Zucchini Cake... I mean, um.. Bread

We've been getting a lot of summer squash and zucchini in our CSA that we joined this summer.  I have to find SOMETHING to do with it, since that IS the purpose of a CSA (and honestly, this blog, to be fair) to be able to use fresh, local, in season foods in a way that's tolerable.  Unfortunately, squash and zucchini are up there with seafood on the list of Foods I Hate.  I just can't get behind them.  I mean, I like it more than shrimp, in that if someone serves me squash or zucchini, I can usually gag it down or at least hide it well enough in the other food that I don't want to immediately barf.  So what to do?  Well, I did lightly cook and puree some of it and freeze it to put into spaghetti sauce later. And  I did use a whole (small) summer squash in my chili this week (grate it, squeeze a little water out, saute before cooking beef.  We didn't even know it was there, really.)   I have, previously, prepared it lightly grilled with olive oil, salt and pepper, and then it was tolerable.  But, being as pregnant as I am, by the time dinner rolls around I'm not interested in doing anything other than kicking up my feet and eating (so, no grilling happening here lately, my friends).

One way to do something SUPER simple, easy and in the morning is zucchini bread.  So I turned to my resident expert in zucchini bread, my comrade in baking, L.N.  She has given me more than one fantastic recipe to try, and she has made the heck out of Zucchini Bread, as her family had a squash bonanza last year in their garden.  She actually converted me to the world of Zucchini Bread, as, I'm ashamed to say, I generally had refused to try it on the basis that it contained zucchini.

Zucchini Bread.  Ok, who am I kidding??  This stuff should be called Zucchini Cake.  In fact, in muffin form it would be fantastic with a little cream cheese icing on the top-- but lately I just don't even have the energy for that.  Its really a heavy cake with a bunch of zucchini and squash thrown in to make me feel better about feeding it to my 20 month old for breakfast in the morning.  He LOVES this stuff, by the way.  Asks for the muffins by name these days.  Is there anything cuter than a slightly-less-than 2 year old, pointing at the top of the fridge saying "Nuppins, mama, peas?  Nuppins?"  Its hard to resist.  And I assuage my guilt knowing he's getting squash for breakfast.

I have made this four times in the last two weeks, and this is the variation I landed on.  Normally, I wouldn't change a thing if the recipe came from L.N., but for one reason or another, mine never came out quite as delicious as hers.  (Probably because baking is more of an exact science than cooking, so where you make it, the altitude, the humidity, the exact weight of the flour etc, matters.)  So I tweaked it, and this is the recipe my munchkin likes the best.  Plus, its got the most squash, so we can use up what we have with the added bonus of feeling better about eating cake for breakfast (if you were ever inclined to feel guilty about that, which I'm generally not).

Plus, its easy to make, and is a nice thing to do in the morning, before it gets hot, both outside your house and in.  I also make one pan of muffins and one loaf pan (mostly because I only have one loaf pan currently, and didn't want to spend an extra hour with the oven on.)  We freeze the loaf for after Baby #2 arrives (something else to eat at midnight!), and eat the muffins, or give them away to friends and neighbors.  Yum yum.

Zucchini Bread-- Cake-- Whatever.

Ingredients
3 large eggs
1 cup vegetable or canola oil
1/4 cup sour cream or yogurt (full fat makes it better!)
3 tsp vanilla
2 cups white sugar
3 small zucchini/summer squash, grated and squeezed (it comes to about 3 cups-- a little more or less is ok)
1 small can or1/2 large can crushed pineapple, well-drained
2 cups white flour
1 cup oat flour
1/4 cup flax seed meal (optional)
3 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp baking powder

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 350.  Mix eggs, oil, sour cream/yogurt, vanilla, sugar, zucchini, and pineapple.  Combine dry ingredients and add to wet.  Mix well.

For two loaves:
Grease two loaf pans well, then dust pans with sugar (it makes it come out of the pan easier after baking).  Divide evenly into two pans, bake for 10 min at 350 degrees then turn oven down to 325, and bake for another 50 min.  Remove from pans to cool on a wire rack.

For One Loaf and one set of muffins:
Grease and dust one loaf pan as above.  Line muffin tin with liners (don't try to do the muffins the same way as the loaf-- they end up falling apart!).  Use 1/4 cup measuring cup to fill muffin tins-- they'll rise a little, but not a lot, so don't worry about being too full, as long as they stay in the liners.  Pour the remaining batter into the loaf pan.  Bake at 350 for 8 min, then turn oven down to 325, and continue baking for 20-22 min.  The muffins are done when a toothpick comes out clean.  Bake remaining loaf for 25-30 min.  Remove immediately to cool on wire rack.

**Note-- you don't HAVE to set the oven to 350-- you can do it at 325 the whole time.  But, as my mom, who was in the catering business in a previous life, told me-- anything with baking powder will get a better rise (or crown) on it if you put it in a slightly hotter oven at first.  It makes everything rise more quickly.  Then turn down to normal baking temp for remainder of time.  Neat trick, huh?

