Bless Her Heart

Banana Bread with Ginger (Gluten Free)

We had an eentsy weentsy little cold snap here in Central Texas over the weekend. It was enough to get soups cooking on the stovetop and quick-breads baking in the oven. Here's a hearty little banana bread...pretty simple but with enough goodness in it that you'll feel guilt-free about nibbling at it, no matter the hour. I did add chocolate chips to the latest loaf as an extra treat, but the consensus around here was that it didn't really need them. Do with that what you will...

*If you do not need or desire this recipe to be gluten free, simply replace the gluten free flour with all purpose flour, or 1 cup all purpose flour + 1/2 cup whole wheat flour.

Banana Bread with Ginger (Gluten Free)

Preheat Oven to 350 degrees

Grease a 4 1/2" x 8 1/2" loaf pan

Dry ingredients:

1 1/2 cups gluten free flour (I use Cup 4 Cup)

2/3 cup gluten free rolled oats (NOT the quick kind)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ground caradamom

1/4 tsp ground cloves

1/4 tsp ground black pepper

1/2 tsp salt

Wet Ingredients:

1/3 cup molasses

1/3 cup hot water

1 tsbp fresh ginger, peeled and grated

1/3 cup of sugar

1/4 cup of softened butter

2 large eggs

1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas 

1/3 cup plain yogurt

1 tsp vanilla extract

1/2 cup semi-sweet or dark chocolate chips (optional)

In a small bowl, mix the molasses, ginger and hot water, and set aside to steep.

Mix the flour and the rest of the dry ingredients in a medium size bowl.  

In a larger bowl, beat the sugar and butter until creamy.  Beat in the eggs, one at a time.  Mix in the banana, yogurt and vanilla.  Mix in the molasses/ginger mixture that has been steeping. Slowly add the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients.  Stir until the batter is moist, but don't overbeat it. Fold in the (optional) chocolate chips.

Spoon into the loaf pan and bake for about 1 hour and 5 minutes. The bread is done when a toothpick or cake tester comes out clean when you test in the center.

Austin Bakes for West

If you are out and about in Austin tomorrow, please stop by one of these locations to support the fundraising efforts of Austin Bakes for West. Austin Bakes is once again putting together a huge-ass bake sale to contribute funds to Americares' relief efforts. This time we are baking to fund these efforts for the people of West, Texas. The Girlie and I will be bringing a large batch of gluten free goodies to the booth at Crema Bakery (down South).  Looking at the line-up around town, I can see that there are going to be scrumptious baked goods, both sweet and savory available at all locations. Please come out and pick up some yummy treats, and in the process help support the people of West.

Dear Brussels Sprouts Lovers: You were right, I was wrong...

I've spent my entire life loathing brussels sprouts. Every five years or so, I try a new recipe that someone 'highly recommended' but to no avail. They always end up bitter, soggy and too damned cabbagy. The Man and I would swallow down one, maybe two and our severe dislike would be reaffirmed and shelved for another five years.  I've been giving away the brussels sprouts that have been coming in our weekly produce delivery all month....but then a couple of things happened.  First, I kept hearing references to Paul Qui's brussels sprouts recipe at Uchiko.  I was captivated by his talents through the entire season of Top Chef, and was intrigued that so many of my friends, self-declared brussels sprouts haters, seemed to be swayed by the relative simplicity of the recipe at Uchiko.  Then, when we were in North Carolina, we were served a dish of hot, roasted brussels sprouts at my brother-in-law's house.  Our hostess that night, Erica, guided us to seek out the little crispy bits around the edges of the sprouts.  "That's the good stuff, right there...you don't know what you're missing!"  My interest was piqued, and I sought out a crispy-leaved sprout and popped it in my mouth.  I was converted that very second.  Didn't even take a moment to consider or think it over.  It was done.  I am a brussels sprouts lover. A brussels sprouts craver even.  I've realized that like most things, I just needed to leave them alone a bit and let them do their thing.  The simpler the treatment, the yummier the results.  A little salt, pepper and enough slow heat to caramalize the edges of the sprouts is really all you need. I've made them three times since we've been back, and I think I'll make them again tonight for with dinner.  I have a lifetime of sprout hate to make up for. 

