On hiatus...

Marion Cunningham's Banana Muffins

A cup of coffee with something pastry-like is my idea of the perfect breakfast. I want a bit of sweet -all right, I want quite a bit of sweet- to help get me up and going in the mornings. These muffins are perfect and can be baked the night before so they're ready and waiting when I stumble down to the kitchen first thing in the morning. If you are not already a huge fan of Marion Cunningham, these muffins should immediately make you one. Those bananas I always buy too many of, which then turn brown languishing in the kitchen? These muffins use FIVE brown bananas, AND they are essentially fat-free, AND they are delicious. Other than a second cup of coffe, what more could you ask for?

Marion Cunningham's Banana Muffins
Adapted from Marion Cunningham's recipe

In a small bowl mix:
1 1/2 c. flour
1 t. baking soda
1/2 t. salt

In mixer bowl beat for 2-5 minutes:
5 very ripe bananas

Add:
1 c. sugar
2 large eggs
1/2 c. chopped pecans or walnuts

Fold flour mix in to banana mix. FILL 12 foil or paper-lined muffin cups (or greased and floured) completely full with batter. Bake 350 degrees for 20 minutes, or until toothpick tests clean. Cool on a wire rack until morning -and hope the young adults living in your house who make nightly food raids don't eat them all up before breakfast.

And Salad

I TRY to make (and cook from) a weekly menu that is usually (but not always) made (and shopped for) on Sunday. I enjoy the process of planning our family dinners for the week, and the time taken then (when I have it to spare) greatly simplifies meal preparation each evening (when I usually don't) -and it saves money shopping with a plan. This is my menu for this week, but of course, "the best laid plans of mice and men often go astray" and when that happens, I make 'breakfast for dinner.'

Sunday: Puerco con Chili Verde, refried beans with flour tortillas, and salad

Monday: Pressure-cooked duck winglets, baguette (baked Sunday), butter-sauteed turnips, sugar snap peas, and salad

Tuesday: Pasta with pesto and Parmesan, fava beans with olive oil and garlic, baguette (baked Sunday), and salad

Wednesday: Rabbit with Mustard, roasted potatoes, gold beets, and salad

Thursday: Spinach Crepes, beef steak, sweet potatoes, and salad

Friday: Pizza and beer, and salad

One Big Table

I just bought this cookbook and I am so excited! I swear it was written just for me. Molly O'Neill, former food writer for the New York Times started ten years gathering material for what would become this cookbook: One Big Table -600 recipes from the nation's best home cooks, farmers, fishermen, pit-masters, and chefs. It truely is a loving portrait of American cooking today. There are photos on almost every page -photos from the past, and photos of foods and cooks of the present. The following recipe, very similar to the blue cheese dressing posted on Arctic Garden Studio by Nicole (click here) is the first thing I plan to make from this cookbook, but it definitely won't be the last.

Rogue Creamery's Best Blue Cheese Dressing Ever
Whisk together in medium bowl until combined:
1 c. mayonnaise
1/2 c. sour cream
1 T. lemon juice
1 T. red wine vinegar
1/2 t. Worcestershire sauce
3 garlic cloves, minced
1/4 c. fresh parsley, minced
2 oz. (about 1/2 c.) Oregon blue cheese, crumbled
salt and pepper to taste
Cover and refrigerate 30 minutes before serving.

Three Creamy Salad Dressings

I love the color green -especially the green of this little pitcher- and I love avocados, which unfortunately do not grow here in the Pacific Northwest and are therefore a bit of an exotic food item at our table. I bought an avocado last week to make this Green Goddess Dressing with, but it was added to some weeknight burritos (click here) and I had to wait to make this dressing until I'd bought a second avocado. I really love creamy type salad dressings like Buttermilk Ranch-style Dressing (click here) and these three dressings that I made this weekend.



Green Goddess Dressing
Mix in mini food processor:
1 ripe avocado, cubed
3 T. lemon juice
2 T. each (I seem to only have two of the three available whenever I make this but its still always good) minced fresh tarragon, parsley and chives
2 t. anchovy paste
1 garlic clove
1/2 c. mayo
1/4 c. yogurt (optional)
add water until desired consistency



The cilantro in the garden is perfect this week and it was perfect for the following creamy salad dressing. This dressing is a bit unusual and just what I'm craving for a salad dressing these days. It is very good on a salad of fresh garden spinach, and also as a dip for sugar snap peas and other veggie delights.



