Due to a lot of people inquiring about what is on my to-try-cooking list especially one item in particular. All I can do right now is suggest you wish for cooler days with less humidity here in southern Indiana.
For the one item everyone wants to know about - you'll have to wait. I cannot make these in humid weather - I know this from making the filling, during my cooking experiments growing up. Marshmallows + humid = fail. I'll have to wait until a drier cooler week to try my hand at Homemade Double Decker Moon-Pies. Yes I'd be bringing these to market - hence why the need for cooler days.
The list of things I want to try eventually is about 10 pages of recipe names and locations in MSWord - yes 10 pages. Most of it is muffins, cupcakes, snacks, and yes there's healthy stuff in there too.
I'm also going to be posting some recipes I haven't tested myself but that other friends have recommended to me, and that I think others might find useful - mostly those will be gluten-free recipes or things I have a digestive intolerance of or allergy to - mainly anything involving mushrooms.
I'll compile my next ten things I'd like to try - a wishful thinking list - one that assumes I have both the extra money, time and cooperative weather conditions and post it in a new post sometime today or tomorrow. Keep your eyes peeled (and hope for cooler, drier weather so I can make moonpies).
frawggie
Saturday, June 4, 2011
Friday, June 3, 2011
Banana Crumbcake Muffins
You know we've all done it. Bought bananas thinking we'll eat them and they either don't appeal to us after we buy them or they ripen too fast and we don't get the chance. Rather than let them go to waste - there were 5 large ones after all, I decided I'd make something out of them.
I'm not a huge fan of banana bread, mostly because it was the one fruit-inclusive thing I could get the ex to eat so it got made often, too often. That and I prefer my bananas fresh from their bright yellow wrapping. I knew muffins would be a good choice because they're portable, and being tomorrow is the Orleans Farmer's Market hosted by Orange County Homegrown so I figured I can sell what didn't get eaten at the house. Being I'm the only one with any affinity for banana bread here its likely the majority will go to market.
This recipe is short, sweet and to the point, sort of. I used a recipe found here that I modified in a few ways as you'll see below. I again used a spice blend from SpiceEmporium on etsy that I don't see listed but was their "For the Holidays" blend that you can probably ask for, it contains cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger & vanilla bean. It gives anything calling for cinnamon a lovely depth of flavor.
I had 4 large bananas going on their last days hanging from the banana hook and 1 banana that was further gone than those 4 but the flesh inside was just right. In all I had a LOT more banana than I think the original recipe intended. But they turned out very moist & very tasty.
Banana Crumbcake Muffins
Makes 15-18 large muffins
1 1/2 - 2 cups all purpose flour (you can probably use any type of flour you want including whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4-1/2 tsp salt (how much you use is up to you) I used 1/4 t and they worked fine
3-5 bananas, mashed (the more banana mixture you use the more flour you might need to add)
2 tsp For the Holidays spice blend or 2tsp mixed spices (such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger)
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp vanilla bean (the black goo from inside fresh vanilla beans), or 1tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup oil (I used vegetable, canola or even olive oil should work)
------------------------
Crumb topping:
2 Tbsp flour
1/3 cup brown sugar (doesn't need to be tightly packed but it does help)
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/8 tsp vanilla bean (the black goo from inside fresh vanilla beans)
1 Tbsp butter (not margarine butter works better)
----------------------------------
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 15-18 muffin cups with paper (or foil) liners, or spray your muffin pans well with cooking spray.
In large bowl mash the bananas, mix in 1/8 tsp vanilla bean goo, spice blend, and cardamom, egg, and white sugar, stir until blended. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and oil, combine well. Mixture will be slightly thinner than cake batter. Mine was nearly liquid so I added an extra half cup of flour (originally 1.5 c), a little at a time until it was the right consistency. Mixture will be lumpy with the banana mush.
Scoop into prepared muffin pans until about 3/4 full (more or less to suit means more or less muffins/bigger/smaller sized muffins).
