Whole Wheat Honey Banana Bread

I'm just gonna say it. This is the first bread I've ever made. For 21 years, I've never made anything like banana, pumpkin or zuchinni bread. I admit, the idea of baking sweet bread was slightly overwhelming to me. Why? I don't know. Although now I see how simple it really is. Like way too easy. For how delicious it turned out, people must have thought I slaved away in the kitchen when in actuality the hardest part was hovering over the oven, checking the bread every ten minutes. Was it worth it? I'd say so. I mean the loaf seemed to vanish in one day.

My favorite part of making this whole wheat honey banana bread? Mashing the bananas! I added a little more banana than the recipe asked for cause I need lots of banana in every bite, and that's what I got.

Mashed bananas...yum. I think the best compliment I received was from my boyfriend, Dalton telling me that I am not able to make this bread again because he literally can't stop himself from eating the entire thing

Combine the whole wheat flour, wheat germ, cinnamon and other dry ingredients.

Add the bananas and honey (the best ingredients by far). Combine but don't over mix.

 

Fill your loaf pan with the mixture. Just because I always need to go overboard, I sprinkled brown sugar on top (definitely recommended) seeing as how this sweet bread is relatively healthy. Then top with your choice of nuts! I chose walnuts, but I also had candied pecans in the pantry that would have been quite scrumptious.

 I finally mastered my first sweet bread. What next? Pumpkin Bread? Mmmmhhhm.

Ingredients:

2 Cups Whole Wheat Flour

1/2 Cup Wheat Germ

2 teaspoons baking powder

heaping 1 teaspoon cinnamon

generous pinch of salt

1/2 cup of honey

1/2 cup of canola oil

1 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

2 eggs

3 bananas, mashed

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Grease loaf pan.

Mix flour, wheat germ, baking powder, cinnamon and salt together (dry ingredients), and set aside. Whisk honey and oil very well to combine. Whisk in vanilla extract. Whisk in eggs one at a time and mix up very well. Then whisk in mashed banana quite well. Stir the wet ingredients into the dry, but be careful to not over-mix. Pour into loaf pan (and top with walnuts, pecans, sliced almonds etc.). I topped with brown sugar since the bread is only sweetened by the honey. Then I sprinkled walnuts which were just wonderful!

Bake for 40-45 minute or so rotating the pan in the middle of the bake-time.

Burrata & Prosciutto Pizza

Trader Joe's pizza dough. Go buy it. I always pass by it while shopping there thinking I don't really need it and it would probably be a disappointment, but oooooooh was I wrong. So wrong. I definintely need this in my life. I can't believe it took me this long to purchase the stuff. You are going to be blown away. Now after trying this, I'm taking a vow that I will never have pizza delivered to my house again. Why would I when this is so easy and sooooooooooooo oh.my.god. GOOD.

Just a few simple, easy steps.

Take the dough out of the packaging and flour your surface. Let the dough rise for 20 minutes.

Now it's time to test your pizza making skills. Toss the dough in the air to round it out. When finished, place on a baking sheet. What's awesome is the pizza doesn't have to be a perfect circle! It's homemade, so why not make it rustic? Mine turned out a little bit rectangular but the flavors all the same!

Spread the Trader Joe's pizza sauce (usually placed right by the dough in the store) on top of the dough.

I chose to use Burrata instead of regular Mozzarella because it's my favorite. I was a little worried that after heating, the burrata would fall apart and release a lot of water, but it worked out wonderfully. If you like goat cheese, blue cheese or any type of cheese, go ccrraaazzzyy. Next time I am going to try out a chicken, pear, candied walnut and gorgonzola pizza.

 

And after 12-15 minutes of baking in the oven, the crispy prosciutto, soft and fluffy burrata cheese ooze together and create a bomb ass pizza. The next day, I found some more Trader Joe's pizza dough in the fridge. I guess it's time to test out that gorgonzola, chicken pizza I was discussing earlier :)

Ingredients:

1 bag of Trader Joe's Pizza Dough

1 container of Trader Joe's Pizza Sauce

Burrata or Mozzarella Cheese

Prosciutto slices

Any topping your heart desires!

