Banana bread times two

I should have known better than to mention a dish to you Stir Crazy folks without providing the recipe. On Monday, I told you I made Banana Mango (Blueberry Optional) Bread over the weekend. Several folks e-mailed to request the recipe. So here it is, an adaptation from a Cooking Light recipe. I double the recipe because I put blueberries in one and none in the other. My wolverine has something against blueberries!

I'm including a second recipe that ran in the paper this week, submitted by reader Shelly Downs of Largo, pictured here with her Fresh Blueberry Banana Bread, for our new feature in the food section called Signature Dish. Shelly's is a little different because it has a crumbly-sweet topping. Beautiful for a summer brunch.

Speaking of this new feature, I'm looking for Tampa Bay area cooks to shine the light on. Do you know someone who has a fantastic recipe he/she is willing to share? If so, e-mail name and contact information to features@sptimes.com. Put SIGNATURE DISH in the subject line.

Mango-Banana (Blueberry optional) Bread

(Makes 2 loaves!)

4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
2 cups sugar
1/2 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 large eggs
2 1/2 cup mashed bananas (about three)
1 mashed mango
1/2 cup fresh blueberries (for one loaf only, if you want blueberries in both, increase amount to 1 cup)
2/3 cup low-fat yogurt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
Cooking spray

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Combine flour, baking soda and salt with a whisk. Set aside.

Place sugar and butter in a large bowl, and beat with a mixer at medium speed until well blended (about 1 minute.) Add eggs, 1 at a time, beating well after each addition. Add banana, mango, yogurt and vanilla, beat until blended. Add flour mixture, beat at low speed just until moist.

Spoon half of the batter into an 8 by 4 inch loaf pan coated with cooking spray. Add blueberries to remaining half and pour that into a second prepared loaf pan.

Bake at 350 for 1 hour or until a wooden pick inserted in the center comes out clean. Cool 10 minutes in pan on a wire rack, remove from pan. Cool completely on wire rack.

Makes 2 loaves, about 14 slices each.

Source: Adapted from Cooking Light.

Fresh Blueberry Banana Bread

1 cup fresh blueberries
2 tablespoons flour plus 1 3/4 cups flour (separate uses)
2 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup butter flavored Crisco
2/3 cup sugar
2 eggs
1 cup mashed ripe bananas
Topping:
1/3 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/3 cup ground nuts (walnuts or pecans)
1/4 cup melted butter

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Toss the washed blueberries with 2 tablespoons flour. Set aside. Sift the remaining flour, baking powder, baking soda and salt together. Set aside.

In large bowl, cream the Crisco and gradually beat in the sugar until fluffy. Beat in the eggs, one at a time. Add the flour mixture alternately with the mashed banana, stirring until blended. Stir in the blueberries.

Pour mixture into greased loaf pan. Combine topping ingredients, sprinkle on top of batter. Bake for 50 to 60 minutes or until a toothpick come out clean. Makes 1 loaf.

Source: Shelly Downs, Largo

Rotisserie Chicken Wednesday

Pick up a rotisserie chicken tonight and make this fantastic creamed corn to go with it. Forget what you know about the canned stuff. Make it with real ears of corn and you'll be in heaven! The corn is really fantastic now. We've been eating a lot of it grilled with chili powder. Put on de-silked ear on foil, dot with some butter and sprinkle with chili power. Delish.

Make this tonight:

Creamed Corn With Parmesan

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
6 cups fresh corn kernels (about 8 ears)
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper, to taste
3/4 cup heavy cream
1/4 cup homemade or low-sodium store-bought chicken stock
1 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese, plus more for sprinkling

Heat oil in a large saute pan over medium-high heat until it starts to shimmer (but not smoke), about 2 minutes. Add corn and cook, stirring occasionally, until soft and slightly browned, 7 to 8 minutes. Season with salt and pepper.

Add cream and stock and cook, stirring constantly, until thickened slightly, 2 to 3 minutes.

Remove pan from heat and stir in Parmesan. Transfer to a serving dish and sprinkle with more Parmesan if desired.

Serves 4.

Source: Martha Stewart Living, August 2007

Wannabe Jersey girl?

Again, I was cooking up a storm on Sunday. Two loaves of banana-mango bread (one with blueberries, one without), the ziti with ricotta that I told you about last week, mini-meatloaves in muffins tins and sausage and peppers, a favorite of my son and husband (who is from New Jersey.) Now, I've never shopped at the Paramus Mall or anything, but I do think my sausage and peppers are good enough for a tailgate at the Meadowlands. (Actual photo from an actual Meadowlands tailgate of guys from the Saugus Rotery.)

