I got the April issue of Bon Appetit in the mail last week, and it is full of delicious recipes that I wanted to try immediately. So, I did, and we ate quite well this week! I made three recipes from the April issue and one from the March issue. I was fairly happy with the way they all turned out, but with the exception of one (which I will share in this post), I want to do some tweaking to get them to taste the way *I* want them to before I post the recipes. But I took pictures so I’m going to share them anyway 😉 The recipes are all available at bonappetit.com and I’ve included links to the original recipes, just in case you don’t want to wait for me to post my versions here!…
The Best Banana Bread in the Entire World. Ever.
You may suspect that I am employing hyperbole in the title of this post. My friends, you are incorrect! This actually IS the best banana bread in the entire world. Ever. This recipe comes to me via my friend Lynette’s mum, Elaine, and it has attained legendary fame by all who have tried it as being absolutely fan-freakin’-tastically delicious. This banana bread comes out light and fluffy, sweet and moist, and is likely to disappear in a shorter amount of time than it took you to bake it. The first time I tasted it, Elaine had made a double batch, and it was absolute torture smelling it as it baked. Lynette and I then devoured an entire loaf, hot and steaming from the oven.
I have made this recipe a billion times, and I’ve played around it it a bit, so that my typical banana bread comes out slightly different from Elaine’s original recipe. I add an extra banana and some vanilla, and to convince myself that it’s a little bit good for me, I usually substitute in some whole wheat flour. Then I also usually add a bunch of chopped chocolate or chocolate chips, which effectively cancels out any health benefits the whole wheat flour might add… But whatever. It tastes divine….
Welcoming Spring with Hot Cross Buns
Spring is here! I know this because last weekend I went for a run in a t-shirt, there are crocuses everywhere, the cherry trees are blossoming, and hot cross buns are appearing on the bakery shelves. Also, Sunday was the first day of spring, so… I guess that makes it official.
I like hot cross buns – or rather, I want to like hot cross buns, but I rarely find a store-bought one that meets my expectations. Mostly because they all contain either candied peel or glacée fruit (bleh!). I also find the texture of store-bought hot cross buns to be somewhat lacking, so I decided to try making them myself.
I’ve gotten fairly comfortable with yeast doughs through experimenting with the no-knead doughs in the book Artisan Bread in Five Minutes A Day (which is super fantastic and I would recommend to everyone), and I had an idea of what kind of dough/final texture I was looking for. I considered using the no-knead challah dough from Artisan Bread, but then I realized that I just needed to find a recipe that used a similar kind of dough, enriched with butter and eggs. I finally settled on a Martha Stewart recipe, which had an enriched dough that contained lemon and orange zest, but no spices. So, I consulted a Canadian Living recipe and used it as a basis for adding cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves to the Martha Stewart recipe. The result is exactly what I ever could have wanted in a hot cross bun: rich, dense-but-light texture, just the right spice with citrus notes, and best of all, no nasty candied peel or glacée fruit! In my search for the perfect recipe, I came across several that contained only currants, and one with golden raisins and dried cherries, so I used all three, and it’s a great combination. Another thing to consider was what kind of “cross” to put on the buns – a flour/water paste combination applied before baking, or an icing cross applied after baking. My personal preference is for the flour/water paste, so I went with that. As a result, there is actually nothing about the recipe I would change next time – I would just refine my technique a little!
I halved the original recipe (which yielded two dozen), and after the first rise, I took half the dough and stuck it in the freezer because I though that twelve buns at once would be overkill, so I only ended up with six buns. When I decide I want more (which will probably be much sooner than later!), I will let the dough thaw to room temperature, divide it into six, and continue on from the second rise….
Power Truffles
These are inspired by a blog post I came across on the lululemon website with several recipes for “energy balls”, but somehow that just doesn’t sound appetizing… so I’m calling my version “power truffles”. These are very tasty, packed with peanut butter, nuts, and seeds, and will be a great post-workout snack, which is what I made them for… but they would be equally good as just an afternoon snack 😉
To boost the energy content a little more, the rolled oats could be replaced with quinoa or amaranth flakes, both of which are high in protein. The cocoa powder makes these a little bit chocolatey, and due to the peanut butter and honey in them, they taste slightly like peanut butter and honey on toast, which I quite enjoy. To change things up, they would also be good with almond or cashew butter and perhaps agave syrup, which I haven’t experimented with yet. Oooh, I can imagine a version with almond butter, cocoa powder, and dried cranberries instead of raisins… or dried cherries maybe? Yum!
