We love banana loaves in this house. I am not overly fond of eating bananas themselves, but bake them into a loaf or pie or cookie and I am all over them. The Toddster could eat a raw banana every day. I actually have to hide bananas so that I can bake with them . . .
This is my all time favourite banana bread. Okay . . . I know . . . I say that about every banana bread I bake. I guess I just love banana breads and this one shines!
Stogged with beautiful jewel-like dried cranberries, and crunchy toasted English walnuts, it is pleasing on many levels!
It's moreishly moist . . . with sticky little sweet bits and crunchy nutty nobbles scattered throughout. It's lovely eaten plain and out of hand . . .
Or gently warmed and spread with cold butter . . .
It's gorgeous toasted and spread with butter . . . the stale bread makes great French Toast, or bread pudding . . . I hardly ever have any that goes stale however, it's that good.
It's also my next door neighbors' favourite banana bread that I bake for them. I usually send half of it over to them every time I bake it. They love it and I love to give. It's win/win really! Put it this way, they've never turned the gifting of it down . . . never.
*Marie's Best Banana Bread*
A moist banana loaf chock full of sweet cranberries and crunchy walnuts.
4 ounces butter, at room temp (1/2 cup)
175g of caster sugar (3/4 cup)
2 large free range eggs, beaten
1 tsp milk
300g of plain flour (2 1/4 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp mixed spice (see my recipe in the side bar on the right side
of the page)
3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
85g dried cranberries (generous 1/2 cup)
60g toasted walnuts, chopped (scant 1/2 cup)
Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter 2 small loaf tins, or 1 large loaf tin and line with baking parchment.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs and the milk, mixing all together well.
Whisk together the flour, salt, soda and spice. Stir this mixture into the creamed mixture. Stir in the bananas, cranberries and walnuts. Divide the mixture between the two small tins or spread into the large tin. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes for small loaves, or 1 to 1/1/2 hours for the large tin, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then lift out onto a wire rack to cool completely. This cake will keep for up to 1 week when stored in an airtight tin.
Makes 1 9X5 loaf
A moist banana loaf chock full of sweet cranberries and crunchy walnuts.
4 ounces butter, at room temp (1/2 cup)
175g of caster sugar (3/4 cup)
2 large free range eggs, beaten
1 tsp milk
300g of plain flour (2 1/4 cups)
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp bicarbonate of soda
1 tsp mixed spice (see my recipe in the side bar on the right side
of the page)
3 ripe bananas, peeled and mashed
85g dried cranberries (generous 1/2 cup)
60g toasted walnuts, chopped (scant 1/2 cup)
Preheat the oven to 160*C/325*F/ gas mark 3. Butter 2 small loaf tins, or 1 large loaf tin and line with baking parchment.
Cream the butter and sugar together in a large bowl until pale and creamy. Beat in the eggs and the milk, mixing all together well.
Whisk together the flour, salt, soda and spice. Stir this mixture into the creamed mixture. Stir in the bananas, cranberries and walnuts. Divide the mixture between the two small tins or spread into the large tin. Bake in the middle of the preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes for small loaves, or 1 to 1/1/2 hours for the large tin, until well risen and a toothpick inserted in the centre comes out clean.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins for 10 minutes, then lift out onto a wire rack to cool completely. This cake will keep for up to 1 week when stored in an airtight tin.
I was recently sent a lovely selection of the Nielsen Massey flavored extracts to use in my baking. I have long been a fan of their Vanilla extract. It's one of my favorites and it's been nice trying out some of the other flavours such as the Lemon, Peppermint, Almond and Chocolate! I decided to make some waffles using the chocolate and vanilla flavors, along with a salted caramel sauce, also using the vanilla.
This is just my regular waffle recipe with a few additions. One this lovely Nielsen Massey Chocolate extract, to give it a bit of chocolate ooomph! And some pure chocolate chips. I used my heart shaped waffle iron because I was making these for my sweetie pie and I do like to remind him of how much I love him every chance I get!
These are the perfect waffle. Crisp and light, slightly moist. The chocolate chips melted perfectly into them . . . kind of making them taste like big crisp buttery chocolate chip cookies, except better . . . because they're waffles.
The salted caramel sauce was the perfect go with . . . sweet and a little bit salty and oh so caramel rich. Chocolate and salted caramel . . . the perfect combination.
Just look at how it hugs all those crisp little waffle nooks and crannies . . . crevices and corners . . . deliciously oozing over that buttery goodness . . .
