Brown Bread!!

No I don’t mean like Whole Wheat bread…I mean Brown Bread, this is a sweet or quick bread and bake in a CAN!!  

Yes I said a can…you know a can that veggies come in or soup 

I grew up having brown bread in our house my Mom would make this as well as my Grandma…I don’t think I ever thought it was odd baking it in a can…I was a kid it was a cool thing 🙂

Wikipedia says – 

New England or Boston brown bread is a type of dark, slightly sweet steamed bread (usually a quick bread) popular in New England. It is cooked by steam in a can, or cylindrical pan.
Brown bread’s color comes from a mixture of flours, usually a mix of several of the following: cornmeal, wheat, whole wheat, graham flour, or rye, and from the addition of sweeteners like molasses and maple syrup. Leavening most often comes from baking soda (sodium bicarbonate) though a few recipes use yeast. Raisins are often added. The batter is poured into a can, and steamed in a kettle. While most variations are quick breads, and can be made in less than an hour, several commercial brands are available. Brown bread is somewhat seasonal, being served mostly in fall and winter, and is frequently served with baked beans.

I really had forgotten about this Brown Bread until I read this blog “A Small Insight” http://asmallinsight.wordpress.com/2013/04/09/mammas-fruit-loaf/
Lucy call it “Mamma’s Fruit Loaf and when I read this post and saw what it was, I immediately thought of Brown Bread 🙂 

So go to her blog and check her out and her recipe for her Mamma’s Fruit Loaf 🙂

All  know is that I really was not a big fan growing up, but now this stuff if great and I like mine with butter, now my Mom likes her’s with cream cheese.  So its up to you on which way you eat it, its also good heated in the microwave 🙂

My recipe here is is made with a couple of can, I also used small paper loaf pan, easy to give as gifts and I made some today for our office and I used a Bundt pan and it just came out so nice…perfect with you were having people over for coffee or tea, it’s perfect.

Now I did compare my brown bread to the ‘Can” kind you find in the store and let me say, I thought the store bought one was very dense, dry, very little raisins compared to mine.  And the flavor well I am sorry to say it was just plan awful…sorry if you like it, I just didn’t care for it 🙂

Store bought

 

Ingredients

 

Raisins and water in a small sauce pan

 

add flour, salt, baking soda and bran/bran buds to bowl 

 

Mix together

cream butter and sugar

 

 

stir in egg and vanilla

 

 

add dry mixture and stir a little

 

add raisin mixture

 

Fold to combine

 

pour batter into your containers

 

bake

 

this is the can

 

this looks so good

 

this is store on left and mine on right

 

You can see that mine has so many more raisins

 

Both buttered and ready to eat

 

Out come, like I said did not care for the store bought, took one bite 😦

Mine oh it looks so good!!!!

Brown Bread Recipe

1 1/2 -2 cups raisins
2 cups water
1 cup Bran or Bran Buds Cereal
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tsp. baking soda
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp. butter, softened
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla

4 – 16oz. cans (fill 2/3 full)- bake for 35-55 minutes, small loaf pans (fill half full) – bake 30 minutes, large loaf pan (fill half full to 2/3’s) – bake 40 – 50 minutes, bundt pan (whole recipe) – bake 45 minutes.  With any of these just keep an eye on it, when you stick a toothpick or skewer in bread it should come out clean, it then is done.   Cool upside down on a cooling rack.

Pre-heat oven to 325 degrees

In a small to med sauce pan add water and raisins, bring to a boil over med-high heat, once it boils, remove from heat and set aside for 10 minutes.

In a small bowl add flour, bran/bran buds, salt and baking soda, stir to mix…set aside
In a large bowl cream together butter and sugar for 1 minute, then stir in egg and vanilla, then add dry mixture, stir it a little and raisin mixture, fold to fully combine.

