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  • Ingredients
  • Butter to grease the pan
  • Bread crumbs for pan preparation
  • 5 oz. butter, room temperature
  • 270 g sugar (1-1/3 cups)
  • 2 eggs
  • 300 g flour (2-1/2 cups)
  • 1 tsp. baking soda
  • 2 tsp. baking powder
  • 4 very ripe bananas, mashed
  • 2 oz. cold coffee (50 ml)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a 12-cup bundt pan liberally with butter. Sprinkle bread crumbs into the pan and shake them around until all surfaces of the buttered pan are coated with bread crumbs. Set aside.

With a mixer, blend together butter and sugar until light and fluffy. One at a time, mix in eggs until fully incorporated. Sift together flour, baking soda and baking powder. Stir into the sugar/egg mixture. Add the bananas and coffee, stir until combined. Do not overmix. Spoon batter into prepared pan. Bake for 40-50 minutes until the top is golden brown and a toothpick tester comes out clean.

NOTES: Apologies to you all for the hodge-podge of measuring standards. My kitchen scale will do grams or ounces and I didn’t think ahead about trying to write the recipe on the blog later. I’m learning to weigh my ingredients rather than measure them out. I found this recipe at adamantkitchen.com and it is fantabulous. The breadcrumb coating sets the cake above all other banana breads or cakes. I did not add a frosting or other coating, although I sure could have. At the end of the bake, Adamant let hers cool a couple minutes and then tipped it out onto a wire rack to finish cooling. I missed that part and let it cool completely before tipping it out. This was the first bundt cake I have EVER made that came out without sticking somewhere and needing a patch. It just slid right out. So exciting!

  • Ingredients
  • 3 onions, sliced
  • 1/2 cup celery, sliced
  • 4 Tbsp. butter, divided
  • 2 Tbsp. flour
  • Salt and pepper
  • 3/4 cup milk
  • 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • 1/4 cup chopped pecans

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a skillet, melt 2 Tbsp. butter. Stir fry onions and celery in butter until tender. Set aside.

In a saucepan over medium heat, melt 2 Tbsp. butter. Stir in flour, salt, and pepper. Stir until the flour mixture is bubbly. Gradually stir in milk. Bring to a boil and cook, stirring, for a couple minutes until the sauce is thick. Stir the sauce into the onion and celery mixture until well coated. Pour into an ungreased baking dish. Sprinkle with Parmesan and pecans. Bake, uncovered, at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes or until heated through. Serves 4 as a side dish.

NOTES: You can use the same skillet to bake the dish in as you used to stir-fry the onion mixture. I’ve done it that way many times. This is a half recipe of the original, so feel free to double this if you like. If you do that, it fits a 9×13″ pan or a large oven-proof skillet. The onions really reduce in volume as they cook, so if I’m eyeballing this I have to tell myself to “add more onions!” The recipe originally appeared in the Oct/Nov 2000 issue of Taste of Home magazine.

  • Ingredients
  • Olive oil
  • 4-6 Chicken thighs, bone-in
  • Salt and pepper (or optional seasoning salt & pepper)
  • 1/2 onion (or 1 leek), chopped
  • 1/2# mushrooms, sliced
  • 1 bunch chard
  • 1 clove garlic, minced
  • 1/4 cup white wine, or broth
  • 1 14 oz. can Cannellini beans
  • 1/2 cup cream, optional

Heat olive oil in large skillet, or Dutch oven. Sprinkle chicken thighs with salt and pepper. Brown the chicken in the oil. Remove chicken from pan and set aside.

While that’s happening, strip the leaves from the main stem of the chard. Chop the stem.

Stir fry onion, mushrooms, and chard stems. When the onion is translucent and everything is a bit soft, stir in the garlic. Give it about a minute and then stir in the white wine. Let it cook another minute or two. Stir in the Cannellini beans. Let them heat through.

Chop the leafy parts of the chard. Stir them into the skilllet. Nestle chicken thighs on top. Cover and simmer for about half hour. If you decided to add cream, stir it in now and let it warm through. Add a bit more seasoned salt. Let it heat through, uncovered. When the chicken is cooked, serve. Yum.

