Banana Maple Walnut Bread with Maple Walnut Butter

This is an adaptation of my mom's wonderful banana bread that I posted a few years ago. Extra walnuts, maple syrup and walnut oil are the added ingredients.  Serve it with the maple walnut butter!

 See the recipe here:

http://food52.com/recipes/28262-banana-maple-walnut-bread-with-maple-walnut-butter

Breakfast in Bread

This quick bread has everything you need for breakfast - bacon, eggs, fruit, maple syrup all rolled into one.  So pour yourself a cup of coffee or a cold glass of milk and enjoy!

Makes on 9x5 inch loaf

4 slices bacon, cooked crisp and crumbled
1/2 cup pecans, toasted for 5 minutes in a 350F oven and then coarsely chopped
1 medium apple, cored and finely chopped
8 Tbl butter (one stick)
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 eggs
3/4 cup dark amber maple syrup
1 tsp vanilla extract
2 cups all purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt

Whisk the flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, cream the butter and brown sugar until fluffy with an electric mixer.  Add the eggs, one at a time while beating and then add the syrup and vanilla extract.
Stir in the apple, pecans and bacon and then stir in the flour mixture a little at a time until fully incorporated.
Pour the mixture into a 9x5 inch well buttered loaf pan.  Bake in a pre heated 350F oven for 50 to 60 minutes or until that toothpick comes out clean.
 

White Chocolate Cheesecake

Here's a great dessert to make this summer when berries are abundant and at their ripest.  Make the gluten free crust that I offer or for ease, pour the filling into one of those pre made chocolate cookie crusts.  Serve with fresh berries or the blueberry-raspberry sauce below.

For the crust:
1  1/4 cups whole almonds, rather finely ground
4 ounces butter, melted
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
1 Tbl cocoa powder
Thoroughly mix all ingredients together and pat into the bottom of a 9 inch spring form pan.  Bake the crust in a 350F oven for 15 minutes.  Remove and cool.

For the filling:
1 pound softened cream cheese
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp almond extract
2 eggs
1 cup gluten free white chocolate chips or baking morsels, melted
1/4 cup water
1 pint fresh blueberries
2 Tbl sugar
1  6 ounce package fresh raspberries
In a mixing bowl mix the cream cheese, 1/2 cup sugar and almond extract with an electric mixer until well blended.  Add the eggs, one at a time, while still mixing.
Stir in the melted white chocolate until fully incorporated.
Spread the mixture over the prepared crust and bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes until the center just sets.( check at 30)
Remove from the oven, let cool and the refrigerate for at least 4 hours.


For the topping, heat the blueberries, water and sugar in a saucepan until the berries just begin to soften and burst a little.  Remove the pan from the heat and stir in the raspberries.  Let cool and refrigerate until ready to serve.
 
 

You'll Never Know They're Ice Cream Sandwiches

This is dessert for Sunday's Memorial Day BBQ....it's kid friendly and adult friendly.  I use an aluminum 9 x13 inch pan that comes with a plastic lid because this is a dessert that can be made days and days ahead and kept in the freezer until ready to serve. Feel free to change up the toppings on this any way you like.  Here's what I did:

2 packages ice cream sandwiches (12 in each pack)
1 very large container Cool Whip, thawed ( can substitute real whipped cream)
Chocolate Syrup
Caramel Syrup
Butter toffee peanuts, crushed (about 1 cup)

Place a layer of ice cream sandwiches on the bottom of a 9 x 13 inch pan with sides. Spread half of the whipped topping over the whole thing.  Drizzle with some of each syrup and sprinkle with half the nuts. Repeat.  Cover and freeze until serving.