Pour into your WELL greased or spray baking container, and bake.  Let cool enough to handle and then you can dig in 🙂

The Bundt pictures

 

Zucchini and Nectarine Crisp

So this weekend was my Mom’s Birthday and I was trying to come up with a dessert that was different. I had a few Nectarines and I thought…cobbler…crisp???? but not enough to a full recipe and I’ve done that before….but not with zucchini 🙂

So this is what I came up with and I thought it was yummy!!! 😛

Ingredients
a co-worker gave me some nice spices from Penzeys, so I used them, otherwise I would
have used whole nutmeg and grated it myself 

peel, slice zucchini

put into large skillet

add lemon juice, butter, cinnamon, nutmeg, salt and brown sugar, stir and cook

meantime, peel and slice nectarines, and set aside

once zucchini has cooked and softened, remove from heat

fold in nectarines

pour into a 9×9 (8×8 will work too)

make the crisp topping

add cold butter cubes, mix with fingers, or use pastry cutter

you want it to be crumbly, about pea size pieces

sprinkle on top of zucchini mixture

bake

Recipe – Zucchini & Nectarine Crisp

Filling 

3 medium zucchini, peeled, halved lengthwise, then sliced
3 good size nectarines, peeled, sliced, set aside
3 tbsp. butter
2/3 cup packed brown sugar
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 cup lemon juice

Add zucchini slices to large skillet, add butter, lemon juice, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt, cook over medium high heat, once butter is melted and mixture starts to boil, reduce heat to medium and continue to cook for about 5 minutes until zucchini is softened.  Remove from heat and fold in nectarines, spray a 9×9 or 8×8 baking dish and pour mixture in baking dish.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Topping

1 cup rolled oats
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cold butter, cut in cubes
1/4 tsp. salt
1 tsp. cinnamon

Add all dry ingredients to a medium bowl, then add butter, with your fingers squeeze butter cubes with dry ingredients, to make a crumbly mixture.   Sprinkle mixture all over zucchini mixture and bake for 35 to 45 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly around the edges.

Serve with sweet whipped cream or vanilla ice cream….Enjoy!!!

“The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports”…PIE!!!!

If you are reading this post saying to yourself…what is “The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports” Pie?  

Then I would say 1. maybe your are not from Kentucky or surrounding states or 2. you don’t follow horse racing 🙂

Yes horse racing, and not just horse racing “The Kentucky Derby” 

The Kentucky Derby is held annually in Louisville, Kentucky, United States, on the first Saturday in May, capping the two-week-long Kentucky Derby Festival. 

This Saturday (first Saturday in May) May 4th, 2013, will be the
139th running of The Kentucky Derby!!

 The race is known in the United States as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports” or “The Fastest Two Minutes in Sports” (hence the name of my recipe)  for its approximate duration, and is also called “The Run for the Roses” for the blanket of roses draped over the winner.

It is the first leg of the US Triple Crown and is followed by the Preakness Stakes, then the Belmont Stakes.  

A horse must win all three races to win the Triple Crown.  Which in it’s 138 years of running only 11 horses became “Triple Crown Winners”, the last one in 1978 the horse was Affirmed ridden by Steve Cauthen, a local boy 🙂

The attendance at the Kentucky Derby ranks first in North America and usually surpasses the attendance of all other stakes races including the Preakness Stakes, Belmont Stakes and the Breeders’ Cup

Location- Churchill Downs    Louisville, Kentucky, USA
Inaugurated 1875
Race type – Thoroughbred
Website http://www.kentuckyderby.com/
Race information
Distance 1¼ miles (10 furlongs)
Track Dirt, Left-handed
Qualification 3-year-old
Weight Colt/Gelding: 126 lbs (57.2 kg)
Filly: 121 lb (55 kg)
Purse –  US$2 million
1st: $1,425,000
Bonuses US$ 200

Oh… you say you are asking me who I pick in this years race, well I like 2 horses…1 – Java’s War, yes for he’s name because you know I love JAVA!!
2 – Verrazano, he’s beautiful dark brown in color (like my pies) and his post position is 14th and that’s me favorite number 🙂

Okay so now that you know all about “The Kentucky Derby” let’s talk PIE!!!

Now you say why not name your pie recipe, Derby Pie…Well there is a “Famous” Derby Pie and click here and you can read about it http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Derby_pie  We also sell this “Famous” pie in our stores 🙂  Here in Northern Kentucky (Remke bigg’s)

If you clicked and read about it you now know that I don’t want to be sued…for using the name 🙂  Yes you heard me sued!!! 😦

And there are so many recipes out there named Ky. Derby Pie, Run for the Roses Pie, First Saturday in May Pie, May Day Pie…oh I could go on and on!!! 

