Muffins with Quince and Pecans

When I realized that I still had poached quince in the fridge and that it needed to be used, I went to various cookbooks and then to the index for this blog. It's easy to access the Index...just click on the photo of the table set with a rust tablecloth. It's on the right in the web view of the blog.

In the section with the oldest recipes I found Playful Banana Muffins and, after reading the recipe, I decided that this recipe, which had already had a big makeover, would get another makeover...this time with quince!

This is a lovely muffin. It's moist from the fruit, laced with chopped pecans and small pieces of quince, fragrant with the quince and orange zest and vanilla, and it has a nice crumb. I'm so glad that I made this recipe. It makes a full 12 muffins, plus a small loaf pan's worth of deliciousness. One of these muffins and a cup of tea go really well together.

No quince? You can substitute ripe pear and it will work just fine. Peel and core the pear, making sure to also remove the stem parts. Dice the fruit and make sure you have 2 cups worth. Pears range in size so much that you will probably need about 6. The same is true for the quince...about 5-6 will work. I boiled mine for about 10 minutes to soften the skin, peeled and cored them, then poached at a simmer in water which also had 1/2 cup sugar, 1 cinnamon stick and two whole cloves. Be sure to drain and then chill the poached quince.

I do hope you make these muffins with either quince or pears for a celebration of fall bounty!

Quince Pecan Muffins
Based very loosely on Raisin Bran muffins in the King Arthur Flour Bakers Companion

2 cups poached quince, diced small (about 1/2-inch)
1 cup buttermilk at room temperature
1/2 cup vegetable oil
2 large eggs, at room temperature
3/4 cup brown sugar
2 tablespoons molasses
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1/4 teaspoon freshly grated orange zest
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup rolled oats
1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. Prepare a 12-cup muffin tin and a mini-loaf pan by spraying with baking spray or by greasing and flouring them. Set aside.

Check the quince for liquid. If necessary, dry with paper towels. Set aside.

In a large mixing owl, whisk together the buttermilk, oil, eggs, brown sugar, molasses, vanilla and orange zest. Add the quince and pecans and stir to combine.

In another bowl, mix together the flour, salt, baking powder, baking soda, and oats.

Quickly, with as few strokes as possible, us a large spoon, wooden spoon, or large flexible spatula to mix the dry ingredients into the wet ingredients, just until combined.

Fill prepared muffin cups with the mixture, filling each cup almost to the top. Pour the rest of the batter into the prepared mini-loaf pan, using a spatula to clean the bowl of batter.

Bake in preheated oven for 14-18 minutes for the muffins, or until they spring back when pressed lightly in the middle, and for about 25 minutes for the mini-loaf pan quince bread, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean.

Remove when ready from the oven. Cool on a wire rack 5 minutes, then turn out of the pans and let cool until ready to serve, or serve at once. If desired, serve with butter, cream cheese, or apricot jam.

Using Fall Fruits and Nuts

 After our recent days of Indian Summer - three days in a row of temperatures in the mid to upper 90s!...we dropped 30 degrees day before yesterday and also had rain...and then more rain yesterday afternoon. Not a downpour, but soaking mist with short runs of medium raindrops. The good news is that it should be enough to keep autumn forest fires at bay for another week or two. The bad news is that it isn't enough to help the water table. The other good news is that it cooled things down enough for baking!

Fall fruits are some of my favorites. Pears are mellow and juicy, the fragrant quince at the foot of the driveway turn from fuzzy to golden and shiny, and the persimmons are just beginning to turn colors on their way to a deep orange. Walnuts and pecans also are harvested in the fall. This year the squirrels and crows have gotten almost all of the walnuts, but I haven't had time to shell them anyway, so that's fine. The walnuts and pecans in this recipe are from Costco. The pears are from in town, carefully ripened in a brown paper bag. I still have some of all of them, so who knows what recipes will show up her in the next little while?

The honey is a very special harvest. It came from the hives of some friends of Sweeties...he went to middle school and high school with one of the friends and they hadn't seen each other in a very long time, but we had a great lunch with them. The honey is full flavored and so delicious! I'm sure that this tart would not have been nearly as wonderful without this special honey.

I started with a recipe from almost the beginning of my blogging time, way back in February of 2007. The recipe for a Nut Mosaic Tart comes from Sunset magazine from 1983. I even got a comment at some point from someone who had lost the recipe and had been delighted to find it again.

As you know if you have been following this blog, I often take a recipe and play with it. This time I took the tart recipe and reduced the nuts but added poached and peeled Bosc pear and poached and peeled pineapple quince. I used a pre-made refrigerated pie crust in the tart pan, tucking the excess into the tart and pushing the doubled sides into the tart pan curves. Then I ran a rolling pin over the top to cut off any excess dough and neaten the top. That's all it took to have a tart shell ready to fill.

The most time-consuming part is poaching, peeling, and chilling the fruit. Be sure to pat off excess liquid with a towel or paper towel before chilling. I didn't do that with the pear and so the pear nearly fell apart plus it made the filling just a bit liquid where the pear was.

The taste of this tart is amazing! All of the elements go so well together. It is fragrant with the quince, honey and orange zest, plus the roasting nuts while baking. I does need to chill a bit before serving, but once you do you will be so glad that you made this delicious Harvest Mosaic Fruit and Nut Tart!

