Banana Bread with Nutty Streusel

Oh, I love a good streusel; don't you? Today's recipe is from my Miette cookbook.  If you aren't familiar with Miette, you should be.  It is a most fantastic bakery in San Francisco, and her recipes are wonderful.  Her cake creations are beautiful, and pastries are delightful.  Here are some pictures:

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Now on to the really good stuff.  The best part of the bread is the streusel on top.  Because that part is so tasty, I double it, and I also substitute walnuts in place of pecans, but you can do what you like!  The bread is moist and chocked full of walnuts, so it has a great texture.  Here's how you can make your own.

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Banana Bread with Nutty Streusel
Adapted From Miette
Makes 2 loaves

Ingredients:

Streusel:
(amounts listed are doubled from original)
1 cup walnut pieces
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup flour
4 tablespoons cold butter
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
2/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Bread:
2 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon kosher salt
1 1/2 cups sugar
2 large eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2 cup vegetable oil
4 medium soft, but not black, bananas, peeled and roughly mashed
1/2 cup walnut pieces

Directions:

Liberally butter two 8x4 inch loaf pans and dust with flour.  Tap out excess.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
To make the streusel, add all ingredients.  Blend together with your hand or pastry blender until all ingredients are combined.  Place in the fridge until you are ready to use.  Can be made up to five days in advance.
To make the banana bread, sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a bowl and set aside.  In a large bowl, whisk together the sugar, eggs, and vanilla until well combined and lightened in color, 4-5 minutes.  Reduce the speed to low and drizzle in the oil, whisking just until combined.  Add the banana mash and whisk.  Add the dry ingredients and walnuts to the batter in three additions, whisking until combined.  Do not overmix.
Divide the batter between the prepared pans.  Sprinkle the tops with the streusel, dividing it evenly.  Bake until the breads have risen nicely and the tester inserted in the middle comes out clean. about 45-50 minutes.  Transfer to wire racks and let cool in the pans for 20 minutes.  Run an offset spatula around the edges of the pan, then invert the cakes onto the racks and let cool 20 minutes longer.  Serve right away or refrigerate until you are ready to serve.  To freeze, wrap tightly in a second layer of plastic and store in the freezer for up to two months.

Homemade Croissants

There are few things that I love more than a delicious pastry, but I have lacked the courage to try to make them until recently.  I was looking around, and I came across this recipe for authentic croissants.  The reviews talked about how delicious they were and how surprisingly easy they were to make.  So, I decided to give the recipe a shot and figured at worst case, I could still do something with the dough.  Well, to my delight, they turned out splendidly.  They were beautifully colored, had the trademark layers of a croissant and they were so light and fluffy.  

The croissants were everything that I had hoped they would be!  Now for the recipe.  Please do not be scared away by how "long" they take.  While the recipe does require three days for you to wait, it does not require three days of work.  On the first day you simply mix the ingredients.  On the second day, you just roll the dough, and on the third day you do one more rolling and you bake.  Within moments on that third day is when you will realize that all of the "work" was worth it.

I really hope you try these; you won't be disappointed if you do!  Since the directions are a little longer, please find the recipe here, at Fine Cooking.  It has very detailed pictures, directions and even a powerpoint in case some of the wording is confusing... it's very fool proof!

Bean Soup & Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread

Tonight for dinner I made a very easy meal, and it was really delicious. I found a recipe for Tuscan Bean Soup on the Better Homes and Gardens website, and to accompany it, I made Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread from the Let's Dish blog. This was the perfect Sunday dinner because all that I had to do was chop up a few ingredients, and dinner was good to go. It was filling and my farmer's market spinach tasted so fresh on top of my hearty soup.

Here's how to make the soup:

Tuscan Bean Soup
adapted from BHG

*2 carrots, coarsely chopped
*1 small onion, chopped
*3 Tbsp. olive oil
*2 15-oz. cans cannellini beans, rinsed and drained
*1 32-oz. box reduced-sodium chicken broth
*2 t0 3 tsp. dried Italian seasoning, crushed
*1 5-oz. pkg. baby spinach
*Freshly cracked black pepper

Directions:
Heat one tablespoon of oil in a 4 quart pot. Add onions and carrots and cook until onions are translucent. Add beans, broth and seasoning. Simmer for 8 minutes, stirring occasionally.
Meanwhile, heat the remaining oil. Toss spinach until it is just wilted. Ladle the soup and top with the sauteed spinach.

And here is the cornbread:

Cheddar Jalapeno Cornbread
adapted from Let's Dish

*3 cups flour
*1 cup yellow cornmeal
*1/4 cup sugar
*2 tablespoons baking powder
*2 teaspoons salt
*2 cups milk
*3 eggs, lightly beaten
*1 cup (2 sticks) butter, melted
*2 1/2 cups cheddar cheese, grated
*1/2 cup sliced scallions, divided
*3 tablespoons fresh jalapeno peppers, seeded and minced

Directions:

Combine the flour, cornmeal, sugar, baking powder, and salt in a large bowl. In a separate bowl, whisk together the milk, eggs, and butter. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry ingredients until most of the lumps are dissolved. Do not over-mix! Mix in 2 cups of the grated cheddar cheese, about 1/3 cup scallions and the jalapenos. Allow the mixture to sit at room temperature for 20 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Grease a 9 x 13-inch baking pan. Spread the batter into the prepared pan and sprinkle with the remaining grated Cheddar and extra chopped scallions. Bake for 30 to 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.