So that’s why I decided that this recipe would be named for what is known as “The Most Exciting Two Minutes In Sports”

I am going to make 2 pies, one with a pie crust and one with a puff pastry crust.  One with flour, one without flour…Let’s see which is better 🙂

Pie #1 – no flour

Everything in the bowl, except nuts & chips, then whip it

    

for about 4 minutes, then add Nuts and Chips

     

Mix up, and then pour into pie shell (below is Puff Pastry)

     

Bake and done

1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar (I use pure sugar cane)
2/3 cup light corn syrup
4 eggs
1/3 cup butter, melted, cooled
1/3 cup Kentucky Bourbon…yes it must be made in Kentucky 🙂
2 tsp. vanilla
1/4 tsp. salt
1 cup chocolate chips
1 3/4 – 2 cups walnuts, rough chopped
1 pie crust or puff pastry sheet (directions below)

In a stand mixer or using a hand mixer, add to large bowl, all ingredients except walnut and chocolate chips.  Mixer on medium to incorporate  then mix on high for 4 minutes.  Then fold in walnuts and chocolate chips, pour mixture in to your pie shell.  Bake at 350 degrees for 50 minutes or until top is a luscious brown in color.

Cool at room temperature for at least 4-5 hours before serving.

Pie #2 with flour

In bowl add dry ingredients  and wet in another

        

Whisk wet into dry, it looks like this

         

add nuts and chips and fold in

          

Pour into pie shell, (below is with Pie Crust)

Bake and done

Pie #2

1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup white sugar,(I used pure cane sugar)
1/2 cup butter, melted, cooled
1/3 cup Kentucky Bourbon, again this must be bourbon from Kentucky 🙂
2 eggs
1/4 tsp. salt
2 tsp. vanilla
1 cup chocolate chips
1 3/4 -2 cups walnuts, rough chopped
1 pie crust or puff pastry sheet (directions below)

In a large bowl add flour, salt and sugars, whisk to combine, in small bowl add butter, eggs, bourbon, vanilla, whisk to combine, add egg mixture to flour mixture, whisk to combine.

Fold in walnuts and chocolate chips, pour into pie shell, bake at 350 degrees for 35-37 minutes, it should be golden brown and look set.  

Let cool at room temperature for at least 3 hours before serving.

Crust directions: 1 puff pastry sheet or 1 pie crust

Just showed you the puff pastry, pie crust will work
the same way, you just would not trim the edges

Puff pastry on work surface, roll out

    

place over pan, then trim edges

    

fold under the edges, then flute/crimp your edge

     

prick with tines of a fork all over
Puff Pastry on right, Pie crust on left

      

Blind bake with pie weights or dried beans
you want your crust light brown, par baked
or that is what I did here

       

Roll puff pastry/pie crust out on a floured work surface, roll out enough to have a 1 inch hang over your pie pan.  Spray pie pan, place pastry/crust over pan and gentle push to form to the pan.  Take knife or scissors and trim the corners off leaving 1 inch of the pastry, the pie crust you should not have to cut anything away (unless you made it from scratch, then you may need to trim)

Tuck pastry/crust under about 1/2 inch all the way around, then with your fingers, flute/crimp edges of the pastry/crust.  Take a fork and prick the pastry/crust lightly all over on the bottom and sides.

Now you will blind bake your pastry/crust, take a piece of parchment paper lay over pastry/crust, add on top of the parchment pie weights or dried beans.

Bake at 350 degrees just until crust is light brown in color about 20 minutes, then remove let cool for 15 minutes  then add your pie filling.  Bake as directed above in recipe you will be using.

Okay they both were very good in there own way, the one I made with the pie crust, was recipe #2 with flour.  Crust was great but can you go wrong with Pillsbury 🙂

The filling was nutty, chocolaty, and had that good taste of bourbon, it was lightly firm, seemed to hold together very well, that was due to flour.

