Best-Ever Banana Muffins

 

I had a recipe for Best-Ever Banana Bread in my recipe binder. I don’t know where it came from…probably one of the cooking magazines I subscribed to a one time. I had two bananas that were turning brown, so I decided to make Banana Muffins and I used the Bread recipe as a starting point…. I made a few changes… I used more walnuts.  They turned out great…super moist.

 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

 

2 ripe (fairly large) bananas, mashed

2 eggs

1-3/4 cups flour

1-1/2 cup sugar

1-1/2 cup roughly chopped walnuts (or more if you like…I used close to 2 cups)

1/4-cup plus 1 Tbsp half and half

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp vanilla

1/2 tsp salt

Combine all ingredients and mix well.

 

Place paper muffin cups in a muffin pan. 

Fill cups about 3/4 full. 

Bake 15 minutes.

 

Remove muffins from pan and cool on a wire rack.

 

This recipe made 17 muffins.

Pecan Butter – Praline Cookies

We are fortunate enough to have a Costco store near us.** If you are familiar with Costco, you know that nothing comes in small sizes. So that is the story here.

 

I had heard about Pecan Butter – Peanut Butter’s cousin. I also had discovered Costco’s Pralines. Both of these items came in a size that was too big for our family of two to use anytime soon.

 

So… I decided to make cookies.  I used Fannie Farmer’s recipe for Peanut Butter Cookies as a base, and I made up this variation.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

Mix together:

1 stick butter, softened to room temperature

1/2 tsp vanilla

1/2 cup sugar

1/2 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup pecan butter*

1 egg, beaten

 

Separately, mix together dry ingredients

1-1/2 cups flour

1/16 tsp salt

1 tsp baking soda

 

Add to other ingredients. I don’t have a stand mixer, so I used a pastry dough blender to do this. They are available at Bed, Bath, and Beyond; Williams-Sonoma; Amazon; Target.

Lastly, measure one cup of pralines and place them in a zip-lock bag. Use a mallet to smash them into small pieces… the size of a dime or a bit smaller…not into dust. You'll want some praline pieces in the cookies. Add the pralines to the dough using a large spoon. This was my idea, and it really adds to the flavor and the texture of the cookies.

 

Roll into balls the about 1-1/4 inches across. Place on a cookie sheet and press with a fork in two directions. 

 

This recipe makes enough cookies for two cookie sheets.  I flip the two sheets so the top one becomes the bottom and vice versa. For my oven, I flipped them after 6 minutes and cooked them another 7… so 13 minutes total. You want them to be browned but not burned or dried out.

 

Cool cookies on a rack.

 

*Note: Pecan Butter has a tendency to separate so you have to stir the oil into the rest of the product. The pecan butter can be stiff so use a sturdy spoon.

**If you don't have a Costco near you, Amazon carries these products: Purely Pecans Sea Salt Y'All Pecan Butter and Kirkland Praline Pecans. These sizes will enable you to make multiple batches. Enjoy!

Fish Tacos

This is from Gwyneth Paltrow’s cookbook, My Father’s Daughter. (I made a few adjustments… For example, she uses a beer batter, which makes a big mess when it hits the oil. I don't do that.)  The accompanying sauces are really, really good.

 

1 pound white fish fillets

Corn tortillas

1.     With a sharp knife remove skin from fish (if applicable). Cut into large bite size pieces.

2.     Season with salt and pepper. Dip fish pieces in flour and shake off excess.

3.     Fry 3-4 minutes until nicely browned. (she uses safflower or peanut oil. I used olive oil.)        Place on paper-towel lined plate.

4.     Repeat until all fish is cooked.

 

Warm the corn tortillas in a dry frying pan. (She uses butter.)

Spoon lime crema on tortilla, lay 2-3 pieces of fish. Add guacamole and pico de gallo as desired.

 

Lime Crema

½ cup mayonnaise

1 Tbsp Lime juice

½ tsp salt

 

Pico de Gallo

1 pint grape tomatoes, quartered

½ small red onion, finely diced

2 Tbsp chopped cilantro

Juice of 1 lime

Salt

 

Guacamole

2 ripe avocados

2 Tbsp minced onion

3 Tbsp fresh cilantro

Juice of 1 lime (or to taste)

Salt