Oatmeal Chocolate Chip "Nursing" Cookies

Don't be afraid of the name.  These cookies are for everyone.  They are delicious.  They are made with stuff you find at the grocery store.  They won't make you... you know... unless you're already nursing.  (In which case they're supposed to help with your milk supply.)  They're safe for both Dukes and Duchesses.  I wish I had a better name for these delicious, chocolate chip-oatmeal cookies that are just filled with good stuff, but "Delicious, Chocolate Chip-Oatmeal Cookies That Are Just Filled with Good Stuff" is too long, and I'm terribly uncreative when it comes to naming things.  (It took a week and approximately 1,243 trips through a thesaurus before we landed on Wholesome Duchess, just to give you an idea.)  Any names I DID think of were already taken by people who make these types of cookies for a living, and I didn't want to take away from their hard work.

What makes these cookies special?  They basically have lots and lots of extra good stuff that you don't normally find in a cookie.  Things like Omega-3s, LOTS of fiber, B-vitamins, vitamin E, folic acid, protein and essential amino acids and minerals, which are exceptionally good for people who are stressed or who have low energy levels.  (People like, but not limited to, nursing moms.  Hence the name of the cookie.)  For more on exactly what's going on inside this little cookie, and why they help nursing  moms with their supply, click here.

These aren't diet cookies, and shouldn't be taken exclusively if you're trying to increase your milk supply.  They're still made with butter and white sugar and flour (yum yum!).  But they are a yummy 2am snack if you're nursing (or even bottle feeding) and need something to eat one-handed, and can often help exhausted parents get those few extra calories they need to sustain themselves at all hours of the night (and make milk!).  (I recommend freezing them in pairs in sandwich baggies, inside a large freezer bag.  When you're up at 2am, remove the cookies from the freezer, set aside with a glass of milk, nurse the munchkin, then eat and head back to bed.  A good energy supplier, and tasty too!)

A few preparation notes:
Browning the butter-- You don't have to do it.  You could just cream the butter and sugars together.  But I've found that the browned butter tastes SO MUCH BETTER that I generally do it now.  Plus it makes an even more moist cookie.  To brown the butter, don't use a dark-bottomed pan, it makes the browning hard to see.  If this is your first time browning butter, its not as hard as you might think-- just don't walk away from it while its on the stove.  Put the butter in the pan, turn it on med-high, and keep stirring until you see brown at the bottom of the pan and it starts to smell nutty.  You might think its browning, but keep it on the stove until you KNOW.  There is what I call and "ah-HA!" moment, when you know its browned.  As soon as you reach that moment, take it off the heat and out of the pan.

Millet Flour-- Millet is a whole grain that originated in ancient China.  It adds a "sweet" flavor to baked goods so it seemed a natural addition to the cookies.  You can find it in "healthy" stores, as well as in the health food section of your grocery store (or maybe even near the flours, I suppose it depends on where you shop).  If you're not inclined to try it or you can't find it where you live, you can substitute any kind of whole grain flour that's good for baking sweets or even all-purpose flour instead.  It won't change the texture terribly, but will cut back on the extra "goodness" of the cookie.

Brewers Yeast-- Three things to know:
     1) You'll find Brewer's Yeast in the health supplement section of your grocery store (next to protein powders, etc).
     2) I'm still not sure if Brewer's Yeast and Nutritional Yeast are essentially the same thing; there seem to be varying opinions on that both online and actually AT the yeast companies, who I called.  What I know to be true is that people have made cookies similar to these with nutritional yeast and they like them fine.  I opted for brewers yeast because vegan websites have made lots of mention of the "cheesy flavor" of nutritional yeast, and I didn't want to risk it in my cookies.
     3) Brewers yeast is, well, a form of yeast.  If that's a problem for you, then leave it out.  (This means don't use if you or your munchkin have thrush or any other type of fungal infection.)

Chocolate Chip "Nursing" Cookies


Ingredients
1/4 cup water
1/4 cup flax seed meal
1 Tablespoon wheat germ (found in cereal aisle near oatmeal, etc)

1 cup of butter
3/4 cup white sugar
1 1/4 cup brown sugar (I like dark brown, but use what you have)
2 large eggs
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup millet flour
1/4 cup Brewer's Yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda

3 cups oatmeal- thick cut or old-fashioned (no instant or quick oats)
1 cup (or more) chocolate chips

Preparation Instructions

Wisk together water, flax seed meal and wheat germ in a small bowl, and set aside.

Brown roughly 12 Tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) of butter in a large pan over medium-high heat, stirring constantly with heat resistant spatula or wisk.  You'll know its done when it starts to turn brown (there is an "ah-ha" moment) and it starts to smell nutty.  Pour into heat safe bowl and add remaining 4 Tablespoons butter and allow to melt, stirring occasionally.  Add both sugars and stir until blended (it will be VERY thick).  Add vanilla and eggs and mix until incorporated.  Let sit 3 minutes, stir for 30 seconds, and repeat two more times.  (This allows the sugars to melt, making them even more yummy.  You could skip all this and just cream butter and sugars with vanilla and eggs, but trust me, its worth the time.)

While the butter and sugar are getting to know one another, in another bowl mix together all of the dry ingredients except oatmeal and chocolate chips.

