recipes •

September 20, 2017September 30, 2017

Nut-free Banana Bread #recipe

I not only hate walnuts, I’m allergic to them. Finding a recipe for banana bread that doesn’t get funny when you take out the walnuts is challenging. This one works and has my kids’ stamp of approval. Makes one loaf of bread, which you can slice into as few pieces as you want.

Ingredients:

1⅓ cups flour
1 Tbsp rolled oats
¾ tsp salt
½ tsp baking soda
¼ tsp baking powder
5⅓ Tbsp unsalted butter, softened but not melted
⅔ cup sugar–brown or white
2 very ripe bananas
1 Tbsp brown sugar
2 large eggs

Equipment:

Electric mixer
Wire whisk or similar tool
Three mixing bowls
Something to mash your bananas
Scraper spatula
One loaf pan, prepared for baking in your preferred manner

Directions:

Preheat oven to 350.
Combine flour, oats, salt, baking soda, and baking powder in one mixing bowl and whisk together. Set aside.
In the second mixing bowl, use the electric mixer to beat the butter and sugar together until creamy. This will be the bowl you add everything else to. Set aside.
Use the third mixing bowl to mash the bananas with the extra tablespoon of brown sugar. Set aside.
Return to the butter mixture. Gradually add the flour and beat together so you don’t coat yourself with flour.
Beat in the eggs, one at a time.
Using the scraper spatula, fold in the mashed bananas. Use only as many cutting strokes as it takes to combine the two.
Pour the batter into your loaf pan.
Bake uncovered for 60 minutes.
Turn off the oven, prop the door open, and leave the bread inside until the oven cools.
Remove from the pan and let cool as long as you can wait to eat it.

Notes:

The baking time may need to be adjusted by as much as 10 minutes in either direction for your oven. When the crusty edges on top darken to a deep brown, turn off the oven to avoid burning.
This recipe adapts well to gluten-free flours used with xanthan gum.
Adapting this recipe to vegan can be done, but I recommend instead using a recipe designed for vegans.
Replacing up to half the flour with whole wheat flour works fine.
Change this to apple by replacing the banana with 1 cup applesauce and adding 1 tsp total of apple pie spices.
Change this loaf to pumpkin by replacing the banana with 1 cup pumpkin puree and adding 1 tsp total of pumpkin pie spices.
This bread freezes well, sliced or unsliced.
If your bananas are frozen, make sure to thaw completely before using.

March 6, 2017April 12, 2017

The Vegan Cooks for the Family

Often I find myself cooking for my extended family. While I am vegan, only two members of my family are, so I will (reluctantly) include some sort of animal protein although I don’t like doing so. The menu will be:

Fried Chicken (a vegan will have purchased it from the deli, so there you go–Vegan Fried Chicken)

Potato Salad – vegan (no dairy/eggs)

Green Salad with two choices of dressing – vegan (no dairy/eggs)

Avocado Salad – vegan (no dairy/eggs)

As I have said before, I was not always a vegan, but the transition was easy for me. For my health’s sake, I avoid meat, and dairy. I am careful what I consume, because I have an autoimmune response to these foods–inflammation of my joints that cripples me. While I love fried chicken as much as anyone, I really prefer to be mobile and off the cane.

The negative effects of going off my vegan diet are immediate–maximum suffering occurring within 24 hrs. Then it takes two or three days to clear out of my system.

Due to the way our food is grown and processed by the large food manufacturers, many people nowadays are suffering food related allergies. All the food I prepare for groups is gluten free, nut free, organic and locally grown (except the avocados-they don’t grow in Tenino.) Even the chicken is organic and raised humanely at a local farm.

I have become re-attuned to the notion of being connected to your food as more than a consumer. If you know where it came from, how it was grown, you have more appreciation for it, and each meal becomes a celebration.

Food is love, but only if love went into the preparation of it.

I am a vegan, but those around me are not, and I do love them, so I frequently prepare ‘blended meals,’ keeping the side dishes vegan, and creating a separate high-quality, organically raised meat dish for those who expect it. If I provide dairy, it is clearly labeled so that it isn’t accidentally mixed with the non-dairy foods.

