TWD-BWJ.....Irish Soda Bread

This week's TWD-BWJ, Irish Soda Bread has to be the easiest, least time-consuming bread recipe, evah!  It's four ingredients....flour (I used half all-purpose and half whole wheat), yeast, buttermilk, and salt.....can be kneaded in your stand mixer and requires no rise time (I'm sure there's a much more technical term than that).  This is something your kids can make and pop into the oven while you're cooking dinner.

This is a dense, filling bread.  The book said it was best served the same day it's made, but I put mine in a ziplock bag on the counter and it's still pretty durn good today.  Traditionally you add in dried fruit, such as raisins or apricots, but I went with another suggestion and added in one cup of freshly grated Gruyere.   I think a piece of this toasted with a poached egg on top just might be my breakfast in the morning.....or Hubs dinner tonight!  You can get the recipe at My Culinary Mission or Chocolate Moosey.

On a completely unrelated note, I've had a visitor hanging out here for the past couple of days.  That's Rex (and his brother Rocky behind him).  His dad is our handyman who's been doing a few projects around our house this week.

Since my first dog was a Cocker Spaniel, and just happened to be perfect, I have a real soft spot for the breed.

This guy is not helping matters.  He's about 12 weeks old and is so well trained I can't stand it.   He can get up the stairs fine but is a little timid about going down them, so every time Anthony goes down, Rex sits at the top and whines and stares until his daddy comes back up.

A perfect little angel!  Rafter doesn't quite have the same opinion, however!

Chocolate Bourbon-Spiked Banana Bread

This banana bread is about the only thing I've baked in the last few weeks.  Well not "about".  It is the only thing I've baked in the past few weeks.  The focus around here seems to have shifted a bit to all things house related.

Since we last spoke, we've purchased a lot up the street (we don't like to get too far from home) for our new house and have found an architect that I'm sooooo hoping we can afford!  He and I have spoken on the phone and texted back a forth and I really like his vibe.......I'm just hoping hubs wallet feels the same way!!  We've also had one (yes, ONE) showing of our current house.  Our realtor said that the couple practically vomited rainbows while they were here.....loved the house, wouldn't have to change a thing, have always wanted to live on this street, blah, blah, blah.  SHOW ME THE MONEY!  I'll keep you posted but don't hold your breath.

In a completely unrelated topic, this week starts the best two weeks in sports.  Have you filled out your brackets?  Mine are all filled out and people are dying to know!  So here's the scoop.  Since the trend among the experts seems to be "going chalk" (who the eff makes up these terms?) that's mostly the route I went also.  Here are my first round (technically the second round but feeder games don't count in my world) exceptions.....

South Region

UConn over Iowa State (not a huge upsent....it's a 9 over an 8)

VCU over Witchita State

East Region

West Virginia over Gonzaga

Midwest

Ohio over Michigan (suck it Wolverines)

My final four consists of Kentucky, Syracuse (I really wanted to pick my beloved Buckeyes, but as my dad said..."Sully really needs to pick up his game.") Kansas, and Michigan State.  I've got Michigan State beating Syracuse in the final.  I know everyone thinks this is Kentucky's year, but let's face it.....Calipari is a cheater and can't win the big one.  Plus they will have to get by a veteran MSU team that has a coach that can and HAS won the big one.

UPDATE:  When I found out yesterday afternoon that Fab Melo from Syracuse had been ruled ineligible from playing in the NCAA tournament (apparently because he's dumber than a box of rocks) a few things changed in my bracket.  The most important being that my beloved Buckeyes now have a legitimate shot to make the Final Four, which in turn really pisses me off because I had a chance for VIP tickets to the Final Four and TURNED THEM DOWN.  Grrr.  Anyhoo, my final four now consists of Michigan State, Kentucky, Ohio State and Kansas with Michigan State and Ohio State in the finals.  I'll let you figure out who I picked to win it.

Finally let's talk a little bit about this banana bread.  It's from the new cookbook from the highly successful blog Joy the Baker, whom I've followed for a few years now.  It's her grandmother's basic banana bread recipe to which she's added the always appropriate bourbon and chocolate!  I made three mini-loaves so I could share.  I took one of the loaves to my trainer who said he could smell the bourbon from a mile away and jokingly claimed he got a buzz after a few slices.  Rookie.   It amounted to one tablespoon of bourbon per loaf.  My highly trained alcohol taste buds could barely detect it.  It added the perfect amount of zip and you can never go wrong with bananas and chocolate.

Here's the recipe:

Mommom's Chocolate Bourbon-Spiked Banana Bread

Joy the Baker Cookbook

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
3 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, softened
1 cup granulated sugar
2 large eggs
1 1/2 cups mashed ripe bananas (about 3)
1 teaspoon lemon juice
3 tablespoons bourbon
1 cup coarsely chopped walnuts (I omitted)
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips

Directions:
Place a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 350 degrees F.  Grease and flour a loaf pan.  Set aside.

In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, and salt.  In the bowl of an electric stand mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat butter and sugar until light and fluffy, 3 to 5 minutes.