The most difficult part was in trying to decide if these were breakfast or dessert??? With just the caramel sauce . . . breakfast . . .
A bit of squirty cream and they became dessert. Breakfast or dessert . . . hmmm . . . the choice is yours! I loved them both ways! But then again . . . I am somewhat of a glutton. Good thing this is a once in a blue moon treat!
*Chocolate Chip Waffles with a Salted Caramel Sauce*
Serves 6
Breakfast or dessert? You decide!
For the Waffles:
245g of plain flour (1 3/4 cup)
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp salt
2 large free range egg yolks, beaten
405ml of milk (1 3/4 cup)
115ml of sunflower oil (1/2 cup)
2 large free range egg whites
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp chocolate extract
100g chocolate chips (9 TBS)
For the sauce:
200g soft light brown sugar (1 cup packed)
115 ml single cream (1/2 cup half and half)
4 TBS butter
1 TBS vanilla extract
1 1/2 tsp fleur de sel
You may also need:
icing sugar to dust
whipped cream to serve
Make the waffle batter. Whisk the flour, baking powder and salt together in a bowl along with the chocolate chips. Whisk the egg yolks, vanilla, chocolate extract, milk and oil together. Add all at once to the dry mixture. Stir just to combine. It will be lumpy. Whisk the egg whites until stiff peaks form. Fold them into the batter, taking care not to over work it. Some egg white streaks should remain.
Whisk the brown sugar, cream and butter together in a heavy bottomed saucepan over medium low heat. Whisk constantly for about six minutes, until the sugar and butter have melted and the mixture has thickened somewhat. Whisk in the vanilla and salt. Keep warm while you bake the waffles.
Heat your waffle iron according to the directions with your machine. Spoon the batter onto the machine, taking care not to overfill and making sure there are some chocolate chips in each waffle. Bake according to instructions with the machine. Keep the waffles warm in a slow oven in a single layer while you bake them all. (This helps to keep them crisp. If you stack them they will become soggy.)
Dust with icing sugar and serve with the salted caramel sauce and with or without whipped cream. The choice is yours to make!
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Nielsen Massey Extracts and Flavorings are enjoyed by restaurant and bakery chefs, manufacturers of premium foods, gourmet food shops and grocers and discriminating home consumers looking to enhance their fine cooking and baking. Family owned and now being operated by a third generation of Nielsens they are available at fine shops all over the UK and throughout the world. They use the finest ingredients and methods to produce what I think is an excellent and quality product. I have long used their vanilla and am now a big fan of their other flavors as well. Watch this space!
Many thanks to Joanna for sending me this lovely selection and to Nielsen Massey.
Follow them on Twitter
For more recipes and information check out their website.
We don't have a fourth of July Celebrations here in the UK, probably because it was one of the wars we lost. If we did have one, it would probably be rained out anyways.
That doesn't preclude me however from showing you a salad that I think would go down a bomb at your picnic/barbecue feast on the fourth!
It's not red, white and blue, but food on the fourth of July doesn't have to be red, white and blue to be delicious. This is delicious and it's red, green and white.
Not only is it really tasty, quick and easy to make, but I am betting you have everything you need to make it already in your fridge/larder! Simple ingredients, well prepared. That's my motto.
I have used bow tie pasta here, but you could use any pasta shape that will cling to the dressing and hold it in there.
There are frozen peas, sliced celery, diced cheddar and chopped red onions as well . . . and that dressing . . . wowsa! A dressing makes a salad a beautiful thing. A dressing MAKES a salad full stop!
And this simple dressing is filled with lovely flavours that will have your family sitting around the picnic table or blanket, licking their chops. It's as simple as that . . . mayo, milk, mustard, honey and some seasonings.
Nothing complicated here, but when combined in this way . . . they are magic. Pure and simple magic. Happy Fourth of July my American friends!! May the fourth be with you! Haha, a bit corny I know, but what can I say . . . I am a corny kind of a gal!
*Cheese, Peas and Bow Ties Salad*
Serves 5
With ingredients you most likely have in your pantry and fridge, this is a salad you can make today! Deliciously simple!
4 ounces uncooked pasta (I used bow ties, but you could use shells, etc.)
1 mug full of frozen peas (about 1 cup)
2 stalks of celery, washed, trimmed and thinly sliced (about 1 cup)
1/4 of a red onion, peeled and finely chopped (about 1/4 cup)
4 ounces sharp cheddar cheese, cut into small cubes (about 1 cup)
For the dressing:
75g of mayonnaise (1/3 cup)
2 TBS milk
1 TBS Dijon mustard
1 TBS liquid honey
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
Bring a large pot of lightly salted water to the boil. Add the pasta and cook according to the package directions until al Dente, adding the frozen peas during the last couple of minutes. Drain and rinse with cold water until cold. Drain again and set aside.
