Flourless Banana Nut Muffins

Lauren found a recipe on Pinterest for some healthy banana muffins.  We made a few changes to it and what resulted were spectacular, moist, low fat muffins that disappeared quickly!

In a food processor, process the oatmeal for 20 seconds and then add in the rest of the following ingredients:

• 2.5 cups oatmeal (process this for 20s before adding the rest)
• 2 t baking powder
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 ripe peeled bananas, baked in peel until blackened at 350.
• 1 dash kosher salt (use less if you're using table salt)
• a pinch of cayenne pepper
• 1 cup plain low fat greek yogurt
• 2 eggs
• 1/2 cup honey
• 1/2 t cinnamon

When that comes together, add:

• 1/4 - 1/2 cup roughly chopped pecans (optional)
• 1/4 cup roughly chopped bittersweet chocolate (optional)
• 1/2 cup dates (raisins, prunes, or other dried fruit is fine)

Pour this batter into a greased muffin tin and bake in a preheated 400 degree oven for 15-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out mostly clean.

OH SO GOOD!

Slutty Brownies

Slutty Brownie...Oh so delicious!

What could be better than chocolate chip cookies, you ask?  What about chocolate chip cookies with double stuff oreo on top?

And what could be better than chocolate  chip cookie with double stuff oreo on top?  How about chocolate chip cookie with double stuff oreo on top, with gooey brownie on top?!

Ok it sounds like we've gone a little overboard - until you take a bite!

Thanks to The Londoner for this sweet recipe.

Prepare a batch of cookie dough - you can use any recipe for this, even the box kind - but to to help them keep their moisture with the extra baking time try adding an extra teaspoon of water and oil.  Coconut oil can add an extra unique flavor.  Line a brownie pan with parchment paper and smush the cookie down along the bottom of the pan as if you were making one big cookie.

Next, top the cookie dough with double stuff oreos (I hear that now they have some sort of "super stuff" oreos!), as many as you can fit in one layer.

Finally, prepare a batch of brownie dough and pour it over the top of the cookie and oreo greatness.  Bake for 30 minutes in a preheated 350 degree oven.

These are so great - enjoy!

Pizza Pizza

After the bake!

Pizza is my all time favorite food.  The crust and sauce recipes that follow are based on the "America's Test Kitchen" crust and sauce recipes.  I've tried a lot of crust recipes, and a lot of bought crusts, and this is the best one I've had.  Admittedly, this crust is a bit of a job.  The sauce is brain dead easy, but don't let that fool you - the sauce alone can make a wonderful pizza out of just about any crust!

Crust Dry Ingredients

• 16.5 oz bread flour
• 2 T sugar
• 1/2 t yeast

Crust Wet Ingredients

• 1 1/3 cups ice cold water
• 1 1/2 t table salt
• 1 T vegetable oil

Pulse the three dry ingredients together until mixed.  Add the 1 1/3 cups of ice cold water while processing until the dough comes together in the food processor.  Let that sit in the processor for 10 minutes.  Then add the 1 1/2 t salt and 1 T vegetable oil and proess again for 30-60 seconds.

Remove the dough only an oiled counter and knead for 60 seconds.  Let rest in the refrigerator in a greased bowl, covered tight for 1-3 days.  This "relaxes" the dough without allowing the yeast to work and produce CO2.

Before the bake!

When ready to use, remove the dough and divide into two shaped balls.  Rest covered on the counter for 1 hour.  On a well floured counter top, shape the dough.  Stretch it to about a 12 inch diameter.  Move the dough to a well floured (or corn mealed) pizza peel and stretch a little bit more to about 13 inches in diameter.  Sauce, top with a mixture of about 1/2 cup parmesan and 1 cup mozzarella, top with whatever toppings you'd like (pepperoni, jalapenos,  mushrooms, onions, sliced tomatoes, etc) and bake in a preheated oven at 500 degrees on a pizza stone on the top rack for 10-12 minutes.

This slice will soon disappear.

Sauce

• 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes, drained
• 1 T evoo
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 t table salt
• 1 t oregano
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1 t red wine vinegar

Add all ingredients to a food processor, and refrigerate for 1 hour to allow the flavors to meld.

