Apple Banana Cake

What do you do when you have over ripe bananas, not fit to eat?  - You bake a Banana Bread. And in Fall here in Canada, apples are galore everywhere, so I decided to bake an Apple- Banana cake. I combined couple of recipes i found online to make it real simple. 

Ingredients

• Grated Apples - 4 cups of peeled n cored
• Bananas - 2 mashed
• Vanilla extract- 1 teaspoon
• Oil - 1/2 cup 
• Eggs - 2
• All purpose flour - 1 cup
• Whole wheat flour - 1Cup
• Brown sugar - 1.5 cups
• Baking Soda - 1 1/2 teaspoons
• Salt -1/2 teaspoon 
• Cinnamon powder - 1  teaspoon
• Powdered sugar - For dusting on top (Optional)

Steps

• Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

• Beat the oil, egg, vanilla and sugar together in a bowl. Mix in the grated apples and mashed banana. 
• Sift the dry ingredients together in a separate bowl and mix well.

• Add the dry mixture to wet ingredients and mix thoroughly.

• Pour into a pan and bake for 50 min or until tooth pick inserted comes out clean.

Oven baked Tandoori Chicken (Whole)

Thanksgiving (Canadian) is usually celebrated with turkey, but my husband and I are not big fans of turkey meat, so we decided we will start a new tradition of an Indian thanksgiving with Tandoori chicken :) . I've always wanted to roast a whole chicken instead of cut pieces and this was a good opportunity for me to try it, and it was awesome. Its real simple. Just marinate and bake.

Here are some things you need to know before you start: 

• You have to marinate the whole chicken over night for the best result.
• Use yogurt (Curd) that is thick. 
• You need at least 1 hour to bake, so plan before you start. 

Ingredients:

• Whole chicken skinned - 1

Initial rub:

• Salt - 1 Tspn
• Lemon juice - from 1/2
• Chilli powder - 1 Tspn (optional, if you like it spicy)

For Marinate:

• Yogurt (Curd) - 3 Tblspn
• Ginger garlic paste- 1 Tblspn
• Tandoori chicken masala powder* - 2 to 3 Tblspn based on how spicy you want it (I suggest you taste the powder first, yes! taste it, to see how salty and spicy it is)
• Coriander powder - 1/2 Tspn
• Salt - 1/2 Tspn 
• Corn flour - 1 Tspn + 1 Tspn (For top coating)
• Oil - 2 Tspn

* Or use 1 tspn each of cumin powder, chilli powder, garam masala, dry fenugreek leaves and 1/2 tspn of red food colour.

Final Touch after baking:

• Lemon juice - from 1/2

Steps:

• Clean chicken well and pat dry with a paper towel or clean dish cloth.
• Pierce the chicken with a knife, push it really well into the chicken, not just the surface so that the marinate will get into the flesh. You may want to do some deep cuts in the chicken's breasts as they are white meat, the toughest.
• Mix the ingredients of the initial rub together and spread all over the chicken and into the cuts and pierces.
• Next mix the ingredients of the marinate.
• Spread the marinate well all over the chicken again and inside the cavity too. Cover and refrigerate over night.

Next day:

• Take out the chicken from the fridge and keep it out for about half hour at least to come to room temperature (preferably 1 hour)
• Preheat oven to 400 F.
• Now, dust the marinated chicken with corn flour using a stainless steel strainer for even coating. This will give you a nice crisp layer on top. 
• Drizzle oil all over the chicken.
• Place chicken breast side down on a rack* and bake. This will ensure even cooking all over at the same time.
• Bake for 25 minutes, then flip the chicken around and bake for 20 minutes. Then again flip it and bake for extra 20 mins.
• After the 65 mins, raise temperature to 425 F and bake for 5 mins for the final browning on the top. Not for too long or you will dry out the chicken.
• Remove from the oven and squeeze a fresh lime or lemon all over the chicken.
• Cover the cooked chicken with aluminium foil for 5 to 10 mins to rest before you serve.

