Banana Bread Mix

Banana Bread

Folks-

My wife loves banana bread, especially mine. The problem I've had with making it consistently has been having buttermilk in the fridge at the same time that I have overripe bananas. In fact, buttermilk has been as issue for me for some time since I seldom can use it up before it spoils.

Technology has come up with a solution: dry buttermilk. You can get this at most well-stocked grocery stores in the baking isle near canned or dry milk. This recipe also calls for my vanilla sugar.

My recipe, given here, is a variation of the one in the Betty Crocker cookbook. It's so easy to work with that Zhenie, who is afraid to bake, often fixes it for breakfast. I first make a bunch of mixes of the dry ingredients and store them in ziplock bags. Then when we have the bananas for it, we break out a mix and we have banana bread! Here it is!

Mix:

1-1/4 cups sugar

2 Tbsp dry buttermilk

1 Teaspoon vanilla sugar

2-1/2 cups all purpose flour

1 Teaspoon baking powder

1 Teaspoon salt

1 cup chopped nuts (optional)

Just measure out the dry ingredients into a large ziplock bag, label it, and store in a cool, dry place. Include the following on a piece of paper in the bag:

Ingredients:

1/2 cup (1 stick) butter or margarine, softened

2 eggs

1-1/2 cups mashed overripe bananas

1/2 cup water

Banana bread mix

Place oven rack in lowest position and preheat to 350 degrees. Grease bottoms only of two small loaf pans or one large loaf pan. Combine butter, eggs, bananas, and water and mix until smooth. Stir in mix until well smooth and well blended. Pour into pans and bake 1 to  1-1/4 hours or until wooden pick inserted in center comes out clean.

Ham and Cheese Soup

Folks-
I decided late last year that I needed a new ham soup recipe. I found a good one online at "A Taste of Home," and as usual, spent time modifying it until it was perfect from my families perspective.
By 2017, my daughter had convinced me to try chopped broccoli instead of the shredded carrots. She's right, it's better. I'm including that variation here.
Pro tip: make this using two pots that are much larger than you expect you'll need. It seems to somehow end up being a much larger recipe than you'll think it will.

Here's my version:

Ham and Cheese Soup

2 Cups peeled diced potatoes

2 Cups water

3/4 Cup shredded carrots or 3/4 to 1 cup chopped broccoli, frozen or fresh

1/3 Cup chopped onion

1/4 Cup cubed butter

1/4 Cup flour

2 Cups milk

1/4 tsp salt

1/4 tsp pepper

2 Cups shredded cheese (cheddar, sharp cheddar, jack, or a blend)

2 Cups cubed fully cooked ham

In a pot, combine water, potatoes, carrots and/or broccoli, and onions. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover, and simmer for 10-15 minutes or until tender. After covering the potato mixture, melt the butter in a large saucepan. Add the flour and stir until smooth. Gradually add the milk, salt, and pepper. Bring to a boil, and stir for two minutes or until thickened. Stir in cheese until melted. Add cheese mixture to undrained potato mixture. Add ham and heat through.

Modified from a recipe at:http://www.tasteofhome.com/Recipes/Cheddar-Ham-Soup

Bread-Dough Cinnamon Rolls

Folks-

I make two different kinds of cinnamon rolls on a regular basis, bread-dough and pie crust. Both are good, but rather different. I'll post instructions for the pie crust cinnamon rolls later. Now, one of my family's favorite breakfast treats!

Bread-Machine Cinnamon Rolls

1lb batch:

2/3 Cup Water

1/2 Egg

2 Cups Flour

3 Tbsp Sugar

2 Tbsp Dry Skim Milk

1 Tsp Salt

4 Tbsp Butter

1-1/2 Tsp Dry Yeast

1-1/2lb Batch:

1 Cup Water

1 Egg

3 Cups Flour

1/4 Cup Sugar

3 Tbsp Dry Skim Milk

1-1/2 Tsp Salt

5 Tbsp Butter

2 Tsp Dry Yeast

Filling:

1/2 Cup Butter, melted

1 Cup Cinnamon Sugar

Put ingredients into a bread machine in the order the manual instructs (usually the order above) and set the machine to Dough Mode. When complete, roll out dough on a floured surface to about 1/4 inch thickness. Mix melted butter and cinnamon sugar together and spread on dough. Roll dough into a  cylinder and using a sharp knife, cut into 1 inch segments. Place segments into a greased pan giving them 1/2 to 3/4 inch space on all sides and bake at 350 degrees for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and immediately frost or glaze. Allow to cool for 3-5 minutes and serve hot.