Puff Pastry crust with recipe #1 no flour, was very good as well, it was in my opinion a little more richer and gooey.  And I loved the Puff Pastry crust too…

It’s really do hard to choose which was better, they both were “DELICIOUS” in their own way 🙂    Hope you will make them!!!  

Plus I must say that you certainly can taste the Kentucky Bourbon in these pies, which is why I used 1/3 cup, you can defiantly use less or leave it out.  But here in Good Ole Kentucky…we are leaving it in 🙂   Enjoy!!

Pork Scallopini with Mushrooms

Recently I had bought a pork tenderloin, it was garlic and black pepper crusted.  You can get just a plan tenderloin as well, but this was the one on sale 🙂

So I wanted to make a couple of dishes out of it and this is the first one.

Scallopini (which is the English usage), which is a cutlet and most often used is veal or chicken, pounded thin and coated in flour, sauteed, then served with a tomato or wine based sauce.

You start with this process when you also make Saltimbocca (which is what I did with part of the tenderloin, post to come) and Piccata which then you would make a lemon & caper sauce. (which I bought the capers, intending to doing Piccata as well, but I didn’t and just grill the rest of the pork, but I will do a blog on Piccata at some point 🙂

Mushrooms are used a lot with the sauce, and I roasted up some asparagus to serve as a side.

Ingredients

take pork cutlet, place plastic wrap on top and bottom

pound the cutlet to about 1/4 inch thin, if you don’t have a meat mallet
use a bottom of a saute pan or skillet…it will work

      

In your skillet over medium high heat add oil & butter

Dredge your cutlet in flour and shake off access,
once butter has melted add your cutlet to hot skillet
flipping  to brown on both sides

               

meanwhile, chop shallots, garlic, & rosemary

once brown remove from skillet, set a side
you can use a piece of foil just to tent over cutlet

to the skillet add mushrooms and shallots

cook until everything is golden

add beef base, hot water and wine, stir in

           

add brown sugar and rosemary, stir

then stir in cream and add a little more butter to finish it off

                        

drizzle asparagus with olive oil, salt and pepper
roast in oven

Serve sauce over cutlets with asparagus

just delicious it was 🙂

Recipe

1 pork tenderloin, cut in half lengthwise, then cut each piece into 3 pieces, you will have 6 in total
4 tbsp. butter, divided
4 tbsp. olive oil
1/2 cup flour
1-2 shallots, chopped
1 8 oz. pkg. sliced mushrooms
2 tsp. brown sugar
1/2 cup white wine
1/2 cup hot water
1/2 tsp. beef base paste
4 garlic cloves, minced
1 tsp. fresh rosemary, finely chopped
3/4 cup heavy cream

Take cutlets, place between to pieces of plastic wrap or wax paper, pound thin to about 1/4 inch thick.
add flour to a shallow dish, dredge cutlets in flour and shake off access, in a large skillet add oil and 2 tbsp. butter.  Saute cutlets over medium high heat, brown on each side, and almost cooked through (meat will continue to cook some removed from heat, so don’t over cook) place on platter, tent with foil and set aside.

Add another tablespoon of butter to skillet add mushrooms, shallots and garlic, cook until golden stirring not to burn(adjust your heat if it starts to burn).

Add wine, beef base and hot water, stir to mix around,  then add rosemary and brown sugar and let mixture reduce by a 1/4.  Stir in cream then add last tablespoon of butter, pour sauce over cutlets and serve.

I roasted the asparagus in a 400 degree oven for about 10 minutes, just until tender.

Enjoy!!!

Shrimp Po’ Boy & Shrimp with Creamy Polenta

I made Shrimp Po’ Boy’s for a recent get together with friends, and it was a HUGE hit!!  I must admit I’ve never had a Po’ Boy, shrimp, seafood, beef or otherwise, but this one turned out down right delicious.

I had gotten a couple extra piece’s of shrimp for my dinner the next day and I made the shrimp the same way, but served it with creamy polenta.  
So you get both recipes in one blog 🙂

You can also I serve this shrimp with just the Remoulade sauce at party, I just love the light crispy coating on the shrimp.  Also would be great on a salad too, summer is coming and this would be a quick addition to a great refreshing summer salad.

Now I used large 16/20 shrimp 4-5 per person, I also used ciabatta rolls, you can use any fluffy crusted bread or roll.

