My Favorite Banana Bread

Once again, I have extremely ripe bananas laying around.  Today I wanted to make my favorite banana bread which takes a bit of planning because the recipe requires buttermilk and unsweet shredded coconut, two items you may not have on hand.  It's worth the extra effort for this delicious treat.

Banana Coconut Nut Bread

Banana Coconut Nut Bread

(from Martha Stewart's Baking Handbook)

3 cups flour
1 tsp. baking soda
3/4 tsp. salt
3 eggs
2 cups sugar
1 1/3 cups vegetable oil
2 Tbs. vanilla
1 1/2 cups ripe mashed bananas (approx. 3 medium)
1 cup unsweetened shredded coconut (I use Bob's Red Mill)
1 cup pecans or walnuts, toasted and finely chopped
1/2 cup buttermilk
non-stick cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Coat two 9"x5" loaf pans with cooking spray then line the bottom with parchment or wax paper and spray the paper.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, soda and salt.

In bowl of electric mixer, beat eggs, sugar and vegetable oil on medium-low until combined.  Beat in the flour mixture until combined.  Add vanilla, bananas, coconut, nuts and buttermilk and beat just to combine.

Divide batter between prepared pans.  Bake, rotating half-way through for 60-65 minutes or until a cake tester comes out clean.  Transfer to a wire rack to cool for 10 minutes then remove loaves from pans and cool completely.

Decorating Icing

Way back in the early 90's, when I moved away and started my first 'real' job, I took a cake decorating class.  I've made many cakes since that time, and have probably forgotten a lot of the techniques over the years, but I have held onto the original recipe for decorating icing.  Most recently I've used the icing to decorate Christmas cookies.  It is good for spreading and piping.

Decorating Icing

1/2 cup margarine or butter (stick, cold and firm)
1/2 cup white shortening (ex. Crisco)
4 cup powdered sugar, sifted
1 tsp. vanilla
2 Tbs. milk or cream

With mixer, beat butter and shortening until creamy.  Add sugar, beat until blended then add milk and vanilla.  Beat on high speed 5 minutes.
(for chocolate, add 1/2 cup cocoa or 3 - 1 oz. unsweet chocolate squares, melted, and 1-2 Tbs. milk)

Winter Soup Keeps Us Warm

On cold days it is always a treat to have warm soup for dinner.  Now that I'm trying to cut out the pasta and breads in my life, I decided to make chicken vegetable soup as a hearty meal.  Of course I added potatoes in the mix but surely potatoes are healthier than noodles...right?  And I made this soup using as many fresh veggies as I could find in the fridge, so mix and match whatever you have on hand.  You can even add some frozen veggies if you have them.

Chicken Vegetable Soup

Chicken Vegetable Soup

1 Tbs. olive oil
1 cup onion, diced
1 red or yellow bell pepper, diced
3 carrots, sliced
2 stalks celery, diced
1 cup green beans, cut in 1" lengths
1 zucchini, diced
1 garlic clove, minced
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. pepper
2 small potatoes, diced
2 tomatoes, diced (or 14.5 oz. can diced tomatoes)
32 oz. chicken broth*
2 cups rotisserie chicken, shredded
1 tsp. oregano
1/2 tsp. dried thyme
1/2 tsp. dried sage
2 cups spinach, chopped
grated parmesan cheese, optional

Heat olive oil in a large Dutch oven over medium high heat.  Add onions and cook 1 minute.  Add carrots, celery, green beans, zucchini, garlic, salt and pepper and cook 5 minutes or until onion is tender.  Add potatoes, tomatoes, broth, chicken, oregano, thyme, and sage and bring to a boil.  Once soup boils, reduce to a simmer and cook partially covered 20 minutes or until vegetables are tender.  Add chopped spinach and cook 3 minutes or until spinach wilts.  Serve topped with fresh grated parmesan cheese, if desired.

*I purchase whole rotisserie chickens frequently and freeze the leftover carcass and meat until I have 2 carcasses.  I put the chicken carcasses in the crock pot with 32 oz. of chicken broth and chopped onion, carrot, celery, parsley, and thyme and cook overnight to develop a richer broth for use in soups.

Another Salmon Recipe

Not too many years ago, ok maybe a decade, I hated salmon.  Don't get me wrong, I love fish, I just hated the strong salmon flavor.  I have certainly gotten over that attitude, to say the least.  We probably eat salmon once per week.  It is just so easy to cook and so healthy.  But sometimes you just want to kick it up a notch, so I gave this Cooking Light recipe a try.  "It was different, therefore good," said the hubby.