Once the butter and sugar have sufficiently mixed together, (3 sets of "3 min sitting and 30 seconds stirring"), mix in the flax seed mixture until incorporated.  Then slowly blend the dry ingredients into the wet.  Add the oatmeal and chocolate chips until just mixed.  Scoop or drop onto an un-greased cookie sheet or stoneware (I use about 3 tablespoons of dough per cookie).  Bake 8-12 min depending on size of cookie, until they're browning around the edges and looking mostly dry in the center.  They also transfer to a cooling rack better if you let them firm up on the sheet out of the oven for about 2 min before moving them.

Oatmeal Strawberry Banana Bread

I generally don't like fruit breads.  I'm just not a fan.  I grew up disliking bananas and all things banana flavored, and you sure as heck weren't going to get me anywhere near zucchini bread.  Now I'm pregnant, so I can't get enough of bananas (seriously, we buy 5-6 lbs a week to share among us).  Plus, they're cheap, and in actually knowing the cost of my food, I've become much more frugal.

Except when it comes to new seasons of fruits.  In fall, I can't wait for the apples to become plentiful, and in winter I'm starting to gain an appreciation for squash.  In Spring, I'm SUPER excited for strawberries, which is how I've ended up with a fridge full of pints of mediocre strawberries.  They've started becoming plentiful, but still not fresh around here.  I don't care-- I see those red berries and I see they're not QUITE as expensive as they usually are, and I buy some.  And predictably, lately they're terrible.

As a result, I'm left this morning with a couple of frozen bananas and about 1 1/2 pints of strawberries that are quickly going from mediocre to bad.  Here's what I came up with!


Its great if you have berries that are about to go bad. It tastes just like Strawberry NutriGrain bars. And as far as sweet breakfast foods go, its not SO terrible for you. :)

Oatmeal Strawberry Banana Bread

Ingredients
* 1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
* 1 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
* 1 1/2 cups rolled oats
* 1 Tablespoon Flax meal
* 1 cup white sugar
* 1 cup brown sugar
* 1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
* 2 teaspoons baking powder
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 8 Tablespoons melted butter
* 2 very ripe bananas, mashed (I like to freeze them first, but very ripe would be fine)
* 1/3 cup plain yogurt or sour cream (full fat makes better bread, but you could try low fat)
* 4 eggs, lightly beaten
* 1 1/4 pounds fresh strawberries, sliced
* 1/4 cup rolled oats (for the top)

Preparation Instructions
1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 7x3 inch loaf pans, or two 9" round cake pans. (I think it works better in the cake pan, but its just a preference.) One of my tricks is to spray the pans and then swirl white sugar around the bottom (instead of flour). It works just as well, and tastes/looks yummier!

2. Stir together the flours, 1 1/2 cups rolled oats, flax meal, sugars, cinnamon, baking powder, and salt in a large mixing bowl. In another bowl, whisk together all of the wet ingredients except strawberries; stir into flour mixture until just moistened. It will be a very thick batter. Fold in strawberries. Pour into the prepared loaf pans, and sprinkle the tops with the remaining 1/4 cup of rolled oats.

3. Bake in the preheated oven until a toothpick inserted into the center comes out clean, 50 to 60 minutes for the loaf pans, 30-35 min for the cake pans. Cool the strawberry bread in the pans for 5 minutes before cooling completely on a wire rack.

My favorite Chocolate Chip Cookie Recipes

Do I make you drool, baby?

Ok, so I'm like most Americans when it comes to my love affair with chocolate chip cookies (and cookie dough!).  It has had many stages, my love affair, starting with the super-easy kid's version cookbook I got for Christmas as a child.  You know, the one with the color coded measuring spoons that went with it.  That book began my foray into baking.  And plus-sized clothes, but that's another lament...

Now, as an adult, I've returned to my love of baking tasty treats, for the same reasons I loved them as a kid-- licking the bowl and how yummy it makes the house smell.  Now as a pregnant lady-- I want sweet treats all the time.  Perhaps I should amend that statement to say "Now, as a pregnant lady, I ALLOW myself to have sweet treats often-- in moderation and after I've had something good for me."  I feel this is a trend that will continue post-baby, as I'm not any good at self-deprivation.  (Plus, I'm not currently drinking wine and beer, so I have those calories I'm not using... its got to even out, right?)

At any rate, I have two chocolate chip cookie recipes that I've absolutely fallen in love with.  The first, I found while at a recent visit to my mom's house.  Searching for "The Best Chocolate Chip Cookie Ever", I hit upon the America's Test Kitchen Website (it will ask you for your email address, but not any obligation).  I don't know if you've ever watched that show or not (I highly recommend it, its very interesting!!) but they literally do make the BEST of whatever they make.  Because they test and test and test all the different options, and give you the one they and their general public tasters like the best.  They do all the research for you!  LOVE IT!  Only...

... what they make is often several steps harder than anyone else's recipe.  Its often better because they pay so much attention and spend so much time making adjustments, it can feel like 15 steps too many.  I will admit, I was put off initially by their idea of "browning the butter" first, rather than just creaming it like every other recipe on the planet.  But if you go to their website, they explain, step by step, how to do everything (include properly brown the butter) and WHY they chose each of their ingredients and amounts.  Its like a little culinary lesson just because you want to make a delicious cookie!  It becomes pretty user friendly, actually, because you start to learn what effect ingredients have on your recipe (super important in baking!) and can be fun, so as you find recipes in the future, you know how your alterations are going to effect them before you do it.

