how to make: banana chocolate chip muffins

Posted on 20 August, 2014 by Emily

Based on my favorite muffin recipe at Durham’s Nosh Food restaurant, these muffins have the best texture–crunch, moisture, and a little chewiness–ever.

Oven at 350 degrees, greased 12-cup muffin tin.

In a large bowl, combine:
¾ cup white flour
¾ cup whole wheat flour
1 ½ teaspoon baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
¾ cup semisweet chocolate chips

In a two-cup liquid measuring cup, combine:
¼ cup oil
¼ cup butter, melted
¼ cup milk
2/3 cup sugar
2 mashed bananas (small to medium sized)
1 large egg
¼ teaspoon vanilla extract

I add the ingredients to the measuring
cup in that order, so that I can use the cup’s lines for the first three ingredients. I dry-measure the sugar, but add it to the wet ingredients, because I’ve found it helps to let the sugar dissolve a bit before baking.

Carefully pour the wet ingredients into the dry, and fold just to combine–they’ll rise better if the batter isn’t over-mixed.

Bake for 25 minutes, cool for at least 5 minutes before removing from the muffin tin & serving. If not eaten right away, these keep best frozen–take out as needed and warm up in a toaster oven set to 400 for 5 minutes (to preserve crunchy outer shell–the microwave will work of course, though the crisp top will go soft).

how to make: one-bowl banana bread

Posted on 18 August, 2014 by Emily

Caught with 6 speckley bananas and a dirty kitchen aid mixer, I scoured the internets for super easy banana bread recipes. The first 6 or 8 started out like this: “Preheat oven to 350. Grease loaf pan. Cream butter and sugar on high…” Nope. No creaming of butter & sugar for me today.

I am no stranger to fussy recipes, as my addiction to croissants attests, but this rainy afternoon required something super easy.

The plethora of bananas allowed testing two recipes at once–for back-to-back comparison. First, I made Julia’s Best Banana Bread, I’m not sure who Julia is, but her bread is awesome (it’s not Julia Child, I can tell that, at least). When baking, I usually weigh at least the flours I’m using, if not all my ingredients, and I wonder if that affected the look of the loaf–it was a super liquidy batter that didn’t quite have enough substance to rise and crack as I usually expect of quick loaves. The bread was moist and springy–it held up well, but wasn’t dry the way that stiffer quick breads often are. I attribute the success to the three eggs and 1 1/2 cups of sugar used–the other recipe, which was much more dense, used only one egg and a third less sugar (1 cup).

The second recipe, which I’ve made with much success in the past, is Deb’s Jacked-Up Banana Bread, featuring optional extra flavor from a bit of bourbon and a selection of spices. In baking, especially using American recipes, spices are generally toned down so much that they’re indistinguishable–the mix in this recipe adds great heat and interest. For some reason, when I made it this time, it turned out much more dense and dry than other times (it was a bit overbaked–they both were; I got distracted by quilting!).

Both are worthy, in my estimation, and though I usually put chocolate, nuts, or both in my banana bread, I opted for pure, plain bread this particular afternoon. I especially highly recommend the Jacked-Up ‘bread with chopped dark chocolate!

Finally, to keep it real:

This is what baking looks like at my house.

how to make: a French tomato pie

Posted on 11 August, 2014 by Emily

Tomato pies are ubiquitous here in South Carolina, but what should I fall in love with in Rouen, except a French version of the Southern staple?

french tomato pie

Longing for France, as I do, I made up my own version of the dish: more zucchini, less aubergine (eggplant)–appropriate for August in the South in so many ways.

2 zucchinis, chopped

1 onion, chopped

28 oz can crushed tomatoes

1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning, divided

1 Tablespoon Parsley

4 oz fresh goat cheese

1 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups breadcrumbs

Heat oven to 375 degrees, mix together breadcrumbs & 1 1/2 teaspoons Italian seasoning. Combine vegetables, crushed tomatoes and the rest of the seasonings in a baking dish.