Oven Roasted Brussels Sprouts

(Adapted from watching Erica in the kitchen)

Preheat oven to 385 degrees

Trim the brussels sprouts and remove any yellow, damaged or discolored leaves.

Toss with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper

Place in a baking dish in a single layer

Bake for 30-45 minutes, removing from the oven every 10 minutes or so to turn the sprouts for even roasting. This can be achieved by simply shaking the baking dish. When they're ready the outermost leaves should be crispy and the sprouts should be tender but not mushy in the middle. Test with a knife at 30 minutes.

Remove from oven and add more salt and pepper to taste.

 

Brownie Mix add-ins? Heck yes!

The boy Teenager has been complaining of an upset stomach on and off for the last couple of months.  Given my gut's general dislike for all things gluten, he agreed to go gluten-free for the next few weeks to see if this might help him feel better.  I wanted to whip him up a yummy dessert to show him that we would have to be mindful, but not necessarily sacrifice some of his favorite things in this little experiment.  I had some Bob's Red Mill GF Brownie Mix in the pantry as it's already a favorite around here.  They are delicious brownies whether you are GF or not. I followed the instructions on the package and then folded in 1/3 cup of chocolate chips and 1 1/4 cups of frozen blackberries at the end.  I whipped up a quick cream cheese mixture (recipe below) and swirled it in.  I needed to add about 7-8 minutes on to the end of my usual baking time for these brownies, I'm presuming because of the moisture given up by the blackberries.  I'm guessing you could throw these add-ins into any brownie recipe/mix, but I think it works particularly well with the more 'cakey' type rather than 'fudgy' type of brownie.  This makes them porous enough to absorb the blackberry juice.  The added chocolate chips contribute a fudge-like quality without making the brownies so dense that they can't absorb the liquid. These brownies are so yummy, that they're still being talked about around here a couple of days later. Success!

Blackberry Cream Cheese Brownies

preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Grease a 9" x 13" baking dish

Make your cream cheese swirl mixture:

8 oz. cream cheese

1 egg

1/4 cup of sugar

1/2 tsp vanilla

Beat all ingredients and set aside while you mix up the brownie batter.

(1) package Bob's Red Mill GF Brownie mix or your favorite brownie recipe/mix plus the ingredients to make the batter. In this case it was 1 egg, 1 1/2 sticks of butter, 2 tsp vanilla, 3/4 cup warm water.

Mix all ingredients to make batter.  

Gently fold in 1/3 cup of chocolate chips and 1 1/4 cups of frozen blackberries.

Pour the brownie batter into the pre-greased baking dish.

Using a large spoon, drop the cream cheese mixture into the brownie batter. Drag a butter knife through the cream cheese and brownie mix to create the cream cheese swirls.

Bake until a toothpick poked into the center of the brownie pan comes out clean.  With this mix that's 25-35 minutes.

 

 

 

 

Spaghetti Squash with Pesto and Parmesan...

This is a super simple gluten-free, vegetarian side dish...and it is so. damn. good. It doesn't require much effort at all if you have prepared pesto on hand. If you don't want the oven on for extended periods of time in the summer, you can microwave your squash.

Spaghetti Squash with Pesto and Parmesan

serves 4-6

1 medium to large spaghetti squash baked or microwaved.  Once cool enough, split it lengthwise and remove the pulp and seeds. Only remove the goopy stuff, the stranded, spaghetti-like stuff is what we're looking for.  Use a fork and separate the the strands from the shell of the squash.  Toss the squash in a bowl with 1/3 cup of pesto and 1/3 cup of parmesan cheese.  Salt and pepper to taste. Preheat Broiler. Spread your squash mixture in a medium baking dish and sprinkle the top with a layer of parmesan cheese.  Place the dish in the broiler for about 10 minutes or until the cheese on top gets a little crispy and takes on a golden hue. 

 
Want to go the distance?  Before you sprinkle the parmesan on the top, add freshly sliced tomato.