And boy howdy, are these cookies delicious.  Everyone who I've ever shared them with wants this recipe.  I've gone to friends houses to show them HOW to make them, because they're so delicious.  They're crispy on the outside, chewy on the inside, and have butterscotch hints I didn't know were possible in cookies without butterscotch chips.  Even the dough is heavenly.  They're big cookies though, and they DO take a couple of extra steps, so recently, I've been on a hunt for a "I'm having a craving, and I need those cookies NOW!!" super simple chocolate chip cookie recipe.

And I've landed on this one.  I've told you before about The Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond.  She's kind of my blogging hero, and she makes THE BEST food.  So I went to her website, and came up with her 30 min or less recipe.  Now, they're not as fancy as the first recipe.  They're more of the Everyday Chocolate Chip Cookie, which is perfectly fine, thank you very much.  But she has made some delicious alterations to her recipe, my favorite of which is whole flax seed.  Going back to the whole idea of making my favorite foods better for me... this concept just takes them to a new level while keeping them nice and easy to make.  They're still cookies-- they're full of butter and sugar and eggs... oh man, I think I need a minute...

...Ok, I'm better.  They're still full of all that "bad" stuff that makes them so yummy, but with a little extra added crunch that makes them extra special.

The basic differences between the two recipes are these: the Americas Test Kitchen recipe is a very exact recipe.  I would follow it exactly.  You've never had cookies like this before.  Or if you have, you've bought them at a professional bakery.  They're AMAZING.  Like change your world I can never make Toll-House cookies again kind of life altering.  And they're not really that hard, just be exact.  The second recipe is more of whatever you have in your pantry, a little easier.  She calls for half margarine/half butter.  I use all butter because I don't have margarine in the house; feel free to use what you have.  Same with the milk chocolate/semi-sweet chocolate chips.  They're of course different if you change the recipe around a bit, but they're still rich and delicious.  She calls for flax seeds, but I didn't have any the first go-around, so I made it with flax seed meal (ground up seeds).  It doesn't really alter the texture or taste in any way... but I like the whole flax seeds better because of the crunch.  Its a personal choice.

And we should have choices when it comes to cookies.  I feel very strongly about that!
 
America's Test Kitchen Perfect Chocolate Chip Cookies
I've just included their recipe here, but check out the link for the best tips and ideas on how to make these cookies really supreme!

Ingredients
1 3/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour (8 3/4 ounces)
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
14 tablespoons unsalted butter (1 3/4 sticks)1/2 cup granulated sugar (3 1/2 ounces)
3/4 cups packed dark brown sugar (5 1/4 ounces) (see note)
1 teaspoon table salt
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
1 large egg
1 large egg yolk
1 1/4 cups semisweet chocolate chips or chunks (see note)
3/4 cup chopped pecans or walnuts, toasted (optional)

Preparation Instructions
1. Adjust oven rack to middle position and heat oven to 375 degrees. Line 2 large (18- by 12-inch) baking sheets with parchment paper. Whisk flour and baking soda together in medium bowl; set aside.

2. Heat 10 tablespoons butter in 10-inch skillet over medium-high heat until melted, about 2 minutes. Continue cooking, swirling pan constantly until butter is dark golden brown and has nutty aroma, 1 to 3 minutes. Remove skillet from heat and, using heatproof spatula, transfer browned butter to large heatproof bowl. Stir remaining 4 tablespoons butter into hot butter until completely melted.

3. Add both sugars, salt, and vanilla to bowl with butter and whisk until fully incorporated. Add egg and yolk and whisk until mixture is smooth with no sugar lumps remaining, about 30 seconds. Let mixture stand 3 minutes, then whisk for 30 seconds. Repeat process of resting and whisking 2 more times until mixture is thick, smooth, and shiny. Using rubber spatula or wooden spoon, stir in flour mixture until just combined, about 1 minute. Stir in chocolate chips and nuts (if using), giving dough final stir to ensure no flour pockets remain.

4. Divide dough into 16 portions, each about 3 tablespoons (or use #24 cookie scoop). Arrange 2 inches apart on prepared baking sheets, 8 dough balls per sheet. (Smaller baking sheets can be used, but will require 3 batches.)

5. Bake cookies 1 tray at a time until cookies are golden brown and still puffy, and edges have begun to set but centers are still soft, 10 to 14 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking. Transfer baking sheet to wire rack; cool cookies completely before serving.

Pioneer Woman's Good Ol' Basic Chocolate Chip Cookies
When you just need a yummy cookie NOW!  The thing I love about her website is that she shows step by step pictures along the way, and then has the complete recipe at the end, so you get exactly what you need.  :)


Ingredients
½ cups Margarine
½ cups Butter, Softened
1 cup Firmly Packed Brown Sugar
½ cups White Sugar
2 whole Eggs
2 teaspoons Vanilla Extract
2-¼ cups Plus 2 Tablespoons, All-purpose Flour
1 teaspoon (heaping) Instant Coffee Granules
1 teaspoon Baking Soda
1-½ teaspoon Salt
2 Tablespoons Flax Seed, Slightly Crushed With Rolling Pin
¾ cups Semi-Sweet Chocolate Chips
1 cup (heaping) Milk Chocolate Chips

Preparation Instructions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

In a bowl, stir together butter, margarine, brown sugar, and white sugar until combined. Add eggs and vanilla and stir together.

