Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread

My brother, (he of the Doritos, and beans cooked in their can) recently got a job in Massachusetts that requires him to be on-site at 6am. He's been staying with us during the week to cut down his commute time, and when he can't sneak down the road to our grandmother's house he's been sharing meals with us. In the last week he has subsisted on peanut butter and jelly (on white), s'mores poptarts, lemonade, and a box of rice-a-roni that he brought with him because things like rice-a-roni just don't live in our kitchen. This week when I did my Saturday tour of the markets, along with the local vegetables, and the peanut butter ice cream (we all have vices) I picked up some things that I thought would be appealing to his, shall we say, discerning palate. Later while mulling over the contents of our freezer and pantry, I thought I should make another treat to keep him sated during his long day. Banana bread, specifically the kind made by our grandmother, is one of the only 'whole' foods I have seen him eat with a fervor usually reserved for Doritos ('pizza cravers', if you have them). In an effort to put something other than a sandwich in his lunch box I thought I'd make some banana bread of my own.

Whenever a banana goes past its prime on me, I pop it in the freezer. This Sunday four, brown, speckled fellows were waiting for me. Since I hadn't planned to make this bread when I was out buying more poptarts and doritos, I wanted to use what was on-hand. Brother doesn't like nuts, and he wasn't crazy about the ginger in my zucchini bread (no accounting for taste there) but I can't eat plain banana bread all week long without something in it to give it a kick. Chocolate, was my answer (and it so often is). I also keep a large bar of dark chocolate in the freezer...in case of emergencies... Cut up into chunks and shards it gives a delicious depth to banana bread that makes it interchangeable for breakfast or dessert.

Chocolate Chunk Banana Bread
(Makes one loaf)
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 stick unsalted butter, melted and cooled
4 ripe medium bananas, mashed well (about 1-1/2 cups)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
4.25 oz dark chocolate, chopped

Butter the loaf pan, and line with parchment paper.
Combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, salt, baking soda, and cinnamon in a large bowl.
In a medium bowl mash bananas and combine with beaten eggs, melted butter and vanilla extract, make sure your butter is cooled, you dont want to start cooking the eggs.
Add the wet ingrdients to the dry and fold gently - you don't want to make the bread tough- until combined.
Transfer dough to parchment paper lined  loaf pan and bake 45- 55 minutes, a toothpick stuck in the middle comes out clean. More...

Kitchen Seven Five: Weekend Edition

Brunch

Dinner Friday - Salmon 'burgers' and sweet potato fries

Crispy Cornbread - for succotash (recipe coming soon)

roasted

Red pepper recipe test, and Dorons Meatballs - Dinner Saturday

Saturday night called for cold beer

This was another weekend without interruption. We relaxed at home, caught up on the mountain of laundry that has taken up residence in our bedroom, and I cooked - a lot. Friday night there were salmon burgers and sweet potato fries. Leftover fries became sweet potato homefries for brunch with eggs and bacon. After my weekend errands, I roasted some red peppers (so much easier under the broiler rather than on the gas range!) and tested a Moroccan spiced red pepper salsa for the Food52 weekly contest.  We served it with some spiced meatballs and a fennel couscous salad. Early on Sunday, before the heat settled in, (its going to be in the nineties all week!)  I made a thin skillet cornbread (I have plans for this cornbread, look out later in the week) and banana bread laced with hunks of dark chocolate. Really you should try it, its fabulous.  Later in the afternoon we went to Providence, and when we decided it was much too hot in the city we took ourselves to a late lunch in Newport. It wasn't anything fancy by any means, a burger made with green onions and Boursin (mine) and some Cajun chicken  (the man's) accompanied by some local beer and possibly the best french fries I've eaten since high school. Later at home, we watched television parked in front of the fan, sipping wine. It was the perfect end to a very relaxing weekend. 

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Something to keep in mind...

(a peek into the kitchen behind kitchensevenfive)

If you cook, your family will eat dinner together.

If you cook, you will naturally have a more sustainable household.

If you cook, you'll set a lifelong example for your children.

If you cook, you'll understand what goes into food and will eat more healthily.

If you cook, you'll make your home an important place in your life.

If you cook, you'll make others happy.

If you cook, people will remember you.





Shameleesly riffed from the Food52 website. But its such a nice reminder, I wanted to have it here, too.

This weekend I'll be trial running some succotash, some cornbread, and a very unusual 'salsa'....but first, Im going home to have a cocktail with the man and pretend like this week of head colds, chest colds, and lack of sleep never happened. More...

