Banana Muffins

Oh, hello blog.  And hello, 2010.  Where the hell did you come from?  I swear it was just yesterday I was writing about beef and sun-dried tomato stew. Only it wasn’t just yesterday, it was an entire month and a half ago. A month and a half filled with parties, lunches out, not one but four Christmas dinners, a big greasy breakfast and champagne at midnight on New Year’s Eve with my fiance. Because somehow in all of that we found the time to get engaged!

And through all that my saving grace was my slow cooker. I thought about you, dearest readers, when I was dumping the ingredients together for Firecracker Turkey Chili or as I was pulling apart a pork shoulder that had simmered away in Blue Smoke’s signature BBQ sauce for 10 beautiful hours.

But it was because I was thinking of you that I spared you from photos like this, which is pretty much what everything that comes out of my crock looks like:

See, I knew you’d thank me.

Moving on. It doesn’t matter that I have been away, it matters that I am here, now. And I brought muffins.

Late this morning, when I discovered that my yoga class had been canceled (only after arriving at the studio, of course), I realized that I was in the mood to be in the kitchen. A feeling that has not hit me for some time, cooking has not been so much of a joy but rather an annoying necessity over the last couple of months. We had way too many ripe bananas for our own good in the fruit bowl, so I scrounged around for a decent, low-fat recipe and an hour later I was munching muffins, still warm from the oven.

And how fitting that I would write about banana-based baked goods, considering my first post one year ago tomorrow, was about banana bread.

Happy new year!

Banana Muffins
Adapted from Weight Watchers
Makes 18

A note on muffin tin liners: the original recipe recommended lining your muffin tins with liners. I would skip the liners and just grease your muffin tin, which I did for a couple of my muffins as I was short on paper liners. The muffin batter really clung to the paper.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup sugar
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened, divided
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups white all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
Pinch of clove
1/4 cup milk (I used skim)
4 large bananas, ripe, mashed

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F. Grease or line with paper liners 18 muffin holes.

2. In a large bowl, Cream sugar and butter until light and fluffy. Add egg and vanilla, beat until thoroughly mixed.

3. In another large bowl, mix together flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove. Add half of flour mixture to butter mixture and mix well. Add milk and remaining flour mixture. Beat until batter is combined and then fold in mashed bananas.

4. Bake until muffins start to brown and a tester inserted in centre of a muffin comes out clean, about 25 to 30 minutes. Allow muffins to cool in pan for about 2 minutes; remove to a wire rack.

Beef and Sun-dried Tomato Stew

Don’t say I didn’t warn you! When the weather decided to dip down to an assaulting ZERO DEGRESS back in October I told you I was forecasting one-bowl meals like stew, chili, soup, pasta bakes and casseroles in the near mise en place future. This here is just the beginning!

I’ve started to love Fridays more than ever these days. My weeks are long, at times stressful, and always jam-packed. Between work, gym and social commitments by the time the end of the week finally decides to show up I am ready to hit the couch hardcore. After work I look forward to along, quiet workout (long only because TLC’s weekly Say Yes to the Dress marathons could keep me on the treadmill all night long) and something warm that can be enjoyed in my pajamas on the couch.

I don’t want to make a fuss over dinner after a long week, so I was very happy that this stew came together quickly and easily — perfect for enjoying on the couch!

Sun-dried tomatoes are on my list of favorites, bonus that they also top Jeff’s. Put ‘em in pasta, pair it with feta cheese to make a festive salsa, or layer them with grilled veggies on a crusty bun, but I would never have thought to throw them in a stew. I’m glad someone thought it up, however, because it definitely worked.

Beef and Sun-dried Tomato Stew
Adapted from Best Health Magazine
Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil
1 tablespoon tomato paste
1 398 mL can white beans, rinsed
1 tablespoon fresh rosemary, chopped (or 1 teaspoon dried)
1 handful fresh basil, chopped
500 g top sirloin beef, cut into 1 inch cubes
10 sun-dried tomato pieces
1 large celery stalk, chopped
2 garlic cloves, minced

Method:

1. Heat one teaspoon of olive oil in a saucepan over medium-high heat. Saute beef until browned but not cooked through, about five minutes. Remove from pan, set aside.

