Black Banana Friday Bread

How often do you buy bananas and they turn heavily spotted or even black before you can eat them? It happens to me all the time. I put them in pancakes or muffins or I make a loaf of banana bread.

For banana bread, just mash up your two leftover bananas that you don't want to eat because they're just too ripe for you and set them aside. Then, sift 1 1/3 c of self rising flour (if you want to skip adding salt and soda) and 1/4 t baking powder in a separate bowl. In yet a third bowl...ugh, I know, cream 5 1/2 T butter (at room temperature for easy creaming) with 2/3 c. sugar for 2-3 minutes. Now slowly beat in your flour mixture until fully integrated and the texture of brown sugar. Slightly beat two large eggs in a small bowl, then add them to the main bread bowl and mix in. Finally, add your mashed bananas and now is also the time to add any nuts you might want to the loaf, walnuts, peacans, almonds. Fold the banana and nuts into the mixture gently until fully mixed in with a spatula.

I might also toss in some cinnamon, allspice, nutmeg or something. It makes it taste richer.

Scrape the batter into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake until a toothpick comes out clean, at 350 degrees for approximately 50-60 minutes. Let it cool 5 minutes before removing from the pan, then finish cooling on a rack before storing in an airtight bag.

It's a heavy loaf, but very good. You only need a slice or two for breakfast, and now you didn't waste your bananas.

Grilled Polenta Points with White Bean Dip and Roasted Red Peppers

Last night I made dinner for my former secretary, only she called about an hour before and canceled. She said she had a headache. I had already made most of dinner and it was a lot of tasty food to eat by myself...and it'd have been sad to eat it by myself. I emailed SP who had already asked if he could come up Thursday, but I told him my friend was coming by, and told him she bailed and asked if he wanted to take her place...poor guy.

Well, he said to thank her...seriously. For the main course, I went simple and made a vodka sauce over tortellini. For the vodka sauce I simply threw in a can of diced tomatoes, some olive oil, a little tomato paste, some oregano, basil, garlic, a little California garlic blend, salt, pepper, and then a little heavy cream and 2 T. vodka at the end. It turned out nice over the three cheese tortellini. I didn't take a picture...I have some left over. If I get a picture of those, I'll post it later. We were hungry. He works 2 hours away...

For our appetizer, I thought I'd make some white bean dip, but I don't have much in the way of crackers and chips around the house, and I wanted something creative. I have polenta, so I made some of that...it's the quick kind that you bring 3 cups of water to a boil and then put a cup of polenta in and stir five minutes and then either serve or set. I wanted it to set to make points...so I spread it out in a casserole pan and put wrap right on top of the polenta so it wouldn't get a skin on top. When it cooled enough to handle, I cut it into squares and grilled it with a tiny bit of olive oil.

For the white bean dip, truthfully, I have no recipe for that either. I opened a can of white beans, dumped them into the food processor (after draining them) and added a couple of cloves of minced garlic, parsley, salt, pepper, about 2 T tahini (which is sold everywhere now, I think; it's sesame paste, like peanut butter in a jar, but made of ground sesame seeds...you have to stir it like old fashioned peanut butter) and then I turned the processor on and ground it all into a course puree. It's a little sticky and dry. I scraped the sides and hit it again to fully mix it up. Finally, I drizzled olive oil into the running processor to incorporate it into the dip/spread. I'm telling you, this stuff is delish! I could eat the whole bowl for dinner with a spoon.

I served the points with a healthy dollop of bean dip and a sliver of sliced roasted red bell pepper. Wow did SP love those. He didn't even know what polenta was until yesterday, and he's Italian. I guess his family doesn't make polenta. I'm sure his mom and aunts know what it is though. I've heard his mom and aunts tell stories of the wonderful Italian foods they grew up eating that they hate because it reminds them of their parents struggling to make ends meet. I suppose I can see that, but so much of what they talk about is wonderful, rustic food.

Oh, and I also made a loaf of crusty garlic bread, because what's pasta sauce without bread to sop it up with?

Think Outside of the Can Corned Beef Hash

I still had leftover corned beef from the CB&C, because I didn't use it for the soup. I only had a little left, about four slices, so I also set aside a few potato slices and thought I'd make myself breakfast. I've never made corned beef hash, so I have no idea how it's actually made, but I have eaten it all my life out of a can, and it looks like mushy corned beef and cubed potatoes in grease.

I diced my corned beef very small, and then I did the same with the potatoes. I tossed them into a hot skillet with a pat of butter and a few drizzles of canola oil. A little salt, a little pepper, that's it. Oh, I think I also dusted it with a little cayenne, but that's not for the faint of heart, so use it if you like spicy food, for breakfast. :)

It came out very good. Better than the canned stuff, by far. I topped it with an egg. It ain't pretty, but it's good, honest food. It's like that line in City Slickers, "Food's brown, hot and plenty of it!"

Dig in!

