Banana Bread
This was a favorite when the kids were growing up. We’d save slightly over-ripe bananas in the freezer and when we got 3, we’d make banana bread. Ingredients 3 ripe bananas, well mashed 2 eggs well-beaten 2 cups flour 3/4 cup sugar 1 t. salt 1 t. baking soda Splash of milk (about 2 T. – depends on how stiff the batter is) 1/2 c. coarsely chopped walnuts/pecans (optional) Instructions 350-degree oven Grease loaf pan Mix bananas and eggs in a large bowl. Stir in flour, sugar, salt, and baking soda. Add nuts if using. Combine ingredients. Put batter in pan and bake for 1 hour. Remove from pan to cooling...
Tuscan Herb Salt
Simple ingredients, great flavor We heard about this on NPR’s cooking show Splendid Table, so this really isn’t from us. But it is GREAT. While I’m typing, the roasted chicken with Tuscan Herb is cooking and the smell is memorable. The writer says this is a classic Northern Italian herb combinations. But this isn’t about the chicken, it’s about the salt. This isn’t about a singular meal, but something you can create and have ready to create any NUMBER of great meals. The chicken recipe (again, not ours) will follow. This is a classic flavored Italian salt preparation that can be used anywhere you need to add salt. Ingredients Kosher Salt Fresh rosemary Fresh sage Fresh garlic Directions Crush 2 cloves of garlic under a knife,...
Roma pasta
This is a classic Roman pasta dish. Back in the day before the New World, and tomatoes, were discovered, Italians ate their pasta without a heavy marinara. I read about this a while back, and filed it on my ‘things to try’ list. Cooking dinner tonight, I found my pork chops were bad (just bought them yesterday!) and had to come up with a quick plan B. My “plan B’s” usually involve calling Papa Vitos for a pizza, but I was hungry and didn’t want to wait 45 minutes to eat. Then I remembered the Roman Pasta story I read in the paper. I googled around for some recipes and then made my take on it. The recipe makes a meal for one, so increase as needed. Ingredients: Handful of dried pasta (I use about 1/5 a package of Barilla’s...
Larb
Thai Lettuce Wrap Use half the meat for serving of 4 Buy 1 fresh lime, 1 fresh lemon, fish sauce, brown sugar (or 2 packets from restaurant 🙂 , serano chile, crushed red pepper (available at Italian restaurants 🙂 ), vegetable oil, ground chicken breast, shallots/green onions or minced sweet onion, basil, cabbage, optional: carrot 2t. grated lime rind 1t. grated lemon rind 1/4C. fresh lime juice 1T. fresh lemon juice 1T. Fish Sauce 2t. brown sugar 1/2t. finely chopped serano chile 1/4t. crushed red pepper 1 t. vegetable oil 12 oz. ground chicken breast 1T. chopped shallots/sweet onion/green onion 1/2 C. coarsely chopped basil 1/2 head of cabbage, cored & halved Optional: grated or thinly slice carrots on the bias. Combine first 8 ingredients, stirring with a...
Grilled Romaine
This has been a recent addition to our grill, and we love it. Some of our friends turned us onto this. Ingredients: Package of Romaine Hearts 1 tablespoon Tuscon Herb olive oil 1 tablespoon 18 year old balsamic vinegar Directions: On a dinner plate swirl the olive oil and vinegar together. Cut the Romain heart in half. Coat all sides of the two halves. Put the hearts on a medium-hot grill and cook for a couple minutes each side. The leafy part should get brown and crispy. Who would of thought that grilled lettuce would taste so good!...
Grilled Greek Chicken
This is actually a marinade we’ve used for years on flank steak to make a Greek steak that we serve with roasted Greek potatoes. Ingredients: 2 packages of boneless, skinless chicken thighs (or whatever parts you like). This makes a lot, but love the leftovers for lunch or frozen for future meals. 1 gallon Ziplock bag 3 Tablespoons quality olive oil (we like California olive oils) Juice from 1 lemon 2 Tablespoons balsamic vinegar (we like 18 year old balsamic) 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1/2 tsp course salt (kosher salt is good, or grind out some) 1/2 tsp course ground pepper 1 tablespoon dried oregano 1 tablespoon dried basil Directions: Put all the ingredients (except chicken) into the Ziplock bag. Mix it up. Add chicken. Mix it up again. Marinate at least...