Banana Bread

BANANA SOUR CREAM BREAD

2/3 c. butter

1 1/3 c. sugar

2 eggs

1 1/2 c. mashed bananas

2 3/4 c. sifted flour

1 tsp. baking powder

1/2 tsp. salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/2 c. sour cream

1. Cream butter and sugar until fluffy.

2. Add eggs, beating well after each one.

3. Add mashed bananas.

4. Add the sifted dry ingredients alternately with the sour cream.

5. Pour into 2 greased 9x5x3 inch loaf pans.

6. Bake at 350 degrees for 40 to 45 minutes.

Recipe from Cooks.com

Things I've eaten lately

So this is where the diary of food begins....

Sometimes, make that most times, I forget to take pictures of my food or I forget to write down changes that I've improved along the way, so most foods I eat won't make it onto the blog.

Fortunately, sometimes all you need is an idea for supper. Once you've gotten an idea you can make it from basic common sense or you can look up a recipe elsewhere.

So these are the foods I've been eating lately:

Breakfasts and mid-morning snacks:
Toast with Peanut butter
Blueberry Bagels with Cream Cheese
Cream of Wheat
Leftover Bacon
Mini-go yogurts
Crackers and Cheese

Lunch:
Primarily leftovers
Lean Cuisine Chicken Parmigiana (Surprisingly good for being a microwave meal)
Carrots
Cucumber Chunks
Butter Chicken and Mixed Vegetable Curry from "The Curry Box" in Manulife Place, Edmonton


Dinner:
Perogies and Bacon
Lasagne
Jack Fish Fried with Lemon Pepper
Blackened Chicken and Fried Linguini
Shrimp fried in Onions, Garlic, and some Hot sauce
Meatloaf
Roast Beef and Mashed Potatoes and Oven Roasted Carrots
Tuna Casserole
Grilled Ham and Cheese Sandwiches


Well that's all that I can remember
Happy Eating!

Oh So Good Blackened Chicken

Oh So Good Blackened Chicken

This chicken is spicy, bold, and juicy. The first time I made it I tried to cut the heat by pairing it with an iceberg salad with mango and mini bocconcini with a simple oil and vinegar dressing. The second time, in the pictures taken, I served it with fresh fruit and pasta fried in butter, garlic, and onions.

Even though it is spicy and warm, this dish still seems very summery to me.

The recipe is adapted from allrecipes.com.

Blackened Chicken

Serves 4

2 tsp. paprika
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. ground pepper
1 tsp. cayenne pepper
1 tsp. cumin
1 tsp. thyme
1/2 tsp. onion powder
1/2 tsp. garlic powder
3 tbsp. canola oil
4 boneless/skinless chicken breasts

1. Mix all of the spices together.

2. Heat your cast iron skillet until hot hot hot and preheat your oven to 350 degrees.

3. Rub the oil on the chicken, and then coat in the spices.

4. Put the chicken breasts in the hot hot hot, dry skillet.

5. Cook for 2 minutes on each side until blackened.

6. Put the chicken on a baking tray and put in the oven until cooked through, about 5 minutes (you know, until its not pink inside…)

Now eat it, and immediately regret not mixing 4 times the spices so you can make it easier in the future.

Strawberry Sour Cream Bread

I used to think I HATED sour cream. I figured it was a form of rotten cream that was half runny half chunky. Obviously I'd never really given it a chance. About 2 years ago I went to a restaurant that served Green onion cakes with a "Sambal Sour Cream Dip" and I nearly ate the dip with my spoon, it was so thick, creamy, rich and cooling. The next day at work I tried to search for a recipe for the dip. I tried googling names like "sambal dip" and "sambal cream dip" but nothing remotely similar came up. I had forgotten the name of the dip, thereby forgetting that it had sour cream in it. So i started trying to make a recipe from scratch, assuming that the creaminess came from cream cheese (because the thick and creamy consistency couldn't have come from runny/curdy sour cream, of course).

I had gone back to the restaurant long before I'd attempted to make my own dip only to realize that it was sour cream. So I bought some sour cream and mixed it with Sambal and proceeded to eat it with everything. Now I won't miss a recipe that has sour cream in it.

This recipe is from another food blog, Closet Cooking. The recipe pretty much makes for a great big cupcake that you eat in slices. It's SO good. The sour cream makes it moist, thick, and very rich. The Strawberries add the perfect amount of sweetness to the bread, although I wouldn't shy away from drizzling icing over it....

