Banana Upside-Down Cake

I really don't like over ripe bananas, so I'm always looking for ways to use them up. Tonight I was scavenging the pantry and found nothing readily available but 4 over ripe bananas. So I decided I would actually have to put some effort into my sugar hunt. So here is the fruit of my quest for sugar. Caramelized bananas and pecans over a heavy cake, almost like a pudding. And all of it jam packed with bananas.

Ingredients:

1/2 cup packed brown sugar 2 tablespoons lemon juice, divided 1 tablespoon butter or margarine 1/2 cup pecan halves 2 medium bananas. sliced CAKE: 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour 1/4 cup sugar 1 teaspoon baking soda 1 teaspoon baking powder 1/4 teaspoon salt 3 TBSP  cold butter or margarine 2 medium bananas, mashed or roughly chopped 1/2 cup plain yogurt 2 eggs, beaten 2 teaspoons grated lemon peel 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

In a small saucepan, combine brown sugar, 1 tablespoon of lemon juice and butter; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to medium; cook without stirring until sugar is dissolved. Pour into a greased 9-in. springform pan. (Make sure it seals. And just to be safe put a cookie sheet under it.) Arrange pecans on top with flat side up. (I just chopped them roughly and sprinkled them in) Pour remaining lemon juice into a small bowl; add bananas and stir carefully. Drain. Arrange bananas in a circular pattern over the pecans; set aside. in a large bowl, combine flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Cut in butter until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Combine bananas, yogurt, eggs, lemon peel and vanilla; stir into the dry ingredients just until moistened. Spoon over bananas. Bake at 375 degrees F for 35-40 minutes or until a toothpick inserted near the center comes out clean. Cool for 10 minutes. Run a knife around edge of pan; invert cake onto a serving plate.

Basics- Soup in 7 steps

Soup is like magic.

Really.

Magic.

Even the cooking challenged can improvise a good soup as long as they follow this simple formula. (Which means soup is more like math….but I like magic better.)

1.    Base ingredients- begin by sautéing the base ingredients. Things like onions, garlic, carrots, celery, chilies, or spices. You can also add aromatic herbs such as bay leaf, parsley, thyme, garlic, etc. Make sure you sauté in oil or butter. The fat captures the flavors and holds them. You don’t need a lot of fat, but you do need it.

2.   Liquid- Add a liquid such as a stock, juice, or water, this will determine a lot of what the flavor will be, so choose carefully…

3.   Slow cooking things- Here add the slow cooking root vegetables, winter squash, lentils, split peas, etc. This is also a good time to add salt if you’re using it.

4.   Watery vegetables- Next add watery vegetables such as tomatoes or summer squash. Also, add any precooked beans, pasta, or grains here.

5.   Delicate veggies- Save leafy greens and delicate veggies such as asparagus tips and peas for the end.

6.   Final touches- Here you can add cream or yogurt to make it creamy. Or blend all or part of your soup to make it thicker. Or add a thickener such as cornstarch or flour. Or leave it alone.

7.   Garnish and serve!

Make sure to taste your soup at all stages and make adjustments as you go. Add ingredients slowly and deliberately and also, remember simplicity is the key to all great art. Let each ingredient contribute.

Punjabi Lentil Soup

The Punjabi Lentils… but in a soup form.

2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 TBSP minced garlic
1 TBSP grated ginger
2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1/2 tsp chili powder (I used cayenne)
½ -1 tsp garage masala
1 can of whole or diced tomatoes with liquid
2 cups of water
1 cup lentils (I use red, they’re pretty)
2-3 handfuls spinach, roughly chopped
½-1 cup plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
garnish- cilantro

In a frying pan heat the oil until sizzly when splashed with water. When ready turn the heat down and cook the onions with salt until onions are soft and golden. Stir in garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, chili powder, and garam masala and cook until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomatoes and water and add lentils and cook until lentils are soft, 20-30 minutes. Add spinach and cook until wilted. Turn down the heat and stir in yogurt (Don't let it boil! The yogurt will separate). Garnish with cilantro.