Cowboy Caviar

Cowboy Caviar is a super healthy, super nutritious, and surprisingly tasty dip for chips (I like it with tortilla chips).  There are a hundred recipes for this around the internet, but I like this one.

• 1 can black eyed peas, mostly drained
• 1 can corn
• 1 can black beans, mostly drained
• 1 large can diced tomatoes, drained
• 2 T red wine vinegar
• 1.5 t olive oil
• 1/2 cup diced jalepenos
• 2 t lime juice
• 1/4 cup chopped onion
• 1/4 t salt
• 1/4 t ground cumin
• 1/8 t pepper (or to taste)

Combine all ingredients and serve.  You can play around with adding or removing any of the ingredients or the amount of juices that you drain from the cans - those juices are tasty.

Pineapple Chipotle Salsa

One of a million possible salsa recipes. This one was a little experiment I tried one night that turned out well. Yum. Fruit and heat always makes a nice combo.

• 1 pound oven roasted tomatoes
• 1 oven roasted bell pepper
• 2 oven roasted jalapenos
• 6 oz tomato paste
• 7 oz can chipotles in adobo sauce
• 1/4 fresh pineapple
• 1 sweet onion

Combine all the ingredients in a food processor and pulse until  the salsa reaches your desired level of chunkiness.

Red Chipotle Salsa

This is a nice smoky chipotle flavored tomato based salsa - much like a salsa you might commonly find in the mexican restaurant down the street.  Its easy to make.

• 2 roasted jalapenos
• 4 cloves of garlic, roasted
• 5-7 roasted tomatoes
• 1/2 T chopped cilantro
• 1 t salt
• 2 T lime juice
• 1/2 7 oz can chipotles in adobo sauce

Roast the jalapenos, garlic, and tomatoes.  Alternatively you can "roast" them in an un-oiled frying pan until they are blackened and softened.  Remove the skin from the tomatoes and jalapenos.  If you don't want to roast the tomatoes, you can substitute 2 cans of fire roasted diced tomatoes instead.

Add half the tomatoes to a food processor.  Combine with the jalapenos, garlic, and chipotles and process until smooth.  Add remaining tomatoes and pulse until the salsa reaches the level of chunkiness desired.  Add the cilantro, salt.  Add these final ingredients one at a time and carefully, tasting as you go until you find the taste you desire.

White Chicken Chili

Not long after we moved into a new neighborhood, there was a neighborhood gathering and chili cookoff.  I decided to make this white chicken chili, and I spiced it up a good bit (Lauren and I love spicy foods).  As our neighbors tasted my chili, they kept commenting on how spicy it was.  Almost all of them couldn't take the heat.  Oops.  :)  If you like the spice, try this recipe as is.  If not, cut back on the chili ingredients quite a bit, as this is quite the spicy chili!

• 2 T vegetable oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 2 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 14.5 oz can chicken broth
• 1 18.75 oz can tomatillos, drained and chopped OR a can of salsa verde
• 1 16 oz can fire roasted diced tomatoes
• 1 7 oz can diced green chiles
• 1/2 t dried oregano
• 1/2 t ground coriander seed
• 1/4 t ground cumin
• 2 ears fresh corn, slice off the cob (you can substitute frozen corn)
• 1 pound chicken, cooked and diced into 1/2 inch chunks
• 1/2 pound ground chicken
• 1 15 oz can white beans
• 1 pinch salt and black pepper (to taste)
• 2 T cornstarch (to thicken)
• 2 diced jalapenos
• Add more cumin to taste
• Chili powder to taste
• 2-3 T cream

Add all ingredients to slow cooker and cook on low until the chicken is cooked through.

Wonderful Pizza Sauce

The best pizza sauce ever!

This pizza sauce couldn't be simpler, but it can single handedly make your homemade pizza the best homemade pizza you've ever had.

Just grab your food processor and process until smooth:

• 1 28 oz can whole tomatoes
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 T olive oil
• 1 t red wine vinegar
• 1/4 t black pepper
• 1 t oregano
• 1 t salt (or to taste)
• 1 t crushed red pepper flakes

Mmmmm, mmmm, good!