Mustard-glazed salmon with
horseradish mashed potatoes and roasted root vegetables

Mustard-Glazed Salmon with Horseradish Potatoes & Roasted Vegetables

(adapted from Cooking Light, Dec 2016, p.68)

Mashed Potatoes:
1 Yukon Gold potato, peeled and cut in 1" slices
2 baking potatoes, peeled and cut in 1" slices
1 bay leaf
2 tsp. salt
2 Tbs. butter
1/4 cup milk or half and half
1 Tbs. prepared horseradish


Roasted Vegetables:
8 oz. Brussels sprouts, cleaned and cut in half
8 oz. carrots, cut in 1 inch pieces
8 oz. turnips, cut in 1 inch cubes
1 Tbs. fresh thyme (or 1 tsp. dried thyme)
1 1/2 Tbs. olive oil
1 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt


Salmon:
4 - 4 oz. salmon filets, skin on
1 Tbs. olive oil
1/2 Tbs. chopped fresh thyme
1 Tbs. grainy mustard
1/2 Tbs. lemon curd
1/2 Tbs. apple cider vinegar
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/2 tsp. salt


1.  Have all ingredients chopped and measured.  Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

2.  To prepare potatoes, place potatoes, bay leaf, and salt in a large pot and fill with water to cover potatoes by 2 inches.  Bring to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 25 minutes.  Drain; discard bay leaf and return potatoes to pot.  Add butter and milk and mash with potato masher.  Stir in horseradish.

3.  To prepare vegetables, combine all ingredients in a large mixing bowl.  Stir well and pour onto a large rimmed baking sheet.  Bake in preheated oven for 15 minutes.  Remove pan from oven and stir vegetables.  Return to oven for 5 minutes longer or until tender.

4.  To prepare salmon, place a wire rack on a rimmed baking sheet, cover the rack with foil and coat foil with cooking spray.  Place fish skin side down on foil.  Combine oil, thyme, mustard, lemon curd, vinegar, salt and pepper in a bowl.  Brush half the mixture over fish.  Bake in preheated oven 15 minutes.  Brush remaining mixture over fish and bake 5-7 minutes more, to desired level of doneness.

Surprisingly Delicious!

I usually avoid pasta, especially in January when I'm always trying to lose a few pounds, but tonight I was searching for turkey sausage recipes and came across this gem.

Turkey Sausage and Mushroom Pasta

Turkey Sausage and Mushroom Pasta

6 oz. penne pasta (I used Barilla Collezione Casarecce pasta)
salt
pepper
2 Tbs olive oil
12 oz. mild Italian turkey (or chicken) sausage with natural casing
8 oz sliced mushrooms
1/2 cup onion, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1/4 cup dry white wine
1 cup chicken stock
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 1/2 Tbs. grated parmesan
5 oz baby spinach
1 cup chopped tomatoes
1/4 cup chopped fresh parsley

Bring a large pot of water to a boil and generously season with salt.  Cook pasta according to package directions.  Drain, reserving a cup of pasta water.  Set drained pasta aside.

Heat 1 Tbs. olive oil in a pan over medium heat.  Add sausage links and cook until cooked through, approximately 10 minutes, turning to brown all sides.  Remove links from pan and cut into 1/4" slices.

Heat 1 Tbs. olive oil in a pan over medium high heat.  Add mushrooms and onions and cook 3 minutes.  Add garlic, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1/4 tsp. pepper and cook 1 minute. Add wine and cook 1 minute.  Add chicken stock and heavy cream and cook over medium heat for 5-7 minutes to thicken.  Add spinach and cook 1 minute.  Add sausage, cheese, tomatoes, parsley and cooked noodles.  Cook to heat all ingredients, adding reserved pasta water if sauce needs thinning.  Serve hot topped with additional parmesan and parsley if desired.

Eat your veggies

It's that time of year, the holidays are over and we need to eat healthy again.  Start loading up on veggies at every meal.  So many winter vegetables are absolutely delicious when roasted with just salt, pepper and olive oil.  But here is an even better twist, add some cumin and be amazed.

Roasted sweet potatoes and Brussels sprouts

Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Brussels Sprouts

1 lb. Brussels sprouts, split in half
1-2 sweet potatoes, diced
1 red onion, large dice
2 cloves garlic, minced
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/3 cup olive oil

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper.
Place vegetables in a large mixing bowl and pour olive oil over top.  Sprinkle seasonings over vegetables and stir to coat.
Spread vegetable mixture on prepared pan in an even layer.
Roast for 30 minutes and test doneness.  You may want to cook for an additional 10 minutes to desired level of browning.

Healthy, wealthy, and wise

Traditional New Year's Dinner in the South