salt to 13 cups flour. Or as I did: 1.5 cups water, .75 tbsp salt, .75 tbsp yeast, 3.25 cups flour. Combine water (warmish like 100F, just a bit above body temp, I didn't measure), yeast & salt in a big coverable bowl. Add all the flour. Mix. I mostly combined with a spoon and then mixed the rest with my hands. Let it rise at room temperature, mostly covered, for 2+ hours, until its flattened or caving in. Then refridgerate. Yay. Its ready to use! I made 2 lbs of dough. I baked one of them today, and the other will either be a pizza or more bread or coffee rolls. The costs on this are probably around $.50 per loaf, including energy costs. Rough estimate, with a lot of cushion.

Anyway, its crusty and dense and I'm pretty stoked on it. I need to get the book from the library and see about the different variations and/or the other master recipes besides the basic boule. Like the olive oil one that apparently makes good foccacia. I would love to start making that.

So! I might start making my own bread! At least sometimes! Yayayayay. The dough keeps in the fridge for a week or two or more! I think it'd make a good French loaf styleish.

I also made cookies today. Betty Crocker pouch oatmeal cookies. Overly sweet, but not terrible for costing me a whole nickel, plus the additional ingredients (1 stick butter, 1 egg).

Dinner tonight!

Today's dinner is going to be amazing, if improperly timed.
First done is balsamic glazed brussels sprouts.
- Trim brussels sprouts, halve (depending on size), and soak in lemon water for however long, about a half hour.
- In a pan over med-high or so heat, combine butter and olive oil in not so scary proportions.
- When butter's melted, add brussels sprouts. Toss about until browned and awesome. Add some garlic and let it cook another minute or so.
- Up the heat. Add in some balsamic vinegar and chicken (or turkey!) stock. Toss about until tender and glazed. Enjoy.

Alternatively, set aside until cold because that's when the chicken's done.

Paprika & onion chicken
- Thinly slice a small onion. Add paprika til bright orange and salt & pepper. Add about a tbsp of butter for each chicken breast (i used two freakishly large ones). Toss with chicken. Add stock and put in the oven at like 425F until done. I should probably check on mine any minute now.

Lastly! I'm trying the basic bread recipe from the 5 minute artisan bread book! I made the dough up earlier, and there's a boule of it resting on the counter. If this works, it will be the best thing ever. Because its easy. And cheap. And we know how I like the cheap and easy. Its going into the oven after the chicken comes out.

So, its an ill-timed affair, which is more my speed than everything coming together all at once. Someday I'll learn.

Gingerbread

This is a NYT recipe, gleaned from thewednesdaychef. Modified for miniloafpans.

256 g cake flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cloves
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
2 eggs
12 oz dark molasses (not blackstrap, used 'robust')
1 stick (1/2 cup) unsalted butter
1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350F. Heat water to boiling, add butter. In large bowl, whisk all dry ingredients. Butter and flour mini loaf pans. Add water/butter mixture to dry ingredients. Beat. Beat in beaten eggs. Beat in molasses. Divide among pans. I filled 5. Bake at least 30 minutes, until the fullest one tests done. Let cool. Serve with awesome homemade apple butter. Send to family with said applebutter and cheap honey.

Crockpot Apple Butter

WOO! It's fall! Apples are cheap. Barely less than 50cents/lb, but low enough to warrant buying 5 lbs of apples for apple butter.

5 lbs apples (note: that was 12 apples, i used 11 before the crockpot was full), peeled cored and thinly sliced
~ tsp cinnamon
~ 2 cups brown sugar
~ dash salt
~ dash nutmeg
~ dash cloves

Add apples and about a cup or so of water to a crockpot. Cook on high, stirring occasionally until you have to go to work (~4 hours). Get home, add salt and spices. Turn heat back to high, and remove lid. Add about a cup of sugar. Stir. Keep cooking. Taste and adjust. Add sugar if necessary. Keep cooking on high with the lid off until a spoon in the middle stays upright. Took a few hours. Put in jars and/or serve. Refridgerate and spread the joy. :D

Crockpot Love

So, I'm trying to cook more, so we don't do things like get pizza, or anything silly like that. Or subsist on pb&js. Here are two things that might make it into rotation.

