what we eat.

lemony olive oil banana bread.

Some of the cutest things in this world are small.  Shoes for a baby.  Cute.  Crab apples? Adorable.  The mini cooper? Of course.  So when my mom gifted me this small-ish bunt pan I was super excited to make something cute.  Yes, food can be cute.


It kinda wouldn't have mattered what I baked in my new pan but luckily (for me and you) I picked this amazing lemony banana bread that I've been eyeing over at 101 Cookbooks.  It's a banana bread that meets a lemon cake and they have a really good time.  And if you don't have a small cute pan, don't worry.  This bread holds it own in a regular bundt pan and would even be great as muffins.

1 cup all purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
3/4 cup dark brown sugar or muscovado sugar
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup bittersweet chocolate chips
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
2 large eggs, lightly beaten
1 1/2 cups mashed, very ripe bananas (2-3)
1/4 cup plain whole milk yogurt
1 teaspoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 teaspoon vanilla

For the glaze:
1/2 cup brown sugar or muscovado sugar
1/2 powdered sugar
4 teaspoons fresh lemon juice

Preheat the oven to 350° F, and place a rack in the center. Grease a 9- by 5- inch (23 x 13 cm) loaf pan, or equivalent.

In a large bowl, whisk together the flours, sugar, baking soda, and salt. Add the chocolate pieces and combine well.

In a separate bowl, mix together the olive oil, eggs, mashed banana, yogurt, zest, and vanilla. Pour the banana mixture into the flour mixture and fold with a spatula until just combined. Scrape the batter into the prepared pan and bake until golden brown, about 50 minutes*. You want to get that beautiful color on the cake, but at the same time you don't want to bake all the moisture out of it. So the minute you're in that zone, pull it. Erring on the side of under-baking versus over.

Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn the loaf out of the pan to cool completely.

While the cake is cooling, prepare the glaze. In a bowl, whisk together the sugars and the lemon juice until smooth. When the cake is completely cool, drizzle the glaze on top of the cake.

*My cakes, in smaller pans, only took about 30 min.

pumpkin bread.

Make this for no other reason than the way your house will smell when it's in the oven.  Seriously.  It's a mood-changer.  Dreading Halloween? Make this bread.  Really, Thanksgiving is around the corner and you potentially have to spend it with your awkward-to-be-around family members? Make this bread.  You'll feel better.

And, if you also like things that taste pumpkiny and warm and a little spicy you will love actually eating this bread.

It's super easy to mix together.  It's your basic mix the wet ingredients with the dry and pour it in a loaf pan type of thing.  I added chopped walnuts and a sprinkle of sugar on top of mine before I stuck it in the oven.  I wanted a little crunch.



Pumpkin Bread:
makes one loaf

1/2 cup butter, softened
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 eggs
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tablespoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoons baking soda
3/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
3/4 teaspoons ground cloves
3/4 teaspoons ground nutmeg
1/2 of a (16 ounce) can solid pack pumpkin

Cream the sugar and butter.  Add eggs and mix well.  In a separate bowl mix dry ingredients.  Fold into wet ingredients.  Mix in pumpkin. Pour into a greased loaf pan.  Bake at 350 for about an hour.

bread.

 
 
Who knew a loaf of bread would bring me back to the blog.  Whole wheat bread, no less.  You’d think after so many months away it would be something amazing like duck confit in puff pastry.  Just kidding, yuck.  The thing I came back to tell you though is this bread IS amazing.  At least if you’re like me it is.  So I want to tell you about it.  Beacause even though it’s just bread, and even though while the dough was rising it reminded me of my stomach, (if you’ve given birth more than once you’ll know what I mean) I still really, really love it.

But first I want to tell you something a little vulnerable.  Something that will be filed away in the “learning experience” category of my life.  A few weeks back we bought a bread maker.  A huge, white, noisy, and, as it turns out, smoking appliance that sat on our kitchen counter and made a handful of really average loaves of bread and made me feel like a really average person.  Our hope was to find a solid whole wheat bread recipe that we could crank out a gazillion times in an effort steer clear of the store bought stuff with the super long ingredient list.  Reasonable idea, right?  Right.

Wait. No! Not if you’re me.  Because I love being in the kitchen.  I read cookbooks and food blogs in my free time.  I am tempted by and fully appreciate projects like this. And fully appreciate the art of putting different ingredients together to produce something super wonderful and special and homemade.  I appreciate the time it takes.  The work of  it.  I drive to the store late at night to get a weird ingredient I forgot.  I make things like homemade blood orange/lemon curd. I call my friends in the morning and asked them what they had for dinner the night before and if it wasn’t terrific I troubleshoot it until I figure it out. And even though I am secretly nervous around yeast and can’t quite look it in the eye, I am someone who would be thrilled to be in the kitchen making bread by hand.

 So then one day the machine literally started smoking while it was trying to bake us an unimpressive loaf of bread and that was it.  It was over.  We took it back, got a refund, and I tried to find my soul.