Directions:

1. Take the dough out of the bag and let rise for 20 minutes. After, carefully toss the dough in order to stretch it out. I like my crust thin and crispy so I basically covered the entire baking sheet.

2. Rub pizza sauce on top. I used the whole container even though it looked like a lot, but once cooked, it was just right. Slice burrata or mozzarella and disperse over the pizza sauce. Piece apart prosciutto and place on top of cheese. (If your one of those people who likes a lot of toppings, go crazy!).

3. Bake in a preheated oven at 450 degrees for 15-20 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and crispy.

Nutella Cookies

When figuring out what I should make for my little sister, Claire, for her 14th birthday celebration, I was struck by the idea of Nutella. Yes, that is a hint of what is to come (possibly a cake with nutella filling? who knows?!) Seeing as how Nutella was my primary source of nutrition while living in Italy, and slowly but surely became an everyday food item when I moved back to the States, Nutella spread on saltines is and forever will be a staple in my life. I can't describe how much I love the oooey goooey chocolate & hazelnut spread, but just trust me, it's an unhealthy amount. Whatever. It makes me happy and that's all that matters right? On occasion though, I will eat too much of the stuff and my tongue won't have working taste buds because of the acid. Hmmm, I should probably monitor myself...

 

 So it just so happens, I had a jar of nutella at home. Why not make a recipe that uses the yummy stuff? I really wanted cookies to dip in milk so I settled on chocolate cookies made with cocoa powder and nutella spread combined, leaving me with a wonderfully delicious, chewy midnight snack. You won't be disappointed if you make this. I know I wasn't. I think the recipe yielded around 3 dozen cookies and they were all gone by the next day. No exaggeration here. Oooops!

 How can anyone resist this stuff? I sort of hate Europe for bringing this into my life.

 Is anyone else noticing their chocolate craving increasing with age? At this rate, I'll be eating a whole bag of chocolate every night.

Oh, fun fact! I just came across a new item while shopping at Trader Joe's. Buy the dark chocolate almonds with rock salt because they are the best thing since sliced bread! I run to them if I am in dire need of some good chocolate and don't have these wonderful chewy nutella cookies on hand. I wish I made a double batch!

oooooh la la. chocolate and milk. the ultimate combo.

 Yep, we all know what that looks like! My sister could not let it go...

 

 After refrigerating the cookie dough for 15 minutes, scoop 1 tbsp. and roll into a ball, placing on lined parchment paper. Press down in the middle of the cookie because these cookies don't really rise when they bake.

 Makes about 3 dozen cookies

Recipe slightly adapted from Tasty Kitchen

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cup of all purpose flour

1/2 teaspoon of salt

1 teaspoon of baking powder

2/3 cup of cocoa powder

1/2 cup of unsalted butter

1/2 cup of granulated sugar

1/2 cup of dark brown sugar

2 tsp. of vanilla extract

1/2 cup of Nutella

1/3 cup of milk

Directions:

Whisk together the dry ingredients (flour, salt, baking powder, and cocoa powder) and set aside. With a stand mixer, combine unsalted butter with both types of sugar. Beat on medium speed until smooth and creamy, about two minutes. Add the vanilla extract, and if you want for a little more punch add some hazelnut extract (I did not have this one hand). Add the nutella until completely mixed together.

Into the creamed mixture, add the dry ingredients in increments, alternating with the milk in one batch, mixing well. Chill dough for at least 15 minutes because the cookie dough is very sticky and hard to deal with. You can even make the dough a few days in advance! Just wrap in plastic and place in the refrigerator. 

When ready to bake the cookies, take the batter out from the fridge and preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and begin scooping 1 tbs. balls, rolling the dough to be placed on the sheets. Gently press down on the cookie dough balls to flatten slightly (like shown above in the last picture). Continue making dough balls until you fill the cooking sheet, leaving about 2 inches between cookies.

Bake cookies for 10-11 minutes, or until soft and chewy. Remove cookies from the oven and let sit for 2 minutes to set. Transfer to cooling rack and let cool completely. Go grab a glass of milk cause you are DONE and ready to eat!

