Best Banana Bread

Banana bread is one of those foods that most people have a recipe for, yet every one is different (sometimes, significantly so!)  This is my favorite, pulled together from several different recipes.  There are a couple things that I've found seem to make a big difference.  One is using a mixture of half brown sugar and half white sugar.  The other is using buttermilk.  I've never had a banana bread missing one or both of these that I liked.  Also, I like to freeze my over ripe bananas and then thaw them to use for banana bread.  They look weird and slimy after they've been frozen, but it seems to concentrate the banana flavor, and they make excellent banana bread!

2 eggs
1/3 cup buttermilk
1/2 cup melted butter
3 very ripe bananas
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar
1 3/4 cup flour
1 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
Optional- 1/2 cup chopped nuts; I love nuts in banana bread, but my kids hate it, so I normally leave them out.

Preheat the oven to 325F.  If you aren't using a DeMarle loaf pan (a product I HIGHLY recommend), grease your loaf pan. 

Mix together the melted butter, sugars, eggs, buttermilk, and mashed bananas.  If you want, you can sift the remaining ingredients together and then add them, but I usually just mix the salt and baking soda in first, then add the flour.  The batter will be nice and thick.  Pour into your loaf pan and bake for 1 hour and 20 minutes.  Done when the center comes out clean.  Banana bread is always better the next day, but we usually can't keep ourselves from digging in!

Sausage and Potato Hash

I call this a hash, though strictly speaking, it's not.  But it's easier to say than "fried potatoes, veggies, and sausage."  So simple it's almost silly to write it out like a recipe, but I've found that what seems simple and obvious to one person might not be so to another.  This is also a one skillet meal, which I love to do.  They're easy to increase and size and simple to throw together.  I normally use Italian sausage for this, but our fridge died last week and I had bratwurst that needed cooked, so I used that, instead.

First, cook the bratwurst.  I like the casing to have a pop to it, so this is how I prepare mine.  Heat a tbsp or so of oil over medium heat.  Add the sausage and turn every couple of minutes, until they're brown on all sides.  Next, add some water, about half a cup.  Cover the pan and turn the heat down to low.  Let them simmer for 20-25 minutes (you might want to cut one open to make sure they're no longer pink!)  So now that your sausages are cooked, let them cool down and then slice them up.

Next, start frying your potatoes.  3 or 4 medium potatoes should be good.  Peel and slice relatively thin so that they cook through.  Nothing is worse than biting into a half-cooked potato, yuck!  I like to fry mine in duck fat, when I have it.  If you've never had potatoes with duck fat, you are missing out.  Rectify this as soon as possible.  95% of the reason I make duck regularly is too keep my duck fat supply up, for no other reason than I want to fry my potatoes in it.  I add a little salt and pepper now, mostly because I'll be sneaking potatoes out as they cook, but don't add too much salt- your sausage will be salty, don't forget.

See how silky and unctuous the duck fat looks?  Mmmm.

While those are frying, slice your onion and green pepper.  How much depends on you and the size of them.  My children aren't fans of either, so I just did half an onion and half a green pepper.

I like my peppers and onions to be a bit crisp, so I add them in when the potatoes are nearly done and just give them a quick saute.  But if you like them soft, add them in earlier.  Go ahead and add in the cooked, sliced bratwurst.

So easy to throw together, hearty and filling!

Moroccan Lentil Stew with Naan

Last week I pulled what I thought was a ham bone out of my freezer, intending to make ham n' beans with cornbread.  Turns out it was a lamb bone, so I made Moroccan lentil stew and naan (a Middle Eastern flatbread) instead.  I always save bones.  They make the most fantastic stocks, far tastier (and more nutritious) than anything you can get in the store.  Plus, when is the last time you saw canned lamb broth at the super market?  Also, I swear some day I'll get a fancy camera that takes gorgeous pictures.

For the stew, you first need to get your bone simmering for the broth.  I like to put mine on first thing in the morning, so it has most of the day to simmer.  The longer it cooks, the better it tastes, plus, you'll get more vitamins and minerals out of it.  Just plop your bone into your pot (I'm using my cast iron dutch over here) and cover it with water.  Add some salt, and you can add a bay leaf and some beef boullion if you'd like, but they're not absolutely necessary.  Lamb is a strong flavor so the lamb bone can stand pretty well on its own.  You can also add in a splash of vinegar (I use raw apple cider vinegar) to help leech more minerals out of the bone.  Bring it to a boil, skim off the foam, turn the heat down, cover, and simmer. 

Isn't it beautiful?  And the chef gets to pick the meat off the bone in my house.

