Banana Nutella Pumpkin Bread [Secret Recipe Club]

I have sad news.  This will be my last month participating in the Secret Recipe Club.  :-(  I love participating, but my life has been so busy over the last few months (and looks like it will continue along the same vein) that I just can't commit to posting by certain dates.  It's been a great year of exploring other blogs and making other bloggers' recipes, and I will truly miss the community. 

Funnily enough, my participation in this group has come full circle.  For my second month's post, I let my coworkers choose a recipe (Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins), and so I decided to let them choose my last one as well.  They must have a love affair with bananas because they chose this Banana Nutella Pumpkin Bread recipe from Mom's Crazy Cooking.

Mom's Crazy Cooking is written by Tina in my home state of California.  Besides blogging about food, she also loves to spend time with her kids (me too!), travel and camp (me too!) and do digital scrapbooking (well, maybe not me too...but only because I'm not organized enough to keep at it!).  She has an exhaustive list of recipes on her site that look delicious and family-friendly, just like this bread.  The Banana Nutella Pumpkin bread is dense and chocolately and a great breakfast snack.  A couple of tips, though: 1) Don't over bake it.  I baked the muffins too long, and they turned out a little dry.  The loaf was nice and moist, though.  2) Next time I would try mixing some Nutella into the batter itself and then swirling some on top.  I could only taste the Nutella on the top bites and would have loved the flavor throughout.  3)  Add a little bit of cinnamon to bring out the pumpkin and banana bread flavors--I did and wasn't sorry.

If you'd like the recipe, head on over to Mom's Crazy Cooking...and check out her other fabulous recipes while you're at it!

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Sorghum Granola [Secret Recipe Club]

Every month I look forward to trying out new recipes from other bloggers who are part of the Secret Recipe Club.  There's just something about the surprises involved that I love--I don't know who has cooked from my blog, and the other blogger doesn't know that I've been assigned to them until reveal day.  And this month I got an even bigger surprise...I was assigned a vegan blog: We Heart Vegan!  My family has a pretty strong love affair with bacon and sausage, so it's pretty unlikely that we'd go as far as changing our diet to a vegan one, but I've always been fascinated with the vegan lifestyle, partially because of all of the interesting ingredients used to balance the diet.

I wasn't sure that I'd find something that my family would dive into when I was assigned the blog, but Brittany and Julie do a great job at making their recipes simple and accessible for all diets.  I really wanted to make their Black Bean and Avocado Salsa, but I've been traveling a lot this month, and I was just scared it would go to waste, so I settled on something a little more storage- and travel-friendly: Omega Granola.  I'm not sure my version would fit into the Omega part of that title, but what I ended up with tasted delicious!  I had never made my own granola before, and I'll definitely think twice before buying it in the store.  It was an easy process and tasted so much fresher than what I typically buy.

As I mentioned, I did make a few adjustments.  I had a hard time finding some of the ingredients in our local grocery store, so I just omitted them.  I also adjusted the nut ratios since I'm a picky nut eater.  And finally, I used Kentucky's version of molasses: sorghum.  I've never used this ingredient before, but happened to pick some up the week before, so decided to use it.  It's not quite as strong in flavor as molasses is, but it was a great substitution!  (If you're not sure what sorghum is, you can find out more here or check out fellow Kentucky Food Blogger Rona Roberts' book, Sweet, Sweet Sorghum.)

I will be making this again for sure...and I thank We Heart Vegan for introducing me to the vegan lifestyle so gently and beautifully!

Sorghum Granola
Adapted from We Heart Vegan
Makes about 5 cups

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats
1/6 cup uncooked red quinoa (regular would be fine here too)
1 small ripe banana, mashed
1 tablespoon sesame oil
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/6 cup sorghum
Pinch of Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
3 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
3 tablespoons sunflower seeds
3 tablespoons chopped pecans
2 tablespoons golden raisins
2 tablespoons dried cranberries

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees F.  Cover a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and spread the oats and quinoa evenly on the sheet.  Place the sheet in the oven and cook for 10 minutes.