(Besides all this, I combed the freezer for bits of meat to toss on the grill. I found 3 chorizo links, 1 big boneless, skinless chicken breast, ground chicken, ground pork and ground beef. Anyway, we had a nice mixed grill last night with grilled corn.)

Here's my Sausage and Peppers recipe:

2 tablespoons vegetable oil
8 (two packs) of uncooked Italian sausage (mild, med., hot, your choice)
2 large onions, thinly sliced
2 green peppers, julienned
1 12-ounce can diced tomatoes

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Heat a skillet and add the oil. Brown the sausage on two sides over medium heat. While sausage is browing, add sliced onions. Remove sausage and place in large, shallow casserole (like a 9 by 13 pan). Add green peppers to skillet and cook with onions for about five minutes. Add tomatoes and simmer so that some of the liquid evaporates, about 4 minutes.

Add veggies to the sausage, cover with foil and bake for about 1 hour.

Serve with or without hoagie rolls.

Serves 4.

Source: Janet K. Keeler, Times food and travel editor

Friday night mojitos

This is probably a bad sign that I'm thinking about cocktails so early, but it is Friday. Sounds like a good day for take-out to me, unless, of course you want to drink Strawberry Honey Mojitos for dinner. A twist on the Cuban mojito, this drink gets its sweetness from honey rather than sugar.

Fresh mint leaves are a must for both drinks and you'll need to "muddle" them by crushing in the bottom of the glass with the back of a long spoon (or an honest-to-goodness muddler). This releases the herb's oils and flavors the drink. (Watch me make - and drink - a mojito in my kitchen. Notice how I say rum ... my son makes fun of me unmercifully over that.) This thing pictured here is a muddler. Look for one at kitchen stores or well-stocked liquor stores.

For take-out, I say find a local Cuban joint and get shredded roast pork, rice and black beans. Don't forget the fried plantains.

Strawberry Honey Mojito
3 strawberries
5 fresh mint leaves
1 tablespoon honey
1 lime
Ice cubes
1 1/2 ounces light rum
2 ounces soda water

In a tall glass, combine the strawberries, mint leaves and honey. Muddle them until the strawberries are well crushed and the mint leaves bruised.

Juice half of the lime into the glass. Cut the remaining half of the lime into wedges. Fill the glass two-thirds full with ice, then add the lime wedges. Pour in the rum and soda water. Stir gently and serve.

Serves 1.

Source: Associated Press

Mojito

2 to 3 ounces Light rum
Juice of 1 lime
2 teaspoon sugar
2 to 4 mint sprigs
Soda water

Lightly muddle the mint and sugar with a splash of soda water in a mixing glass until the sugar dissolve and you smell the mint. Squeeze the lime into the glass, add rum and shake with ice. Strain over cracked ice in a highball glass. Top with soda water, garnish with mint sprig and serve.

Serves 1.

Source: Webtender.com

More shrimp, this time hot

I've got this thing for smoky chipotles and I'm easily satisfied now that I don't have to hitch up the wagons to look for them. Chipotles in adobo sauce are found in most grocery stores. So now my problem is not putting too much of them in dishes. Man, these little smoked and dried jalapenos are hot.

Sometimes I rinse them a bit and scrape out the blazing seeds. Since I can only use a maximum of 1 or I wilt like a day-after prom boutonniere, I puree the remainder and freeze. Then I can use whenever ...

Make this tonight:

Chipotle Shrimp Over Rice

1 (14 1/2-ounce) can reduced-sodium chicken broth
3/4 cup water
2 1/2 cups instant (5-minute) rice
1 teaspoon vegetable oil
1 small onion
1 medium green bell pepper
1 (14 1/2-ounce) can diced tomatoes seasoned with garlic and onions
1 (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
1 to 2 canned chipotle peppers in adobo sauce (for 1 to 2 tablespoons chopped)
1 tablespoon honey
1 pound medium shrimp, peeled

In a 2-quart saucepan, combine chicken broth and water. Cover the pan and bring it to a boil over high heat. When the broth boils, uncover and stir in rice, then re-cover and remove pan from the heat. Let the pan stand, covered, for 5 minutes or until ready to serve.

Meanwhile, in a 12-inch extra-deep nonstick skillet over medium-high heat, add the oil. Peel the onion and cut in half. Cut each half into crescent-shaped slices about 1/4-inch wide. Add the onion slices to the skillet as you cut them. Rinse and seed the bell pepper and cut it into bite-size pieces. Add the pieces to the skillet. Reduce the heat to medium and cook, stirring frequently, until the onions begin to soften, about 2 minutes.

Stir in the diced tomatoes with their juice and the tomato sauce. Finely chop the chipotle peppers and add them to the skillet. Add honey and stir to mix well. Add shrimp, raise the heat to medium-high and saute until the shrimp are pink and opaque throughout, about 3 minutes. Serve at once over hot rice.

