BAM-ana Corbread...

Last night we had some friends over for dinner, and I made enchiladas and cornbread. I've always used mashed bananas in my cornbread recipes because it not only adds a little bit of heavenly banana flavor, but it also adds moisture. {Some cornbreads are soooo dry.} I've tweaked the recipe over the years. Yesterday I used a little cake flour, and it was delish. I also use more almond milk than regular these days, so that is reflected in the recipe. I love serving this with honey butter that I make myself. Just beat 1 cup of butter and honey to your taste (around 2 - 3 tbsp.) in an electric mixer till it's light and fluffy. Yum! The cake flour gives the cornbread a wonderful texture, but if you don't have cake flour just use all-purpose.

 

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup cake flour
2 cups cornmeal
2 cups unflavored almond milk (or milk)
2 ripe mashed bananas

1 cup granulated sugar
2/3 cup vegetable oil
7 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt

Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. (175 degrees C). Grease a 9x13 inch baking dish.
2. Combine all ingredients in a bowl and mix until batter is smooth. Pour into prepared baking dish.
3. Bake in a preheated oven until a toothpick inserted in the center comes out clean, about 30 minutes.

Eggplant and Butternut Squash Parmesan...

I don't know what's wrong with me, but ever since our move to Massachusetts I've been cooking up a storm. I must have a fever because that isn't the norm the last few years. We've been living in a cute little apartment, so I have more time on my hands with a smaller home and no yard work. I guess that's where this spurt of culinary creativity has come from. In any case tonight I made an Eggplant and Butternut Squash Parmesan. I was luscious and so easy to make. It takes about a half an hour to prepare this and 45 minutes for it to cook. It was delicious, so I thought I'd write down the recipe for future reference. Here it is...

Eggplant, small to medium in size
1/2 small butternut squash
3 - 4 eggs, beaten
2 Tbsp. milk
Italian bread crumbs
1 pound sweet Italian sausage
2 - Classico l lb. 8 oz. jars pasta sauce
8 oz. mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese

{You can choose to use two 8"x8" pans or one 9"x13".}

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

It's best to buy an eggplant on the smallish size because older, bigger eggplants can be bitter. If you have a large eggplant, you might want to follow these instructions before cooking it.

Peel your eggplant and dice it into one inch cubes. Salt and pepper. Combine 3 eggs and 1 tablespoon milk in a shallow dish. Put bread crumbs onto another shallow dish. Dip eggplant in egg mixture; dredge in bread crumbs. Brown the dredged eggplant in a little olive oil in a frying pan. Coat a 9x13 pan with cooking spray and add the cooked eggplant to the pan.

Peel and dice the butternut squash into one inch cubes and cook in microwave about seven minutes. Drain. Salt and pepper. Put squash in egg mixture and dredge in bread crumbs. Lightly cook the squash in an oiled frying pan till brown. Place squash over the eggplant in the 9x13 pan.

Cook the Italian sausage in the frying pan and place on top of eggplant and squash in pan.

I usually make my own pasta sauce, but this time I used a couple of jars of pasta sauce to save time. When I do use store bought, I love the Classico brand. I usually choose two jars, most often differing flavors of red sauce, and mix the two jars together.  Poor those over the ingredients in the pan.

Grate the mozzarella cheese and sprinkle over the top of the pasta sauce. Sprinkle a little grated Parmesan cheese over the mozzarella.

Bake at 375 degrees for 45 minutes.

There you have it. It tasted so good. The butternut squash and sausage toned down some of the acidity in the sauce to make a perfect combination of flavors! I paired this with a tossed green salad and it was the perfect meal!

BBQ Chicken Pizza...

A couple of years ago a favorite food establishment in our hometown closed down. I cried a lot during that time because their BBQ Chicken Pizza had become a stand-alone food group for my husband and me. We loved it. Since that time we've tried many different BBQ Chicken Pizzas in Colorado and even a few in Massachusetts where we live now, but none came close to our favorite.

The other day I decided to try my hand at making a BBQ Chicken Pizza knock-off to the Schlotzsky's version we loved so much. I knocked it out of the park. Seriously. I've never gotten so close to copying a recipe, so I was thrilled. Since I made it I realized that on the Schlotzky's website they basically give you the recipe by listing all the ingredients. Check this out! I'm proud of myself for remembering all those ingredients on my own, but then again I'd eaten it about a billion times so it was clear in my memory and taste buds.

