banana and wheat germ muffins

I'd been craving muffins and finally had sufficient excess bananas to justify mashing them up. When they were just reaching the point of being too ripe, I put them in the refrigerator. Then we waited until Saturday so they could have their day. This recipe calls for 3/4 a cup of sugar; I only used 1/2 and am not even really convinced it needs any. But some people want their muffin to be a dessert.

Banana and Wheat Germ Muffins
adapted from Bon Appetit
INGREDIENTS
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
3/4 cup wheat flour
1/2 c sugar
1 tablespoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3/4 cup wheat germ
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
1/2 cup milk
2 large eggs
1/3 cup oil
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

DIRECTIONS
Preheat oven to 400°F. Line 16 muffin cups with foil muffin papers or spray lightly with cooking oil. Sift dry ingredients into medium bowl. Mix in wheat germ. Combine bananas, milk, eggs, oil and vanilla extract in large bowl and whisk to blend. Mix in dry ingredients. Spoon batter into prepared muffin cups, dividing equally.

Bake muffins until tops are golden brown and tester inserted into center comes out clean, about 20-25 minutes.

Taylor has yet to try them. Each time I offer he feigns "not hungry." He usually does that when I bake breads and muffins. Someday he'll realize he's been missing out.

introducing...

Baby Rosemary! My mom brought this home for me from our new favorite grocery store in South Austin, Newflower Farmer's Market .....which, by the way, is life changing. Especially on Wednesdays. Last week, I got blueberries for 88 cents instead of 3.89.


Back to Baby Rose. Now whenever my recipes call for rosemary, this is where it will be coming from! ....and maybe even when they don't call for it. If I can keep her alive, I may start a little potted herb garden on our patio.

Chicken Gyros with Cucumber Salsa and Tsatsiki

First I have to say that it is so typical of Epicurious to categorize this as "Quick & Easy" when it involved not only homemade tsatsiki but homemade salsa and homemade garlic sauce. This was certainly good --all the flavor I'd expect from an Epicurious recipe but not what I'd call "Quick & Easy." Save your categories for Top Chef, Epicurious.

Chicken Gyros
adapted from Gourmet
INGREDIENTS
2 cucumbers, divided
1 cup Greek yogurt
1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice, divided
5 garlic cloves, minced, divided
1 cup grape tomatoes, quartered
1 small red onion, halved and thinly sliced
dried parsley
1/4 cup chopped mint
1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
4-5 tablespoons cup fresh rosemary, chopped
1 (12-ounces) package naan bread (four 8-inch pieces)
or 4 (8-inch) pita rounds
1/2 roast chicken, skin discarded, meat shredded (about 2 1/4 cups)
8 leaves of spinach, shredded or chopped

DIRECTIONS
Tsatsiki
Peel and grate 1 cucumber, then squeeze it with your hands to remove excess water. Stir together with yogurt, 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, one third of garlic, and 1/4 teaspoon each of salt and pepper to make tsatsiki.
Cucumber Salsa
Cut remaining cucumber into 1/4-inch pieces and stir together with tomatoes, onion, dash of parsley, mint, remaining 1/2 teaspoon lemon juice, and dash of salt and pepper to make salsa.
Garlic Oil Spread
Gently simmer oil, oregano, rosemary, remaining garlic, 1/4 teaspoon salt, and dash of pepper in a small heavy saucepan, stirring constantly, until garlic is fragrant but not browned, 1 to 2 minutes. (I did this in the microwave.) Generously brush one side of bread with oil and toss chicken in with the remainder. Stir to keep warm while toasting bread.

Heat bread, oiled side up, on cookie sheet, covered with foil, 3 to 4 inches from broiler 3 minutes. Uncover and broil, flipping bread for even coloring, until golden in spots, about 2 minutes.

Open pita and fill with spinach, salsa, chicken and tsatsiki. Or serve all ingredients on top of pita or naan bread. This is even better as leftovers, as chicken stored in garlic rosemary sauce has marinated in the flavor. YUM!