Chicken "Cacciatore"
- 1 huge boneless skinless chicken breast, diced (about 12oz)
- 1 15 oz can diced tomatoes, no salt added
- 1 8 oz can tomato sauce
- 1/2 onion, slivered
- 3 cloves garlic
- Italian Herbs
- Fresh ground pepper
- Crushed red pepper flakes
- Salt, to taste, when finished.

Throw the onion slivers in the crockpot. Toss the diced tomatoes, garlic in. Add the chicken breast. Top with the herbs and peppers. Add the tomato sauce. Cook on low for 6-8 hrs. Season to taste when done. Serve with breadsticks, garlic bread, pasta, etc. Made 3+ servings. Ate the leftovers for lunch today.

"Salsa Chicken"
- stolen off a message board:
- 1 huge chicken breast (see above), diced
- 1 jar salsa (roughly, i tossed in the remainder of one jar and a splash of another)
- 1 can corn, drained
- 1 can beans, drained (can be pinto or black bean)
Combine all, with the corn on the bottom, and the salsa on top. Cook on ow for 6-8 hour. Enjoy as is, with tortillas, or with tortilla chips. Its almost like a ridiculously easy chicken chili.

Its kind of weird, it seems like ground beef used to be the cheaper animal protein, but I regularly find chicken breast for like half the price. These are both very cheap, very easy, and while not the quickest in the world, the active prep time is pretty minimal. Especially if chicken's on sale and you process (dice!), separate, and freeze or fridge.

Swordfish and tomatoes

So everyone went up to a concert in LA today. I stayed home. So I got stuff to make dinner! I ended up with swordfish because it looked the best. Here's what I did

- some slices off a half onion
- 3 tiny inner cloves of garlic sliced
- 1 can tomatoes
- 1-9oz swordfish steak
- salt
- olive oil
- olives
- handful wild arugula

Heat the olive oil in a pan (or in my case, a wok). Add the onions. Cook a minute or two. Add the garlic. Cook a few more minutes. Remove to a plate. Salt the fish on both sides. Add the swordfish to the pan. Cook around four minutes. Flip. Cook another four minutes or so. Add the tomatoes, lift the fish to get tomatoes under. Add the onion and garlic back. Stir to distribute. When swordfish seems done, remove it to a plate. Add the sliced olives. Stir to distribute. Keep cooking til desired consistency. Add the arugula, stir to wilt. Serve with the swordfish.
NOTE: ate about half the piece of swordfish. will use the rest for chowder or something.

xoxo

Grilled Marinated Veggies

Grilled veggies are great to have in the fridge. They are easy to bring out when you have people over, easy to snack on, and pretty healthy. Also, its quick to make up a bunch for the week.

Here's what I did the first time around:
veggies cut into 1/2" slices. (used 1 onion, 1 green pepper, 1 red pepper, 2 zucchinis, 1 carrot the first time around)
half olive oil / half balsamic vinegar. salt & pepper

In a shallow tray, lay the veggies out in flat layers, salting and peppering each layer lightly. Mix the olive oil and balsamic til emulsified. Pour over the veggies, stirring them around slightly to get everything touching it. Let sit for at least a half hour, preferably more. Stir around every so often to make sure things are getting the marinade.

When ready to grill, turn your grill on high to med-high. Lay the veggies our in a single layer, until nice and done on each side. Put back in the marinade when done. I liked to cook vegetables with similar cooking times together Like onions with peppers, zucchini with carrots. Also, might be handy to use a nifty grill pan if you have one. Our grill is gas with odd grates that are filled in directly over the burner, so it made it really easy for the small veggies like carrots.

