I'm sorry, I can't hear you.

as a die-hard vegetarian, one would think that i eat enough fruit and vegetables. vegetables, yes. fruit...well, i have good intentions. i buy the fruit. the fruit sits on the counter in a decorative bowl. i get hungry. i look at the fruit. i eat a peanut butter sandwich. the fruit ripens. i look at the fruit. sometimes the fruit shrivels and becomes a little rock
in the bowl. bananas, on the other hand, go in the freezer. then it is... BANANA BREAD TIME
i've been using the same banana bread recipe for more than 10 years. page 516 in the cookbook is covered with spots and i am surprised i can still even read the ingredients. i do make adaptations-sometimes i use buttermilk, sometimes yogurt, sometimes sour cream. sometimes i use nuts, sometimes chocolate chips (sometimes both). my favorite adaptation is to add a little ground espresso in place of a bit of flour. i often use decaf, though i don't know if the little amount i put in might affect anyone who can't have caffeine. this banana bread was really popular at my coffeehouse, epitome; nothing beats the smell of fresh banana bread. of course, it gets better the next day.

so here it is, helene's not-even-close to world famous recipe for
Espresso Banana Bread

1/4 lb organic butter, softened
1 1/2 cups turbinado sugar
2 mashed bananas
2 free-range organic eggs
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 cup yogurt, sour cream or buttermilk (yes, organic)
and..optional...chocolate chips, walnuts, espresso

whip, whip, whip (or beat, beat, beat) your butter. add sugar. whip, whip, whip. add bananas and eggs and vanilla. whip, whip, whip.
in a separate bowl, combine dry ingredients. you can substitue a tablespoon of espresso for a tablespoon of flour (play around with it...more, less). add dry to wet. add the yogurt (etc). and then the chips, nuts. do not overmix.
if you want, chop some walnuts and add some sugar and butter--i do this by eye, but i'd say: 1/2 cup walnuts, 2 T butter (soft) and 1/4 cup sugar. mix and use a topping before baking.

bake 350 (don't forget to grease the pan!) for 45-50 minutes.
cool
enjoy

fit for a queen

when mothers' day came around this year, my mother was just an hour away visiting my sister and her husband, and -primarily- her 18 month old grandson. grandson carl (nephew carl to me) is a joy and mom jumps at the chance to travel five hours to come for the weekend so she can babysit. carl is both coy and energetic. he has the year and a half's ability to do exactly what he is not supposed to and make you want to see him do it again. no, carl! we do not try to ride the dog! carl's also mastered the concept of performance, but you have a fifty-fifty chance of getting an answer if you asking him what the duck says.
since mom was at my sister's this day of mother-worship, my husband and i traveled over for a sunday brunch. ayer, my sister, provided the fruit salad and fried potatoes. i brought the green salad and baked french-toast. the brunch was wonderful, not just because of the fabulous food, but because of the family time we spent putting the meal together.
in response to ayer's and mom's requests for the french toast recipe, i thought i would share it for all to enjoy. it does not take a holiday to enjoy a decadent dish, but you do have to plan ahead. the dish requires a blending and soaking of flavors overnight for best results.
the original recipe for this dish is a single layer casserole. mom loves stuffed french toast, however, so i did a layered casserole with marscapone and strawberries in the middle. any 'filling' would work-jam, fresh fruit, cream cheese...or just keep to the simple single layer.
you can top with butter, syrup, unsweetened whipped cream or simply serve as is.

Baked (and stuffed?) french toast

6 slices (double if stuffed) firm bread *
5 eggs (8 if stuffed)
1 1/2 cups low fat milk (2 1/4 if stuffed)
2 teasp. vanilla (3...)
1 teasp ground cinnamon (1 1/2 ...)
1/8 teasp. grated nutmeg (what the heck, 1/4 if stuffed)
----
topping:
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
1/3 cup turbinado sugar (or brown if you want)
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
dash cinnamon

• butter a 12 x 7 inch baking dish. lay the bread slices in the dish, cutting slices to fill the spaces
• if you are stuffing the french toast, add your filling here (i used marscapone and strawberries) and top with layer of bread
• beat the eggs in a large bowl. add milk, vanilla and spices-beat well. if stuffing: pour over bread slowly--make sure you give the liquid mixture time to soak in the top bread slices as well as the bottom.
• cover and refrigerate overnight
• for topping, combine the butter, sugar, nuts and cinnamon in small bowl and refrigerate. bring to room temperature before you bake the casserole.
• in the morning, preheat oven to 350 degrees
• spread topping over the casserole before baking. bake 40 minutes and let sit 10 before cutting.

