Banana, Brunch, Birthday and a Beating

This morning I had brunch with my mom and dad. We also had the added pleasures of my brother, his dog Fenway and mom's very good friends Debbie and Craig. Brunch is a rarity in my life. I work on Saturday and Sunday mornings. I love brunch, where else can you have toasted bagels, smoked salmon (lox) and cake in the same meal.  As my dad says "If that ain't yum, I don't know what is."

Maida Heatter's Book of Great Desserts

7 ounces (2 cups) pecan halves or large pieces

2 1/2 cups sifted all-purpose flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

3 large or 4 small bananas (to make 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups mashed)

1/4 pound (1 stick) butter

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 1/2 cups sugar

2 eggs

1/4 cup buttermilk

Adjust rack one-third up from the bottom of the oven. Preheat oven to 375˚ degrees/ Butter a 9 x 3 1/2 -inch tube pan and dust it all over lightly with fine, dry, bread crumbs.

In a small bowl, toss the nuts with about 1 tablespoon of the flour to coat them thoroughly. Set aside. Sift remainder of the flour with the baking soda and salt. Set aside.

In a small bowl of electric mixer, break up bananas. Beat them at low speed only enough to mash. You should get 1 1/2 to 1 3/4 cups. Set aside.

In a large bowl of mixer (with same beaters) beat the butter to soften it a bit. Add vanilla and sugar and beat for a few minutes, using a rubber spatula as necessary to hep mixture blended. Add the eggs and continue to beat for 1 to 2 minutes. On lowest speed add half of the dry ingredients, then the buttermilk, and then the remainder of the dry ingredients, continuing to scrape bowl with rubber spatula as necessary. Add mashed bananas, beating only enough to blend. Remove from mixer. Stir in nuts.

Turn batter into prepared pan. Level top by rotating pan briskly back and forth. Bake 1 to 1 1/4 hours on until cake tester comes out dry.

Cool in pan on rack for about 10 minutes. Cover with rack or a small cookie sheet. Invert and remove pan. Cover with rack and invert again to cool, right side up.

This cake was really different than I first thought it would be/taste. It is not super cake-y. The cake was really moist and fresh. Now I am not big on anything banana. In fact, my friends can tell you, almost anything banana really disgusts me, the exception being banana bread.  Growing up a friend's mom made the best banana bread. I loved her banana bread and still to this day have the recipe. The difference in the banana bread, the reason I actually liked her bread is the same reason I liked this cake. This cake was moist, it had multiple textures like the nuts and soft banana bits. It is really a combination of a cake and a bread. It is sweet but not cake-sweet and of course, it made a perfect brunch cake and pre-birthday cake.

We dressed this banana-nut cake up up with  powdered sugar and fresh cranberries for Craig's pre-birthday. His birthday is really on Wednesday. But since Debbie and Craig were in from Massachusetts to visit and to go to the Colts/Patriots game earlier today.

The Colts Won!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Fenway

Enjoy your week!

Love for Rainy Days

I am in love. True love. Love at first sight.

      I am head over-heels in love with my newly designed blog.  Not Just Vanilla has been blessed with creativity and genius.

It has been my pleasure to work with Ellie from Rainy Day Templates + Blog Design. We have spent the last 8 weeks,  28 emails and a crazy 5 am phone call  with Ellie.  She is an awesome gem!  I am truly grateful for all the help she has given me. I know you read this blog and think maybe I know what I am talking about and... that is true about baking and cooking. However, as far as custom content and tech and templates, it is all babble to me!

     I don't know if I mentioned this before, but my roommate in collage and a few of my very best friends are compute geniuses. My roommate, Lou, works as a computer engineer at IBM. So reasonably you would think some of the computer knowledge would have rubbed off on me, no such luck.

I  am so very excited to share this with all of you! I am so proud and pleased of this blog and I am so proud of myself for sticking it out.  I am so appreciative  and grateful of all of you, family, old friends and new friends. You have all stuck with me through the many crazies of this past year. I hope to keep you intrigued and drooling over some of the new recipes I will be sharing with you this holiday season.

Thank you to Ellie, my family, my friends, and you my awesome readers.

After all this is the spice of my life, thanks for riding along!

Freezer Food Guide

I recently found this very intriguing article in Fine Foods Magazine. It was something I think we all question how long to keep our freezer stash. I know that I will keep food in the freezer much longer than originally planned and then I will have to throw it out. A waste of money and a waste of space.