Harvest Mosaic Fruit and Nut Tart
Adapted from a Sunset Magazine recipe from around 1983

1  9-inch tart pan lined with pie dough

1 large Bosc pear, ripe, poached until tender, peeled, cored, tossed with lemon juice and chilled in an airtight container for at least 4 hours. 
2-3 large quince, ripe, poached until tender, peeled, cored, tossed with lemon juice and chilled in an airtight container for at least 4 hours

1 cup walnuts, chopped roughly
1/2 cup pecans, whole
3 eggs
1 cup honey
½ teaspoon grated orange peel
1 teaspoon vanilla
¼ cup butter or margarine, melted
Sweetened whipped cream (optional)

Press pie pastry evenly over the bottom and sides of an 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom. 

Arrange slices of poached pear and quince, alternating, with small end in the middle and larger end of each slice toward the side. Set aside.

In a bowl, combine eggs, honey, orange peel, vanilla, and melted butter; beat well until blended. Stir in nuts. Pour over fruit into pastry-lined tart pan. If needed, move the nuts around with a fork to scatter them evenly around and over the fruit. 

Bake on the bottom rack of a 350 degree F oven until the top is golden brown all over, about 40 minutes.

Let cool on a wire rack. Remove pan sides. Offer wedges with whipped cream, if desired. Makes 10-12 servings.

Babes Bake Figgy Flatbread

It's the 16th of the month...the day for the Bread Baking Babes to share what they have been up to this month.

I'm Kitchen of the Month for October and I chose a lovely flatbread recipe for fall, enhanced with rosemary and figs and nuts. The recipe is from a cookbook that I found on sale at a local bookstore. The book is Joanne Weir's More Cooking in the Wine Country. The author, Joanne Weir is on a Public Televisions series 'Weir Cooking in the Wine Country II' and there are lots of delicious sounding recipes in the book. The first time I baked it I followed the recipe, but divided the dough in half and baked half with walnuts and half with pecans, plus I added some fresh figs to the dried figs. It was delicious!

For the second bake I left out the rosemary but added lemon zest along with the orange zest in the original recipe, plus I substituted pine nuts, and some whole wheat flour for part of the flour. As you can see, this is a versatile recipe. This time I had intended to weigh the ingredients, using the amounts provided by Elizabeth of Blogging from OUR Kitchen (THANK YOU Elizabeth!), but forgot to and used the cup measurements. I also used some fresh Italian prune plumbs along with the dried figs. They are in season now and added, along with the pine nuts, to the Italian feel of this flatbread. The whole wheat bread was nicely nutty but bland without the rosemary. Next time I'll stop being lazy and put in the rosemary as called for...it really does make a difference.

This is an easy dough to work with. It might seem a bit stickier than you are used to, due to the use of potato water, but use wet hands and it will be fine. If you bake this and would like to be a Bread Baking Babes Buddy, just send me an email with a brief description of your bake and a photo and the URL of your post by Oct. 29th. Email is plachman*at*sonic*dot*net. I'll send you a Buddy Badge and include you in the round-up at the end of the month. The description and photos below are from my first bake. At the bottom I have some photos from the one with pine nuts and prune plums.

Be sure to visit the rest of the Bread Baking Babes to see what marvelous flatbreads they have created.

Kelly - A Messy Kitchen - Flatbread with figs and pears

Karen - Karen's Kitchen Stories - Flatbread with figs and sherry

Cathy - Bread Experience - Sourdough flatbread with home-grown dried figs 

Judy - Judy's Gross Eats - Flatbread with apricots and almonds

Aparna - My Diverse Kitchen - Flatbread with dried figs and walnuts and onions

Elizabeth - Flatbread with dates and pine nuts and red onions

This is one of those recipes where you can do parts in advance. I made the rosemary-infused olive oil a day ahead, cooked the potatoes the evening before I made the dough, saving the potato water and re-warming it, I even soaked the figs a day early and stored them in the marsala. Even though the recipe only calls for dried figs, it's fresh fig season, so I also included sliced fresh figs and I highly recommend this change! 

The dough is slightly sticky but not a high-hydration one, just soft. Once it rose and was punched down, it was pretty easy to work with. The first piece rolled out easily but the second one needed to have relaxation time after it was flattened before it would  roll out large enough. It baked up light on the inside and crisp and lightly brown on the outside.

Because I was working with fresh figs as well as dried, I watched the flatbread carefully towards the end of baking to avoid burning the fruit...which has so much natural sugar. I had the flatbreads on pieces of parchment which made it easier to get them onto the baking stone and then out of the oven when finished, although I did use a peel, with the parchment pieces on the peel.

 I typed this up exactly as it is in the cookbook...make changes as desired, although I do encourage you to make the bread dough with the potato water and rosemary oil and chopped rosemary. If you want to use your sourdough starter, just skip the yeast/bread flour/potato water initial poolish and use 1/2 cup sourdough starter. You might need more bread flour to get the dough right, but sourdough would be great with the topping. The recipe with weights, courtesy of Elizabeth, will be at the bottom, along with the photos of the flatbread baked using those measurements.

Happy Baking!