Add eggs one at a time, beating for 1 minute between each addition.  Stop the mixer, scrape down the sides of the bowl and add bananas, lemon juice, and bourbon.  Beat until well incorporated.  Turn the mixer to low and add the flour mixture all at once.  Beat until almost incorporated.  Stop the mixer and remove the bowl from the mixer.  Add the walnuts and chocolate chips and incorporate the rest of the ingredients with a spatula.  Spoon mixture into loaf pan.  Bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour, or until a skewer inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean  Remove from the oven and allow loaf to cool in the pan for 20 minutes before inverting onto a wire rack to cool completely.

Tuesdays with Dorie - Baking with Julia......White Loaves

Tuesdays with Dorie is back!  Well, actually, I'm back participating with TWD.  They never went anywhere.  I kind of petered out of the group near the end of the book.  The rest of the dedicated bakers finished the book a few months ago and now we're off on a new adventure.  We will all now be blogging the recipes from Dorie's book, Baking with Julia.  Get the book and bake along with us!

The first recipe chosen was White Loaves which I have to admit caused me a bit of anxiety.  Yeast and I are not friends and my past attempts at bread baking were massive failures.  Not the case with this recipe and I frankly have no idea why these came out so good.  But they were.  Really.  Good!

I even got fancy and made one of the loaves into cinnamon bread.  (Can someone explain to me why there were these huge gaps where the cinnamon and butter went??)

It made a delicious french toast!

Visit Jule's blog, Someone's in the Kitchen, for the complete recipe!

Pumpkin, Cheddar and Sage Biscuits

It's going to be a beautiful weekend here.  Temperatures are supposed to dip down into the high 60's during the day and 40's overnight for the next few days....before heading back up into the 80's next week.  So we actually get a peak into Fall.

What says autumn better than pumpkin and sage?  I ran across this little gem of a recipe in a new (or new to me anyway) magazine, Alabama.  Really reached deep into the creative juices for that title, eh?  While I'm not sure Alabama needs yet another magazine devoted to itself, this one isn't bad.  I mean I did get a new recipe, right?

These are flaky and moist and even with strong flavors like pumpkin and sage, they're still subtle.

I made mini-biscuits so I could serve them as an appetizer, but they would also be perfect full sized served as a side to some squash soup or just about anything, for that matter!  Plus, minus the baking time, these come together in about 15 minutes.

Here's the recipe:

Pumpkin, Cheddar and Sage Biscuits

Alabama Magazine, Sept/Oct 2011

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh sage
1/2 cup cold butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 cup pumpkin puree (not pumpkin pie filling)
1/4 cup smoked aged cheddar (I don't like smoked cheese so I used aged white cheddar)

Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 deg. F.  Stir together first 4 ingredients in a large bowl.  Cut in butter with a pastry blender or two forks.  Stir in cheddar and pumpkin.  Mixture will look very dry at first; stir until it comes together.  Knead dough 2-3 times on a lightly floured surface; roll out to 1 1/4 inch thickness.  Cut dough with a 2-inch circle cutter and place biscuits on a parchment-lined baking sheet.  Bake 16-18 minutes or until lightly browned.

Someone else is a little excited about the cooler temperatures!  He can finally control the neighborhood from the front yard.

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

I'm a believer in the idea that one can never have enough banana bread recipes.  I love me some banana bread, but lets face it, it's not exactly diet food and after my week in Mexico and the upcoming trip I need to check myself before I wreck myself!  This bread is a perfect way to feel like you're having a little treat but without the guilt.  Plus it's delicious and the rest of my family has no idea it's healthy!!

 

Here's the recipe:

Whole Wheat Chocolate Chip Banana Bread

Adapted from King Arthur Flour

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter

3 tbsp light brown sugar

1/4 cup unsweetened applesauce

1 tsp vanilla extract

3/4 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

2 cups mashed ripe bananas

1/4 cup honey

2 large eggs

2 cups whole wheat flour

1 cup chocolate chips

Directions:

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  In a large bowl, beath together the butter, sugar, vanilla, baking soda, and salt.  Add the bananas, honey, and eggs, beating until smooth.  Add the flour, then the chocolate chips, stirring until smooth.  Spoon the batter into a lightly greased 9 x 5 inch loaf pan, smoothing the top.  Let it rest at room temperature for 10 minutes.  Bake the bread for 50 minutes, then gently lay a piece of aluminum foil across the top, to prevent over-browning.  Bake for an additional 10 m inutes, then remove the bread from the oven; a long toothpick or cake tester inserted into the center should come out clean.  Allow the loaf to cool for 10 minutes before removing it from the pan, and cooling it completely on a rack.

TWD - Cocoa-Nana Bread

First of all, thanks to Steff of Obsessed with Baking for this week's TWD. Who knew she'd set off this big debate among the bakers about the combination of banana and chocolate.

I happen to love them together and I never imagined anyone else felt differently, so I was excited about this bread. There was a lot of substitution talk going on the the P&Q...applesauce, pumpkin, etc.....so I'm anxious to read how that worked out for everyone.

So for the taste.....I have to admit that I thought these were a bit too "cocoa powdery" tasting for me at first. The chocolate really smacked my taste buds with not much banana at all, but I had a bite a day later and everything had kind of melded together and I could really taste the banana in the background. Which, for me, is a good thing.

I chose to make four mini-loafs. This way I could give one away and freeze a couple for later. It also cut down on the baking time to about 40 minutes.

While this won't rank in the top 5 for us, I think it's worth a try. Make sure to check Steff's blog for the recipe.