Stir the oats/quinoa and add the nuts and seeds.  Toast in the oven for 6 more minutes.  While the granola is toasting, prepare the wet ingredients.  In a small bowl, combine the mashed banana, sesame oil, vanilla, sorghum, salt, and cinnamon.  Once the granola has toasted for 6 minutes, pour the wet mixture over and add the raisins and dried cranberries.  Mix until most of the granola is wet.  Bake for another 12 minutes.

Remove from the oven and let the baking sheet cool on a cooling rack for at least 10 minutes or until the granola becomes crunchy.  Once it's cooled, break apart (using the parchment paper to help) and store in an airtight container.  This will last a while in the cupboard.  (Mine is going on two weeks and is completely fresh still.)

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Mexican Chocolate Pudding Tart [Secret Recipe Club]

Chocolate pudding: it's something I've never made before.  Part of it is due to my aversion to making custards--cooking eggs gently scares me.  But part of it is because it just seems like a difficult dish--I've never actually seen anyone make pudding from scratch.  All of my pudding making as a kid was straight from a box, so when I was assigned Cooking in Stilettos as my Secret Recipe Club assignment, I knew her recipe for an easy Mexican Chocolate Pudding was kismet.  This eggless recipe came together in all of 10 minutes and tastes wonderful!

In her post about making this pudding, Aly mentioned a pudding pie her "Bampa" would make, and I thought to myself, "Why not?"  So I poured the pudding into a chocolate pie crust I made and topped it with homemade whipped cream.  I hope that I did her Bampa's pie justice!  I know it was a hit in our house!

Mexican Chocolate Pudding Tart
Pudding from Cooking in Stilettos

1 baked chocolate pie crust (I'm still working out some kinks with my recipe, and I'll post it as soon as I perfect it, but in the meantime, you can buy a premade one or google other recipes.)

1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
1/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
2 1/2 tablespoons cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon (I added a pinch more because I like the taste of it!)
1/8 teaspoon salt
2 cups lowfat milk
1/2 teaspoon almond extract (Next time I may cut this back just a touch.)
1 1/2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
Pinch of cayenne pepper (Next time I'll put in more than a pinch!)

Whipped Cream:
1 cup cold heavy cream
2 teaspoons sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract

To make the pudding:
Whisk the brown sugar, cocoa powder, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt in a medium saucepan.  Whisk in the milk and almond extract.  Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, whisking often.  Once the mixture begins to boil, whisk constantly for one minute.  Remove from the heat and whisk in the butter, vanilla extract and cayenne until the butter is melted and incorporated.

To make the whipped cream:
Using a stand or hand mixer, place the cold cream in a large bowl.  Add the sugar and vanilla and whip until peaks form and you reach your desired consistency.  Don't overwhip, as you'll make butter!  :-)  Store in an airtight container in the refrigerator until ready to serve.

To assemble the pie:
Pour the mixture into your pie crust.  Smooth out the top with a spatula.  (Aly's directions say to cover the surface of the pudding with plastic wrap, but I wouldn't do it next time as it left a strange imprint on my pie.)  Refrigerate for at least an hour and a half or until set.  Decorate with homemade whipped cream right before serving.

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Pickled Carrots and Radishes [Secret Recipe Club]

My life has been busy!  I work at a college, and students didn't leave campus until last week.  I got a cold.  My daughter had her 6th birthday party.  My CSA started up.  And I had to prepare for this month's Secret Recipe Club.  Luckily, the last two events overlapped.  :-)  I was assigned to secretly choose something  from Joanna's blog, Cairn's Manor, and out of sheer luck I had bookmarked this recipe for Pickled Carrots and Radishes, even before I knew I was getting two big bunches of radishes from my CSA.  I also had planned on making an Asian-marinated flank steak for dinner last week, so I knew it was kismet.  I made a couple of small changes to Joanna's recipe, but nothing major.  My family loved the flavors together, and my daughter even asked for a big portion of it on the side to eat.  I know I'll be making this again and again (especially since I get a ton of radishes every spring and never know quite what to do with them)!