Tips: These can be frozen prior to cooking. I find a full batch is too much for my family to eat before they start to go stale. I divide a 1-1/2 lb batch into thirds, put the cinnamon rolls into a pie tin sprayed with non-stick cooking spray, and freeze them. To bake them, put the pie-tin into a cold oven and immediately set the temperature to 350 degrees and bake for 20-30 minutes--until they just start to turn golden brown.

You can absolutely make 2 or 3 lb batches of these by doubling either of the recipes above, if your bread machine is big enough. Combined with the freezing tip outlined above, this has allowed me to bake 5-8 large trays of these in a single day before taking them to my co-workers as Christmas gifts.

If you don't have a bread machine, you can make it using a stand mixer with a dough hook, or by hand. Heat the water to 90-100 degrees fahrenheit, mix in one teaspoon of the sugar, then sprinkle the yeast over it and allow to bloom for 2-5 minutes. After mixing it together, place in an oiled bowl, cover with oiled plastic wrap, and allow to raise in a warm place until doubled, 1-2 hours. Punch down and make the cinnamon rolls.

If you don't have powdered milk, each tablespoon of milk powder is about 1/3 cup of reconstituted milk. So in both of these recipes use milk instead of water if you don't have powdered milk.

This dough makes more than cinnamon rolls. Use orange marmalade, strawberry jam, or blueberry pie filling instead of cinnamon sugar for those kinds of rolls, and use a vanilla frosting on them. Or after rolling it out, you can cut the dough into doughnuts and deep fry them for raised doughnuts (roll them in cinnamon sugar or pour a powdered sugar and water glaze over them), or cut them onto 1 1/2 x 3" rectangles and bake at 350 for about 15-20 minutes until golden brown and top with a thin chocolate or maple frosting for chocolate or maple bars.

Ongoing experiments: So I decided to try making a 1 lb batch today in the stand mixer and adding 1 cup of potatoes reconstituted from flakes (hot water only.) Result: The stand mixer worked just fine, but I think it was too much potato, and I should try 1/2 cup for a 1 lb batch, or 3/4 cup for a 1.5 lb batch. I ended up adding about 1/4 to 1/2 cup additional flour to make the dough hold together, and it was still a bit too moist when making it, to the point that I didn't roll out the dough, I just flattened it with my hands. The resultant rolls were almost too delicate, moist, and rose too much. So, I'm on to something, but not there yet. Though I'm curious how this would have come out as doughnuts. I may try refrigerating the dough after letting it raise.

Chicken Soup

Folks-
I finally sat down and wrote out my chicken soup recipe, the one I first mentioned when I posted my moms egg noodle recipe. There are a bunch of variations that I have come up with that I'll mention after the main recipe.
Here it is! Enjoy!

Chicken soup

1 lb raw skinned chicken, diced

1 batch noodles (or 1 package egg noodles)

3 carrots, sliced

3 celery stalks, sliced

2 T olive oil

1/4 onion, diced

1 Tablespoon Italian seasoning

1 clove garlic, crushed or minced

8 cups water and 8 teaspoons (or 8 cubes) chicken bouillon, or 8 cups chicken stock

In a large pot, sauté the chicken and garlic in the olive oil until the chicken is cooked thoroughly. Add the vegetables and stir-fry until tender. Throw in the Italian seasoning, then add the water and bouillon and bring to a boil. Turn heat down to medium, add noodles and simmer for 20 minutes. Serve warm.

Variations: You can use commercial dry egg noodles instead of the homemade noodles if time is an issue, but you run the risk of the soup tasting a lot like a commercial soup. I recommend frozen noodles over dry. Frozen noodles can be found in many supermarket frozen food sections by the frozen breads or pastas. Look for frozen ravioli, it'll probably be on the bottom shelf if they carry them. You may need two bags. Experiment and have fun!

You can use already cooked chicken, such as rotisserie chicken (yay Costco!), leftover fried chicken, or canned chunk chicken breast, or leftover turkey. Simply skip the step of browning the chicken and stir-fry the veggies instead.

I usually don't make a single batch of this soup. Usually I buy enough eggs, chicken, celery, and carrots for at least two batches, cut it up, and freeze the veggies in a ziplock bag, freeze the chicken in another (smaller) bag, and the noodles in another bag, and put the seasonings in a sandwich bag. I end up putting the various bags together in the freezer and then up to a month later, stir-fry the chicken and veggies, add the water and seasonings, bring to a boil and add the noodles and boil 10 minutes for a quick dinner.