Hamburger Chowder

I had a ton of leftover potatoes, carrots and cabbage from the corned beef and cabbage. I didn't have that much corned beef left, so instead of making a CB&C soup, I made a hamburger chowder with my leftover ingredients and a pound of ground sirloin. We used to go to a restaurant where the chef made this every week when I was a kid, and I loved it.

I sauteed a quarter of a large yellow onion, two stalks of chopped celery, and some minced garlic in olive oil. Then I added the sirloin and browned it. You can drain if you want, but there was minimal fat.

I added 8 cups of beef broth to the pot and brought it to a boil, then added 1/2 c of barley for some substance. During the last 10 minutes of simmering, I diced up my leftover potatoes, carrots and cabbage and added them to the soup to warm through (they were already cooked). If yours are not cooked, add them during the last 20 to 30 minutes, depending on how done you want them.

I served this with a slice of my leftover Irish Soda Bread, which turned out very nice and artisan bread looking. It's a very rustic, heavy loaf.

This dish was resourceful, creative and used up my leftovers instead of wasting. Everyone is focused on being resourceful and efficient right now. Using leftover ingredients doesn't have to mean you eat the same meal over and over. You can create something new with it. Last night I ate this, tonight I added egg noodles to the bowl to give a little different twist.

Corned Beef & Cabbage

SP came up for the weekend. I had a brisket and figured I may not see him Tuesday, so I made it Saturday. It was very easy. I used the boil method. I put a 2.25 lb brisket in a large dutch oven and covered it by one inch with water. I then added the enclosed seasoning packet. I also added a few more peppercorns, a whole yellow onion, and a couple of shots of whiskey to the water. I brought it to a boil and then simmered on low for 2 1/2 hours.

For an additional half hour, I added 1/3 inch thick slices of potato, wedges of fresh cabbage and bias-sliced and peeled carrots. When the carrots and potatoes were fork tender, I served it all up, sliced the brisket and slathered some butter over the top of it all.

I also made a homemade Irish Soda Bread. I searched high and low for an authentic recipe, because all the recipes I have are for American soda bread that is sweet or has fruit added to it. This recipe was purely soda, salt, buttermilk and whole wheat flour. It resulted in a very rustic, round loaf that we ate with our dinner and for breakfast on Sunday.

I read online that Irish-Americans (that's me) continue to make this dish on St. Paddy's day because ethnic groups tend to take a snapshot of what their home country was like when they left, and do not take into account the new and evolving culture and tastes of their home countries. In Ireland, this dish is not that popular today, except for in County Cork, where it is often seen on lunch menus. However, during the time when the second wave of Irish came to the U.S. and Canada, about 1850s (1851 for my ancestors), this was a meal to celebrate the end of Lent and the harvest of cabbage. It would have been peasant food for a celebration of spring.

I'm not sure how accurate that history is, but I will say that if it is true, the Irish (Irish National) chef who wrote it, while trying to explain the lack of understanding and connection Irish-Americans have with Ireland, perhaps has a lack of deep understanding of the culture that is Irish-American in the United States. The history of this dish only makes me want to make it and enjoy it more often, in homage to the folks who risked their lives to give us a better chance at life and who, perhaps, romanticized a peasant dish from their past that isn't quite so popular in the real Ireland today.

I have leftovers, so I'm going to make soup this evening.

"Use it up" Three Berry Tart

I had puff pastry in my freezer for a while, and it doesn't keep that long, so I decided I had to thaw it and do something with it. I've always been this way, but in this economy especially, rather than waste things that may spoil, I try to keep a good eye on what I have in the frig and freezer and use what is on hand while it's still fresh. It keeps me creative and it cuts down on wasting food, because throwing away ingredients is like throwing away dollar bills.

I put one sheet in an oven safe tart dish and baked it at 375 for 15 minutes. Then I "defrosted" on low 1/3 c of blackberry preserves and spread it all over the baked pastry. Next, I drained a can of blueberries in juice (not the pie kind in jelly) and about the same amount of raspberries that I also had frozen for a bit in the freezer, rinsed them well, and then arranged them evenly over the preserves. I dropped small spoons full of cream cheese every so often over that.

In a small saucepan, I melted 2 T of brown sugar and 2 T butter together, and combined it well. Then I drizzled it over the entire pastry topping. I cut the other sheet of puff pastry into thin strips and overlapped them into a lattice crust on top of the tart. I drizzled a hint of water with my fingers over the crust and then dusted it with sugar to give it a glisten and sweetness.

I baked the tart at 375 for 25 minutes until nicely browned and puffed up, with the fruit bubbling through the lattice.

OMG - this is good! It reminds me of the blueberry popovers my mom used to make me when I was little. If I can just think of how to make the frosting she used to put on them I'll be golden to make those next time.

This is a great alternative to pie, and an easier version than an actual pie. It's fantastic with a large scoop of vanilla ice cream. Large enough for 8 or so servings. Heavenly.

Due to technical difficulties, I'll post a photo soon. Darn camera won't connect...