Nice and easy, no-nonsense, quick-to-mix. One bowl, a whisk and a spatula -- no mixer required. Yep. Those words accurately sum up this recipe, and, the end more than justifies the means, meaning: it's hard to believe something this easy can taste this divine. While apple bread isn't the most photogenic (brown food in general isn't), don't let its monochromatic appearance fool you. It's dense but not heavy, has a delicately-moist crumb, and, it's bursting with apple flavor -- perfect for any Fall breakfast or brunch buffet table. Me? I love it toasted (on the rack of my toaster oven, not a conventional toaster) and slathered with soft, creamy butter.
A bit about quick bread: "Quick bread" is an American term that refers to bread that is quick to make because it doesn't require kneading or rising time. It originated during the American civil war, when the demand for food and bread was high. Innovative cooks began rapidly producing bread and baked goods that were leavened with baking soda rather than yeast. Nowadays, the leavening agent is predominately double-acting baking powder, or, a combination of baking powder and baking soda. In the case of baking powder, it is called "double acting" because the rising process starts the moment it makes contact with the liquids, and, gives a second burst of rising power when the bread enters the hot oven. Typically, quick breads contain eggs, flour, salt and fat (butter, margarine, shortening or oil) and leavening. That said, they can be sweet or savory and contain sugar, fruits, fruit purée, vegetables, vegetable purée and various liquids (milk, buttermilk, fruit juice or stock). The wet and dry ingredients are mixed separately, in two different bowls, then briefly stirred together just prior to baking. FYI: Biscuits, cornbread, muffins, pancakes, scones, soda bread and waffles -- they all fall into the quick-bread category too.
Fall is in the air & that means apple season is here!
1 cup vegetable oil
3 large eggs
1 teaspoon pure apple extract (optional)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 cups sugar
2 1/2 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon sea salt
1 teaspoon apple pie spice
3 cups peeled and medium-diced apples, about 3, 8-10-ounce apples
Sugan 'n Cinnamon, for topping loaves
no-stick cooking spray, for preparing loaf pans
~ Step 1. In a large bowl, whisk the oil, extracts and eggs together until smooth. Add the sugar and whisk again, to thoroughly combine. Set aside 5-10 minutes, to give the sugar plenty of time to dissolve, then whisk again.
~Step 2. While the oil mixture is resting, peel and dice the apples.
In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, salt and apple pie spice. Add half of the flour mixture to the oil mixture. Using a large rubber spatula, fold the flour into the oil. Add the second half of the flour and repeat, folding until the ingredients are just moistened. A thick batter will have formed. Fold in all of the apples.
~Step 3. Spoon and divide batter between two loaf pans that have been sprayed with no-stick. Generously sprinkle top of each loaf with Sugar 'n Cinnamon. Bake on center rack of preheated 325° oven, 55-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Remove from oven and place loaves, in pans, on a wire rack to cool for 15-20 minutes prior to inverting them out of pans onto rack to cool 1 1/2-2 hours, prior to slicing warm or at room temperature.
Bake in 325° oven, 55-60 minutes & cool in pans 15-20 minutes prior to inverting onto wire rack to cool completely:
Dense but not heavy, delicately moist & slathered w/butter:
Nice & Easy No-Nonsense Quick-Mix Apple Bread: Recipe yields 2 loaves, approximately 10 slices per loaf, depending upon how thick or thin loaves are sliced.
Special Equipment List: wire whisk; large rubber spatula; 2, 8 1/2" x 4 1/2" x 2 1/2", 1 1/2-quart loaf pans, preferably glass; cake tester or toothpick; wire cooling rack
Cook's Note: Whether we want to admit it or not, Fall is just around the corner. Pumpkins are synonymous with Fall, and, my husband Joe grows them in our backyard -- the little sweet "sugar pumpkins" as they are affectionately called. If you're so inclined, check out my recipe for Joe's Favorite Roasted-Pumpkin Quick Bread. Paired with today's apple bread, they're a dynamite duo on any breakfast or brunch table.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)
At 4:30AM I took my poodle outside. The sun wasn't up, but the dairy cows in the pasture next-door, affectionately referred to by me as the think-tank, were laying down on the ground, and, just as they often do, making snorting noises. The thing about cows is, when they are laying down, whether you believe the "old wives tale or not, nine out of ten times you can expect rain or a rainy day. While walking my pooch back to the house, I decided to bake cookies today.
