Jordana Banana Bakes

Saturday, March 28, 2015

From a Facebook Buy and Sell page, I managed to get free back issues of Real Simple magazines.

Did I really need inspiration for a "Life Made Easier?" Well, for quick and delicious meal ideas, that's for sure. I've been working many hours and wanted fresh and healthy in a jiffy. I'm also a sucker for magazines.

So here's my take on a Real Simple and versatile meal- I served this for lunch and everyone loved, loved, loved it!

Pita and Cherry Tomato Toasts (serves 4, vegetarian)

1/3 cup olive oil
4 piece pkg. of white pita bread
8 oz. container of store-bought roasted garlic hummus
1/4 cup each minced fresh herbs of your choice (I used parsley and mint)
2 cups cherry tomatoes, tri-colours
1/2 cup Feta cheese, crumbled
1 cup baby arugula
paprika and freshly ground pepper to taste

Preheat oven 300°F. Brush one side of each pita bread with olive oil and place them all on one baking sheet. Bake for 8 to 12min. Set aside.

While the pitas are toasting, chop your herbs.

Add the herbs to your container of roasted garlic hummus along with the leftover olive oil and mix.

Top your warm pitas with the herbed hummus, then tomatoes, Feta cheese, freshly ground pepper, arugula, more fresh herbs, perhaps a drizzle more olive oil and a sprinkle of paprika.

Serve as is or with a side salad. Yum!

Recipe inspired from Real Simple magazine, April 2014

Friday, February 27, 2015

My Mom always brings a variety of halva for my husband. The Polish store she buys it from sells fresh, inexpensive blocks of these sweet, seed and nut-butter gems. My new favourite is made from sunflower seed as opposed to the regular tahini base. But on the whole, we enjoy them as a special treat for breakfast. And somehow I want to eat it only at breakfast time, and no other part of the day! Perhaps this comes from way back, from our trip to Egypt, before the girls, when a small group of us were served a simple breakfast on a felucca boat sailing the Nile- baby blue sky, quiet river, black coffee, one platter stacked with just-warmed flat bread, and another, with mounds of roughly chopped pistachio and almond halva. Halva heaven.

Almond Halva Cookies (yields approx. 24 cookies)

1 1/4 cups organic all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
pinch sea salt
1/2 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup almond halva, crumbled
1/2 tsp pure vanilla extract

Things needed: mini cookie scoop and rimless baking sheet (or just turn your rimmed baking sheet upside down, then put your parchment paper on top.)

In a small bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder and salt.

Beat together butter and sugar in a large bowl with a mixer at medium speed until pale and fluffy. Then beat in vanilla and crumbled halva. On low speed, add half of the flour mixture and blend it thoroughly before adding the other half, and blend again on low until a crumbly dough forms.

Transfer the dough onto a sheet of plastic wrap and use the edges of the plastic wrap to press the dough into a disk. Wrap tightly in the plastic wrap and chill the dough until firm (about 1 hour).

Preheat oven to 350°F. Have ready two rimless baking sheets with parchment paper. Using a mini scoop, roll dough into 1-inch balls and arrange them on the rimless cookie sheets 2 inches apart.

In the oven they both go, switching the sheets halfway through baking time (at about the 5 minute mark). Bake until the cookies are starting to crack on the top, 10-12 minutes in total. Keep a close eye on them- they can turn dark very quickly.

Cool on the sheets for 10 minutes, then transfer them to a rack to cool completely. Keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to 1 week.

You can have these sweet bits of halva heaven anytime. Even for breakfast.

Inspired by Matkonation, Ottolenghi and Gourmet's sesame and halva recipes.
#breakfastmemories © 2015

Monday, January 26, 2015

We love our Overnight Oats, but sometimes it's nice to have warm, no-fuss, flavour-immersed, slow-cooked steel-cut oatmeal during cold, winter mornings. But who stays up until midnight to turn on their slow cooker so that they'll have breakfast ready by morning? Or the patience to keep an eye on steel-cut oats on the stove top? Here's my solution: put all the ingredients in your crock pot the night before, but don't turn it on.

Put the lid on and leave it overnight.

The next morning, before anything else, turn your slow cooker on low.

Your Warm Overnight Oats will be ready in 1 to 1.5 hours.

