The herd of black bananas in my freezer is getting bigger
I need to make banana bread. But to use all the bananas, I’d have to make several loaves, freeze some, and then the freezer will be crowded again.
So an even better solution to thinning the banana herd is canned bread.
Canned bread is a terrific invention. Bake the bread batter in sterilized, wide-mouth canning jars, and then immediately seal the jars as soon as the bread comes out of the oven. I can get at least four jars of bread from one recipe of banana bread batter.
You can use many quick-bread recipes (banana, pumpkin, zucchini, etc.) as long as there are not chunks of fruit in the bread. (Trust me, I’ve tried it and spoilage sets in fast!!) Chocolate and spice cake batters also turn into delicious little jarred treats.
I love to make canned bread for the holidays or as birthday gifts because it’s unusual - people can’t believe they’re getting a jar full of bread. The breads or cakes should be eaten in three to six months.
I’m going to use up my banana herd by making canned bread with one of my favorite recipes from “The Ultimate Southern Living Cookbook.” If you’re single or you have a small family, opening a jar of bread is a great way to enjoy banana bread once in awhile without having a full-size loaf to use up.

Banana Muffins
1-3/4 cups all-purpose flour
2-1/2 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup sugar
1 large egg, lightly beaten
1 cup mashed ripe banana
1/2 cup milk
1/3 cup vegetable oil OR 1/2 cup applesauce

Combine first four ingredients in a large bowl; make a well in the center of mixture. Combine egg, mashed banana, milk and oil; add mixture to dry ingredients, stirring just until moistened. Spoon batter into greased muffin pans, filling three-fourths full. Bake at 400 degrees for 18 to 20 minutes or until golden. Remove from pans immediately. Makes one dozen.

To bake bread in jars:
Wash pint-sized wide-mouthed straight-sided canning jars in hot, soapy water. Sterilize them by boiling the jars, lids and rings for 15 minutes, then cool. Keep the lids and rings in hot water until you’re ready to use them or the jars might not seal.
Spray the insides of the jars with nonstick cooking spray. Fill jars half full with Banana Muffin batter (or the batter of your choice). Wipe clean the rims of the jars and stand the jars on a cookie sheet in the oven. Bake at 350 degrees until done.
When the breads are done, remove them from the oven one at a time. Put the assembled lid on the jar, screw the lid down tightly and immediately place the jar upside down onto a towel on your kitchen counter. When the breads are completely cool, they will be canned and do not need to be refrigerated. Store the jars in a cool, dark place.

For more information or ideas about making canned bread, go to:
http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Cake-in-a-Jar/Detail.aspx

By Crystal Hohenthaner
Rapid City Journal staff 

Bamboo?
Plastic?
Metal?
Silicone?

I just don’t know what to do. I’m trying to figure out what makes a great cooking utensil – durability, flexibility, endurance? Obviously I want it all. But I don’t know where to find it. Oh, and did I mention I want it to be cheap. Okay, maybe not cheap. But I don’t want it to cost me as much as a week’s worth of groceries.

I think I want a set of bamboo cooking utensils, because my mom has a set that she’s had since I was born and she still loves them. But I went looking for one of my own and the only set I could find was at JC Penny’s – and it was $104.

Okay, even if they last 30 years that seems excessive. There were only 5 tools in the set and I would still need to buy a rubber spatula and a slotted spoon! For goodness sake, my whole set of pots and pans was only $150!

Honestly, I don’t even know which utensils will be the most useful. I have a confession to make: I use my silverware when cooking. That’s right. Plain old forks and spoons is all I really have to get my cooking done.

For the most part it’s no big deal, but it does create some comedic moments – and some ugly food. For example, the last time I made pancakes with just a fork. Man they were hard to flip!

Some of you out there must have cooking utensils you love. Please tell me all about them and help me decide what to buy. Is the spendy bamboo the way to go? Or should I just go for some classic metal (maybe stainless steel) stuff? Please tell me, is there a great product out there that I’ve never even heard of?

One of my co-workers is lucky enough to have a greenhouse, which is presenting her with problems of over-abundance in March. Herbal over-abundance, that is.