 In these crazy times where a well stocked pantry and a full freezer can make-up some of the difference between pay check to paycheck, we all need to know what to keep and what to eat right away.  I hope this helps all of us myself included in having a happier, safer freezer.

I am a big fan of Farmers' Markets. They are a great way to get good fresh food and a great bargain. I know we all get excited to see food at such wonderful prices and in such abundance as well as a much more fresh and delicious. I myself am not a farm girl, despite being surrounded by beautiful farm lands. Even in Lafayette, we have a wonderful Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday farmers' market full of bread and homemade angel food cakes in addition to all of the fruits and vegetables.  We also have the corn trucks that sell corn from early July to late September, depending on the harvest.

We all buy bulk as much as possible these days, myself included. With eyes as large as dinner plates, I will buy a bushel of apples or bags of carrots or the big box of berries. My mind full of recipes and shopping cart full of food, I will go home and fill my once empty fridge with  a crate of berries. The once very appealing bulk of the berries is just too much for me to use up. Pies and cakes, muffins to name a few...but sadly it only really uses up a few cups of the ton of berries. What a waste! I have previously frozen berries and corn and unused dough, however, I am never too sure how long these items can stay frozen, 6 to 12 months was the normal.

Thanks to Fine Cooking magazine... we now have an exact guide to the ins and outs of freezing our bulk foods.

Type of Food	Shelf Life in Months
Beef & Lamb, steaks and roasts	12
Pork Chops & roasts	4 to 8
Ground Meat	3
Sausage	1 to 3
Whole Turkey & Chicken	12
Turkey & Chicken Parts	6
Whole Duck & Goose	6
Lean Fish	6
Oily Fish	2
Vegetables	8
Fruit	12
Butter	2
Heavy Cream	1
Bread & Rolls	2 to 3
Raw Yeast Dough	3
Unbaked Fruit Pies	6
Cakes	6

Big Buy 2009

Fine Cooking Magazine

Tips for Better Freezing:

• Check your freezer temperature. I Ideally home freezers operate at about 0˚F and can freeze food quickly. Poorly operating freezers and ice-tray compartments will freeze food slowly (between 25˚F and 31˚F), resulting in larger ice crystals and poor texture in your frozen food.

• Wrap food tightly. Limit moisture loss and prevent freezer burn by sealing food tightly in moisture- and vapor-proof wrap. Freezer burn occurs when the moisture for the surface of food evaporates.  Be sure to use plastic bags that are specifically for freezer use, non-permeable plastic wrap (Saran) or containers, and squeeze out as much air as possible before sealing.

• Freeze food quickly. Set the food on the freezer's lowest shelf, which is usually colder than the upper shelves. When the food is frozen solid, it can then be moved to another shelf. Adding too much frozen food can warm up the freezer, so only add about 10% of the freezer's capacity at a time.

• Don't exceed the expected shelf life.  Even foods that freeze well deteriorate if left in the freezer too long. Label and date frozen foods. Use the chart as a guideline fore maximum storage time.

• Keep vegetables green. Most vegetables, such as peas, asparagus, broccolini, and corn should be blanched before freezing, to set color and slow vitamin loss. To blanch: bring a large pot of water to a rolling boil, add vegetables and let the water return to a boil. Cook briefly (1 to 5 minutes, depending on vegetable) and then transfer the vegetables to a large bowl of ice water to stop cooking. Remove from the water and dry thoroughly before freezing.

Garlic and Rosemary the Flavors of the Day

Grilled Leg of Lamb with Rosemary and Garlic
From Chef Phil Costas
     This recipe is a favorite of my family. We always make this lamb for family and friends. Garlic and rosemary what could be better? This lamb has a really soft bright rosemary flavor, the  smokey taste and roasted garlic flavor merge in your mouth and it just melts. One of the best parts of this lamb is it is an all season recipe. We all know that there are (for the most part)
recipes that can not be made during the rest of the year and normally you have to wait for the ingredients to come back into season. With this awesome and very flavorful lamb, all you need is to dust off your grill and hit the market! Please enjoy and share with your family and friends! This is a great holiday meal,  yum!

Grilled Leg of Lamb with Rosemary and Garlic
8 to 10 servings
3/4 cups olive oil
2/3 cups dry red wine
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
6 garlic cloves, pressed
1   7- to -7 1/2 pound leg of lamb, boned, butterflied (about 6 1/2 pounds boned).