2. Reduce heat to medium and add remaining olive oil. Saute onion, garlic and celery until soft, about four minutes. Stir in tomato paste, rosemary and basil. Cook one to two minutes more.

3. Increase heat to high and stir in broth, scraping up brown bits. Mix in beans, tomatoes and a broth can of water. Bring to a boil, then reduce heat and cover. Simmer for ten minutes.

4. Add beef, cover and let meat warm through, one to two minutes. Spoon into six bowls, top with basil and ground pepper.

Crock-Roasted Chicken

Image from www.nataliedee.com

Okay, I’m just going to come out and say this.  Back in August I finally experienced my “that’s it!” moment and decided I was going to do something about the butter weight I’d accumulated.  I joined Weight Watchers and started losing weight.

Three months later I’ve lost 19.6 pounds and am just 2.4 pounds away from my first goal — which was to lose 10% of my body weight.  I wrote a little bit about changing my relationship with food back in September, and wondered if this would change mise en place.  It’s been pretty quiet around here, so it apparently did.

I can admit that I may have been a little embarrassed, worried about how “being on a diet” might affect my foodie cred (lame, I know). But being on Weight Watchers has also forced me to recalibrate all of the things in my life.  Finding time every day to work, exercise, eat well (i.e. actually taking time to eat lunch and not just shoving a slice of pizza into my face between paragraphs), cook, shower, relax, pay attention to my partner, family and friends, and oh yeah, sleep, has been a challenge.

So forgive me if after all that blogging hasn’t been high up on the priority list. Finding balance hasn’t been easy, but I think I’ve got it. My secret weapon: our new slow cooker!

About a month ago I dragged Jeff out to the Bay to purchase a slow cooker.  Once home in the elevator a neighbour noticed the box and lamented that our lives were about to be transformed.  And boy, was she right. After a long day at work we can come home to a hot meal without lifting a finger. We’ve enjoyed chili and stew and soup and the best roast chicken I have ever had in or out of a restaurant.

What are you waiting for? A slow cooker is definitely the secret to eating well on the run.

Crock-Roasted Chicken
Adapted from Prevention Guide Slow Cooker Recipe Book

Ingredients:

1 broiler/fryer chicken (3 1/4 to 4 lbs)
2 tablespoons paprika
1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
3 cloves garlic, pressed
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Method:

1. Rinse and pat chicken dry, removing any visible fat. Discard giblets and neck. Coat 4-quart or larger slow cooker with cooking spray.

2. Combine paprika, onion powder, garlic, salt and pepper in bowl. Stir in warm water by the teaspoonful until thick paste forms. Coat chicken inside and out with seasoned paste before placing in cooker, breast side up.

3. Cover and cook on low 6 to 7 hours (or on high 3 1/4 to 4 1/2 hours). Remove chicken from cooker. When cool enough to handle, remove skin and carve. The meat will be so tender it will just fall off the bones.

Italian Wedding-ish Soup

Jeff and I most certainly fall into the “opposites attract” camp.  He is tall and skinny; I am short and well, not-skinny.  I am loud; he is quiet.  Jeff is a chocolate cake kind of guy while I prefer vanilla.  Both of us set in our own respective ways at the ripe old age of 27.

One thing we do agree on is that the best meals come in one bowl.  Soups, stews, bakes, pastas, ragus, anything that can be enjoyed cross-legged under a blanket on the couch.  Given this, our brand new slow cooker and the fact that it was 0degrees, ZERO DEGREES!!!! in Toronto this morning, in October, I am forecasting we’ll be eating a lot of soup et al this winter.

With summer long gone I took some time last weekend to dig through some old magazines and recipe books looking for some autumnal inspiration.  I picked this recipe, from Martha Stewart’s January 2009 edition of Everyday Food, because it reminded me of my father.