Warm Overnight Oats (Dairy-free, Gluten-free, Refined-sugar free)

1 1/4 cup organic, gluten-free steel-cut oats (toasted-optional)
3 cups organic almond milk
1/2 cup water
2 Tbsp organic coconut sugar
1 tsp vanilla
1 tsp cinnamon

Things needed: slow cooker.

Combine steel cut oats, almond milk, water, coconut sugar, vanilla and cinnamon in your slow cooker. Give it a stir. Cover with lid but do not turn on until the next morning (low setting). Ready in about 1 1/2 hours. Makes about 4 servings. Top with more almond milk and whatever else you desire ie. bananas, pecans, almonds, granola, coconut, maple syrup, coconut sugar, pumpkin seeds, cacao powder, goji berries, chia seeds, poppy seeds, dried fruit, fresh berries, nut butters, homemade jam,..

Modified from a How To Feed A Family recipe.
Happy New Year, New You © 2015

Friday, December 12, 2014

You know, Santa loves savoury too.

A version of this recipe has been circulating within my writer’s group over the years and it is what everyone reaches for when they have a glass of red wine in their other hand. I think we just call them “Barb’s cheese things” or “those cheddar crisps.” But in The Daily Cookie by Anna Ginsberg, they are listed under January 20 as Cheddar Cheese Cookies. (Of course I peeked at my birth date, and I got Chocolate Ninjabread Cookies...cool.)

When everybody else is making Christmas sweets, serve these with your apéritifs and trust that they will go as quick as reindeer.

Cheddar Cookies

1 cup unsalted butter, at room temp.
2 cups freshly grated, good-quality sharp Cheddar (please don't use pre-grated cheese for anything)
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 tsp cayenne
1/4 tsp garlic powder
2 cups organic all purpose flour
1 cup crispy rice cereal (I use President's Choice brand)
1/4 cup chopped pecans
Smoked paprika, for dusting

Things needed: mini ice-cream scooper (will yield exactly 48 cookies), two baking sheets lined with parchment paper and a mixer.

Preheat oven at 350°F.

In a large bowl, beat butter until fluffy, then add grated cheese and blend until mixture turns orange. Add salt, cayenne and garlic powder and blend until incorporated. Add flour and cereal and mix.

With your mini- ball scooper, shape dough into 1-inch balls. Place balls 2 inches apart on baking sheets.

With a fork, gently make a crisscross pattern on each ball while flattening slightly. Place a not too small pecan piece in the center of each cookie.

Bake one sheet at a time for 5 minutes, rotate the sheet, then bake for another 5 to 6 minutes. Transfer to a wire rack to cool completely. Lightly sprinkle cookies with paprika. Enjoy with some excellent wine.

Minimally changed from The Daily Cookie by Anna Ginsberg
(Just in case you were wondering, The Daily Cookie lists Almond Ginger Toasts for December 25. These look like thinly sliced but round biscotti, and look very delicate and scrumptious!)

Merry Merry! XO
© 2014

Monday, November 24, 2014

Kale can be intimidating. The only reason I tried kale is because we make cheesy dehydrated kale chips at work. And I loved it ever since. Then I made a tropical smoothie blended with raw kale and the whole family loved it. And then a bag of Ultimate Kale Chips went on sale at my local grocery store. I still loved it. Then I picked up The Book of Kale and Friends by Sharon Hanna and Carol Pope and made Kale Pasta with Rose Sauce- dinner was a hit. And then on a cold day I had a craving for warm bread made easy and was again flipping through The Book of Kale and Friends. Interestingly enough, the no-knead bread recipe in the book had the “friend” rosemary, but there was no kale. I had some kale chip crumbs left over. I added the crumbs instead of rosemary. There is a reason why I’m blogging about it. I am no longer intimidated...bring on the kale!

No Need To Knead Kale Chip Bread

3 cups organic flour
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp instant yeast
1/4 cup kale chip crumbs (I used Solar Raw's Better Than Cheddar)
2 Tbsp chopped, fresh herbs (optional)
3 Tbsp olive oil
About 1 to 1 1/2 cups lukewarm water

Things needed: a large enamel, cast-iron, glass or ceramic ovenware with lid, parchment paper, a wooden spoon, kitchen scissors and oven mitts.

In a large bowl, mix flour, salt and yeast together with a whisk.

Add the kale crumbs, blend it in the flour and drizzle olive oil around the flour. Add about 1 cup of the water and stir the flour with a wooden spoon, making sure all of the flour is incorporated (if it is a bit too dry, you can add a little more).