* - I used a cooling rack, I placed it on a foil covered baking pan so that the dripping does not stain the pan. If you have a roaster with a rack at home use that. 

If you do not have a roaster or a cooling rack to bake on, don't worry, place chicken on a foil covered pan and remove the drippings from the chicken each time you turn.

Cranberry Banana Oat Muffin

Last year during Christmas a baking ingredients company sent a free copy of a little recipe book using their products and coupons for the same to everyone in our city . It had some really nice and simple recipes, so I saved it and after 8 months tried one today. Its called a breakfast muffin, Its health and literally has everything you eat for a breakfast in it.  I made some changes to the ingredients, like swapping white sugar for brown sugar, oil for butter, added vanilla extract and adjusted the amount of Banana added. Don't worry if you can't find cranberries, you can substitute cranberries with raisins, it will be just as yummy.

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat flour - 1 1/4 cups
• Oats -1 1/4 cups (300 mL)
• Brown sugar - 2/3 cup (Taste batter in the end and add more if you like it sweeter)
• Baking Powder -1 1/2 tsp 
• Baking Soda- 1 tsp 
• Salt - 1/2 tsp
• Egg - 1 
• Vanilla extract -1 tsp
• Banana - 2 mashed ( Original recipe calls for 2 cups of mashed banana, I'm sure it will be more than 2 bananas, I had only 2 at home, so added 1/4 cup of milk to add more moisture)
• Oil - 1/3 cup 
• Milk -1/4 Cup (You can avoid this and add more mashed banana)
• Dry cranberries or raisins -3/4 cup 

Steps:

• Sift the flour and combine first six dry ingredients in mixing bowl. Mix well.
• Beat egg, mashed banana, oil and vanilla extract together until smooth.
• Add banana mixture to dry ingredients. Stir, add the milk. Stir gently until well combined and moistened. 
• Stir in the cranberries or raisins.
• The batter will be thick.
• Line a muffin pan and fill it 3/4.
• Bake at 375ºF for 15-20 minutes based on your oven. You know your done when you insert a knife and it comes out clean

Fresh Bread Crumbs

Bread crumbs is one of those not-so-frequently used ingredients. In the past I used to buy big boxes to make something and would have more than half the box full of bread crumbs sitting in my pantry for months together and finally end up in the garbage. But in the last three years or so I have started making my own bread crumbs with the end pieces of a bread loaf that no one wants to eat or left over pieces of bread. 

Once a loaf of bread gets over I just wrap the end pieces and pop it into the freezer. And when I need bread crumbs I take those end pieces from the freezer and make bread crumbs. It is super easy and its a nice way to avoid wasting precious food.

Ingredients:

Bread - Any kind. (bread ends or old bread, but not spoilt ones) 

Steps:

•  Toast Bread: Toast bread till brown on  both sides. I use a toaster to do it, its easy and fast. You can also pop the bread into the over at 400F for sometime or use a pan on stove top and toast the bread on both sides till. If using bread from the freezer, let it thaw before you toast it. Or is if toaster has option to toast frozen bread go ahead and toast it directly. 

•  Grind the toasted Bread: Once the bread is cool, break it into chunks. Use a mixer grinder or food processor to grind the bread chunks into desired texture. If you want it extra dry, just spread the ground crumbs on a baking sheet and bake for couple of mins.

Here's a recipe I used these bread crumbs on  Baked Tilapia

Chewy Brownies

This is one of the best and simple recipes I found after a long time for a brownie. I decided to bake some brownies as I had some left over cocoa powder. I then realized that I had lost all my recipes while moving,  not that I missed my brownie recipe, my brownies were more like brownie-cakes,  they were soft, not dense. Nor were they chewy, but it did taste good. So I started searching the internet for an easy brownie recipe within minimum ingredients and steps and luckily my search was just 2 clicks away and I found the recipe for the Chewiest Brownies from allrecipes.com. The secret to Chewy brownies - no baking powder or soda, now why didn't I think of that! They only ingredient I added were some chopped walnuts.