On a side note, I feel a special kinship to Joanna since she and I share a love story around fettuccine alfredo.  Back in February, she actually cooked one of my favorite dishes my husband makes for me and featured it on her blog.  I guess fettuccine alfredo makes the world go round.  :-)

Pickled Carrots and Radishes
Adapted from Cairn's Manor
Makes 1 Pint

3 carrots, peeled and grated
2 bunches red radishes, grated
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
2 teaspoons Kosher salt
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 + 1/8 cup white distilled vinegar
1/2 cup warm water
1/8 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Place the carrots, radishes, and cilantro in a small bowl and mix with the salt and let sit for 5-10 minutes.  Place in a colander and squeeze all of the liquid out that you can.  Fill a pint jar or other sealable container with the vegetables, layering with the cilantro as you go.

In a medium bowl, mix the sugar and warm water until the sugar is dissolved.  Add the vinegar and red pepper flakes.  Pour over the vegetables until completely covered.  Refrigerate for at least one hour before eating.  The pickled veggies should last about a month in the refrigerator.

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From-Scratch Chicken Pot Pie [Secret Recipe Club]

***Don't forget to enter my giveaway for 7 two 7 glass garden markers! The contest ends on Friday, April 27th.

It's Secret Recipe Club time again!  I drew Art from My Table, and I'm so glad I did.  My family had a tough time picking just one recipe to try: my daughter picked Pumpkin Oatmeal, I wanted Sparkling Cranberry Brie Bites, and my husband wanted Chicken Pot Pie.  My husband won out, mostly because I wasn't hosting a party for the Brie Bites and because we needed an extra dinner last week, but those other recipes are on my list to make in the near future!  

Chellie cooks, writes and photographs for Art from My Table, and does a magnificent job of creating delicious-looking, yet accessible food.  And her Chicken Pot Pie is one of these recipes.  I made a few changes to suit my tastes, but her recipe is a great base recipe to experiment with.  This is definitely going into my regular rotation of meals...even my picky two year old ate the filling!

Because I wanted  to eat this for a busy mid-week meal, I prepared the pies in individual ramekins and froze them.  I added about 15 minutes of cooking time for the frozen pies.  This worked wonderfully--I popped the pies in the oven after work and then ran outside to play with the kids on a beautiful spring afternoon.  Go check out the original recipe for the base recipe and for a large pie; my instructions below are for 6-inch ramekins.

From-Scratch Chicken Pot Pie
Adapted from Art from My Table
Makes three large individual portions

Cook's Note: If you'd like to freeze these for later use, throw them in the freezer, and when they are frozen through, wrap tightly in foil.  When you are ready to cook them, just throw them in the oven and cook for about 15 minutes longer.

1/3 cup butter
1/3 cup all-purpose flour
1/3 cup onion, chopped
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp pepper
1/2 cup dry white wine
2 cups chicken stock
2/3 cup whole milk
1/2 tsp dried thyme
1/2 tsp dried rosemary, crushed
2/3 lb. cooked chicken breast, chopped
3 cups vegetables (I used equal amounts of green beans, peas, carrots, fennel.  Fresh or frozen work well here.)
2 green onions, cut into 1-inch pieces
Pastry for two nine-inch pie crusts (I used Alice Waters' recipe from The Art of Simple Food, and will continue to use it for this recipe.)

Prepare the crust: Butter three 6-inch individual ramekins.  Line the ramekins with pie crust, cutting off excess with a sharp knife.  Roll out three portions that will cover the entire top of the ramekin and set aside.  (Because you are using ramekins instead of a large pie tin, you may need to incorporate the excess bits and reroll the crust to have enough to cover all three.)  Place the ramekins in the refrigerator until you're ready to fill them.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Prepare the filling: In a large saucepan, melt the butter.  Add the flour, onions, salt and pepper.  Cook, stirring, for about 1-2 minutes or until the mixture becomes bubbly.  Stir in the wine and cook until incorporated.  Add the chicken stock, milk, thyme and rosemary, stirring until thick and bubbly.  Add the cooked chicken and vegetables.  Taste for seasoning.  Add salt or pepper to taste.

Remove the ramekins from the refrigerator.  Scoop the filling into the ramekins until they are completely full.  Cover each pie with your pre-rolled crust.  Pinch the edges so that the crust is sealed.  Cut vents in the top of each crust.

Place your ramekins on a rimmed cookie sheet.  Place in the oven and start checking on your pot pies after about 25-30 minutes.  (They could take up to 45 minutes to cook, but it's good to start checking early so they don't burn.)  They are done when the crusts are golden brown and the insides are bubbling.  Remove from the oven and let rest for at least 15 minutes.