Cover the dough with plastic wrap and leave the dough in a spot that is warm and undisturbed for 18-24 hours (I started mine early in the morning and left it overnight, to bake fresh the next day).

Transfer the risen dough (pictured above) on a large piece of floured parchment paper. Gently fold the sticky dough into a round shape and cut the excess parchment off. Lightly dust the top of the dough with more flour. Cover the dough with a towel and let sit for 30-60 minutes.

Make sure your covered pot fits in the oven (you may have to move or remove an oven rack). Leave the empty pot with cover in the oven and set oven to 475°F and leave the pot in for 15 minutes.

Before 15 minutes is up, remove towel from your dough and cut an X with scissors in the middle of the dough. With your oven mitts, carefully remove your hot pot from the oven, place it on the stovetop and remove the lid. Carefully place your dough in the center of the pot and cover. Gently place back in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Cool bread on a rack for at least 30 minutes. Slice and enjoy with any type of butter or anything you desire.

Slightly adapted from Sharon Hanna & Carol Pope's kale cookbook.
Happy Superfooding!
© 2014

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Happy third year to my blog! We are celebrating with this blender-simple, natural, raw, vegan, gluten-free peanut butter and banana syrup for your anything: from pancakes to fruit dipper. Jordana (who asked for a giant jar of peanut butter for her birthday) can't get enough of this combo. Oh, I just made your week that much nicer? Well, you're welcome :)

Peanut Butter and Banana Blender Syrup

1 banana (frozen is ok to use)

1/2 cup maple syrup

1/3 cup smooth (just peanuts) peanut butter

1/3 cup to 1/2 cup filtered water (or to desired consistency)

1/8 tsp cinnamon (optional)

Blend together banana,

maple syrup,

peanut butter, water (start with 1/3 cup and go from there) and cinnamon until smooth and to your taste. Use immediately. Store leftovers in an air-tight container in the refrigerator for up to one-week. Some discoloration will occur but it will still taste awesome. Drizzle this syrup on pancakes and top it with a teaspoon of jam and you've made PB & J pancakes!

J and her PB.

Monday, September 29, 2014

My daughter was born on (Canadian) Thanksgiving, so the main focus during this holiday is her birthday and organizing her parties ever since. My Thanksgiving became the time to relax after the party planning and worrying how her birthday cake will turn out. Thanksgiving also became a family pot luck, as there are usually birthday leftovers, and my parents would bring food to add on, and my brother and his girls would come to our place and join in the celebration.

I thought of how laborious and elaborate, much like Christmas, this holiday could be, especially with the turkey (which I have yet to attempt), trimmings, pies and cakes that translate into thankfulness and giving. But as we could see beauty in abundance, we could also see the loveliness in simplicity.

How lovely, I thought, to just serve coffee with some Pumpkin Seed Brittle after a Thanksgiving meal?

Or, how gloriously elaborate, I thought, to top a slice of Pumpkin Pie or Pumpkin Custard with a triangle of this wonderfully sweet brittle?

THANKS for GIVING me the idea, Monday Morning Cooking Club.

Thanksgiving Pumpkin Seed Brittle

1 cup sugar

1/2 cup water

1/2 tsp sea salt

3/4 cup raw pumpkin seeds (or a mix of pumpkin and sunflower)

Things needed: parchment paper, rolling pin, heavy-bottomed saucepan, wooden spoon and a candy thermometer.

Tear off and set aside two large sheets of parchment paper and ready rolling pin near a work surface or wooden cutting board.

Place the sugar, water and salt in the saucepan on medium heat and stir to dissolve the sugar. Set the candy thermometer in the liquid and without stirring, cook the syrup until it reaches 116°C/240°F. Take the saucepan off heat and immediately stir in the raw seeds with a wooden spoon. Stir until the mixture becomes grainy and crystallizes (about 3 minutes). Return the pan on medium heat and stir constantly for about 8-10 minutes, until the dry, crystallized sugar melts again and becomes a caramel colour. With care, pour this mixture on top of a parchment paper and cover with the second parchment.

Working quickly, use the rolling pin and roll out the brittle into a thin layer. Peel the top sheet of parchment and let brittle cool completely (about 30 minutes to 1 hour).

Once cool, cut or break brittle into large pieces. Store in an airtight container for two weeks, separating the pieces with parchment paper to keep from sticking.

Serve with coffee or use to decorate pies, custards or crumble and use as ice cream topping.