Buttermilk Zucchini Pineapple Bread

Had some left over buttermilk and a zucchini that I needed to use up soon, so what to do? Search for a recipe that uses them both. I didn't find exactly what I wanted so I took the best parts of other recipes and made my own Franken-zucchini bread. Actually came out very good and everyone I gave a piece to said it was moist and tasty- but maybe they were lying to protect my delicate feelings?


This recipe only makes one loaf (unlike most zucchini bread recipes), which is ideal for us.


Buttermilk Zucchini Pineapple Bread


Preheat oven to 350°. GENEROUSLY grease 9x5 loaf pan.


1/3 cup butter, room temperature
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup brown sugar
2 eggs
1 cup coarsely grated zucchini
1 8.25oz can crushed pineapple, drained
1/3 cup buttermilk
1 tsp vanilla
1 3/4 cups flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon
1/2+ cup walnuts
1/2+ cup raisins


In large bowl beat butter and sugars together until combined. Add eggs one at a time beating well after each egg. With spoon mix in zucchini, pineapple,  buttermilk, and vanilla until combined.


Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt, and cinnamon to batter, stirring until just combined, then stir in nuts and raisins.


Pour batter in prepared pan and bake for 60 minutes or until done.


My notes:

• Really fills the loaf pan up, but doesn't rise too much so it stayed in the pan.
• I put a plus sign next to the walnuts and raisins as I didn't really measure- just dumped them in until I felt like there was enough.
• Even though I thought I had greased the pan thoroughly, it still stuck in the middle a little. Maybe I didn't grease it up enough there, or maybe I waited too long to remove it from the pan. I'll pay more attention next time.

Peach Tart

This is so easy. Cutting the peaches turned out to be the hardest part, and even THAT was easy. I had picked up a box of peaches from Trader Joe's and let them sit out until they were perfectly ripe. There are only two of us, so we ate as many as we could so I had to find a way to use them. Cobblers and Crisps came to mind, but everybody makes those. And I had a frozen sheet of Dufour Puff Pastry in the freezer I had been wanting to use, so the right answer turned out to be a Peach Tart!

RUSTIC PEACH TART

1 sheet frozen puff pastry, thawed (I prefer Dufour's)

7 to 8 ripe peaches

1 tablespoon lemon juice

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1 tablespoon flour

1 tablespoon corn starch

3 tablespoons brown sugar

dash of cinnamon (optional)

2 tablespoons apricot preserves

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon sugar (optional)


Preheat oven to 350°. Spray 15x10 pan with non-stick spray.

Sprinkle rolling surface with some flour. Unfold puff pastry and lightly sprinkle top with flour. Roll out to approximate size of pan then place in pan. Using a sharp knife, cut off about 1/2 inch on all sides making straight sides. Fold cut-off pieces back over edges making them double height. Score halfway through bottom layer inside of this second layer being sure to NOT CUT ALL THE WAY THROUGH. This helps make an edge to keep the peach stuff in.

Slice peaches into about 8 pieces and place in bowl. Toss with the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon of granulated sugar.

Combine the flour, corn starch and brown sugar (and cinnamon, if desired.) Sprinkle over the bottom of the crust (this will thicken and sweeten the fruit and its juices). Arrange the peaches on top using a slotted spoon into a slightly heaped but even single layer but DO NOT pour any of the juices from the bowl on the tart. Trust me, it will be juicy enough. DO NOT heap the peaches up in the center or the tart won't cook correctly.

Heat preserves and honey (either on the stove or a microwave) enough to melt. Brush over the peaches. (I also brush some on the crust around the edge, too.)

Bake 350° for about 40 minutes on a low oven rack, until fruit looks cooked and the crust is golden brown. If desired, sprinkle a teaspoon-ish of sugar over the tart for the last 10-15 minutes. It will give the tart added sparkle. This is completely optional.

DO NOT cut immediately! It needs to sit a bit and let the juices thicken up. If you cut it right away, all that delicious juice will run out before they can thicken as they cool. Trust me, it is worth the wait.

My notes:

• I have found I prefer Dufour's puff pastry (which I get at my local Whole Foods). Its the right size, though a little expensive. But it also tastes the best.
• I have used Stevia for the sugar and a Splenda/brown sugar blend for the sweeteners. It worked fine.
• As usual, I added cinnamon- I add it to everything, it seems.
• I used raw honey for the honey but regular will work.
• I like the "rustic" look, so I didn't bother lining all the peach slices up like some folks do. Tastes the same either way.
• I used a packet of raw turbinado sugar for the "sparkle".
• I was uncomfortable with what looked like a lot of extra liquid but it thickened up upon cooling.
• Depending on the size of the peaches, you may need more or less. When I thought I needed more, I would cut up another one and stir it into the left-over juices in the bowl, then use the slotted spoon and apply them to the tart. Repeat as necessary.
• Forgot to make the glaze last time I made it, and it was still delicious!