Anyway! Enjoy quick munching :D

Next time, I may use the giant squash from my parents' neighbor. And maybe eggplant. And red peppers were cheap so I have a few of those to use :D Oh and maybe chop a clove or two of garlic for the marinade.

Panzanella

I've got a few things to update, just been lazy for the most part. Or making the same things over and over (eggs, i'm lookin at you).
Anywho. Panzanella is a rustic bread sort of salad. Its almost a mix between like stuffing and pasta? I don't quite know how to describe it. But its delicious!

For one large serving or two small ones:
1 slice nearly stale, extra thick bread or rustic italian (so i used this cherry blossom bread from nijiya. probably would have worked better with a french or italian sort), cut into 1 inch cubes
1 medium to large tomato (from my parents' garden!), peeled and roughly chopped
1/8 of a medium onion, roughly chopped
1 huge or 2 medium cloves garlic, roughly chopped
olive oil
apple cider vinegar
handful of basil (parents' garden!)

1. In a decent sized skillet, toss in the bread cubes, drizzle with olive oil, season lightly with S+P, and toss about until browned. Alternatively could probably be done in the broiler or oven. Its basically making croutons :D Set aside when browned.
2. Add the onion to the same skillet, with a bit more olive oil if necessary. Wait til half translucent and add the garlic. When its all translucent, throw in the tomato and any juices that accumulated. Season to taste with S+P and ACV.
3. Remove from heat, toss in bread cubes and tear basil over the top. Serve!

Quick and Easy Gazpacho

I think I'm going to attempt to keep gazpacho around for the summer. This version is quick, easy, fairly inexpensive, etc etc. And healthy. It is tomato juice based, with two eggs and a dollop of olive oil included. No bread. I think I could eat this with every meal no problem. And its quite filling and definitely versatile. Oh! And a poached egg makes it all creamy and even better for a quick meal.

I portioned this out, and it lasts decently long. Anyway, here goes!

1 quart tomato juice (store brands would be fine, as would just about any combination of tomato sauce & water, tomato puree & water, and tomato paste & water)
1/4 - 1/2 red onion
2-3 cloves garlic
1 small cucumber or 1/2 large one, ~1/4" dice
1 bell pepper, ~1/4' dice
handful of jalapeno stuffed olives, minced
2 hard boiled eggs
1 tbsp olive oil
salt & pepper to taste

1. Finely mince / grate / process in a food processor, the red onion and garlic. Combine with the tomato juice.
2. Separate the eggs. Combine the yolks and olive oil into a paste. Mix into the tomato juice.
3. Finely dice all of the vegetables and the egg white. Add to the juice.
4. Stir, season to taste, enjoy!

Makes about 6x ~8oz portion.

Nutrition: 89 calories, 4.2g fat, 10.9g carbs, 7.7g sugar, 1.5g fiber, 3.7g protein
Vitamins: A 30%, C 95%, Calcium 4%, Iron 7%

Chicken Cacciatore - bastardized

So I've gained about 5 lbs since my dear lovey sister moved down. That, on top of the 5 lbs through the holidays, means I'm really not happy with where I am right now. Granted, I'm still sub-135, but not quite fitting into clothes is not where I'd like to be.

So! I decided now is as good of a time as any to attempt a gluten-free, dairy-free trial run. The fact that I'll be eating more whole vegetables, no bread/pasta and no candy should help me get back to where I ought to be without going crazy about dieting. An all around healthier situation should probably make me feel better too. Possibly make my body feel alive sometime before 10am even?