Fig and Walnut Flatbread

from Joanne Weir's More Cooking in the Wine Country cookbook
makes 1 flatbread, serves 6

Dough
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
3 sprigs fresh rosemary
2 1/2 teaspoons (I package) dry yeast
1/2 cup plus 2 cups unbleached bread flour, divided
1/2 cup lukewarm potato water or plain water (110 degrees F)
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary
1/2 cup potato water (additional)
1 teaspoon salt

Topping
6 to 8 dried figs, sliced
1 cup Marsala wine
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch thick vertical slices
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon greated orange zest
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup walnut halves

Directions
In a small saucepan, warm the olive oil and rosemary. Remove from the heat and let cool for I hour. Discard the rosemary sprigs. Set aside.

In a large bowl, mix together the yeast, 1/2 cup flour, and 1/2 cup warm potato water. Let stand 1 hour, until it bubbles up and rises. Then add the remaining 2 cups flour, the rosemary olive oil, chopped rosemary, additional potato water, and salt. Mix the dough thoroughly. Knead the dough on a floured board until it is soft but still moist, 7-8 minutes. Place the dough in an oiled bowl, turning it once to cover it with oil. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in a warm place (about 75 degrees F). Let the dough rise for 1-2 hours, until doubled in volume.

In the meantime, prepare the topping. Place the figs and Marsala in a small saucepan, and heat over medium heat until the Marsala bubbles around the edges, 1 minute. Remove from the heat and let stand for 1 hour.

Heat the 3 tablespoons olive oil in a large frying pan over medium heat. Add the onions and sugar and cook, stirring occasionally, until the onions are very soft, 15-20 minutes. Add the orange zest, season with salt and pepper, stir thoroughly, and set aside to cool.

Place a pizza stone on the bottom shelf of the oven, and preheat the oven to 500 degrees F for 30 minutes.

Form the dough into a round ball. Let it rest for 5 minutes. On a floured surface, roll the dough out to form a 9x12-inch oval, 1/2-inch thick. Place it on a well-floured pizza peel. 

Drain the figs and distribute the figs, onions, and walnuts evenly over the dough. Lightly press them into the dough. Let it rest for 10 minutes. Then transfer the flatbread to the pizza stone and bake until golden brown and crispy, 12-15 minutes. Serve immediately.

Here are the measurements by weight. Just use the instructions above to make the flatbreads.

Dough
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil [60 ml/55 grams]

3 sprigs fresh rosemary (I skipped the rosemary in the whole wheat version)
2 1/2 teaspoons (1 package) dry yeast [7 grams]
1/2 cup plus 2 cups unbleached bread flour, divided [68 plus 274 grams] (I used all whole wheat flour)
1/2 cup lukewarm potato water or plain water (110 degrees F) [120 grams]
1 teaspoon coarsely chopped fresh rosemary [1 gram] (skipped this for whole wheat version)
1/2 cup potato water (additional) [120 grams]
1 teaspoon salt [6 grams]

Topping
6 to 8 dried figs, sliced [50 to 67 grams]
1 cup Marsala wine [240ml/240grams]
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil [45 ml/41 grams]
1 red onion, cut into 1/2-inch thick vertical slices
1 tablespoon sugar [12 grams]
1/2 teaspoon grated orange zest [1 gram]
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon zest [1 gram]
salt and freshly ground black pepper
3/4 cup walnut halves [75 grams] (I used untoasted pine nuts)
(I used three small prune plums, pits removed and thinly sliced...forgot to weigh them) Below is a photo of the topping. I added the drained figs and the plums once the mixture was off the heat.

Whole wheat version baked:

and served:

Morning Glory

It's fun to know that you can have a muffin and a flower with the same name...morning glory. At this time of year, the morning glories in my garden are going a little wild, having made their upward climb, some are twining on themselves for support so they can keep going, other are swooping down to attach lower down so they can climb again. I love the flowers...trumpets of pink, magenta, deep purple, pale blue and more. The truth is that they self-seed if not constantly dead-headed and become a weed sometimes, but I love them anyway.

The morning glory muffins are also prolific. One recipe makes a full two dozen muffins...that's a lot! They are filled with all sorts of deliciousness...apples, carrots, pecans, crushed pineapple, coconut, raisins and dried cherries as well as vanilla and spice. The wet ingredients includes apple butter but I found a jar of pumpkin apple butter and decided to use that to welcome in fall now that school is back in session. Since I did that, I also used a bit of pumpkin pie spice along with the cinnamon the recipe calls for. Since my supply of dried cherries was running low, I used some dried currants in their place and that worked well. Seems to me the recipe as written is a takeoff on Hummingbird Cake. 

Between the large quantities (you need two cups shredded carrots and a cup of shredded apple for example) and long list of ingredients, the prep takes a bit of time, but you end up with fragrant, delicious, moist and fairly healthy muffins...and lots of them. Do yourself a favor and make sure you set each and every ingredient on the counter before you start making these because it's easy to miss an ingredient. Better yet, prep and measure everything in advance. That way it will all go together quickly and you'll get the best rise out of the baking soda that is the only rising agent used. 

