Recipe Review from 10/15/12

By the time this is posted, I'm hoping the cement will have been poured for the outbuilding that I talked about Saturday.

Otherwise, a mostly uneventful week.  I took of early one super nice day to work in the yard and ended up sweeping out and tidying the garage for winter. That was followed by three days of dreary.

Several new recipes to comment on:

Caramelized Banana Bread  (Ckng Lght Oct 2012)
First, let me say right off the spatula, that my banana's were extremely ripe. And frozen/thawed.  So I ended up heating up the butter, then simmering the bananas in the butter and brown sugar till thickened.  Ultimately, this was okay.  I'm not sure it was worth the whole cook in butter and brown sugar bit.  The bread does turn out darker than a traditional banana bread, and perhaps a bit more buttery, but not enough to make me say THIS is the recipe.   I also skipped the glaze - seemed overkill for banana bread which is sweet enough on its own.

Photo from CookingLight.com  

• 4 tablespoons butter, softened and divided
• 3/4 cup packed dark brown sugar
• 3 medium ripe bananas, sliced
• 1/2 cup fat-free buttermilk
• 3 tablespoons canola oil
• 2 tablespoons amber or gold rum
• 2 large eggs 
• 9 ounces all-purpose flour (about 2 cups)
• 3/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• Baking spray with flour (such as Baker's Joy)
• 1/3 cup powdered sugar
• 2 teaspoons half-and-half

1. Preheat oven to 350°.

2. Melt 3 tablespoons butter in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add brown sugar and bananas; sauté 4 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; cool 10 minutes. Place banana mixture in a large bowl. Beat with a mixer at medium speed until smooth.

3. Combine buttermilk and next 3 ingredients (through eggs). Weigh or lightly spoon flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine flour, baking soda, and salt. Add flour mixture and buttermilk mixture alternately to banana mixture, beginning and ending with flour mixture; beat at low speed just until combined. Scrape batter into a 9 x 5-inch metal loaf pan coated with baking spray. Bake at 350° for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in center comes out with moist crumbs clinging. Cool for 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack. Remove bread from pan, and cool on wire rack.

4. Melt remaining 1 tablespoon butter in a small, heavy saucepan over medium-high heat. Cook 3 minutes or until butter begins to brown; remove from heat. Add powdered sugar and half-and-half, stirring with a whisk until smooth. Drizzle glaze over bread. Let stand until glaze sets.

Julianna Grimes, Cooking Light
OCTOBER 2012

Italian Sausage Hoagies  (Ckng Lght Oct 2012)
Okay, dinner doesn't get much easier or tastier than this.  Seriously.  I used a 'hot' Italian sausage (hot for northern MN means they use pepper...okay, I jest, it had a bit more heat than that. But not much...) instead of the turkey sausage.  I sliced the onion thinly and caramelized it before adding the red pepper.  Then in went the sausage, browned, and added the marinara sauce.  I skipped the garlic because I don't use jarred I was too lazy to chop my own.  Dinner was on the table in about 30 minutes total.  Four servings is spot on.  I didn't serve anything along side, but if you need a bit extra, some tater tots would be fun.    

Photo from CookingLight.com

• 4 (2-ounce) hoagie rolls, halved lengthwise
• 9 ounces sweet turkey Italian sausage, cut into 1-inch-thick pieces
• 1/2 cup prechopped onion, sliced
• 1 teaspoon minced fresh garlic
• 1 cup lower-sodium marinara sauce (such as Amy's)
• 1 small red bell pepper, thinly sliced 
• 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper 
• 2.25 ounces shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese (about 1/2 cup)

1. Preheat broiler to high.

2. Hollow out top halves of rolls. Arrange rolls, cut sides up, on a baking sheet. Broil 1 1/2 minutes or until toasted. Set aside.

3. Heat a large skillet over medium-high heat. Add sausage to pan; cook 2 minutes or until lightly browned, stirring occasionally. Add onion and garlic; cook 1 minute. Add marinara, bell pepper, and black pepper; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 6 minutes or until bell pepper is crisp-tender.

4. Arrange about 3/4 cup sausage mixture over bottom half of each roll; sprinkle each serving with about 2 tablespoons cheese. Place on a baking sheet; broil 2 minutes or until cheese melts. Top with top halves of rolls.

Mary Drennen, Cooking Light
OCTOBER 2012

Chicken and Orzo Skillet Dinner  (Ckng Lght Oct 2012) 

This dish can be on the table in about 35 minutes from start to finish.  It is that quick!  And very tasty.  I started the water boiling, then chopped the tomatoes, assembled the spices, pulled out the spinach, warmed up the skillet and chopped the turkey (I subbed turkey breasts).  While turkey was cooking the orzo was ready to go in.  By the time the turkey was done, so was the orzo, assembled and on the table! 

I did serve the pasta separate from the dish, as I really don't like how mushy orzo can get when in sauce for too long.  And kept the leftovers separate too. 

Photo from CookingLight.com

• 1 pound skinless, boneless chicken breast halves, cut into bite-sized pieces 
• 8 cups water
• 12 ounces uncooked orzo
• 2 cups chopped tomato (about 2 medium) 
• 2 teaspoons no-salt-added tomato paste 
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1/4 teaspoon black pepper 
• 3 cups baby spinach leaves
• 3 ounces feta cheese, crumbled (about 3/4 cup)   
• I used goat cheese 'cause I had some in the fridge

1. Heat a nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add chicken. Sauté 6 minutes, turning to brown all sides. Remove chicken from pan; keep warm.

2. Bring 8 cups water to a boil in a large saucepan. Add orzo; cook 8 minutes or until orzo is al dente. Drain in a colander over a bowl, reserving 1/4 cup cooking liquid.

3. Add reserved cooking liquid, chopped tomato, tomato paste, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and peppers to skillet; cook over medium-high heat for 2 minutes. Add chicken, pasta, and 3 cups spinach leaves, stirring until spinach wilts. Remove from heat; sprinkle with cheese.

Vanessa Pruett, Cooking Light
OCTOBER 2012

Harvest Stew (Whole Foods Co-Op Flyer)

Lunches this week was a hearty "harvest" stew, cooked in the crockpot rather than on the stove.  Simplify! Simplify! Simplify!  I cooked for about 4 or 5 hours on low.    The apple adds a nice counterpoint of sweetness to the potato and butnut squash.  This made 10 lunch servings for two of us. 

1 lb butternut squash, cubed

1 russet potato (I used 4 baby reds), cubed

1 red bell pepper, chopped

1 apple, cored and cubed

1 onion, diced 
3 cloves garlic, minced   (I skipped. Lazy.)

1 14oz can diced tomatoes, do not drain

1 14oz can kidney  beans, drained (I used black beans, your preferred bean of choice is fine)

1 qt vegetable broth

3/4 cup barley (I used ~ 1 cup to use the last of it up)

1 cup water or white wine

1 tbsp curry powder (I used 1 teaspoon sweet curry)

salt/pepper to taste