If Jeff is tomato soup and I am potage pommentier, my father is hands-down Italian Wedding.  I’ve never had Italian Wedding Soup.  I’ve never been to an Italian wedding.  But my dad always orders it at East Side Mario’s, he just loves those tiny little meat balls.  So I made it and I was quite proud to invite him to join us for leftovers on Sunday afternoon when he drove in to bring us home for Thanksgiving.  Dad said the soup was nothing like Italian Wedding Soup, really, but it was still good and that pleased me enough.  Thus the ‘-ish’ in Italian Wedding-ish Soup.

We enjoyed this with fresh, crusty bread and cold butter on an even colder Saturday afternoon and again on a Sunday.  And a Tuesday evening, each bowl better than the last.

Italian Wedding-ish Soup
Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Everyday Food
Serves 6

Ingredients:

1 pound ground dark-meat turkey
2 garlic cloves, minced
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1/2 cup plain breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
coarse salt and ground pepper
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 medium onion, halved and thinly sliced
1 litre reduced-sodium chicken broth (or 2 14.5 oz cans)
1 28 ounce can diced tomatoes in juice
2 heads escarole (about 2 pounds), coarsely chopped

Method:

1. Combine turkey, garlic, egg, breadcrumbs, Parmesan, 1 teaspoon salt and 1/4 teaspoon pepper in a bowl. Roll mixture into balls, measuring about 1 tablespoon for each meatball. You will have about 20-22 meatballs.

2. In a large pot, heat oil over medium. Cook onion, stirring occasionally until soft, about 3-4 minutes. Add broth and tomatoes with juice and bring to a simmer. Add meatballs. Cook without stirring until meatballs float to the surface, about 5 minutes.

3. Add as much escarole as will fit in the pot. Cook, adding remaining escarole, until wilted and the meatballs have cooked through, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and pepper and serve with more Parmesan, if desired.

Mini Goat Cheese Frittatas

If you’ve spent more than five minutes at mise en place, then you are familiar with how much I love eggs. When I came across this recipe (unfortunately I have no recollection of where it came from and my desperate search to attribute it to somewhere or someone came up dry) a great big light bulb went off over my head; this is the perfect way to enjoy eggs for lunch at work! This has always been a challenge; there aren’t many options beyond a hard-boiled egg or egg salad.

But these were perfect. I just popped two in the microwave for 30 seconds or so and enjoyed them with a side salad and a cup of soup. They kept me satisfied for most of the afternoon and kept for almost a week in the fridge. The best part was the creamy, goat cheese-y middles. I love how just a little bit of goat cheese can go a really long way.

And now you can use this recipe as a template and switch up the mix-ins. The next time I make these babies I’m going to swap out the red pepper for sun dried tomatoes. Yum.

Mini Goat Cheese Frittatas
Makes 10

Ingredients:

5 eggs
2 tablespoons milk
3/4 cup sweet red peppers, minced
10 oz chopped frozen spinach
3 oz soft goat cheese, crumbled.

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. Cook spinach according to directions on package. Drain and squeeze dry.

3. Mix all ingredients together in a medium bowl. Spoon mixture into prepared muffin tins.

4. Bake for 15 minutes or until eggs have set.

Not your mama’s mac ‘n cheese

THE BREADCRUMBS ARE TOASTED IN BACON DRIPPINGS.

That was the first draft of this blog post.  Just that one line, with the recipe posted underneath.  Because really, is there anything else I could say to make you run to your kitchen any faster than you already are?  When I first discovered the recipe over at Soup  Belly I got all weak in the knees, suddenly overcome with macaroni brain, unable to focus on anything else.

Thankfully fall arrived in the form of a chill in the air on the very same day I came home from the grocery store armed with everything I needed to make shells ‘n cheese for dinner.  I like cold-weather cooking much more than summer time “cooking”, which in our house is much more like this: open bag of salad, put grilled meat on top, enjoy with crisp white wine.  Hunkering down to make a pot of soup or stirring a risotto is much more satisfying than assembling.