I removed these from the muffin tins in about 3 minutes after taking them out of the oven and I did have to run a butter knife around the edges on some of them to loosen them. If you stand them on their sides in the muffin cup to finish cooling it saves space and they are sturdy enough to hold their shape, too. 

Do try these delightful muffins. They are great for breakfast but also good for afternoon tea and would be a treat in a school lunch. The recipe came from my family but I suspect that it's been around for a long time. 

Morning Glory Muffins
Makes 2 dozen

2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup brown sugar, packed
2 teaspoons baking soda
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 cups shredded carrot
1 cup shredded apple
3/4 cups raisins
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/3 cup chopped pecans
1/4 cup flaked coconut (sweet)
one 8-oz. can crushed pineapple, in juice, drained
1/3 cup vegetable oil
1/3 cup apple butter
2 teaspoons vanilla
2 large eggs
2 large egg whites

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Coat 24 (2 dozen) muffin cups with cooking spray or vegetable oil.

Combine flour, brown sugar, baking soda, cinnamon, and salt in a large mixing bowl.

Stir in carrot, apple, raisins, cherries, pecans, coconut and pineapple and make a well in the center of the mixture when combined.

In another bowl combine the oil, apple butter, vanilla, eggs and egg whites. Stir with a whisk. 

Add oil mixture to flour mixture, stirring with a wooden spoon or silicon spatula until just moist/barely combined.

Spoon the batter evenly in prepared pans, filling about 2/3 full.

Bake at 350 degrees F. for 25 minutes or until muffins spring back when touched lightly in center.

Remove from pan at once and cool on a wire rack. Yields 2 dozen.

NOTE: Can be stored, airtight, in freezer for 1  month. Wrap in foil and reheat at 300 degrees F.

Indulgent Pumpkin Pie Spectacular

Looking for a showstopper dessert for fall festivities or because you have a pumpkin spice craving?  Southern Living has a gorgeous, delicious pumpkin pie that is enhanced with an extra crust of gingersnaps and pecans and, after the filling has partially baked, is further adorned with a brown sugar-pecan streusel topping. To put it really over the top, just before serving it is embellished with whipped cream. The recipe calls for ginger flavored whipped cream and some ginger cookie garnish, but the plain, luxurious whipped cream is garnish enough.

Because this pie starts with a refrigerated pie crust, it is not as difficult as it sounds. The pie crust is fitted to a deep dish pie pan, then a mixture of finely ground gingersnap cookies, finely chopped pecans, powdered sugar and melted butter are mixed together for the inner crust. The filling is rich with pumpkin, sour cream, sweetened condensed milk, eggs and spices, plus vanilla. The streusel has flour, brown sugar and pecans, moistened with more melted butter. No one said that this was health food! The finished pie, glamorously topped with dollops of whipped cream, has elements of both pecan and pumpkin pie. You only need thin slices because this is a rich, decadent dessert.  

Pumpkin Pie Spectacular
makes one pie - recipe from Southern Living Magazine
 

1/2 (15 oz.) package refrigerated pie crusts (one disc of pie dough)

2 cups crushed gingersnaps (about 35-40 cookies)

1 cup pecans, finely chopped

1/2 cup powdered sugar

4 tablespoons butter (1/4 cup), melted

 15 oz. canned pumpkin

14 oz. canned sweetened condensed milk

2 large eggs, beaten

1/2 cup sour cream

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon ginger

1/2 teaspoon vanilla

Pecan Streusel (see below)

Whipped cream, ground cinnamon (optional)

Directions:

1. Preheat oven to 350°. Fit pie crust into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate according to package directions; fold edges under, and crimp.

2. Stir together crushed gingersnaps and next 3 ingredients. Press mixture on bottom and 1/2 inch up sides of pie crust.

3. Bake at 350° for 10 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack (about 30 minutes).

4. Stir together pumpkin and next 6 ingredients until well blended. Pour into prepared crust. Place pie on an aluminum foil-lined baking sheet.

5. Bake at 350° for 30 minutes. Sprinkle Pecan Streusel around edge of crust. Bake 40 to 45 minutes or until set, shielding edges with aluminum foil during last 25 to 30 minutes of baking, if necessary. 

Let cool completely on a wire rack (about 1 hour). Dollop with Whipped cream; dust with cinnamon.

Pecan Streusel

1/4 cup all-purpose flour 

1/4 cup firmly packed dark brown sugar

4 tablespoon butter, melted

1/4 cup pecans, chopped

It's Finally Pumpkin Time

I know we still have a bit more daylight savings time to go before it really gets dark early in the day and early in the evening, but you can tell the days are getting shorter, the leaves are turning colors, and fall has finally arrived. We are looking at high temperatures in the low to mid-70s for the next week and it's supposed to be in the 30s tonight! Love the chill.

Pumpkin spice this and that has become very popular the last few years, but I still like good old fashioned pumpkin pie. I made one a few days ago and we had slices for dinner dessert and then slices for breakfast in the morning...decadent!

This recipe might be even better, because these treats are cut in bars and are very portable and shareable. They are baked in a 9" x 13" pan, so there are plenty to take to a pot luck and still have a few for the morning in the fridge. Be careful to watch toward the end of baking because they burn easily. I let mine bake a minute or two too long, but they still were delicious with a buttery shortbread crust and true pumpkin and spice filling, plus crunchy pecans on top.