Cranberry Coffee Cake

I realize it has been over a month since my last post, and I will try to do much better! I don't really have any excuse, but I do has a delicious coffee cake as a peace offering. I made this last year for my friend's bridal shower, and was so sad to realize that cranberries are not sold in grocery stores all year long. However, when I was at Whole Foods Monday I saw that they were back, and I had to buy them. Hence the cranberry coffee cake.

This is one of the best coffee cakes ever... anything with nearly four sticks of butter better be good, but this has fruit and nuts too, so it must have some nutritional value. I will not post the calorie count because I think we are better off without it :) but this is something that you can certainly share with lots of friends. Everything in moderation right?

Here's the recipe:

Cranberry Coffee Cake

Cuisine at Home Issue #78

Makes 16 servings

Total Time: 1 ½ hours + Cooling

For the Streusel –

1/2 stick unsalted butter

2/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup chopped toasted pecans

1/3 cup dried cranberries

1/4 cup sugar

2 Tbsp. minced orange zest

For the Cake –

1 cup fresh cranberries

2 ¼ cup sugar, divided

Zest of ½ an orange

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 tsp. each table salt and cinnamon

½ tsp. baking powder

4 eggs, plus 1 egg yolk

3 sticks unsalted butter, softened

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350°. Coat a 9-inch-square baking pan with nonstick spray. Line the pan with parchment paper so it hangs over the edges to create handles; spray again.

Melt the ½ stick butter; stir in 2/3 cup flour, ¼ cup sugar, pecans, cranberries and orange zest. Set aside.

Pulse fresh cranberries, ¾ cup sugar and zest in a food processor; set aside. Whisk together the 2 cups flour, salt, cinnamon and baking powder in a bowl. Whisk together eggs and yolk; set aside.

Using a hand mixer, cream the 3 sticks butter and remaining sugar. Add flour mixture and eggs alternately to the butter mixture, beating well after each addition. Transfer half of the batter to the prepared pan; top with cranberry mixture and the rest of the batter, smoothing each layer. Use a knife to swirl batter and cranberries; top with streusel.

Bake cake 55-60 minutes; cool on rack 20 minutes before serving.

It's super easy and very delicious. I hope you can find someone to share it with!

I promise I won't be an awful blogger... I've got lots to share!

Bean Soup and Cornbread

I made this soup last night with our left over honey baked ham. I have wanted to make this for awhile, but I couldn't resist any longer since I had all of the ingredients. I also went ahead and made cornbread because soup is nothing without this crumbly bread. Here are the steps:

Bean-and-Ham Soup
Ingredients:
3 cans great northern beans
1 14 ounce can chicken broth (I used more)
2 tablespoons butter
1 small onion, diced
1 1/2 cups ham, cubed
pepper and garlic salt to taste

Directions:
Rinse and drain beans. Process one-third can of beans and half of chicken broth in a food processor until smooth. Set aside.
Melt butter in a Dutch oven over medium-high heat. Add onion, and saute for five minutes. Add ham and saute for three minutes.
Add bean puree, remaining beans and remaining broth. Bring to a boil; reduce heat, and simmer for at least 30 minutes. Stir in salt and pepper.


The cornbread is compliments of All Recipes. The link will take you to the recipe. The cornbread was light and sweet. It was the perfect accompaniment to the bean soup. Enjoy the dinner!

A Happy Accident

The other night for dinner, I was going to make Tonga Toast from my "Cooking with the Disney Chefs" cookbook. Tonga Toast is like french toast except it can be described as deep fried deliciousness. Much to my chagrin, Scott walked in and frowned upon the idea of having such a dinner. So instead I made stuffed french toast (I still dipped it in the sugar, and that made it soo tasty!) Here is what you will need:

Ingredients:
-1 8 inch loaf sourdough bread (cut into 2" pieces)
-1/2 bar of cream cheese
-1-2 tablespoons of orange marmalade, depending on your liking
-5 eggs (beaten)
-1/3 cup sugar
-1 tablespoon cinnamon

Directions:
Mix cinnamon and sugar together in a bowl; set aside. Mix the cream cheese and orange marmalade; set aside.
Slice a slit into the bread, and spread about 1 1/2 tablespoons (or as much as you can stuff) into the bread.
Coat each piece of bread in the egg, and cook over medium heat until lightly browned. Immediately dip in the cinnamon sugar mixture.

And it's ready to eat. This was so tasty and very easy. Enjoy!