Chocolate Banana Muffins

These are great muffins, especially when you have some bananas laying around in kitchen which are starting to brown.

Chocolate Banana Muffins

1 dl dark brown sugar
2 eggs
100 g melted butter or margarine
2 ripe bananas (the bigger the better)
3,5 dl flour
2 tsp baking powder
50 g chopped dark chocolate

1. Beat eggs with sugar, add melted and cooled butter, chopped chocolate and bananas (make puree of them first).

2. Add flour with mixed baking powder and mix everything fast and as less as possible.

3. Place dough into muffins cups and bake around 18 minutes in 200 degree C oven.



My version: These are my favorite muffins and I usually add a bit more chocolate and the bigger the chunks you chop the better! I baked them 15 minutes and that was quite enough.

Valuation: I have baked these quite few times already and every single time they turn out just fine. Soft and moist muffins, perfect with glass of cold milk.

Recipe adapted from: Muffins (Muffinid) by Maire Suitsu and Lia Virkus

Crispy Chicken Fingers

I have had Bill Granger's book Every Day for some time now and to be honest, at first I didn't think much of it, just browsed very quickly and thought "this is not one of my brilliant ideas". Today when I was looking for Sabrina to start, I browsed this book again and I must say, it's pretty good actually. I marked quite a few recipes which I'd like to try someday.

I am collector, especially which concerns food, so I desperately needed room in my freezer for cranberries, so chickens had to go since I wasn't ready to give up my blueberries yet :).
Considering the size of my pantry, I won't be surprised if I manage to feed whole army but I just love grocery stores, and shoe stores too of course :-).

Crispy Chicken Fingers

60 g plain flour
sea salt
freshly ground black pepper
3 eggs
100 g fresh breadcrumbs
50 g Parmesan cheese, finely grated
small handful fresh flat-leaf parsley, finely chopped
4 chicken breasts, cut into thirds
2 tbsp olive oil
25 g butter

1. Put the flour and little seasoning in a flat bowl. Bear the eggs in another bowl. Put the breadcrumbs, Parmesan, parsley and seasoning in a third bowl and stir together well.

2. Dip each piece of chicken in the seasoned flour, then the egg and finally in the breadcrumb mixture. Cover and chill for up to 2 hours before cooking.

3. Heat the olive oil and butter in a large non-stick frying pan over medium-high heat. Add the chicken and cook about 3 minutes on each side, turning once until lightly golden. You may need to do this in two batches, adding a little more butter and olive oil, if needed.


My version: I halved the recipe and it's still huge bunch of food! I left out parsley, I just don't like it but I added about heap teaspoon of oregano.

Valuation: Surprisingly good, since I am not big chicken fan, I'm more pork and beef kind a girl but even I must admit, these chicken fingers were good, both warm and cold. Besides it's pretty good party food if you cut chicken breasts into smaller pieces.

Recipe adapted from: Every Day by Bill Granger

Womanizer - The Girl is back!

I am not much of Britney Spears' fan but I have few of her songs in my iPod. For a workout this song is perfect, I can't really run and listen Dan Hill's "Sometimes When We Touch", it's just plain wrong!

Britney's new single is probably one of the best ones, really catchy and I love the lyrics.

Hopefully she has finally got her life back in track since wearing underwear is not such a bad idea at all :).



Enjoy!

Basic Biscuits

Few days ago I got from Amazon.com Dorie Greenspan's book Baking: From My Home to Yours, and since this is Saturday and I don't have to start my morning with make-up and my never ending question "what should I wear today", I had time to make something for breakfast which doesn't include only coffee and cornflakes :).

So I decided to start with biscuits since bread which I thought I had, well, apparently somebody ate it (not me!).

Basic Biscuits

2 cups all-purpose flour
2 tbsp baking powder
2 tsp sugar
1/2 tsp salt
3/4 stick cold butter, cut into pieces
3/4 cup cold whole milk

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

2. Whisk together flour, baking powder, sugar, and salt. Drop the butter in and, using your hands, blend the butter and flour together quickly. You can also use a pastry blending if you desire. Do this until you have a pebbly, sandy mixture.

3. Pour the milk over the dry ingredient and toss with a fork until the dough comes together.
Give the dough four quick kneads with you hands.

4. Dust a clean work surface or pastry cloth with some flour. Press the dough until it is 1/2 inch high. Using a biscuit cutter or the top of a glass cut the bisuits out. Do this as closely together as you can to get the most out of the first round. Place the biscuits on a baking sheet or stone.
Gather the scraps together, press again, cut out biscuits. Follow this procedure until all the dough is used.

5. Bake for 14-18 minutes or until puffed and golden brown. Remove immediately.


My version: I used plain flour, although Dorie suggest you can use 1 2/3 cups of all purpose flour and 1/3 cups cake flour, I didn't have any cake flour so I used that I had in my cupboard. I also added a bit more sugar into dough, 3 teaspoons. Instead of butter, (well, somebody obviously forgot to buy butter!) I used good-quality shortening, and I can't say it affected taste much. For cutting I used flower-shaped cookie-cutter, just because it was the only one I managed to find and flowers look much prettier then regular rounds:).

Valuation: great for breakfast or even eating as snack. They turned out really puffy and moist, especially good with butter or Nutella.