Apricot Shrimp Skewers

The other night, I had dinner over at my boyfriend, Dalton's parents house. His father, Bruce has become an amazing cook and was the genius who found this glorious recipe in Sunset Magazine. I must admit that Bruce was the one who showed me Sunset Magazine about a year ago and now I am officially obsessed. I know I have posted an overwhelming number of apricot recipes, and I am sorry for the individuals who aren't fans of the fruit, but wow they are my new favorite ingredient.

After being served this, I instantly had them copy me the recipe. I loved it so much I would have made it the day after for my family but I thought that would be a little excessive. So instead, I waited one day haha. Not very long, but I really wanted it again! Everyone in my family loved it as well. Definitely going to save this one!

Here the sesame oil, garlic, ginger, apricot jam, orange juice, lemon juice and soy sauce combine over the stove to create a lovely glaze.

Individually wrap the prosciutto around the shrimp after they have been deveined and thread onto the skewers, alternating apricot halves.

Remove the skewers after cooking on the grill for 8 minutes.

 

After letting the sauce sit for 15 minutes, the mixture thickens to create a lovely glaze that you can drizzle on top. 

Finally, top with chopped green onion for additional flavor and striking presentation.

This is a perfect seafood summer dish for a small or large group. What's great about this is everyone will think you slaved away in the kitchen in order to produce such delicious flavors, when in actuality the whole process is quite simple! I will be making this for a long time to come. Thanks Bruce!

 

Serves 4

Time 30 minutes

Ingredients:

2 tsp. Asian (toasted) sesame oil

1 tsp. each minced garlic AND fresh ginger

1/4 cup of apricot jam

1/3 cup fresh orange juice

2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp. reduced-sodium soy sauce

16 paper thin slices prosciutto from the deli, cut in half lengthwise

24 large (26 to 30 lbs.) peeled and deveined shrimp

6 apricots, quartered

1/3 cup sliced green onions

Directions:

Soak 12 wooden skewers in warm water. Prepare grill for high heat. Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat. Cook the garlic and ginger until fragrant (about 2 minutes). Add jam, juices, and soy sauce and cook until simmering. Measure out 1/2 cup glaze; set rest aside in order to thicken.

Wrap prosciutto pieces around already deveined shrimp and thread onto a skewer. Alternate threading shrimp, then apricot. (I fit about 3 shrimp and 2 apricot halves on each skewer).

Cook shrimp skewers, turning as needed and brushing with reserved 1/2 cup glaze, until shrimp is opaque, 8 minutes. Sprinkle with onions and serve with extra glaze.

Strawberry Galette

Everywhere I look I see strawberries. Like I've mentioned before, I spend my days usually reading up on the latest recipes and following my beloved food bloggers. It seems like everyone, and I mean everyone, has been consuming the delicious summer fruit. I even read one article which supplied 100 strawberry recipes. And yes, this strawberry galette made it on the list.

Making pie crust is a difficult task. Just now am I starting to understand the many tricks that are involved in creating the perfect, buttery, soft, flaky pie crust. For this recipe I really wanted a buttery one so I read up and chose one that called for 2 sticks of butter. I just LOVE the stuff! At first I was a little skeptical but holy crap, it turned out good. Like exceptionally good. I even blew myself away with this one.

Once I was finished, I immediately laminated the strawberry galette recipe and will definitely be referring back to it for next summer. What's great about this pie dough is if you make double or even triple the amount, you will have a wonderful dough that can be made into traditional pies, a galette, or even made into sweet fries. I just read on Oven Love about how you can thinly slice pie dough to coat in sugar and cinammon before baking. Then you have sweet fries which you can dip in homemade whipped cream. Why haven't I made these yet? Good thing I have some left over dough waiting at home in the freezer!   

Before preparing the galette, let the sliced strawberries sit in cornstarch and sugar for a little while. This will help sweeten and thicken their juices.

I usually don't have photos of myself in the kitchen doing my thing, but here you go! Here I am trying to perfectly assemble each piece of fruit. The dough is very delicate so you have to leave plenty of room around for the dough to wrap around it. When you are ready, drizzle some of the remaining fruit juice over the strawberries.