Pumpkin Pie Bars
from Very Best Baking
12 servings

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup old-fashioned or instant oats
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/2 cup butter or margarine, softened
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1 can (15 oz) pumpkin (I had a little extra pumpkin since I was using up leftovers from a larger can, so if you have more, add it. I added an extra 5 oz.)
1 can (12 fl. oz.) evaporated milk
2 large eggs
2 1/4 teaspoons pumpkin pie spice OR 1 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, 1/2 teaspoon ginger, 1/4 teaspoon cloves and 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 cup pecans, chopped
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
PREHEAT oven to 350° F.

COMBINE flour, oats, brown sugar and butter in small mixer bowl. Beat at low speed for 1 to 2 minutes or until crumbly. Press on bottom of ungreased 13 x 9-inch baking pan.

BAKE for 15 minutes.

COMBINE granulated sugar, pumpkin, evaporated milk, eggs and pumpkin pie spice in large mixer bowl. Beat at medium speed for 1 to 2 minutes; pour over crust.

BAKE for 20 minutes. Combine pecans and brown sugar in small bowl. Sprinkle pecan topping over filling. Continue baking for 15 to 25 minutes or until knife inserted in center comes out clean. Cool completely in pan on wire rack. Cut into bars.

Tropical Pancakes

Does your family have a day on the weekend for making special breakfasts? Maybe you do brunch instead? Well, think about making these delightful pancakes and you'll enjoy the weekend even more.

I took two fairly basic recipes for pancakes from Marion Cunningham's The Breakfast Book, mixed them together, added some yogurt, substituted non-dairy soy creamer and non-dairy margarine for milk and butter, used white whole wheat and Irish Whole Meal flours (King Arthur Flour carries both) for part of the flour, added chopped pecans, finely chopped fresh pineapple, finely chopped banana, and chopped, pitted dates. What I ended up with were some of the best pancakes ever if you like tropical flavors.

It takes a few minutes to chop up the fruit and nuts, a few more to mix together the milk or soy milk and the yogurt, a few more to measure out the dry ingredients, more to melt the margarine or butter and mix it with the eggs and then the milk mixture. Hardly any time is needed to add the dry ingredients to the wet and barely mix them.

Cooking the pancakes probably takes the most time and that may just seem that way since you are standing at the stove with a pancake turner, watching the tiny bubbles form at the edges of the pancake and smelling the warming pineapple and banana fragrances. Then when you turn the pancake over, you see the golden brown sheen of the cooked side and you see the pancake rise and you know this is going to be soooo delicious! And it is!

I topped mine with some applesauce, but you can just as easily slather on some butter and syrup or mix up a syrup of sugar, water and orange juice, letting it bubble and thicken while you cook the pancakes. However you top them, enjoy the flavors of the islands.

Tropical Pancakes
based on Plain Pancakes and Buttermilk Pancakes by Marion Cunningham
in The Breakfast Book

2 eggs at room temperature
3/4 cup milk or soy milk or soy creamer, at room temperature
1/4 cup plain yogurt
4 tablespoons butter, or margarine, melted and cooled slightly
3/4 cup white whole wheat flour (or use regular whole wheat)
1/4 cup Irish Whole Meal Flour (or use regular whole wheat)
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup fresh pineapple, finely chopped
3/4 cup fresh ripe banana, finely chopped
1/4 cup finely chopped pecans
2 tablespoons finely chopped pitted dates

Beat the eggs in a mixing bowl until they are fully blended. Add the plain yogurt to the milk or soy milk and beat until combined. Let sit a few minutes, then beat into the eggs. Add the melted butter or margarine and beat until filly blended.

On a piece of waxed paper or parchment paper or in another bowl, combine the flours, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir into the wet ingredients and stir just until blended. Immediately gently stir in the pineapple, banana, pecans and dates.

Cook the pancakes on a lightly greased preheated skillet or griddle: scoop 1/4 cup of the batter for each pancake onto the griddle, using the cup to slightly spread the batter if necessary. Let pancook cook over medium heat until bottom is golden brown and the edges have rapidly breaking small bubbles. After flipping the pancake over, let cook until bottom is golden brown. Serve at once with toppings of your choice.

Makes enough pancakes for 4 people (usually).

Here's to Mixed Up Blondies

Over the years I've tried a number of different combinations when I bake blondies, the brownie like bar cookie that has butterscotch instead of chocolate as the dominate flavor. I've done Big Blondes, Irish Blondes, Dumpy Blondes and California Blondes. This time I decided to go with Mixed-up Blondes. Mixed-up because I combined the basic blondie recipe with some of the aspects of the Dumpy Blondes, particular the sweet-salty combo you get by adding in potato chips and pretzels, with the Irish wholemeal flour that I used for the Irish Blondes, the fruit I added made them almost like California Blondes.  I added a few macadamia nuts, but not very many since I was almost out of them, some pecans, some dried cranberries, toasted coconut, and, of course, chocolate chips. At the end I added about 2 tablespoons golden raisins, to. Truly a mixed-up bowl of add-ins.