But back to the shells, yeah?  Cheese, bacon, spinach, pasta.  Bread crumbs toasted in bacon drippings.  It sounds like perfection on a plate, and it was.  It was a wonderfully satisfying, stick-to-your-ribs-down-home kind of meal that Jeff and I enjoyed not at the table, but in front of the TV to finish off a lazy Sunday.  And, like Candy and her husband, I topped mine with ketchup (ironically mac ‘n cheese is one of the few things Jeff does not enjoy with ketchup), but redeemed myself by using the leftover balsamic ketchup I picked up with my grilled cheese at the Leslieville Cheese Market.

If you’re looking forward to getting back into your kitchen with the arrival of autumn, this is a great place to start.  And you’ll have enough leftovers to enjoy for days to come.  You’ll be happy to know this is one of those dishes that just gets better with age.

Shells ‘n Cheese with Spinach and Bacon
Adapted from Soup Belly, yields 6-8 servings

Ingredients:

8 oz large pasta shells
4 slices bacon, cooked and crumbled
10 oz. chopped spinach, cooked
3 tablespoons butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3 cups milk
1/2 cup yellow onion, finely diced (roughly half an onion)
1/2 teaspoon paprika
1 egg
12 oz. cheddar cheese, shredded
1 teaspoon salt
fresh ground pepper, to taste

For the topping:

3/4 cup Panko bread crumbs

Method:

1. Preheat oven to 350F.

2. In a skillet, cook bacon until crisp and crumble. Reserve bacon fat on skillet for bread crumbs later. Cook spinach and pasta as directed (in two different pots, of course).

3. Using one large or two small casserole dishes, mix pasta, spinach and bacon together and set aside.

4. Prepare cheese sauce in a medium pot. Melt the butter on medium heat and whisk in flour until thickened. Stir in milk, onion and paprika. Simmer for 10 minutes.

5. Temper in egg. To temper, just stir in a few tablespoons of the hot milk from the pot into the egg, then pour the egg into sauce, stirring vigorously. Stir in 3/4 of the cheese. Add salt and pepper.

6. In the skillet with bacon fat, heat on medium and add bread crumbs to coat. (You can use butter or olive oil in place of the bacon fat)

7. Carefully pour sauce into the casserole dish(es), mixing to combine. Top with remaining cheese and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Bake for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and let rest for 5 minutes before serving.

Black Bean Dip

A topic we didn’t get a chance to cover at the Chicken Farmers event was the dangerous misconception that home cooked is synonymous with healthy.  While the chicken fettuccine Alfredo you make at home is marginally “healthier” than the same dish served up at your neighbourhood (chain) bar and grill, it’s important to remember that fat, cholesterol and sodium are still fat, cholesterol and sodium in your home kitchen.

With that, I have a confession.  In the last nine months or so — not surprisingly since I’ve been blogging! –  I’ve turned a blind eye to butter and bacon fat and other wonders of the kitchen, excusing my over-indulgences in the name of “homemade.”  It’s okay to eat two slices of root beer float cake or half a loaf of no-knead bread when I’ve made it myself.  If it’s homemade it must be healthy, yeah?  Oh yes, it’s been a tasty year indeed, but over the summer I started to not feel so good and I knew I had to change the way I had been eating.  Like I said, if I don’t eat properly I crash, and that’s not pretty.

One of the reasons why it’s been so quiet around here was partly due to the fact I wasn’t cooking anything terribly interesting — relying on old standbys and, I hang my head in shame, things that come out of a box — but also because I wondered how changing my relationship with food was going to change this blog.  One thing I knew for sure was that I didn’t want this space to become about weight loss or diets, but I didn’t want to give up what I love about this blog: writing about what I love most — cooking and eating and the good things in life that come from those pleasures.

