Banana Bread

Source

Servings: 6

Ingredients:

• 1 pinch salt

Steps:

1. Preheat the oven to 350F (175C). Butter an 8x4-inch loaf pan.
2. In a mixing bowl, mash the ripe bananas with a fork until completely smooth. Stir the melted butter into the mashed bananas.
3. Mix in the baking soda and salt. Stir in the sugar, beaten egg, and vanilla extract. Mix in the flour.
4. Pour the batter into your prepared loaf pan. Bake for 55 to 65 minutes at 350°F (175°C), or until a toothpick or wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. A few dry crumbs are okay; streaks of wet batter are not. If the outside of the loaf is browned but the center is still wet, loosely tent the loaf with foil and continue baking until the loaf is fully baked.
5. Remove from oven and let cool in the pan for a few minutes. Then remove the banana bread from the pan and let cool completely before serving. Slice and serve. (A bread knife helps to make slices that aren't crumbly.) Wrapped well, the banana bread will keep at room temperature for 4 days. For longer storage, refrigerate the loaf up to 5 days, or freeze it.

Notes:

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Strawberry Lemonade

Source

Ingredients:

• 1/2 pound fresh strawberries, stems removed
• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar
• 4 1/2 - 5 cups water
• 1 1/2 cups fresh-squeezed lemon juice

Steps:

1. Use a blender or food processor to puree the strawberries. Strain them through a fine mesh sieve, if desired, to remove seeds.
2. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, stir together sugar and 2 cups water.
3. Bring to a boil, and stir until sugar is dissolved. Remove from heat and allow to cool to room temperature.
4. Strain the lemon juice through a fine-mesh sieve into a 2-quart pitcher. Add simple syrup and pureed strawberries and stir to combine. Refrigerate until cold.
5. When ready to serve, add 2 ½ cups of cold water and stir. Taste, and add more water if it's too sweet.
6. Serve with ice.

Notes:

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Alfredo Sauce

Source

Ingredients:

• 1 clove garlic (sub for # tbsp minced garlic)
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp white pepper
• 1 stick butter
• 2 tbsp cream cheese
• 1 pint heavy cream
• 1 cup parmesean cheese (NOT bagged shredded)

Steps:

1. Melt the butter in a pot
2. Add the garlic to the pot
3. Add the heavy cream to the pot, and warm up (not to boiling)
4. Add the cream cheese to the pot, then the parmesean. Stir intermittently until cheese is fully melted.

Notes:

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Baked Mac n' Cheese

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Ingredients:

• 2 cups (8oz) gouda, shredded fresh
• 2 cups (8oz) provolone, shredded fresh
• 2 cups (8oz) sharp cheddar, shredded fresh
• 2 cups (8oz) colby jack, shredded fresh
• 1 lb cavatappi or elbow macaroni
• 2 tsp salt
• 1 tsp black pepper
• 1 tsp garlic powder
• 1 tsp smoked paprika
• 1 tsp soy sauce
• 2 tsp worcestershire sauce
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter (1 stick)
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 (12 oz) cans evaporated milk
• 1 cup heavy cream

Steps:

1. Boil the pasta for 2 minutes less than package instructions (usually 5-7 minutes). Drain and set aside.
2. While the pasta cooks, shred all cheeses and mix them together in a large bowl.
3. Preheat oven to 375 F (or 350 F if you like your mac more gooey) In the same pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Once bubbling, add salt, black pepper, garlic powder, and smoked paprika, stirring for 1 minute to bloom the flavors. Stir in soy sauce and Worcestershire sauce.
4. Turn the heat to the lowest it will go! Sprinkle in the flour and whisk continuously for about 2 minutes to cook out the raw taste. This forms a smooth roux that will thicken the sauce.
5. Slowly pour in the evaporated milk cans, whisking constantly until smooth. Repeat with the heavy cream, whisking to fully combine.
6. Add three-quarters of the shredded cheese in three portions:
   • First 1/3: Stir until fully melted.
   • Second 1/3: Stir until fully melted.
   • Final 1/3: Stir briefly, allowing it to partially melt for a gooey texture.
7. Add the cooked pasta to the cheese sauce, folding until evenly coated.
8. Pour the mac and cheese into a 9x13 baking dish. Sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Bake at 375F (or 350 F for more gooeyness) for 30 minutes until golden and bubbly. Broil immediately for 3-5 minutes or until cheese crust is to your liking
9. Top with chopped chives and serve warm.