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Coconut Peanut Butter Stuffed Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies [Secret Recipe Club]

So it's Secret Recipe Club time again!  I have to say that after participating in this group for a few months, I've found that I really love it.  Being assigned a random blog to cook from each month is quite exciting, and really makes me try new things.  This month, I was assigned Angie from Big Bear's Wife, a great cook and the host (who keeps us all in line) of my group of SRCers. 

I spent a long time trying to decide what to make from her beautiful blog, but I finally settled on her Peanut Butter Stuffed Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies.  I halved her recipe since I didn't need 12 of these babies floating around my house.  I also made my own peanut butter filling to replace the peanut butter cups since we try to steer clear of processed foods, but it was quite simple to make regardless.  The end result was fabulous--I could barely keep my daughter away from it at all stages!  I will say that I would probably make these in smaller dishes next time (I only had larger oven-proof bowls).  It's quite rich and filling, so smaller bowls would not only help your figure, but really is all you can finish in one sitting.  They are best eaten fresh from the oven...and perhaps with a big scoop of ice cream on top!

Coconut Peanut Butter Stuffed Deep Dish Chocolate Chip Cookies
Adapted from Big Bear's Wife
Makes 6 cookies in small bowls

Cook's Note: I used natural organic coconut peanut butter with great results.  Feel free to substitute regular peanut butter or just use peanut butter cups or eggs instead of the filling below as indicated in the original recipe if desired.

Peanut Butter Filling:
1/2 stick unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup coconut peanut butter
3/4 cup powdered sugar

Cookie Dough:
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1 stick butter, room temperature
1 egg
1 1/2 teaspoons vanilla
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
3/4 cups semi-sweet chocolate chips

Small oven-proof bowls

Preheat oven to 350 degrees Farhenheit.

Make the peanut butter filling: With a hand mixer or in a stand mixer, mix 1/2 stick butter and 1/2 cup peanut butter until well combined.  Add the powdered sugar and mix until combined.  Set aside.

Make the cookie dough: With a mixer, combine the brown sugar, sugar and butter until well combined.  Add the eggs and mix until incorporated.  Add the vanilla and mix again.  In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, salt and baking soda.  In small batches, add the dry ingredients to the wet and mix well.  Add the chocolate chips and mix.

Using an ice cream scoop, add one scoop of cookie dough to each bowl.  Pat it down to cover the bottom of the bowl.  Add a heaping tablespoon of the peanut butter mixture to the middle, spreading it around.  Make sure to leave about 1/4-1/2 inch border around the edge of the bowl.  Add another scoop of cookie dough to the top, and spread over the peanut butter and push gently on the edges to seal with the bottom layer of the cookie dough.

Place in the hot oven and bake for 15-20 minutes or until the top of the cookies becomes golden brown.  Let cool for about 5-10 minutes before serving.  Top with a scoop of vanilla ice cream if desired.

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Herbed Flatbread Pizza with Arugula, Sundried Tomato and Ricotta Salata

Earlier this week, I promised to tell you what I did with the flatbread I made for the Secret Recipe Club...and here it is!  It's based on a pizza that I absolutely loved to eat when I lived in Strasbourg, and I've
always wanted to recreate it.  When the bread came off of the grill, I realized that I had most of the ingredients in my kitchen to make it, so I did!  The one thing that was missing was actual truffles, but I did have some truffle oil that I sprinkled on top, and I think that did the trick without putting me into debt!  :-)

If you've never had salad on a pizza, you're missing out.  It's refreshing and filling at the same time...and only takes a few minutes to prepare.  This would really be a perfect light dinner or lunch during the hot summer months when making pizza in your oven sounds like a form of torture.

Herbed Flatbread Pizza with Arugula, Sundried Tomato and Ricotta Salata
Serves 1
Cook's Notes: If you don't have truffles or truffle oil, you can always substitute a little of the sundried tomato oil for the truffle oil to add a little more flavor.

1 portion of flatbread
1 cup arugula
1-2 tablespoons sundried tomatoes in oil, drained and chopped
1/8 cup ricotta salata, shredded
Salt and pepper, to taste
Olive oil
Balsamic vinegar
Truffle oil, optional
Fresh parmesan cheese

If your flatbread is not fresh off the grill, place it under the broiler for a few minutes to warm up and crisp slightly.  Remove to a plate.