ATK Banana Bread

I must say, I was intrigued by a recipe for banana bread that called for pre-cooking the bananas and then cooking the resulting liquids even more. Turns out, it was a fairly tasty banana bread. Although, once I get done tarting it up, I'm not sure the mess and extra time make it THAT much better than the old Joy of Cooking base recipe I used to use. But I'm too lazy to do a side-by-side test and the extra steps give me something to boast about.

Banana Bread from America's Test Kitchen (transcribed from tv episode)

Put 5 bananas in a bowl, covered with plastic wrap and microwaved for 5 minutes. Put bananas in mesh sieve over bowl and allow to drain until needed after next step. You will need both the bananas and the liquid.

1 3/4 cp flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

Whisk together in large bowl. Set aside.

Put banana liquid in saucepan and cook over medium high until only 1/4 cup left. About 5 minutes (mine took a little longer.) Mash into bananas. Add in:

1 stick melted butter

1 tsp vanilla

2 eggs

Whisk together. Add in:

3/4 cup brown sugar, mixing until dissolved.

Stir wet into dry ingredients until just mixed. 

Add 1/2 cup chopped walnuts if desired. Spray loaf pan with cooking spray. Pour batter in. Decorate with 2 rows sliced banana (from one banana) if desired, then sprinkle with 2 tsp sugar evenly to make crust.

Bake at 350 for about an hour, turning once while cooking. Cool for 15 minutes then remove from pan.

My notes:

• Use REALLY ripe bananas for that sweet banana flavor. I take really ripe bananas and peel them, then throw in a bag in the freezer till I need them. I usually end up using some frozen, some not- just add a little more time to the initial microwaving.
• I added cinnamon (I add a dash of cinnamon to most things it seems.)
• I added about 1/2 to 1 cup of chopped dried apricots
• I didn't bother with the banana decoration, but I did sprinkle the top with raw, turbinado sugar
• I also discovered that if your brown sugar was as hard as mine, you can just microwave it until it becomes soft enough to use. I don't remember how long that takes, however.
• Be careful not to overcook. I think I did and it was drier than I like. Since I never make the same thing the same way twice, even with a recipe, there could have been other factors at work here.

Emeril's Nutty Granola Bars

This recipe comes from the March 2011 Everyday Food magazine. I love the show and I love the magazine. The recipes I've tried are both super easy, and usually super-delicious! Unfortunately, they failed to have this recipe on their website, so I am forced to transcribe it by hand to the blog. Oh! The tedium!! But its a great recipe- easy to make, infinitely configurable, and DELICIOUS. Warning: this recipe contains nuts. This is the printed recipe and naturally, I altered it slightly. I'll add my changes at the end. They worked hard on this recipe and I owe it to them to show their work, un-adulterated. Or they stole it. Who knows. Now that Martha OWNS Emeril, anything is possible!

Emeril's Nutty Granola Bars
Serves 16. Active time: 10 min. Total Time: 40 min + cooling

¾ cup honey, divided
2 tbl unsalted butter
3 cups old-fashioned oats
1⅓ cups (6oz) slivered almonds
pinch of coarse salt
1 cup raisins or other dried fruit
⅓ cup creamy almond butter or other nut butter
¼ light-brown sugar

1. Preheat oven to 325°. In a small saucepan, heat ¼ cup honey and butter over low. Cook, stirring, until butter melts, about 2 minutes.
2. In a large bowl, combine oats, almonds, and pinch of salt. Drizzle honey mixture over oat mixture and stir to combine; wipe saucepan clean. Spread mixture evenly on large baking sheet. Bake until golden brown, about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let cool completely on sheet, about 10 minutes. Return to large bowl and add raisins; stir to combine.
3. Spray 8-inch square baking dish. In saucepan, combine ½ cup honey, almond butter, and brown sugar over medium. Cook, stirring occasionally, until mixture comes to a boil and sugar dissolves, about 10 minutes. Drizzle over oat mixture and stir until combined; transfer to baking dish. With a spatula, press firmly into dish. Refrigerate until firm, about 1 hour, then cut into 16 bars or squares. (Store in an airtight container at room temperature, up to 5 days.)