I made these in about 15 minutes total – no baking required. The most time-consuming part was rolling them, and even that was pretty darn easy.
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Macaroni and Cheese with Butternut Squash
Nate and I both agree that this is some of the best macaroni and cheese ever. The base for the sauce is butternut squash, chicken stock, and milk, rather than a flour-butter-milk white sauce. For me, the healthy addition of the squash makes it totally acceptable to add more cheese 😉 If you want a creamy sauce (or want to disguise the fact that there’s a vegetable hidden in it!), puree it in a blender. For more texture and evidence of squash, mash roughly with a fork or potato masher. Both ways are delicious. Although it probably doesn’t actually make a difference in taste, my favorite pasta to use for this is large shells. For the picture above, I stirred about 1/3 cup of chopped cooked bacon into the sauce. Pasta plus cheese plus bacon equals love 🙂
Macaroni and Cheese with Butternut Squash
Modified slightly from my good friend Martha’s recipe
2 cups peeled and chopped butternut squash
1/2 cup chicken stock or water
3/4 cup milk
Combine the above in a pot, cover, and bring to a boil over medium heat (to avoid boiling over). Turn to low and simmer for about 10 minutes, until the squash is tender. Remove from the heat, mash/puree, and add:
A dash each of nutmeg and cayenne (or chipotle powder)
Salt and pepper
1 1/2 cups grated cheddar cheese (or a mix of your favorite easily melted cheeses)
1/2 cup ricotta or cream cheese
Meanwhile, cook pasta:
about 3 cups raw/dry if the pasta is large (such as large shells or penne)
OR about 2 cups raw/dry elbow macaroni (or other short, dense pasta such as small shells)
OR enough to fill up a 9” square baking dish slightly less than halfway, as you end up with twice as much pasta when you cook it
OR if you’re being precise and like to weigh things, about half a pound of pasta 😉
(Thanks Katy for the clarification tips!)
Place drained pasta in a 9” square baking dish, pour sauce over, and stir to combine.
In a small bowl, mix together:
1/2 cup Panko, regular breadcrumbs, or cracker crumbs
1 tbsp melted butter
2 tbsp grated parmesan
1 tbsp chopped fresh parsley (or 1 tsp dried parsley)
Salt and pepper
Sprinkle over pasta. Bake at 375˚ F until golden and bubbly, about 30 minutes. Serves 2-4, depending on how much you love macaroni and cheese!
Delicious Ribs and Slow Cooker Fail
This morning I put ribs in the slow cooker to do their thing all day and be delicious and fall-off-the-bone ready for dinner. This is something I have done many, many times before with consistently awesome results, so imagine my surprise when I got home from work, lifted the lid to check on the ribs, and discovered that they were well on their way to becoming burnt. Luckily it was just the sauce that was turning black, so I put the ribs in a covered baking dish with some more sauce, stuck them in the oven to finish, and they turned out just fine.
Normally, the slow cooker works perfectly for these ribs, so I don’t know what the problem was. I think it might be time for a new slow cooker, because it was on low and the lid was on properly and everything. Anyway. The ketchup can be substituted for any tomato product (perhaps with an added dash of cider vinegar) – once when I was out of ketchup, I subbed in some cherry tomatoes from the overabundance growing on the porch, which turned out to be incredibly delicious. And if you don’t have a slow cooker (or just don’t trust yours anymore!), these can also be done in a covered dish in the oven….
Tomato Bisque with Ricotta and Chives
I am not the biggest fan of raw tomatoes (something about the texture puts me off), but I do like tomato soup quite a bit – there’s nothing like Campbell’s tomato soup with a grilled cheese sandwich. I had half a can of tinned tomatoes and some ricotta in the fridge that I didn’t know what to do with, so I decided to make some tomato soup and top it with the ricotta. I consulted with my friend Martha and came up with this recipe – actually double what I originally made, because it barely made enough for Nate and me!