In a separate bowl, stir together flour, instant coffee, baking soda, and salt. Add to wet ingredients in batches, stirring gently after each addition. Stir in flax seed if desired.

Stir in chocolate chips.

Drop balls of dough on a cookie sheet and bake for 11 to 13 minutes. Remove from cookie sheet and eat warm.

Die from guilty pleasure.

Beer Bread!

(Not sure why its sideways, but you get the idea!)

As my My Loving Duke and I head into the next decade of our lives, we've decided to approach the way we eat a little differently.  We have decided to try to do more local eating-- which was part of the impetus for starting this blog-- how to become more of a "localvore", if you will.  In our quest for accessible local farms and foods, we met, no big surprise, a farmer.  One of the myriad of interesting facts we learned in the course of conversations with this farmer is that if you're eating nutrient dense foods (like locally grown just about anything), you will find yourself eating less.  You just will.  Your body will not need same quantities of food that you're used to to get what it needs, so you'll find yourself eating smaller portions.

Now the science nerd (and I'm a pretty big science nerd) in me says: "This makes sense.  If you have everything you need in a smaller amount, your body doesn't need as much food to get the fuel it needs; you should feel satisfied sooner."  The life-long dieter in me says: "I know this to be true, I feel better when I eat foods that are good for me."  But then there's a big voice in my head that shouts "B.S!!"  That voice knows that I'm an emotional eater-- I often let how I'm feeling dictate what and how much I eat.  That voice was practically shouting, "Why would I eat less pot roast just because its more nutrient packed?  Especially when I've been smelling it cook all day???  No way."  So I left the farm believing the science, but not the common sense.  I just didn't see how it would be true for me.

As it turns out, it was true for me.  For whatever reason, I am eating less-- pretty significantly less.  Not dangerously less, and I'm not advocating it as a weight loss plan-- being pregnant (and generally tired trying to lose weight) I'm not actively trying to do anything other than eat as well as I can, weight be damned.  But eating foods more packed with nutrients means I'm not craving as much (except brownies, which I want lots of, ALL the time.  I'm choosing to attribute that to baby #2, and not some deep-seeded emotional need), and I'm not as hungry when I sit down to eat, so I'm not as obsessed with how good everything "sounds".  And while I'm still an emotional eater, I tend to be satisfied with less when I'm eating the good stuff.

Don't get me wrong-- I still love my favorite foods-- and I've never been one to get excited about leaving foods OUT of my diet.  But, since having this epiphany, I've been wondering-- how can I make the OTHER stuff I eat more packed with goodness?  This whole idea of nutrient packed foods obviously doesn't just apply to locally grown food, so perhaps I can make the stuff I like to eat just a little better for me, so that I'll eat less (which is better for me AND has the bonus of being cheaper!).

That's what led me to today's recipe.  Beer Bread has been a favorite of mine since I was a child.  (Yes, you caught me, I have a thing for carbs.)  My mom used to make it from a really good mix that came in a blue and white striped box.  It was super simple-- just add beer and bake-- and you have a delicious side for whatever meal you're serving.  I fell in love with that mix.  But one Spaghetti Sunday, noticing we were out of French Bread and not having enough time to start THAT dough from scratch, I turned to the trusty internet and found an easy beer bread recipe.  I put my thinking cap on, and decided to make it with half whole wheat and half regular flour-- I haven't had the nerve to go all whole wheat yet-- and I've added flax seed meal which is chalk full of Omega-3 fatty acids-- REALLY good stuff for you.

Don't misunderstand me-- I'm not declaring this bread "healthy".  I mean honestly, I do pour 1/4 cup of butter on the top of it before baking, its still starchy bread (and its not NEARLY as good without the butter on top-- I've tried).  But its a healthIER version of an old favorite, and bonus, its SUPER easy, taking about 5 minutes to mix, and an hour to bake before you have a delicious, hearty bread for dinner.  Or lunch.  And you can even toast it up with butter for breakfast.  (Can you tell I love this bread??)  We love it so much, when I make it for dinner, I slice up the rest of the bread, put each slice in individual bags, then freeze them all.  Some go to lunch with My Loving Duke, some are defrosted for me.  He has even requested that I make up a couple of the mixes ready to go, so he can make Beer Bread himself to take to work with him in the mornings.  I love him.

If you don't like the way beer tastes, that would be sad.  But don't worry, this bread doesn't taste "beery" in any way.  Since beer is basically bread without the flour, you get the bread flavors from the beer, with a little added sweetness, without any of the hoppiness (bitterness) that usually turns people off of beer.  You can use any kind of beer-- the heavier and heartier beers obviously flavor the bread differently than say, Natty Boh (yeah, Baltimore peeps, I went there), or Coors Light (for the rest of you readers) but it all makes a good bread.