Easiest Thai Curry Ever.

This is my I-need-to-make-a-really-impressive-dinner-in-a-short-time recipe. People can’t help but be impressed when you serve them Thai Curry.  And as long as you get the base right, you can put whatever you want in it. The coconut milk and curry paste can be found in the oriental/ Indian/ exotic food section of the store.

1 can coconut milk

1 TBSP Thai curry paste (I like red curry best)

2 TBSP fish sauce or soy sauce

2 TBSP sugar

Salt to taste

2 TBSP chopped cilantro

Stuff to put in it (veggies, cashews, tofu, etc.)

Warm the coconut milk over medium heat until is starts getting steamy. Gently stir in the curry paste (it will take a couple minutes for it to dissolve completely). After it dissolves add the fish sauce, sugar, and stuff. After it is all cooked through add salt to taste and cilantro. Serve over hot rice (I like basmati) or noodles.

Basics- Wheat

Bags of wheat! Buckets of wheat! Barrels of wheat! Bushels of wheat! Stored in the forgotten corners of your basement or garage!

Yes, you all know what I'm talking about.

Your food storage.

So....what do you do with it? Years ago my mother set out to answer that exact question, in an attempt to both use our food storage and create an inexpensive alternative to the whole grain bread we buy. It began with a manual hand grinder and about a million and a half bread-making experiments. Now we have two grinders, manual and electric, and we make our own whole wheat, preservative-free bread, bagels, cookies, cinnamon rolls, etc.

First a word about the type of wheat. There are different types of wheat, the most common being red, closely followed by white. The difference though, is less to do with the color and more to do with the protein content of the wheat. We have found that white wheat works best as a replacement for white flour, because of the similar protein content, and can work in pastries and desserts without much change in texture and flavor (just make sure it's ground very fine). Red wheat tends to make baked goods heavier, but can be remedied by adding an extra egg in place of some of the liquid in a recipe. In general high protein flours make good loaves of chewy artisan bread while low protein creates a better crumb for cakes and muffins.

Here is one of our favorite recipes to get you started.

Honey-Whole Wheat Bagels

1 cup water (75 to 85 degrees)

3 cups whole wheat flour (preferably white wheat)

1-1/2 Tbsp. honey

1-1/2 tsp. salt

1-1/2 tsp yeast

For bread machine: place ingredients in bread pan in following order: water, honey, wheat flour, salt. Make small indentation in flour and add yeast to indentation, making sure yeast does not come in contact with liquid. Start bread machine--set on “bagel” or “dough” program.

By hand: double recipe if desired. Measure water into a bowl. Add yeast and dissolve. Add honey to water mixture and stir. In a separate bowl mix flour and salt, and then add to water mixture, saving 1 cup to flour board and knead with. Stir flour into water and then turn out onto floured board. Knead until smooth and elastic. Cover with a cloth and let rise until double.

to finish: Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Spray baking sheet with non-stick cooking spray; set aside. Divide dough into equal pieces (6 for 1 recipe, 12 for double recipe) Roll into a ball and poke a hole in the middle. Roll and shape into a bagel shape. Place on baking sheet. Let rise 20 min. Fill a large pan 3’’ deep with water, add 1/4 cup sugar and bring to a boil. Gently lift bagel from baking sheet and gently submerge in water, cooking 30 seconds on each side. Remove bagel to paper towels and let drain, then place on baking sheet. Bake 20-25 min until bagels are lightly browned and surface is shiny; remove from baking sheet to wire rack to cool. Serve with Honey-Walnut spread.

Honey-Walnut Spread

Mix one 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese (reg. or light) or yogurt cheese, softened, with 1 1/2 Tbsp honey. Add 3 Tbsp. walnuts. Chill

Basics- Beans

Beans (or legumes, if you want a fancier more encompassing word) are an excellent source of non-soluble fiber (keeps your digestive system in top notch condition), amino acids (proteins), vitamins, and minerals. And since they are dried and can be stored for long periods of time they are an excellent item for food storage. Yes, beans are wonderful.