Drop goat cheese on top of veggie mixture, then add breadcrumbs on top.

Bake for 35 minutes or so, until bubbly, remove from oven and let cool till just warm–the filling will firm up some, and the flavors will meld.

inspired by lunch special at Dame Cakes, Rouen, France.

how to make: an Alsacian Feast

Posted on 5 August, 2014 by Emily

This is a desirable thing, I promise. Alsace is the region of (now) France that’s been passed back and forth between France and Germany for several hundred years (not like a hot-potato; more like a really wonderful piece of furniture–everybody wants it). Anyway, it’s where a significant portion of my ancestry lived, and it’s where we find Strasbourg & Colmar, which my husband and I visited in July.

In honor of my ancestry, and to relive the glory of vacation, we created an Alsacian feast last week.

Open a Riesling or Gewurztraminer, and get ready for a new pizza experience: Tarte Flambee (or Flammkuchen–just like how you pronounce “Appalachian” makes a statement about your class and politics, whether you use the French or German name for a dish reveals your true loyalties (mostly, for me, going to Alsace helped me understand why I’m both obsessed with food and very efficient)).

16 oz pizza dough, prepared

6 oz creme fraiche

1/2 yellow onion, sliced

8 oz bacon, cooked & sliced (in which ever order you prefer)

6 oz Gruyere, shredded

1 teaspoon nutmeg (fresh-ground is best, and nutmegs are super-readily available–Target, World Market, everybody’s got them (i love Penzey’s))

Preheat oven to 450 degrees (or grill, if you’re feeling wild). Spread the dough on a cookie sheet (or, again, the grill grate), cook the first side till the dough has got some shape, but isn’t browned at all, 4-6 minutes.

Quickly remove (or turn over) crust from the oven (grill), spread generously with creme fraiche, sprinkle liberally with sliced onion, bacon lardons, and Gruyere, finish with ground nutmeg. Cook for another 8-12 minutes, till the crust and cheese have started to get some color.

For dessert, how about a miraculous chocolate mousse? Two ingredients, my friends:

270 mL water

350 grams chocolate (I used 70%–but less would work too, if you like something sweeter)

Combine in a saucepan, melt, and stir to fully combine. When totally melted and combined, pour mixture into a bowl set over another bowl of ice and water.

Then, whip the snot out of it.

On an expert’s advice, I whipped it by hand–a good work out, and what a feeling of accomplishment!–but I’ve been told you can use electric beaters, too.

Here’s the video:

On my very first try, here’s how it turned out:

It’s almost like being back home in Alsace!

Happiness List

Posted on 1 August, 2014 by Emily

Deep in a dance party of one last night, I was inspired to share the epic playlist. My mind moved at lightning speed, wanting to share, too, the eyeglasses which just arrived (having almost posted a status yesterday–before coming home–that Warby Parker was holding the keys to my hope. I eventually decided it was a little too stark.) and the menu for the Margaritas & Mexican party I’d just cleaned up.

Further, beginning the discipline of enumerating the highlights of each week might help my resolution to focus on the good, the true, and the beautiful (as psychologist friend told me this week, “we see what we want to see”–it’s much easier for me to see negative, bad, gloomy things).

So, without further rhapsodizing, my first happiness list, for the last week of July 2014: dance party cover

1. DANCE IT OUT playlist (via spotify) It’s heavy on mid-2000’s anthems.

warby glasses

2. these new glasses, arrived from Warby Parker yesterday, squee!

margarita

3. the fail-safe margarita recipe (recommended: make in batches of 8 servings–as shown below)

12 oz fresh-squeezed lime juice

12 oz tequila

8 oz orange liquor

2 oz agave or simple syrup

(add Emily’s version–coming Monday–of Pioneer Woman’s Dr. Pepper Pulled Pork, and PW’s Tres Leches Cake, and you’re rollin’!)

hope of things not seen

more than meets the eye – beauty, spirituality, food.

Category Archives: food