Here's my version. It's so easy to make. I even bought a ready made pizza crust, but I would suggest you buy one with a little added flavor like I did. Also, the jalapeno peppers I suggest give it just the right amount of kick, but it's manageable. These "tamed jalapeno peppers" are a cross between a jalapeno pepper and green pepper. They are the perfect thing when you want the texture and taste of a jalapeno, without the knock-your-socks-off spiciness.  For those who like more heat, add fresh jalapenos. I'm suggesting brands so you know what I used to get the flavor that we loved.

BBQ Chicken Pizza with Jalapenos

12 inch pizza

 Ingredients:
12" Rustic Pizza Crust, Old World Flatbread, Sea Salt and Basil Ciabatta
2 chicken breasts
1/2 red onion
Prego Pizza Sauce
Sweet Baby Ray's Sweet 'n Spicy BBQ Sauce
3 oz. mozzarella cheese
6 oz. cheddar cheese (medium sharpness)
Mezzetta Deli-Sliced Tamed Jalapeno Peppers
Optional:
Bacon
Black olives

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Slice chicken against the grain of the meat to make thin slices. Sprinkle chicken with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Cut red onion into thin slices. Add a little oil to a frying pan and cook chicken. A couple of minutes before the chicken is cooked add the red onions and cook all till done. Remove from heat.

Spread a  thin layer of Prego pizza sauce on the pizza crust. Place the cooked chicken and onions on the crust. Add cheeses -- a thin layer of mozzarella, followed by a slightly thicker layer of the cheddar. Add jalapenos on top of cheese. (This enables people to pick them off if they don't care for jalapenos. Even if they don't like to eat them, the jalapenos leave a little flavor when removed!)

Put BBQ sauce into a squeeze container like this one...

Drizzle BBQ sauce over the pizza in thin lines. The container enables you to control the amount of BBQ sauce, which is important.

Reduce the heat to 425 degrees in your oven and place the pizza on the center rack.  Bake pizza for 10 - 12 minutes. 

There you have it!

Salmon Patties...

I've been in my kitchen a lot lately. The month before we moved I didn't cook much because I had to pack up my kitchen first for the move, so since we've arrived at our new home I've been taking advantage of the cute kitchen I have.

The other day I decided to change up the salmon fillets I had bought. I'd seen a picture of salmon patties somewhere and they looked yummy, so I looked up a recipe and tweaked it a bit, and this is what I came up with...

I absolutely loved this recipe. It's not a healthy as a salmon filet because of the bread crumbs and frying, but it does stretch the salmon, and it was delicious!

Suzanne's Salmon Patties

serves 4 people

Ingredients:

2 salmon fillets

2 eggs

3 green onions. diced

1/2 cup bread crumbs

1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

1 lime juiced

olive oil

Wrap salmon fillets in foil and cook in the oven at 350 degrees for 30 minutes. Let cool. Remove the skin. Crumble salmon fillets and mix in the eggs, green onions, bread crumbs, Parmesan cheese and lime juice. Form the salmon mixture into four patties. Place the patties in the freezer for about 15 minutes to firm up the patties so they are less apt to fall apart when you fry them.

Warm skillet and add enough olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan. Fry salmon patties on each side till brown. Serve with a lemon wedge and some tartar sauce. I paired these patties with couscous and a green salad. Best when served immediately!

Avocado Stuffed Taco Salad for Two...

I love Taco Salad, but I haven't made it much since we've been empty nesters. The recipe I used for years makes enough for a crowd, but yesterday I tweaked a recipe I saw on Pinterest and it was perfect for two! (You'll have enough meat mixture left over to put in the freezer to use on another night.) I also like the idea of this recipe having avocado, instead of corn chips. It makes it a little healthier.

Avocado Stuffed Taco Salad

Ingredients:

Start by making this ground beef mixture:

1 pound ground beef
1 tsp. chili powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 tsp. cumin
1/2 tsp. dried oregano
1/4 tsp. garlic powder
1/4 tsp. onion powder
4 ounces tomato sauce

Add the ground beef to a medium sauce pan and cook over medium heat until browned. Drain grease and add all the seasonings and the tomato sauce. Stir to combine and cook for about 3 minutes. Set aside.

Other ingredients needed:

mixed greens
avocados cut in half
tomatoes
cilantro

green onions

shredded cheddar cheese

salad dressing

sour cream (optional)
black beans (optional)

Assembly:

I used a mix of romaine and iceburg lettuce...