I’m not feeling too sorry for her, though, because I’ve yet to experience herbal over-abundance. I usually try to grow herbs in pots on my deck. Between the blasty wind and my forgetfulness in watering them, my herbs generally don’t do well. My deck only gets morning sun, so maybe that is a problem. I do have a good patch of chives in the garden, but otherwise my attempts at herbs don’t work. Herbs in the house haven’t done well either, perhaps because our wood heating system means the house is overdry and sometimes overhot. Anyone who has herb-growing suggestions, I’d be happy to hear of them.

Back to my co-worker, though. Right now, at the end of March, she has lots of basil, oregano and chives — and no idea of what to do with them. Her questions: What are some easy ways to use fresh herbs and what foods work with basil, oregano and chives? Do you cut them, dry them, puree them? Do you use just the leaves or the stems?

Or in her exact words: “I’ve been growing them for a year and don’t know what to do with them.”

Can you help? 

If you’re tired of left over turkey and ham from Easter dinner, give this stir fry recipe a try. I found it years ago in the book, “Steven Raichlen’s High-Flavor Low-Fat Chicken.” The mango in this recipe really adds something to the dish.

Mango and Chicken Stir-Fry

1 1/4 pounds skinless chicken thighs or 1 1/4 pounds bonelss, skinless chicken breasts

1 large or 2 small ripe mangoes (some people are allergic to mango sap, so the recipe recommends that anyone with sensitive skin wear gloves)

1/4 pound young asparagus or slender green beans

3 tablespoons soy sauce

2 tablespoons fresh orange or tangerine juice

1 tablespoon honey

1 teaspoon cornstarch

1 to 1 1/2 tablespoons canola oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 tablespoon minced fresh ginger

2 scallions, white part minced, green part finely chopped

1/2 cup stemmed fresh mint leaves or cilantro

Wash and dry the chicken and trim off any fat. If using chicken thighs, cut the meat off the bones and slice as thinly as possible. If using chicken breasts, cut across the grain on the diagonal into 1/4-inch strips. Cut these strips into 2-inch pieces

Peel the mango and cut the flesh off the seed. Cut the mango into 1/2-inch cubes and set aside. Snap the fibrous ends off the asparagus and cut the stalks on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces. If using green beans, remove the ends and strings and cut on the diagonal into 1-inch pieces

Combine the soy sauce, orange juice, honey and cornstarch in a small bowl and stir until the cornstarch is dissolved. The recipe can be prepared ahead to this stage.

Just before serving, heat a nonstick wok or frying pan over high heat. Swirl in the oil. Add the garlic, ginger and scallion whites and stir-fry until fragrant but not brown, about 15 seconds. Add the chicken and asparagus or green beans and stir-fry for 2 minutes. Stir the sauce again and add it to the wok. Continue stir-frying until the chicken is cooked and nicely coated with sauce, 1 to 2 minutes. Stir in the mango, scallion greens and the mint leaves and cook for 20 seconds. Serve at once.

This makes about four servings.

I made way too much ham for Easter this year - again. Do I do it on purpose just so I can make these next two recipes using the leftovers? Probably.

Scalloped Potatoes and Ham

6 medium potatoes

3 tablespoons butter

3 tablespoons flour

1 teaspoon salt

1/4 teaspoon pepper

2-1/2 cups milk

1 small onion, chopped

1 tablespoon butter

2 cups diced ham

Peel and slice potatoes to measure about 4 cups. Blend butter, flour, salt and pepper in sauce pan. Cook until bubbly. Stir in milk. Heat to boiling; boil 1 minute.

Layer potatoes, ham, onion, sauce; repeat. End with a layer of potatoes. Dot with butter. Cover and bake at 325 degrees for 40 minutes. Uncover and bake 60-70 minutes.

Ham-Egg-Hash Brown Casserole

3 cups garlic-onion croutons

2 cups cheddar

1 pound cubed ham

4 eggs

2-1/2 cups milk

3/4 teaspoon dry mustard

1/4 teaspoon pepper

1 pound frozen hash browns

1 can mushroom soup

3/4 cup milk

3/4 cup cheddar

Grease 9X 13 pan. Spread croutons in pan; top with cheese and ham. Mix eggs, milk and seasonings. Pour over ingredients in casserole dish. Refrigerate, covered tightly, overnight. Mix soup and 3/4 cup milk; spread over top. Sprinkle hash browns over the top, then cheese. Bake at 350 degrees, covered, for 1 hour. Uncover and continue baking 1/2 hour. Let stand 15 minutes before serving.