In a bowl, toss the arugula, sundried tomatoes, and ricotta salata.  Add salt and pepper to taste.  Sprinkle with a little balsamic vinegar and olive oil and toss to coat lightly. 

Place the salad on top of the flatbread and sprinkle a few drops of truffle oil and shred a little bit of parmesan cheese over the top.    Cut into manageable portions and enjoy!

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Grilled Herbed Flatbread [Secret Recipe Club]

That's right, folks: Secret Recipe Club is back!  The SRC took a break last month, and I truly missed it!  If you recall, the organizers at SRC secretly assign each blogger another blog to cook from each month.  I love this way of discovering new blogs and recipes...and this month I was assigned Melissa's Cuisine.  Melissa is a newlywed in her early 20s who just decided to start cooking with more whole ingredients!  What better blogger to pair me with???  :-)  Although she has a ton of great recipes, I was immediately drawn to her relatively simple flatbread recipe.  I did make a couple of changes with flour and seasoning, but kept to the rest of her recipe.  It turned out great, and the whole family loved it.  She suggests serving it with dipping oil, which would be great, but I used it as a platform for recreating a pizza I used to eat in Strasbourg, which I'll post about later this week. And trust me...you don't want to miss that recipe!

Grilled Herbed Flatbread
Adapted from Melissa's Cuisine
Makes 4 large flatbreads
Cook's Notes: These can be made by hand as well as in your stand mixer.  I used my stand mixer, so the instructions are for that method.  For the hand-mixed method, see Melissa's recipe.

2 1/4 teaspoons yeast
1 1/4 + 2 Tablespoons warm water
4 Tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
3/4 teaspoons Kosher salt
3 cups all-purpose unbleached white flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 teaspoons bouquet garni (or your favorite herb mix)

Sprinkle the yeast in the bowl of your stand mixer.  Add the water and let stand for a few minutes until the yeast starts to bubble.  Stir in 3 tablespoons of the olive oil, the salt and flour and mix on low until the dough comes together.  Add the herbs.  Using your dough hook, knead the dough for about 5 minutes until the dough becomes smooth and elastic.

Form the dough into a ball and place in a lightly oiled bowl.  Cover with a clean towel and set in a warm place until it has doubled in size, about 1 1/2 to 2 hours.  Deflate the dough by punching lightly with your fist.  Divide the dough into 4 pieces.  (At this point, you can put the dough in baggies and put it in the refrigerator to use on a different day.  If you do refrigerate the dough, take it out about 30 minutes before proceeding to the next step to let it come to room temperature.)

Place one of the balls on a lightly floured surface and knead for about 5 minutes or until it becomes smooth and elastic again.  Let the dough rest for a few minutes.  Using your hands or a rolling pin, flatten the dough into disks about 1/8 or 1/4 inch in thickness.  Brush with olive oil and sprinkle a little sea salt over the top.

Heat your grill over medium heat.  (I used a stovetop griddle.)  Place the flatbread, olive oil side down, on the grill and cook for about 5 minutes or until you can see golden grill marks.  Brush the other side with olive oil and sprinkle with sea salt.  Flip the bread and cook another few minutes until that side has golden grill marks as well. 

If using for dipping, cut into pieces and serve warm.  If saving for later use, let them cool on a cooling rack.

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Lemon Curd [Secret Recipe Club]

Today is the Secret Recipe Club reveal day.  I was assigned the blog Apron Strings, written by Donna and Anne, a birth mother and daughter reunited who have bonded over cooking and created a blog, a cookbook and more!  As busy mothers themselves, I'm sure they'll understand when I only ended up making half of one of their recipe.  I received the assignment about three weeks ago, but in the meantime, my job became temporarily (I hope!) more demanding, my family has been passing around every germ known to man, and to top it all off, we're hosting 15 college students at our house for a Central European inspired dinner today, the day of the reveal, which meant that I spent the weekend preparing for that instead of reading the directions on my chosen recipe.