Set aside. In small bowl combine crumb topping ingredients with fork blending until the mixture forms a streusel like topping. Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over each muffin top. Bake muffins at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until pick inserted in middle comes out MOSTLY clean. Due to the high moisture content of these mine were solid and darkening on top but the pick test was a 'mostly clean' result, vs a dry perfectly clean pick. My total cooking time was just under 20 minutes. If you have more than one muffin pan, rotate pans halfway through cooking to ensure even doneness.
Let muffins cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to wire racks for the rest of the cooling time. Store in airtight container.
Mine made 18 large muffins - likely due to the excessive amount of bananas I used. The total banana mixture I had was 2 2/3cups banana mush without the sugar, egg etc added in.
Whole vanilla beans make a huge difference in the flavor of these and most cooking (and you can use the bean two ways, scoop out the guts to add to your baking/cooking, and then recycle the bean by putting it into a light flavorless alcohol such as vodka or rum to make your own extract over time).
These and the Garlic Bacon Cheddar Sourdough muffins will be on our table at the market the weekend of June 4th 2011 if you're in the area come by and pick one up.
frawggie
I'm not a huge fan of banana bread, mostly because it was the one fruit-inclusive thing I could get the ex to eat so it got made often, too often. That and I prefer my bananas fresh from their bright yellow wrapping. I knew muffins would be a good choice because they're portable, and being tomorrow is the Orleans Farmer's Market hosted by Orange County Homegrown so I figured I can sell what didn't get eaten at the house. Being I'm the only one with any affinity for banana bread here its likely the majority will go to market.
This recipe is short, sweet and to the point, sort of. I used a recipe found here that I modified in a few ways as you'll see below. I again used a spice blend from SpiceEmporium on etsy that I don't see listed but was their "For the Holidays" blend that you can probably ask for, it contains cinnamon, coriander, nutmeg, cloves, allspice, ginger & vanilla bean. It gives anything calling for cinnamon a lovely depth of flavor.
I had 4 large bananas going on their last days hanging from the banana hook and 1 banana that was further gone than those 4 but the flesh inside was just right. In all I had a LOT more banana than I think the original recipe intended. But they turned out very moist & very tasty.
Banana Crumbcake Muffins
Makes 15-18 large muffins
1 1/2 - 2 cups all purpose flour (you can probably use any type of flour you want including whole wheat)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
1/4-1/2 tsp salt (how much you use is up to you) I used 1/4 t and they worked fine
3-5 bananas, mashed (the more banana mixture you use the more flour you might need to add)
2 tsp For the Holidays spice blend or 2tsp mixed spices (such as cinnamon, cloves, nutmeg, ginger)
1 tsp ground cardamom
1/4 tsp vanilla bean (the black goo from inside fresh vanilla beans), or 1tsp vanilla extract
1 egg
3/4 cup white sugar
1/3 cup oil (I used vegetable, canola or even olive oil should work)
------------------------
Crumb topping:
2 Tbsp flour
1/3 cup brown sugar (doesn't need to be tightly packed but it does help)
1/2 tsp cardamom powder
1/8 tsp vanilla bean (the black goo from inside fresh vanilla beans)
1 Tbsp butter (not margarine butter works better)
----------------------------------
Preheat oven to 350F. Line 15-18 muffin cups with paper (or foil) liners, or spray your muffin pans well with cooking spray.
In large bowl mash the bananas, mix in 1/8 tsp vanilla bean goo, spice blend, and cardamom, egg, and white sugar, stir until blended. Add flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, and oil, combine well. Mixture will be slightly thinner than cake batter. Mine was nearly liquid so I added an extra half cup of flour (originally 1.5 c), a little at a time until it was the right consistency. Mixture will be lumpy with the banana mush.
Scoop into prepared muffin pans until about 3/4 full (more or less to suit means more or less muffins/bigger/smaller sized muffins).
Set aside. In small bowl combine crumb topping ingredients with fork blending until the mixture forms a streusel like topping. Sprinkle crumb topping evenly over each muffin top. Bake muffins at 350F for 20-25 minutes or until pick inserted in middle comes out MOSTLY clean. Due to the high moisture content of these mine were solid and darkening on top but the pick test was a 'mostly clean' result, vs a dry perfectly clean pick. My total cooking time was just under 20 minutes. If you have more than one muffin pan, rotate pans halfway through cooking to ensure even doneness.