Recipe adapted from: Baking: From My Home to Yours by Dorie Greenspan

Book review: The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook by Ina Garten

You got to love Amazon, I mean truly. This company might bankrupt you but it doesn’t make it less lovable :-).

I got today another bunch of books from there and so far I have managed to browse through one, „The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook”.

To leave aside US measurements, its incredible book, full of easy and apparently tasty recipes. Ina Garten have friendly writing style and this book includes useful tips, like how to make your own vanilla extract and how to set up fruit and cake platters so that they look nice both to eyes and to mouth.

She stresses the same principle which I believe in, use the freshest available ingredients and when it's season. I can't agree more, tomatoes taste totally different when you buy them in the middle of February or in the middle of August.

I tend to use post-it bookmarks to mark recipes which I definitely want to try and I must say this book is pretty much covered with them :-).

My “cook these as soon as possible” list includes:

• Maple-oatmeal scones – I love oatmeal and maple syrup so this should be perfect combination for me :-).

• Cheddar-dill scones – Cheese is always great, in fact I consider it as one of the food groups :-).

• Coconut cupcakes – everybody loves coconut and cupcakes!

• Parmesan smashed potatoes – Parmesan is one of the cheeses which I buy as big chunk, since I know I always eat half of it so I need to buy more than recipe calls for!

• Roasted carrots – I love carrots, and no, you don't get bunny ears if you eat too many carrots :-)!

• Indonesian ginger chicken - well, it’s chicken!

• Filet of beef bourguignon - I have always wanted to try beef bourguignon but I have been quite intimidated by the recipe but Ina’s seems pretty easy so I’ll give it a try.

• French potato salad – I love classical potato salad (although some might know it as Russian Potato salad), so it’s about time to try some other versions.

• Parker’s split pea soup – I love my grandmother’s pea soup which she used to make on cold winters. Since winter is approaching what could be better time to test this pea soup.

• Grilled lemon chicken – Chicken and lemon go well together so I am sure this is one great recipe.

Rachel Allen's Chili con carne

This is another chili con carne recipe, this time by Rachel Allen. I really think I have thing for chili :).

Rachel Allen's Chili con carne

2 large onions
700g lean stewing beef, fat removed and cut into 1-2cm cubes
5 garlic cloves, crushed
800g tinned chopped tomatoes
2 green peppers, sliced
3 green or red chillies, chopped, seeds left in if you like your chillies fiery
2 tsp ground cumin
1 can (400g) red kidney beans
1 tsp brown sugar

For serving:
125ml sour cream
2 tbsp coriander leaves, chopped
4 tbsp Cheddar cheese, grated

1. Heat the olive oil in a casserole,or saucepan and fry the meat until it changes colour - about 5-7 minutes. Add the onion and garlic and stir for a minute or so before tipping in the tinned tomatoes,chopped chillies, peppers, and a good pinch of salt.

2. Cover the pan and simmer for about an hour, until the meat is tender and the liquid reduced to a thick sauce. If it gets too dry during cooking, pour in a little more water.

3. Add the cumin, kidney beans (and a little of the bean liquid, if you like) and the brown sugar. Simmer for a further 10 mins before serving with rice, a spoonful of sour cream, grated cheddar cheese and and coriander leaves as a garnish. For added spicy kick, serve this dish with hot chilli sauce.


My version: I used orange and red peppers instead of green ones, simply because these were what I had in my hands. Secondly, I used again minced beef instead of cubed beef, it's not my fault minced beef was the only meaty thing left my local store when I got there :). According to my opinion, you don't really need to add any water while it simmers.

Valuation: great chili con carne recipe, almost as good as to beat Jamie's :). Brown sugar gives nice sweet after-taste.

Source: TV show "Rachel's Favourite Food"

Potato and Mushroom Gratin

My favorite past-time activity is to cuddle up with nice cookbook, with pictures of course. I was browsing my Nigella book and as result, Potato and Mushroom Gratin.

Potato and Mushroom Gratin

3 average-size baking potatoes (about 750 g), thinly sliced
350 ml milk
3 tablespoons white wine
salt and pepper to taste
2 tablespoons butter
2 teaspoons garlic oil
250 g chestnut mushrooms, finely sliced


1. Heat the oven to 220°C and butter a shallow baking dish or gratin.

2. Bring the sliced potatoes, milk, wine, salt, and pepper to boil in a saucepan, stirring occasionally, and leave it at a simmer while you get on with the mushrooms.

3. Melt the butter and garlic oil in a skillet over medium-high heat. Add the mushrooms and cook, stirring occasionally, until softened, about 3 minutes.

4. Pour the mushrooms and their garlicky, buttery juices into the pan of potatoes, stir to mix, and pour straight into the gratin dish. Bake for 45 minutes alongside the chicken or until piping hot and crisp on top.


My version: Opposite to Nigella's, I peeled my potatoes. Only time when I eat unpeeled potatoes is when they are cooked in campfire, fantastic outside snack. I had bottle of cider in my hands so I used cider instead of white wine, the one wine which I had, well, I drank it during cooking, so not that much left for "real cooking" :-).

Valuation: Great side for Mustard Pork Chops for instance.

Recipe adapted from: Nigella Express by Nigella Lawson