Hillsborough Highlights

Here are a few of our favorite places in Hillsborough, NC.

Mystery Brewery
Hillsborough BBQ
The Depot - closed down
Antonia's
Pancuito
The Wooden Nickel

Radius

Pork Tamales

Filling

The filling can be whatever you want - beef, pork, chicken, cheese, veggies, a combination of one or more of the preceding, or anything you desire.  I made a tasty pork filling as follows:

• 1 sweet onion
• 1 whole pork loin, boston butt, or picnic shoulder
• 1 t chili powder
• 2 t kosher salt
• 1 t black pepper
• 1/2 t cayenne pepper
• 1/2 t cinnamon
• 1/2 t ground cumin
• 1/4 t garlic powder
• 3-4 cups water or stock
• 3 chipotle chiles

Cook 1 sweet onion over medium heat with spices until it softens and starts to caramelize.  Add a pork loin or buston butt (make thin slices across the fat to help it break down and self baste the meat), seasoned with salt and pepper, and add 3-4 cups of water to cover the meat.  Bring to a boil, and then lower the heat to a simmer and cover.  Cook this for about 1.5 hours or until the pork is cooked and fork tender.  Using two forks, or your fingers, pull the pork into shreds.  If you overcook the pork or it is not fork tender, you can run it through a food processor or slicer instead of pulling it with a fork or fingers.

Masa Dough and Tamale Assembly

• 3.5 cups masa flour
• 1.5 T kosher salt (or to taste)
• 2 1/4 t baking powder
• 1/2 cup crisco
• 2-4 cups water or reserved liquid from meat preparation
• 24 corn husks

First soak the corn husks for 1 hour so that they will be flexible enough to wrap the tamales without breaking.

In a mixing bowl, stir together the masa, salt, baking powder.  Add the crisco and combine by hand or with the mixer.  Slowly add the liquid until the mixture is the consistency of play dough (it should be together and moist, but not too wet).

Setup an assembly line of masa, meat, corn husks (patted dry), and steamer setup (I use a large stock pot with a steamer basket in the bottom).  Lay each corn husk pointed end away and spoon out 1-2 T of masa dough and spread in a square about 3.5 x 3.5 inches and about 1/8 to 1/4 inch thick.  The spread should be closer to the wide (not pointed) end of the husk, and about 1/2 to 1 inch away from any edges.  On top of that, add about 1 T of the filling in the middle of the dough.  Fold the corn husks left and right sides over towards the middle until the two sides of the filling come together.  Wrap the corn husk sides one by one around the dough and over each other.  Pinch the bottom of the dough together and fold the pointed end of the husk up towards the top of the tamale.  Pinch the top of the dough together to seal the tamale.  You can then use a thin strip of corn husk to tie the tamale together so that it doesn't come unfolded during steaming.

Place the tamales  in the steamer basket and steam for about 1.5 hours or until the dough is done and the husks peel off the dough easily.

I like to serve the tamales with some black beans and salsa.

Chewy Chocolate Chip Cookies

This is my absolute favorite cookie recipe of all time.  Mmmm, mmmm, good!  Its a variation of the Good Eats chewy chocolate chip cookie recipe, which is itself a variation of the Toll House cookie recipe.

Wet Ingredients

• 2 sticks melted unsalted butter
• 1/4 cup white sugar
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1 egg, plus 1 egg yolk
• 2 T milk
• 1.5 t vanilla

Dry Ingredients

• 2 1/4 cups bread flour
• 1 t salt
• 1 t baking soda
• 2 cups chocolate chips

Combine the first three "wet" ingredients (butter and sugar) and mix with the paddle in a mixer.  Add in the remaining wet ingredients and set aside.  In a separate bowl, combine all the dry ingredients except the chocolate chips.  Slowly add the dry mixture to the wet while beating in the mixer.  Add 2 cups chocolate chips.  Spoon these out onto a greased cookie sheet in about 1 T ball and cook at 350 until golden brown.