Let muffins cool in pan for 10 minutes, then remove to wire racks for the rest of the cooling time. Store in airtight container.
Mine made 18 large muffins - likely due to the excessive amount of bananas I used. The total banana mixture I had was 2 2/3cups banana mush without the sugar, egg etc added in.
Whole vanilla beans make a huge difference in the flavor of these and most cooking (and you can use the bean two ways, scoop out the guts to add to your baking/cooking, and then recycle the bean by putting it into a light flavorless alcohol such as vodka or rum to make your own extract over time).
These and the Garlic Bacon Cheddar Sourdough muffins will be on our table at the market the weekend of June 4th 2011 if you're in the area come by and pick one up.
frawggie
Garlic Bacon Cheddar Sourdough Muffins
Before I begin reviewing this recipe I have to take a moment to heartily thank Laura Gazarian, the wonderful market manager for both the Orleans and Valley Farmer's Markets that are organized and run by Orange County Homegrown. If it weren't for her encouragement that yes I could in fact start my own sourdough starter, and for her kindly sharing her own recipes for some basic (but incredibly yummy) sourdough bread products, I wouldn't be sharing this adaptation with you.
I hope that in most of the recipes I make and feature here that I can use a majority of locally sourced items in my creations but its just not always possible, but I will note which items are locally sourced when I can.
The locally sourced items in this recipe are:
Garlic from Brambleberry Farm
Green onion from another vendor at the market I can't readily name (sorry I'll find out the name & update the post once I've verified it)
The spice blend I use isn't locally sourced but it is handmade by an etsy vendor, whom I adore.
My title and recipe are inspired by Laura's recipe but all mistakes and revisions are my own. I apologize in advance for not having exact measurements because I learned to cook from my grandmother so I'm used to eyeballing a lot of ingredients for that I humbly apologize and will note the approximate measurements to the best of my ability.
These muffins aren't like any muffin you've ever had. They're not very moist but they are incredibly delicious (roommate & I each had one fresh out of the oven). Their texture is closer to that of a savory scone rather than the traditional muffin. I think I know part of why that might be which I'll touch on later in the blog. They are quite filling and while not entirely healthy in the way I made them I can say they are something I'll make again regardless of whether I sell them at market or not.
The recipe, assume it will make 12 large muffins or 18 medium muffins or probably 36 mini muffins but bite size + these don't really work.
(I doubled the original recipe that Laura gave me so I could make more than the standard 12, I ended up with 18 total and they're slightly smaller than I expected but again I think that's my own fault)
Garlic Bacon Cheddar Sourdough Muffins
(1)
7-8 strips thick cut smoked & cured bacon, cooked*
----------------------------------------------------------
(2)
3-4 regular size garlic cloves, or two large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 small green onion peeled & finely chopped
1/4 cup cold bacon grease (or 1/4 cup salted butter)
--------------------------------------------------------------
(3)
1 cup sourdough starter (unfed or medium ripeness - if unfamiliar just don't feed it yet, pull your 1cup out and then feed it, use the 1cup you'd normally throw away in these muffins, and feed as usual replacing the same amount you took out with half water & half flour)
2 cups all purpose flour (you can do a half & half mix of AP & whole wheat or all whole wheat its up to you)
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (don't use quick oats)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (I accidentally forgot this but my bacon grease was salty so maybe it made up for it?)
1/4 cup canola oil (or your choice of cooking oils)
2 tsp spices of your choice *see note 2 at end*
2 eggs
3/4 cup total of additions - to get to about 3/4c I factored in the large amount of garlic & onion I added, plus the 4strips bacon chopped into 1/4inch pieces, and about 1/2 cup freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese - adjust to suit your tastes.