Roasted Kale and more Eggplant

In the middle of a week of cold rain, I've been wrestling with a cold. My ‘first of the season’, as they say...except its usually much further into the 'season' IF I get sick at all. This one is a doozy, its been a week since I first started feeling it, and its not giving up yet. Not an evening has passed where I have seen ten o'clock, more often than not, I'm asleep by nine. As a result, the eating and cooking going on in our kitchen has been limited. Over the weekend we ate salads, sandwiches, and leftover meatballs. Monday night we ate baguette, cheese, and an heirloom tomato while standing at the butcher block. (not the worst of our dinners I assure you). Tuesday I was determined to do something with our produce, and to turn on the oven to chase away the chilly air hanging around our house. Something hearty and healthy, that was also warm and comforting. Enter the roasted vegetables.

I've waxed nostalgic about eggplant before, but last night this eggplant was not destined for stir-fry or any kind of Asian application. I needed something a bit closer to home. Kale is another comfort food of mine, a hold over from early college vegetarian adventures. We eat it often, and even the man was heard to utter "I love kale" last night. Do you know what made the difference for him?

I roasted it.


Yup. After reading all those blog posts about kale chips, I succumbed. I didn't roast it to a chip level, only enough to reduce it (by almost a third) and to crisp its edges. The flavor is deepened, and it retains its texture. Prior to roasting it I tossed it in olive oil and crushed red pepper, which gave it quite a bite. All in all I probably used a bit too much since I have cold and my taste buds are off, so if you don’t like spicy, I would suggest halving the red pepper, or omitting it completely. The eggplant I roasted whole, turning the formerly dark, firm vegetable to something that resembled a giant raisin. (I find a bread pan worked really well, you don’t have to worry that your aubergine is going to roll out of its pan and into your oven) Once roasted our purple friend slips out of his skin very easily. Mashed slightly and combined with a bit of pasta water, lemon zest and a small handful of fluffy grated Romano (use a micro planer, you will get a very fine, quick dissolving shred) he makes a lovely, (if not slightly grey,) and toothsome sauce. What could be better to dress some whole-wheat penne? You can pile the quickly roasted kale up on top of your little eggplant-sauced pasta, and pretend for an instant, that its acceptable to eat your dinner while standing in front of the open oven door.



Roasted Kale and Eggplant ‘Sauce’
Serves four (or two, with lunches)


1 medium eggplant

½ bunch of kale washed and torn to quasi-bite size chunks (keep in mind it shrinks)

½ box whole wheat penne cooked to package instructions, ½ cup of pasta water reserved

¼ cup olive oil divided

Zest of a small lemon

¼ cup finely grated / shredded romano cheese

1 teaspoon crushed red pepper

Kosher salt, to taste

Black pepper to taste

Coat eggplant in a tablesppon of oil, salt and pepper and roast for 30 minutes in a 350 degree oven.

When the eggplant begins to resemble a giant raisin, toss kale in olive oil, salt peeper and crushed red pepper, lay on a baking sheet and roast for 5 minutes. Remove the veggies from the oven. In a large bowl, cut the top from your eggplant and remove the skin by peeling it back in strips, it should come off very easily. Using a wooden spoon combine the roasted eggplant flesh, zest, and cheese. It should be a rather ugly, greyish paste. Thin as desired with pasta water, and combine with hot pasta. Top with a healthy pile of roasted kale.

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Reading List

Readers, I have a miserable head cold. There is alot of unsavory stuff coming from my face, my throat is made, it would seem, of sand-paper and I'm more run down than my activities ( um, what activities?) should warrant. I have spent some time hunkering down with books, medicating with all kinds of tea, and (eventually after I caved,) medicine. I finished this beauty a few days ago (and I've made her maccaroons and her meeatballs already, although not well. My head is a bit foggy when I have a cold, and as fragrant as I know the meatballs were supposed to be, I couldn't even smell them. )

I've just started in on this book. Im a little terrified, to be honest... I'll keep you posted. More...

Peach & Cream Popsicles

The weather in Boston has been strange this week. I wake up at 4am, the fan is still blowing, and I’m completely freezing. I step off the train at night, and the temperature is a swampy ninety degrees. Fall, it would seem, is creeping in early. With its warm days, and chilly nights fall is easily my favorite season (I also grew up in an apple orchard of a town in New Hampshire, which helps...) but I’m not ready to let go of summer. I've just started to really appreciate the sun. That, and the peaches. I could eat them in or on everything, but despite my best intentions, they always end up getting eaten ‘the traditional way’ (in my hand with lots of napkins for soaking up juices, while I lean against the kitchen counter). The man likes a peach now and again, but mostly (and especially in Summer) he loves to eat popsicles. If one could buy popsicle futures, I would, based solely on the popsicle consumption in my own home, We buy them, quite literally, in bulk.