Kona Macadamia Biscotti

 

My favorite flavors of Hawaii are Kona Coffee and Macadamia Nuts... they pair nicely in this simple biscotti recipe.  ( feel free to use your favorite coffee)


1 cup macadamia nuts
2 cups flour
1/4 cup sugar
1 tsp baking powder
2 Tbl very finely ground Kona coffee ( or a Kona blend)
pinch of salt
3 eggs
1 tsp pure vanilla extract

Set the oven at 325F.  Place the nuts in a single layer on a baking sheet and toast them for about 8 minutes.  Let cool and then coarsely chop.
Lower the oven temp to 300F.
Whisk the flour, sugar, salt, baking powder and coffee in a mixing bowl.
In another bowl, whisk the eggs and vanilla.
Add the egg mixture to the flour mixture.  Thoroughly combine. Stir in the chopped nuts.
Shape the dough into a log about 10-12 inches long and 3-4 inches wide.
Place on a parchment lined baking sheet and bake for 30-40 minutes, until firm.Leave the oven on.
Cool the log on a rack for about 15 minutes and then place it on a cutting board and cut into 1/2 inch slices ( on the diagonal if you wish) using a serrated knife.
Place the biscotti back on the parchment lined sheet and bake for 10 minutes.  Turn the over and bake for another 10.  Cool. 

Super Foods

No recipe today...just a little reminder to  to eat foods that are high in antioxidants and do your body well. Foods like broccoli, sweet potatoes, tomatoes, beans (all kinds) kale or spinach, whole grains, oats, apples, berries, and red peppers are readily available and relatively inexpensive. Other foods, eaten in moderation, including  fish, eggs, and nuts are great too.

Healthy Mock Pate

My Uncle Sam LOVED liver pate so much that if you put some in front of him you might not get any for yourself. My mom used to make it and I'd buy it whenever we had company.  Actually it's the only way that I like liver. BUT...it's full of bad fat and cholesterol. I came across this recipe a few days ago and since I had lentils in the house I thought I'd give it a try. The recipe I found used walnuts, but I substituted pecans. This is pretty reminiscent of the real thing.

1 cup dried lentils
2 cups chicken or vegetable broth
1 onion, diced
1 tsp olive or vegetable oil
1 cup pecans
salt and pepper to taste

Cook the lentils in the broth for about 30 minutes over medium heat.( I found that I had to add a little water as they cooked to prevent them from drying out). Drain thoroughly, but save some of the broth.  Saute the onion in the oil until softened. Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.( You may need to add some of the reserved broth or water to accomplish this.) Season to taste with salt and pepper...I like a lot of pepper!
This makes 3 cups so feel free to halve the recipe.

Banana Nut Bread

Whenever we had bananas turning a little too ripe ( which wasn't often), my mom would make this great banana nut bread.  It's dense and not too sweet. Great with coffee or a cold glass of milk and spread with a little butter.

1/4 cup butter (1/2 stick)
3/4 cup sugar
1 egg
2 very ripe bananas, mashed
3 Tbl sour milk (mix 1 tsp vinegar into 1/4 cup milk)
2 cups flour
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 cup chopped nuts

Cream the butter and sugar together. Beat in the egg and add the mashed bananas and sour milk.
Sift (or whisk) the flour, salt, baking soda, and baking powder and slowly stir into the wet mixture.  Fold in the nuts and put the batter into a greased loaf pan.  Bake at 350F for about 1 hour.

For the kids

Drew and Riley spent the night with us on Saturday and for a snack and then dessert we decided to make caramel corn!  First we popped about 6 quarts of popcorn, divided it and buttered half to eat as an appetizer to dinner. The caramel corn part took over an hour to make so we decided that it would be dessert (along with ice cream of course!).

Here's what we did:

3 qts. popped popcorn
1 cup cashews (use other nuts if you choose)
1 cup firmly packed brown sugar
1/2 cup light corn syrup (you can use dark also)
1 stick butter
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. vanilla extract
1/2 tsp. baking soda


Preheat the oven to 250F. Spray a shallow roasting pan with cooking spray and combine the popcorn and nuts in the pan.  Place the pan in the oven while making the syrup.


Combine the brown sugar, corn syrup, butter and salt in a sauce pan. Stirring constantly over medium heat, bring mixture to a boil and then boil for 5 minutes without stirring. Remove from the heat and stir in the vanilla and baking soda.
Pour the syrup over the warm popcorn and mix thoroughly to coat. Bake at 250F for about and hour, stirring now and then. Cool and the break apart.


With impeccably clean hands Drew and Riley did a magnificent job of breaking up the popcorn!!