Mix the first 5 ingredients in a large glass baking dish. Add lamb and turn to coat. 
Cover and refrigerate overnight, turning occasionally. The marinade will help to add flavor and tenderize the meat.
Prepare barbecue (medium heat). Sprinkle lamb with salt and pepper. Grill to desired doneness, about 20 minutes per side for medium-rare. Slice and serve (don't forget to let the lamb rest for 10 to 15 minutes before slicing so it will keep all the wonderful juices)!

The Olives Table

White Bean and Roasted Garlic Hummus with Warm Rosemary Oil

Now I loved this dish. It was warm and soft and we ate it with veggies and on the lamb. I hate, yes  hate beans. The texture always gets me. I don't like a lot of food because of the texture. But this hummus was smooth and just lovely! I will make this time and again. This is a new and unexpected favorite dish for me and hopefully you will love it too!

• White Bean and Roasted Garlic Hummus is a great dip for grilled shrimp, cut-up vegetables, and toasted bread triangles. It’s also delicious on a sandwich or fresh beefsteak tomatoes, Cheddar cheese and avocado slices. 

Makes about 1 ½ cups

 ¼ cup olive oil

1 medium-sized Spanish onion, thinly sliced

3 garlic cloves, pressed or thinly sliced

½ teaspoons ground cumin

2 1/2 cups cooked white cannelloni beans, rinsed

2 bay leaves

1 cup water

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice, or additional to taste) about ¾ lemon)

1 bulb roasted garlic, peeled

1/3 cup sesame tahini

2 to 3 teaspoons kosher salt

2 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary leaves

Shaved or grated Parmesan cheese for garnish

     Place a medium-sized saucepan over medium-high heat and when it is hot, add 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the onion, garlic, cumin and cook until the onion is soft, about 5 minutes. Add the beans, bay leaf, and water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 5 minutes. Reduce the heat to low and cook until the beans are soft and the mixture is thick, about 20 minutes.  Remove the bay leaves and add 1 tablespoon olive oil, the lemon juice, garlic and tahini. Transfer the mixture to a food processor fitted with a blade and purée until completely smooth. Place the mixture in a fine-wire-mesh strainer and strain into a bowl, pressing with the back of a wooden spoon.  Discard the solids. Add the salt and if desired, additional lemon juice to taste.

 To make the rosemary oil: Place the remaining 2 tablespoons olive oil and rosemary in a skillet over low heat and cook until just warm, about 5 minutes.

 Place the hummus in a small serving bowl and serve drizzled with the rosemary oil and sprinkled with parmesan cheese.

The Olives Table Roasted Garlic

Makes 2 garlic bulbs

• Always buy the freshest garlic you can find: the fresher it is, the sweeter it will be. The best garlic has firm, tissue-like skin and should not be bruised, sprouted, soft or shriveled. If you find cloves that have tiny green shoots, be sure to discard the shoots: they will only add bitterness.

2 garlic bulbs, unpeeled, tops sliced off

2 tablespoons olive oil

1/2 teaspoon kosher salt

1/4 teaspoon black pepper

Preheat the oven to 400˚ degrees.

Place the garlic bulbs in a small baking dish and sprinkled with the oil, salt and pepper.

Bake uncovered, until the garlic is lightly browned and soft, about 25 minutes.

Use immediately, or store in the refrigerator for no more than 1 week.

To Be Glazed or Not To Be Glazed

Cinnamon Rolls Recipe taken from Baking Illustrated

“A puffy cinnamon roll coated with thick white icing brings out the child in all of us, encouraging even the most mature person to greedily uncoil its tight swirls and dig in Some of us in the test kitchen have been know to drop in by the local mall just to worship at the shrine to calorie-laden cinnamon rolls (which shall remain nameless). As delicious as those artery-clogging rolls can be, they are too much for all of us but the rarest hedonistic fit. They are so sweet and so rich that it’s nearly impossible to finish one roll. Our ideal cinnamon roll is a little more reserved. The dough should be soft and rich but not greasy. The filling should be slightly sweet, rather than sugary sweet, and potent with cinnamon. The icing should be creamy and thick and boast a tang sufficient to balance the richness and sweetness elsewhere in the roll.” “Shaping the dough into pinwheel spirals could not have been any easier. The soft dough gracefully yielded to a light touch under the rolling pin as we rolled it out. We then sprinkled it with the filling and rolled it up slowly and tightly so that the rolls would not uncoil while cooking. The best tool for cutting the soft dough into rounds turned out to be dental floss. Eccentric as it seems, using dental floss (make sure it’s unflavored) lets you smoothly cut though soft dough without squeezing the filling out of place."