The resulting cookie is moist, sweet, and has some salty elements, some fruity elements and some nutty elements. I'll be taking them to a party tomorrow to honor a friend, Jean Anderson, who died last year. We're celebrating her birthday and I know she would have enjoyed these cookies.

Mixed-up Blondes
A variation of a recipe by Jill O’Connor in Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey, Desserts for the Serious Sweet Tooth.

1 cup (2 sticks) non-dairy margarine
3 cups firmly packed dark brown sugar
4 large eggs
1 tablespoon pure vanilla extract
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup unbleached all-purpose flour
1 cup Irish wholemeal flour (or whole-wheat flour)
¾ teaspoon baking powder

Add-ins: 
1 cup pecan halves
1/4 cup macadamia nuts
1/2 cup sweetened toasted coconut
1/2 cup sweetened dried cranberries
1 cup pretzel pieces (I used small ones and broke them up)
1/2 cup sea salt potato chips, lightly crushed
1 cup semisweet chocolate chips
2 tablespoons golden raisins

Use cooking spray to lightly coat a 9 x 13 inch baking pan.

Melt the butter and brown sugar together in a large heavy-bottomed saucepan over medium heat. Cook, stirring constantly, until the butter and sugar are blended and completely melted and starting to bubble gently. Remove the pan from heat and let the mixture cool slightly. Mixture should be room temperature before you proceed.

Preheat to 350 degrees F. Position oven rack in the middle of the oven.

In a bowl, whisk together the eggs, vanilla and salt. Slowly whisk the cooled butter and sugar mixture into the eggs just until combined. Whisk in the flours and baking powder to form a loose batter. (Make sure the batter is cool before stirring in the remaining ingredients, otherwise the chocolate will start to melt before the bars are baked.)

Stir the nuts, coconut, dried cranberries, pretzel pieces, potato chip pieces, chocolate chips and golden raisins into the cooled batter. (I usually mix together all the Add-ins in a bowl before adding to the batter...it prevents a clump of one ingredient here, another ingredient there...you get a better distribution by mixing before adding.) Pour the batter into the prepared pan and smooth the top with a spatula.
Bake until the top is shiny and slightly crackled and feels firm to the touch, 30 – 35 minutes. A wooden skewer inserting into the batter should come out with moist crumbs clinging to it. Let cool on a wire rack to room temperature, then turn out onto a board and cut into bars and serve.
Makes 15 large or 30 small bars.

Home Again and Baking Multigrain Pecan Bread

It is quite a shock to suddenly lose the youngest sibling, so it's not surprising that the time following it is a bit surreal. Sweetie and I flew to be with her husband and stayed with him for a while to help by listening (which is really the best thing you can do for someone after a shocking loss like this), helping with getting him to professional health folks, helping with the funeral arrangements and obituary, and with day to day stuff like grocery shopping. Being in shock myself I found I had no appetite to speak of and no desire to cook (which is really strange for me) but there were dogs to love on and cats to scritch and a lot of love going around. Beautiful Taos scenery, too.

Ron went to Denver for Thanksgiving to be with his family and Sweetie and I flew to LA to be with ours. We had a fine morning at Manhattan Beach with Sweetie's extended family, then six for dinner on Thanksgiving at our place. A meal from Whole Foods made it all easy. Good times with our daughter and nephew and friends.

Rented the 'Beach House' in Redondo Beach/Torrance on VRBO and I highly recommend it, especially for nice weather. The backyard has a big grassy area, two seating areas, one of those gas elements that heat one of the seating areas, and the furniture is comfy. We spent a lot of time out there! If you have dogs, there is also a dog door in the kitchen and the yard is fully fenced with a pretty high fence. There are three bedrooms and comfy beds. Only one bathroom, but I grew up with a large family and one bathroom, so no problem. Nice kitchen with lots and lots of amenities. Big washer and dryer. Dining table for six. Lots of games under the big TV in the livingroom. It's about 4 miles from any beach, but truly a delightful place.

Once we were back home, my sourdough starter really needed feeding, so I did that and made bread with the 'toss off' after feeding it, too. It was the perfect way to ease back into cooking and baking. I created the recipe as I went along. Using my new 'toaster' oven meant that the crust was browned.

Truly delicious bread with multi-grains, sourdough, pecans and love. I made a braid loaf and then eight rolls, but you can shape this any way that pleases you.

Multigrain Sourdough Pecan Bread

1 cup sourdough starter, fed with a mixture of 1 cup all-purpose flour and 1 cup water
3 1/4 cups all-purpose flour, divided
1 cup mixed rolled grains and flax seed (Bob's Red Mill is the brand I used)
1 1/2 cups water
1 teaspoon dry yeast (I used RapidRise)
1 cup mashed potatoes
1 cup graham flour
2 tablespoons molasses
1 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup pecans, chopped

Let the sourdough starter and the feeding mixture, mixed, sit on the counter for 2 hours to ripen.

In a medium to large microwave safe bowl or measuring cup, place the mixed rolled grains and the water. Cook on high one minute. Stir, cook on high another minute. Stir, cook on high another minute, then let cook to lukewarm, stirring occasionally to even the cooling. Water will be completely absorbed by the cooked grain.

In a large mixing bowl for a stand mixer, place the ripe sourdough mixture, 1/2 cup flour, cooled grain mixture, mashed potatoes and 1/2 cup graham flour. Stir well to combine. Add the molasses and salt and stir again.