 

Strawberry Galette:

  inspired by The Comfort of Cooking

Ingredients:

15-20 strawberries, stems removed and slices

3 tbs. white sugar

 2 tsp. corn starch

1 egg, beaten

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.

Clean the strawberries, remove stems and slice. Don't slice too thin because you want the strawberries to keep their shape. Place the sliced strawberries in a bowl and toss in cornstarch and sugar. Gently stir until the berries are covered completely.

Roll out the pie crust. Layer the berries, overlapping each other inside the pie crust starting one inch from the edge. Fold the edge of the dough over the strawberries to assemble the rustic pie. Brush the dough with the beaten egg to prevent the dough from unraveling. Sprinkle all over with 1 tbs. of sugar. Bake for 35-40 minutes and remove from the oven. Let it cool for 5-10 minutes before slicing. Serve with homemade whipped cream.

*For the homemade whipped cream, whip 1 cup of heavy cream until peaks form. Gradually add 1/4 cup of sugar and 1 teaspoon of vanilla extract. Spread on top of the galette once out of the oven. A really nice compliment to the warm rustic pie.

*If you are going to make your own crust, refer to Martha Stewart's Pate Brisee. That is what I used and it was lovely!

Apricot Glazed Pork Chops

I've been eating so many apricots lately. I added them in my white chocolate oatmeal cookies recently and then decided to substitute them in place of peaches for this pork chop recipe I found in Cooking Light. Don't get me wrong, I love peaches, but I thought why not try out something else? The cookies turned out wonderful, so I was sure these would be great too!

This recipe is super easy and fast! Just what I like for quick weeknight meals. Slice the apricots and prepare the fresh thyme.

Coat the apricots in sugar to help beak down and further sweeten.

The original recipe called for shallots, but I decided to swap those for red onions. The sweet flavor of this onion went exceptionally well with the apricots. These might have even been my favorite part of the dish!

Cook the pork chops for around 4-6 minutes on each side. You want the sides to turn a golden color for crispy texture with a lot of flavor. Then remove the meat from the pan and set aside in order to begin cooking the apricots, onion and thyme (use the same pan).

 

 Cook down for a short amount of time, then add the white wine plus chicken broth to deglaze (shown below).

Once reduced and thickened, add the pork chops back to reheat and absorb the flavor. Then it's ready to serve! 

Inspired by Cooking Light: Skillet Pork Chop Saute with Peaches

Ingredients:

2 teaspoons olive oil

4 (4-ounce) center-cut boneless pork loin chops, trimmed

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

1 red onion, cut

2 teaspoons chopped fresh thyme

5-6 apricots, sliced

1/2 cup of dry white wine

1/2 cup fat-free, lower-sodium chicken broth

2 teaspoons honey

2 teaspoons butter

Directions:

Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add oil to pan; swirl to coat. Sprinkle chops evenly with salt and pepper. Add chops to pan; cook for 4-5 minutes on each side or until done. Remove chops from pan, and keep warm. Add red onion, thyme and apricots to pan; cook for 2 minutes to soften. Stir in wine, scraping the pan to loosen browned bits and deglaze. Bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/3 cup (about 2 minutes).Stir in broth and honey; bring to a boil. Cook until reduced to 1/3 cup (about 2 minutes). Remove from heat; stir in butter. Spoon sauce over chops.

Cranberry & Pistachio Biscotti

 

Despite what your mother told you, cookies are perfect for breakfast. Some of us wake up without feeling hunger (definitely not me), but I know you're out there. For those of you who don't and are told to eat breakfast because it starts your day off right, then this is your go-to. Yes biscotti is a cookie, but its less sweet and goes perfectly with a glass of milk, or a cup of hot tea in the morning or at night. 

The word biscotti, means twice baked in Italian. In this recipe you bake the cookie once, remove from the oven and slice diagonally, placing back in the oven to cook for the remaining time, allowing the biscotti to reach a crunchy and soft consistency. If you never have tried homemade biscotti, it is an experience, quite different from buying them at Starbucks or the market. These are anything but hard on your teeth, and the flavor increases every day.