Tahini-Cilantro Dressing
Mix in mini food processor:
1/2 c. tahini
2 T. soy sauce
1 c. cilantro leaves
1-2 garlic cloves
4 T. hot water
2 T. each lemon juice and olive oil
1 T. honey
This will thickens as it sits. More water can be added as necessary to maintain desired consistency.



Creamy Italian Dressing
Mix in mini food processor:
1 garlic clove
1 - 2 1/2 t. Italian Seasoning
1/2 t. salt
1/4 t. fresh ground black pepper
2 T. red wine vinegar
1 1/2 t. lemon juice
2 T. mayonnaise
1/3 c. olive oil
2 T. shredded or grated Parmesan cheese



Store all dressings in a jar with a tight fitting lid.

Eggplant Parmesan

I simply can't wait for eggplants from our garden. A strong desire yesterday for my (admittedly incredible) Eggplant Parmesan (adapted from Patrica Wells' recipe in Trattoria) overrode the lack of actual mature eggplants and basil in our garden -we have them both growing now, but they are a long way from harvest size. I bought these three at a produce stand on my way home from work last night determined to make Eggplant Parmesan for dinner.



This first bulb of garlic from the garden on the other hand, indicates our garlic harvest (click here) is not far off. I used this garlic and some shallots my husband brought in from the garden to make the most sublime tomato sauce. Of course, in a perfect world I would have used fresh tomatoes from my garden instead of canned ones, but lacking garden fresh tomatoes, basil and eggplants in July shows just how far from perfect my world is.



Tomato Sauce
Heat:
1/4 c. olive oil
Add:
1/2 chopped onion OR 3 freshly pulled shallots
2-6 minced garlic cloves (I used almost the entire bulb)
Cook a few minutes. Add:
2-14 oz. cans Italian diced tomatoes
1-14 oz. can tomato sauce
Cook 15 minutes or so and set aside.



Slice: 3 lbs or so -4 baby, 2 large, or 3 medium sized eggplants
1/2 - 1 lb mozzarella (rather thin slices) Again, in a perfect world I would be using mozzarella I'd made myself. I'm no longer (click here) making cheeses like I did a few years ago.
1/2 - 1 c. fresh basil leaves, thinly sliced crosswise, OR (defrosted) pesto dollops (click here)

Dip or brush eggplant slices in olive oil (1/2 - 1 c. or so). Lay in a single layer on a cookie sheep or broiler pan and broil (or grill) until browned on both sides. I have to do this in several batches in my marginally adequate oven, so hitting the door at 5:30 meant we weren't actually eating dinner until almost 7, but it was worth it!



In a 9 x 13 inch Pyrex dish, spoon in a thin layer of sauce, 1/3 of browned eggplant slices, 1/3 mozzarella slices, 1/4 basil leaves (or pesto), and 1/4 c. shredded Parmesan cheese. Continue layering as for lasagna, topping with sauce and Parmesan. I forgot the Parmesan on the first layer and ran out of pesto for the last layer, and it was perfectly FINE. Even if it's not perfect and you do whatever, it'll still be great.



Bake 40 minutes in 400 degree oven, or 30 minutes in a 425 degree oven, or however long you can keep the family at bay before they all start chewing on each other in hunger. Serve this hot, warm, room-temperature the next day (which is really when it's at its best), but NOT cold from the fridge.



Eggplant Parmesan, garlic toast, a garden salad with Balsamic Dressing (click here) and a deviled egg on top made dinner last night perfect satisfaction in an imperfect world.

From The Hen House

This is the view from the back door of the hen house where I could see our sheep grazing in the back pasture this morning. It was raining when I took this picture, but I am hoping it will clear up later today. It is that time of year again (click here) and I'm thrilled to have the rain clear the air a bit. Below is the chicken house, our hens, both the happy and the broody, our growing chicks, and the morning's basket of eggs collected -enough for another flan (click here), more deviled eggs, or a lemon meringue pie (click here) perhaps. It is the time of year to appreciate and celebrate that which comes from the hen house: the incredible edible egg!