Banana Bread Pancakes

Bananas get overripe in our house easily this time of year.  One solution that works well is freezing them for future batches of banana bread or pancakes.  

I had four brown bananas on the counter this evening that became breakfast for dinner.  The boys were thrilled!  I made a double batch of Banana Bread Pancakes to freeze for weekday breakfasts or lunches.  (Freeze in single layers separated by wax paper.  Store pancakes in a zip top bag.)  As a finger food treat, my boys enjoy dipping pancake strips in syrup for something different. 

Banana Bread Pancakes
Adapted from 100 Days of Real Food

• 2 cups of whole wheat flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 eggs
• 1 3/4 cup milk
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons melted coconut oil (or butter)
• 2 ripe bananas, mashed
• Pure maple syrup for drizzling

1. In a large bowl combine, flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and cinnamon.  Wisk together.
2. Add honey, eggs, milk, vanilla and coconut oil (or butter).  Wisk to combine.
3. Add mashed bananas and stir briefly.
4. Heat a griddle or saute pan over medium high heat (350 degrees for a griddle).  Butter the pan or griddle and pour the pancake batter in to your desired size. 
5. Give the pancakes a few minutes to set before flipping.  Allow them another few minutes to cook on the second side before removing from the pan.
6. Serve with nuts, fruit, and syrup or any combination of the three.

I have heard breaking up a bunch of bananas keeps them from ripening as quickly.  The mental picture of my husband's face as he sees bananas sprinkling our kitchen surfaces has kept me from trying that one.  If any of you have feedback in the area let me know! 

Poached Eggs and a BLT Never Tasted So Good

Insipired by the sucessful whole wheat sandwich bread recipe here are a couple of classics:

BLT on homemade whole wheat, with local bacon,
 tomatoes, and lettuce.

 

Poached eggs on toast with orange and red
 tomatoes and avocado.
(Adding a splash of vinegar or lemon juice to
the poaching water keeps the white together.)

Tip for slicing cherry tomatoes or grapes: put them between
 two lids.  Place your hand flat on top of the upper lid. 
Slice between the lids with a serrated knife.
 (I'm a lefty so the picture looks strange!) 

Voila!  Halved tomatoes in no time.

Bread that Smells Like Bread!

I should know better than to look at ingredients on grocery store foods by now.  It's depressing!  Bread (including grocery store bakery bread) is no exception. 

Great Harvest Baking Company features several delicious whole grain options that are 5 ingredients or less.  At around $8/ loaf it's a bit pricey but  I knew I was on the right track when I unwrapped the first loaf.  Wyatt came over and said, "Mama, that bread smells like bread!" and walked away munching on a slice.

This week's challenge - find a whole grain sandwich bread recipe that is easy to throw together without a bread machine.  I want our bread to smell like bread!  I found a knock off recipe of the Great Harvest loaf.  Here is my version which makes a great PB&J, BLT and even poached eggs on toast:

Honey Whole Wheat Sandwich Bread

• 2 cups of warm water (about 105-110 degrees)
• 2 teaspoons active dry yeast
• 1/3 cup honey
• 1/2 cup ground flax seed
• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 3 1/2 - 4 1/2 cups whole wheat flour
• 1 teaspoon salt

1. Pour the water into the bowl of a stand mixer.  Sprinkle the yeast over the top and add the honey.  Allow it to sit for 10 minutes until it's frothy.
2. Add the ground flax, oats and 1 and 1/2 cups of flour.  With the paddle attachment, mix until combined. 
3. Add flour 1/2 cup at a time until the dough barely pulls away from the side of the bowl.  The dough will be sticky.
4. Switch the mixer attachment from the paddle to the dough hook and knead on low for 4 minutes.  (You can also knead by hand for 10 minutes if you don't have a paddle attachment.) 
5. Remove the dough hook and cover the bowl with a towel. 
6. Allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size.  This takes approximately an hour and a half depending on the temperature of your kitchen.
7. Dust your hands with flour and punch down the dough.  Shape it into a loaf and place it in a buttered loaf pan. 
8. Cover again with a towel and allow to rise until again doubled in size (about an hour). 
9. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees towards the end of the second rise.  Bake the loaf for 30 minutes.  Cool completely and store in a zip top bag.