Good thing there are people like Molly from Orangette who have so much soul it actually hurts a little when I read about her life.  And I will even admit right here and right now that more than once after reading her blog I have, for a few seconds, entertained the idea of moving my entire family to Seattle and begging her for a job in their restaurant.  Oh no, I just pictured it and that’s embarrassing. I could go on and on.  But then I would be someone writing a blog about a blog and that’s embarrassing too. I think I’ll just stick to making the whole wheat sandwich bread she found in this book.  It’s super easy to make, rises beautifully, has great taste, and isn’t dense like a brick.  It really is the perfect sandwich bread.  I had egg salad on it today and it was so good I had to come back here and wake up my blog.  And later I think I'll tell my husband we need to immediately go out and buy a commercial bread slicing machine, now with the counter space and all.

 
 

Oatmeal Sandwich Bread

1 package (2 ¼ tsp.) active dry yeast
3 Tbsp. unsulphured (not blackstrap) molasses
2 ½ cups whole wheat flour
2 cups bread flour
1 cup rolled oats
4 Tbsp. unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 ¼ tsp. table salt, or to taste

Grease a large bowl and a loaf pan with butter or cooking spray.

In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine 2 cups warm water, the yeast, and molasses. Stir briefly, and then allow the yeast to bloom for about 5 minutes. Add the flours, oats, and butter, and stir to mix. The dough will look rough and shaggy. Cover with a towel, and let stand for 30 minutes. [This rest allows the dry ingredients to absorb the liquids, making for a dough that’s easy to work with and even-crumbed.]

Attach the bowl and the bread hook to the mixer. Add the salt, and mix on medium speed for 6 minutes. The dough should come together around the hook and slap around the sides of the bowl without sticking. If the dough is sticking, add a tablespoon or two of bread flour, sprinkling it down between the dough and the sides of the bowl. [Alternatively, you can knead by hand for about 15 minutes, adding flour as needed.] The dough should be soft and supple and slightly sticky.

For the first rise, scrape the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and knead it a few times. Put the dough into the greased bowl, cover with a towel, and leave it to rise for about 1 hour, or until it is doubled in size. To see if it’s ready, gently push a floured finger into it. If the dough springs back, it needs more time; if the dimple remains, it’s ready for the next step.

To shape the dough, scrape it onto a floured work surface. Press down on it, working it into a square shape, taking care to depress any bubbles. Fold the dough down from the top to the middle, then up from the bottom to the middle. Next, bring the newly formed top and bottom edges together, pinching the seam to seal. Pinch the sides together, and roll the shaped dough back and forth, plumping it so that it’s evenly formed and about the size of your pan. Place the dough in the pan with the seam side down, and press it gently into the corners of the pan.

For the second rise, cover the dough with a towel, and let it rest in a warm place for about 1 hour, or until the dough rises to half again its size. While the dough is rising, preheat the oven to 400°F.

When the dough has finished its second rise, bake for about 40 minutes, rotating the pan halfway through. The loaf is ready when the top crust and bottom crusts are nicely browned.  To see if the bread is ready, give the top of the loaf a thump with your hand. If it sounds hollow, it’s ready; if not, give it another few minutes in the oven. Remove the finished loaf from the pan and cool completely on a wire rack. Resist the urge to cut in until it’s fully cooled, so that the crumb has time to set and the flavor can develop.

Yield: 1 loaf

tomato bread.

This was surprisingly delightful. There I was last night in our small town's small market and I noticed organic cherry tomatoes were on sale so I swiped them up and headed home. Um, I paid for them first.  Anyway, this is so good!  Try it for a light dinner with a steamed artichoke on the side.  That's what we did.

Ina Garten calls this "Scalloped Tomatoes" and I love ya Ina, but I'm not sure that name cuts it.  This dish is wonderfully bread-y hence our official name: tomato bread.  The bread cubes end up a little crisp but nice and chewy too.  And when you add the tomatoes, you sprinkle some sugar in which cuts the acid and leaves them the right amount of sweet.  This is really simple and really satisfying.  Perfect for dinner-- but how great would this be for breakfast with some eggs and a mimosa?

Tomato Bread (from Ina)
2 cups good bread, cubed.
2 or 3 cups fresh tomatoes, diced (I used cherry, but anything will work well)
1/2 cup fresh chopped basil
2 tablespoons sugar
a couple tablespoons olive oil
1 tablespoon chopped garlic
1/2 cup parmesan cheese

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Heat 3 tablespoons of olive oil in a large (12 inch) saute pan over medium heat. Add the bread cubes and stir to coat with the oil. Cook over medium to medium-high heat for 5 minutes, stirring often, until the cubes are evenly browned.

Meanwhile, combine the tomatoes, garlic, sugar, salt, and pepper in a large bowl. When the bread cubes are done, add the tomato mixture and continue to cook, stirring often, for 5 minutes. Off the heat, stir in the basil.

Pour the tomato mixture into a shallow (6 to 8 cup) baking dish. Sprinkle evenly with the Parmesan cheese and drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes until the top is browned and the tomatoes are bubbly. Serve hot or warm.

 

beef stroganoff w/out the beef.