Then I added some green onions, tomatoes and cilantro...

I cut an avocado in half, peeled it, and nestled it right in the middle of those greens...

Then I topped those avocados with the yummy ground beef mixture...

A bunch more for good measure...

To that cheddar cheese, more tomatoes, and cilantro were added...

Then a little Catalina Dressing and a dollop of sour cream finished it off! Of course by then the avocado was totally buried with a ton of deliciousness, but you get the idea.

There it is.
Taco Salad for two with enough meat mixture to put in the freezer for another night! 

Mushroom Bolognese with Summer Squash

My favorite meals in the summer come straight out of our veggie garden, and this recipe in particular -- using fresh summer squash, tomatoes, basil, and oregano from our bounty -- is heavenly...

I love to combine a thick, meaty Bolognese sauce with zucchini and yellow crooked-neck squash. So good! Over the years, I've tweaked and {in my not-so-humble opinion} ultimately perfected this Bolognese recipe. My husband has labeled it "the best," not that he's particularly impartial, mind you, but I do think this recipe is worth sharing...

Ingredients for Bolognese (Meat Sauce):

8 ounces of fresh white mushrooms 

1 slice hearty white sandwich bread, torn into quarters

2 Tbsp. milk

Salt & pepper

1 lb. 85% lean ground beef

1 lb. mild Italian sausage

1 Tbsp. olive oil

1 large onion, chopped fine

6 garlic cloves, minced

2 heaping Tbsp. tomato paste

1/4 tsp. ground red pepper

1 (14.5 ounce) can diced tomatoes (set aside 2 Tbsp. of juice) -- sometimes I use fresh tomatoes out of my garden

2 tsp. dried oregano or 1 tsp. fresh oregano

1 (28 oz.) can crushed tomatoes

2 beef bouillon cubes 

1 rounded Tbsp. granulated sugar

Basil - fresh, about 10 leaves, sliced thin

1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese 

1. Pulse mushrooms in food processor until finely chopped, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Transfer to bowl and set aside.

2. Add bread, milk, 1/2 tsp. salt, and 1/2 tsp. pepper to now-empty food processor and pulse until paste forms. Fold this paste (Panade) into beef and sausage and set aside this meat mixture.

3. Heat oil in large saucepan over medium-high heat and add onion and mushrooms. Cook, stirring frequently, until vegetables are browned and dark bits form on saucepan bottom, about 6 to 12 minutes. Stir in garlic, tomato paste, and ground red pepper; cook until fragrant and tomato paste starts to brown, about 1 minute. Add reserved 2 Tbsp. of tomato juice (from can of diced tomatoes), and oregano, scraping up any browned bits from the bottom of the pan. Add meat mixture and cook, breaking the ground beef and sausage into small pieces, until it loses its raw color -- 2 to 4 minutes, making sure the beef does not brown. 

4. Stir in crushed tomatoes, diced tomatoes, beef bouillon cubes, basil, and sugar; bring to a simmer. Reduce heat to low and gently simmer until sauce has thickened and flavors have blended -- about an hour on very low heat. Stir in Parmesan cheese and season with salt and pepper, if necessary. 

Zucchini and Yellow Crooked-Neck Squash

Wash and cut 1/4" rounds of zucchini and squash. Line a cookie sheet with foil, put a little olive oil on the foil and spread it around. Place your squash rounds on the cookie sheet. Spray rounds with Pam and salt and pepper. Broil in 450 degree oven for about 8 - 10 minutes. I test after about 8 minutes and if they are slightly soft, they're done!

Layer cooked squash in bottom of bowl. Spoon yummy Bolognese sauce over squash and top with fresh Parmesan or Feta cheese. It tastes heavenly and it's good for you. What's not to love?

{During colder months you can always enjoy the Bolognese sauce over pasta!}

Chocoflan {Mexican Chocolate Flan Cake} ...

I celebrated a birthday last month and on that day my neighbor brought over some of the best cake I've ever tasted. Truly. Take a look at the photo below. It's a Mexican Chocoflan. {Chocolate Flan Cake} Tasting it will ruin you for life because you will want a piece every day.

It's beautiful, isn't it? It was made by my friend's friend, who is from Mexico. That day I knew I had to learn how to make this delicious concoction. I started with an easy recipe from Betty Crocker on the internet using a cake mix. Below is the result...

