Nutty Banana Bread

Of course the easiest thing to make with your brown bananas is banana bread. I love banana bread but when I normally make it, it is without the nuts, since nuts are something that I don't really keep on hand. So having a nutty banana bread is a real treat. I even add some toasted walnuts to the bread when I eat it. Yum.

And forget about that cooling completely jazz. I eat this baby warm, straight out of the oven. Oh heaven.

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1-1/2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
2 eggs, beaten
1-1/2 cups mashed banana (5 medium)
1 cup sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil or melted butter or margarine
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:
~Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Grease one 9x5x3 pan.

~In a large bowl combine flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Make a well in center of flour mixture; set aside.

~In a medium bowl combine eggs, banana, sugar and oil. Add egg mixture all at once to flour mixture. Stir just until moistened (batter should be lumpy). Fold in nuts. Spoon batter into prepared pan.

~Bake for 55 to 60 minutes or until a wooden toothpick inserted near center comes out clean. Cover the loaf loosely in foil to prevent over browning during the last 15 minutes of cooking. Cool in pan on a wire rack for 10 minutes. Remove from pan. Cool completely on a wire rack.

~Serve warm with butter and toasted nuts.

recipe by: Better Homes and Gardens

Famous Chicken Enchiladas

I have to give major credit to The Good Husband for finding this recipe. This by far is one of our favorite dishes. I have made it for family gatherings and it is by far the most requested recipe. I have made it so many times that I actually have the recipe memorized, which is not a small feat for me.

I don't think this is a traditional enchilada, since it is cream based and not a red sauce. Also, the cream cheese in the recipe gives some pause, but trust me, it is good. Very good. TGH and I have made this several ways. We have made it with flank steak instead of chicken, with corn tortillas instead of flour and one time, in the dark days of a low carb diet, even without the tortillas. Both times it was good.

But chicken is the original recipe and by far our favorite preparation.

Ingredients:
1/4 cup chopped onion
2 tablespoons butter
1 3-ounce package cream cheese, softened
1 tablespoon milk
1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
2 cups chopped cooked chicken
12 7-inch flour tortillas
1 10.75-ounce can reduced-fat condensed cream of chicken soup
1 8-ounce carton light dairy sour cream
1 cup milk
2 cups shredded Monterey Jack cheese

Directions:
~In a medium skillet cook the onion and butter over medium heat until onion is tender. Remove from heat.

~In a medium bowl stir together cream cheese, the 1 tablespoon milk and the cumin; add onions and chicken and stir until combined. Spoon about 3 tablespoons of the chicken mixture onto each tortilla near an edge; roll up. Place filled tortillas, seam side down, in a greased 3-quart rectangular baking dish. Set aside.

~For sauce, in a medium bowl combine the soup, sour cream, and the 1 cup milk. Pour evenly over the tortillas in the baking dish. Cover with foil. Bake, uncovered, in a 350 degree oven about 35 minutes or until heated through. Remove foil. Sprinkle with cheese and cook uncovered for 10 minutes more.

recipe modified from: Better Homes and Gardens

Italian Bread

This Christmas, with money being tight, and me cooking more, I decided to make homemade gifts for my family. The traditional route for homemade food gifts at Christmastime is to do something sweet. But I opted for the complete opposite figuring that most people's sweet tooth would be already soothed.

I decided to make homemade noodles, sauce and Italian bread.

The bread was actually the easiest thing to make out of the three. My Kitchen Aid Stand Mixer did most of the work and I just tried not to burn the bread.

Now, I have always had a weakness for a good old loaf of bread. If all I ever had to eat and drink were bread, wine and cheese, I would die a fat and happy girl. But now that wine and some cheese is off the menu while I am cooking up The Good Baby, my only comfort is copious amounts of bread. It is also worth noting that my pregnancy stomach seems to handle milk and bread only right now.


Since this was really my only third attempt at bread making, I can say that I am very pleased with the results. I learned from the mistakes I made when making French Bread and White Sandwich Bread it, indeed, helped me to produce a better product this time around.

First off, I wasn't gentle in kneading this dough. Before I was scared that I would overwork the dough. Not so this time. This time I kneaded that thing to high heaven and was able to get all my aggression out.

Secondly, I really pinched the seams together so that I wouldn't have the visible seams like I had with the White Sandwich Bread. I also improved my slashing technique.

Lastly, I used more than just one cup of water in the pan to create steam. The recipe called for spraying the bread in 3 minute intervals but I opted for the lazy route and placed a roasting pan with water on the bottom rack of the oven. I think I used closer to 2 1/2 to 3 cups of water. The single cup of water evaporated too fast and I don't think the bread benefited from any of the steam.