For me, mushrooms are practically the new beef.  When sauteed with a little butter or oil and salt and pepper...I'm powerless against them.  I can't stop eating them.  In pasta, on pizza, straight from the skillet with my fork.  And when you're not in the mood to buy that 8 dollar lb. of grass-fed beef, or you've had 3 burgers in the last 7 days--Ahem-- a salty sauteed mushroom is really a great option when you want something, you know, a little substantial.

I pulled from a few different recipes I found online and then just started adding stuff, tasting, and then adding more until it tasted how I wanted it.  The sauce totally grew on me.  In fact, I wanted another fat bowl of it the second I finished the first bowl.  And, I even ate it for lunch the next day which says a lot because normally, for me, most leftovers are hugely disappointing.  But my friends, not as disappointing as last night's American Idol results where I was forced to say goodbye to our sweet little mullet-boy, Alex Lambert who had more talent in his left dimple than most of those other earnest kids had in their entire nervous bodies.  Shook my head is what I did. Shook my head at our TV and said something like "disappointed in this country."

Anyway. I decided to raise a glass to Alex and make some stroganoff.  I really do urge you to tweak these ingredients however you see fit.  For us, the dijon mustard stole the show. 

 

I feel like I won't sleep well tonight unless I apologize for the photo here.  I think at the end of the day, a brown meat-looking sauce just isn't that pretty.  Too bad I didn't have any fresh parsley to sprinkle on top.  That would have helped.

Mushroom Stroganoff

2 packages sliced mushrooms--any kind you'd like
1 large shallot (or small onion) diced small
2 cloves garlic, chopped
olive oil
1 can beef broth
1/4 (give or take) cup sour cream (would plain greek yogurt work here? Probably.)
2 tablespoons dijon mustard
s and p to taste
a little butter
a little flour
1 package egg noodles, cooked and tossed with butter

In a large skillet heat a little oil until it's pretty good and hot.  Throw in the mushrooms and don't touch them for a few minutes. Turn down the heat a little and add the shallot and garlic and a little salt and pepper.  Stir.  Turn the heat down to low and just let that hang out.

In a medium sauce pan melt some butter, about 2 tablespoons.  Add about 2 tablespoons flour and stir constantly for about a minute.  Add the can of beef broth and whisk.  Let that thicken on low heat for a few minutes and then add the sour cream and mustard and some s and p.  Here's where you taste and adjust.  Want a little more kick?  Add pepper and mustard.  Want it creamier?  Hit the sour cream.

When the sauce seems right to you, pour it into the mushroom skillet and mix everything together.  If it doesn't seem thick enough, just keep it on low heat and it will eventually thicken.  This shouldn't take long.  Serve over egg noodles.

nervous buns.

Although I would definitely consider myself an extremely nervous bread maker--or, more specifically, a nervous maker of anything with yeast in it--I was inspired once again over here, and burger night was fast approaching, so I went for it.

 

I'm so glad I did!  And yes, there are hours involved because it's homemade bread and the stuff has to rise.  But it's so easy peasy people, and so worth it.  It will be hard for me to buy these in the store from here on out because really, what are in those super market buns that make them last so long?  I don't even want to know.  It's pretty inconvenient (and kinda trendy, huh?) to be anti-super market but the more I think about it, the less food-like all that food in there is because of how far it has to travel and how long it has to sit and wait to be bought.  Kinda gross. I know that's old news, but I'm still thinking about it.

Anyway, back to these beautiful buns.  Please try them.  We ate them warm out of the oven with our burgers and I was close to weeping.  I'm probably not going to start grinding my own flour or anything, don't worry.  But I will make these again and my yeast confidence went up a notch too.

Brioche Buns:
Makes 8 4 to 5-inch burger buns

3 tablespoons warm milk
2 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 1/2 tablespoons sugar
2 large eggs
3 cups bread flour
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
2 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
Sesame seeds (optional)

1. In a glass measuring cup, combine one cup warm water, the milk, yeast and sugar. Let stand until foamy, about five minutes. Meanwhile, beat one egg.

2. In a large bowl, whisk flours with salt. Add butter and rub into flour between your fingers, making crumbs. Using a dough scraper, stir in yeast mixture and beaten egg until a dough forms. Scrape dough onto clean, well-floured counter and knead, scooping dough up, slapping it on counter and turning it, until smooth and elastic, 8 to 10 minutes. The dough will be on the sticky side so it can be a bit messy, but keep in mind that the more flour you knead in, the tougher the buns will get. Try to leave them tackier than you would a round loaf.

3. Shape dough into a ball and return it to bowl. Cover bowl with plastic wrap and let rise in a warm place until doubled in bulk, one to two hours.

4. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. Using dough scraper (or a big sharp knife,) divide dough into 8 equal parts. Gently roll each into a ball and arrange two to three inches apart on baking sheet. Cover loosely with a piece of plastic wrap lightly coated in nonstick spray and let buns rise in a warm place for one to two hours.

5. Set a large shallow pan of water on oven floor. Preheat oven to 400 degrees with rack in center. Beat remaining egg with one tablespoon water and brush some on top of buns. Sprinkle with sesame seeds, if using. Bake, turning sheet halfway through baking, until tops are golden brown, about 15 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool completely.