Or you could also serve these as sliders on slider buns, one piece of shrimp is diffidently a nice size for this different party appetizer

First you need a Remoulade sauce/slaw, this usually starts with mayonnaise, then after that its your own taste buds that will take you to the end.  Just Wikipedia it, it will tell you were to begin and give you ideas on what to add…here’s mine

Shrimp Ingredients

    

Add spices, flour and cornstarch together whisk,
then whisk egg & milk together

Divide flour mixture into 2 dishes

dredge shrimp in first flour dish, then into egg,

then into 2nd flour dish

get  your oil hot, about 350 degrees            to know your oil is hot and ready
                                                                            take the end of a wooden spoon
                                                                            press to bottom of skillet if it
                                                                  sizzles then you know it hot and ready

                              

add shrimp and cook for about 30 seconds each side

         

Place them on a paper towel

Remoulade Sauce/slaw  ingredients

Slice cabbage or lettuce thinly       in a small bowl add Remoulade 
You can use pre cut as well                sauce ingredients, mix to combine

                

add in cabbage/lettuce                    mix together

               

Slice roll add some of the slaw

top with the shrimp and top of roll

Recipes

Remoulade Sauce

1 cup Hellmann’s Mayonnaise
3 tbsp. horseradish
1 1/2 tsp. garlic powder
4 tbsp. lemon juice
1 tsp. each kosher salt and white pepper
3 tbsp. sweet pickle relish
2 1/4 tsp. paprika

Mix all together and refrigerate until ready.

I take 1 bag of shredded lettuce,  or if you like more of a “crunch” then use a bag of angel hair cabbage, or thinly slice it off the heads, place it in a large bowl and add about half to 3/4 of the remoulade sauce, toss to fully combine.   Keep the rest of the sauce if you like more on your sandwich. 

Shrimp

Peel and devein shrimp, tails off, just as much shrimp as you want to make for each sandwich.

1/2 cup each all-purpose flour and cornstarch
4 tsp. each cayenne pepper, onion powder, garlic powder and paprika
2 tsp. kosher salt
2 eggs
2 tbsp. half and half
Oil for cooking

Whisk together flour, cornstarch, cayenne, onion/garlic powder, paprika and salt in a medium bowl, divide mixture into 2 shallow dishes, in another shallow dish whisk eggs and half n half together.  

In a medium/large skillet add enough oil so it will come up half way to the side of the shrimp.  Heat over medium high heat, (adjust heat as cooking so not to burn).
Once oil is hot, take shrimp and coat them in the first dish of flour mixture, then dip them into the egg wash, then into the  other dish of the flour mixture, coating evenly.
Carefully place them into the hot oil and cook on each side for maybe only 30 seconds each side.  Shrimp cooks quickly, so you want to work fast not too ever cook the shrimp.
Once cooked place on a platter lined with paper towels.

To make a Po’ Boy

Cut your roll or bun in half, on bottom piece layer some lettuce/cabbage mixture and top with the shrimp, if you want to add a little more remoulade sauce on top then do it, top with other half of the roll.

Grab a cold beer (if you like that) or some cold Iced Tea or Lemonade and dig your chops right in…yummmmmm

Now for the Shrimp with Polenta

Ingredients for Polenta

once the water/broth comes to a boil whisk in polenta

add butter and let cook for 30 minutes it will look like this

                                        

The stir in cream cheese

until fully combined and creamy

serve with shrimp

Shrimp with Polenta

Use recipe above for shrimp 3 or 4 shrimp per person

Polenta

2 cups water or broth (chicken or veggie)
1/2 cup polenta
2 tbsp. butter
4 oz. cream cheese

In a medium sauce pan add water and bring to a boil medium high heat, then quickly whisk in polenta until it has been fully incorporated.  Reduce the heat to low simmer, add butter and allow potenta to cook uncovered for 30 minutes, stirring occasionally.  Then stir in cream cheese (marscarpone cheese can be used as well), season with salt, stir until cream cheese in fully incorporated and creamy.

You can serve with just like I did above or serve as a side with the shrimp and some delicious grilled or roasted asparagus, what a great summer dinner!!!

Enjoy!!!!