So enough kvetching already!  Let's get to the recipe!  I chose Lemon Pie Parfait, which looked like an easy version of one of my favorite pies: Lemon Meringue Pie.  I've never made my own lemon curd, so I thought that this would be the perfect time to try it...ha!  I have all the ingredients on hand to make the parfaits, but then last night at 7:00pm when I was making the lemon curd, I read the following horrifying words: "Let cool and then refrigerate at least 8 hours, up to 24 hours."  My thoughts at the moment I read this aren't PG enough to write on this blog.  So I made a wonderfully silky and lemony lemon curd that's not ready for the big time--to be the star of the parfait.  Instead, I'm chilling most of the curd, but tested out a tiny bit in a crepe I was making for tomorrow evening.  Delicious!  I would suggest that if you're going to try it in a crepe that you fold it in with some whipped cream to cut the tanginess of the lemon, but since I love authentic tart lemon flavors, I liked it as is.  And I'm chomping at the bit to finally make the parfaits!

Lemon Curd
from Apron Strings

4 large eggs
1 cup sugar
2/3 cup fresh lemon juice
Zest from one lemon
4 tablespoons unsalted butter

Place a medium saucepan with about 1-2 inches of water in it on the stove to boil.  Whisk the eggs and sugar together in a large glass bowl until it turns light yellow and fluffy.  Place the glass bowl over the boiling water to create a double boiler.

Add the lemon juice and lemon zest and whisk.  Cook over simmering water, whisking frequently, for about 15 minutes or until the curd becomes custard like (almost like a soft-set pudding).

Remove the bowl from the heat and add the butter, whisking until completely melted.  Let cool and refrigerate for at least eight hours, or up to 24 hours.

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Baked Spiced Chickpeas [Secret Recipe Club]

This is my third month as part of the Secret Recipe Club, and I love it!  I've met new food bloggers and have been challenged to make new food.  This month was a challenge, but a fun one!  I was assigned Gretchen's blog Veggie Grettie.  A Certified Nutrition Specialist, Gretchen has been vegan for years because of health issues and also cooks gluten free because of her daughter's allergies.  Because my family is neither vegan nor gluten free, I thought that choosing a recipe that we'd like was going to be difficult, but it turns out that choosing a recipe was difficult because there were so many great ones to choose from!

I finally settled on her Baked Spiced Chickpeas Snack.  My family loves chickpeas, and I've seen recipes like this floating around and have made several mental notes to try one.  This one is great because it's sweet and spicy and salty all rolled into a crispy chickpea.  What's not to love?!

Baked Spiced Chickpeas
Adapted from Veggie Grettie

2 cups (or one can) cooked chickpeas
1 1/2 Tbl olive oil
3 Tbl spice mixture (below)

Spice Mixture:
2 tsp dark brown sugar
1 1/2 tsp ground cumin
1 1/2 tsp sweet paprika
1/2 tsp cayenne pepper
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp Kosher salt

To make the spice mixture:
Mix all spice mixture ingredients well and place in an airtight container.

To make the chickpeas:
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F.

Rinse the chickpeas.  Place the chickpeas on two layers of paper towels and then top with a third.  Rub the top layer of paper towels over the chickpeas gently to dry.  Remove the paper towel and discard any skins that have become loose.  Let air dry for a few minutes.

Place the chickpeas in a bowl and add the oil.  Mix until the chickpeas are well coated.  Add three tablespoons of the spice mixture and mix well.  Place the chickpeas on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper in a single layer.  Place in the oven and bake 40-60 minutes until the chickpeas are golden brown and crispy all the way through. 

Eat immediately once they've cooled.  These do not remain crispy if stored in a container.

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Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins [Secret Recipe Club]

This is my second month as part of the Secret Recipe Club, and I was lucky enough to draw Rebecca from A Dusting of Sugar.  I thought last month's SRC pairing was perfect for me because of the international connection, but this month worked out great too!  Rebecca is a college student, and I work at a college!  I love it when the students I work with get into the kitchen, and if they were half as talented at Rebecca, our campus would be constantly wafting with the smell of goodies from the oven.

