Banana Buttermilk Bread (Act II)

ActII, Scene I: Our hero, Grubby (the little green lad up top), loves baking, and desires nothing more than to be healthy as well. Sometimes these forces oppose each other, and sometimes they are harmonious, and then there are the times when the desire to be healthier overcomes his sense of baking fundamentals (like we have here today). He slaves away over the mixing bowl, and pours the batter into the pan, thrusting it into the oven.

A few edits, revisions, touchups, substitutions, experimentations, and otherwise slight changes to the original Banana Buttermilk Bread.

Extra points for those who spot them. Points being my subscription to your blog and possible recipe highlight in a future post. Enjoy!

Banana Buttermilk Bread

Banana Bread!

The story behind this is that I had a set of ingredients I wanted to use to make banana bread, and I wasn't about to let a little thing like "I hadn't heard of it made like that before" stop me. I never do (sometimes to my detriment). [example: I have some cottage cheese - I wonder if I can make my next batch of banana bread with that instead of butter? Hmm...]

This list included both buttermilk (that I had leftover from the Irish Soda Bread) and lemon juice but excluded brown sugar because I just didn't have any on hand. Who knew there were so many banana bread recipes out there that call for brown sugar in banana bread?

So I searched high and low and finally came upon a solid recipe that had everything I wanted and nothing I didn't. Perfecto!

What aroma, what splendid flavor wafted through the air, kissing our tongues, toying with us for the hour it cooked in the oven. And then the moment arrived. At long last...and oh! What sweet seduction, what joy, rapture, what fluffy texture. The end result was everything I craved and more.

If you have some extra ripe bananas, I dare you to give this recipe a shot - double dog dare you even. Enjoy!

Bouillon Pork Chops with Potatoes and Onions

I love simple recipes. The simpler the better. That's how we started out way back when, cooking simple, delicious meals in our tribes/towns/prehistoric communities. So as a semi-quasi-tribute to our ancient ancestors, this recipe could not be simpler - yet it also benefits from the flare of unusual ingredients! I bring you (courtesy of J's family recipe) Bouillon Pork Chops with Potatoes and Onions. Enjoy!

Grilled Yogurt Cheese on English Muffin Bread

A new experiment for moi: making my own yogurt cheese. It was fun and it turns out there are a number of different things one can do with yogurt cheese. But one question remained: will it grill?

Things you'll need for this experiment:

Yogurt
Cheese cloth
English muffin bread or English muffin
Pan

Piece of pie, right? Easy as cake, you say?

Wrong! OK, you're right. I just wanted to say that. More after the jump.

Injera - Ethiopian Bliss

Injera is normally made out of Teff, a grain from Ethiopia. I don't have Teff. I've looked high and low and come up short every time. So I ventured to make my own. Reasoning it was similar to a pancake, and learning from Wikipedia that it was fermented with yeast, I mixed up a pancake batter and let it ferment overnight on the counter.

Now I don't know if any wild yeast found their way into my pancake mix, and I don't know if it was because the batter seemed thicker than normal pancake batter, and I don't know if it was because I really really wanted it to turn out well, but it did! The faux-, mock-, whatever-you-want-to-call-it injera was light and spongy. I mean it wasn't 100% light like injera at an Ethipoian restaurant, though it really was as spongy, I swear.

I should have taken a picture. Blast! I just couldn't stop myself from cooking up the other Ethiopian dishes: Ayib Be Gomen and a kind of Wat. It all turned out really well, and the injera soaked up the Wat beautifully.

Read on for my recipe for Injera. Enjoy!

Croatian Easter Breakfast

Happy Easter, all!

Remember when the Easter Bunny came around and hid eggs for you to find in your yard? And sometimes in your grandparent's yard? And sometimes the park? Man, that bunny can get around! Well that was practically the only tradition I had for Easter every year. I don't recall large family gatherings and lavish meals.

My better half, on the other hand, has grown up with Easter being a huge family get-together. Neither of us are around family this year, so in honor of one of the traditions that her family celebrates, we prepared a traditional Croatian Easter Breakfast...even though she's not Croatian (but her uncle-in-law is).

Honestly, I don't think a tradition could be any easier. 4 things make up breakfast. That's it. They all go hand-in-hand, yes they do. It's quick to prepare as well (unless you make one from scratch). Learn all about Croatian Easter Breakfast after the jump! Happy hopping!