1/2 cup salted butter, at room temperature, very soft (1 stick)
1/2 cup lightly-packed light brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
3/4 cup crunchy peanut butter
1 large egg
2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract
1 cup unbleached-all-purpose flour
3/4 cup old-fashioned rolled oats, not instant oatmeal
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 cup milk-chocolate chips
~Step 1. In a large bowl, place butter, brown sugar, sugar, peanut butter, egg and vanilla. On high speed of hand-held electric mixer, cream ingredients together, while scraping sides of bowl down with a rubber spatula, about 1 full minute. Lower mixer speed to medium and incorporate the flour, baking soda and salt, followed by the oatmeal, scraping down sides of bowl as you mix.
~Step 2. Remove mixer. Using spatula, fold in the chocolate chips. Using a 1 3/4" ice-cream scoop as a measure, place balls of cooking dough, well-apart, on each of 2, 17 1/2" x 12 1/2" baking pans that have been lined with parchment. Bake, one-pan-at-a-time on center rack of 340º oven, 12-14 minutes, until barely browned. Remove from oven and cool, in pans, 3 minutes prior to using a spatula to transfer cookies to wire rack to cool completely, 1-1 1/2 hours.
Bake in 340° oven, 12-14 minutes, remove from oven & cool in pans 3 minutes, transfer to wire rack to cool completely:
Special Equipment List: hand-held electric mixer; large rubber spatula; 1 3/4" ice-cream scoop; 2, 17 1/2" x 12 1/2" baking pans; parchment paper; thin spatula; wire cooling rack
Cook's Note: For generations, we Americans have had a love affair with chocolate chip cookies. Surveys unanimously and overwhelmingly place the chocolate chip cookie at the top of our all-time favorite cookie list for over three-quarters of our population, and, it all started with the all-American Toll House cookie. Who do we thank for and what's the history behind this iconic cookie? To find out, read my post ~ The Original Nestlé's Toll House Cookie Recipe ~. Trust me. I'm certain you'll find it fascinating.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)
During the college football season, I add a few staples to my pantry and refrigerator lineup. When you live in a college town, you never (and I mean never) know when you're going to need to fix a quick appetizer. I make sure I'm never without pasteurized crabmeat in my refrigerator and Kraft Old English and Pimento Cheese spreads in my pantry. If the doorbell rings or the fans on the couch run out of wings, I can have crab dip on the cocktail table in about five minutes.
Give me five minutes, I'll make you some great crab dip:
1-pound pasteurized crabmeat, drained of any excess moisture
8 tablespoons salted butter, melted (1 stick)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon (a generous/heaping 1/4 teaspoon) garlic powder
1/4-1/2 teaspoon (a generous/heaping 1/4 teaspoon) onion powder
1 5-ounce jar Kraft Old English Cheese Spread, softened-slightly in the microwave
1, 5-ounce jar Kraft Pimento Cheese Spread
1/2 cup high-quality mayonnaise, preferably Duke's or Hellmann's
~Step 1. In a 1-cup measuring container, place the butter, garlic and onion powders. In the microwave, melt the butter and set aside. In a medium bowl, place the crabmeat, Old English cheese spread and pimento cheese spread and mayonnaise. Drizzle in the melted butter. Using a spoon, thoroughly combine all ingredients together. Serve immediately and/or keep stored in the refrigerator for 4-5 days. Serve at room temperature.
Cook's Note: When I was a kid, my mom kept the Old English next to the Pimento Cheese -- on the door of our refrigerator. I adored them, but, was a young adult when I learned pimento cheese was Southern. I thought it was Kraft. Live and learn -- I learned how to make my own ~ Southern Comfort: Classic Pimento Cheese Spread ~.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)
These appetizers were one of our Happy Valley tailgate traditions. I fondly remember one of our members, Joan Reilly, making them for our early AM pre-tailgate tailgates -- prior to leaving for the stadium. She and her husband Joe lived close to Beaver Stadium, and, it was not unusual for us to meet, as a group, on the cul-de-sac in front of their house, to wait for our friend with the RV to arrive from Harrisburg. While we were all chatting and sipping Stan's Bloody Mary's, Joan would pass around a baking sheet full of her cheesy English-muffin-based crabmeat canapés.
Crab bites, crab melts, crab toasties, crab melt-a-ways and crabbys (or krabbys when made with imitation krab meat). These are just a few of the names you'll find associated with this vintage (circa 1970's) recipe.