Mix the rest of the graham flour, the rest of the all purpose flour, and the dry yeast in a bowl or measuring cup. Put the dough hook onto the mixer, then mix, gradually adding the rest of the flour and graham flour mixture until dough is soft and dough starts cleaning the sides of the bowl, about 8 minutes.

Turn dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Push the dough down to create roughly a rectangle about 10" by 12". Scatter half the pecans over the dough, then roll up like a jelly roll and fold the ends in. Again push the dough down to create roughly a rectangle about 10" by 12". Scatter the remaining pecans over the dough and roll up as before. Knead for a few minutes to distribute the nuts evenly through the dough.

Place the dough in a greased rising container, turning the dough over to coat with the grease/oil. Cover loosely and let rise in a warm, draft free place until doubled in bulk.

Turn dough out on a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough in half. Shape as desired. I made one braided loaf and eight rolls, but you can make two loaves in loaf pans, two boules, a mixture, etc.

Lightly cover shaped bread and let rise while preheating the oven. Brush lightly with oil or egg or milk wash if desired, then bake until crust is browned and loaf sounds hollow when tapped, about 45 minutes for a loaf and 25 minutes for rolls.

Try to let bread cool a bit before devouring.

Irish Soda Bread Reimagined

Yesterday Sweetie and I were invited to lunch at the home of friends who had been evacuated during the recent wildfires, but, fortunately, their house was spared and we were celebrating that. About two hours before we were to leave, Sweetie remembered that we had been asked to bring some bread...bread that I had made. With not nearly enough time for making yeast bread, I was trying to think of something that would work when Sweetie suggested Irish Soda Bread. It's a favorite of his and goes together fairly quickly.

I haven't made it for a while and this time I wanted to make it a bit savory to go with the lunch main dish of a luscious old fashioned chicken stew. Herbs seemed just the thing and I had some fresh Italian parsley on the windowsill, and some fresh thyme and rosemary on the porch in a planter. Still, it seemed a bit too ordinary. Then I decided to add a bit of crunch and lots of flavor with finely chopped pecans. A bit of graham flour added more flavor and the lemon juice I added to the soy creamer to sour it was the final touch. This was decidedly not my Aunt May's Irish Soda Bread, even if it started out with her recipe!

A key thing to remember if you make this is that this kind of bread works best with the least amount of handling. Stir just enough to blend dry into wet, then shape gently with your hands into a ball, tucking any dry bits underneath...they will get wet enough that way. Don't forget the traditional cross cut with a knife. It helps the center cook evenly with the rest of the loaf.

A big thank you to Deb and Jim for a great lunch. Best chicken stew ever, plus an interesting salad dressing that I'm going to post later, and delicious pecan pie cookie bars for dessert. Best of all, the friendship and great conversation.

Irish Soda Bread with Herbs and Pecans
based on Aunt May's Irish Soda Bread
makes one large loaf

2 cups (about) whole milk or soy creamer
1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice

3 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 cup whole wheat or graham flour

1 teaspoon baking soda

½ teaspoon baking powder

1 teaspoon salt

4 tablespoons sugar

8 oz. (1 stick) cold butter, in thin slices

½ cup pecans, chopped finely

¼ cup roughly chopped mixed fresh herbs - I used Italian parsley, thyme and rosemary

In a bowl combine the milk and the fresh lemon juice. Let sit to 'sour' the milk, at least 5 minutes.

Put the dry ingredients in a bowl with the pecans and herbs; mix well. Dot all over with the butter and cut in well with a fork or pastry blender.

 Add the soured milk and mix just until moist - don’t over handle. You may need to add 2 - 4 more tablespoons of milk or a few tablespoons of flour.  Some dry stuff is OK but the dough should be sticky.

Pat into a round on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Cut a cross on top. Bake 45 minutes at 350 degrees F. Cool a bit before slicing.

Peanut Butter, Bananas, Pecans and Pound Cake...Delicious!

Today was the annual silent auction for the P.E.O. Scholarships chapter that I belong to. We try to raise a couple thousand a year which goes towards scholarships for women both locally and at the state and international level. The auction is a good money raiser and so I usually donate some baked goods. There is almost always a bidding war for them which means more money for women scholars!

One of the cakes I donated (well, actually two) ended up being a pair of small Bundt cakes using the Maida Heatter recipe for Peanut Butter Banana Pecan Pound Cake that was one of the October Cake Slice Bakers recipes. I dolled them up with a crunchy peanut butter, butter, half and half and powdered sugar icing, but they would be fine plain, too.

Without the icing you can see that the crunchy peanut butter left some gaps in the pan design clarity. The recipe calls for smooth peanut butter which would solve most of that problem, but I like crunchy peanut butter, so no smooth in the house.

 To make the recipe as it was written, use one large Bundt cake pan. Also, remember to add the baking soda. I forgot to and so my cake was very dense. Sweetie ate the tiny loaf pan of batter that I baked up for him from the batter that didn't fit into the two small Bundt pans and he said that you didn't miss it and that it was a great cake if you like peanut butter.