I added milk to make it a little bit creamy, but that is totally optional. Use whatever herbs you want – I used thyme while cooking, and garnished it with chives because I noticed that they are just starting to come up in my herb garden. I would still use a hardier herb, such as thyme or oregano, during the cooking, and garnish with something more delicate (or stir it in at the last minute). Nate suggested dill, which would be fantastic in the summer when it is fresh and growing everywhere! And of course, you can’t go wrong with the tomato basil combination 😉 I *LOVE* ricotta, but it could be replaced with sour cream, crème fraîche, or even cream cheese if you’re feeling adventurous.
Because this recipe calls for canned tomatoes, it’s a good idea to use really good quality canned tomatoes, rather than a no-name bargain brand. I used Unico brand, which is decent, but my favorite is an Italian brand. The tomatoes are much riper and the juice they are packed in is much tomato-y-er, and it’s only about 50 cents more than the bargain brand, which is worth it for the taste….
Pancake Tuesday!
On Monday I watched a show on the Food Network that featured amazing-looking banana pecan pancakes, and I was immediately inspired to recreate the recipe. I had a feeling that Shrove Tuesday – aka Pancake Tuesday – was coming up soon, and a quick Google search revealed that it was actually the next day. Well! What a coincidence!
On Tuesday morning as I stumbled into the shower, I mumbled incoherently at Nate that it was Shrove Tuesday and I would be making pancakes for dinner. His response was a confused, “What? Why pancakes?”
When they look like this, why NOT pancakes?!
Not being Christian or religious myself, I realized that I had only the vaguest inkling of the link between Shrove Tuesday and pancakes (I just knew it had something to do with Lent), and certainly not enough of an understanding to explain it, so I just yelled, “Shrove Tuesday. Pancakes. Lent!” from behind the shower curtain, leaving Nate still mostly unsure about why we were having pancakes for dinner.
But I didn’t care about why, I was more concerned with what, as in what kind of pancakes to make? Banana pecan, of course! I spent most of Tuesday composing flavours in my head and figuring out what to serve along with the pancakes. I eventually settled on a fruit salad of Gala apples, oranges, red grapes, and a handful of frozen blueberries, and I would add the zest from the orange to the pancake batter to make them orange pecan banana. We were out of maple syrup, but I remembered seeing a homemade syrup recipe on Dinner with Julie, so I decided to make that as well.
…
Honey Mustard Garlic Chicken
My friend Cara makes delicious honey garlic pork spareribs, and I love how the honey and garlic caramelize in the sauce and get all sweet and sticky (or rather, even more sweet and sticky!) in the oven. This chicken dish sort of mimics that sparerib sauce, with the addition of Dijon mustard. I used skin-on chicken legs here, but it works equally well with chicken thighs, and the chicken pieces can be skin-on or off. The measurements are all “more or less”, so taste it before you add the chicken and adjust as you see fit. Use a baking dish that accommodates the chicken fairly snugly (it will shrink as it bakes), so that the sauce doesn’t dry out in the oven and the chicken stays moist. Serve with rice or some other grain to soak up the delicious sauce!…
Date and Bacon Scones from bon appétit magazine
Nate’s mum got me a subscription to bon appétit magazine for Christmas, and the March issue arrived last week. I went through and marked all the recipes I wanted to try, and on my second pass, I noticed a recipe that I had overlooked the first time: Bacon and Date Scones. Apparently the recipe comes from a restaurant in Venice, California, called Gjelina. I am a big fan of scones, salty-sweet combinations, and anything with bacon in it, so I knew I had to try these.
I took some inspiration from Heidi at 101 Cookbooks and modified the recipe a bit to use whole wheat pastry flour and raw cane sugar. The scones turned out well, but are very crumbly, I think because the whole wheat pastry flour has lower gluten than all purpose flour, so I’ve made a change to the recipe below to use half whole wheat pastry and half all purpose flour.
I wasn’t expecting these to be as sweet as they are, so I served them with soup. It worked alright, but they are better on their own, smeared with butter. The dates are sweet and almost caramelized, the bacon is salty and chewy, and the scones themselves are flaky. These are definitely a must-try!