(1)
Before beginning the muffin mix preheat oven to 450F, line a 13x9 baking pan with foil, up the sides and higher than a baking rack that will fit in the bottom of the pan (you can use any pan size you like here, its what holds 7-8 slice of bacon for me). Place bacon on the wire rack and place the entire pan in the oven. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until your bacon is desired doneness - watch closely at the end as it will go from undercooked to burnt in a very short time. Remove bacon to paper towels to cool & remove excess grease. Save your bacon drippings when cooled slightly in a reusable container in the fridge. It makes a flavorful oil substitute at the same calories. When bacon is done cooking turn oven down to 350F.
(2) While bacon is cooking, if you have bacon grease left from a previous round of bacon cooking add 1/4 cup cold grease to a non-stick pan on medium-low heat, when its melted and slightly warm, add in the chopped garlic & onion, cooking slowly until lightly browned and softened. Remove from heat, let cool at room temperature at least 5-10 minutes (this is where I think I made my mistake. I wasn't thinking and added the hot bacon grease to my dry ingredients.) Let cool until no longer hot, but not solidified.
(3) Prepare muffin tins with paper muffin liners, you can spray the liners with non-stick spray but I don't think its necessary unless you use more cheese, set aside.
Combine all ingredients except bacon & cheese I folded these in at the end so as not to over mix them. Make sure your bacon grease/garlic & onion mixture is cool enough you can touch it without getting burned (my mistake it was hot off the stove and I think it may have effectively killed off the starter).
Mixture will be very thick, you might need to add a little water to loosen up the batter, depending on how thin your starter was that you added at the beginning, mine was thinner than pancake batter so I didn't add water.
Do not over mix. Gently fold in your bacon & cheese, scoop into prepared muffin cups and bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Mine baked for 11 minutes, I rotated the pans, and then for another 12 minutes - 22 total.
Remove from oven and cool in pans for 1 minute, remove from pans to cool on a wire rack until cool. Store in airtight container.
Mine as listed above made 18 average sized muffins, slightly smaller rise than expected which was disappointing but they're yummy, and very hearty/dense texture.
*Note 1* I used 4 strips of cooked bacon in the muffins, ate 1 myself and roommate snuck one and the other was divided among the cats after the muffins were in the oven, if you're like me and like bacon any time, make extras and use what you like for the recipe.
*Note #2* For spices I used 2 tsp of a type of all purpose spice mix I got through etsy. It includes: garlic, basil, parsley, chives, savory, marjoram, lemon zest, black and cayenne pepper, coriander, mustard & celery seeds, thyme, & cumin. Its really good and it's not expensive - you can buy it here: Salt Free Garlic & Herb Spice Blend.
I hope you all enjoy this recipe and if you try it please post a link to your version, and let me know if you make changes I'm curious to see what everyone comes up with.
frawggie
I hope that in most of the recipes I make and feature here that I can use a majority of locally sourced items in my creations but its just not always possible, but I will note which items are locally sourced when I can.
The locally sourced items in this recipe are:
Garlic from Brambleberry Farm
Green onion from another vendor at the market I can't readily name (sorry I'll find out the name & update the post once I've verified it)
The spice blend I use isn't locally sourced but it is handmade by an etsy vendor, whom I adore.
My title and recipe are inspired by Laura's recipe but all mistakes and revisions are my own. I apologize in advance for not having exact measurements because I learned to cook from my grandmother so I'm used to eyeballing a lot of ingredients for that I humbly apologize and will note the approximate measurements to the best of my ability.
These muffins aren't like any muffin you've ever had. They're not very moist but they are incredibly delicious (roommate & I each had one fresh out of the oven). Their texture is closer to that of a savory scone rather than the traditional muffin. I think I know part of why that might be which I'll touch on later in the blog. They are quite filling and while not entirely healthy in the way I made them I can say they are something I'll make again regardless of whether I sell them at market or not.
The recipe, assume it will make 12 large muffins or 18 medium muffins or probably 36 mini muffins but bite size + these don't really work.
