Butter my banana bread

Banana Bread was one of the very first things I ever learned to bake as a child, it helped ignite my passion for food and cooking.  Its easy to make, and easily makes everyone around you happy. Over the years, I've played with and tweaked my recipe, and this, by far is my favorite. (makes 2 loaves)

Start with well ripened bananas.

Toss together all dry ingredients. Reserve 1/4 cup of chopped walnuts and  1/3 cup of chocolate chips, you'll use these to top banana bread before baking

Mash your bananas and add remaining wet ingredients. Add dry ingredients to wet ones, slowly mixing until well blended.

Grease bread pan with butter, shortening or cooking oil.  Lightly dust flour over greased pan, to prevent bread from sticking. Pour half of batter into bread pan. Sprinkle half of reserved walnuts and chocolate chips evenly over batter. Gently push them into batter, about half way in. 

Ingredients:

Dry ingredients

• 2 cups flour ( I used 1 1/2 cups of unbleached flour, and 1/2 cup of coconut flour*)
• 1 1/2 tsp. salt ( I used fleur de sel)
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 2 tbsp. baking powder
• 1/3 cup organic sugar
• 3/4 cup chopped walnuts (1/2 cup in batter)
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips (2/3 cup in batter)

Wet ingredients

• 6 ripe bananas ( about 2 cups)
• 3 eggs
• 3 tbsp. vanilla extract ( I used a bourbon madagascar vanilla)
• 1 1/3 cup maple syrup ( only the real stuff, no Aunt Jemimas)
• 1/3 cup light cooking oil (I used sunflower oil, don't use olive, it's taste is too distinctive)

Bake for 40 minutes at 375*C on middle rack of oven, 45 minutes if you're baking 2 loaves at once.


* Coconut Flour is very high in dietary fiber and protein, and is low in carbohydrates. Its a little expensive, so generally i use about 20% coconut flour and 80% wheat flour.

Smoky Bacon, Leek and Potato Soup

Nothing Cures the winter blues like some homemade leek and potato soup.  The smoky bacon, roasted garlic and touch of spicy mustard in this version, will warm you up all the way through.  ( Makes enough for Dinner for 4 people, or starters for 8)

Cut Whole garlic in half, in oven safe cookware, drizzle with olive oil, broil on top rack for 10min.  Keep watch, garlic will roast fairly quickly this way. Let cool, remove skin and chop. ( you can use food processor)

Double smoked, thick cut bacon, pan fried on med high heat. Once cooked, place on paper towel and reserve fat. Remove pan from heat and keep aside for later use. Cool and then finely chop (you can use food processor)

Peel potatoes, cut into quarters, rinse and place in stock. On high heat, boil until potatoes are tender (approx. 20mins)

While potatoes are cooking and you've prepared your garlic and bacon, cut and clean your leeks. Remove tips and stems and cut lengthwise. Each layer needs to be cleaned under cold running water.

Cut your leeks and onion, set aside. 

Put your bacon pan back on med high heat, add 2 tbsp. of the reserved bacon fat. Let pan heat up and add leeks, onion, mustard, paprika, salt, pepper and cook until onions and leeks are tender (about 10min)

Add leeks, onions and roasted garlic to potatoes and stock.  Bring to a simmer, on med heat.

In batches, ladle soup into food processor and puree. Ladle pureed soup into new pot. Or if you have a hand mixer, you can puree your soup directly in the original pot.

Once you've pureed you entire soup add cream, fresh chives and bacon. Mix and bring soup to a slow simmer. Remember to taste soup and if you require more salt or pepper, add it accordingly. If soup is too thick for your liking add some more stock at this point.

To make this starter a meal, add grated Cheddar, fresh chives and grilled baguette.

Ingredients:

• 4 pieces of extra thick double smoked bacon ( from Aubrey's Butcher shop in the Byward Market) www.byward-market.com/en/directory/food-retail/59.htm
• 1 whole garlic, cut in half, roasted and pureed
• 2 tbsp. of olive oil
• 6-8 med sized boiling potatoes, peeled, quartered and rinsed
• 1 1/2 - 2L of chicken stock ( depends how thick you like your soup)
• 1/2 large sweet onion chopped
• 2 leeks trimmed, cleaned, chopped
• 1 tsp of fresh ground black pepper, or to taste
• 1 tsp of sea salt, kosher, or regular salt, I used fleur de sel, or to taste
• 1 tsp of paprika, 2 if you like a little spice
• 2 tbsp. of mustard, I used Mrs. McGarrigle's Canadian Maple www.mustard.ca/
• 1/3 cup of 35% whipping cream
• 2 tbsp of fresh chives

Le blueberry buttercream frosting le

 Start with a simple buttercream frosting, then make it your own, add shredded coconut, melted chocolate, or an easy fruit puree. Here is my blueberry version- enjoy! ( makes enough for 24 cupcakes)

Ingredients:


In a sauce pan, combine first three ingredients, while stirring cook on med high heat until all sugar is dissolved. Puree in food processor or blender, chill and set aside.

• 1 cup frozen blueberries
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tbsp. vanilla extract

• 1 cup icing sugar
• 2 cups butter (softened) 
• 1 cup shortening
• 4 tbsp. egg whites
• 1 tbsp. lemon juice 

In another mixing bowl, cream together butter, shortening and icing sugar. If you have an electric mixer, use paddle attachment. Blend in egg whites and lemon juice, then mix until light and fluffy. Add blueberry mixture and blend. 

*To ice cupcakes, you can use a piping bag to create a more professional look, or an offset spatula or butter knife for a more homemade look.

Everyday is a special day cupcakes

These delicious chocolate cupcakes, are simple enough to make any day and nutritious enough to eat everyday! (Makes about 24 cupcakes)

Ingredients: 


Wet ingredients

• 2 cups thawed or fresh strawberries pureed (in their own juices)*
• 1 cup maple syrup
• 2/3 cup cooking oil, or melted butter or shortening
• 1 tbsp. vanilla extract 
• 1 cup skim milk ( can be whole, soy, etc.)

Dry ingredients

• 2 cups cake or all purpose flour ( enriched or whole wheat is even better)
• 1/2 cup dark cacao powder (unsweetened)
• 1 tbsp. baking powder
• 1 tbsp. baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon of salt
• 1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

In a mixing bowl, blend all wet ingredients well, except milk. In a separate bowl, blend all dry ingredients, the flour should become a nice light brown color by well blending the cacao into it. Slowly add your dry ingredients to the wet ones, a little at a time, until you've blended them both together, you can add the milk at this point. You don't have to mix like crazy, you just want a nice uniform batter.

Set your oven to 385*C, line your cupcake trays and fill each until about 2/3 's full. I like to use an ice cream scoop so that all my cupcakes are the same size.

Bake on middle rack in your oven for approximately 16-18 minutes.

Cool and Ice, with whipped cream, prepared frosting, or a simple buttercream.

* instead of strawberries, you can use cherries, raspberries, blueberries etc