NOTES: I made quinoa with chicken broth and served this dish over that. So, so good! I used Swiss chard for this, but regular chard would work fine.

  • Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp. olive oil
  • 1 lb. ground turkey
  • Salt and pepper
  • 1 bell pepper, diced
  • 1 small onion, diced
  • 2 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1/2 Tbsp. grated fresh ginger
  • 1/4 cup hoisin sauce
  • 2 Tbsp. soy sauce
  • 3 green onions, thinly sliced
  • Lettuce leaves (or optionally use chips, winter squash, or sweet potato)

Heat olive oil in skillet and stir fry ground turkey, breaking it up as you go. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Stir in bell pepper and onion, cook until soft. Stir in garlic and ginger, cook until soft. Stir in hoisin and soy sauce. Stir over heat until heated through. Sprinkle with green onions. Load into lettuce leaves (or chips or winter squash or sweet potato) or just eat it!

NOTES: I have tried loading this on any number of things. One of my favorites is using it as a dip for sweet potato chips. The recipe originated with Chungah Rhee over at Damn Delicious many years ago. And one more thing . . . I have used ground pork instead of ground turkey a few times. Still delicious!

  • Ingredients
  • 1 Tbsp. butter
  • 1 shallot, minced
  • 1 garlic clove, minced
  • 1 lb. brussels sprouts, halved
  • White wine (optional)
  • Salt and pepper to taste
  • Dash cayenne
  • 1/4 tsp. mustard powder
  • 1/2 cup cream
  • 2 slices cooked crisp bacon bits
  • 1/4 cup shredded Gruyere
  • 1/4 cup shredded sharp cheddar

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

In an oven-proof skillet melt butter and then stir-fry shallot and garlic until soft. Stir in brussels sprouts and stir around until coated with the butter-shallot-garlic mix. Cover and let sprouts steam over medium heat until tender, about ten minutes. Splash a bit of white wine (or other liquid) into the pan during that time if the sprouts start sticking or scorching. Season with salt, pepper, cayenne, and mustard powder. Stir in cream. Heat through. Remove from heat and sprinkle bacon bits and cheeses over the top. Place into a 375 degree F oven for 10-15 minutes until cheese is melted. Serve.

NOTES: This is my new favorite brussels sprouts recipe. So delicious! I found the recipe at TopTeenRecipes. If you do not have an oven-proof skillet, feel free to cook the brussels sprouts and then place into a baking dish. Finish with the cream, bacon, and cheeses.

  • Ingredients
  • 1/2 cup butter
  • 3/4 cup firmly packed brown sugar
  • 1/2 cup molasses
  • 1 large egg
  • 1 tsp. ground cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp. baking soda
  • 1/4 tsp. ground ginger
  • 1/4 tsp. ground cloves
  • 1 cup flour
  • 3/4 cup whole-wheat flour
  • 1 cup chopped walnuts
  • 1 cup chopped dried fruit

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare a 10×15″ rimmed pan with parchment paper or other non-stick.

In a large bowl beat butter, sugar, and molasses until smooth. Beat in egg until well combined. Stir in cinnamon, baking soda, ginger, and cloves. Stir in flours, nuts, and dried fruit until evenly moistened. Spread dough in prepared pan. Bake at 350 degrees F for 25 minutes, or until the bars begin to pull away from the sides of the pan.

Let cool in pan on a rack, then cut into bars.

NOTES: The recipe is from Sunset Magazine’s May 1989 issue. I used to make these bars ALL THE TIME! They are super fast and easy. It seemed a healthy choice for school lunchbox snacks. I have used any manner of dried fruit and nuts. Today I didn’t have enough molasses so I used dark corn syrup to make up the difference. I can remember using honey before. The recipe is very forgiving for substitutions. It makes a thin, chewy cookie bar. The fruit you see pictured today is half cup of dried cranberries and half cup of dried apricots.

What kind?