Sugo All'Amatriciana

This recipe came to me from my sister through her ex sister-in-law who is Italian.  We called it "Amastriciana" and ate it over penne pasta, but when Lauren and I went to Italy we saw it as "All'amatriciana" and it was served over spaghetti or bucatini.  This wonder is a tangy tomato bacon delight.

• 2 cans 28 oz whole tomatoes
• 2 cans 8 oz tomato sauce
• 5-8 cloves garlic (to your taste), diced.
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1 pound bacon or pork cheek (called pork jowl in North Carolina)
• The reserved grease from the cooked bacon/pork.
• optional: 1 large onion, diced into 1 inch pieces

In a large stock pot, add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and 1/2 the garlic over low heat.  Cook the bacon, slice it into 1-2 inch lengths and add to the stock pot.  Use the resulting bacon grease in a frying pan to saute the onion and garlic until soft, and add the onion and garlic to the stock pot.  Simmer the sauce for at least 1 hour.  Serve over penne (or other) pasta and top with grated peccorino romano cheese.

Gene's Rib Sauce

Around here, when we eat barbecue (in the south, this only means one thing: pulled pork) we do it with a tangy cider vinegar based sauce.  But in the western part of the state barbecue is done with a milder, thicker, tomato based sauce.  A thicker sauce like that is much better suited to ribs.  Here's my dad's rib sauce recipe.

• 29 oz tomato puree
• 1/3 cup mustard
• 2 T lemon juice
• 2 T sugar
• 2 T dark brown sugar
• 2 T chili powder
• 3 cups water
• 1.5 cups cider vinegar
• 1/4 cup dark corn syrup
• 1 T dry mustard
• 1 T paprika
• 2 T red pepper flakes
• 2 T onion powder
• 1 t salt
• 1 t pepper
• 1/2 t garlic powder

Bring all these ingredients to a boil in a sauce pan or stock pot.  Stir and lower to a simmer, let simmer for 30 minutes.

Gene's Eastern NC Barbecue

The most important part of barbecue is the meat, of course.  But what separates eastern north carolina style pulled pork from other barbecues is its vinegary sauce.

The Sauce

My dad's BBQ sauce recipe:

• 1 qt cider vinegar
• 1 T crushed red pepper flake
• 3 T Worcestershire sauce
• 2 oz tomato juice
• 1/2 t black pepper
• 3/4 t salt
• 1 T mustard

I prefer a variation that substitutes 1/2 cup texas pete for the 2 oz tomato juice.

Bring all the ingredients together in a large saucepan and simmer until the mustard dissolves and all the spices are integrated into the sauce (except the red pepper flakes).  Turn off the heat and let cool.

The Meat

For a 6 pound boston butt, you can grill over indirect low heat for approximately 8 hours, or in an oven for about 8 hours at 170.  When finished, pull apart with two forks into a large pot.  Add sauce to taste and cook on low heat for a couple hours, but make sure to keep some sauce set aside for diners to use.

Gene, God, and Mr Wolfe's BBQ

After my dad died I started trying to make barbecue the way he did.  He always used indirect heat on a small charcoal grill.  He'd just do 1 or 2 boston butts at a time, low and slow.  Not long after that, our long time family friend Lowry Wolfe died unexpectedly, much the same way as my own father.  As a gesture, I made barbecue for Mrs Wolfe and her family.  Unfortunately it didn't go quite as planned.  My dads old charcoal grill bottom had rotted out.  That grill was a piecemeal creation, an old gas grill turned charcoal grill, so I thought maybe I could use the gas function - but the gas lines were also rotted out.  We already had the boston butts out and sauce on, so I decided to do the best I could with dad's oven method, with a few changes.

I used 2 6-7 pound boston butts, and I cooked them for 1.5 hours at 250 in a large roasting pan.  Then I added about 1/2 cup of cider vinegar and tented the meat with aluminum foil, and put back in for another 1.5  hours.  Then I increased the temperature to 300 and cooked for another 2 hours.

I was afraid the result would not be impressive and that I would end up having to slice the meat instead of simply pull it with two forks - but I was pleasantly surprised at how tender and pull-ready it turned out.  So surprised, that I decided my God and my dad must have been helping, to honor Lowry Wolfe.