Anyway. This recipe was adapted quite a bit from a old diet cookbook I picked up at the used bookstore downtown a while back. It has daily menus for about a year of 600 calorie days. Damn, right? Anyway, it says itself that no one should really go to those extremes unless on Dr's orders, and how the fat lil old lady it was originally designed for was sedentary and seeing her Dr once a week and all that. And that its easy to scale. Either with additions (particularly at breakfast where it has a list of items to add and the calories they'd add) or simple multiplication (you want 1200 per day? eat 2 servings!). That's all besides the point though. There are quite a few recipes in there that I'm probably going to modify. They tend to be heavy handed with vegetables, moderate on meat, and nearly nil on grains.
So! Here's the bastardized version of chicken cacciatore:

1 tbsp olive oil
1.5 lb chicken thighs (note, i removed fat first. they were boneless and skinless to begin with)
2 big cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 large red onion, diced
1 28 oz can tomatoes (diced here, cause its what i had)
4 oz tomato paste
3/4 cup chicken broth (using better than bouillon which has whey but has no gluten containing ingredients that i could discern confirmed gluten free)
1 tsp olive oil
7 oz cremini mushrooms, sliced (from an 8oz package that my sister ate about an ounce or so of)
s&p
'italian herbs'

1. Heat the tablespoon of olive oil in a non-reactive heavy pan large enough to hold everything. I used a wok. Attempt to brown the thighs (please note that i'm terrible at this. however, all the bits that stuck to the bottom ended up helping the sauce a lot). S&P as you go. Set aside
2. Toss the onion into the pan, stir about until they start to lose the red color. Toss in the garlic. Cook a minute or two.
3. Add about half a cup of the chicken broth. Use a whisk to get the good browned bits off the bottom of the pan.
4. Return the thighs, add the tomatoes, paste and herbs. Simmer for about an hour or so? Stirring occasionally.
5. In a small pan, heat the additional 1 teaspoon of olive oil. Add the mushrooms and a dash of salt. Cook through, then add to the sauce. Stir in. Simmer a bit longer.
6. Remove from heat.

Since I used 7 chicken thighs, I separated it into seven servings. Each got 1 thigh, then I added spoonfuls of sauce roughly evenly around until it was gone. I ate it on its own, but would be good over zucchini cut into long strips and blanched, spaghetti squash, rice, etc. Or pasta, if that suits you. :D

Nutrition facts per serving:
257 cal, 11g fat, 8g carbs, 4g sugar, 2g fiber, 29g protein


Today, I ate a serving with a over easy egg on top and it was pretty good. I shredded the thigh before putting the egg in. Its also a pretty cheap meal what with finding things on sale and chicken thighs being pretty cheap.

Revisited Garlic with Chicken

Second time around, still a great dish. I actually let my chicken pieces brown, which is a miracle in itself. I always play with food and flip it too soon and whatnot.
Anyway, some modifications this time around. Here's what went on:

- 1 5 lb chicken, cut into 6 pieces (leg+thigh, breast, wings. i got lazy before i separated the leg+thighs)
- 70ish cloves garlic (the rest of the container), little end sliced off and slightly smushed with the broadside of a knife
- ~1/4 cup olive oil
- dry white wine (i'd say about 1.5 cups or so)
- sprigs thyme

1. Preheat oven to 325F. Heat the olive oil in a good sized pan to medium-med high. I use the wok. Its lovely.
2. Salt and pepper the chicken decently well. Blot dry with papertowels. Brown pieces in olive oil, do not crowd pan. In the wok, 1 at a time is best. Put the browned pieces in a large casserole.
3. After the chicken's browned, turn heat slightly down and add in the garlic. Toss occasionally until golden. Drain off some oil, then put the rest and the garlic into the casserole.
4. Deglaze the wok with the white wine. I used a South African sauvignon blanc. It was rather flat for drinking, but worked alright. Add that to the casserole. If the chicken is less than half covered, pour in a bit more wine. Cover with foil. Bake until done, about an hour-hour and a half.
5. Let set for a bit, then enjoy! :D If you're feeling ambitious, you can return the liquid to the wok and reduce by half. But I was hungry. :D

Made this with the previous potatoes, and some frozen broccoli/cauliflower blend tossed with olive oil and salt and pepper that was baked. That got a bit overdone, but I liked it enough to finish it.

