bread Archives | Guilty Kitchen

Kitchen Crew Mission #2 – Autumn Bake

This weeks challenge for the Canadian Tire Kitchen Crew series was an easy one for me. The task was put forth as such:

“Thanksgiving. For some, just hearing the word makes them shudder, especially thinking about all the work creating a thanksgiving feast for your family entails. Your mission this week is to get inspired and take a new view on old Thanksgiving classics. From side dishes to the main event – anything goes!”

Thanksgiving with family doesn’t scare me. Roasting a 22lb. turkey doesn’t scare me. Mixing gallons of freshly made dressing into thai noodle salad in giant rubbermaid containers with my arms buried down to my elbows for a wedding party of 400 people doesn’t scare me. Making all of the above for Bono, or David Eggers or Gordon Ramsay…well, that might scare me a little.

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{Guest Post: Hélène of Le Cuisine d’Hélène} Zucchini Spice Bread

Today’s post comes to us from Hélène of la Cuisine d’Hélène. Her beautiful blog used to be written from right here on Vancouver Island, but she now writes from the great city of Ottawa in Ontario. Hélène and I share many of the same passions such as eating seasonally and a love of farming, but we also love cooking, baking and our photography. Being from this beautiful side of the West Coast, we also share a love the the natural beauty all around us. Hélène’s recipes are always vibrant, beautiful and full of lavour, not unlike this drool-worthy zucchini spice cake.

Being that I have a monstrosity of a zucchini plant currently taking over a whole corner of my garden, I think I’ll be making this over the weekend. In fact I’ve already created my own recipe for a similar (but chocolate filled) version of zucchini bread, so look for that recipe in the next week as well.

For now, enjoy this luscious cake from Hélène!

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Lemon and Blueberry Roasted Banana Bread

It’s been absolutely gorgeous out lately, even in the evening where we were presented with a fabulous full moon a few nights ago. It’s times like these that I wish I had a telescope or a telephoto lens. I had to make do with a 105mm and a creative crop. It reminds me of when I was a young kid and I used to lay out on the lawn with my best friend Courtnee, and watch the night sky. We’d tell each other all the constellations we knew and sing lame show tunes from Les Miserables and The Phantom of the Opera. Those care free summers of my youth…

But these days I only have a few minutes, if any to gaze at the night sky. The short gap between getting kids to bed, taking care of my own personal hygiene and then trying to squeeze in some intellectual type reading stuff before my eyelids glue themselves shut. If only there were more hours in the day, or an eight day week. But seeing as my new business is in it’s infancy, I’ve been practicing religiously in different lighting situations, from capturing a bright moon in complete darkness to photographing my daughter in the height of the afternoon sun.

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Pan Fried Pork Chops with Apple Compote and Apple, Cheddar and Rosemary Biscuits

Pork Chops, Apple Compote and Apple, Cheddar Biscuits with Rosemary

Here we are in one of my most favourite parts of the year, the beginning of spring. In fact, Autumn and Spring are my favourite seasons. I mean, yes summer is all hot and sunny and has an abundance of fruits and vegetables, but spring is where it all begins and autumn is where we say goodbye. I like the beginning and the end better than the middle, for the middle is so long that you get used to being in it, but spring is fleeting and autumn turns to rain and snow before you know what hit you. But it is not “officially” spring yet. We are straddling that line between seasons at the moment really. Here in Victoria, BC, spring comes a little early, but there is still time to be waited out before it will be here.

I have my seedlings sprouting on my kitchen counter, waiting for that last frosty morning to rear it’s ugly head. Gardening is in my future, and I will be posting about it soon! Food wise, things are starting to happen though. I see California Asparagus and Artichokes in the grocery store, two of my favourite spring veggies. Artichokes grown in BC tend to mature in mid summer, but California gets all the fun. California artichokes peak in March and asparagus is a spring vegetable as well, though somehow it is more known in summer. Probably because it is readily available and cheap during those hot summer months.

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Brown Butter Roasted Banana Bread

Happy Hallowe’en folks! I know, I know, no Hallowe’en post? No scary dirt and worms or cupcakes shaped like spiders? No mummy dogs or kitty litter cakes? Sorry, I’m just not that into Hallowe’en. I used to be, dressing up in sexy outfits, hitting up the bars and clubs with my girlfriends. Those were the days. Now I’m kind of stuck in the middle though. I have a young toddler, who has no idea what’s going on, plus I don’t want to freak him out too much. Of course I love giving away (and eating) candy, but other than that, it’s just a regular day. We’ll be celebrating by attending the village’s annual bonfire, heading to a friend’s house, making escargot and fondue and giving away buckets of candy. I may even be dressed as a cat. Not a sexy cat mind you, more of a Disney type costume, complete with leg warmers and giant fluffy head. I’m a Mom now you know…

Maybe when the wee one is at a more understanding age, then we’ll get into it. For the meantime, it’s just another holiday that requires me to spend inordinate amounts of money and spend too much time decorating. I like to save it all up for Christmas. I’m one of those annoying Christmas freaks. I could start celebrating in July. I love every minute of it, and this year will be no different.

So I leave you with my very favourite, personal recipe for Banana Bread. When I was a kid, I used to make banana bread all the time. My Dad loved it, and so did I. But this time, I decided to tweak it a little. Brown butter makes everything better, as you may have learned if you’ve been reading this blog for a while. Also, I wanted to make that banana flavour just a little bit stronger and more robust, so I roasted them. If you like banana bread, but use it mainly to get rid of old bananas, try this recipe out. It would also make really good muffins, just remember to shorten the baking time accordingly.

Brown Butter Roasted Banana Bread

3 medium bananas
1/2 cup butter
1 cup brown sugar, packed
3/4 tsp salt
1/2 cup sour cream
1 tsp baking soda
1 cup cake flour
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp vanilla

Bananas ready to bake with

1. Roast bananas whole with peel on for 15-20 minutes in a 350°F oven.

Bananas after roasting
2. Grease an 8″ x 4″ loaf pan.
3. In small saucepan, melt butter over medium high heat. Do not stir, instead swirl the pan and watch until it begins to foam. Once the foam begins to subside, and the butter has browned sufficiently, remove from heat and set aside.

Brown Butter Roasted Banana Bread
4. In medium sized mixing bowl, stir together brown butter, salt and sugar. It will look like this, kind of separated. That’s okay.

Brown Butter Roasted Banana Bread batter
5. Stir the sour cream and vanilla into the sugar/butter mix. Mash bananas and add in as well (chunks are okay!).

6. In separate bowl, mix together the flours, cinnamon and baking soda. Stir until well combined.

7. Add the flour to the wet mix in two portions, but try not to over mix.

8. Pour into greased loaf pan and bake for 45 minutes to 1 hour (in the already preheated to 350°F oven).

Brown Butter Roasted Banana Bread
9. Cool 5-10 minutes in pan before turning out onto cooling rack. Turn upright and allow to cool completely, although you will be able to cut into it while it’s till warm.