Ingredients:

• Unsweetened cocoa powder - 1 cup
• Melted butter - 1/2 cup
• White sugar - 2 cups
• Eggs -2
• Salt - 1/2 Tsp
• All-purpose flour - 1 cup
• Vanilla extract - 2Tsp
• Walnuts : 1/4 cup (Optional)
• Icing sugar for decoration - 1/3 cup (Optional)

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 300 degrees F (150 degrees C). Line pan with greased parchment paper.
• Combine the cocoa, melted butter, sugar, eggs, salt , flour and vanilla. Mix until well combined. It should be very thick and sticky.
• Spread mixture into the prepared pan. Bake at 300 degrees F (150 degrees C) for 30 minutes. Cool. 
• Dust the icing sugar over the brownie using a metal strainer.

Coconut Macaroons

I suddenly remembered that I had saved a recipe for Coconut Macaroons (biscuits) somewhere last year. I had found it after I baked a fruit cake for Christmas and had some dry shredded coconut left. So I decided to find the recipe and bake it. It turned out really well, crispy on the outside and soft on the inside :) 

Its a very easy and simple recipe. If you've read my previous blogs you'll realise I bake or cook that which requires minimum ingredients and steps. Not becos I am lazy, its becos I have a little son running around. He can do some serious damage if left unattended for a long time. So I tend to simplify recipes to suit my time constraint.

Ingredients:

• Shredded sweetened coconut (dry)- 1 1/3 cups
• Granulated sugar - 1/3 cup 
• All-purpose flour - 2 tablespoons 
• Egg whites – 2
• Vanilla extract – 1/2 teaspoon

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 325 degrees F.
• In a bowl, combine coconut and flour.
• In another bowl, whisk together the egg whites, sugar and vanilla.
• With a spoon or spatula, mix in the coconut-flour mixture to the egg mixture. It will be dense mixture. Now your ready to bake.
• On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, scoop the mixture with a spoon and place it 1 inch apart. I used a 1 tablespoon rounded measuring spoon. 
• Bake until golden brown, must be for 15-18 minutes, based on the oven. Let macaroons cool. When hot it will not be crispy on the outside.

Tip: Once cooled, transfer to an air-tight container. Or it will loose its crispiness.

Banana Bread

This is an easy and low fat banana bread. I found this recipe on Allrecipes.com some time back. I make this every time I have some bananas that don't look pretty enough to eat :) Those dark brown ones are apt for this recipe. Next time you have some uneatable bananas lying around, don't waste them, make yourself a banana bread and enjoy :)


Ingredients:

• Ripe bananas -  2 or 3 large ones mashed
• Baking soda - 1Tsp
• Plain yogurt - 1/2 cup 
• Oil - 1/4 cup
• Light brown sugar - 3/4cup
• Sugar - 1 Tblsp (if u like it sweeter, I don't use it)
• Egg  - 1
• Vanilla extract - 1tsp
• All-purpose flour - 1 cup
• Whole wheat flour - 1/2 cup
• Ground cinnamon - 1/2 tsp
• Baking powder - 1 tsp
• Salt - 1/4 tsp
• Coco powder - 1Tblsp (Optional, for rich color)
• Walnuts - Chopped 1 handful (optional)

*Tip - you can replace 1 whole egg with 2 egg whites and use low fat yogurt for even less fat. I haven't used it like this, so I'm not sure of the taste.

Steps:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F (180 degrees C).
2. In a large bowl, mix the mashed bananas with the baking soda and yogurt. Allow to sit while you prepare the rest of the batter.
3. Meanwhile, in a separate bowl, whisk together the oil, sugar, egg or egg whites, and vanilla.
4. In another large bowl, whisk together the flours, baking powder, ground cinnamon, coco powder and salt.
5. Then combine the banana mixture with the oil mixture and then add to the flour mixture. Stir just until all the ingredients are moistened. Stir in half the walnuts. 
6. Pour into an oiled  loaf pan or a cake pan of your choice. Add remaining walnuts on top.
7. Bake for about 35- 45 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted in the center of the loaf comes out clean.