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Author: Livia N

Banana Bread

I have an old standard recipe for never-fail banana nut bread that comes from the red-checkered version of the Better Homes and Gardens cookbook, so when I got my apartment I got a copy of the cookbook to take with me so that I could have this specific recipe.

Only they went and changed it on me! I ended up with some crazy recipe that had streusel nut topping. Not on, cookbook. [ETA: streusel-laden recipe warning – pop-ups and other annoying advertising]

So I sent home to my mother for a copy of the correct recipe to put into the cookbook:

Banana Nut Bread
350F

1/2 c. shortening butter (5 1/3 Tbsps.)
1/2 c. sugar
2 eggs

1 3/4 c. sifted all purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt

1 c. mashed ripe bananas (I use 3 bananas, if I have them. Otherwise, 2)
1/2 c. chopped nuts (pecans, in my land)

Cream together butter and sugar; add eggs and beat well.

Sift together dry ingredients; add to creamed mixture alternately with banana, blending well after each addition.

Stir in nuts.

Pour into well greased 9.5″x5″x3″ loaf pan.

Bake at 350F for 40-45 minutes or until done. Remove from pan, and cool on a rack.

Now once I started making this in my apartment, I was living in a land with no dishwasher. So instead of mashing the bananas in one bowl, chopping the nuts into another, creaming the butter and sugar in yet another, and then having the large bowl with the dry ingredients and then everything else – I tried to minimize the dishes I would have to do. So I broke apart the nuts into the measuring cups after they’d been used, and I put the bananas straight into the dough and mashed as I mixed it in. This ended up making the dough too dry. So now there is about another 1/2 cup of sour cream in my standard recipe. Basically, I make it the usual way and then I add sour cream until the dough is wet enough.

This recipe makes amazing bread.

This morning, while I was waiting for the bread to cook, I decided to see whether my new cookbook, The Best Recipe by the Cook’s Illustrated people, had any opinions on the perfect technique for making banana bread. And they do:

  • Sour Cream added richness, but it also made for a heavy texture and an unattractive, pebbly crust.
  • they mix the nuts with the dry ingredients and the bananas with the wet, and they add yogurt in with the wet, too.

Fancy Hershey’s

I had a coupon for a free bar of Hershey’s attempt at upscale chocolate: Cacao Reserve

From only 2 choices at the pharmacy across the street, I picked the 35% cacao milk chocolate bar because I have a stash of 4 bars of tasty dark chocolate in my desk already.

I think I chose poorly – because while the flavor was somewhat reminiscent of luxurious milk chocolates of Europe, the primary characteristic of both taste and texture was wax.

Eggplant experimentation – Eggplant curry, Eggplant Jambalaya, Spicy Eggplant and Tofu Stir Fry

I have two different kinds of eggplant waiting for me in my fridge.

So, I looked through my cookbooks – vegetarian recipes, Italian recipes, eggplant recipes. and a binder with my recipes… and then decided that I’d do something different.

I have pre-cooked the two long skinny eggplants in the oven – that’s my current favorite way to peel eggplant: charring it under the broiler, and then picking the skin off in a couple long strips.

I put some beans (1/2 pink lentils, 1/2 yellow split peas) to soak in a small container. I’m thinking of making a curry with the beans, eggplant, and a bit of coconut. I still haven’t decided whether there will be dairy products or tomatoes or both – I’ll have to taste it.

And then I have medium-small “regular” eggplant. I think I’ll peel it, dice it, and then salt it and leave it to sit in a colander to leech out any bitterness. Then I’ll rise it and pat dry. That will turn into some weird (yet tasty!) jambalaya with diced chicken, eggplant, and zucchini – and maybe some collard greens. And that will get packed up directly and frozen for lunches.

And while I was reviewing the recipes I had put up here, I noticed that I missed one of my favorite eggplant recipes:

Spicy Eggplant and Tofu Stir Fry

Choose an eggplant that does not look bitter: a fresh, small, firm chinese eggplant or a firm white eggplant.

Use firm tofu. I often use the kind that comes in a plastic tub, but if it doesn’t you will need a container that is about the same size as the tofu to marinate it.

Cut the tofu into large slices no thinner than 1cm (I usually do one cut down the middle and several crosswise).

Work a crushed red pepper sauce in between every slice and then a little more over top. Let that sit overnight (or less, but I don’t usually have a couple hours to wait, so I’ll just prep stuff for the next day).

Heat up your favorite oil for stir fry. Lay the tofu slices flat in the pan (and this is the part where I confess to using a skillet to stir fry instead of a wok – if using a wok, improvise). Let them fry until they start to darken, and then flip them carefully to the other side to keep frying.

Immediately after flipping the tofu, add the eggplant, the tofu’s marinade, and a splash of some other liquid (water will do, but fruit juice or stock is better).

Once your can feel the peppers getting spicy, add a whack of creamy peanut butter.

Stir it all around – the tofu will crumble into bite-sized pieces and the peanut butter will melt and blend into the sauce.

And then it’s done.

Serve over lots and lots of rice – with more on the side because this dish is hella spicy.

I recommend having sauteed greens on the side as well – with lots of garlic.

Bridge Snacks – Sleazy Cheesy Dip, Bacon & Horseradish Dip

So I had an absolutely lovely weekend of lounging on my porch and socializing with lovely people which was marred by itching from poison icvy.

So I had people over to play bridge, and one of the necessary components is snack food. Last time I had bridge, I baked a whole bunch of random frozen things I had bought at the Indian grocer and just made dippings sauces – everyone left stuffed, but it did heat up my apartment a good bit to have the oven running constantly.

So this time, I roasted some veggies beforehand and had one thing that got made in the microwave, and it was all pretty much dips’n’chips:

Sleazy Cheesy Dip

1 stick velveeta
1 package cream cheese
1 jar salsa

all microwaved together and served with toasted pumpernickel bread (it would have been served inside the bread, but it was too soft and didn’t hollow well) and Fritos.

[redacted]’s Bacon & Horseradish Dip (which I was sure my father would *love*, but he ended up saying, “I am not a fan of cream cheese – I like sour cream based dips. Never mind, I think it is the tastiest thing ever)
bunch of real bacon bits (I made bacon and crumbled it)
1 tablespoon horseradish
1 pgk cream cheese
1/4 cup sour cream

served with Wheat Thins and Rosemary Triscuits

Chopped Liver
recipe here

Roasted Veggies
1 yellow squash
1 long, thin eggplant
3 red bell peppers
2 orange bell peppers

Tossed and “marinated” for a minute or less in: a dash of soy sauce, white balsamic vinegar, pasta sprinkle, and olivey and peppery olive oil (note: the olive oil people are having free shipping on 500ml bottles for mothers’ day), and then roasted – as you do.

So. There was a lot of food.

And then about 4 hours in, I do a hostess round going, “So is there anything else I could feed you?” And I am well-stocked to make a wide variety of foodstuffs appear on very little notice…

and someone pops up with, “Could we order pizza?”

O.o

So, um. We did.

Invitation to tea

The weather is perfect, and I want nothing more than to spend all my time in my backyard and in my apartment with all the windows open.

Therefore, you should come and see my backyard, too.

This weekend, I am hosting bridge on Sunday, but the apartment is clean enough that people could stop by on Saturday, too, without interrupting a mad rush to scrub the bathroom floor.

Next weekend, May Day, I think I am also free.

Come on – fresh air and green things with all the comforts of cooking and television.