If you don't have any beer in the house, never fear!!  You can make this bread with any carbonated drink.  If you're using soda, you're going to get a much sweeter flavor that is going to influence the flavor of the bread much more intensely, but that's not necessarily a bad thing.  I've heard of people who like to make this bread with orange/grape/strawberry soda, replacing the butter on the top with an extra sprinkling of sugar, and serve it as a hot breakfast bread.  I would, though, stick with Seltzer water or something NOT sweet if you're making it to serve with dinner-- at least the first time.

Baking suggestions: I like White Whole Wheat Flour.  This is a new phenomenon I've recently discovered.  I thought for a long time that it was just "watered" down whole wheat flour, but its not.  Its actual whole wheat flour, with the same nutrients as darker whole wheat, but made from "Red" wheat, which is lighter in color and in flavor.  You can use the darker whole wheat, but be aware that it will add a definite "wheaty" tone, which can be delicious, but perhaps not for everyone.  Also,  the freshness of your baking powder matters.  Since it is the principal leavening agent, its important that your baking powder be fresh.  So if you're like me, and you don't know how old your baking powder is, (but you know its moved houses with you twice) then just go invest in some more.  Its cheap, and totally worth it.

However you make this delicious quick-bread, please let me know how it comes out.  This is one recipe that I'd love to hear some variations on!!  And most importantly, ENJOY!!

Beer Bread
(AKA Super Easy delicious quick bread)

Ingredients

1.5 cups all purpose flour
1.5 cup whole wheat flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
3 Tablespoons ground flax meal
1/4 cup sugar
12 oz (one can or bottle) beer or favorite carbonated beverage
1/4 cup melted butter (optional but recommended!!)

Preparation Instructions
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.  Sift dry ingredients together, stir lightly.  Add beer (or beverage).  Stir lightly, until JUST mixed (batter will still be very lumpy).  Pour into greased loaf pan and spread into corners.  Pour melted butter over top, bake for 1 hour.  Remove from pan and cool on rack at least 15 minutes before cutting.

Righetous "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" Soup

So, I'm a "Moms' Group" which is really exactly what it sounds like-- a bunch of moms who get together, hang out to socialize their kids and themselves, and generally help each other out.  Its pretty awesome, and God bless the Internet which makes these groups so easy!

One of the activities I have recently offered to host is a "Dinner Swap".  Its a simple idea that I hope you steal and use with your friends.  The idea is that you cook once, and get up to five meals.  You know I'm a fan of anything that requires a little more work for a HUGE payoff!  I'm constantly making twice the dinner and freezing it for ourselves, so this idea appealed to me instantly.  We limit our meetup to five people total, since making more than that at one cooking session can really start to be a LOT of extra work.  When we respond that we're going we also respond with what we're making (this way we don't end up with five people making lasagna).  Then you commit to cooking a little extra one night, keep one meal for yourself, and bring the other four family sized portions of the meal to the meetup.  When you leave, you've got four other meals to take home and use or freeze.  I've made things like Chicken Pot Pie, Thai Chicken Curry, and today, soup and Homemade Beer Bread (see tomorrow's recipe).

So, why soup?  Well, the weather still warrants it-- its warming up during the day, but is cooling off considerably in the evenings.  Plus, I forgot that the meetup was today, (in my head I was sure it was next week), so I needed something I could make a lot of quickly out of the contents of my fridge before people started arriving.

My philosophy on soup is this: its a comfort food.  I don't make soup as a "starter" at home-- who has time to make a "starter" and then a real meal?  So I want my soup to be hearty.  And because its a comfort food, it has to be easy to make; it loses some of its comfort if its super complicated to prepare.  So, unless I'm making something for a special occasion or I'm craving something specific (say, Sausage and Lentil Soup), I apply my philosophy of "Everything But the Kitchen Sink" to my soup making.  This means a recipe is hard to come up with, but can be a lot of fun.  Plus its easy.  We like easy.

Today, in my fridge/freezer, I had 3/4 of a whole, cooked, free-range chicken, homemade chicken stock, cooked brown rice, onions & garlic, and frozen spinach, corn and carrots and frozen wine cubes.  (Yes, you CAN freeze leftover wine, if you're the kind of people who have wine left over, it keeps really well in the freezer for occasions just like this!)

I also had green beans, red potatoes, a wide variety of canned beans (black, kidney, garbanzo, navy etc...) and dry lentils.  I left those things out, because my pot is only so big.  Things I might have added if I'd had them were leaks, fennel, celery, whole or even stewed tomatoes.

The thing to remember when you're applying the "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" philosophy to soup making is that no matter what kind of veggies/protein you use, you'll want them to be pre-cooked just a little bit before you add the broth.  If I were to have used the fresh carrots I have in the fridge, I would have sauteed them first, before adding the stock.  Same with the fennel and leaks.  I would probably have done something similar with fresh tomatoes or even canned tomatoes, to break them down a little bit.  Frozen veggies can go right in the soup-- they've already been started. The proteins you want to be cooked, but if you're going to stick this sauce in the crockpot and let it get happy all day, your chicken doesn't have to be cooked all the way through, just get it started, the heat will take it home.

But today, I'm going to give you a recipe for my "Chicken and Rice" Soup, since that IS what I made.  Or at least my best estimation of seasonings, etc.  Keep in mind when I cook for others, I tend to under-salt foods, since I don't really know what others' tolerance for salt is.  It might seem a little bland, but I tell people they can always add salt themselves to their own tastes.  Also-- keep in mind that you're going to use a lot more salt if you use homemade stock versus store-bought or using chicken base and water.