Whisk together all of the dressing ingredients. Put the pasta, peas, celery, onion and cheese into a bowl. Toss together with the dressing ingredients to coat. Cover and chill for at least an hour to blend flavours prior to serving.
Have you ever seen a recipe which made you want to run into the kitchen and immediately make it? That is how it was for me the other day when I saw this recipe for Navaho Tacos on a site called Cooking Classy. Actually I have seen several versions of this through the years, but for some reason her's just made me want to make them NOW.
I actually didn't make her filling. I had some ground turkey which needed using and so I made my own ground turkey filling, but I did use her recipe for the Navaho Fry Bread. My first couple of breads were a bit haphazard and oddly shaped, but I had it sorted by the time I had done a few and the rest were perfect.
The trick it to use a lightly floured rolling pin, a lightly floured surface and to turn the dough a quarter turn with each roll. They turned out perfect once I got into my stride. I was cooking one and rolling another one as I went along.
If you want to make a beef filling you can substitute ground beef for the turkey in mine, or you can go over to Cooking Classy and make hers. We don't have things like fire roasted tomatoes or canned green chilies here in the UK. I adapt and make my own substitutions for these things. I love my homemade taco filling, beef or turkey. It's nice.
I like to use black beans in mine. They're smaller and I like their colour. I topped them with grated cheddar, shredded lettuce, sliced black olives, chopped tomatoes and spring onions. They were delicious. I don't know why I waited so long to make these. They were easy to make and quite, quite scrumptious! I can see me making these the next time we have the missionaries over for their tea. I think they would LOVE them!
*Navaho Tacos*
Makes 8 tacos
Oil for frying
For the filling:
For the filling:
1 TBS olive oil
1 pound of ground turkey
1 (400g) tin of chopped tomatoes in tomato juice (14 1/2 oz tin)
1 (400g) tin of black beans, drained and rinsed (14 1/2 oz tin)
1 medium brown onion, peeled and chopped
1 green chilli, trimmed, seeds discarded and finely chopped
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and minced
2 tsp mild chili powder
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp ground coriander
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp oregano flakes
fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
a splash of hot sauce
To serve:
Your favorite taco toppings. I used
chopped black olives, chopped spring onions, shredded lettuce,
grated cheddar cheese, chopped ripe tomatoes and dairy sour cream
chopped black olives, chopped spring onions, shredded lettuce,
grated cheddar cheese, chopped ripe tomatoes and dairy sour cream
Make the dough for the fry bread first. Whisk the dry ingredients together in a bowl. Whisk the melted butter into the warm milk and then stir this mixture into the dry ingredients, stirring until the mixture comes together to form a soft, elastic dough. Cover and set aside for 10 minutes.
To make the filling, heat the olive oil in a large skillet. Add the onions and green chilies. Cook, stirring, until softened without browning. Add the ground turkey. Cook and stir until the turkey is no longer pink. Add the garlic and seasonings, along with the tomatoes. I like to mash it all together with a potato masher to help break down the meat and tomatoes. Taste and adjust seasoning as desired. Stir in the black beans. Simmer, uncovered for 10 to 15 minutes while you cook the fry bread.
To cook the fry bread, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each into a ball. Using a lightly floured rolling pin and surface, roll each ball out into a 6 inch circle. It will be quite thin. Do this one at a time. Heat about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a small skillet. Add the fry bread dough circles one at a time and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Drain on some paper toweling. Keep warm while you fry the rest.
To cook the fry bread, divide the dough into 12 equal pieces. Roll each into a ball. Using a lightly floured rolling pin and surface, roll each ball out into a 6 inch circle. It will be quite thin. Do this one at a time. Heat about 1/2 inch of vegetable oil in a small skillet. Add the fry bread dough circles one at a time and cook for about 1 to 2 minutes per side. Drain on some paper toweling. Keep warm while you fry the rest.
To serve top the fried bread rounds with your taco filling and allow people to add toppings as desired. Serve hot.
Note - It took me a few tries to get the bread right. The mistakes were lovely spread with butter and drizzled with golden syrup in the British way! Sooooo good!!
The missionaries are coming over for supper tonight and I wanted to cook something that was not only delicious and easy, but quick and comforting. I had in mind to buy a chicken and then make a chicken pot pie with it . . .