Dublin Coddle

Folks-
I guess it's time for my annual post!

I discovered recently that the link I had to Meemo's Kitchen for the Mrs. Knott's Biscuits has gone dark. As a result, you may see me converting some of my bookmarks into posts here. After all, there's little chance that Google will dump Blogger since they still have their RSS reader (right?) ;)

Well, all kidding aside, with St. Patrick's day so recently passed, I figured I'd post the recipe I make annually this time of year. Not Corned Beef and Cabbage, I don't do that. I make a nice, hearty soup popular in pubs around Dublin. I first had it there over 20 years ago. It's called Dublin Coddle, and here's my variation:

Dublin Coddle

1 lb Breakfast Sausage, Sliced

1-1/2 lb Sliced Bacon, Cut into pieces

2 lbs Potatoes, Peeled and Diced

1-1/2 Large Onion, Diced

4 C water

1/2 tsp Ground Black Pepper

Chopped Parsley

Place all ingredients except parsley into a large pot. Bring to a boil over high heat, reduce to a simmer and cook for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. Serve in a bowl garnished with the parsley.

Old Time Fudge

Folks-

The computer was on, so I figured I should power out another Zap 190 recipe. This one I intend to try soon, only I want to try it using whipping cream instead of milk. If I try it, I'll post the results!

-Edly

Old Time Fudge
P. Jones

Ingredients:
2 Cups Sugar
¾ Cup Milk
2 Squares (2 Oz) Unsweetened Chocolate, broken up
1 Teaspoon Light Corn Syrup
2 Tablespoons Butter or Margarine
1 Teaspoon Vanilla
½ Cup Coarsely Chopped Nuts (optional)

Line a 9x5x3” loaf pan with foil, extending foil over the edges of the pan. Butter the foil; set pan aside. Butter the sides of a heavy 2-quart saucepan. In the saucepan combine the sugar, milk, chocolate, and corn syrup. Cook over medium-high heat to boiling, stirring constantly to dissolve the sugar. Avoid splashing the mixture on the sides of the pan. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring frequently, until a thermometer reads 234 degrees (soft-ball.) The mixture should boil at a moderate, steady rate over the entire surface. Remove the saucepan from heat. Add butter and vanilla but do not stir! Cool without stirring to lukewarm (118 degrees.) Beat vigorously with a wooden spoon until fudge is just beginning to thicken; add nuts if desired. Continue to beat until the fudge is very thick, and just begins to lose its gloss. Quickly turn the fudge onto the prepared pan. While warm, score it into 1” squares. When the candy is firm, use the foil to lift it out of the pan; cut candy into squares. Store tightly covered.

Crumb Cake

Folks-

I wanted to power out another recipe or two while I still have my Zap 190 cookbook out. This one is my mom's crumb cake and crumb cake topping recipes. They are very good together, and I just may fix them tomorrow. We'll just have to see...

-Edly

Updated 1/12/2022:

I decided to make this tonight due to having a whole lot of milk on hand (it takes over a quart!) So, I decided to make some changes to the recipe. I used coconut oil instead of margarine or shortening, and half of the 2 teaspoons of vanilla without changing the flavor of the pudding just by changing the order of adding ingredients. I've updated the recipe below.

Crumb Cake
E. Perl

Ingredients:

3 Cups Flour

1 Cup Sugar
1 Cup Margarine, Shortening or coconut oil
1 Tablespoon Baking Powder
1 Teaspoon Salt

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract
1 Cup to 1-1/2 Cups Milk (approximately)

Mix together flour and sugar and cut in margarine, shortening, or coconut oil (I recommend blending shortening with the coconut oil to keep it from being overwhelming) until crumbly. Save one cup of the crumbs for later. Add the baking powder and salt, then add the milk and vanilla extract and mix until it is the consistency of drop biscuit batter. Spread the batter into a greased cake pan and top with the saved crumbs from earlier. Cook at 325 degrees for 45 minutes or until done in the middle.

