Just a bit of mid week smile in your mail! :)
Read MoreHappy.....
in Food & Drink, breakfast, Dessert
Banana
A banana cake made with the ancient wheat variety, Einkorn and generous dollops of nutella swirled into it for luxurious seduction of the palate.
Banana Einkorn Cake with Nutella Swirls
in breakfast, Dessert, Food & Drink
Einkorn is an heritage wheat strain that has been recently growing in popularity. The idea is that this is the unadulterated version of wheat, from when the wheat DNA was not being tampered with to create higher yield, larger kernel, pest-resistant crops. What I found with Einkorn is that I am still left with the same level of susceptibility but the amount of this wheat I can partake before flaring up on allergens is much higher. So, I am ok to have a large slice of cake made with this flour that I typically would not be able to indulge in (without fallout) with a regular white flour goodie. One would then think that this is such a manna and with a simple substitution, all would go back to the hegemonies days of indulgence. But, fortunately, that is not quite possible.
At the heart of it, it a very source of carbohydrates and one with mitigated side effects (for me). Balancing that is the price of this non-commodity. As it is not optimized for yield or resistance, it is a very natural grain that is well susceptible to the natural forces. It is not abundantly available and is priced as such. So, I have to be parsimonious in my use of it and as much conscious of how I incorporate it. Banana bread/cake is, I think, well worth this investment. As it is, it is memorable as one of the first from-scratch bakes from my kitchen. Over that, its functionality as both breakfast as well as dessert, makes it an ideal target for use. Also, a little flour goes a long way here as the bulk of the volume comes from the bananas.....
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Italian in my Banana Bread
Weekends are for experiments; Trying out new ideas, recipes, restaurants, activities.. you know, life. Monday to Friday blurs in a flurry of routine, structure, commuting schedules, outlook reminders, being yelled at, coffee with colleagues/friends to cope and bitch, evenings with significant others to bemoan the troubling boss/team, you know, boring stuff that pays bills... and, for weekends!
I can't remember the last memorable thing that I have done during the weekdays that has not been eclipsed by the weekend! Sure, there have been times when I have whooped and thought this was the best day ever, when I closed that amazing deal, or when I was promoted, or when I delighted in seeing a movie mid-week (!!! shock-horror!!!) or I ran into a long lost someone and we shared a coffee spontaneously (happens all too rarely!).. or.. or....
Read MoreFor Love's Sake
Happy Valentine's Day! :)
It is Valentine's Day tomorrow. I am fully aware. But, I don't have any special recipes for the occasion or a round up for dazzling your significant other. I am not writing a valentine's post today. Well, not really.
I want to talk to you banana bread. That is all I want to do today.
Why do I want to talk about this relatively mundane item? Well, because that is how I started baking. My first fully made from scratch baked sweet was a banana bread. It made absolute sense. I love bananas, no, I really love bananas. A the idea of the wafting smells of baking bread has stayed with me since my Enid Blyton reading days.
For years, this bread used to be a rather common occurrence in my kitchen. I typically had bananas at home and whipping this up was usually a matter of no thought. And, suddenly, I stopped.
It just seemed too much of a pattern. I wanted excitement. I wanted challenge. Given the choice of a banana bread and something new to try, I gravitated to the latter more. This period was when I was in a quest for something missing in my life. It is indeed curious how my choices in the kitchen reflected this inner flight.
Then, as suddenly, I had the urge this weekend to bake banana muffins. It seemed right. I was rested. Back to feeling strong, happy and content.
So, what I am saying is, these muffins are not the pump your adrenalin, let's go skydiving kind you want to share with your Valentine. Nor are they the ones that say, you are sooooo awesome and I will die, just die, without seeing you every moment of the day.
They are however, the ones, that you want to put on the table, sip on coffee/tea in the early light of morning, look at your partner and smile. Because, the sparkle in your eyes is saying so much -
That you are happy he/she is in your life.
That you cannot imagine a day without and thankful for their being there.
That you feel full and happy when you are sharing life with them.
That simply sitting down and enjoying each others company is thrilling.
That you can laugh together about nothing and about everything.
That you have found home.
Banana Peanut Butter Breakfast Muffins
2 bananas, very ripe
4T butter
1-1/4 cup whole wheat flour
1/3 cup sugar
2 generous T peanut butter
handful of chocolate covered espresso beans, chopped + some whole for garnish
1 egg
1 T milk
1 tsp vanilla essense
1 tsp baking soda
Whisk together the sugar and butter. Chop and mash in bananas. Add the vanilla, peanut butter, milk, egg and whisk together. Sift together the dry ingredients into the wet mixture. Fold in the chopped chocolate covered espresso beans.
Divide the batter into 6 muffin cups. Top each with a chocolate covered espresso bean.
Bake at 400 for 25 mins and at 350 for 10 mins until muffins are browned on top and spring back when touched.
Cook on rack for 5 or so minutes and they are ready.