Per serving: 421 calories (percent of calories from fat, 9), 31 grams protein, 65 grams carbohydrates, 4 grams fiber, 4 grams fat (2 grams saturated), 172 milligrams cholesterol, 976 milligrams sodium.

Serves 4.

Source: Atlanta Journal-Constitution, 2003

Rotisserie Chicken Wednesday

I love the mixed taste of lemon and tarragon, both perfect for an ice-cold summer chicken salad, which is something else I really like. You'll need to buy two rotisserie chickens for this dish since you just want to use the white meat. (Make a quick soup with the dark meat, adding it to boxed broth with some egg noodles and diced carrots and celery.)

Chicken salad is a very ladies-who-lunch meal, evoking those days when lots of department stores had restaurants (but before the Red Hat movement). I think it's still relevant today and so versatile. Raisins, nuts, grapes, mango chunks and all manner of herbs help make it different everytime you prepare it. These days, I'm partial to having a scoop for lunch over ice-cold greens. It's a tasty alternative for a light dinner, too, especially if you are feeding lots of people at different times. In this adapted recipe from Bon Appetit, the salad gets an extra lemony boost from lemon zest.

Lemon-Tarragon Chicken Salad
3/4 cup finely chopped celery
1/2 cup plus 3 tablespoons mayonnaise
1/4 cup finely chopped red onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh tarragon
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1 teaspoon grated lemon peel
3 breasts (4 if they're small) from a rotisserie chicken, skinned and cubed

Mix celery, 1/2 cup mayonnaise, onion, tarragon, lemon juice, and lemon peel in large bowl to blend. Cut chicken into 1/2-inch cubes; stir into mayonnaise mixture. Season with salt and pepper. (Can be made 4 hours ahead. Cover; chill.)

Serves 4 to 6.

Source: Adapted from Bon Appetit

Shrimply fantastic

Sometimes, leftovers do work.

Yesterday's Ziti with Ricotta got served for a second meal last night without any raised eyebrows. I made the plate look different by serving thin slices of baguette sprinkled with extra-virgin olive oil and draped with tomato slices and maple ham artfully placed over that. A handful of luscious Rainier cherries added color and cool. It was a light meal that fit the weather. Plus, it wasn't too much work.

Right now, I'm in mango mode and that's because our boutique trees are brimming with Julie, Dot and Mallika mangoes. Well, brimming may be an overstatement but we go have a few.

We got the trees about 5 years ago at the Mango Festival at Fairchild Tropical Garden in Coral Gables. It took a few years for them to bear fruit and now they are pretty faithful. These varieties have no strings and lack the turpentine flavor that commercial mangoes often have. A "delish delight" as my husband would say. For his cuteness, he will be rewarded with this tonight. Or maybe tomorrow night when our young wolverine has no baseball practice.

(The photo above, taken at the Mango Festival in 2003, shows the best way to cut a mango. For a visual demonstration on how to peel, go to In Janet's Kitchen.)

Shrimp and Mango Cocktail
1 pound large shrimp, deveined (about 20)
1 mango, peeled and diced (about 2 cups)
3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
Juice of 1 lemon
2 tablespoons chopped fresh mint, plus sprigs for garnish
1 1/2 tablespoons finely chopped red onion
1 clove garlic, minced
Salt and pepper

In a large pot of boiling, salted water, cook the shrimp until pink and opaque, 1 to 2 minutes. Drain and rinse under cold water. Discard the shrimp tails and chop the meat in half. Transfer the shrimp to a bowl. Place the mango in a separate bowl.

In a small bowl, whisk together the olive oil, lime juice, chopped mint, onion, jalapeno and garlic; season to taste with salt and pepper. Pour half the vinaigrette over the shrimp and toss; pour the remaining vinaigrette over the mango and toss.

Spoon layer of mango into 4 martini glasses. Top with a layer of shrimp, then another layer of mango. Top each serving with a mint sprig.

Serves 4.

Source: Everyday with Rachael Ray

Three cheers for Jim!

I'm back from the Wild, Wild West and thankful that I can breathe clean air. The fires in California are spewing smoke that's blowing all over the state.

Big thanks to Jim Webster for providing such great recipes and other cooking insights while I was gone. I told you he'd have lots of good stuff for you to make. Can't wait to try some of the recipes myself.

Having been away from my kitchen for so long, I was cooking up a storm yesterday in my jet-lag stupor. Lemon Cream Scones, deviled eggs (just to use up the eggs in the fridge), herb dip with crudite, and Ziti with Ricotta from Roy Finamore's "Tasty." If you haven't seen this cookbook it's worth checking out at the book store or online. Finamore is a longtime editor of cookbooks and this book is full of lots of doable recipes.