I used the recipe I found from the Brown Eyed Baker's website. Her notes on the recipe are very helpful. This recipe did produce a HUGE loaf but it was oh so very good.

Italian Bread by the Brown Eyed Baker (Adapted from Dawn’s Recipes)
Makes 1 large ginormous loaf

Ingredients:
2 cups lukewarm water (~100°F)
1 package active dry yeast
5 to 5¾ cups bread flour
1 tablespoon light brown sugar
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
2½ teaspoons salt
1 egg white, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons sesame seeds

Directions:
~Stir the yeast into ½ cup of the warm water. Let proof as you measure out the dry ingredients.

~Combine 5 cups flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of an electric mixer. Add the yeast mixture, remaining water and olive oil. Using a dough hook attachment, mix on lowest speed of electric mixer (stir setting on a KitchenAid) until a dough starts to form, adding more flour as needed.

~Knead on low speed (2 on a KitchenAid) for 7 minutes. Transfer dough to lightly floured surface and need by hand for 1 to 2 minutes, or until a smooth, firm, elastic dough is formed.

~Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled bowl and spray the dough with a thin coating of cooking spray. Wrap the bowl with plastic wrap and set aside to proof in a warm, draft-free place for 1½ hours or until doubled in size.

~Remove the plastic wrap, punch down and flatten the rounded dough with the heel of your hand. Roll the dough up tightly, sealing the seam well after each roll. The dough should be elongated and oval-shaped, with tapered and rounded (not pointed) ends.

~Preheat the oven lined with a baking stone or unglazed quarry tiles to 425°F.

~Place the dough on a baker’s peel heavily dusted with flour, or alternately on an inverted baking sheet. Allow the dough to proof, loosely covered with a floured canvas cloth, for 30 minutes, or until doubled in size.

~Brush the dough with the egg white and sprinkle the sesame seeds over the top. Using a razor blade or sharp knife, slash the dough lengthwise about 1/4-inch deep, keeping the blade at a 45 degree angle.

~Spray the dough generously with water from a water bottle and place in the oven on the baking stone. Immediately close the oven and bake for 3 minutes. Open the oven door and spray the dough again with the water bottle. Close the oven door and bake for an additional 3 minutes before spraying the dough for a third time (the spraying of the dough will ensure a crisp golden brown crust).

~Bake the dough for a total of 45 minutes, or until a hollow thud is heard when tapping the bottom of the bread. Allow the bread to cool before slicing.

recipe by: The Brown Eyed Baker

Buckeyes

This is the first of several posts about the food I made for Christmas this year. I know that it is a little late, but having a large extended family located in different cities and a slow, crappy computer at home will slow a girl down.

I wanted to do something sweet and I originally had my eye set on making Oreo Truffles. I then learned that the OT have been done to death on food blogs and that my grandmother already made them. The next best thing was buckeyes. I found a great recipe on Brown Eyed Baker's blog.

I decided that I would have The Good Sister-In-Law come over and help me make them, since it is nice for us to spend time together and since she has never cooked anything in her entire life, it would be a good experience for her.

The recipe is fairly easy to make it just takes a while. The shaping takes most of the time and if I didn't have TGS-I-L there, I get a feeling I would have hated rolling dozens of peanut butter balls.

I decided to go with the toothpick method to dip the balls. It was faster than using a dipping fork but I did run into the problem of some of the balls falling off the toothpick. The Good Husband insists that I made the balls too large, and therefore too heavy, but I didn't like the tiny ones he proposed we make.

Once the balls were chilled, the dipping part was actually quite easy and fast. But you do need a lot of room to make sure the buckeyes don't stick together. This recipe made about 8 dozen, so you will need 2 sheet pans, at least.

This recipe produced a rich but creamy peanut butter center with a smooth chocolate shell.

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups peanut butter
6 cups powdered sugar
1 cup (2 sticks) butter, softened
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
4 cups semisweet chocolate chips
¼ cup shortening

Directions:
~Line cookie sheet with wax paper. Mix together butter, peanut butter, sugar, and vanilla with a wooden spoon in a large bowl.

~Roll dough into 1-inch balls. Set them on prepared cookie sheet and insert toothpick into each ball. Chill in freezer until hard, approximately 30 minutes.

~Melt chocolate chips and shortening over medium-high heat. Remove the pan from heat. (I used a double broiler) Dip balls in chocolate and place back on cookie sheet. Refrigerate until chocolate is set, approximately 2 hours.