I accidentally put oregano in the salsa. Don't do that.

the leaning pear

Here is a new feature to my loyal readers, a restaurant review. For Valentine's day Taylor humored me and we took a trip to Wimberley. In addition to this restaurant, we also visited the Cookie Jar and Driftwood Vineyard.

We highly recommend The Leaning Pear to anyone venturing into the hill country or traveling on R.R. 12. Owned by a pair of fellow Aggies, The Leaning Pear states that they use the freshest seasonal ingredients and in our opinion, did a fantastic job of giving classic dishes a unique, memorable yet tasteful twist --pun intended.

To start, we split the Hill Country Cobb salad which, much to my pleasant surprise, was made with real, leafy greens (not iceberg), included avocado (a Cobb essential) and was mixed with an ample but not excessive amount of zesty 'southwestern ranch dressing.' Taylor "branched out" and ordered the Soup and Sandwich combo. He got the Grilled Chicken Club with avocado, provolone cheese and sundried tomato aioli on what we think was freshly in-house made grilled ciabatta bread. For the soup, he ordered a cup of one of the soup specials, Potato Curry, and said it had a nice kick at the end but wasn't too spicy. He said the soup was fantastic and that it made the meal.

I ordered Crab Cakes, another of the specials. It was a great big, single crab cake with generous (and colored) crabmeat chunks. The cake also included corn kernels and some cooked red peppers for a subtle southwest twist. Crab cakes are always served with the same type of aoili or rémoulade sauce and what sold me about this dish was that they did a pesto version of that standard sauce. Any addition of pest0 = heaven. So I was sold. Also, the breading fell apart beatuifully, indicating that it was not prebattered and then frozen. Obviously no one wants a crab cake with a McFish Fillet battering.

We arrived at 11:35am right before the crowd. It's a hoppin' little spot and, from what we could tell, with good reason.

...on the menu: Salmon with Fresh Tomato Mint Salad

On a quest to make us eat more vegetables outside of salad and now my roasted veggie medley, I bought about every vegetable type at the store this afternoon. So expect more vegetable endeavors but for now this is what was for dinner:

Baked Salmon
Steamed Asparagus
Tomato Mint Salad

Baked Lemon Salmon
INGREDIENTS
2 8oz Salmon fillets
lemon
mint
kosher salt and freshly ground pepper
DIRECTIONS
Oven to 400. Line a baking sheet with foil and place salmon on it. Squeeze half a lemon generously over fillets and sprinkle with a few teaspoons finely chopped mint leaves and a pinch of salt and pepper. Spread evenly. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes or until outside is white and flakes easily.

Tomato Mint Salad
1/2 a large tomato, chopped
1/2 large avocado, chopped
1 cup arugula, chopped
juice from half a lemon (or whole, but the other half was on the salmon)
zest of one lemon
1/4 c. olive oil
1-2 cups corn kernels (I used no salt added canned)
2 T. finely chopped fresh mint leaves
1 T. seasoning salt, or more to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste

Combine ingredients and serve.

This was basically a veggie leftover salad. We both really liked it and is obviously very flexible. You could also just toss it with your favorite salad dressing like Newman's Italian. I also steamed asparagus in my cool Calphalon steamer insert and the rest is yummy history.

Penne in Vodka Cream Sauce

The recipes that I combined to make this involved first browning prosciutto or Italian sausage in olive oil and garlic. I tried it with ground venison because I wanted to use it. I thought it was good; Taylor said he could taste the vodka too much so I may use less next time and allow it to reduce better than I think I did this time. And of course the sauce can be put on other types of noodles.... here is the doubled version of the recipe.