Easter Candy — mmmmmmmm, I love it. I love it. I LOVE IT!

Yeah I really like Easter candy. Each of my sweet taste buds look forward to this time of year the way little children look forward to Christmas. In fact, I’m 28 and I’m pretty sure I will be getting an eater — uh, I mean Easter basket for myself this year. I’ve been thinking about it all day, so I figured I would share my sweet Easter dreams with you via blog.

Cadbury Crème Eggs
I have sort of a weird reaction in some foods – I get ritualistic about eating them. Not ‘praying for rain’ ritualistic, just ‘I always do it the same way and for some reason it makes it more satisfying’ ritualistic. That’s not weird is it?

Well, whether it is weird or not, Cadbury Eggs (and pretty much every other Easter candy I love) evokes this ritualistic response from me.

I won’t go into the eating ritual I have with Cadbury Crème Eggs, but I will say I eat them in private because it is rather involved and I like to eat the middles before I finish the shell.

Hershey’s Eggs
First of all, I think the shell to chocolate ratio in Hershey’s Eggs is fantastic. And the shells are thicker and taste better than any other candy shell I have tasted. When I ritualistically devour these little pastel beauties I always try to bite them exactly in half and then chip the shell off. After crunching up the shell I let the two remaining chocolate chunks melt on my tongue.

Peeps
Okay, I know most people think these little crystal-sugar-covered marshmallow chicks are gross — and, honestly I agree. But I also cannot resist them. My first step when eating these day-glo yellow treats is to lick all of the sugar off the back. Then I bite off the tail. After I swallow the tail I pick the eyes off the chick, and then I go for the head. After that I eat the body in 2 separate bites.

Jellybeans
I like to crush the outer shell of a jellybean and then sort of peel it off with my teeth and my tongue. Then I slice the jelly center into little slivers with my teeth and swallow the slivers one at a time.

Mmmm, this is making me feel like I need to get some sugar. Am I the only one?

Plus, now I’m dying to know, do any of you have food rituals?

My co-workers and I occasionally bring food to share (usually on Fridays). But we’re going for a Monday this time. In honor of St. Patrick’s Day, we’re bringing green food.

Good thing I had the weekend to think about it, because I was a bit stumped. Celery, peas, broccoli, something with creme de menthe? None of them seemed quite right. Then I stumbled upon spinach tortillas in the grocery store. Yes, they are green! I just used them to make Fiesta Pinwheels, a party favorite featuring green chilies, green onions, cream cheese and sour cream. For good measure, I made some green-tinted Rice Krispie bars with a fudgy center.

Hmmm … I wonder what everyone else is bringing? Have any guesses and/or suggestions?

Here’s the recipe for Fiesta Pinwheels:

1 packages (8 ounces) cream cheese, softened

1/2 cup sour cream

1/4 cup picante suace

2 tablespoons taco seasoning

Dash garlic powder

1 can (4-1/2 ounces) chopped ripe olives, drained

1 can (4 ounces) chopped green chilies, drained

1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

1/2 cup thinly sliced green onions

8 flour tortillas (10 inches)

Salsa

In small mixing bowl, beat cream cheese, sour cream, picante sauce, taco seasoning and garlic powder until smooth. Stir in olives, chilies, cheese adn onions. Spread about 1/2 cup on each tortilla. Roll up; wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for 2 hours or overnight. Slice into 1-inch pieces. Serve with salsa.

While I was working on my panini part 2 blog I decided I would do a little more research into one of the sandwiches my sister suggested: the muffuletta.

Muffa-what-a? Well, personally I’d never heard of it before my sister mentioned it. But apparently Martha Stewart loves them and Emeril Lugassi has made several on his show. Okay, so what is a muffuletta?

Primarily, and originally, it was just a type of bread – kind of like panini. But it has evolved into a special type of sandwich. According to my research, this sandwich is very popular in Louisiana and other southern locales and it features several types of meat, several types of cheese and the main attraction to the sandwich – olive salad.