Modified Pommes de Terre Boulangere

Potatoes of the bakery! I had dinner planned tonight, and wanted to do a potato side dish beyond mashed potatoes. I thought about scalloped potatoes or a gratin, but realized I should be a bit healthier. This sounded easy and like it could work out amazingly! I wanted a bit of the creaminess of scalloped potatoes, so I subbed a cup of milk for some of the chicken broth. Also topped with a bit of parmesan cheese. For the hell of it.

Here goes:
4-5 small potatoes, peeled and diced THIN. I do not have a mandoline, so I just sliced very thinly and discarded the end, when I felt I might be in danger of losing fingertips
1 cup milk
1 cup water
2 tsp chicken base (better than bouillon. use however much bouillon/base it takes to make 2 cups!)
2 cloves, sliced (not minced or crushed. sliced means you can use more, subtly)
couple sprigs thyme (using them in chicken also) or whatever herbs you have on hand
couple grinds pepper

1. Preheat oven to somewhere between 325 and 400F (i started at 325 with the chicken and increased when that was done). Combine all in a saucepan Liquids should just cover potatoes. Cook until potatoes are just tender. Depends on your thickness and potato type.
2. Put potatoes into a oven safe casserole with a slotted spoon. Pour liquid in until just covered. Sprinkle with a bit of parmesan.
3. Pop in the oven uncovered for a while. Like 40 minutes? Til browned a bit and bubbly. Let rest for about 15 minutes and then slice and serve.

Should make about 6 servings.

Definitely can fill the void of scalloped potatoes.

Scallops with Pasta!

So I had some scallops I had to use (trader joe's frozen. i thawed the last 4oz yesterday, but didn't end up making dinner. so today). I knew I wanted something nice and simple flavors and whatnot. And the ingredients I had on hand.

Anyway, I decided to pan sear the scallops with a good dusting of salt and fresh ground pepper. Then I pan roasted some thick cut tomato slices in the same pan. Then I made a garlic spiked white sauce in the same pan.

Here's the ingredients and what I did!

- 4 oz scallops, thawed. about three large ones
- 1 roma tomato, sliced about 1/2 inch thick. i had cut two, but one was devoured before it hit the pan. and matthew stole one of the slices.
- salt & pepper
- 1/2 tsp or so finely chopped rosemary (from my nearly depleted freezer stash)
- 1 tbsp olive oil (does anyone ever measure that? it was probably closer to two)
- 2 oz angel hair pasta (penne would have been better. something sturdier to hold up to the sauce)
- 2 cloves garlic, sliced thin
- 1 tsp butter
- 1 tbsp flour (heaping spoon)
- 1 cup milk (i have no idea how much i actually used)

1. Heat a pot of salted water for the pasta to boiling.
2. Heat the olive oil in a pan over medium heat. When nice and hot, toss in the salt and peppered scallops. Cook for a few minutes, to sear it nicely. Turn. Cook the other side. It should not be too firm. A little squishy is great. :D Remove from the pan.
3. Salt and pepper the tomato slices, toss on the rosemary. Put it in the same pan. Cook a couple minutes per side. Cook the pasta around now. Remove the tomatoes and set aside.
4. Reduce the heat to medium low. Add the butter. When its melted, add the garlic. Cook a couple minutes until translucent. Add the flour, stir.
5. Cook a minute or two. Add the milk. Whisk vigorously. Taste for seasoning. When its nice and thick, toss in the pasta to coat.
6. Place pasta in bowl. Top with tomatoes. Top with scallops. Enjoy. :D

Pros: easy good white sauce! garlic flavor was not overpowering! tomatoes disintegrated into sauce nicely! that combo would work well alone or with chicken.

Cons: scallops were a tad cold. skin on tomatoes had to be peeled off and eating first. but would not have cooked well with skin off. basil may have been better than rosemary.

Spinach Artichoke Dip

This is based on Alton Brown's recipe. And on what I had on hand. Note, his recipe only said it yielded a 'batch', so I doubled it. And made waaaay too much. Oh well. Easily halved.