All recipes for these rely on an English muffin base and a concoction consisting of pasteurized crabmeat and Old English cheese spread. Some recipes are baked, and others are broiled. Mine (actually Joan's) is a combination of both. I lightly toast the muffins first, heap them with the crab mixture, then broil them for a few short moments. Some folks claim they can be assembled and frozen, to be baked and/or broiled at a later date, but, these "crab thingies" are so gosh darned easy to make, I've never been willing to risk compromising them by freezing. When I was a kid, my mother kept Kraft Old English cheese spread in our refrigerator right next to their pimento cheese spread. I like to use 1, 5-ounce jar of each to make my crabmeat canapés -- that choice is yours.
Steaming-hot & straight-out-of-the-oven --
What a yummy little way to start game day.
1 1-pound can pasteurized crabmeat, drained of any excess moisture
8 tablespoons salted butter, melted (1 stick)
1/4-1/2 teaspoon (a generous/heaping 1/4 teaspoon) garlic powder
1/4-1/2 teaspoon (a generous/heaping 1/4 teaspoon) onion powder
2 5-ounce jars Kraft Old English Cheese Spread, softened-slightly in the microwave, or, 1, 5-ounce jar Old English + 1, 5-ounce jar Kraft Pimento Cheese Spread, which is my favorite
1/2 cup high-quality mayonnaise, preferably Duke's or Hellmann's
9 Thomas' English Muffins, split to form 18 pieces (Note: I purchase 9-packs at our local Sam's Club.)
sliced grape or cherry tomato "coins", for garnish
~Step 1. In a 1-cup measuring container, place butter, garlic and onion powders. In the microwave, melt the butter and set aside. In a medium bowl, place the crabmeat, Old English cheese spread and optional pimento cheese spread and mayonnaise. Drizzle in the melted butter. Using a spoon, thoroughly combine all ingredients together.
~Step 2. Using a serrated knife, slice muffins in half. Don't split them with a fork. Slicing them will yield 12 even-sized halves. Splitting them will not. In toaster or on rack of toaster oven, toast English muffin halves until nicely-browned. Place toasted halves on baking pans that have been lined with parchment paper. Using a spoon, scoop 3 tablespoons filling onto the center of each muffin. Use the spoon to flatten and spread the filling out across the top. Place pan of muffins, 5 1/2"-6" underneath preheated broiler, for 3 minutes, watching carefully during the last 30 seconds, as they will go from nicely-golden to horribly burned very quickly.
It's ok eat one whole too, as a breakfast or brunch entrée:
It's just a bigger, yummier way to start game day:
Old English Cheese Spread & Crabmeat Canapés: Recipe yields 4 cups crabmeat & cheese filling, enough to top 18 English muffin halves, and, 6 dozen bite-sized appetizers/72 bite-sized triangular-shaped pieces.
Special Equipment List: 1-cup measuring container; serrated bread knife; toaster or toaster oven; 1, 17 1/2" x 12 1/2" baking pan, or, 3, 12 1/2" x 8 3/4" baking pans; parchment paper
Cook's Note: As mentioned above, my mom kept the Old English next to the Pimento Cheese -- on the door of our refrigerator. I adored them, but, was a young adult when I learned pimento cheese was Southern. I thought it was Kraft. Live and learn -- I learned how to make my own ~ Southern Comfort: Classic Pimento Cheese Spread ~.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)
When I was a little kid, pimento cheese spread was a staple in our refrigerator -- right next to the Old English cheese spread. I had absolutely no idea it was Southern. I thought it was Kraft. To this day, if someone puts a jar on of the store-bought stuff on the table next to a box of Ritz crackers, I'm more than happy to sit down and dig right in. Slather it between two slices of white bread and make me a pimento-cheese grilled-cheese sandwich and I'll follow you anywhere.
Known as "the caviar of the South, or, "Southern pâté",
pimento (or pimiento) cheese is a Southern thing.
Throughout my adulthood, I've had occasion to travel to various destinations in more than a few Southern states, and, whether I'm looking for it or not, more often than not, pimento cheese appears on pub grub or restaurant menus in some fashion. Sometimes I don't even have to look or ask for it -- it shows up as a complimentary snack. No two cooks or establishments make it the same way, some versions are better than others (I'm not a fan of those containing cream cheese), but, rare is the person who doesn't take a liking to it immediately given the chance to sample it.
A bit about pimento cheese: In its basic form, it consists of few ingredients: shredded and mashed or processed yellow cheddar and/or processed cheese (like Velveeta), a jar or can of diced or sliced pimentos (a small, 2"-3" wide, 3"-4" long, red, heart-shaped, sweet, succulent pepper), high-quality mayonnaise (Duke's or Hellmann's -- more mayo than you think is necessary), Louisiana-style cayenne pepper sauce and/or Worcestershire sauce, plus, seasonings (like garlic powder, onion powder, salt and pepper. Its consistency ranges from ultra-smooth to slightly-chunky. It can be soothingly mild or spicy hot.