But then I got to the store, they had cooked Rotisserie Chickens on special at 2 for £7, and so I bought two already cooked chickens. I know . . . me<---Bad.
Nevermind . . . you can never have too much cooked chicken in the house. It comes in handy for all sorts . . . things like sandwiches, casseroles, wraps, enchiladas, etc. After much thought, I decided to make them this delicious Crispy Chicken Casserole. It's a recipe that is a conglomeration . . . a put-together of all the best bits of different chicken casseroles I have tried through the years.
For instance, I loved the use of a wild rice mix in one casserole I tried once upon a time. I love the flavours of summer savoury and the sweetness of dried cranberries . . . almost a stuffing type of taste combination.
I like the crunchiness of celery and flaked almonds which I experienced in another one . . . but I have never been overly fond of tinned soups, as handy to use as they may be from time to time. And so I made a chicken flavoured bechamel sauce to use instead.
Topped with some buttery crushed rice crispies and more flaked almonds, I think you'll find this casserole to be quite delightful. Ok . . . with all the butter in it, you might not want to eat it often . . . but when you want something that's just that little bit special and over the top, this fits the bill quite nicely.
*Crispy Chicken Casserole*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe
This is my favourite Chicken casserole. It's a combination of all of the best bits of different chicken casseroles I have liked through the years, and it doesn't use tinned soup.
3 stalks of celery, washed trimmed and chopped (about 1 cup)
1 TBS butter
2 cups of cubed cooked chicken (about 4 single breasts cooked)
1 pouch cooked basamati and wild rice mix (2 serving sized pouch)
4 spring onions, chopped
a further 2 TBS butter
2 TBS flour
1 chicken stock sachet (Can use about 1/2 TBS chicken bouillon powder)
500ml of milk (2 cups)
1 tsp dried summer savoury crumpled
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp ground black pepper
3 heaped dessertspoons of low fat mayonnaise (about 3/4 cup)
two small handfuls of dried cranberries (about half a cup)
2 small handfuls of flaked almonds (about half a cup)
For the topping:
1 TBS butter, melted
a mug of rice crispies, crushed coarsely
a generous handful of flaked almonds
Preheat the oven to 180*C/350*F/ gas mark 4. Have ready a 2 litre gratin dish, lightly buttered. Place the first amount of butter and the celery into a microwaveable bowl. Cover and cook on high for 2 minutes. Remove and set aside.
Melt the second amount of butter in a saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in the flour and cook for one minute. Slowly whisk in the milk, whisking constantly. Cook, whisking until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Stir in the summer savoury, salt, pepper and mayonnaise. Mix all together well. Gently mix together the celery mixture, chicken, chopped spring onions, cranberries, flaked almonds and rice in a bowl. Add the milk mixture and stir gently to coat. Scrape into the prepared baking dish.
Mix together the topping ingredients. Sprinkle over top of the casserole. Bake in the preheated oven for 30 minutes, until bubbly and lightly browned.
We're just having salad, rolls on the side . . . and some jelly with fruit cocktail in it and squirty cream for dessert. I'm feeling rather lazy and my thumb hurts. Sigh . . . I hope they don't mind. Oh heck, of course they won't!
This has to be one of my favourite ways to cook chicken breasts. I often buy whole chickens when they are on offer and then cut them up to freeze. That way I always have a nice selection of chicken pieces on hand to use in recipes just such as this.
This is a handy video which can talk you through the whole process. It's not nearly as hard as you think. If you have a good set of kitchen shears and sharp knives, it's somewhat of a doddle.
Why do I like this recipe so much? It's easy. First of all because it always turns out and is easy to make. It isn't fiddly, or time consuming. Secondly because it results in delicious, tender and moist chicken EVERY time! Seriously. If you follow the instructions properly you WILL be rewarded in the most fabulous way!
It uses fairly simple every day ingredients, that you most probably have in your cupboard right now. I think the most exotic might be the coconut cream. We get that over here in little tetra packs, each one holding about 1 cup of this gloriously rich thick coconut product. It has a thick consistency of mayonnaise, but if you cannot get that you can use regular coconut milk without too much difference in taste.
Just look at that moist chicken meat! Most people overcook their chicken, and I have to say there is nothing more tasteless or desireable as an overcooked dried out chicken breast. When you remove the skin and the bone from a chicken breast you take away most of what protects the integrity and flavor of that piece of chicken. Leaving it intact helps to keep it moist. You could do this with boneless skinless chicken breasts, but make sure to reduce the time by about a third at the very least. I might even start checking it at half time, and of course you won't have that gloriously sticky skin to indulge in.