Traditionally served on a loaf of muffuletta bread it is also commonly served on a foccaia or another type of sturdy bread loaf. The loaf generally contains marinated olive salad, capicola, salami, mortadella, emmentaler and provolone.

Confused? I was too after my sister told me the ingredients. I’ve heard of salami and provolone, but what’s even in marinated olive salad (besides olives)? And where can I get some? Plus, even though I thought I might know what capicola was I had never seen it before and I certainly had no clue where to buy it. Furthermore, mortadella and emmentaler sounded really unusual.

But I sucked it up, did a little research and ran over to the west side Safeway – if figured that at the very least I could get some quality olive salad, or a facsimile thereof, at their olive bar. (Mmmmm, olives.)

My initial plan was to just see if Safeway carried all of the ingredients needed to make a quality muffuletta, but I got a little carried away. I don’t know if it was the olive bar, the exotic meats or just the fact that the staff was so helpful that night, but I bought enough stuff to make two huge muffuletta. (It ended up being 12 servings in all and I was just planning on feeding my parents for the night. Oh, and it cost like $30 for all of it.)

So, the olive salad was easy to find. In fact, Safeway carries some lovely olive salad that comes in a jar – Boscoli Family brand Italian Olive Salad (New Orleans Recipe). That sounded authentic to me, so I got a jar. I also tried some ‘artichoke medley salad’ while I was scouting out the rest of the ingredients and it was amazing – so I bought a pound of it.

Now the salami and provolone were easy – as I had suspected. Safeway had some cooked hot cappicola and it turns out that emmenthaler is just Swiss cheese – so that wasn’t too hard either. The mortadella was the tricky part. It truns out mortadella is kind of like bologna. Only it has chunks of pistachios and pig fat in it. Gross right? I mean bologna seems gross enough to start with, but chunks of pig fat.

Well Safeway didn’t have the mortadella, so I substituted it with some high-quality beef bologna.

Safeway didn’t have muffuletta bread either, but they did have an amazing selection of fresh-baked focaccia. I picked an Italian-seasoned focaccia because I thought it would compliment the other ingredients in the sandwich.

Whew, that was a lot of shopping for one sandwich!

So, I got all the ingredients over to my parents’ house and started assembling the muffalata for their dinner. I made 2 different versions of the sandwich – one with the olive salad and one with the artichoke salad (diced up). Mom and I decided to make our muffuletta panini-style. So we heated up her stovetop grill and her flat cast iron griddle pan and I started assembling the muffuletta.

The only mistake we made was starting with cold ingredients. It was really difficult to get the cheese melted through our panini process. In fact – and don’t tell my mom this because she hates microwaves – I had to nuke mine to get it warm all the way through.

Mom and dad both liked the muffuletta and I had so many leftovers that I brought some to work the next day. It was definitely a hit. My boss dubbed it, “quite tasty” and I think it was better the second day after all the flavors melded together. I will definitely go on a muffuletta adveture again.

Muffaletta
One loaf of foccacia (or equally sturdy bread)
½ lb. Olive salad (or atichoke medley salad)
¼ lb. Salami
¼ lb. Cappicola
¼ lb. Bologna (or mortadella if you can find it and feel like taking a chance on pig fat)
1/2 lb. Provolone
1/2 lb. Swiss

We layered ours: bread, salad, cheese, meat, cheese, meat, cheese, meat, cheese, salad, bread. I know, it’s a lot of layering, but the cheese binds everything together nicely this way and – well I love cheese.
Then eat – or grill – or nuke – or marinate for a day. It’s just good stuff.

My husband and I barely make it through one loaf of bread a week these days, which, considering our astounding ability to put on weight, is probably a good thing.

Nevertheless, years after bread machines were the “must have” kitchen appliance, I am in the mood to purchase one. Part of my reasoning is that, with food inflation, making my own bread might be less expensive in the long run. And, since I often have to throw part of a loaf out because it becomes moldy before we finish it, perhaps freshly made bread will last a little longer or maybe I can make smaller loaves. And, with gardening just around the corner, perhaps there are veggie breads or fruit breads I can experiment with.

I looked at a few local stores, but have no idea what bread machine is the best to buy. One clerk at a store I was browsing said that she uses her bread machine to knead the bread, but then takes the dough out to rise and bakes them in smaller pans. Do all bread machines go all the way through the baking process, or do some only mix the ingredients and do the raising? Or do you just  stop the process where you want?