It can be used to make pimento cheese sandwiches or as a spread in all sorts of sandwiches or on crackers, a dip for vegetables (its especially good scooped into a stalk of celery), mixed into deviled egg filling, added to grits, or used as a yummy topping for hamburgers or hot dogs.
Pimento cheese trivia: Fancy pimento cheese, finger-food-sized tea sandwiches (with the crusts removed from the white bread) are a signature item served at the Augusta National Golf Club at The Masters Tournament every year. Controversy arose in 2013 when the golf club switched food suppliers and the new supplier couldn't duplicate the previous supplier's recipe, resulting in sandwiches with a markedly different taste -- it didn't happen twice. In an episode of AMC's Breaking Bad, Mike Ehrmantraut offers a pimento cheese sandwich to Jesse Pinkman on a stakeout together. In an episode of AMC's Breaking Bad spinoff show, Better Call Saul, Mike (Ehrmantraut) brings a pimento cheese sandwich to a bodyguard job instead of a weapon. After binge-watching Breaking Bad in reruns (for the second time) over the past few days, I've got pimento cheese sandwiches fresh on my mind.
6 tablespoons high-quality mayonnaise, preferably Dukes or Hellmann's with Dukes being the traditional and Southern favorite
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce
1/2 teaspoon Louisianna-style cayenne pepper sauce, to taste (optional)
1/2 ounce diced yellow or sweet yellow onion
1 large garlic clove
1/2 teaspoon celery salt
1/4-1/2 teaspoon coarsely-ground black pepper
4 ounces shredded sharp yellow cheddar cheese
4 ounces shredded Monterey Jack cheese, with or without Jalapeños, your choice
1 4-ounce jar pimentos, well-drained (Note: Pimentos are sold sliced or diced, in 2-, 4- and 7-ounce jars. A 4-ounce jar measures just shy of 1/2 cup, so, if you are measuring from a different size jar, use that amount. A 2-ounce jar yields a generous/heaping 2 tablespoons.)
~Step 1. In the work bowl of a small-capacity food processor, place the diced onion and garlic clove. Using a series of 15-20 rapid on-off pulses, process to just short of a purée, stopping to scrape down the sides of the work bowl with a small spatula every 5-6 pulses. Transfer to a paper-towel-lined plate for a moment or two, to allow the paper towels to absorb excess moisture. You will have a generous tablespoon of onion and garlic mixture. Place the pimentos on a paper-towel-lined plate to absorb excess moisture. Grate the cheeses and set aside.
~Step 2. In a large bowl, stir together the mayonnaise, Worcestershire, optional cayenne pepper sauce, celery salt and coarsely-ground black pepper. Add the grated cheeses and well-drained pimentos. Throughly fold and stir the mixture together, using the side of the spatula to chop up the cheeses as you work. Transfer to a 2-cup-sized food storage container, cover, and refrigerate, 2-3 hours or overnight, prior to serving as it is, slightly chunky, or, whirring it in the food processor for a few seconds to give it an ultra-smooth consistency.
Slightly-chunky or ultra-smooth -- it's your choice:
This Yankee gal likes hers smooth -- slathered on a Rtiz:
Special Equipment List: cutting board; chef's knife; small-capacity food processor; paper towels; hand-held box grater; large rubber spatula; 2-cup-sized food storage container w/tight-fitting lid
Cook's Note: Next to pimento cheese spread, there is only one cheese concoction that I can't live without. It's another blast-from-my-past, but I think, ~ Confessions from a Port Wine Cheese Ball Lover ~, is a post you might enjoy reading.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)
How many bananas can a gal put into a bundt cake? Every time I bake this banana cake, I push the envelope a little farther, and, today I used the entire bunch. Six bananas. It yielded a total of 3 cups mashed bananas, and, the recipe, which started out using 1 3/4-2 cups, came out super-moist and full-flavored -- just perfect. Often times, this is how recipes are developed or improved upon (by trial, error and gutsy experimentation). That said, me thinks I'll stop improving this one.
The original recipe came from my mother's recipe box and I'm pretty certain she got it from her mother. Why? Because my grandmother, a woman who cooked her way through the depression, used oil instead of butter to bake most of her cakes (even after the depression, she still used oil). If you're thinking oil is a compromise, you're wrong. It makes for a very moist cake. My mom made banana cake often because dad loved bananas and all things bananas. Mom made it in a 13" x 9" x 2" baking pan, so, if you'd rather a sheet cake than a bundt cake, it will work just fine.
