April | 2014 | onedadskitchen

A Bevy of Bountiful Beauty – Banana-Blueberry Buttermilk Bread

While I am not a big breakfast eater myself, I do like to have something around once in a while that goes nicely with my coffee in the morning. Very often I will make an easy banana bread, which is tasty, but I was looking for something a little bit different to try to that had some different flavor to it but would still be easy to make. I was also looking for a use for some of the whole wheat flour I had bought to make brown bread for St. Patrick’s Day. So I was quite fortunate when I came across this recipe from Kitchen Daily for a tasty banana-blueberry buttermilk bread that was simple to make.

Banana-Blueberry Buttermilk Bread

¾ cup nonfat or low-fat buttermilk

¾ cup packed light brown sugar

¼ cup vegetable oil

2 eggs

3 mashed ripe bananas

1 ¼ cup whole-wheat flour

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 ½ teaspoons baking powder

¾ teaspoon ground cinnamon

½ teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon salt

¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

1 ¼ cups blueberries, fresh or frozen

Preheat the oven to 375°F. Coat a 9-by-5-inch loaf pan with cooking spray.

Whisk the buttermilk, brown sugar, vegetable oil and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in the mashed bananas.

Whisk the whole-wheat flour, all-purpose flour, baking powder, cinnamon, baking soda, salt and nutmeg in a medium bowl.

Fold the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients and stir until they are just combined. Fold in the blueberries. Transfer the batter to the prepared pan.

Bake the bread until the top is golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center of the bread comes out clean, about 50 to 60 minutes. Cool the bread in the pan for 10 minutes, then turn it out onto a wire rack. Let the bread cool for about 2 hours before slicing.
You could also make these as muffins if you prefer to have muffins instead. For the muffin variation, preheat the oven to 400°F. Coat 12 (1/2 cup) muffin cups with cooking spray or line the cups with paper liners. Divide the batter among the muffin cups (they will be full). Bake the muffins until the tops are golden brown and a wooden skewer inserted in the center of a muffin comes out clean, about 20 to 25 minutes. Cool the muffins in the pan for 10 minutes, then remove the muffins and let them cool on a wire rack for at least 5 minutes more before serving.

One other note about this recipe. the original recipe calls for whole-wheat pastry flour instead of just whole wheat flour, which I did not have. The whole wheat pastry flour has less protein than regular whole wheat flour, so you will get less gluten in the results and it will make for a more tender bread or muffin. If you would prefer to go that way, then use the pastry flour instead. I think the results came out just fine with the regular whole wheat flour. I liked the flavor to go along with the mix of the bananas and blueberries and it was great as a breakfast with my coffee in the morning. it gives a nice, different and easy option for something like this or to make quickly when you are having guests at the last-minute or need something to bring to someone’s home.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

Keep it Simple with Salt and Pepper Chicken

03 Apr

Instead of going through the effort to roast a whole chicken sometimes, you can get just as much mileage out of roasting up some bone-in chicken breasts. you can get all the white meat that you want and much better flavor thanks to the skin and bones than just making some boneless chicken breasts. I like to buy the big value packs of bone-in breasts when they are on sale, cut the breasts in half and roast them simply, using this east recipe I got from Williams-Sonoma. This way you can get a great meal out of it for dinner that night and then have plenty leftover for other meals. This one is really simple that you can do any night of the week or on a Sunday night and end up with a week’s worth of meals.

Salt and Pepper Chicken

6 bone-in, skin-on chicken breast halves, about 4 pounds total, cut in half
Salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
1 cup chicken broth
1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme, sage or tarragon
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into cubes

Preheat an oven to 400°F.

Season the chicken generously with salt and pepper on top of and under the skin. Place the chicken, skin side up, in a large roasting pan. Roast until the chicken is golden brown and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the center of each breast registers 170°F, about 45 minutes.

Transfer 4 chicken breast halves to a serving platter and reserve the remaining 2 for another use.

Place the roasting pan on a stovetop over high heat. When the roasting pan sizzles, add the broth and thyme (or other herbs) and stir to scrape up the browned bits from the pan bottom. Boil the mixture until the broth is reduced by half, about 3 minutes. Remove from the heat.

Whisk the butter, a couple of pieces at a time, into the reduced liquid. Season the sauce with salt and pepper. Serve the chicken, passing the sauce at the table.