Pecan-Peanut Butter-Banana Bread

• 1 cup sifted all-purpose flour
• 1 cup sifted all-purpose whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp. baking soda
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/4 tsp. nutmeg
• 3 ounces (3/4 stick) unsalted butter
• 1/2 cup smooth peanut butter
• 1 cup dark brown sugar, firmly packed 
• 2 eggs
• 2 to 3 large fully ripened bananas (to make one cup, mashed)
• 6 ounces (1 1/2 cups) pecan halves or large pieces, toasted (I used 1 cup)
  Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
  
  Butter a large Bundt pan or two small cake loaf pans. Set aside.
  
  Sift together flours, baking soda, salt, and nutmeg. Set aside.
  
  In a large bowl of an electric mixer, beat the butter until softened, add peanut butter, beat until mixed. Add the sugar, and beat until mixed.
  
  Add eggs one at a time, beat until mixed.
  
  Peel the bananas and smash using a potato smasher or fork. Add the bananas to the mixture and beat until mixed.
  
  On low speed add the dry ingredients, beat only until mixed.
  
  Remove the bowl from mixer and fold in the pecans by hand using a spatula. Pour batter into bundt pan or divide between the two small loaf pans.
  
  Bake at 375 degrees F. for only 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees F. and continue baking for 35 to 40 minutes. Watch your cakes, oven temperatures vary.
  
  Cake will be done after cake tester is inserted and comes out clean.
  
  Remove cake from oven and cool for 15 minutes, then turn out cake onto a cooling rack and finish cooling. 

Pecan Tart

Natasha's favorite dessert is probably pecan pie. Pecan pie is often requested when I ask if I can bring a dessert when we are invited to her beautiful home for dinner. This time I decided to mash together two recipes to see if I could get the beauty and flavor of a pecan pie, but a crust which is easier to serve and not as prone to leaking. Fortunately it worked and now I can share with you how to make a wonderful, delicious to eat and easy to serve pecan tart. Natasha liked it a lot!

I started with the recipe from a loooooong time ago from a post from 2007. That February I posted each day from the first until Valentines day, with the theme of 'How Do I Love You?". If you have time check it out...there are some good recipes there. For that day, I think it was the fifth, but not sure now, I was making a mosaic nut tart and it was similar enough that it seemed it would work for the pecan tart. At the time I was still able to eat butter. It really does taste better with butter, so if you can, use a good quality butter and make sure that whichever fat you use is well chilled. It really helps to have cold butter or margarine. It makes a stable and tasty crust somewhat like a cookie. The filling rarely seeps through, but I bake it on a cookie sheet just in case. Baked on sugar and syrup filling is no fun to clean off the oven floor.

This tart crust uses a food processor, but if you don't have on, just put the dry ingredients in a bowl, cut the fat in with a pastry blender or two knives held close together, then, when the fat is cut into the flour mixture so that most pieces are tiny, stir in the yolk with a fork.

The pecan filling is straight from the dark Karo syrup bottle. Eggs, sugar, vanilla, salt, and Karo (plus some melted butter if your remember to add it, which I didn't) are stirred together. The nuts are added and the mixture turned into the cold, but unbaked, tart shell. I turned all my pecans with the curved side up and arranged them a bit in a nice pattern. As you might have guessed, I love playing with my food! It will taste just fine if you pour in the filling and put it right into the oven. A nice helping of whipped cream on top and no one will be the wiser.

If you've never had pecan pie or tart I should warn you that this is a very sweet dessert. You could reduce the sugar by a bit, but if you take out too much it will change the consistency and you might get a filling that is too loose or too grainy. Unsweetened whipped cream cuts the sweetness in a very rich but lovely way, if you do dairy.

By the way, very early tomorrow morning Sweetie and I will be headed off for a vacation. If I can I'll post while I'm gone, although it will most likely be about the trip rather than food. Otherwise I'll do posts and food once I come back. If you get bored, there are over 1,000 recipes on this blog...try a few. Some of the ones from the early years (ten years ago in a handful of days!) are really good. Just sayin'.

Pecan Tart
Makes one 9-inch tart

Crust:
Combine 1 1/3 cups all-purpose flour, 3 tablespoons sugar, and ½ cup very cold butter (or margarine), cut into pieces. Whirl in a food processor or cut butter in with a pastry blender or two knives until coarse crumbs form. Add 1 egg yolk; process or sir until dough sticks together.

Using a 9-inch tart pan with a removable bottom, put chunks of the dough over the bottom and use your clean fingers to smoosh the dough over the bottom and up the sides into a fairly smooth layer. Freeze for 30 minutes or more.

Filling:
3 eggs
1 cup dark Karo corn syrup
1 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 tablespoons butter or margarine, melted and cooled
1 1/2 cups (6 oz.) pecans

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. In a large bowl beat the eggs to break them up, then add the corn syrup, sugar, vanilla and butter.

Add the pecans and stir to coat. Pour the filling into the prepared, chilled tart pan. Arrange the nuts if you like. Put the tart on a cookie sheet and put into the preheated oven. Bake approximately 50 minutes. Finished tart will have browned nuts and the filling will be only slightly jiggly in the center.

Cool on a rack for 2 hours. Remove the tart sides and chill in the refrigerator for an hour or more. Bring to room temperature to serve.