Not as pretty as the original, but I was incredibly grateful that the cake came out of the pan easily and in one piece. However, the texture of my cake wasn't as dense or chocolatey as the original, so I tweaked the recipe further. First, I've always preferred Duncan Hines cake mixes over Betty Crocker, so that was an easy change. I chose Classic Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix. I also added 1/4 cup {natural unsweetened} cocoa, which raised the chocolatey level to my liking and made the cake less sweet. One of the things I loved about the original was that it wasn't as sweet as a typical cake in the United States. I glazed the pecans with a little sugar to add a crunch to the top of the cake, and I added more caramel to the top of the cake than they had suggested in the Betty Crocker recipe. Here's the result of those changes in the recipe...

Awesome yumminess.

I don't know if my pallet is particularly discerning, but, to me, this tasted very close to the original. It was delicious. My tweaked recipe is below. Not only is this tasty, but it's easy to make too!

Mexican Chocoflan

Ingredients
Cake:
1 jar (12.25 oz. caramel topping
1 box Classic Duncan Hines Dark Chocolate Fudge Cake Mix
1 cup water 

1/2 cup vegetable oil

3 eggs

1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa

Flan: 

1 can (14 oz.) sweetened condensed milk (not evaporated) 

1 cup milk

4 eggs

Sugared Pecans:

1/2 to 1 cup pecans

Directions:

• Heat oven to 350 degrees (Fahrenheit).  Grease a 12 cup fluted tube cake pan with butter. Take the top off the caramel jar and put the jar in the microwave for 15 seconds to heat the caramel and make it thinner to pour. Pour 1/2 - 3/4 of the jar of caramel topping (6 oz. - 9 oz.) into the bottom of the pan. Refrigerate the remaining caramel topping. 
• In large bowl, beat cake mix, water, oil, 3 eggs and cocoa in an electric mixer on medium speed till the cake mix is blended about one minute, scraping bowl occasionally. (Do not over-beat. You want a more dense cake, rather than light and airy.) Pour batter over caramel topping in pan.
• In blender, place flan ingredients. Cover; blend on high speed until smooth, about 40 seconds. Slowly pour mixture over the batter in the pan. (Flan mixture will mix with the batter as you pour, but they will separate during baking, forming 1 layer of cake and 1 layer of flan.)
• Place cake in large roasting pan in the oven. (I use a metal 9x13 pan.) Add one inch of hot water to roasting pan, so that your cake pan is sitting in a water bath.
• Bake 1 hour 5 minutes to 1 hour 10 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Remove cake pan from water bath to cooling rack. Cool completely, for at least one hour. 
• Place serving plate upside down on the cooled cake pan; turn plate and pan over. Remove pan. 
• While the cake is baking or cooling make the sugared pecans. Make a simple syrup -- about 1/4 cup water to 1/2 cup sugar (1 part water to 2 parts sugar) in saucepan. Stir in pecans and cook until liquid is gone and the pecans are covered with sugar. Then spread the pecans on a cookie sheet and bake for a few minutes at 350 degrees. Cool. Sprinkle these on the top of the flan. You can also use fresh fruit, as in the first photo.
• This cake can be prepared the day before, in fact, the cake is more moist and the flavors are better the second day!

Enjoy!

Caramel Apples...

Last week my DIL Meghann and I made caramel apples. She had suggested we make them about a month ago, and, finally, the stars aligned and we were able to get together! I'd made them one time before, and it was a total disaster, so I was looking forward to learning from a pro. It wasn't until we were about ready to start that she told me she'd never made them before. {What?!@*!} However, she simply turned to a YouTube video, and we learned all we needed to know. We ended up making 24 of these beauties!

One thing I learned that would have made my first experience a success, is that you need to wash the apples really well -- scrubbing them a bit to get off all the wax that is applied to the outside of them before they are displayed at the store. If you don't get the wax off, your toppings -- especially your caramel -- will slip right off the apple. {Lesson learned.}

We had a variety of toppings. We dipped them all in caramel, let that harden by refrigerating the apples for a little while, then dipped them in white chocolate or dark chocolate. In the photo above, the apple on the left was dipped in caramel, then white chocolate, and, finally, in a cinnamon and brown sugar mixture. It's called an "Apple Pie Caramel Apple." The one on the right was dipped in caramel, then dark chocolate and pecans.