per bar: 258 cal; 11 g fat (2 g sat fat); 6 g protein; 38 g carb; 3 g fiber

My Notes:

• I used the butter I had on hand, which has salt
• I used almost a cup of raisins, and I also added about a cup of chopped dried apricots
• I had some organic, chunky peanut butter, so I used that for the "nut butter"
• I put a generous dash of cinnamon in the second saucepan mixture of honey, nut butter, and brown sugar. I think it gave the bars a little more depth.
• I found that the spatula wasn't pressing hard enough into the pan, and I was afraid that they'd just fall apart when I ate them, so I put a sandwich bag on my hand and pressed down pretty hard on the bars in the pan before cooling. I think I made the right decision.
• These are pretty generously sized bars. Next time, I will cut them into smaller bars. You can always eat as many as you like.

Wood

Wood is the name we gave a bulgur wheat dish we like. We eat it hot for breakfast and I always make extra so we can have some later. Sometimes cold (and sometimes with a little greek yogurt.) Other times warmed up with a little frozen yogurt, or *gasp*, ice cream on top. I fool myself into thinking it is healthy because I don't have to add any sugar to make it taste good. I suppose that the juice and fruits add plenty of sugars, but it just seems so much healthier.

Wood

2 cups apple juice (I use the nice thick looking natural stuff)
1 cup bulgur wheat
1 crisp apple, (peeled or unpeeled) cored and chopped in chunks
about a .5 - 1 cup of raisins (your call)
.5 cup slivered almonds
1-2 tsp cinnamon

Bring juice, apple, raisins to boiling. Stir in bulgur and cinnamon and bring back to a boil. Stir in almonds, cover, and take off heat. Let sit for about 20-30 minutes. Taste and season with more cinnamon if necessary. (I'm kind of a cinnamon junkie so I always feel I need more.)

If you like you can experiment with adding other spices (nutmeg, ginger, etc) or using other fruit or nuts. The recipe is also easily doubled or more.

Super Easy Lazy Man's Tiramisu

I was having trouble finding an easy recipe for a quick Tiramisu-like (No Bake!!) desert to bring to work, so I cannibalized one recipe and made up the rest based on other recipes I had seen to make this. I used cream cheese instead of the traditional marscapone because I don't have that much experience with marscapone and was worried about it being less thick in texture than cream cheese. You could potentially do your own experimentation and let me know.

Lazy Man's Tiramisu

2 10oz frozen pound cakes, defrosted (I used Sara Lee)
2 8oz blocks of cream cheese, room temperature
.5 cup sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 16oz tub regular Cool Whip, thawed but chilled
4 oz strong coffee or espresso, room temperature
4 oz Kahlua
4 oz bar bittersweet chocolate (I used 60% cacao Ghirardelli bittersweet) chopped finely
1 cup chocolate syrup (or so- not sure as I just squirted from the bottle of Hershey's Double Chocolate Sundae Syrup)

NOTE: IF you prefer, you can skip the Kahlua and use all espresso, but I think the Kahlua adds a little more sweetness and keeps the coffee section from being too bitter.

Cut off the ends of each loaf and slice the remainder of each pound cake into 9 slices and place them lying down in a 13x9 pan. You may have to cut some pieces to fit around the edges. (I did not need the butt ends of the cake- score for me!) Mix the expresso with the kahlua and brush, drizzle, or pour the mixture over the poundcake. Drizzle about half the chocolate sauce over cake.

In a large bowl beat the cream cheese with the sugar and vanilla. When creamy, fold in Cool Whip and crushed/chopped chocolate. Spread over cake. Drizzle with more chocolate syrup. Mmmmmm... chocolate syrup....

Chill overnight and enjoy.

Breakfast Pizza

Another easy recipe. Very good as a brunch casserole with fruit and muffins, etc. I lost my original recipe, but after some searching online, this one "seems" as close as any of them.

Breakfast Pizza

1 tube crescent rolls (8 oz?)
1 lb. sausage, cooked and drained
2 c. cheese (shredded) (I like a mix of Cheddar and Mozzarella)
3 c. frozen shredded hashbrowns
5 eggs, blended with 1/2 c. milk
3 tbsp. Parmesan cheese

Press crescents into greased 9 x 13 pan. Evenly top with sausage, cheese, hashbrowns, egg mixture and Parmesan cheese. Bake at 350 degrees for 25 to 35 minutes.