Oma's Banana Bread

Ingredients
1/4 cup margarine
1/2 cup sugar
1 egg
1 cup whole wheat flour
2 Tbs water
1 1/2 cups mashed bananas
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 cups nutmeats

Procedure
Pree-heat oven to 350 degrees. Cream together margarine and sugar. Add egg and mix well. Add whole wheat flour, and combine. Combine water with banana in separate bowl and add alternatively with the rest of the dry ingredients. Mix well. Add nutmeats and vanilla. Pour into a greased 5x9 loaf pan. Bake for 60 min.



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Oma Buns

Ingredients
1 1/2 tsp salt
1/3 cup oil
2 Tbs honey
1 3/4 cups warm water
1 Tbs yeast
5 cups whole wheat flour


Procedure
Mix together salt, oil, honey, water, and three cups of flour until well combined. Add yeast; mix well. Add remaining flour, and knead for 10-15 minutes. If dough resists kneading too much let it rest for 5-10 minutes. Divide dough into eight equal portions, and form into balls. Let round loaves rise on a greased baking sheet for 45-60 minutes. Bake at 350 degrees for 25-35 minutes.


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Simple Crackers

Ingredients
1 1/2 cups flour
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 Tbs honey
1 Tbs vegetable oil
1/3-1/2 cups water
toppings

Procedure
Mix everything but the water together in a large bowl. Add just enough water for the dough to com together into a ball. Knead for 10-15 minutes or until you can stretch the dough thin enough with your hands to see light through it without it first breaking. Let rise in a covered oiled bowl for 1-2 hours at room temperature or for up to 12 (or so) in the fridge.

Pre-heat oven to 350 degrees. Let dough return to approximately room temperature before rolling as thin as you can directly onto a baking sheet. Sprinkle on toppings. Toppings may include herbs like oregano, basil, marjoram, seeds like flax and sesame, and spices like cinnamon, turmeric, all spice, and fennel.

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Chocolate Mousse Filled Cream Puffs

Ingredients

For the Mousse
1 cup boiling water
8 oz. chocolate, in small pieces (I used semi-sweet chocolate chips)

For the Pastry
1/2 cup water
1/4 cup (1/2 stick) butter or margarine
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 Tbs sugar
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 eggs


Procedure for the mousse
In a large bowl, pour boiling water over chocolate pieces. Stir with a whisk until chocolate is completely melted. Place bowl into a larger bowl filled with ice (to cool the chocolate slowly). With an electric mixer, beat chocolate mixture. Make sure to wear an apron, and to avoid a messy kitchen, place bowls in the sink while beating. Chocolate will slowly thicken (be patient), then begin to whip like cream. If chocolate becomes runny again, reheat the chocolate (over medium heat) until warm and less frothy. Then repeat the beating over an ice bath. Once stiff peaks form, cover mousse and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

If you have a hard time believing this recipe, watch Heston Blumenthal whip up a batch here.

Procedure for the pastry
Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease cookie sheet. In a small saucepan, combine water, butter, salt and sugar. Cook over medium heat, stirring until butter melts and mixture boils. Reduce heat to low and add flour all at once, stir quickly for 1 minute or until dough leaves sides of pan and forms a ball. Remove from heat. Add eggs one at a time, beating with an electric mixer after each addition. Beat until smooth. Drop dough by heaping tablespoons onto greased cookie sheet (should make six puffs). Bake 25 minutes. If puffs are not yet golden brown, continue baking up to five minutes with the oven door propped open. Immediately transfer puffs to a cooking rack. When puffs have cooled slightly, horizontally slice puffs in half. When cooled, fill bottom halves of puffs with mousse, and replace tops. Sprinkle with powdered sugar and serve.

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pastry slightly adapted from a The Cooking Photographer recipe.
mousse basically verbatim from a Heston Blumenthal recipe.

Zucchini Bread

Ingredients
3 eggs
1 cup oil
1 cup sugar
1 cup brown sugar
2 cups peeled & shredded zucchini
3 tsp vanilla
3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
3 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp baking powder
1 cup chopped walnuts


Procedure
Preheat oven to 325 degrees. Beat eggs. Add oil, sugars, zucchini and vanilla. Mix lightly until well combined. Stir in flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, ground ginger, baking soda and baking powder. Mix in chopped walnuts and pour batter into two well-greased loaf pans. Bake 1 hour. If bread is still gooey in the middle, bake for another 10 minutes.


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Chocolate Covered Coconut Macaroons

Ingredients
14 oz package sweetened shredded coconut
¾ cup sugar
¾ cup egg whites (about 5 large eggs)
1 ½ tsp vanilla
¼ tsp almond extract
8 ounces semisweet chocolate chips
¾ cup cream

Procedure
In a large saucepan, combine shredded coconut, sugar, and egg whites. Stir until well combined. Cook over medium-low heat, stirring regularly, about 12-15 minutes, until the mixture no longer looks creamy, but is pasty and sticky. Do not cook until dry. Remove from heat. Mix in vanilla and almond extract. Spread mixture onto large baking sheet lined with waxed paper. Refrigerate until cold, about 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 300 degrees. Grease baking sheet, and scoop coconut onto baking sheet using a ¼-cup measuring cup. Pack the coconut mixture into domes, you should have about a dozen. Bake the macaroons until golden, about 30 minutes. Transfer to a rack and cool.

Place chocolate chips in a medium bowl. Heat cream in a small saucepan until very hot but not boiling. Remove from heat, and pour cream over chocolate. Whisk chocolate and cream until smooth and chocolate is thoroughly melted. Set cooling rack holding cookies over baking sheet and spoon glaze over macaroons, covering them almost completely and allowing chocolate to drip down the sides. Leftover glaze can be refrigerated. Refrigerate macaroons until glaze sets, at least 2 hours. Transfer to an airtight container, and refrigerate or freeze.

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basically verbatim from an Orangette recipe.

Delicious Cherry Pie

Ingredients

For the Crust
2 cups flour
2 Tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
12 Tbs cold butter, cut into small pieces
4 Tbs shortening
6 Tbs ice water
1 egg yolk
1 Tbs milk

For the Filling
1 1/2 lbs. fresh cherries, stemmed, pitted, halved (I used a mixture of dark Lambert and light Royal Ann cherries)
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
2 1/2 Tbs cornstarch
2 tsp vanilla
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1 Dash nutmeg


Procedure
For the crust, in a large mixing bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt. Work the butter and shortening in with your fingers, until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs. Sprinkle in ice water, 1 Tbs at a time, stirring gently with a fork after each addition, adding only enough ice water to form a rough mass. Do not add more than 6 Tbs. Divide the dough in half, and pat each half into two smooth, flattened disks. Wrap in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.

For the filling, in a large bowl, combine cherries, sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch, vanilla, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Stir well to combine.

To assemble pie, roll out one of your pie dough rounds, thinly, on a floured surface, and fit into a 9-inch pie plate (other half of dough should remain in the refrigerator until needed). Using a slotted spoon, so as not to include too much liquid, scoop the cherries into the pie plate over the crust. Roll out the second pie dough round, and fit it over the top of the cherries. Trim off the excess dough, and make the crust look all pretty. Cut some vents into the pie dough. Whisk together egg yolk and Tbs milk. Brush the yolk mixture evenly over dough.

Bake pie for 65-70 minutes, or until crust is golden brown. If your crust or your crust edges starts to brown too quickly, cover with foil.

Cool pie on a wire rack, to room temperature, before slicing.

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basically verbatim from a Sugar Plum recipe.