We also used a drizzle method {see photo above}, where the apples were dipped in caramel, and then drizzled with white chocolate and dark chocolate. Sometimes nuts or tiny chocolate chips were added to the drizzle at the top.

Meghann and I talked about our love of family traditions as we were making these and decided that this would have to be a new traditional fall activity that we would keep!

Happy Labor Day...

For all my U.S. friends, a happy Labor Day to you! We are enjoying the three day weekend with family and friends. Last night our son and his new bride treated us to a Mexican fiesta dinner -- complete with elote (Mexican grilled corn). To say it was fabulous is an understatement...

Today the hubs and I are measuring windows. We are going to make some board and batten exterior shutters for our windows. We're excited about that project. We're also getting a new garage door and painting the house.

All these projects that have been put off for a couple of years, so we're excited to start this process. Later this week I'll share some projects I've been working on recently. Till then... have a great day!

Freezer Jam...

Freezer Jam.... where have you been all my life?

This last weekend we made a "quick" drive to Omaha to go to our granddaughter's princess birthday party. The next day we went with their family to Bellevue Berry and Pumpkin Ranch and picked some fresh raspberries. I was amazed at how many berries we were able to pick in short amount of time -- about three pounds!

That night after treating us to fresh raspberry shakes, my daughter and I made some freezer jam. I never really knew how easy it is to make freezer jam. It is sooo quick and easy!

I've always thought freezer jam was a step below jam made with a water bath canner, because some of the freezer jam I've eaten has had sugar crystals remaining in the jam, which doesn't taste or look that that appetizing.

To reduce the risk of this, we heated up the raspberries in the microwave for a couple of minutes before and after adding the sugar. This helped the sugar dissolve more quickly and thoroughly. Then we added the hot pectin and water mixture, which further helped the sugar dissolve into the liquid mixture.

The one thing I love {other than it being so easy to make} about freezer jam, is that it tastes so fresh. The berries haven't been cooked, so they still have that delicious just-picked flavor and their color is still vibrant! I was so inspired by our berry picking experience at my daughter's that when I saw raspberries on sale at our grocery store yesterday, I couldn't help making some freezer jam for us too. So delicious!

One Hour Homemade Wheat Bread...

It's another snowy day in Colorado. On days like this I just want to escape the elements and hunker down at home. I love watching it snow, but I prefer watching it from inside my warm, dry house.

Today I decided to make some bread, rather than brave the elements, so I turned to a quick recipe that has become a favorite of mine.  It's an easy one hour bread recipe that I've tweaked to include wheat flour. I love adding whole wheat flour to my bread recipes, because then I can tell myself I've eaten "healthy" when I down a whole loaf in 2 1/2 hours. {just kidding}

Simple One Hour Homemade Wheat Bread

Makes 1 to 2 loaves.

3 1/4 cups white flour

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 1/2 tsp. salt

1 1/2 Tbsp. (rounded) instant yeast

1 1/2 Tbsp. oil

2 cups warm water (about 100 to 115 degrees Fahrenheit)

1. Combine dry ingredients into a mixing bowl. Add oil and water and mix for one minute. (I use an electric mixer with a hook.) The dough should be very sticky. If it's too dry, add a little more warm water.

2. Knead with the hook in your electric mixer (or by hand) for about 3 to 4 minutes.

3. Spray kneading surface with cooking spray and turn dough out onto surface. Knead dough briefly until it has a smooth even consistency. This will only take a few turns of the dough to accomplish.

4. This recipe makes one large loaf or two smaller loaves of bread. (I prefer to shape my dough into one large loaf and put it in a pan that is 12" long x 4.5" wide x 3" tall. If you have smaller pans, shape the dough into two loaves.) Shape into loaf and place into greased loaf pan. Lightly spray the top of the loaf with cooking spray. Cover with a large dish towel and let rise for 25 minutes.

5. While loaf is rising, preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 minutes or until golden brown and bread sounds hollow when tapped. Remove from pan onto wire rack to cool. While the loaf is still warm run a tablespoon or two of butter over the top of the loaf. The butter will melt as you're doing this and it will give the loaf a beautiful shiny glaze and add a yummy buttery flavor to the crust.

I love this quick and easy bread recipe because it literally takes a little over an hour from start to finish. I'm going to use this loaf for BLTs that I'll make for dinner. Who doesn't love a good bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwich? Here's a recipe that we've grown to love that's a little different than the regular BLT version.

***UPDATE: I just wanted to show you the beautiful texture of this yummy bread...