I'd love to hear what would go into your "Everything but the Kitchen Sink" Soup.  'Cause mine is currently on the stove and smells delicious!

Chicken and Brown Rice Soup
(Otherwise known as "What I had in the Kitchen in a Moment of Panic Soup")

Ingredients
2 T olive oil
1 small onion, diced
4 cloves garlic, minced
1 small can tomato paste
1/4 cup white wine (or two frozen wine cubes)
8-10 cups chicken stock
1 lb cooked chicken meat-- (whatever you have left off that whole chicken you roasted for dinner last night)
1 lb frozen carrots (or 3-4 fresh, peeled, cut into coins)
1 lb chopped spinach
1 cup frozen corn
2 cups cooked brown rice
1 sprig fresh rosemary (1 tsp dried rosemary)
3 Tablespoons cumin
1 teaspoon crushed red pepper flakes (or less to taste, to start-- keep in mind the blandness of the veggies and stock)
1 teaspoon sage
1 teaspoon sea salt (more or less to taste)
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

Preparation Instructions
Heat oil in deep soup pot (unless you're transferring everything to the crockpot, then you just need a large skillet).  Saute onions and garlic on medium until translucent (not brown).  (Now is when you saute up fresh veggies if you have them-- otherwise save the frozen ones for later).  Add tomato paste and wine, stir and reduce for 4-5 min over medium-low.  If making entire soup on the stove, add the stock, veggies, chicken, rice and spices, and bring to a simmer, turn down to low and cover, stirring occasionally.  Otherwise, transfer all the tomatoey goodness to your crock pot, THEN add the stock, veggies, chicken, rice and spices, and let sit on low being happy happy until its time to eat.  I cannot stress, though, how important it is to test the flavor of the soup before you want to serve it.  If its bland, play around with the spices and flavors.  But remember that especially with soup, it takes a little while for the soup to fully take on the flavor of added spices, so I like to do it about 1/2 hour before I serve it.

See how easy that was??  I totally have time to make Beer Bread and take a shower before my guests arrive.  And that's WITH our munchkin running around!  :)

Thai Chicken and Pineapple Curry

Finally got the pics off my camera!  This batch was made in the crock pot!!

 
I am not an adventurous eater.  I'm not.  I mean, I love food.  LOVE food.  And obviously I love the memories that go with those foods.  But I don't like seafood.  I don't like it so much that when I was living in Spain, I told people I was allergic to it so I wouldn't have to eat it.  (In my defense-- it does get difficult trying to explain to someone in a second language that you're very appreciative of the food they just made you, and its not the chef's fault you're literally gagging trying to get it down.)  I like a lot of food, but I can almost always be counted on to order the Hawaiian pizza (don't even try to tell me pineapple doesn't belong on a pizza!) the burrito when we go out for Mexican, or a hamburger (usually with avocado if its available) at a diner.  I'm willing to try new things-- but I generally don't fall in love with new stuff when I do.  Living in Maryland for 10 years, I'm still more satisfied with a "chicken box" (fried chicken wings covered in hot sauce, served with fries that you get in a "box" from the corner store) than with the crab cakes for which the state is so famous.

One food that I did try and loved instantly though, is Thai food.  The most Asian we got growing up was Chinese and maybe one time Korean.  (I don't think this is so much due to my parents not being adventurous eaters, but more that we simply didn't eat out all that often.)  But I discovered Thai food in college, at a fabulous restaurant in Baltimore aptly named "Thai Restaurant".  I had no idea what to order, so I let my friends order for me.  Pad Thai and Panang Curry.  I remember this well because every time I frequented that establishment for the next 10 years, I ordered Pad Thai and Panang Curry.  Its a flavor explosion.  (And, very stereotypically, what Caucasian people order at a Thai restaurant.   I don't care.  I'll be that girl.)  I instantly fell deeply and passionately in love, and I was gone forever, turned on to Thai food and most especially the magic of coconut milk.  (Ironically, I don't even like real coconut, or coconut flavored sweets.)

At the time I was happy to frequent "Thai Restaurant" anytime I needed a fix.  No matter what part of the city I lived in, I would make the trek to pick up their deliciousness when I was craving some Thai goodness.  They (along with the number for Pizza at Costco) were entered in my phone as a go-to dinner out.  Who needs a menu when you KNOW what you're going to order?  Except for the money it was costing me, it was a great system.  And being in my early 20s, single and gainfully employed, who really cared about money, anyway?

And who knew how to make a good panang curry?  I didn't know for YEARS that you could make your own curry at home if you wanted to, that its simply just a mixture of different spices.  Growing up, we had a very steady supply of must-haves in the cupboard, but curry wasn't one of them.  It just wasn't.  So I had no idea what to look for, or even what most of the ingredients were, much less what to look for at the market.  But then my friend and co-worker, C, went to culinary school.  I don't mean the way an 18 year old goes to culinary school, but a real live, "I'm studying to be a chef, and I'm actively pursuing it" kind of school/mentality.  And, ironically (but working in my favor) his wife is (or was) less of an adventerous eater than I am.  So every day during lunch hour, I got to smell and often taste what he made for dinner the night before.