~Store in airtight container in refrigerator.

recipe by: The Brown Eyed Baker

Exciting News!

I, The Good Wife, in about 6 months will be The Good Mother!

That's the little bean in there. I am so scared and nervous and happy and excited all at the same time.

This is defiantly life-changing.

BBQ Pork Steaks

Nothing says winter like BBQ?

While not the first thing you think of when you think of winter, I was getting a little bored with our same old routine of beef steak and 'taters. The local meat market had some beautiful pork steaks on sale for cheap and I decided the best way to serve them was to coat them in a spice rub and then slather them in BBQ.

Now, I am not from the South or Texas and while I have been to both St. Louis and Kansas, I am not sure if this would be considered "real" BBQ by true fans. I didn't cook it on a smoker and it didn't take hours to prepare but for a Good Wife in a Midwest kitchen, this is the kind of BBQ I create.

The Good Wife Spice Rub
Ingredients:
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1 tablespoon chili powder
1 tablespoon paprika
1 tablespoon seasoned salt
1/2 tablespoon garlic powder
1/2 tablespoon onion powder
1 teaspoon cumin
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke
2 large pork steaks
1-2 cups of your favorite BBQ sauce, I used KC Masterpiece Mesquite BBQ

Directions:
~Combine the first ten ingredients for the spice rub and generously coat the pork steaks on all sides.

~Heat the oven to 350 degrees and bake the pork steaks for 20 minutes, turning once.

~Remove the steaks and coat with the BBQ sauce. Return to the oven for 10 minutes.

recipe by: The Good Wife

Easy Vegetable Rice Medley

A great side dish for the BBQ Pork Steak is this vegetable rice medley I saw in Kraft Food and Family Magazine. I have been getting the KFFM since 2005 but I have never really found all that many recipes that I like. They also recently switched formats for the magazine and I have found they rely too much on processed and boxed foods.

But the older magazines do have some good easy recipes, like this one. This recipe appeared in the Winter 2006 KFFM. This rice dish is easy to make, fast and flavorful. Also the picture in the KFFM is so pretty, that is the real reason I decided to make it. (The picture on the website is not the same as the one in the original magazine, so I was not seduced by that one. Even my picture is not as pretty as the original.)

Ingredients:
1 Tbsp. canola oil
1 cup chopped onions (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup chopped carrots (about 1 medium)
1/2 cup chopped celery (about 1 stalk)
1/2 cup chopped red peppers
1 can fat-free reduced-sodium chicken broth
1-1/2 cups white rice, uncooked, I used Jasmine rice since that is all I had on hand
1 cup frozen peas, I omitted the peas

Directions:
~Heat oil in nonstick skillet. Add onions, carrots, celery and peppers; cook 5 min. or until tender.

~Add broth; bring to boil.

~Stir rice and peas; cover. Simmer 5 min. Remove from heat. Let stand 5 min. before serving.

recipe by: Kraft Food and Family Magazine, Winter 2006

Poll results

The most favorite Thanksgiving food was mashed potatoes and gravy!

Good job, starch. Turkey, ham and green bean casserole need to work harder next year to win the hearts and palates of The Good Wife Readers.

The new poll focuses on the current Holiday Season and what you like the most. Feel free to post anything here that you love about the Holiday Season but I didn't include in the poll.

Roasted Garlic Dip

I was craving a simple snack the other night but I didn't have too many ingredients on hand. I had some cream cheese and some sour cream and garlic. I pondered what I could make with such scare ingredients and thus, Roasted Garlic Dip was born.

The flavors of this dip were mellow the first day but after it sits in the fridge to a while, the flavors start to blend and sharpen. After a few days I could really taste the spices but it was not overwhelming.

Ingredients:

2 heads garlic

1 8 oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened

1 8 oz. pkg. sour cream

1/2 tablespoon Mrs. Dash Southwest Chipotle Seasoning Blend

1/2 teaspoon powdered garlic

2-4 drops of liquid smoke

salt

pepper

Directions:
~Peel away dry outer skin from one large garlic head, leaving the skins of the individual garlic cloves intact. Cut off the top portion of the head, leaving the bulb intact but exposing the individual cloves. Place garlic head, cut side up, on a large square of foil and drizzle with olive oil. Allow the oil to seep into the head of garlic, about 2 minutes. Sprinkle with salt. Wrap the garlic tightly with foil and bake in a 350 degree F oven for 60 minutes or until cloves feel very soft when pressed. Cool. Press to remove garlic paste from individual cloves.

~Combine the remaining ingredients and chill for at least one hour or overnight.

recipe by: The Good Wife