BANANA RAISIN OAT BREAD

This banana raisin oat bread tastes really good, but is it a cake or is it bread?  It tastes more like cake, but it's called bread. What's the deal here?  Well, actually, it's a quick bread. It is so named because it doesn't use yeast as a leavening agent.

Yeast requires hours and optimal temperatures to cause bread to rise. Baking powder, which contains baking soda (base pH) and cream of tartar (acid pH), acts quickly. The acid/base combination reacts when introduced to liquid, causing carbon dioxide to form. Consequently, the batter expands and increases in volume. When baked goods rise quickly, they are called quick breads. Cakes, muffins, and scones, are types of quick bread. 

Banana bread is a cake, and officially a quick bread, but it's referred to as banana bread because, I suppose, it's faster to say banana bread than banana quick bread. Fine. That solves the mystery for me. I thought I would share the information with you. I am not a know it all, but I like to do my research. I just hope I can remember all this a year from now.  But then I will always have this post to remind me. One thing I won't forget is how delicious this cake (quick bread) is. I've already had requests for the recipe. Here we go ladies, my post is finally ready. Get out those bundt pans!

Ingredients:

1 cup plus 2 Tablespoons all purpose flour

½ teaspoon baking soda
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup of golden raisins
½ cup regular oats
½ cup unsalted butter, melted

½ cup sugar
2 large eggs
4 medium very ripe bananas, mashed
½ cup chopped walnuts

1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

½ teaspoon cinnamon
powdered sugar and cinnamon for dusting on top

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 325º F.  Grease a bundt pan and set it aside.

Into a bowl combine the flour, baking soda, baking powder cinnamon and salt.  Stir well to combine. 
In the bowl of your mixer add the sugar and melted butter.  Beat until smooth.

Add the eggs one at a time, mixing after each addition. 

Add the bananas and vanilla extract and mix.

With a wooden spoon gently fold in the raisins, oats, and walnuts.

Add the flour mixture in three batches folding gently after each addition. 

Pour the batter into the prepared bundt pan and bake for about 1 hour and 15 minutes.

When ready, a knife inserted into the centre of the quick bread should come out clean.

Remove the pan from the oven and place it on a rack to cool.  After about 20 minutes invert the pan onto a plate.  The banana bread should slide on the plate. 

Let cool another half hour.  Mix some powdered sugar with a little cinnamon and sift it on top of the banana bread to decorate.  Slice and enjoy a nice treat! 

  

WHITE BEAN DIP WITH FETA CHEESE AND OLIVES

This is a great tasting dip, folks!  Its taste is amplified because it contains roasted a roasted shallot, some roasted garlic, plus the juice of a grilled lemon. 

Pulse a few beans in the food processor along with a host of flavorful Mediterranean ingredients and you get an extremely tasty, creamy and healthy dip! 

• Healthy because the dip is low in fat compared to most other dips out there. 
• Healthy because it's high in protein, calcium and fibre.  
• Tasty!!!  
• Spread the dip on toasted pita slices and you have an irresistible treat!  A really, really delicious and healthy treat!

This recipe is fast to make.  It took me about 20 minutes, and that included cleanup. Who doesn't love the dishwasher??? 

***Here is a tip about feta cheese and olives: 

As these are salty ingredients we Greeks always rinse some of the brine from them.

For the feta cheese: just place the cheese into a bowl and pour water over it. Change the water once or twice, drain, and you're done. The feta will be significantly less salty. If for dietary reasons you want to remove lots of salt from the feta cheese, you can let it soak in water. Experiment with how much time is appropriate for your taste and dietary needs. 

For the olives: they usually also need a good rinsing. Once the job is done, place them into a container and pour a combination of canola and olive oil over them. (Olive oil congeals in the refrigerator, so it must be mixed with another type of oil to keep it from solidifying). The oil should come almost but not quite halfway up the container. Cover, shake gently to coat all the olives and store in the refrigerator. This can be done with just about any type of olives except the sun-dried variety. Those don't get rinsed because they will absorb water and will no longer be sundried.

How to make white bean dip with feta cheese and olives:

Ingredients:

2 (15-ounce) cans white beans such as Great Northern  

5 cloves of garlic, roasted and mashed

1 shallot, roasted and chopped

1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

black pepper to taste

1/2 teaspoon dried oregano

2 tablespoons chopped flat-leaf parsley 

3 tablespoons fresh rosemary leaves, save a few for garnish

the juice of one grilled lemon

1/2 cup pitted Kalamata olives

8 ounces feta cheese

1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Directions:

• Cut the lemon in half, brush each half with olive oil and grill. This can be done on the stovetop. 
• Drain and rinse the beans. Place them into the food processor and add the juice from the grilled lemon.   
• Add the roasted garlic, the roasted shallot, olive oil, feta cheese, rosemary, oregano, parsley and black pepper—no need to add salt because the feta cheese and olives contain enough of it.
• Blend in the food processor until all the ingredients are smooth and creamy.
• Add the olives and walnuts. Pulse a few times until they're coarsely chopped. Small pieces of each should be visible in the dip.
• Place into a bowl and refrigerate for 4 to 5 hours. The dip is better if it gets a chance to rest. And really, aren't we all better when we get a chance to rest? 

Take the dip out of the refrigerator and place it into a serving bowl. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top of the dip. Decorate with a few rosemary leaves, and serve with your favourite crackers.  

I hope you love this recipe as much as I do!

WALNUT SKORDALIA

Make walnut butter and then incorporate it into a recipe. One can thicken sauces with it or mix it in with vegetables. It can become a secret ingredient in soup! However, my favourite way to use walnut butter is to make walnut skordalia with it! Walnut skordalia is a Greek walnut-garlic sauce. It's simple to put together and very, very tasty. 

Skordalia is a popular Greek side dish which can be made with potatoes or walnuts. Its name comes from one of its key ingredients, skordo, which means garlic. Skordalia usually accompanies fried fish or fried/boiled vegetables. 

Walnut skordalia is a regional variation. It's made in Northeastern Greece, in the provinces of Macedonia and Thrace. My maternal grandmother, who was a true and proper Northeastern Greek, always made her skordalia with walnuts, never with potatoes. Of course, it helped that grandfather had planted walnut trees near one of his vineyards. There was always an ample supply of walnuts at their home. Traditionally, a mortar and pestle were used to pound the walnuts and garlic. Today, the food processor makes this job much easier.

Make a walnut butter: Place two cups of shelled, roasted walnut pieces in a food processor, and pulse until the walnuts are finely ground. 

Ingredients:

In addition to the walnut butter you will need:
1 cup of stale bread pieces without the crust
2 garlic cloves. Can use fewer or more than two: how much depends on social engagements and digestive tolerance. 
4 tablespoons red wine vinegar
8 tablespoons olive oil
water

Directions:

1. Soak the bread in a bit of water. When it has softened, squeeze out the excess water. Discard the water and place the bread in a food processor.
2. Add all the other ingredients, including the walnut butter. Process until well blended.
3. Taste, and if the mixture feels thick, thin it out by adding a little water and then processing. In the end, the skordalia should have the consistency of thick mayonnaise.
4. Remove to bowl, cover and chill. Serve as an accompaniment to fish or vegetables.

***Walnut skordalia also makes a delicious dip or appetizer. Serve it in a bowl surrounded by toasted bread rounds, or top toasted bread slices with walnut skordalia and shrimp: use sliced French bread sprinkled with olive oil and toasted, then topped with skordalia and with shrimp which has been seasoned with lemon juice, black pepper and parsley.