*Coconut Baked Chicken*
Serves 4
Quick, easy and delicious!
6 TBS coconut cream
2 TBS fresh lime juice
2 TBS soft light brown sugar
3/4 tsp ground ginger
3/4 tsp garlic powder
1 tsp dried basil flakes
1/2 tsp fine sea salt
1 tsp freshly ground black pepper
4 bone in, skin on, chicken breasts
Preheat
the oven to 220*C/425*F/ Gas mark 7. Whisk together all of the
ingredients, except for the chicken. Butter a shallow baking dish.
Spoon a small portion of the sauce in the bottom. Lay the chicken
breasts on top, skin side up. Take approximately half of the sauce
mixture and spread it between the chicken skin and the chicken flesh.
Spoon the remainder over top. Bake, uncovered for 30 to 40 minutes,
basting every 10 minutes with the pan juices, until the chicken tests
done and the juices run clear. Serve hot.
Note
- If desired you can marinate the chicken in the sauce in a plastic bag
in the refrigerator over night. When you are ready to cook, just dump
the whole lot into a buttered baking dish, skin side up and cook as
above.
You would have to be living on the face of another planet right now, not to have realized that the price of food is sky-rocketing. Recent studies show that spiraling food costs have driven the annual cost of a family's groceries up by £1,100 a year, and there is no relief in sight. Unfortunately the costs of everything else are going up as well . . . petrol, heating fuels, electricity, clothing etc. . . . everything that is except wages! Living on a fixed income is when you really begin to feel the pinch.
About the only thing most people have any control of in the case of rising costs, is the food budget, and it has been reported that some people are now cutting back to only one meal a day, whilst the higher end grocery shops are losing out to cheaper shops as families seek to make their food dollars go a bit further. Morrisons has introduced many cuts in their prices and a new Price Checker Tool which you can use to check out their new lower prices and help to cut your food costs that little bit more.
Even though there are only two of us . . . and a dog, it is a real struggle at times to stretch our food budget to provide nutritious and yet economical meals. Mitzie is eating a lot more table scraps these days and I am trying my hardest to not let anything go to waste. On the menu more often than not are cheaper cuts of meat and economical meals. Economical meals such as this tasty chicken dish shown here today. It uses the cheaper cuts such as thighs and legs . . .
I save even more money by buying whole chickens and cutting them up myself at home. I package and freeze each cut individually, so that I have bags of thighs, breasts and legs in my freezer at any given time. I also have bags of wings and backs, just perfect for making delicious stocks and soups. It's not all that difficult to do.
This is one of my economical dishes. Cheap cuts of chicken marinated in a tasty spicy sticky marinade and then baked in the oven until they are scrummily glazed. I serve it with rice and a vegetable and it always goes down a real treat. If you don't like things too spicy, cut out the cayenne pepper!
We love this chicken. Not only does it make for a fairly economical meal but it is a real family pleaser, which just goes to show you that delicous food doesn't have to cost an arm and a leg.
*Deviled Chicken*
Serves 4 to 6
Printable Recipe
Scrummy chicken that has been marinated in a delicious marinade spices and chutney and then grilled baked until glazed and succulently yummo!
6 chicken drumsticks
6 chicken thighs
1 TBS oil
3 TBS chutney, finely chopped or mashed
1 TBS Worcestershire Sauce
2 tsp English Mustard (hot)
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper
1/4 tsp ground ginger
Fine sea salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste
With a sharp knife make several slashes deep into the chicken pieces, cutting down to the bone. Mis the oil, chutney, Worcestershire Sauce, mustard, cayenne, ginger and seasoning together in a bowl. Add the chicken pieces, tossing to coat them well with the marinade. cover and let stand for one hour.
Preheat the oven to 200*C/400*F/ gas mark 6.
Arrange the chicken pieces in a single layer on a nonstick baking sheet, brushing them with any extra marinade. Bake in the heated oven for 35 to 40 minutes, until crisp, deeply golden, sticky and the chicken is cooked through. (The juices should run clear if pricked with a fork.) Serve hot or cold, as desired.
I am entering this chicken recipe into the #MorrisonsMum Summer Recipe eBook Challenge sponsored by Morrisons, which has recently cut prices on over a thousand every day products. Find out more here price checker tool”. Wish me luck! As you can eat this hot or cold I am thinking it would fit into two categories, both the Picnic Favourites and the Lighter Summer Family Meals!
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