Banana Perfect!

This fine night I happened to have some time to make a scrumptious banana bread. Now I have not tasted this particular batch but I'm sure crossing my fingers that this one is good. Since all the flour we had in store was gluten free flour I simply became flexible and added that part in.

The lesson today is kind of plain and simple so of course you are going to say " Oh my Lyn! Isn't that obvious!" But it certainly is important for anything: Practice makes perfect. You probably hear that everywhere. If you have lessons of any kind especially music lessons sometimes the teachers will stick up little annoying posters saying that very line or cliche`. This banana bread I have been making over and over again for a whole year! Can you imagine how good it tastes now. I never worry because I know the limits. For example if I am missing an ingredient say whole wheat flour or canola oil I know I can simply replace the two with gluten free flour or olive oil. And I have just tasted the process the whole way through. A year ago's probably tastes a lot different than tonight's banana bread. So choose a recipe and keep making it for sometime and if you are ever in a tight situation of what to make that you are sure will be good then you'll know for shore and it's fun because you can sort of call yourself a professional at that recipe.

Now here's the recipe feel free to use my suggestions

Butter, for greasing pan

1 cup flour, plus more for pan

3⁄4 tsp. baking soda

1⁄4 tsp. kosher salt

1 cup sugar I use either agave or honey but make sure you only put 1/2 cup instead of a full one

1⁄2 cup canola oil or olive oil for a more dry bread

1⁄3 cup buttermilk some yogurt can also replace buttermilk but try to stick with it

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg plus 1 egg yolk

2⁄3 cup chopped pecans or walnuts or (now I just tried this: almonds)

3 very ripe bananas, mashed

1. Heat oven to 350°. Grease a 9" x 5" x 
2 3⁄4" loaf pan with butter and dust with flour; set pan aside.

2. In a large bowl, whisk together flour, baking soda, and salt; set aside.

3. Whisk together sugar, oil, buttermilk, vanilla, egg, and egg yolk in a medium bowl until smooth. Pour wet ingredients over dry ingredients and whisk until just combined. Add pecans and mashed bananas and whisk gently to combine. Pour batter into prepared pan and bake until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle of the loaf comes out clean, 60–65 minutes. Let cool for 30 minutes before slicing and serving.

SERVES 6 – 8

You can also add butter to the wet ingredients for a more moist bread. And if you want green bread add some blueberries.

Fruit: The Safe Fireworks.

I love fruit. But it is always fun to spice them up a bit.

Naturally, we made a splendid barbecue for fourth of July and I was not the one who did the main course. No, no, no, I am actually quite scared of the grill. So, in order to do my part (since I don't like to have the impression of being lazy) I pitched in for dessert. In my house usually it's my mom choosing the dishes so I simply asked " What shall I be making?" and she answered back to me "Strawberry rhubarb crumble." Easy enough I thought in my optimistic way and carried on with all my deeds of the day. And I was right it was as easy as crumble (ha ha!). Now that I mention it the saying should most certainly be crumble instead of pie because the truth is that crumble is easier than pie! Anyhow, enough of my cooking gibberish, the only problem, which was so minor that I hardly would account it an issue, was that the crumble part itself needed a tad more butter than the recipe said.

About fruit, one of my favorite subjects. The summer is the peak of all fruit from the tropics to the north all bound with huge amounts of plain and simple favorite food... fruit. Fruit, fruit, fruit! I want to do a million dances for it! If you remember one of my earlier posts it had a picture of a nectarine with a bite (specially crafted by myself) in it. Now your going to ask me my favorite question ( not exactly) why? Well I learned this in: school go into depth. Alright here this goes, I love fruit (especially berries for this reason) because I can feel it deep in my blood. I know that long ago my Swedish family spent hours over hours pouring over tender raspberries, succulent strawberries, deep blueberries, and many more. I don't have proof but I can feel it. I can taste the effort, the soil, the love, the clean crisp water, I feel my heart leap. You may be thinking oh my, what I drama queen but I am not exaggerating at all and if you don't belief me... tough! Now other fruits such as tropical fruits are a different matter. Nectarines are in their own category. I will describe them first. I love nectarines because of fond memories with my mom. Whenever they would be in the store my mom and I would get so excited and buy a huge crate. We'd eat them every evening and boy was it worth it! Whenever I bite into one I can still hear my four year old self go crazy with delight and jump up and down with my summer flower dress. Now I like tropical fruits simply because they are refreshing. I don't think any other categories of fruit come to mind but that is the answer to why. I love rhubarb (by the way I know it's a vegetable) because it is so pretty in it's natural form. Now you know all my fruit secrets and here comes the recipe for strawberry rhubarb crumble.

butter for greasing skillet/pan (about 1 tablespoon)

3/4 cup / 3 oz / 85 g spelt flour
2/3 cup / 3 oz / 85 pine nuts, lightly toasted
1/2 cup / 1.5 oz / 45 g rolled oats
1/2 cup / 2 oz / 60 g natural cane sugar
1/2 teaspoon fine grain sea salt
1/8 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1/3 cup / 2.5 oz / 75 g unsalted butter, melted

1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 cup / 2 oz / 60 g natural cane sugar (or Muscovado sugar)

1/2 lb. / 8 ounces / 225 g hulled medium strawberries, cut into quarters

12 ounces trimmed rhubarb, sliced into 3/4-inch pieces
1/4 cup / 60 ml port wine (optional)

Preheat the oven to 375F / 190C, with a rack in the middle. Butter a 10-inch round gratin dish (pictured), or a 9x9 square baking dish.