SO–the vegan will fry the chicken, and carnivorous family members will consume it. The vegan really won’t miss the chicken at all. I never really liked it to begin with and have found new sources of protein that really satisfy me in the crucial areas of taste and texture. Tofu, tempeh, and beans are excellent sources of protein that don’t trigger my autoimmune reaction. That is the basis of my ongoing cookbook project that I am working on as I have time.

________________________________________________

Connie J. Jasperson is an author and blogger and can be found blogging regularly at Life in the Realm of Fantasy.

July 29, 2015August 3, 2015

Why We Love Summer (And You Should, Too!)

Ah, summer – halcyon days of sunshine, friendship, and those popsicles that come with two sticks. Here on the east coast we head to the shore whenever possible (early so we get a parking spot,) flop on the sand, and drag out a packed lunch. And a book to go with it, of course.
You can’t go wrong with sliced tomatoes on your sandwich or, indeed, on anything. They’re juicy and delicious at the moment, tasting like summer itself if you let them ripen on your windowsill. Personally, I like nothing but tomatoes on the best wheat bread I can find, with just a dab of mayonnaise and lots of pepper. A dash of salt brings the sandwich into the realm of the sublime.
What, add an ear of corn on the cob alongside? Oh, yes please.
If you love wheat bread and want to make your own, you can’t go wrong with beer bread. It’s simple and delicious. In fact, I’ve seen grown women eat hunks of it in my kitchen straight from the pan with no butter or toppings. Shame on you, women – you know who you are. Anyway, because I love you, here’s my super easy, super yummy recipe.

Whole Wheat Beer Bread

1 ½ cups (215 grams) all-purpose flour (I like Serasota or King Arthur)
1 ½ cups (215 grams) whole-wheat flour (ditto on the brands)
4 ½ teaspoons (22 grams) baking powder
1 ½ teaspoons (7 grams) salt
1/3 cup (50 grams) packed brown sugar (you may substitute this with 4 tablespoons of agave)
1 12 ounce (360 ml) bottle of beer – feel free to try different brands for cool flavors

1. Preheat oven to 350 F / 175 C. Lightly grease a 9×5 inch (900 g) loaf pan.
2. In a large mixing bowl, combine all-purpose flour, whole-wheat flour, baking powder, salt, and brown sugar. Pour in beer, stir until a stiff batter is formed. It may be necessary to mix dough with your hands. Scrape dough into prepared loaf pan.
3. Bake in preheated oven for 50 – 60 minutes until a toothpick inserted into center of the loaf comes out clean. Remove loaf from pan and allow to cool on a rack. Then go make another one because your family has already eaten the whole loaf you just baked.

Back to that ear of corn: I’ve learned if you chop off the tops and tails before microwaving 5 minutes (rotate halfway through) right in the silk, the corn comes out perfectly. Let it sit until it isn’t nuclear to the touch and husk the perfectly done corn. I like it plain without any toppings, but my husband smothers his in butter. Each to their own.

Now you’re settled on the beach, the kids are fed, umbrellas are up, sunscreen is applied. It’s time to bring out a really good novel to read or, if you’re like me, a fantastic collection of short stories will also do the trick.
What are you reading this summer? I just finished Girl on a Train, which was amazing. The ending (no spoilers, don’t worry) was a bit talky / monologue-ish, but I couldn’t put the book down. I also loved Huw the Bard, which sucked me right into a medieval world of political intrigue, meticulous fantasy, and sexy Huw himself. Do I have a crush on him, with his waist-length hair? Oh, you bet I do.
I’m a sucker for slipstream, and Kelly Link’s new collection Get in Trouble: Stories horrified and delighted me at the same time. I love writers who can do that.
Darker Places is another collection with macabre pieces taking me to entirely original places. Want a masquerade gone wrong? Darker Places will provide.

When it’s time for a drink, honestly there’s nothing better than good old seltzer with fresh lime and a spring of mint. For those who like a bit of a kick, a dollop or two of vodka is mighty refreshing along with the seltzer. It’s a light, summery drink that won’t head south to the waistline so you can wear your (in my case) parental tankini with aplomb.

Here’s to a wonderful summer filled with food, friends, and fabulous fiction.