After a long think I came to the conclusion that while I may have decided I need to compromise on the butter, one thing I will never, ever do is compromise on taste.  I’m just not one to eat rice cakes all day long, even if I do dream of fitting in to the items from Amanda’s “Skinny Collection.”

So, we might not be seeing too many batches of sinful peanut butter chocolate chunk cookies around here for the next little while, but I do promise that whatever I’m cooking up with be dee-licious!

This dip is a great afternoon snack.  It was perfect for giving my regular afternoon snack — a handful of baby carrots and cucumber slices — a little, well, taste!

Black Bean Dip
Makes about 8 quarter-cup servings

Ingredients:

15 oz can of black beans, rinsed and drained
1 cup fresh cilantro, loosely packed
1/2 cup salsa (use the fresh stuff from the deli counter, not the jarred kind or make your own)
1/2 plain yogurt (I used Liberty Svelte, which is fat-free but so thick and creamy)
1 teaspoon ground cumin
1/4 teaspoon table salt

Method:

Throw it in the food processor or blender and Bob’s your uncle! Blend until you’ve reached your desired consistency.

Chicken and Zucchini Fries

Last night I got to participate in a panel discussion on the endangered species that is the home cook.  The event was sponsored by the Chicken Farmers of Canada and if you didn’t get a chance to attend, you can read the lovely Sandy Kemsley’s account of the evening over on her blog.

By the way, one of the reasons why Sandy is lovely is because she was one of the volunteers who resurrected the St. Andrews Farmers Market in our Queen West neighbourhood.  Thanks Sandy!

So, about last night.  What the conversation boiled down to was we become dysfunctional when we are unable to feed ourselves.  Very interesting food for thought (pun totally intended) and I was there in my official capacity as “food blogger” to share my perspective as a busy professional and a passionate home cook.

During the discussion it was revealed that I plan my menus out one week at a time and shop accordingly.  Thanks to my ‘fail to plan, plan to fail’ personality, this is essential if we’re going to eat a decent meal through the week.  I’m just not a go to the market and see what looks good kind of cook; it’s overwhelming and I never know where to start.  Either I come away with nothing or too many odds and ends.  Hence the alarming number of nights I’ve had a bag of popcorn and baby carrots for dinner.

Taking the time to do this each week takes discipline and let me tell you, most Sunday mornings I’d rather be watching Corrie than flipping through my cookbooks or sifting through Delicious tags.  But on a Tuesday evening when I’ve worked late, waited forever for a streetcar and felt so hungry I could faint, it was nice to know I’ve got everything for a Thai beef salad and a side of zucchini fries waiting for me in my fridge. That may or may not have been my day today.

After 26 years I know my body well enough to know that I need good fuel to do good things.  If I don’t eat right, my body breaks down — literally, it makes me sick physically and mentally.  I truly become dysfunctional.  You know, that’s probably true of most people in the world, they just don’t know the difference a home cooked meal makes.  And that’s really, really sad.

Zucchini Fries
(Sorry if you thought there was chicken, the chicken part was the event, get it?)
Serves about 4

Ingredients:

Cooking spray, olive oil or otherwise
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
3/4 teaspoon table salt
3/4 cups Panko bread crumbs
2 medium zucchinis
2 large egg whites, whipped until frothy

Method:

1. Preheat over to 425F. Coat a non-stick baking sheet with cooking spray. Cut zucchinis into four chunks, then each halve each chunk (if your chunks feel big to you, just cut them smaller — as long as they’re about the same size).

2. In a small bowl, mix together Italian seasoning, flour and salt. Place bread crumbs in another small bowl. Whip egg whites using a whisk or fork until frothy.

3. Dredge a piece of zucchini in flour mixture and then dip in egg whites, letting excess drain off. Dredge in bread crumbs and place on prepared baking sheet. Repeat with remaining ingredients and give the fries a liberal coat of cooking spray.