Crumb Cake Topping

E. Perl

Ingredients:

1 Cup Sugar

5 Tablespoons Flour

4 Cups Milk

1 Teaspoon Vanilla Extract

Mix together all ingredients except vanilla extract in a pot. Bring mixture to a boil, stirring vigorously and continuously all the way to the bottom to prevent it from burning (warning! It wants to burn! Like really wants to burn!) until it starts to thicken to the consistency of pudding (at about 200 degrees F.) Remove from heat and stir in vanilla extract, and then serve warm on a slice of the crumb cake.

Melisse's Candied Walnuts

Folks-

I have a few minutes, and the Holidays are coming up, so I wanted to post the recipe for my grandmother's candied walnuts. It's not hard to make them if you have a candy thermometer, and have some candy making experience.

Here it is!

Melisse's Candied Walnuts

Ingredients:

½ Cup Granulated Sugar

1 Cup Brown Sugar

½ Cup Sour Cream

1 Teaspoon Vanilla

3 Cups Walnut Halves

Combine sugars and sour cream in a saucepan. Cook to soft-ball (234-240 degrees fahrenheit) stage and then add the vanilla. Beat until mixture begins to thicken. Add walnut halves and stir until they are well coated. Turn mixture onto a greased platter and separate. Cool to room temperature.

Fool Proof Pie Crust

Folks-
It's been a while since I've updated the site with a new recipe, and that's because I use the site as my own personal recipe card file. If I haven't needed an old recipe, have been experimenting much in the kitchen, and haven't found a new recipe that I need to add to the old card file, then I don't update.
Well, one of Zhenie's old high-school friends (she went to school in The Philippines, so how did one of her old friends end up living only a mile away?) dropped off a whole bunch of pairs at our house. I was thinking pie, but didn't find my mom's old pie crust recipe online. Time to fix that.
Here's a recipe that my mom got from one of the cooks at the school she retired from:

Fool Proof Pie Crust

Ingredients:
4 Cups Flour
1 Tablespoon Sugar
2 Teaspoons Salt
1 ¾ Cups or 335g *Shortening
½ Cup Cold Water
1 Tablespoon Vinegar
1 Large Egg

In a large bowl, mix together the flour, sugar, and salt. Cut in the shortening using a pastry blender just until mixed in and crumbly. Do not overdo it or the liquids won't mix in! In a separate bowl, mix together the water, vinegar, and egg. Add liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients just until a kneadable dough forms. Roll out on a floured surface to about 1/8 inch thick. If making an uncooked pie, be sure to poke the bottom of the pie crust multiple times with a fork before cooking to prevent bubbles.

Notes:
1. Shortening is getting harder to find these days. I intend to experiment with a coconut oil soon as a replacement. If I do, I'll let you know the results. Update: It works, but gives it a strong coconut flavor. This might work for some pies. I recommend sticking with shortening or maybe ghee.

2. It is best to get the liquids ready first then leave them in the refrigerator until ready. In fact, it's best to make this recipe when it's cold, and store it in the fridge until ready to roll out.

3. I made this for hand-pies recently using lard instead of vegetable shortening and it came out stronger than using the regular shortening. It still refused to seal (especially around the blueberry filled ones.) I may try a completely different recipe for hand-pies. (7/5/25)

Avocado Milk Shake and Cinnamon Smoked Pork Chops

Folks-
I've got one recipe, and one new grilling trick to relate to you today. Both are the result of looking ingredients up on Wikipedia.
In the first case, I looked up Cinnamon, and discovered an interesting story. According to what I read, the Roman Emperor Nero burned an entire years supply of cinnamon for the city of Rome to mark the death of his first wife. I wondered what that would smell like, thinking it might be sort of incense-like, so I tried burning a stick. I found it didn't smell like incense, but the smell was unique, and I wondered how it would add to grilled meat. Tonight I tried it, grilling pork chops on my gas grill. I soaked an ounce or two of cinnamon sticks in water for an hour and a half, drained the water, and wrapped them in aluminum foil in two bundles. The bundles of cinnamon sticks went directly onto the gas flames in the grill. Everyone in the family liked it at least as much as hickory smoking, with me liking it more for pork. I recommend trying it!
The second experiment I tried on my family (Zhenie went shopping before she had a chance to try it) is also the result of reading Wikipedia. I was looking up Avocados, and discovered that Avocado milkshakes are popular in Brazil. My kids all liked it, until I told them what it was. The flavor is very subtle, but good. Here's the recipe:

Avocado Milkshake
2 Cups Vanilla Ice Cream
1 1/4 Cup Milk
1 Avocado, skinned, pitted, and diced

Put all of the ingredients into a blender and blend until smooth.