I was drawn to this recipe because of the goat cheese ... I'm a sucker for the tangy taste. Laura Chenel's chevre is my favorite widely available brand. Pair the goat cheese with ricotta and the pasta and, well, what's not to like? I added a half of a bag of baby spinach leaves to the pasta water toward the end of the cooking time, giving the dish more nutrition and color. I'll share more later this week about my trip to five states, but for now, plan on making this for dinner tonight.

Ziti with Ricotta
1 pound ziti or penne rigati
Half a bag of baby spinach leaves (optional)
1 pound ricotta (I used part skim-milk)
2 ounces fresh goat cheese
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
Freshly ground black pepper
Freshly grated Pecorino, for serving (I used Parmesan)

Bring a large pot of water to a boil. Salt the water and pour in the pasta. Stir. Set your serving bowl on top of the pot to warm it.

While the pasta cooks, whips the ricotta and goat cheese together with a fork. A few minutes before the pasta is done, dump in the spinach and let it wilt. When the pasta is al dente, ladle out a cup of the water for use in the sauce. Drain the pasta and spinach and return it to the pot. Stir in the butter and the cheeses and season with pepper. Stir in enough of the pasta water - a little at a time - to make a smooth sauce. (I only used about 1/4 cup.)

Scrape the pasta into the serving bowl and serve immediately. Pass the grated cheese at the table.

Serves 4 to 5 as a main dish.

Source: "Tasty" by Roy Finamore (Houghton Mifflin, 2006).

Slow-cooker Q

Here's a holiday bonus: I'm making this for our pot luck at work tomorrow. But I'm making it tonight. That's the beauty.

I love barbecue pork sandwiches. And I'm sure that some day when I have 12 consecutive hours of nothing-better-to-do, I'll set up a low, smoky fire on the grill and babysit a pork shoulder all day while all   the fat melts and it gets all tender and delicious. It hasn't happened yet, though, and my slow cooker is the reason.

The barbecue pork I make in the slow cooker is not the same. I understand that and accept it. And for fear of heresy, I'm not going to compare the two. That I like the slow cooker version a lot can just stand as testament to how much I also like the real thing.

If you don't have a slow cooker (crock pot, whatever), well, I'm not going to tell you what to buy, but you're missing out on a great tool. I'm sure this recipe could translate to stove top or oven somehow, but I don't know the answer to that.

The sauce is also totally to the cook's discretion. I start here with bottled chili sauce and BBQ sauce, but try all of one or the other, or get crazy and try some teriyaki or hoisin. Or ketchup and mustard.

Slow-cooker Q

4-5 lbs pork roast, shoulder or butt
1 med onion, chopped
2 tsp fresh ginger, grated (optional)
1 cup chili sauce
1 cup bbq sauce
1 green bell pepper, chopped

on the stove top heat the crock pot insert (if yours is stovetop safe) or a skillet and brown each side of the pork. this step is optional.

with the crock pot insert in the heating element, turn the crock pot on to low. add the rest of the ingredients. cover. walk away. you're good for the next 8-12 hours, or whenever you're ready to eat.

just before you're ready to eat, lift the roast out of the crock pot on to a large cutting board or platter. be careful, it will fall apart. that's ok.

skim the fat off the top of the sauce in the crock pot. if the sauce seems soupy, put the insert on the stovetop over low to medium heat until it begins boiling, and allow to reduce.

meanwhile, get two forks and attack the pork, shredding it into strands of meat. discard any large chunks of fat and any bone.

when the pork is shredded and sauce ready, put the pork back in the cooker and toss to coat with the sauce.

serve on buns with bread&butter pickles and thinly sliced onion.

Rotisserie Chicken Wednesday: tamales

So, here is a confession on my last Wednesday of guest blogging: I rarely buy rotisserie chicken. And the times i have, I pretty much just make (or buy) a side and eat it as is. But I wanted to keep the rotisserie Wednesday thing alive while Janet is gone, and I figured it was a chance to come up with ways to use chicken that I might've normally cooked.

So as I was trying to think of something different this week, I was reading this month's Food & Wine, and lo and behold, there was a rotisserie recipe. And it looked good. I know i gave you the rellenos recipe a couple of weeks ago, but I hope you like Mexican. I do. This recipe from Grace Parisi looks pretty easy, and tamales are one of my favorite things.

Rather than cut and paste the recipe, I'll just give you a link to it (click here), so you can see the picture. (I'm legally allowed to put the recipe here, with proper credit, but there are issues with copying the photo. thus the rotisserie file shot above. I didn't have to ask anyone if I could use that one.)