Ingredients:
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3/4 cup granulated white sugar
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups strawberries (fresh or frozen)

Directions:
1. Cream the butter and sugar in a bowl.
2. Beat in the eggs one at a time.
3. Beat in the vanilla.
4. Mix the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon in another bowl.
5. Mix 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the wet.
6. Mix 1/2 of the sour cream into the wet ingredients.
7. Mix 1/3 of the dry ingredients into the wet.
8. Mix the remaining sour cream into the wet ingredients.
9. Mix the remaining dry ingredients into the wet.
10. Mix in the strawberries.
11. Pour the batter into a greased 9x5 inch loaf pan.
12. Bake in a preheated 350F oven until golden brown and a toothpick poked into the center comes out clean, about 60 minutes

Homemade Potato Gnocchi

Potato Gnocchi

This potato gnocchi recipe makes for such soft and light dumpling/noodles. I don't even know what they technically are but they are delicious! Plus its a fast and tasty way to use up leftover mashed potatoes.

I tossed them in a (forgive me) pre-packaged Olivieri Rosé Crémeuse sauce.

Potato Gnocchi

Serves 4 as a fairly-large side dish

1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cups all-purpose flour
1 egg, slightly beaten
2 tsp salt

1. Put a medium pot of water on to boil.

2. In a medium bowl, add potatoes and make an indent. Add salt followed by lightly beaten egg. Top with flour and mix until thoroughly combined.

3. Work with half or quarter of the dough at once, rolling it like playdough into a long thin roll.

4. Cut into 2 cm sections. Press each piece between your thumb and a fork, making the indents on one side and a curve in the other side.

5. Drop into boiling water for 4-5 minutes (2-3 after they start floating).

6. Drain and add to whatever sauce you choose. In this case, I heated the Olivieri Rosé Crémeuse sauce i mentioned in a saucepan, and added the gnocchi right to the saucepan.

Enjoy!

The start, and French Onion Soup

I think it's about time that I actually get this thing rolling. Despite thinking about starting a food blog daily, I've never put my plan into action...until today.
Some of these recipes are family ones, some are spontaneously created, and some are from my gazillion cookbooks. I'll try to give reference to the creator of the recipe when I can but sometimes that might be hard if I've just torn a page out or scribbled down the basic idea from the Chatelaine in the doctor's waiting room...

This might end up more like a diary of what I'm eating, but I'm fine with that. Also, the pictures may sometimes (make that may often) be pictures of half eaten food. I get so hungry cooking that I'll stuff my face long before I remember that I'm keeping a food blog and should carefully document my meals.

So here I go with my first recipe....

French Onion Soup

I love making french onion soup. Traditionally, according to my (slightly crazy) Gramma, the broth is supposed to be clear and thin. There are a million different recipes out there, many of which I've tried, which do produce a clear broth. I've also stumbled upon many recipes that give a more creamy, hearty soup.

After trying both, the creamier one is definitely my favorite. The creaminess in this recipe comes from cornstarch (to slightly thicken the broth), an egg yolk (which makes it extra smooth and creamy), and stirred in cheese (as well as on top).

The cheese that is baked on the bread on top is one of the major actors in this dish. I prefer using Gruyere when I can afford it. A mix of Swiss and Gruyere or just plain ol' Swiss is also fabulous. And if you're really in a pinch, mozzarella will suffice.

French Onion Soup
Serves 6-8


4 large onions
4 tablespoons of butter
1 tsp salt
3 tbsp flour
2 quarts beef stock
1/2 cup wine (either red or white work great, though white is traditional)
3 tbsp Sherry
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 egg yolk
1 tsp cornstarch
1 tsp Worcestershire sauce
French Bread, cut into rounds and toasted
1- 2 cups of Grated Swiss/Gruyere (see note about cheese above)

Directions:
1. Add Onions and butter to a large pot on low heat and cook, covered, for 20 minutes (yes, you can peak).
2. Take the lid off, raise the heat, and continue cooking for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally. You want a deep brown colour.
3. Add the salt and the flour and stir it for a few minutes to evenly coat onions and cook off some of the flour taste.
4. Add beef broth, wine, sherry, and salt and pepper to taste.
5. In a seperate, smaller bowl, mix the egg yolk with the cornstarch and Worcestershire.
6. Add a ladel full of the soup broth and slowly add it to the egg (don't want to cook the egg). Repeat with 2 more ladles.
7.Add this mixture back to the soup broth and then stir in a handful of shredded cheese.
8. Poor soup into oven-proof bowls.
9. Top bowls with a round of toasted french bread and generous amounts of shredded cheese.
10. Bake in 325 degree oven for 15 minutes, then broil for a bit to brown the cheese.

Eat and Enjoy!