Penne with Venison in Vodka Cream Sauce
INGREDIENTS
1 (16 oz) package dry penne pasta cooked according to directions
1 T. olive oil
8 cloves garlic minced
1 lb ground venison (or a package of prosciutto or other meat...)
1 t. red pepper flakes
2 (16 oz) cans whole peeled tomatoes
1/2 c. vodka
1 c. heavy whipping cream
3/4 c. Parmesan cheese
parsley, basil, and cracked pepper
DIRECTIONS
Heat oil in wok or large pot over medium. Add garlic and red peppers. Saute slightly about 2 minutes, stirring continually. Add meat and brown. Stir in tomatoes and about 1 t. each of dried parsley, basil and cracked pepper...to taste. (though about 1/4 c. fresh would be better) Cook tomatoes until they begin to break up, either about 3 minutes on medium or simmering 15 minutes on low. Stir in vodka and bring to a boil, then add cream and simmer, uncovered about 15 minutes. Add cheese and melt. Toss with cooked penne.

I accidentally bought crushed tomatoes instead of whole peeled and as a result, I think it was more liquid-y. So as it happened, I'm uncertain about the best way to recommend cooking the tomato base. Using crushed tomatoes, I brought the tomato, meat mixture to a boil and then simmered it covered on low for 15 minutes. I think crushed tomatoes would have been fine as long as you did a little less cream and vodka, because they are more liquid-y. Or you could do half crushed, half whole if you wanted some chunks..... but then the recipe is hard to half (like I did) because what do you do with two leftover half cans of tomato product? Also, I think it's important to simmer the vodka and cream addition uncovered so the alcohol can reduce.

Anyway, I'm going to make it again! Sorry for the delay in recipe deliveries and lack of pictures! New feature! wine recommendation! We drank Bogle "Old Vine" Zinfandel with this.

Congressional Chili

So the State Legislature is in session and Taylor is sick. Perfect time to make Chili. According to my research, Former House Representative Jake Pickle, who represented Texas in the U.S. House of Representatives for almost 30 years started making venison chili and giving it away in the cafeteria while the Legislature was in session. It became very popular and so demanded that the cafeteria asked him to stop giving it away because no one was actually buying things on the menu. This became a favorite of President LBJ, beginning, according to Wikipedia, when he was Senate Majority Leader. Lady Bird had the recipe printed out on cards and mailed it out when it became so requested from the White House. Furthermore, the Texas Chili Parlor is a popular eatery for capitol workers AND chili con carne is Texas' national dish.

That highly extensive five minutes of research done to figure out why this would be called Congressional Chili by the Junior League of Houston's new cook book entitled Peace Meals, which was featured in my recent edition of House Beautiful. I halved this recipe and didn't have mole. The only thing I'd change is cutting the peppers a bit smaller. It was really good!







Congressional Chili
adapted from Peace Meals: JL of Houston
INGREDIENTS
1 tablespoon olive oil
2 medium yellow onions, diced
2 green bell peppers, diced
4 cloves garlic, pressed
Coarse salt and freshly ground pepper
2 1/2 pounds ground beef, preferably sirloin
16 ounces canned tomato sauce
3 tablespoons prepared red mole ( I did not use this but will try it next time)
3 tablespoons chili powder
3 cups water
32 ounces canned kidney beans
Shredded cheddar cheese

Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium. Add the onions, peppers, and garlic. Sauté until the onions are translucent and the peppers begin to soften. Perhaps add garlic closer to the end or take care to stir frequently so that garlic does not burn to the bottom of the skillet. Season with salt and pepper and set aside. Brown the beef in a soup pot; drain off any excess fat. Add half of the sautéed onion-pepper mixture to the meat. Stir in the tomato sauce, mole, chili powder, and water. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, and simmer for 30 minutes. Adjust the seasonings by adding additional salt, pepper, mole, or chili powder. Simmer for 30 minutes. Add the beans and the remaining half of the onion-pepper mixture; cook for 15 minutes. Serve topped with cheese and onions.

I was skeptical because it was chunky but I thought it was really good! I'd recommend being sure the peppers are really soft when you're sauteeing them so that they only provide flavor not a surprising crunch. As you can see, Taylor endorses it.