Ingredients
3 cups frozen chopped spinach (i use the loose bags because I like the convenience. boxed would have to be thawed and squeezed dry)
1 box frozen artichoke hearts, diced small
3 jarred artichoke hearts, diced small
1 clove garlic, minced (would double next time)
12 oz reduced fat cream cheese (aka neufchatel)
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup mayonnaise
2/3 cup shredded parmesan
1 tsp red pepper flakes
1/2 tsp salt

Cook frozen artichoke hearts (before dicing) in a small amount of water until tender. Drain. Dice.
Microwave cream cheese with garlic, adding in a cup of spinach at a time and stirring between heatings.
Combine mayo, sour cream, parmesan, artichokes, red pepper flakes and salt. When cream cheese/garlic/spinach mixture is thoroughly warm and melty, combine with sour cream-mayo mixture.
Realize you made a whole lot, and put about half into a bowl. Microwave another 30 seconds or so, to meld everything together.

Can be topped with additional parmesan and baked, if desired. I didn't want to turn the oven on.

In addition to being a great dip, can be used as a pasta sauce, if thinned with milk. Or on baked potatoes. :D

Nutrition: I dont want to scare you! :D

Penne with Spinach Cream

Tried once a while ago, cannot remember details, but it still sounds delicious. Posting to remind myself.

Penne with Spinach Cream

2 tbsp unsalted butter
6 cloves garlic
14 oz fresh spinach (or frozen. i usually have frozen.)
1 1/4 cup heavy cream
pinch of fresh ground nutmeg (yeah i dont have that..)
1 tsp lemon juice
1 lb penne (cook according to package directions)
2 tbsp olive oil
1 to 1 1/2 cups parmesan, grated

Cook garlic and spinach in butter. Squeeze dry, and reduce the resulting liquid by half. Return spinach to the pan. Add cream. Reduce by half. Pulse in a food processor (or likely, for me, use chopped frozen spinach and mince garlic to begin with). Adjust seasonings with s&p, nutmeg, lemon juice. Toss with hot pasta, oil, and parmesan.

Banana bread

There will be a few updates today, as I found one of my note pads with a few recipes. I'd like to not lose them, so I'm going to put them in now! This recipe is from an older recipe book, with slight adaptations. It is a family favourite (and everyone else who's had it favourite too).

Banana bread

1/2 cup butter
1 cup sugar
2 eggs, beaten
3 medium bananas, mushed
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1 cup sour milk (usually achieved by a bit of vinegar and then milk to make up a full cup. let sit at least 5 minutes)

Preheat the oven to 350F. Grease a loaf pan.
Blend dry ingredients together. In a separate bowl, cream sugar and butter. Add eggs, beat well. Add bananas, beat a little. Add dry ingredients alternately with the sour milk, roughly in thirds.
Pour into loaf pan. Bake for about an hour, until it tests done.

It is amazing.

Brownies

I love brownies. They're one of those desserts that can still taste alright if they're made low-fat, low-fun (a la No Pudge mix), but are only in their full glory if done right. I like my brownies on the fudge side, with a crackly top. Only achieved with plentiful butter.

Here's a recipe I haven't had issues with (scaled to a 8x8 pan):

1 1/4 sticks (10 tbsp) unsalted butter
1 1/4 cup sugar
3/4 cup + 2 tbsp cocoa powder
1/4 tsp salt
1/2 tsp vanilla
2 eggs
1/2 cup flour

Place rack in lower third of the oven, preheat to 350F.
Line pan with parchment paper.
In the top of a double boiler, combine butter, sugar, cocoa, and salt until heated to nearly 'untouchableness'.
Set aside until only warm.
Add eggs and vanilla, stir vigorously. Add flour and stir until combined. Beat for about 40 strokes.
Spread in pan. Bake 20-25 minutes.

Nutrition; Do you really want to know?