 

You can make all types of biscotti, but I chose to use cranberry and pistachio. It was so wonderful. Seeing as how two of my friends, Diane Kay (Stepmom) and Susan Monus, the woman I work for in Malibu had their birthdays recently, I decided to make biscotti because their shelf life is much longer than any other baked good. You can freeze them so they will last even longer too! How great is that? Always having a small snack to go along with your tea! 

My kitchen looked like a complete mess afterward because I doubled the recipe thinking there wouldn't be enough, but oh crap, I now am left with 3 huge ziplock baggies filled with biscotti just sitting here waiting to be eaten. If you ever are having a party, this is a great way to make a lot in one session.

 In a large bowl, mix together the butter and sugar. Then combine the dry ingredients before adding the pistachios and cranberries.

 

What I did notice is the pistachio are much stronger in flavor than the cranberries, so if you are in it for the cranberries mostly, I would highly recommend adding more. For me, the proportions were perfect, but I probably would add a little more pistachio and cranberry so that there is more in every bite.

 

Just a note, the dough is extremely sticky, so don't be shy when flouring your surface. Mix one egg in a bowl to coat the dough when formed into a log. (shown below).

 Before going into the oven (above) and first time removed from the oven shown below.

 At this point, your kitchen will smell like you are in Tartine Bakery, which is located in the Mission District in San Francisco. That's a good thing if you've never been there and don't know what I am talking about. I had one of the most delicious meals I have ever eaten recently. My mom and I shared a vegetable croque monsieur and a lovely quiche. Go there if you are in San Fran. You can smell it from a few blocks away and everyone leaves happy with a smile on their face. I'm killing myself for not taking any pictures...oh well.

 After removing, cut the biscotti diagonally. Do not cut immediately after taking out of the oven, wait around 15-20 minutes so that it won't crumble and fall apart. Don't wait too long or else it will harden and it won't slice easily, leaving you with a messy kitchen and not so pretty biscotti.

 On a wire rack, place the biscotti on the side they were cut to prep for their second baking round. You can see the lovely pistachio and cranberries throughout. At this point, the outsides are hardening, but the inside is soft. If you like doughy centers, you technically don't have to bake again, although it wouldn't reaaallly be biscotti. Who care though right?!

And there it is, after baked a second time, the outsides are even more golden and the inside is crispier than before, yet softer than market bought biscotti. Like other recipes, I'm sure everyone is sad when the last bite is taken and you are longing for more. Nope, not in this case. Like I said, 3 bags of biscotti left (I doubled the recipe for birthday presents). I will have these in the freezer for quite some time. Who wants to come over for a tea party?

Cranberry-Pistachio Biscotti
originally from Marth Stewart

Ingredients:
 1/2 cup dried cranberries
1/2 cup boiling water
3 cups all purpose flour, plus more for dusting
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/4 teaspoon salt
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup of sugar, plus more for sprinkling
3 large eggs, plus 1 large egg, lightly beaten
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1/2 cup (2 1/2 ounces)salted pistachios, coarsely chopped

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 357 degrees. Line large baking sheet with parchment paper; set aside. Place cranberries in a small bowl; add boiling water. Let stand until plump, about 15 minutes. Drain, and set aside. Sift together flour, baking powder, and salt into a medium bowl; set aside.

2. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes. Add 3 eggs, one at a time, beating to incorporate after each addition and scraping down sides of bowl as needed. Beat in vanilla. Add flour mixture, and mic on low speed until combined. Mix in cranberries and pistachios.

3. Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface; divide in half. Shape each piece into a 16 by 2 inch log, and transfer to prepared baking sheet, about 3 inches apart. With the palm of your hand, flatten logs slightly. Brush beaten egg over surface of the dough logs, and sprinkle generously with sugar.

4. Bake, rotating sheet halfway through, until logs are slightly firm to touch, about 25 minutes. Transfer logs on parchment paper to a wire rack to cool slightly, about 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 300 degrees.

5. Place logs on cutting board. Using a serrated knife, cut logs crosswise on the diagonal into 1/2 inch-thick slices. Place a wire rach on a large rimmed baking sheet. Arrange slices, cut sides down, on rack. Bake until firm to touch, about 20 to 30 minutes. Remove pan from oven; let biscotti cool completely on rack. Biscotti can be kept in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week. Freeze if you want to keep them longer.