These particular popsicles came about because of two peaches that were lost in the back of the refrigerator. They were looking a bit worse for the wear, and while they still smelled good and tasted delicious, they were a bit too juicy to eat the traditional way. I simmered pitted diced peaches in a combination of Gosling’s rum, crystallized ginger, and lemon zest. You can simmer them for a long time, to ensure the alcohol is cooked out, or just until the fruit collapses, which is what I did. This all got pureed in the food processor, and then combined with plain Greek yogurt. And a little fruit juice if you need to thin out the mix. It only made six popsicles, (which is a shame because they will probably be gone by Friday,) but its something I will experiment with, until fall really does set in and I find myself preoccupied with apples.



Peach & Cream Popsicles


2 peaches, scrubbed, pitted, and diced

3 tablespoons dark rum (I used Goslings, because it was on hand, and I like how sweet it is)

1 tablespoon crystallized ginger, chopped

Zest of a small lemon, (or zest of ½ of a naturally sized lemon)

½ cup of plain Greek yogurt

1-3 tablespoons, as needed of fruit juice (I used apple) to thin them

Special Equipment: a popsicle mold, or dixie cups, saran wrap, and skewers
Combine the peaches, rum, ginger, and lemon zest in a small sauce pan over medium-low heat, cover and cook until peaches collapse on themselves, and the rum has all but disappeared. Set aside to cool.
When peach mixture is cooled, blend in food processor until smooth, add yogurt and blend again, to combine. Thin as needed with juice.
Fill popsicle mold, and freeze, at least one hour. Then hide them in the back of the freezer, unless you want to share, which I hear is overrated, when it comes to popsicles.

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Zucchini Muffins

Let me tell you about my mornings, circa one week ago: I would drag myself out of bed 15 minutes too late, shower, makeup, water and a vitamin, and then out the door to the train. By the time I get to work I'm ravenous, and runnng on fumes. I succumb to the siren song of the coffee shop (literally three doors down from my office, I can smell donuts and muffins all day) and I indulge - daily- in a crummy (not crumbly) muffin, an oily croissant, or a nine-thousand calorie bagel. Not anymore my friends. Today I was up on time, ate a banana, my vitamin, drank my water and also scarfed down a chewy, moist, veggie laden muffin laced within enough walnuts and crystallized ginger to make me feel like I could open my own coffee shop. 

I wouldn't say these are necessarily a strictly breakfast muffin, and in short order you could probably sweeten and spice them, frost them with cream cheese frosting and make a (slightly) healthier cupcake. The ginger, along with the reserved nuts and zest that add cruch to the top go a long way toward making this a sweet and spicy treat at any time of day.

I found the original recipe for these beauties over at 101 Cookbooks, which (for someone as afraid of baking as I am) is an INDISPENSIBLE website (but you already knew that, right? Forgive me, I'm sort of new here.) I removed the poppy seeds, added some flax seed (these are breakfast muffins, right?) and changed around the spices a little bit, to incorporate a spice that my Lebanese neighbors have me hooked on: allspice. (I'll be sad when winter comes and I'm not able to smell what my neighbors are cooking when I get home. Its always inspiring) You very well could take this into a harvest – muffin area and sub out some of the zucchini for shredded carrots, shredded beets etc. I wouldn’t eliminate the zucchini entirely without making some adjustments to ensure there is enough liquid in the mix. Feel free to pull out the nuts, flax seed, zest and ginger and sub in something you prefer (or nothing at all and have a traditional zucchini bread). Next time I make these, (which might be next week, the way zucchini is showing up on the farmer’s market tables) I am going to add toasted coconut, and maybe cocoa nibs, and eat it as a dessert..

Zucchini Muffins Adapted from 101 Cookbooks

Note: this will make approx 24 muffins, or 12 muffins and a loaf of bread

1/2 cup crystallized ginger, fine dice

1 1/2 cups chopped walnuts

zest of one medium lemon

zest of one medium orange

1/2 cup - (1 stick) - unsalted butter

3/4 cup white sugar

3/4 cup brown sugar, lightly packed

3 large eggs

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

3 cups grated zucchini (3 medium) squeeze out most of the liquid before use

3 cups unbleached all purpose flour

¼ cup ground flax seed

1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda

1/2 teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 teaspoon ground allspice

1/2 tablespoon curry powder

Preheat your oven to 350°F. Line your muffin tin with liners or parchment paper squares

In a small bowl combine the walnuts, citrus zest, and diced ginger. Separate approx. ¼ cup. And set aside

In a mixer, cream the butter and sugars. Add the eggs one at a time scraping down the sides of the bowl as you go. Add the vanilla extract and slowly add the grated zucchini

Separately combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder, and spices. Slowly add these to the wet ingredients on a low speed . Remove the bowl from your mixer and stir in the walnut-ginger mixture.

Fill your muffin tins. The mix will look wet, but it is supposed to. Bake for about 45 minutes and as soon as your fingers (or tongs) can handle it, pull the muffins from the tin to finish cooling, this will keep them from getting that slick skin common in quick breads.

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