Brown Sugar-Sour Cream Banana Bread

Yum

How are you liking our Daylight Savings time?  I'm always bummed when I wake up and we've lost an hour but I really love the lighter evenings!

So being bummed when I woke up I decided to bake something for breakfast (or actually brunch by the time I got up, oops!...) from a new cookbook I inherited bought recently.  It's called Bake Good Things by Williams-Sonoma:  Simple Techniques & Foolproof Recipes for Everyday Eating.

This book will bring your baking level up a notch by teaching you different baking techniques.  The book is full of recipes to make cookies, muffins, cobblers, pies, cake, cupcakes, biscuits, breads, & pizzas!  YUM!!! 

The book is broken up into sections that concentrate on a certain baking technique.  I immediately went to the section on Muffins & Quickbreads (my favorite).  To quote the book:

"Muffin-making requires three basic mixing techniques:  creaming the butter, combining the dry ingredients, and then blending them together with some form of liquid".

So I decided to make their Brown Sugar-Sour Cream Banana Bread. We always love a good banana bread, and this sounded delicious.  (Trust me it is....!)

BROWN SUGAR-SOUR CREAM BANANA BREAD

The recipe made 2 loaves but I scaled it down to make 1 loaf which is plenty for us to, with leftovers for several days.  This also includes bananas, with are a healthy ingredient to bake with.  The lend natural moistness and will replace heavy oils.  Who doesn't love healthier baking??  You will want over-ripe bananas that are mashed really well with no lumps remaining.  I use a fork, but a potato masher works great as well.

The bread turned out really moist with the addition of sour cream along with the bananas. It's simple to mix together and uses pantry staples. We just loved the flavor and texture of this bread.  A hint of cinnamon and nutmeg add a nice deep earthy flavor.  To add some decadence, dark chocolate chips can be added to the batter if you like.  I kept it simple this time around, sticking to recipe.  I use this loaf pan, which has served me well, but this is also a really good pan to use.

This light, moist and crumbly bread will have you reaching for the coffee and a good book! 

Enjoy!




Brown Sugar-Sour Cream Banana Bread

slightly adapted from Bake Good Things

makes 1 loaf

cooking spray
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/8 tsp ground nutmeg
1 1/2 large, extra ripe bananas
1 egg, large
1/2 cup brown sugar, firmly packed
1/4 cup sour cream
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
2 Tbls unsalted butter, melted
Turbinado sugar for sprinkling

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.  Spray a 9x5" loaf pan with cooking spray.

In a bowl, sift together the flour baking powder, baking soda, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  In a large bowl, whisk together the bananas, eggs, brown sugar, sour cream, vanilla, and melted butter.  Add the flour mixture and whisk to combine. (Don't overmix - only until combined)

Add the batter to the prepared pan and sprinkle the top with turbaned sugar.  Baked until a toothpick inserted into the center of the loaf comes out clean, about 35 minutes.

Let the banana bread cool slightly in the pan, and on a wire rack, then turn the loaf out onto a wire rack to cool completely before serving.

A Wonderful Technique: Baked Bacon

Have you tried making your bacon in an oven yet?

So many people have picked up on this technique as it is the perfect way to make bacon for a crowd. Plus who wants to stand over a hot stove trying to dodge splattering bacon grease?  Not I.  Not anymore!

Crispy, smoky bacon it one of life's guilty pleasures.  I love it, MGG loves it...and I'm sure you do to. What ever you call this method, roasted bacon, oven bacon, baked bacon, or oven roasted bacon, this is a hassle free and hands free to cook that wonderful breakfast item.  

I was a skeptic at first but then I tried it.  It's wonderful for big batches, plus there's no flipping!  You could possibly cook 1 pound of bacon at a time using a large pan. Or just use two pans.  How great is that?  You can just lay the bacon on a baking sheet but for crispy bacon I suggest that you place a cooling rack on the sheet to elevate the bacon and this will create the crisp bacon we love.

Simple, easy, crispy, smokey bacon!

Enjoy!





Baked Bacon

serves 2

Ingredients:
6 slices of applewood smoked bacon (or your favorite)


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Lay the bacon on a rack placed on a sheet pan.  Baked for 15 to 20 minutes until the bacon is crispy. Drain on paper towels and serve.

How to Poach a Chicken

Poaching is the process of gently simmering food in liquid.  Chicken is a great item to poach, especially if you need cooked chicken for another dish you are making. 

You can poach your chicken let it cool and then shred  it, cube it, or cut in to pieces easily and then use in various recipes.

When whole chickens are on sale I often use this method instead of roasting it.  You can also poach pieces rather than a whole chicken as well.  Remember, once the chicken is cooked you can freeze portions of it to have on hand for future dishes.

Here's a step by step on how to poach a chicken.  I used a whole chicken so vary the quantity and size of things if you are poaching pieces.

Remove the chicken from the packaging and toss any inner parts away.  Wash and rinse your chicken.

Get a large enough pan or pot to cover the entire chicken.

Place the chicken on the pot along with some carrots, celery, and onion.  Whatever you have on hand will do, we just need to add some seasoning.  (no need to peel the carrot, just toss it in)Cover with water.

Bring the pot to a boil, then turn down and simmer for about 55 min for a whole chicken.  Probably about 35 minutes for pieces, breasts, thighs, etc.

Once the chicken is done pull it from the pot and let it rest on a cutting board until it is cool enough to handle.

Cut off the wings, legs and thighs, shred or cut/cube meat if you would like.  Then cut the back bone and cut off the breasts.  I shredded all the meat separating the dark meat from the white meat to use in various dishes.

It's as simple as that and this technique leaves you with endless possibilities!

How about chicken soup?

or enchiladas?

or a chicken casserole?

tacos anyone?

I'll post a recipe for my favorite chicken enchiladas tomorrow.

Stay tuned....and POACH A CHICKEN!