An Insanely Good Deal on PYO Organic Blueberries

We discovered Inkwell Farm in Epping NH a couple years ago in Epping, NH.  They have roughly 300 organic berry bushes in the back yard of their 1700’s era farmhouse.   Pull into the driveway and self serve supplies await you in the screen house:  empty milk gallons with bags, a scale, money and change box.

And the price?   $1.95 per pound!  For a price comparison, I bought local (non organic) blueberries at the grocery store on Sunday for $3.99 for 11 oz (roughly $5.80 per lb).  So, 13 lbs of blueberries in our bags (and an untold amount in our belly’s) we headed out after putting $26 in the money box.  Heaven!

On the way back to the highway we stopped at Goody Cole's in Brentwood for some amazing BBQ!  We got a combo plate “to go” with brisket, pork, kielbasa, potato salad and cornbread.  Our open windows wafted the smell all the way home.  If you like BBQ give them a try but for now it’s back to blueberries.

Many of the berries I froze the day we picked them (wash and air dry, freeze in a single layer on a cookie sheet and then store in a zip top freezer bag with air removed) but just as many were eaten by the handful and made into wonderful concoctions. 

Here is what 13 lbs of blueberries look like and what I made with them:

• Blueberry Crumble Bars
• Pork loin with blueberry salsa, blueberry bread pudding and blueberry mojitos
• Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls

Hopefully they'll still be picking in two weeks so we can get some more for jam.  We'll meet you there on Saturday morning and then swing through Goody Cole's for lunch on the way home.

Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls

These cinnamon rolls are to-die-for!  They do take a little time because of the rising so they aren't exactly suitable for a first thing in the morning breakfast.  I started them first thing Sunday morning and we had them for a mid morning snack.  The boys have brought them for daycare breakfast too - their friends look on and drool (Lucky Charms doesn't have anything on me!). 

The original recipe came from Beantown Baker and is another I modified with whole wheat flour and reduced the sugar or substituted refined sugar for honey.  As much as I try to reduce sugar I couldn't bring myself to omit the glaze!  If your willpower is better than mine and you want an even lower sugar version, drizzle with honey in lieu of the sugar glaze.

Blueberry Cinnamon Rolls

Dough

• 2 cups milk
• 1 stick butter
• 1/3 cup honey
• 2 1/4 tsp active dry yeast
• 4 cups white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup white whole wheat flour
• 1/2 heaping teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 scant teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon salt

Blueberry Filling

• 1 pint blueberries
• 3 tablespoons honey
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 2-3 teaspoons lemon juice
• 3/4 cup water

Additional Sprinkling Mixture

• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 4 tablespoons cinnamon
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 pint blueberries

Sugar Glaze

• 1 1/2 cups confectioner  sugar
• 3-4 tablespoons milk

1. Add whole milk, butter, and sugar in a sauce pan and warm on medium heat to melt the butter.  Remove from heat and let cool until it is approximately 110 degrees (lukewarm).  Pour the milk mixture into the bowl of your stand mixer.
2. Sprinkle in yeast and let sit until foamy, about 10 minutes.
3. Add 4 cups of flour and stir with the paddle attachment of your mixer.
4. Cover mixer bowl with a towel and let sit for one hour.
5. In a small saucepan, combine blueberries, honey, cornstarch, lemon juice and water.
6. Turn heat to medium and cook, stirring often, until mixture begins to thicken slight. Remove from heat and allow to cool.
7. Once the dough has rested for 1 hour, add 1/2 cup flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Mix with paddle attachment until combined.
8. Grease a 9x13 pan.
9. Divide the dough in half. Sprinkle surface generously with flour.
10. Roll the dough into a rectangle about 1/2 an inch thick.
11. Spread half of the blueberry filling onto the dough and sprinkle half of the additional sprinkling mixture on top including the blueberries.
12. Roll the dough toward you like a jelly roll.  Using a serrated knife, cut the cinnamon rolls 2 inches thick and lay in greased 9 x 13 pan. Repeat rolling, filling and slicing with other half of dough.
13. Cover the rolls and let sit for 30 minutes.  Preheat the oven to 375 while the dough is resting.
14. Bake for 25 minutes until golden brown.
15. While baking, combine the confectioner sugar and milk to form a thick glaze.
16. Generously drizzle frosting over warm rolls after they come out of the oven.

