Banana Bread

I actually remembered to post something I made!!

This is my favorite banana bread recipe and super easy.

This is for two loafs, but I usually cut it in half and just make one.

2C Sugar

1C Shortening

6 very ripe bananas

4 eggs

2 1/2 Cups of flour

1ts salt

2ts baking soda

1C walnuts/ craisins / strawberries (optional but craisins are my favorite)

Oven: 350

Cream sugar, shortening and bananas, add eggs. I mix all of this with a beater but my step-mom uses her hands...old school.

Mix dry ingredients and add to the wet mixture. Do not over mix.

Place batter into two well greased loaf pans.

Bake around one hour. In my oven it takes around 55 minutes. After 45-50 minutes, test center to see if its done. Cool on racks for about 30 minutes before removing.

Image from nataliedee.com

Strawberry banana muffins

This was a spur-of-the-moment recipe - I had some browning bananas and some strawberries. I wasn't sure how this would work - so I made a few normal banana-nut muffins, then added the strawberry to the second half of the batter. Both worked great :)

Strawberry Banana Muffins

• 1 1/3 flour, sifted
• 2 1/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/3 c butter
• 2/3 c sugar
• 1/2 - 1 lemon of zest
• 2 eggs
• 2 smashed bananas
• 1/4 c walnut or pecan pieces
• ~6 strawberries, cut into 1/4"x1/4" cubes

1. Preheat oven to 350
2. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
3. In another bowl, cream together the butter, sugar and lemon zest. Mix in the eggs and banana. Stir in the flour mixture a little at at time until combined. Fold in the nuts and strawberries. Pour into a lined muffin/cupcake tin.
4. Bake for 22-25 minutes.
5. Enjoy!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

I thought I'd re-post my Chocolate Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes recipe in time for St. Patty's Day!

It's a time-consuming recipe, and not cheap (because of the liquor), but well worth it!

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Mardi Gras Jambalaya

As usual, I'm late for the holiday (Mardi Gras, yesterday). But this Jambalaya is hearty and delicious and perfect for cold weather. Plus, it's easy to make! And this entire meal really only cost me $30. This can probably feed 4-6 people pretty easy. I've had 4 meals out of it so far and will prob be taking it to work for lunch for the rest of the week.

Jambalaya (serves 4-6)

• dash of vegetable oil
• 1 lb spicy Italian sausage (sliced into 1" disks)
• 1 onion, sliced
• 1 green pepper, diced
• 4 cloves garlic, crushed
• 1-2 stalks celery, sliced
• 2 cups rice
• 1 32-oz box of chicken stock
• 1 14-oz can of diced tomatoes
• 1.5 tbsp creole or cajun seasoning
• 1/2 lb frozen shrimp, cooked

1. Take the shrimp out of the freezer and let thaw throughout the whole process. Heat a little bit if oil over medium heat in a large pot or dutch oven. Toss in the sliced sausage and cook. Keep the sausage drippings in the pan.
2. Throw in the sliced onion, green pepper, garlic and celery and cook in the sausage oil until the onions are translucent.
3. Pour in the chicken stock, diced tomatoes and seasoning. Bring to a boil, then reduce the heat to medium low. Cover and simmer for 20-25 minutes. Test the rice (by tasting it). If it still needs more time, let it simmer for a little longer. It will probably be a little soupy.
4. When the rice is done (or almost there), throw in the frozen shrimp and stir in with a large spoon for 2-5 minutes, until the shrimp is warmed. Some of the soupiness will evaporate through this process and give it a thick consistency.
5. Enjoy!

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

This is just a traditional beef & broccoli stir fry. But I want to make sure I don't forget how to make this, because it was delicious :)

This is all that was left! (that's a massive serving fork, not a normal sized fork :))

Beef and Broccoli Stir Fry

• 4 tbsp soy sauce
• 2 tbsp rice vinegar
• 2 tbsp grated ginger (~2 inches of fresh ginger grated on a small grate/zester. This takes a while.)
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1/2 tsp red pepper flakes
• 2 tbsp corn starch
• 1.5 lb steak (i.e. flank, or top round. Nothing expensive)
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• 2 crowns of broccoli, chopped into florets
• 1 can water chestnuts
• vegetable oil
• serve with rice!