* really good breads include sourdough, challah, or a raisin cinnamon. use bakery bread or unsliced bread if you can so your slices can be about twice as thick as regular sliced bread.

This recipe was adapted from main-course vegetarian pleasures by jeanne lemlin. it is a wonderful cookbook that has quite a few "quick recipes". all the ingredients are easy to find and some of the combinations (tortellin and spinach salad with sesame dressing) are incredible. lots of vegan options, too

Today's blog is brought to you by the letter B

lately i have been searching for the perfect biscotti recipe. the balance of sweet and not too sweet. crunchy, but doesn't fall apart when you take a bite without dunking it in your coffee. flavorful, but doesn't take away from the earthy tones of a dark sumatran roast.
i thought my journey into the world of biscotti would be a simple one. do an online search, pull up a few recipes from trusted sites, and try them out (the best part). but unlike your standard cookie recipe (room temperature butter whipped with sugar, add eggs and vanilla...add the flour mixture...), biscotti does not have one basic formula. some use butter, some olive oil, and some use no fatty binder at all. the commonality in all recipes is that they are cooked twice, which makes sense since the etymology of the Italian word is medieval Latin: bis coctus, meaning "twice cooked". cool, huh?
i keep running into the same problem with each recipe i try: the biscotti fall a little flat. what would be perfect is some sort of biscotti pan which would prevent the batter from spreading out too far. actually, what would be perfect would be for me to figure out that combination of liquid and dry so that the batter doesn't spread quite as much.
this is the recipe i like the most. it is adapted from one on the food tv site, which is one of my favorite sites for ideas. I'm a huge alton brown fan and have a great time checking out his creative techniques.
Cinnamon Almond Biscotti

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon cinnamon
3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon almond extract
1 cup slivered (or chopped) almonds, toasted
3/4 cup mini semisweet chocolate chips
1 tablespoon confectioners' sugar

the oven goes on 350 degrees and the baking sheet needs parchament paper.
mix your dry ingredients in a medium sized bowl. Mix your butter and sugar together and whip until color lightens. add your eggs and extract and mix well. add your dry ingredients and form a stiff dough. you may have to add more flour and i like to get my hands involved in the mixing. Add the almonds and chocolate chips...which are optional, but who would leave out the chocolate chips?
now split your dough in half. form each into logs 12 inches long and 2 inches wide. sprinkle with the confectioners sugar and bake in the oven for 35 minutes.
pull them out and cool for about 5 minutes. slide the logs onto a cutting board and slice the logs diagonally into apprx. 3/4 inch slices. place these slices face up (cut side up/down, not sideways) back on baking sheet. bake about 10 minutes until crisp. these store well, but i end up giving mine away pretty quickly so i can try a new recipe.

the great thing about the biscotti recipe is the relatively small amount of butter, sugar and eggs. they aren't a terribly expensive recipe to make, so you can make them frequently. i would go bankrupt if i were searching for the perfect pound cake recipe!

Banana Phone

Sometimes, it is good to laugh at the silliness.
http://www.filmbuffs.net/bananana/

As my friend Pam would say: bwahahahahaha!

Caramelized Shallots and Peppers

isn't it wonderful when you find a friend who enjoys food, cooking and trying new recipes as much as you do? i've recently met such a person and i was so excited when she suggested we get together for dinner. it wouldn't matter if we were cooking in, doing a potluck or dining out; food and all its attributes would be the center of discussion and i would be happy.
we initially planned to get together sunday and maybe try a new facility, dondero's kitchen, that had recently opened up near our neighborhood. i hesitate to call it a restaurant...they have a few tables, but primarly there is a refrigerated case with several incredible dishes that rotate (with a geographical theme) daily, some grocery items one can purchase, and lovely plates, cups and kitchen items are available for sale as well. primarily, the cafe (?) is designed for take-out, though there are a few tables if you want to sit in. because they are closed sundays, i went in saturday on my way to work and purchased two vegetarian enchilada dishes, one with asparagus and one with spinach & asparagus. both were served on a bed of orzo. i hid them in the refrigerator at work, showing them to a few co-workers i knew would be interested in a nicely priced gourmet meal, and took them home that night (only opening them to smell the wonderful odor a few times).
because i was actually prepared, my friends and my dinner was postponed until monday. the enchilada i tried sunday night was delicious, by the way. monday katie emailed me that she had 2 ramikans of polenta that she would bring over with some fresh asparagus. i spent the next fifteen minutes searching on the web for a side dish to compliment the polenta. i found the most incredible dish which would go well with almost any starch..some boiled new potatoes, brown basmati rice or even some nice spinach linguini.

