Peanut Butter & Apricot Jam Banana Bread

Warning this is not a low calorie recipe, but a really tasty banana bread recipe ! It is also a great use for all those over ripe bananas. I used raw peanuts and lightly toasted them to add to the batter. I found this recipe in a Better Homes & Gardens Fall Baking Magazine. I tweaked it like I always do; with ingredients that I like. Great for a cold fall winter snack and for kids that are not allergic to peanuts.

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees and then toast 1/2 cup of raw peanuts and set aside to cool. Butter and flour a 9 x 5 x 3 inch loaf pan.

In a mixer blend 1 1/2 cups of ripe bananas, two eggs, 1 cup of sugar, 1/2 cup of melted butter, 1/4 cup of peanut butter and 1/4 cup of the roasted peanuts chopped.

In a separate bowl, whisk 2 cups of flour, 1 1/2 teaspoons of baking powder, 1/2 teaspoon of baking soda, 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon, 1/4 teaspoon of kosher salt, 1/4 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg and 1/8 teaspoon of ground ginger.

Now make the streusel nut topping. In a bowl mix 2 tablespoons of flour, 3 tablespoons of brown sugar and 3 teaspoons of very cold butter. Mix until the mixture is a coarse crumb. Now add the remaining nuts. Set aside.

Now add the dry mixture to the wet mixture in your mixer. Mix only until it comes together and then add it to the prepared pan. Take the 1/3 cup of apricot jam and swirl it into the batter and top with the streusel mixture.

Bake for about one hour. A wooden toothpick into the center should come out clean. You will  need to cover the loaf pan with foil about half way through to prevent over browning of topping. The recipe says to wrap the loaf and let stand overnight.

 

Red Curry Prawn Rice

You must cook shrimp shell on in this dish. The stock & shrimp will get the wonderful flavor from the shells. Just remove the vain by slicing through the back to remove.

Red curry paste has lemongrass, red chili pepper, galangal, kafir lime and Thai ginger in it.

Galangal root is also known as blue ginger, and is part of the ginger family. Galangal's flavor is a little bit different from regular ginger and I encourage you to try it; as it helps Osteoarthritis.

Serve this dish with sliced limes on the side.

1 1/3 cups of basmati rice soaked in cool water
1 1b extra large raw shell on Key West Pink Shrimp
1 large onion diced
1 clove of garlic minced
2 1/3 cups of chicken stock
1 teaspoon of Thai Kitchen Red Curry Paste
1/2 teaspoon ground cumin
1/2 teaspoon ground coriander
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 tablespoon of butter
2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
kosher salt to taste

Heat the butter and olive oil in a thick Dutch oven on medium high heat. Add the diced onion and sauté for 12 minutes and then add the minced garlic. Cook for a minute and then add the shrimp shell on with vain removed. Now add the ground spices and shrimp paste. Cook the raw flavor of the spices out for a minute or two. Now add the stock and bring to a boil. Add the drained basmati rice and bring up to a boil. Cover the rice, turn down to very low and cook for 10 minutes. Turn off the rice. Let stand for 10 minutes before serving.

Granny Smith & Cranberry Bran Muffins

I like moist bran muffins. Adding shredded tart apples adds a lot of moisture to a healthy muffin. This muffin recipe has 1 and 1/2 cups of wheat bran. The added tartness of the dried cranberries makes this a tasty healthy choice in the morning.

1 1/2 cups of unprocessed wheat bran
1/4 cup of room temperature butter
1/2 cup of boiling water
1 1/4 cups all purpose flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
1 teaspoon of baking soda
1 cup buttermilk
1/2 teaspoon of kosher salt

3/4 cup of light brown sugar
1 egg
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 granny smith apples grated
2 tablespoons of dried cranberries
sliced almonds to top muffins

Mix the boiling water and the wheat bran and let stand until cool. Now in a mixer cream the butter and brown sugar. Mix  in the egg and now add in the bran mixture. Add in the dry ingredients and the  vanilla & buttermilk. Then stir in the grated apple and dried cranberries. Fill a muffin tin with the batter and top with sliced almonds. Bake the muffins in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.

Les Etapes De La Recette Du Gateau Basque Tradionnel

 Basque cake is a combination of cake and pie encasing thick pastry cream or black cherry jam which usually comes with a topping of sour cherry sauce. This is a translation of a traditional recipe in French. I love Google Translate!

Préparation : 40 minutes

Preparation time: 40 minutes
Cuisson : 30 minutes
 Cooking time: 30 minutes
Température 180° // Thermostat 6 Temperature 350° / / Gas 6

Ingrédients :
Ingredients:
- 200 grammes de beurre fin - 3/4 cup of butter 
- 4 jaunes d'œufs et 2 œufs moyens (55-65) - 4 egg yolks and 2 medium eggs (55-65)
- 200 grammes de sucre cristallisé - 1 cup of granulated sugar
- 400 grammes de farine type 55 - 3 3/4 cup of cake flour
- 3 grammes de sel de Bayonne - 1/2 teaspoon of salt Bayonne (Kosher Salt)
- 8 grammes de poudre à lever (levure chimique 1/2 sachet) - 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 cup jam & 3/4 cup pastry cream to fill the cake