(I doubled the original recipe that Laura gave me so I could make more than the standard 12, I ended up with 18 total and they're slightly smaller than I expected but again I think that's my own fault)
Garlic Bacon Cheddar Sourdough Muffins
(1)
7-8 strips thick cut smoked & cured bacon, cooked*
----------------------------------------------------------
(2)
3-4 regular size garlic cloves, or two large garlic cloves, peeled and finely chopped
1 small green onion peeled & finely chopped
1/4 cup cold bacon grease (or 1/4 cup salted butter)
--------------------------------------------------------------
(3)
1 cup sourdough starter (unfed or medium ripeness - if unfamiliar just don't feed it yet, pull your 1cup out and then feed it, use the 1cup you'd normally throw away in these muffins, and feed as usual replacing the same amount you took out with half water & half flour)
2 cups all purpose flour (you can do a half & half mix of AP & whole wheat or all whole wheat its up to you)
1 cup old fashioned rolled oats (don't use quick oats)
1 tsp baking soda
1 tsp salt (I accidentally forgot this but my bacon grease was salty so maybe it made up for it?)
1/4 cup canola oil (or your choice of cooking oils)
2 tsp spices of your choice *see note 2 at end*
2 eggs
3/4 cup total of additions - to get to about 3/4c I factored in the large amount of garlic & onion I added, plus the 4strips bacon chopped into 1/4inch pieces, and about 1/2 cup freshly shredded sharp cheddar cheese - adjust to suit your tastes.
(1)
Before beginning the muffin mix preheat oven to 450F, line a 13x9 baking pan with foil, up the sides and higher than a baking rack that will fit in the bottom of the pan (you can use any pan size you like here, its what holds 7-8 slice of bacon for me). Place bacon on the wire rack and place the entire pan in the oven. Bake for about 15-20 minutes or until your bacon is desired doneness - watch closely at the end as it will go from undercooked to burnt in a very short time. Remove bacon to paper towels to cool & remove excess grease. Save your bacon drippings when cooled slightly in a reusable container in the fridge. It makes a flavorful oil substitute at the same calories. When bacon is done cooking turn oven down to 350F.
(2) While bacon is cooking, if you have bacon grease left from a previous round of bacon cooking add 1/4 cup cold grease to a non-stick pan on medium-low heat, when its melted and slightly warm, add in the chopped garlic & onion, cooking slowly until lightly browned and softened. Remove from heat, let cool at room temperature at least 5-10 minutes (this is where I think I made my mistake. I wasn't thinking and added the hot bacon grease to my dry ingredients.) Let cool until no longer hot, but not solidified.
(3) Prepare muffin tins with paper muffin liners, you can spray the liners with non-stick spray but I don't think its necessary unless you use more cheese, set aside.
Combine all ingredients except bacon & cheese I folded these in at the end so as not to over mix them. Make sure your bacon grease/garlic & onion mixture is cool enough you can touch it without getting burned (my mistake it was hot off the stove and I think it may have effectively killed off the starter).
Mixture will be very thick, you might need to add a little water to loosen up the batter, depending on how thin your starter was that you added at the beginning, mine was thinner than pancake batter so I didn't add water.
Do not over mix. Gently fold in your bacon & cheese, scoop into prepared muffin cups and bake at 350F for 20-30 minutes or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Mine baked for 11 minutes, I rotated the pans, and then for another 12 minutes - 22 total.
Remove from oven and cool in pans for 1 minute, remove from pans to cool on a wire rack until cool. Store in airtight container.
Mine as listed above made 18 average sized muffins, slightly smaller rise than expected which was disappointing but they're yummy, and very hearty/dense texture.
*Note 1* I used 4 strips of cooked bacon in the muffins, ate 1 myself and roommate snuck one and the other was divided among the cats after the muffins were in the oven, if you're like me and like bacon any time, make extras and use what you like for the recipe.
*Note #2* For spices I used 2 tsp of a type of all purpose spice mix I got through etsy. It includes: garlic, basil, parsley, chives, savory, marjoram, lemon zest, black and cayenne pepper, coriander, mustard & celery seeds, thyme, & cumin. Its really good and it's not expensive - you can buy it here: Salt Free Garlic & Herb Spice Blend.
I hope you all enjoy this recipe and if you try it please post a link to your version, and let me know if you make changes I'm curious to see what everyone comes up with.
frawggie
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