Combine the flour, pine nuts, oats, sugar, salt, and pepper together in a bowl. Use a fork to stir in the butter, squeeze into a few patties, then place in the freezer to chill at least ten minutes.

Make the filling by whisking together the cornstarch and sugar in a large mixing bowl. Add the strawberries and rhubarb, and toss until evenly coated. Wait three minutes, add the port and toss again. Transfer the filling to the prepared pan, remove the topping from the freezer, and crumble across the top of the filling - make sure you have big pieces and small.

Bake for 35 - 40 minutes, or until the topping is deeply golden and the fruit juices are vigorously bubbling. You'll want to let things cool a bit before serving, 20 - 30 minutes.

Serves a small crowd, 8 - 12 servings.

Prep time: 20 min - Cook time: 40 min

Enjoy... but don't forget my advice of adding a little extra butter so the patties stick better. This is really good and you may find that you won't have a lot of left overs so if you really want them make two!

To Decorate Taste

Just a little treat for my cello recital. I must say the cello gets me cooking. It is strange but yes it is true. Everybody likes a little snack while or after you play. This is on my menu along with my mom's red velvet cake and blackberry bars. Speaking of blackberries you may think I have a picky pallet only for creamy sophisticated foods. Well I am a lot more simple then you think. My favorite food is blackberries. Get me a bucket full and I'm yours! I LOVE them. Back to my cookies. These chocolate chip cookies contain a special ingredient called mesquite flour. This flour has a chocolate aroma and makes an intense shadow taste into your food. I added a few ingredients based on my hopefully keen nose. These contents were the juice of one strawberry, a sprinkle of ginger and a sprinkle of cinnamon. I did this to add sort of a contrast with the chocolate, besides it never hurts to add some spice that is exotic to America. Today I have learned that contrasts intensify the flavor and give a shadow to your meal or dessert.

The Best Taste!

You might be tired of hearing about my pizza attempts; however, this time you might be slightly interested. Do you see this beautiful picture! It may not be perfectly round but darn it, it ain't mountain pizza (which is a good thing)! There is a big lesson in this episode of cooking keep trying! Yes, even for timid chefs. I can't stress this hard enough TRY TRY TRY!!!!!!!!! Try is your new mantra, say it every day and you will realize what you commenced actually succeeded. You'll go from making your typical chocolate cookie to perfecting pie and so forth. The best taste in life is something you put effort into. This is where you can use a self placebo effect. Meaning that if you say in your mind this is gonna work this is gonna work you will eventually find yourself tasting your food and saying yum ( by the way I never say yum because it is such a cliche` and sounds silly) or a more sophisticated adjective. This happens ( this is only my theory) because your brain gets wired for something good if you keep repeating this is gonna be good and when you taste the thing you made your brain automatically tells you delicious. I don't know for certain but that's my theory, for now anyway. Well that's my tip. Please use it!

Another Pesto, A Different Dish.

Delicious! No that's a boring word how about snazzy. Yep I really just have to thank my lucky stars that pesto is ( or nearly is anyway) around my perfection zone. I am really proud of pesto and I give a million thanks to the person who invented it. Say... we all should really think for a moment... if we were on our owns out in the wild do you think we would be making croissants just by gathering things from for example a forest? No, so think about it, we have come a long way from gathering greens and hunting meat just for a very poor survival. Nowadays we don't think like that, we actually have foodies who are so picky they wont touch anything that is "peasant food"., we have complex meals with cheese, sauce, veggies, and beyond! So you have to give a little thanks to the people who decided using oils ( I mean oil is in a majority of foods) and other more detailed things. I really feel lucky. You know what? No matter how professional I get I am going to remain an optimist on food. We are lucky to have the technology to make snazzy foods and experiment with a sense that is often ignored, taste. Go on in the kitchen! Pick something weird out like root beer in the kitchen and make your taste remember its position. Feel lucky you have food, in fact feel lucky you have the food of life. The food of life just gets more complex and delicious just like food! Go on with a smile do what you want, that is productive. Expand the complexity of humanity. Go on do it! I know you can conquer the kitchen of life!

Perfection With Pesto

Tonight, believe it or not, I made a quick, five minute pesto with some luxurious pasta. I had had a long forty minute bike ride and was looking forward to a nice rich dinner. Not many dinner choices were to be made. Basically I probably had around five options for something I hadn't had for lunch. We were very lucky and had spare basil so I whipped up some dinner with a trivial recipe and came out with something fabulous! The Parmesan really kicks the pasta up and with some good quality olive oil lurking deep into the flavor give the tongue a fruity taste. I learned today that even what seems to be a provincial recipe actually has a little more goodness than you would think!

Mountain Pizza!