For the rest of the stew you'll need-

1 onion, chopped
2 cloves of garlic, minced
2-3 diced carrots
Some fresh grated ginger (about a one inch cube) or 1/2 tsp of ground
1 can diced tomatoes
1 can chickpeas, drained
1 cup of lentils, rinsed and sorted (red lentils are fabulous, but green work just fine, that's what I used here)
1 tsp garam masala (and indian spice mixture, if you don't have any, just add a little extra of the other spices, and add in 1/2 tsp of cinnamon)
1/2 tsp ground cayenne pepper
1 1/2 tsp cardamom
1/2 tsp ground cumin
salt and pepper to taste.

Remove the bone.  If you'd like, you can saute the veggies in some olive oil before adding them to the pot, but you don't have to.  I just dump it all in, bring to a boil, lower the heat, cover, and simmer until the veggies are tender.  I love lentils.  Besides tasting amazing and being good for you, they don't need a lengthy soaking process.  Just sort, rinse, and add to the pot!

Completely delicious.  Comfort food is comfort food, whether it's American or Indian, and what's more filling and comforting than a big bowl of stew and bread?

Now for the naan.  Like so many foods, that means many things to many different people.  Naan is traditionally baked, but the recipe I use is grilled/pan fried. 

1 packet yeast (or 2 1/4 tsp if you're using jarred yeast, as I do)
1tbsp sugar
1 cup hot water
3 tbsp milk
1 egg, beaten
2 tsps salt
4 1/2 cups of flour
optional- 2 cloves of minced garlic

Add the yeast and sugar to the hot water.  Let it stand for 10 minutes (make sure you put it in a largish container, you're proofing it and it should double in size).  In a large bowl, combine the four, milk, egg, salt.  Add in the yeast and water mixture and the garlic if you want to add it, and knead until it's nice and smooth (again, I use my KitchenAid mixer with the kneading attachment- loooooove it!)  Form it into a ball, drizzle with olive oil (about a tbsp) and roll your yeast ball around in the oil.  Cover the bowl and put it in a warm, draft free place. I like to turn my oven on low for just a few minutes and then turn it off before putting the dough in, gives it a nice, warm environment.  After the  dough has doubled (about an hour) punch it down to deflate, knead it a bit, and then form it in to balls about the size of an egg.  Put them on a pan, cover and let them rise again.

Let them rise for about half an hour, then start rolling them out on a floured surface.  You want them nice and thin so they get the distinctive bubbles naan usually has.

An indoor griddle or grill would be best for these, but I managed to squeeze them into my cast-iron skillet.  Cook them a few minutes on each side.  Brush with some melted butter or ghee (clarified butter often used in Indian cooking).  Delicious.

 If you manage to keep your family from devouring it, wrap them in aluminum foil to keep them warm and flexible until you're ready to serve them.  If it's going to be awhile, you might want to also pop them into a slightly warm oven.

Biscuits and Gravy

Growing up, my father sometimes made biscuits and gravy.  He used canned biscuits, which I personally think are kind of gross.  Once you've had homemade, it's just hard to choke them down.  He would also make the gravy by frying the sausage and then coating it in flour.  This is simple, but I've found it yields very inconsistent gravy.  I prefer to use a roux.  Roux sounds fancy, but it's very simple- just a mixture of equal parts fat (usually butter) and flour, used to thicken sauces.  But if you want to impress people, you can add in that it's the base of the three "mother sauces" used in French cooking.

Let's start with the biscuits.

Buttermilk Biscuits

You'll need-
2 cups flour
1 tbsp sugar
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup fat (I prefer lard or butter, but you can use shortening)
3/4 cup milk

Preheat your oven to 450F.  Mix the flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in the fat- a pastry cutter is the easiest way, but if you don't have one, just mash it up with a potato masher and the rub the rest in with your fingers.  Do this until it looks like this-

Stir in the milk.  The dough will be soft and sticky, but it should still be workable.  Knead on a lightly floured surface (or with a kneading attachment on your KitchenAid mixer like I do).  Roll it out until it's about 1/2 inch thick.

Cut in to rounds with either a 2 in round cutter, or the bottom of a glass.  If you want the sides a bit crusty, put them an inch apart on the baking sheet; if you want them soft, have them touching.  Bake for 10-12 minutes.

I have 4 biscuit crazed children, so I usually double the recipe.  Now for the good stuff- the sausage gravy.  Mmmm.

Start by frying a pound of sausage in a cast iron skillet or dutch oven.

When it's cooked through, remove it from the pan and set aside.  There's hardly any fat, so don't worry about draining it.  Now to make the fancy roux.  Over medium heat, melt 1/4 cup of butter or lard and then whisk in 1/4 cup of flour.  It should look like this-

Next, you're going to SLOWLY whisk in 2 cups of milk.  Do it slow so it has a nice, smooth consistency.  Once it's all whisked it, keep stirring it over medium heat until it's nice and thick.  Don't add in any salt yet; the sausage is salty, so if you try to seasoning the gravy now, it's very easy to over salt it.  Once you have the gravy the consistency you want it, add the sausage back in and then salt and pepper to taste.  Serve it over the biscuits and it's pretty much heaven.