Whisk together the flour, baking powder and salt and keep at hand.
Working in a mixer fitted with the paddle attachment or in a bowl with a hand mixer, beat the butter and sugar together on medium speed for about 3 minutes, or until smooth. Add the eggs & egg yolks and beat another 2 minutes or so, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. The mixture may look curdled, but that's OK. Then reduce the mixer speed to low and add the dry ingredients in two or three additions, mixing only until they're fully incorporated into the dough.
Place a large sheet of plastic wrap or wax paper on your work surface and put half of the very soft and sticky dough in the center of the sheet. Cover with another piece of plastic or wax paper, then roll the dough into a circle just a little larger than 8 inches in diameter. As you're rolling, turn the dough over and lift the plastic or paper frequently, so that you don't roll it into the dough and form creases. Repeat with the other half of the dough.
Put the dough on a cutting board or baking sheet and refrigerate it for about 3 hours or for up to 3 days.
When you're ready to assemble and bake the gateau, center a rack in the oven and preheat the oven to 350. Generously butter a 2-inch high, 8-inch round cake pan.
Remove the layers from the refrigerator and let them rest on the counter for a couple of minutes before peeling away the plastic or paper. Fit one layer into the pan — if it breaks, just press the pieces together. If there's a little extra dough running up the sides of the pan, you can either fold it over the bottom layer or cut it so that it's even. Spoon some of the jam or pastry cream onto the dough, starting in the center of the cake and leaving one inch of dough bare around the border. Add more filling if you don't think it will squish out the sides when you press down on it with the top layer of dough. (I find that 3/4 cup is usually just the right amount, but if you're using a very thick jam, you might want a bit more.)

For the Pastry Cream Filling
500 ml/ 1 pint full cream milk
1 egg and two egg yolk
2 tbsp dark rum
1 vanilla bean, split lengthwise
100 g/ 1/2 cup granulated sugar
50 g/ 8 tbsp plain flour, sifted

Prepare the cream filling. In a saucepan, bring the milk to soft boil with the vanilla seeds. Add the sugar, whisk for 30 seconds. Add the sifted flour gently, whisking away to avoid any lumps for 2 minutes. You can take the saucepan on and off the heat a few times. Add the egg and yolks, one at a time, whisking away until the cream has thickened, about 2-3 minutes (low heat). Take off the heat. Finally, add the rum and mix well. Set aside to cool completely.

Moisten the bare ring of dough with a little water and then top with the second piece of dough, pressing down around the edges to seal it. If you'd like, you can work your finger between the top dough and the edge of the pan, so that you tuck the dough under a little. Because of the softness of the dough and the baking powder, even if you only press the layers together very lightly, they'll fuse as they bake. And, no matter how well you press them together, it seems inevitable that a little of the filling will escape.

Brush the top of the dough with a egg glaze and use the tips of the tines of a fork to etch a cross-hatch pattern across the top.

Bake the cake for 30 to 40 minutes, or until the top is golden brown. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for 5 minutes before carefully running a blunt knife around the edges of the cake. Turn the cake over onto a cooling rack and then quickly and carefully invert it onto another rack so that it can cool to room temperature right side up.

 

Banana Cream Pie with Crystallized Ginger

Sitting on my counter is the just perfectly ripe bananas for something. I was reading my numerous cooking magazines and thought why not banana cream pie. Most recipes go for the Betty Crocker style. I thought why not add candied ginger and freshly grated nutmeg to the pastry cream.
Oh, my it really kicked it up several notches. This recipe is a spin off of a Bon Appetit's recipe.
You will need a prebaked pie shell. I always use my grandmothers recipe of never fail pie crust. It is one of my earlier posts.

After the shell has cooled paint the shell with 2 ounces of melted bittersweet chocolate and 2 teaspoons of oil. Let chill completely. The pastry cream is very easy. For my mother's day I received an electric hand blender. It makes quick work of whipping cream and mixing the pastry cream. I like a sauce pan with rounded corners too.

For the pastry cream: 3 large egg yolks, 1/2 cup sugar, 3 tablespoons of cornstarch, a pinch of salt, and 2 cups of whole milk are added to a sauce pan. Whisk until well incorporated. Place on the stove and bring to a rolling boil; whisking all the time. Remove from heat and add 2 teaspoons of vanilla, a lot of freshly grated nutmeg and 3 teaspoons of crystallized ginger. Cool until lukewarm and then add three sliced bananas. Refrigerated until cold.

For the whipped cream I added 1 pint of cream into a bowl. Whipped until thickened and then added powdered sugar and vanilla to taste. Whip your cream until well set.

With a piping bag add the whipped cream to the cold pie. Then toast some sweetened coconut and top pie.

Anisette Biscotti

The secret to delicate & fragile biscotti is to use cake flour. This is the best recipe I have found for biscotti. It will make about 50 biscotti depending on how thin you slice them. Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

3 cups of cake flour
1 tablespoon of baking powder
3 ounces of sliced almonds
1 stick of unsalted butter
1 cup of sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla extract
1 teaspooon of anise extract
1 teaspoon of anise seeds
3 eggs



Place the butter and the sugar in a mixer and mix until well incorporated. Then add the rest of the ingredients. Shape the batter into two logs and bake for thirty minutes. Then using a serrated knife, slice the baked logs on the diagonal every 1/2 inch. Bake for another twenty minutes longer, until the biscotti are dry and crisp !


Started a herb bed that has french tarragon, lemon thyme, thai basil, dill, rosemary, and all kinds of lovely herbs!

 

Pumpkin Pie

Pumpkin pie is really comforting in the fall. I suggest serving this with maple syrup sweetened whipped cream. This recipe is similar to the Libby's Pie recipe off of the can. The difference is I add vanilla, one extra egg, five spice powder and a little less salt. It is delicious.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

3/4 cup of sugar
1/4 teaspoon of salt
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon of ginger
1/4 teaspoon of cloves
1/4 teaspoon of five spice powder
1 1/2 teaspoons of vanilla
3 large eggs
1 15 ounce can of pumpkin
1 can of evaporated milk

1 unbaked 9 inch never fail dough pie shell

Mix all the filling ingredients in a food processor and pour into the pie shell. Bake for 55 minutes in the lower third of your oven.