On Friday ( a ways back) I made a pizza obviously. It may look, shall we say mountainous, in this image but it was utterly piquant. This beauty was made from scratch. I happened to be the dough maker while my mom made the artistic sauce and the flavorful caramelized onions. The onions really add a bite while the mushrooms will typically cool down the flavor and the roasted red peppers add color and a more burnt flavor to the mountain pizza. The lesson from this occurrence is: It doesn't matter what the food looks like, as long as it is tasty you and your friends will not even notice.

Easter Black Bottom Cupcakes

Tonight I made an exquisite Easter feast! These cupcakes taste like Oreos and have a unique yin and yang sign. No problems this time, with my baking skills. I was worried about separating the eggs but I didn't get a single shell or yolk in my mixture. The merged tastes of chocolate, cream cheese, and melting chocolate chips makes the perfect rich flavor for a noon party.

Tips!!

I tried a new thing today that I have seen professional chefs do. I put each ingredient in, measured out, a bowl. It is worth it! You won't get confused, rushed, or worried. It makes cooking, even for the forgetful folk, a whole lot easier. The dishes, as you might be wondering, is not as hard as you think. No scraping with steel wool or other hard core materials instead maybe a tad bit of scrubbing with a soft cloth but mostly just a good rinse and dry. Really try this even if you aren't, supposedly, a great cook. You'll find cooking easy, fun, and less stressful.

Any cupcake is magical for your guests to try, bringing them back to their child hood days of mischief or that occasional (or regular) sweet treat with a glass of milk. With cooking comes entertaining and with entertaining comes a new lifestyle and memories. May you conquer the kitchen!

A Decorated Recital Cake!

I will soon have a cello recital and of course you needed to make some dish to bring along. I searched through some cookbooks ( because I only like to cook out of cookbooks) and I thought it would be nice to make something delicious yet gluten free (which is a challenge). I looked in the cookbook called Harry's Roadhouse Cookbook and found a flour less chocolate cake. We had all the ingredients so it was perfect! I got a little worried when the egg whites didn't turn out the way they were supposed to ( stiff but not dry) but it turned out fine. I love to decorate food so I put a little glimmer into the cake. I am now trying to contain myself from eating it because I want to save the cake for the folks that are supposed to eat it.

Here is the recipe, I hope you get a good gluten free cake!

Ingredients

1 pound bitter sweet chocolate, chopped

1 cup butter (which is pretty much two sticks but check the butter's label)

9 eggs separated (which means separate the yolks of the eggs and the whites but SAVE BOTH)

3/4 cup + 1 tablespoon sugar

Powdered Sugar for decoration

Melt the chocolate and butter together in a double boiler. Set that aside to cool. Beat egg YOLKS with the 3/4 cup sugar at high speed until batter falls in ribbons. In a separate bowl beat egg WHITES until they start to turn white and foamy; then add the tablespoon of sugar and continue beating until stiff BUT NOT DRY. Fold chocolate into the egg yolk batter. Then, in three additions, carefully fold in egg whites. Bake in a 10-inch springform pan that has been greased and lined with parchment paper. Bake at 325 degrees F for 30 minutes, until firm on top but still jiggly in the middle. Let cool to room temperature. Dust with sugar and serve slices with whip cream.

Please make this recipe if you have a question go to epicurious.com don't be intimidated it tastes great! Keep trying remember I am just beginning to conquer the kitchen!

Valentines Day Is Around The Kitchen

Today, because Valentines Day is just around the corner, I made, hopefully, delicious truffles. I have never ever made them before so.... today was my first shot. I made about 60 of them. They aren't ready(they have to sit overnight) yet. I had to write about them... I am really excited and hope they are just as good as they look. Anyway, enough of my jabbering on about how darn excited I am and back to basics. This incident was sort of like the inside out pizza making except, this time we fixed it. I must say, to me, it was a bit worrisome, although, I'm supposing I am being just a tad dramatic. Well... I was doing exactly what the recipe said and all the sudden (you must understand this recipe said to boil the cream and the butter then pour it over the chocolate so that it melts) the chocolate wasn't really melting. I, then, put it in the microwave (which I'm strongly against) and still not much luck. I told my mom and it was alright! Ah, this is one of those times when you're a beginner in something and you think your super man and you realize there are people who have mastered your skill. Oh well... maybe one day I will be super man like the masters! Cooking is very tricky. It is not a piece of cake (ha, ha, ha!). It involves much more than patience it involves concentration and yes... super man skill. That is lesson to beginners and maybe even those super mans. When you think your great, you still have a long way to go.

What Has Been Going On...

It has been a while since I have sent a post out. Lately I haven't cooked as much. Still, I cook occasionally. I have, now, been cooking (to be precise baking and cooking) things with chocolate. Black bean brownies rarely, they are extremely rich, and hot chocolate. I think I have mastered a great hot cocoa, but it could use a few tweaks. During the summer I made homemade pasta, it was really good and we put it in a simple, yet delicious, puttanesca (pasta with olives). I made an improvised banana bread with olive oil! Surprisingly it worked! It is sort of a miracle when you don't have all your supplies, because then, you actually experiment with whole new ingredients in recipes you'd never imagine to put them in.