If you know what to do with them.

Beans are easily added to soups, salads, entrees, marinated, and even baked goods. I’ll try to get a couple more bean recipes up in the next few weeks to help you out. But for starters, let’s learn how to cook them.

Super short, easy way: Get a pressure cooker. Follow the instructions.

Longer, but more common way: Rinse you beans, and pick out any debris in them (aka small rocks). Depending on the bean it will probably need to soak. To soak beans, put them in a pot and add water. Leave it over night, or 6-8 hours. For quicker instructions put beans and water in a pot and bring it to a boil, then turn off the heat and let it sit for 1 hour. To cook, drain water and bring to a boil in fresh water; then lower the heat and simmer until tender, adding more water as needed. Make sure to not add any salt or acid until beans are fully cooked or they will not soften.  See the chart below for helpful bean specifics.

Variety	To soak or not to soak?	Water-bean ratio	Cook time after soaking	Cooked quantity for 1 cup dried
Azuki beans	Soak me!	3:1	¾ to 1 hour	3 cups
Black beans (turtle)	Soak me!	3:1	1 ½ hours	3 cups
Black-eyed peas	Nope	3:1	½ hour	2 ½ cups
Chickpeas (garbanzos)	Soak me!	4:1	1 ½ hours	3 cups
Fava beans	Soak me!	3:1	¾ to 1 hour	3 cups
Kidney beans (red or white)	Soak me!	3:1	1 to 1 ½ hours	2 ¾ cups
Lentils, brown	Nope	2:1	½ hour	3 cups
Lentils, red	Nope	2:1	15-20 minutes	3 cups
Lima beans	Soak me!	3:1	1 hour	3 cups
Mung beans	Soak me!	3:1	¾ hour	3 cups
Pinto beans	Soak me!	3:1	¾ hour	3 ¼ cups
Soybeans	Soak me!	4:1	2 hours	2 ¾ cups
Split peas, green	Nope	3:1	¾ to 1 hour	1 ¾ cups
Split peas, yellow	Nope	3:1	½ hour	2 ¼ cups
White beans (navy, cannellini, etc)	Soak me!	3:1	¾ to 1 hour	2 ¾ cups

Now, cooking beans is a lot of work. Therefore, I would cook a whole bunch at the same time, then spread them on a cookie sheet and freeze them. After they’re frozen put then in gallon ziplock bags and use as needed.

The Great Indian Extravaganza- Day 1

So after my failed yet still tasty attempt (I ate around the spice chunks) at Indian food I went to Broulims to see if they had a spice mill. For future reference, they don't (but they do have a patty shaper, a melon baller, and silicon oven mitts), but they had something just as good. A little coffee grinder. It's so cute and perfect I think I'll have to name it. Here it is in all it's grinding glory--

 Anyway. As good as lunch was it was pretty heavy. And being a sunny day I was hoping for something a little lighter and I found it. This is adapted from a recipe I found in Ajoy Joshi's book Regional Indian Cooking.

Punjabi Lentils

1 1/2 cups cooked lentils*
2 TBSP vegetable oil
1 onion, thinly sliced
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 TBSP minced garlic
1 TBSP grated ginger
2 tsp coriander seeds, ground
1 tsp cumin seeds, ground
1/2 tsp chili powder (I used cayenne)
1 tomato, chopped
1/3 cup plain yogurt, whisked until smooth
garnish- cilantro

In a frying pan heat the oil until sizzly when splashed with water. When ready turn the heat down and cook the onions with salt until onions are soft and golden. Stir in garlic, ginger, coriander, cumin, and chili powder and cook until fragrant, 2-3 minutes. Stir in tomato and cook until softened, about 10 minutes. Stir in yogurt and mix well (But don't let it boil! The yogurt will separate.) Add lentils and heat through.

*Cooking lentils: cook lentils with twice as much water as lentils until split and soft. Add more water as needed.