I would love some feedback from experienced bread bakers about which brand works for them and any other advice about bread machines, bread making tips and recipes.

I’ve made it pretty clear in my prior blogs that I don’t have all of the kitchen equipment a person might need. But, I make due. And sometimes I have to use items for something other than what they were designed to do. (Ice cube trays for candy molds, coffee grinder for cuisinart, blender for … well, everything else.)

But I was recently reminded of the famous grilled-cheese and French fry scene from the movie “Benny and Joon.” In the scene Johnny Depp’s character, Benny, used a tennis racket to julienne his French fries and an iron to make his grilled cheese sandwiches.

Now that’s what I call a pannini in a pinch.

And I can’t help but wonder if it would work. When I was a freshman in college the hall that all the soccer boys lived in had an iron in the kitchen. Those guys always joked that they used the iron to make grilled cheese sandwiches, but I just think they all ironed their clothes in the kitchen.

Well, I’m guessing that if you really wanna do a panini up right a bona fide panini press is the way to go. But I’ve see Rachel Ray and others use two cast iron pans a to press up a panini. Rachel heated both of the pans and then she put the sandwich on one pans and used the bottom of the other pan on top of the sandwich.

My mom actually assisted me with this panini technique on Monday night when me made a huge muffalatta panini (which I plan on telling you all about next week). If you go with this two-pan technique and you want to get nice grill marks on both sides of the sandwich you will have to flip it. So, it’s nice to have tongs or a nice big spatula.

So this blog has two purposes today. First of all have some more classic sandwiches that might make nice paninis for you folks. These ideas are a bit more complicated, but if I can do it you can do it. Second, I was wondering. What kinds of items do you use in a pinch in your kitchen when you don’t have the right specialized item?

Patty Melts
Hamburger
Garlic
Worcestershire sauce
Vidalia Onions
Whole wheat bread
Cheddar Cheese
Swiss Cheese
Butter

The first step here is to make up your meat patty the way you like it and get it and the onions cooking. I like to put chopped garlic in with the meat for my patty along with a little Worcestershire sauce.

Okay, I can never time this sort of thing. The onions should be cooked before the sandwich, if they are put them aside. If not, well, put the burger aside and wait for the onions to finish.

Once you have the onions cooked and burger almost cooked to the temperature you want ( the burger should be a little under done because it will keep cooking in the panini press) butter the outside of your whole wheat bread (I use whole wheat because it’s sturdier and because it make me feel better about eating all the butter and cheese).

Then assemble the pieces of the sandwich and grill.

Monte Cristos with Raspberry Chocolate Sauce
Sturdy bread (sometimes I like to use raisin bread)
Turkey
Ham
Swiss Cheese
Cheddar Cheese
2 Eggs
½ tsp. Nutmeg
½ tsp. Cinnamon
1 Tbsp. Sugar
1 C. Raspberry jelly
1 oz. Hershey’s dark baking chocolate (I use the 1-oz. Pouches)

Okay, first of all, this is one of my favorites. The raspberry chocolate sauce rocks and it works great as a ganache between cake layers too.

Raspberry Chocolate Sauce: Start with 1 cup of raspberry jelly in a microwave safe bowl. Heat the jelly for 30 seconds, then stir – continue heating and stirring until jelly is liquid. Careful the jelly and the bowl it is in will be super hot. Combine one pouch of Hershey’s dark baking chocolate and stir until well combined. Set aside.

Egg wash: Wisk two raw eggs together with sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg. I always use 2 eggs even if I don’t need that many. Set aside

Sandwich: Next, just assemble the sandwich – bread, Swiss cheese, turkey, cheddar cheese, ham – and dip it in the egg wash. Then grill until the egg wash is cooked and cheese is melted. Serve warm with raspberry chocolate sauce.

Chuckwagon
Kaiser Roll
Ham
Salami
Bologna
Cheddar Cheese
White American Cheese 

Because this sandwich is on a roll you don’t need to butter the bread. It should grill up nicely without butter, but if you want butter go for it. I like to alternate cheese and meat inside this sandwich, but you can assemle it any way you like. That’s part of the fun of the sandwich.