"Although a few tasters liked a thin, drizzled powdered sugar and cream glaze, most tasters preferred a thick, tangy cream cheese icing. We altered a standard cream cheese icing by omitting the butter and adding corn syrup for glossiness and smoothness. A judicious smear of icing (rather than a heavy, thick coating) was appropriate on these civilized rolls.”



"Because cinnamon is the predominant flavor in these rolls, make sure to have good-quality, fresh cinnamon on hand. While we rarely grind our own cinnamon, we try to make sure that our ground cinnamon is less than 6 months old and from a reputable source, like Penzeys or McCormick/Schilling. This dough should be very tender and soft, so be stingy with additions of flour. Only a very light dusting is necessary to prevent the dough from sticking to the work surface while rolling it." Dough ½ cup milk 8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter ½ cup warm water (about 110˚ degrees) 1 envelope (about 2 ¼ teaspoons) instant yeast ¼ cup (1 ¾ ounces) sugar 1 large egg plus 2 large egg yolks 1 teaspoon salt 4-4 1/4 cups (20 to 21 ¼ ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the work surface Icing 8 ounces cream cheese, softened but still cool 2 tablespoons corn syrup 2 tablespoons heavy cream 1 cup (4 ounces) confectioners’ sugar, sifted to remove any lumps 1 teaspoon vanilla extract Pinch salt Filling ¾ cup packed (5 ¼ ounces) light brown sugar 3 tablespoons ground cinnamon 1/8 teaspoon salt For the dough: Heat milk and butter in a small saucepan or in the microwave until the butter melts. Remove the pan from the heat and set aside until the mixture is lukewarm (about 100˚ degrees).

In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle, mix together the water, yeast, sugar, egg, and yolks at low speed until well mixed. Add the salt, warm milk mixture and 2 cups of the flour and mix at medium speed until thoroughly blended, about 1 minute. Switch to the dough hook, add another 2 cups of the flour, and knead at medium speed ( adding up to ¼ cup more flour, 1 tablespoon at a time, if necessary) until the dough is smooth and freely clears the sides of the bowl, about 10 minutes. Scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Shape the dough into a round, pace it in a very lightly oiled large bowl, and cover the bowl with plastic wrap. Leave in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in bulk, 1 ½ to 2 hours.

For the icing:

While the dough rises, combine all of the icing ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer and blend together at low speed until roughly combined, about 1 minute. Increase the speed to high and mix until icing is uniformly smooth and free of cream cheese lumps, about 2 minutes. Transfer the icing to a small bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate. To roll and fill the dough: After the dough has doubled, press it down and turn it out onto a lightly floured work surface. Using a rolling pin, shape the dough into a 16 by 12-inch rectangle, with a long side facing you. Mix together the filling ingredients in a small bowl and sprinkle the filling evenly over the dough, leaving a 1/2 inch border at the far edge. Ro;; the dough, beginning with the long edge closest to you and using both hands to pinch the dough with your fingertips as you roll. Moisten the top border with water and seal the roll. Lightly dust the roll with flour and press on ends, if necessary to make a uniform 16-inch cylinder. Grease a 13 x 9-inch baking dish. Cut the roll into 12 equal pieces using dental floss and place the rolls, cut-side up, evenly in the prepared baking dish. Cover with plastic wrap and place in a warm, draft free spot until doubled in bulk, 1 1/2 to 2 hours.

To bake the rolls: When the rolls are almost fully risen, adjust an oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven rack to the middle position and heat the oven to 350˚ degrees. Bake the rolls until golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of one of the rolls reads 185˚ to 188˚degrees, 25 to 30 minutes. Invert the rolls onto a wire rack and cool for 10 minutes. Turn the rolls upright on a large serving plate and use a rubber spatula to spread the icing on them. Serve immediately.

Thank you to my friend, Mo R. for being a great model and baker. We chose not to ice our rolls, but you make the final call on your own cinnamon rolls

Happy Halloween!!!!!!!!!!!

This year was the first year that we all dressed up at work. It was a blast. Enjoy!

This is my costume, I am Fall!  

My Crazy Hair

Happy Halloween!