Notes:

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Tomato Feta Pasta

Source

Ingredients:

• 2 pints cherry tomatoes
• 1 medium shallot, finely diced
• 6 medium cloves garlic peeled (sub for x tbsp mixed garlic)
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 (8oz) block feta cheese
• 1/4 cup white wine (sub for 1/6 cup apple cider vinegar) (optional)
• 1/4 tsp red pepper flakes (optional)
• Salt and pepper to taste
• 12oz pasta (we like using Banza Cavatappi for protien)
• 1/4 cup fresh minced basil (or oregano, parsley, or a mix of all)

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 400F. In a 9x13 casserole dish, toss tomatoes, shallot, and garlic with olive oil until evenly coated. Form a space in the center of the pan and place feta in the center. Turn the feta to evenly coat in olive oil. Drizzle white wine over feta and tomatoes and top with red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste.
2. Bake feta at 400F for 35-40 minutes until tomatoes are bursting and feta is a deep golden brown.
3. While the feta is baking, cook the pasta according to package instructions in salted boiling water until pasta is al dente.
4. Once feta is done, remove from oven and add basil. Use a wooden spoon to mash (or a handheld blender, could even dump into a normal blender) feta together with tomatoes, garlic, and shallot until a creamy sauce forms.
5. Stir pasta into sauce until evenly coated. Season pasta with additional salt and pepper to taste.

Notes:

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Chicken Pesto Parm Salad

Servings: 6

Source

Ingredients:

• For the salad:
• favorite hot sauce
• For the pesto vinaigrette:
• For the za'atar breadcrumbs:

Steps:

• For the salad and pesto vinaigrette:
1. Preheat oven to 400F. Rinse cut broccoli florets and wipe dry with a paper towel. Toss with olive oil, salt, and red pepper flakes. Roast for 22 minutes.
2. Meanwhile, cook the quinoa according to package directions.
3. Make the vinaigrette by putting all of the ingredients except for the olive oil in a food processor. Process on high until all of the ingredients are in tiny pieces. Slowly add in the olive oil and continue processing on high until dressing is thin.
4. When broccoli and quinoa are both done, create salad bowl, starting with spinach as a base. Add chicken, broccoli, quinoa, cherry tomatoes, parmesan, and za'atar breadcrumbs. Drizzle pesto vinaigrette and hot sauce over the salad and enjoy!
• For the za'atar bread crumbs:
1. Pre-heat oven to 400F.
2. Place cubed bread in food processor. Process on high until the bread turns into crumbs. Process longer for finer crumbs and process less for some varied sizes.
3. Place breadcrumbs on sheet pan lined with parchment paper. Sprinkle olive oil and za'atar over bread crumbs. Mix together, trying to coat as much of the bread crumbs as possible.
4. Bake for 2-5 minutes, tossing them halfway through for even toasting. Time will vary depending on how stale your bread is. If there's still moisture in your bread, it will take a couple of minutes longer. If not, the bread crumbs will toast very quickly, so keep a watch out!
5. Remove from the oven and use toasted bread crumbs on a salad, macaroni and cheese, you name it!

Notes:

• To make za'atar breadcrumbs, see this recipe.
• Tomatoes are totally optional, my wife and I do not use them and it's still great.

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Mozzarella Sticks

Source

Servings: 20

Ingredients:

• salt
• tallow (or any other frying fat of choice)

Steps:

1. Cut the block of cheese into 1/2 inch thick sticks, a few inches tall. Should make about 20 pieces.
2. Place the eggs in a bowl with 1/4 tsp salt and 1 tablespoon of water, and whisk to combine. Place the bread crumbs in a second bowl next to the eggs.
3. Take a cheese stick and dip it into the egg, letting the excess drip off. Then coat it in the bread crumbs, shake off the excess, and place on a tray. Repeat with the remaining cheese sticks.
4. Once each cheese stick has been breaded, take each one through the egg and bread crumbs again for a second coating, at a minimum. I prefer to bread the cheese sticks three times for a more robust shell, but two coats is sufficient to prevent the cheese from leaking during cooking.
5. Freeze the mozzarella sticks, on the tray, for at least for two hours.
6. Heat the tallow or frying fat of choice to 365F, using either a deep fryer or a heavy bottomed 8" saucepan monitored with a thermometer. You want the fat to come a few inches up the sides of the pan.
7. Fry the mozzarella sticks in batches (without overfilling the pot) for about 2 minutes, until golden brown.
8. Let the cheese sticks drain briefly on a paper towel, then serve promptly with marinara or your favorite dunking sauce. Enjoy!

Notes:

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Strawberry Ice Cream

Source

Ingredients:

• 2 cups chopped strawberries
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 cups heavy cream
• 1 cup whole milk
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1 dash salt

Steps:

1. Freeze ice cream bowl of a 2QT ice cream maker overnight.
2. Mix chopped strawberries with 1/2 cup sugar in a medium sized bowl. Allow to set for about 15 minutes so strawberries release their juices.
3. Blend strawberries up in a blender or food processor.
4. In a large bowl combine strawberry mixture with heavy cream, whole milk, vanilla extract, salt and remaining sugar. Set aside.
5. Pour strawberry cream mixture into prepared ice cream maker. Allow to run according to manufactures instructions (Mine is about 30 minutes.)
6. Serve now for soft serve ice cream.
7. For scoopable ice cream, scoop ice cream into a bread loaf pan and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the freezer for 6 hours up to overnight.

Notes:

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