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Wednesday, September 29, 2010

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Just as I convinced myself that baking wasn’t “my thing”, baking, sure enough, is becoming… my thing. There’s something about it that I’ve found to be a bit soothing. Just watching my mixer spin around, getting my hands sticky with flour and butter, and the sweet smells that flow out of my oven. It slows life down a bit and after being around people all day, I was in the mood to bake in silence this afternoon. Just me and the sounds in my kitchen. I’m finding it’s the perfect way to unwind – and probably expand my waistline, tee hee hee.

I decided to raid the pantry and fridge to see what I could put together. I saw I had a few pretty decently ripened bananas and immediately thought of banana bread. Because who doesn’t love a loaf of banana bread starring at them every time they enter the kitchen? Exactly. I didn’t want to do just a plain old banana bread so I did a search for a Chocolate Chip Banana Bread and found a simple but tasty sounding recipe from Epicurious.

Here’s what you need:

• 1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup semisweet chocolate chips
• 3/4 cup walnuts, toasted, chopped (I left these out)
• 1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 large eggs
• 1 cup mashed ripe bananas
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Here’s what you do:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Butter and flour a 9x5x2 1/2-inch metal loaf pan.

• Whisk first 4 ingredients in medium bowl to blend.

• Combine chocolate chips (and walnuts, if using) in a small bowl; add 1 tablespoon flour mixture and toss to coat.

• In an electric mixer, beat butter until fluffy. Gradually add sugar, beating until well blended.

• Beat eggs in 1 at a time.

• Add mashed bananas, lemon juice, and vanilla extract.

• Beat in flour mixture. (I wanted to stick my face in the mixer at this point. Mmmm, vanilla. Mmm, bananas!)

• Pour about 1/3 of the batter into the loaf pan. Sprinkle with half of the chocolate chip (and walnut) mixture. Pour an additional 1/3 of batter over. Sprinkle with remaining chip/nut mixture and top with remaining batter.

• Bake bread until a toothpick inserted into center comes out clean, about an hour. Turn out on to rack and let cool.

I’m 100% positive that this is breakfast tomorrow. Maybe just one slice. Maybe the whole loaf. We will just wait and see.

What’s your favorite thing to bake? Would looooove for you to share your favorite recipes in the comments section!

[Chels]

Labels: banana bread, chocolate chips

29 Comments »

Tuesday, September 28, 2010

Bacon, Basil, and Tomato Risotto

Though I’m somewhat of a creature of habit, I try really, really hard not to be. I believe in a healthy balance. Which means that while I may crave risotto every single week (along with flatbread), I try to make it different every time I make it. Variety is the spice of life after all, yes?

After realizing I had a plethora of bacon in the fridge (nothing wrong with that), I started wondering why I never made a risotto with bacon in it. I came across tons of BLT risotto recipes all over the interwebs and decided to make one of my own. Only, I figured basil would work better than lettuce. Just like it was the perfect night for Chels to make chili, it was the perfect night for me to make risotto. Chilly, rainy, and all-around gross.

Also, I say this EVERY TIME, but risotto is NOT hard to make. It’s actually super duper easy and I made this after a long day when I really didn’t feel like being in the kitchen. Sure, you have to stir it a bit, but other than that, it’s incredibly simple. Do it. And then tell me I’m wrong. You won’t. It’s not possible.

Bacon, Basil, and Tomato Risotto (Serves 2 as meal or 4 as side):

3 slices thick-cut bacon
3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 jalapeno, chopped
3/4 C arborio rice
1/2 C dry white wine
2.5 C chicken broth
2 medium (or 3 small) tomatoes, chopped
Small bunch of basil, chopped
1/2 C parmesan cheese, grated

Chops your bacon into bite-sized pieces. But don’t eat it yet. It’s raw.

Put the bacon in the saucepan you’re going to cook the risotto in. Cook the bacon until it’s just about crispy. You’ll probably want to stir it a bunch so it just doesn’t burn.

Once the bacon’s done, remove it with a slotted spoon to a plate covered with a paper towel.

Drain oil from pot until you have about 1 T left. Turn your heat to medium-low and then throw in your garlic. Stir it or it will get a bit burnt, like mine did. You’ll want it to cook for about 30 seconds to 1 minute.

I need to take the time to say- BRILLIANT. You won’t have to add oil or butter to this risotto. Because you’ve got bacon fat!!

While the garlic was cooking, I threw in the chopped jalapenos, too.

At this point, you’ll also want to pour your chicken broth into a separate saucepan and bring it to a boil. Once it’s boiling, lower the heat and keep it at a simmer.

Now, measure out your arborio rice and put it in the saucepan with the garlic and jalapeno. I only did about 3/4 C, but next time I’m doing more (because it was really good!).

Cook the rice for about one minute, stirring a bit, until it’s translucent around the edges.

Add in your 1/2 C of white wine. Then pour yourself a glass. You deserve it.

Scrape up all that good stuff from the bottom of the skillet. Stir a bit until the wine is totally absorbed.

Then add about 1/2 C chicken broth.

And let that absorb, too. Keep adding more chicken broth and letting it absorb. Make sure you stir occasionally, too, so the rice doesn’t end up sticking to the pot.

Once you’ve used all the chicken broth, you can add in your tomatoes. Cook them for a couple minutes while stirring.

Then toss in the bacon, basil, and parmesan cheese.

And stir it all up!

And that’s all you need to do. That’s it. Well, you might want to serve it in a bowl or on a plate. Because at this point, your kitchen is going to smell really, really good. And it might be weird if you’re eating it out of the pot and someone walks in.

Oh, normally you would add a bunch of butter here too. But it’s totally not necessary.

I honest to goodness could live off of risotto. Especially when there’s a little meat and some veggies involved— It’s a complete meal! But it also makes the most excellent side dish.

This was one of the best risottos I’ve made yet. I mean, it had bacon, how could it not be? But I loved how fragrant and creamy it was, with the perfect amount of heat from the jalapeno. It had some summer flavors from the tomatoes and basil, but also reminded me a lot of fall.

Not that the risotto isn’t beautiful-looking, but in other, cuter news, I saw the lovely Mitzi today. I had to play around with the new camera a bit since Mitzi is the most photogenic dog ever.

I can’t get over her cuteness!

Also, it’s still rainy and gross and I my risotto leftovers again tonight. Just as delicious!

What’s your favorite kind of risotto?

[Sues]

Labels: bacon, risotto, tomato

32 Comments »

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Archive for September, 2010

Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Bacon, Basil, and Tomato Risotto