4. Roast, turning once, until desired crispiness, about 12-14 minutes.

Spicy Corn on the Cob Soup

Soup has always been one of those things that I could take or leave.  If it’s there, I’ll eat it.  And if it’s cold enough, I’ll make it.  Despite not being a “soup person”, I’ve spent the greater part of this summer craving bowls of hot, delicious soup.  Understandable for the first half of the summer, when there was a definite chill in the air and rained every other day.  But even when the heat wave settled in, I still wanted soup.  Imagine can thank us for keeping their sales up this past quarter.

Given my recent kitchen funk, most of the soup I’ve enjoyed has come from a box, a can or the sandwich counter in my office building.  But when I spied this recipe, I instantly craved it and a day or two later I was back in the kitchen.  Being out of the kitchen for a couple of weeks is similar to being out of the gym for a short time.  You need to stretch the knots out of your cooking muscles.

Which is probably why I figured it would be okay to omit the turmeric from this recipe.  What harm could it really do?  It’s just a little yellow isn’t it?  Maybe, but that little bit of yellow was the difference between a bowl of soup that resembled pablum with vegetable chunks floating in it and a vibrant bowl of summer.  I apologized to Jeff about 15 times for the slightly unappetizing pallor of our supper (not that it matters, he’ll fill his hollow leg with just about anything).  So my advice to you is to make sure you’ve got some turmeric in your pantry before getting started!

My other piece of advice is to swirl a dollop of sour cream into your soup.  You will not be disappointed.

Also, switch out the chicken stock for vegetable and you’re soup is veggie friendly!

Spicy Corn on the Cob Soup
Serves 4

Ingredients:

6 medium corn on the cob, husked
1 1/2 tbsp olive oil
3 medium garlic cloves, minced
2 medium jalapeño peppers, minced
1 cup onion, finely chopped
1/2 cup celery, finely chopped
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground turmeric
4 cups chicken broth
2 cups water
1 1/2 tsp table salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
1/2 cup red pepper, chopped
1/4 cup cilantro, finely chopped
1/4 cup scallion, sliced
Sour cream (if desired)

Method:

1. Remove corn kernels from cobs with a knife; reserve cobs and 1 cup of kernels.

2. Heat oil in a large pot over medium heat. Add garlic; sauté about 1 minute until fragrant. Add jalapeño and onions; sauté until soft, about 5 minutes. Add celery, cumin and turmeric; cook for about 1 or 2 minutes more.

3. Add stock, water and cobs and bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer for about 15 minutes.

4. Remove and discard cobs. Add corn (except for cup of reserved kernels), salt and pepper to soup; simmer for 15 minutes more.

5. Puree soup until smooth in pot using an immersion blender (or in a food processor or in batches in a blender). Garnish with red pepper, cilantro, scallion and reserved cup of corn. Add a dollop of sour cream, if desired.

The Food Blogger’s Dilemma

It’s not that I’ve stopped blogging, it’s just that I haven’t made dinner in quite sometime. And it’s not that I haven’t wanted to, it’s just that at the end of the day I don’t have any energy to whip up something fabulous. Never mind sitting down at my computer and writing about it.

It’s true, I’ve been spending an uncharacteristic amount of time in my frozen food aisle. Dinners have consisted of burgers and perogies and pizza that comes out of a box (that Mama DiCasa stuff ain’t so bad!). I’ve reacquainted myself with President’s Choice in my breakfast bowl and the cashiers at our local takeout joints are starting to recognize my orders.

I’ve had a busy summer, mostly at work. I am putting all my energy into my work these days, there’s not a lot left over at the end of the day for my kitchen or my blog or well, anything. Don’t get me wrong, this is not a complaint because I’ve never been happier at work, I’m just working really hard. Of course it hasn’t been all work, I’ve enjoyed many good meals and cold drinks with good friends and family, have read a couple books for the first time in awhile and of course, I’ve been in the company of my love.

The good news is, I made dinner last night. And it was amazing. And I have photographic evidence and I am going to share the recipe with you lickity split because I know you’ll love this. Just give me another second, okay?