Blueberry Crumble Bars

I modified this blueberry crumble bar recipe with whole grains and less sugar.  Here's my version that we had for a snack on Saturday afternoon.


Whole Wheat Blueberry Crumble Bars

• 1/2 cup Turbinado sugar (less refined but white sugar is fine too)
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 3 cups whole wheat flour (white whole wheat or whole wheat pastry)
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Zest of one lemon
• 2 sticks cold butter, cubed
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 4 cups fresh blueberries
• 4 teaspoons cornstarch
• Juice of one lemon
• Honey, (approximately 1/4 cup for drizzling)

1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
2. Grease a 9×13 inch pan (use the leftover butter papers from the recipe and wipe the pan).
3. In a medium bowl, stir together sugar, baking powder, flour, salt and lemon zest.
4. Use two knives or a pastry blender to cut the cold butter into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs. 
5. Stir in the lightly beaten egg.  The dough will be crumbly.
6. Pat half of dough into the bottom of your prepared pan.
7. In another bowl, lightly toss the blueberries, cornstarch, lemon juice and blueberries. Sprinkle the blueberry mixture evenly over the crust and drizzle with honey.
8. Crumble remaining dough over the berry layer.
9. Bake in preheated oven for 45 minutes, or until top is slightly brown. 
10. Cool completely before cutting into squares.

Saturday Dinner: Blueberry Mojitos, Pork Loin with Blueberry Salsa and Blueberry Bread Pudding

Ok, so I admit that this meal is a bit over the top blueberry but my family didn't mind.  Enjoy it together (we served our pork with buttery red potatoes and sauteed yellow squash and zucchini) or serve them separately.  Either way you won't be sorry.

Blueberry Mojitos
Serves 1

• 1/2 cup blueberries, a few more for garnish if you'd like
• 1 tablespoon honey
• 2 lime wedges
• 3-4 mint leaves
• Seltzer
• Crushed ice
• 1.5 ounces white rum

1. In a cocktail shaker, muddle blueberries, honey, lime wedges, mint and a small splash of club soda.
2. Add the ice and rum.  Shake well.  Strain into a glass with more crushed ice.  Top with a splash more seltzer (to taste).  Garnish with remaining blueberries and a sprig of mint.

Cumin Pork Loin Rub

• Cumin
• Garlic powder
• Kosher salt
• Pepper

1. Mix spices together or spinkle on the pork individually. 
2. Grill or roast pork loin and allow to rest for 10 minutes.
3. Top sliced pork with blueberry salsa.

Blueberry Salsa

Serves 2

• 1 cup mashed fresh blueberries
• 1/2 cup whole fresh blueberries
• Juice of 1/2 lemon
• 2 tablespoons chopped fresh cilantro (optional, to taste) 
• 1  seeded and minced jalapeño peppers (optional, to taste)
• 1/4 cup diced red bell pepper
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• Kosher salt
• Pepper

1. Coarsely chop (I used a potato masher) 1 cup fresh blueberries.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together chopped fresh blueberries, 1/2 cup whole blueberries, fresh lemon juice, cilantro, jalapeños, red bell pepper, onion, and salt and pepper to taste.
3. Cover and chill until ready to serve.

 

Blueberry Bread Pudding Modified from About.com

Serves 4

• 2 cups whole wheat bread, cubed
• 1 egg, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup maple syrup
• 1 cup blueberries
• 1 teaspoon vanilla
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• Pinch of salt
• 2/3 cup milk

1. Preheat oven to 350 and butter 4 individual baking dishes.  (You can also double the recipe and bake it in a 9x9 inch casserole dish.)
2. In a mixing bowl, combine all ingredients and stir gently..
3. Spoon the mixture into prepared baking dishes.
4. Bake for 25-30 minutes, until set.  Serve warm with freshed whipped cream or ice cream.