RECIPEinaFLASH: Black-and-White Banana Loaf

I know, I know - it's Thanksgiving week and this should be a pumpkin recipe. But there are a million pumpkin recipes floating around this month and I thought you might like a small diversion. I love pumpkin, but maybe you are one of those people who don't. Or maybe you're just pumpkin'd-out, what with a pumpkin recipe everywhere you look. 

With that in mind, I bring you an absolutely delicious banana loaf. Not just any banana loaf. This is a Dorie Greenspan (read my interview with Dorie from earlier this year) recipe so you know it is going to be luscious. It's from her "Baking From My Home to Yours" book, and with bananas, chocolate, and rum in the mix, really, how could you go wrong? I made this a couple of weeks ago when we were having friends over for dinner. It's wonderful on its own with a shower of confectioners' sugar, but to dress it up a bit, I added some freshly whipped cream on the side. Fabulous!

We are off to Vermont for a cozy New England Thanksgiving at The Inn at Weathersfield.

Inn at Weathersfield, November 2014

Make no mistake, I'll be having the pumpkin pie for dessert! :-) 

Here's hoping you have a happy holiday!

Black-and-White Banana Loaf
Dorie Greenspan

1-1/3 C all-purpose flour
1 t baking powder
1/2 t salt
1/4 t freshly grated nutmeg
1-1/2 ripe bananas, peeled
squirt of fresh lemon juice
grated zest of 1/2 lemon
1 TB dark rum
3 oz bittersweet chocolate, finely chopped
1 stick plus 2 TB (10 tablespoons) unsalted butter, at room temp
2/3 C (packed) light brown sugar
1/3 C sugar
4 large eggs
1 t pure vanilla extract
1/2 C whole milk

Center a rack in the oven and preheat to 325 degrees F. Butter an 8-1/2x4-1/2x2-1/2" loaf pan, dust the inside with flour and tap out the excess. Place the pan on an insulated baking sheet or on two regular baking sheets stacked one on top of the other.

Whisk together the flour, baking powder, salt, and nutmeg.

In a small bowl, mash the bananas with the lemon juice and zest, then stir in the rum.

Melt the chocolate and 2 TB of the butter together in a microwave oven or in a heatproof bowl set over a saucepan of gently simmering water.

Working with a stand mixer, preferably fitted with a paddle attachment, or with a hand mixer in a large bowl, beat the remaining stick (8 TB) of butter at medium speed until creamy, about 3 minutes. Add the sugars and beat for another 2-3 minutes, until light and smooth. Add the eggs one at a time, beating well after each addition, then beat in the vanilla. The batter will look curdled, and it will continue to look curdled as you add ingredients. Reduce the mixer speed to low and add half the flour mixture, mixing only until it is just incorporated. With the mixer running, pour in the milk, and when it is blended, add the remaining dry ingredients. Scrape down the bowl and mix in the mashed bananas. The batter will look even lumpier.

Pour a little less than half the batter into the bowl with the melted chocolate and stir to blend. Drop alternating spoonfuls of both batters into the prepared pan, then, using a table knife, swirl the batters together, taking care not to overdo it.

Bake for 1 hour and 20-30 minutes, or until a knife inserted deep into the center of the cake comes out clean. Check after 30 minutes and if the cake starts to brown too much, cover it loosely with a foil tent. Transfer the cake to a cooling rack and let it rest for about 15 minutes before unfolding, then cool the cake to room temp right side up on the rack.

Storing: wrapped in plastic wrap, the cake will keep for 4-5 days at room temp; wrapped airtight, it will keep for up to 2 months in the freezer.

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Thanksgiving Potpourri!

Happy Thanksgiving, dear readers!  I've got so many cool things to tell you about that I thought potpourri was a fitting title.

First I must tell you about a wonderful (somewhat unconventional) alternative to cooking a turkey for the holidays. Based on an article in the NY Times a few weeks ago, we took the plunge and ordered a smoked turkey from Greenberg's Smoked Turkeys in Texas.  Look at that gorgeous bird! When it arrived snug in its' shipping box on Tuesday, we immediately refrigerated it until Thursday morning. Served at room temp, the only prep necessary was carving and plating. The smoky essence that filled the house was intoxicating! And moist? Even the white meat (which generally holds no interest for me) was luscious.  Greenberg's has been in business since 1938. A family-run operation to this day, they will sell about 200,000 birds this holiday season.  Most of their business is from repeat customers, and they can now count us among them.

I also want to tell you about a dessert I made for the holiday. A friend was bringing traditional pumpkin pie so I wanted to do something a little different, but still using pumpkin. I took a cue from my Italian heritage and modeled a dessert on the classic Tiramisu. Taking vanilla cake and layering it with a mascarpone pumpkin pecan frosting proved a delicious twist (frosting recipe here) on the usual T-day holiday desserts.  A generous spoon of fresh whipped cream completed the picture.

Next: the good folks at Pom Wonderful were kind enough to send me some samples of their pomegranate juice to sample.  I don't know about you, but I have not had the opportunity to try pomegranate juice. With the holiday, I haven't had a chance to be too creative with the juice, but I did come up with a delightfully refreshing drink mixing Pom Wonderful, orange juice, and a splash of seltzer over crushed ice. It is absolutely delicious, and I'm sure adding a shot of vodka to the mix would make a wonderful cocktail. And the red-orange hue is very festive.

On Tuesday, before starting our T-day preparations, we took a ride to Drew's Bayshore Bistro in Keyport, NJ. This restaurant has been on my list for a long time, given their bent toward all things Cajun.  But after they got a glowing review in the Times a few months ago, I knew I had to get there.  Of course, securing a reservation on a summer weekend at a Jersey shore restaurant proved near impossible.  But Tuesday of Thanksgiving week?  No problem!

A small, simply decorated restaurant that you enter via a bar area with an open window into the kitchen; we were greeted warmly and shown to our table.  Drew's is BYO and our wine was opened and served immediately after being seated (one of my restaurant pet peeves is letting guests languish at the table without pouring the wine). We started with Sweet Potato Empanadas filled with spicy Andouille sausage and served with a delicious fruit chutney.  For mains, we totally enjoyed the Crawfish Etouffee and the Pork du Jour, which was a good-size chop (perfectly cooked) served with cheese grits and fresh vegetables.  As one who has enjoyed grits in a few Southern locales, I can pleasantly say that Drew knows his grits!  We will definitely be back!


And saving the best for last, The Cook's Tour got a mention this weekend in JerseyBites! They liked my "Cows Outside" post from a few weeks ago and linked to it. JerseyBites is a New Jersey-centric web site focusing on all the cool food-related things found in the Garden State. Needless to say, I was thrilled!


Hope you all had a marvelous holiday weekend. Drop me a line and let me know what wonderful holiday treats filled your "horn of plenty" this week.