So my husband has started a new hobby with baking bread. And cinnamon rolls. I love to cook and read cookbooks and magazines and put a lot of thought together and then throw shit together. He’s a chemist, so he likes to be methodical. I teach 7th grade Humanities (SS and LA). But I used his challah bread and made an amazing French toast. 🙂
I used 8 eggs and about a cup of milk. I whisked them with a tablespoon of cinnamon and a splash of vanilla. Oh, also a shit ton of butter; a stick in the batter that was already soft and more in the pan each batch. I also made bacon, because duh.
I spied a few sad browning bananas on the counter, so I decided to have a little baking fun. I made two different recipes; chocolate banana bread and blueberry banana muffins. I may have gone a little crazy, but luckily I have an awesome neighbor whose family loves to taste test my creations 😉
BLUEBERRY BANANA MUFFINS
Ingredients
1/2 cup unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
2 cups flour
3/4 cup plus 1 tsp sugar, divided
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 ripe mashed banana
2 1/2 cups fresh blueberries
Preparation
Heat oven to 375°. Line a muffin pan with paper liners or use non-stick cooking spray. Whisk butter, eggs and milk in a bowl. Combine flour, 3/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in another bowl. Stir wet ingredients into dry ingredients; fold in blueberries. Divide batter evenly among muffin cups; sprinkle with remaining 1 tsp sugar. Bake until muffins are golden brown and a knife comes out clean, 25 to 30 minutes. I always say let them sit and cool, but really the girls and I will eat one fresh out of the oven and risk burning our tongues 😉
CHOCOLATE CHIP BANANA BREAD
Ingredients
2 cups flour 2 tsp baking powder 1/4 tsp baking soda 1 tsp salt 2/3 cup sugar 1/4 cup canola oil 2 large eggs 1/3 cup 2% or whole milk 1 tbs vanilla 2 ripe bananas 1/2 bag chocolate chips
Directions
Preheat your oven to 350 degrees
Prepare a loaf pan with non-stick spray
In a medium bowl, combine your dry ingredients
In a large bowl, combine your wet ingredients
Pour the dry ingredients into the bowl with the wet ingredients and mix by hand just until combined.
Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until a toothpick or cake-tester comes out clean
I hope everyone is doing the well. While I have been cooking, it has mostly been quick and easy things. Between the Pandemic and all the other horrible things happening recently, I have not really been in the right state of mind to cook or write, but I am slowly starting to dip my toe back in, so here is something I made the other night that was super easy and I thought I would share.
I found this teriyaki marinade at the store last week. I usually tend to make my own concoction or different Asian sauces, but this looked like a good one. Low sodium and pretty straightforward ingredients; garlic, ginger, sesame seeds, soy sauce, onion, and vinegar.
I bought this pretty salmon that was on sale at the store. I saw an interesting fact about fresh salmon- when you get it, just should smell like watermelon. Just a hint of it. It is true! Next time you get some salmon, try it out. It should not smell fishy. I marinaded the salmon for about 15 minutes. Rebecca made some cheesy mini muffins -the kind from Jim and Nicks, which you can find on the baking aisle with the cake mixes and such.
The salmon cooked the same time as the muffins, about 15 minutes. These were on the thick side, so 12-15 minutes is usually the range. The oven was at 425. I added a side of broccoli to complete the meal!
My family LOVES ribs, so when I saw these at the grocery store, I knew I had to get them. Usually I buy them already cut up, but I was up for the challenge of trying to cook them in the oven as a whole rack. I researched tons of recipes, and decided on doing a rub then adding a sauce at the end.
These were pork spare ribs. They came vacuum-packed and were sitting in a bit of liquid that I rinsed off under cold water. I patted them dry with a paper towel, then peeled off the silver-skin. This is the shiny, white piece of membrane that sits on top of the bones and makes things tough and chewy once cooked. Most of it comes off pretty easy when you slide your finger under it, but a couple parts I needed to use my paring knife to help loosen it up.
I preheated the oven to 300. In a small bowl I made a rub with different spices from my cabinet. I didn’t really measure; I used a combo of cumin, coriander, smoked mild paprika, garlic and onion powder, and chili powder. I rubbed the mixture all over ribs and placed on a baking sheet with aluminum foil.
I cooked them in the oven for about 2 hours. Then I took them out and brushed them with BBQ sauce. I happened to have a jar of our family’s favorite sauce, Sticky Fingers in the fridge. So I painted it with that and let it cook for 20 more minutes.
I served with a side of creamed corn- 3 cans of corn drained- obviously fresh would be best, but we had canned in the pantry. Half a container of cream cheese, a few pats of butter, and a splash of heavy cream. I just mixed everything together and let the ingredients melt in to each other. I also gave them a bit of a mash to release some of those sweet corn starches.
My 13 year old helped make the cheddar biscuits. You know the ones. From that seafood restaurant. They sell them in a cheat box mix where all you have to do is add the cheddar cheese and some water and butter.
2 mixes, 2 ripe bananas smashed, 1 cup milk. Combine and cook at 400 for 30 minutes. It told me it felt naked, so we added frosting and sprinkles. Sprinkles are required. It was a big hit! Yeah for muffin cakes! One more sneak before bed. I think it was a hit.
Fun Foodie Family 