Rather make a sheet cake? Bake it in a 13" x 9" x 2" pan.
For the banana-walnut cake:
2 1/2 cups chopped walnuts, lightly toasted (total throughout recipe, 2 cups for the cake + 1 cup for the topping)
2 3/4 cups unbleached, all-purpose flour
2 cups sugar
2 teaspoons baking powder
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
3 large eggs
2 3/4-3 cups mashed banana purée (from 5-6 large, very ripe, peeled and sliced bananas)
2 teaspoons pure banana extract
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
3/4 cup vegetable oil
no-stick cooking spray, for preparing bundt pan
For the cream cheese glaze & walnut topping:
4 ounces cream cheese, at room temperature, very soft
2 cups confectioners' sugar
2 teaspoons butter-rum flavoring
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
2 tablespoons milk, plus 1-2 teaspoons more, if necessary
1/2 cup lightly-toasted and finely-ground walnuts
~Step 1. Coarsely chop the walnuts. Place nuts in a small, shallow baking pan. Roast nuts on center rack of 350° oven, until fragrant and lightly-toasted, about 5-6 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside to cool. While nuts are toasting, in a medium mixing bowl, on medium speed of hand-held electric mixer, purée the sliced bananas.* Measure 3 cups of the bananas, then add and stir both extracts into the bananas. Set aside. In a small bowl, using a fork, whisk the eggs.
*Note: Bananas don't need to be a smooth purée. Small bits of fruit laced throughout is perfect.
~Step 2. In a large bowl, using a large rubber spatula, place and stir together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Add the beaten eggs, followed by the banana purée, then, using the spatula fold the mixture together until roughly moistened. On medium-high speed of hand-held electric mixer, add and thoroughly incorporate the vegetable oil, about 1 minute.
~ Step 3. Using the rubber spatula, fold in 2 cups of the lightly-toasted chopped walnuts (set the remaining 1/2 cup walnuts aside and use as directed below). Transfer/pour batter into a 12-cup bundt pan that has been lightly sprayed with no-stick. Bake on center rack of preheated 350° oven 55-60 minutes, or until a cake tester inserted in the thickest part of the cake comes out clean. Remove from oven, place on a wire rack and cool, in pan, 15 minutes. Invert cake onto wire rack to cool completely, 2-3 hours.
To prepare the cream cheese glaze & walnut topping:
~Step 1. To prepare the cream cheese glaze and pecan topping, if you have a small, "mini" food processor, now is the time to use it. Place the remaining 1/2 cup chopped, toasted walnuts in the work bowl and using a series of 25-30 rapid on-off pulses, process them to small bits and pieces.
~Step 2. In a food processor fitted with steel blade, place confectioners' sugar, cream cheese, banana and vanilla extracts and 2 tablespoon milk. Starting with 5-10 on-off pulses and then with the motor running, process for 25-30 seconds until smooth and drizzly. If necessary, through feed tube, add 1-2 teaspoons additional milk, until desired consistency is reached.
~ Step 3. When the cake has cooled completely, and with the cake still sitting on the wire rack: holding your hand 4"-6" above the surface of the cake and moving it (your hand) back and forth, in a slow, steady, stream, drizzle the glaze over the cake, while turning the wire rack about 1/4" with every back-and-forth drizzle, until all the glaze is gone. While glaze is still moist/sticky, sprinkle the nuts evenly over the top. Allow glaze to harden a bit prior to slicing cake, 1-2 hours.
Go bananas. Banana-walnut bundt cake. Simply irresistible...
... & scrumptious from first bite to last:
She's Gone Bananas: Banana-Walnut Bundt Cake: Recipe yields 12-16-20 servings (depending upon how thick or thin you slice the cake).
Special Equipment List: cutting board; chef's knife; small baking pan; hand-held electric mixer; large rubber spatula; 2-cup measuring container; 1-cup measuring container; fork; whisk; 12-cup bundt pan; wire cooling rack; cake tester; mini-food processor; food processor
Cook's Note: For another "fruity" cake recipe, this one containing pineapple, bananas and aromatic spices (cinnamon, cloves and nutmeg), check of my recipe for ~ Charmingly Southern: Hummingbird (Bundt) Cake ~. Originating in Jamaica, this cake has got a fascinating history worth reading.
"We are all in this food world together." ~ Melanie Preschutti
(Recipe, Commentary and Photos courtesy of Melanie's Kitchen/Copyright 2023)
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