I had a hard time choosing a recipe, so I let my coworkers choose for me.  I'd been promising them some baked goods for some time, and this was the perfect opportunity to let them get involved a little with my blog.  They voted for three finalists: Banana Streusel Muffins, Flourless Chocolate Cookies, and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins.  Obviously, the Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins won, but not without a fight.  It turns out that one of my coworkers is a picky eater and had never had banana and peanut butter together!  She was a little wary, so I had to promise that I would make her top choice--the flourless chocolate cookies--if she didn't like these.  Luckily, they were fabulous and won over my coworker's taste buds.

These were perfect for breakfast as well as mid-morning and mid-afternoon snacks at the office.  The amount of peanut butter, banana and chocolate chips created a perfect balance of flavor...no one flavor outshone the other.  I'll definitely be making these again in the near future!

Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Banana Muffins
Adapted ever so slightly from A Dusting of Sugar

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup packed dark brown sugar
1 Tbl baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
1/4 tsp cinnamon
3 large ripe bananas, mashed
1 cup whole milk
3/4 cup chunky peanut butter (I used all-natural here to great success.)
3 Tbl canola oil
1 tsp vanilla
1 large egg
1 cup semi-sweet chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

In a large bowl, sift together the flour, white sugar, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and cinnamon.  Stir to combine.  (There will be little bits of brown sugar left in the sifter...just go ahead and toss that in with the flour mixture.)

In another bowl, mix the mashed bananas, milk, peanut butter, oil, vanilla and egg.  Add the wet ingredients into the flour mixture and stir until just combined.  Stir in the chocolate chips.

Spray a muffin tin with cooking spray or place liners in the tin and fill each about 3/4 of the way full.  This will make roughly 1 1/2 dozen muffins.  Bake for 20-25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.

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Kartoffelroulade, or Potato Roulade [Secret Recipe Club]

I have joined a club, a secret club. What kind of club, you ask, did I join that would warrant an announcement here?  Why, a cooking club, of course!  I joined The Secret Recipe Club last month, and am so glad I did.  Here's the rundown: Every month over 150 bloggers are assigned another blog to cook from.  We can cook any recipe on that blog.  The only rule is that we keep it a secret until reveal day--no one knows who has whom.  As of the posting time here, I still don't know who had my blog...I can't wait to see!

Anyway, I had Heidi's verden, which translates from Danish to "Heidi's World."  Heidi's blog was a perfect match for me--it's even written in Danish, so I had to use Google Translate to read her posts.  I love food from around the world and enjoy learning other languages, so I was excited to try something out that seemed particularly Danish.  I looked around her blog and finally settled on the Kartoffelroulade, or Potato Roulade (Roll). 

We served this with grilled burgers.  I made some minor changes to her recipe and have listed the quantities in American measurements here, but I kept the spirit of the recipe.  My husband and I really enjoyed this, although it does take some work to make.  She suggests grilling it, which I did on an indoor stovetop grill, but I may just try frying it up in a pan next time.  This makes 8 servings as a side, but I could imagine adding a little meat in there and serving it as a main course.  Thanks, Heidi, for this great recipe!

Kartoffelroulade (Potato Roulade)
from Heidi's verdern

2.2 pounds russet potato (about 5 medium potatoes), coarsely shredded
4 egg yolks
2 cups grated cheese (I used 1 cup sharp cheddar and 1 cup monterey jack.)
2 cloves garlic, minced
Salt and Pepper, to taste

Filling:
2 cups frozen or fresh (leaves blanched) spinach, chopped
1 block cream cheese
2 roasted red peppers

Mix the potato, egg yolks, cheese, garlic and salt and pepper in a large bowl. Cover a cookie sheet or roasting pan with parchment paper. Spread the potato mixture in a square shape on the parchment paper, pressing firmly all around. Bake in a 430 degree F oven for about 30 minutes, or until the potato sheet is cooked through and lightly browned. Remove from the oven and cool.

Once the potatoes are cooled, spread the cream cheese all over the potatoes. Spread the spinach on top and then sprinkle the red peppers on top of the spinach. Using the parchment paper to help you, roll the potato tightly into a spiral. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until you are ready to use. (Refrigerating it for a couple of hours or up to a day will help in slicing it later.)

When ready to serve, slice the roll into 1-to-2-inch slices. Spray a hot grill with olive oil or cooking spray and grill on each side until grill marks show, about 5 minutes on each side. Serve.

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