1. Whisk the first 6 ingredients together in a small bowl/cup. Slice the steak into strips and toss in a large bowl with half of the sauce you just whisked. Let sit for up to 30 minutes.
2. Heat ~2 tbsp vegetable oil in a large pan. Meanwhile, throw the broccoli into a freezer bag with 1/4 cup water. Put in the microwave for 3-4 minutes - it should be fully cooked. Once the vegetable oil is heated, throw in the meat and cook until fully cooked (or rarer if you like it that way). Use tongs or a fork to pull the meat out of the pan and onto a plate to save for later.
3. In the empty/saucy pan, throw in the onion and cook until translucent. (If the pan is dry, pour in 1/4 cup of water to dilute everything.) Once the onion is done, throw in the broccoli and the rest of the sauce you made. Mix everything together for 1-3 minutes. Throw in the beef and water chestnuts to warm it all up.
4. Serve over rice!

Chorizo Hash

So back to my breakfast for dinner meal. This chorizo hash was the main dish to the brown sugar cherry scones I posted last week. It's an embarassingly easy recipe, but still delicious! It uses cooked potatoes, so it's a great way to use up really any leftover potatoes you may have (other than mashed). This recipe served two people along with two fried eggs a piece.

Chorizo Hash

• ~2 tbsp vegetable oil
• 1/2 an onion, diced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 package (usually less than a pound) of chorizo
• equivalent of 1 potato, cooked (can be a baked potato, boiled potato, roasted, red, russet, white, etc.)
• salt/pepper

1.  Heat the oil in a pan over medium. Add the onion and garlic and cook until translucent - ~4 minutes.
2. Drop the chorizo into the pan and break up with a wooden spoon. While it's cooking, chop the potatoes into small chunks, i.e. 1 cm squared. As the chorizo is cooking, throw the potatoes in and continue to stir. Cook for another 10 minutes, until the chorizo is cooked through and the potatoes are soft and red (with the chorizo flavoring)
3. Serve with eggs and enjoy!

Valentine's Day Coffee Tartlet

So I know it's late for this recipe, it being Valentine's Day today, but save it for next year? Or make this fun treat for any other occasion! The cookie is based on Alton Brown's sugar cookie recipe - so if you don't want to make too many tartlets, use the dough to make extra sugar cookies :)

Coffee Tartlets
 Makes several dozen - so half the recipe if you want.

•  3 c flour
• 3/4 tsp baking powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 c (2 sticks) of unsalted butter
• 1 c sugar
• 1 egg
• 1 tbsp milk
• powdered sugar
• 1 large box instant vanilla pudding
• 1 1/2 tbsp instant coffee
• 3 c milk
• berries

1. Preheat oven to 375 and butter/Pam a cupcake tin.
2. Sift together flour, baking powder, salt.
3. Cream butter and sugar until smooth. (Soften the butter or cut it into small pieces to make it easier to mix). Mix in the egg and milk. Add the flour mixture in a little at a time and combine until smooth. There may be some dry chunks, but that's ok.
4. Instead of flouring your working surface, use powdered sugar, and dump the bowl of batter. If there were dry chunks, use your fingers to combine it into a big lump. Use a rolling pin to roll the batter down to 1/8 inch -thick sheets. (Work in pieces if you need to.) Use a glass to cut out circles of dough and gently press a circle into each cupcake cup to form a little tart base. Bake for ~10-12 minutes. Remove from oven and let the cookies cool completely before removing from the pan. (If you're baking in batches, you may want to keep the cookie dough in the fridge between baking. Or use it for plain cookies instead.)
5. While the crust is cooling, whisk together the pudding, instant coffee and 3 c milk. Slice strawberries if you're using them.
6. The pudding should be mostly set when you spoon it into the crusts. Top with berries and serve!