One thing other thing (besides being choosy eaters) that C's wife and I have in common is that she has her very own love affair with curry.  So among his other culinary pursuits, he actively sought out and tested MANY different curry recipes, in an attempt to make his amazing wife happy.  And one day he found it!  Eureka!  It was the one, just like the one she fell for in her own amazing curry-love story, having taken place somewhere out in California, I think.  And because he is so amazing, C shared it with me.  Asking where he found this amazing recipe, he told me he had connections to-- wait for it-- Thai Restaurant.  Yes, MY Thai Restaurant where I fell in love with Thai food so many years ago.  He had gotten the recipe from one of the chefs there.

That was the beginning of my adventures into the very, well-- foreign-- world of Asian market shopping.  Over the last couple of years I've changed the recipe a little bit (mine just never was as good as Cs or the original curry), and moving away from Baltimore, I've not been able to find a replacement for my beloved Thai Restaurant.

So the recipe below is my version of Thai Curry.  I call it Thai and not Panang because you could use whatever kind of curry paste you like (I happen to like masaman).  Plus, I don't really know what makes Panang curry "Panang" versus Red or Green (other than the obvious reasons).  So I call it Thai; you can say its more vague, I say its more fun.  :)  But I digress... the recipe below is a fusion of 3-4 recipes I've found over the years (now that I know what the ingredients are and how they interact, its kind of fun to put together your own curry recipes)!  Plus it would be unfair of me to post the recipe I originally got from C, since not only is he a chef, but Thai Restaurant is still actively in business-- and that's just bad mojo putting people's recipes out there they haven't published themselves.  But I do give him all the credit for teaching me what the ingredients are and HOW to make fantastic curries.

Oh, have I mentioned this is a chicken curry recipe?  You could use shrimp if you want, but, as previously mentioned, I kinda hate seafood.  You could also make it vegetarian if you leave out the protein all-together and find a substitute for the fish-sauce.  I know C's wife really likes it with just the fruits and veggies.

You might be thinking: (I know I was during my first curry making experience):
What the heck are all of these ingredients anyway?
I'll post up a picture for you (as soon as I get the camera working) of the ones I use.  But honestly, just find yourself an Asian market, and wander around.  See what you find.  Its kind of a fascinating world.  Then when you still need stuff on the list, ask someone where you can find it.  They've always been very helpful to me at all of the Asian Markets I've shopped at, and are more than happy to help someone who has no idea what they're doing.  But just go with it.  Trust me.  This food will take you places you've not been before.  Its a mind trip for your taste buds and belly.  And did I mention its made in the crock pot?

Special preparation notes:
--I like to "grate" my onion, since I live with a Serial Onion Hater, who doesn't like to find chunks of onion floating in his food.  Feel free to chop/dice/slice in any shape or size you like if you're not one of those people.
--You can use whatever kind of curry paste you want...  it changes the flavor, but not so much that the dish becomes bad.  Try a couple, use what you like.
--Kaffir Lime Leaves are kind of essential-- they REALLY make a difference.  If you can't find them (either fresh OR frozen) then you can use the zest from one lime and the juice from half of that same lime.  It works in a pinch, but its not the same.
--FISH SAUCE is essential.  Its not fishy in any way-- remember, I don't like seafood-- but you NEED the sauce for this recipe.  There are fish-sauce substitutes out there on the internet, feel free to try those if you're morally or mentally opposed to fish-sauce.  I don't know if they're any good, but they HAVE to be better than leaving it out entirely.  It adds that special something-- the curry tastes very "flat" without it.  (If it makes you feel any better, I get the super cheap fish sauce that doesn't actually have any fish floating in it-- its better for my mental health that way.  And that works out just fine.)
-- You don't HAVE to smash the chicken.  It works fine if you simply cube it, but it takes longer to cook through.  I cut into cubes and flatten with the side of a chef's knife or the flat side of a meat tenderizer.

"Thai" Chicken and Pineapple Curry
Yum Yum

Ingredients
1 Can coconut milk (not water, not juice, MILK-- the richer the better)
1/2 can masaman curry paste
1 Tablespoon Thai fish sauce
2 Tablespoons Palm sugar (brown sugar in a desperate pinch)
2 Tablespoons tamarind paste
1 Tablespoon fresh basil
1 can pineapple- drained
1/2 lb chicken breasts, cubed and smashed flat
1 small onion - chopped or grated
1 red bell pepper, seeded and chopped or sliced
3 Kaffir lime leaves

Preparation Instructions
Add all liquid/paste ingredients to crock pot set on high-- stir together.  It may not homogenize right away, the coconut milk evens out as it warms up. That's fine, as long as its mostly mixed together.  If your palm sugar is in solid form, smash, and add to liquids.  (If it was more of a paste, it should go in as is with the liquids.)  Add everything else.  Stir.  Cover crockpot and walk away for 1 hour.  Your house should now smell divine.  Check to see if chicken is cooked through and veggies are cooked to your personal taste.  Serve over rice.  (I like brown, but white would be more traditional.)  After you stuff your face and try to drink the curry liquid, come back and tell me how much you are in love with this SUPER simple recipe.