Caramelized Shallots with Peppers
1 T butter
9-12 shallots (not peeled)
pinch sugar
2 T olive oil
8 oz shiitake mushrooms
1 red bell pepper
2 small zucchini
3-4 garlic cloves
salt, pepper

Peel the shallots, pulling out the larger ones. After peeling them, you should actually have 15-20 bulbs. Melt the butter in a small pan, add the bigger shallots and cover pan. Cook on medium heat for five minutes, shaking or tossing them regularly. Add remaining shallots and the pinch of sugar. Toss, add a few tablespoons of water, then cover. Cook for 20 minutes, tossing occasionally.
Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil. Wash and stem the mushrooms. Add them to the oil and cook until just soft. Remove from pan. Slice the zucchini into small rounds (or you can get fancy), and slice the pepper into long, thin slices. Heat the remaining tablespoon of oil, add the pepper and heat until soft, about 5-7 minutes. Add the zucchini and cook another five minutes or so. mince the garlic and make a well in the veggies. add the garlic and heat through before mixing the vegetables and garlic together. When the shallots are finished, add the shallots and the mushrooms to the pepper mixure. Salt and pepper and serve.

best when shared

Vanilla Almond Granola Cookies

when i am planning on baking a batch of cookies, i get so excited. i'm not one of those people who can make a simple batch of sugar cookies. my cookies are complicated, decadent. i like to experiment and i love standing in front of the chocolate chip section in the grocery store deliberating what type of chip i want to use. i am a natural food freak...vegetarian since 1987, member of a co-op, i shop organic...but there are a few foods in life that do not translate well into 'natural'. i've tried the many different types of cane sugar sweetened, malted chips and they are, i must admit, fairly good. they make a great cookie--if you want your cookies to be healthy (if a cookie can really be healthy). for me, however, cookies are supposed to be a treat...and supposed to be shared. So...as i was saying...i love standing in front of the chocolate chip section in the 'regular' grocery store. there are always new chips to try out...chips with swirls, chips with chocolate and mint, chips that are mini reeses cups (ummmm...reeses cups), mini chips, jumbo chips, cheap chips and gourmet chips. i could stand there for fifteen or twenty minutes thinking about all the cookies i could make with the different chips.
yesterday, i choose the special dark chocolate chips that hershey has recently put out ( i know, i'm bad for buying hershey products). i used them in an absolutely incredible granola cookie that are not only mouth-wateringly tasty, but look fabulous also. they make a great presentation cookie if you need to share them with someone.

Vanilla-Almond Granola Cookies
2 sticks organic, unsalted butter
2 cups organic turbinado sugar
1 T molasses
2 free-range organic eggs
...ok, i know you think i am harping on the whole organic thing...but it is important and your cookies will taste better. really.
1 t vanilla (or more)
2 1/4 cups flour
2 1/4 cups vanilla almond granola...a light and fluffy granola works best
1 t baking powder
1 t baking soda
1/2 t salt
1 pkg chocolate chips of your choice
8 oz sliced almonds

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Let butter come to room temperature...if you unwrap the butter and let it soften in the mixing bowl, it is so much easier and you don't lose any butter. Whip the butter with the mixer until it is lighter, scraping the sides of the bowl. Add the sugar and molasses, mixing well. Add eggs and vanilla...mix really well until this half of the batter is really light and fluffy. In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients. Add them to the wet and mix thoroughly, but don't over mix. You can use a spoon if you want the granola to stay in large chunks. If you can wait, it helps to refrigerate the batter for half an hour or so, but you don't have to. Typically I can't wait and i make one batch and then refrigerate the rest of the batter while the first batch is cooking. Scoop the batter in large spoonfuls onto a cookie sheet covered in parchament paper. Bake for 12-14 minutes, depending on your oven and how large you made the cookie. Slide the parchament off the cookie sheet, cookies intact, and place another sheet of parchament on the sheet. By the time your next batch is done cooking, your first batch will be cool enough to transfer and you can use the paper again.
You can double this batch if your mixer is big enough.

Thanks

Look, Dave, no hands! Seriously, though, thanks to dave and pam for the gentle kicks in the-well, you know where-in their attempts to keep me current and cool.