It’s a very simple dish that you can make with just about side dishes that you want and it can come out elegant. These are great with mashed potatoes, roasted potatoes, sweet potatoes, any kind of rice, polenta and any vegetable that you feel like making. The best part is that the leftover chicken is perfect for you to use for other meals. You can make chicken salad sandwiches, shred some chicken for pulled chicken sliders or chicken tacos or use some of the chicken to make some chicken noodle soup or other chicken soups. There are lots of great things that you can do to get several meals out of the leftovers to really stretch your budget.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. I still have lots of different things to share that I have been trying out lately. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!

4 Comments

Posted by MikeG on April 3, 2014 in Cooking, Dinner, Leftovers, Poultry

Tags: bone-in chicken breasts, chicken breast halves, chicken breasts, easy roasted chicken breasts, leftover chicken, roasted chicken breasts, salt and pepper chicken, williams-sonoma

Enjoy Those Spring Vegetables – Awesome Asparagus Soup

01 Apr

We love asparagus in our household so it is great when it is in season and you can get lost of it at a really good price around here. It has such great flavor and there are so many different recipes you can make with it (we love it roasted; if you haven’t tried it that way, give it a shot). Couple the spring asparagus with the ridiculous cold weather we still have here in New York, and it seemed like a great time to make this great soup recipe I picked up from the food network. This recipe also makes some Parmesan breadcrumbs, which I did not make, but they sound pretty good to me. I opted to make some biscuits instead, but you could just as easily do the breadcrumbs.

Asparagus Soup:
1 tablespoon olive oil
1 shallot, minced
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
3 bunches pencil asparagus, trimmed and cut into 1 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup thawed, frozen peas or 1 cup shelled fresh English peas (about 1 pound unshelled)
1/4 cup dry white wine
2 cups lightly packed baby spinach

For the Parmesan Breadcrumbs:
Four 1/8-inch slices day-old sourdough bread (about 3 ounces)
Olive oil, for drizzling
1 1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
Kosher salt and freshly cracked black pepper
One 3-ounce wedge Parmesan

Garnishes for the Soup:
Creme fraiche
Finely chopped fresh chives
Fresh cilantro leaves
Lime wedges
Asparagus tips
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

For the soup: In a large soup pot or Dutch oven, bring the oil to medium heat. Add the shallot and salt and pepper to taste. Sweat the shallots until they are translucent, about 1 minute, being careful not to brown them. Add the asparagus to the pot and sweat the asparagus until it is beginning to soften, about 3 minutes. Add the peas and sweat for another minute. Pour in the white wine and deglaze the pot. Add 5 cups of water and continue simmering until the asparagus are crisp-tender, about another 10 minutes. Remove the pot from the heat and set it aside.

Working in batches (and carefully as the liquid will be hot), puree the soup until it is smooth in a blender. In the last batch, add the baby spinach and puree; this will give the soup a vibrant green color. Strain the soup back into the pot through a fine mesh sieve. Return the soup to a simmer until it is slightly thickened, about 4 to 6 minutes. Season the soup with salt and pepper to taste. Remove the soup from the heat.

For the Parmesan breadcrumbs: While the soup simmers, pulse the bread in a food processor until you have very coarse crumbs. Once processed, transfer the breadcrumbs to a medium mixing bowl. Drizzle the breadcrumbs with a generous amount of olive oil. Toss the breadcrumbs with the thyme. Season the mixture with salt and pepper. Transfer the breadcrumbs to a parchment-lined sheet tray. Using a grater, finely grate a few tablespoons of Parmesan over the breadcrumbs. Place the breadcrumbs into the oven and bake until they are golden and crispy, about 7 to 10 minutes. Remove the breadcrumbs from the oven and cool.

To serve: Ladle the soup into shallow serving bowls. Sprinkle the soup evenly with a few teaspoons of Parmesan breadcrumbs and top with a dollop of creme fraiche, if desired. Garnish with chopped chives, cilantro leaves, asparagus tips or a squeeze of a lime wedge and a splash of extra-virgin olive oil, if desired.Serve immediately.

The soup has great flavor from all of the vegetables and looks a great green color, just right for spring. One thing to remember when you are blending hot liquids, is to first let cool for 5 minutes or so, then transfer it to a blender, filling the blender only halfway. Put the lid on, but leave one corner open so you don’t have a vacuum that can make the whole thing explode on you. It’s dangerous and messy if you don’t do this. Make sure you cover the whole thing with a towel too while you are blending to catch any splatters that can happen along the way as well. It’s a great soup that is very easy to make. The Parmesan breadcrumbs would be a nice addition because the soup does need the salt and pepper to get really good flavor and the breadcrumbs can give you that and more.

That’s all I have for today. Check back next time for another recipe. Until then, enjoy the rest of your day and enjoy your meal!