Homeless Banana

Wow!  Sorry that it has been such a long time since we last spoke.  I've been experimenting with feeding myself something other than tuna from a can, quinoa and frozen vegetables.

I hate to admit some bad nutrition, but that's what happens when you get busy doing other things and then you realize you're hungry.  And I don't mean hungry in the way of "you know, I think food might be a good idea in the near future" sort of way, but the "wow, my stomach is digesting itself slowly" sort of way.  Yeah, that happens a lot.  Tuna, bread and vegetables are a pretty quick fix.  Then I eat strawberries and am extremely pleased!

Anyway, getting back to the baking business.  Wouldn't you know that I got off-handed someone's banana recently.  It wasn't even really at the edible point.  I'm a full supporter of all bananas spotted brown like giraffes, but tiger streaking?  That's a tad too ripe, even for me.

So what to do with this banana that no one wants?

Well, one banana does not a great loaf of banana bread make.  And I know that bananas can replace oils sometimes in recipes I've learned.  Where do you go with one over-ripe banana that needs a purpose other than to line the rubbish bin?

I decided to make cookies.  Chocolate ginger cookies.  After a lot of browsing on the internet - what *can't* you find on the web, seriously? - I came across Anja's Food 4 Thought recipe for 'Crispy Ginger Chocolate Cookies'.  I scrapped the olive oil and replaced it with the banana.  It came out to what appeared to be a little over a third of a cup.  I wouldn't say heaping, but it wasn't a third of a cup flat.

I think they came out okay.  I find them pretty tasty and will try to post back with an update.  I have to have more opinions; my opinion just doesn't cut it in my kitchen.  Then again, I'm the girl who eats tuna from the can and frozen vegetables.  By no means do I think my palette is sophisticated!

If you have a banana kicking about that needs a use other than the rubbish bin, maybe give this one a try sometime.

Oh!  I should probably also mention that I put these babies in a container after they were all cooled off and they didn't stay crispy.  I'm mentioning this because I don't want you to get upset if it happens to you.  I get extremely upset when this happens to me... ^__^;;;



Crispy Ginger Chocolate Banana Cookies
Adapted from Anja over at Anja's Food 4 Thought (<- Click for original recipe!)

So not really thin and crispy but more like chewy and puffy.  These cookies puffed right up given that I used banana and no oil.  I have seen crispiness increase when using oil when making pizzelle as well.  It happens.

What You'll Need:

• 1 1/8 cup whole wheat flour
• 1 tsp baking soda
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 tsp pumpkin pie spice
• 1/2 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 2 tbsp cocoa powder
• 1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
• 1 medium banana
• 1 egg

How It's Done:

1. Preheat the oven to 375F.
2. In a separate bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, salt, pumpkin pie spice, cinnamon, ground ginger and cocoa powder.  Whisk until it is evenly distributed in colour and consistency.
3. In a medium bowl, combine the brown sugar and banana.  Beat the sugar and banana until it is creamy; it likely won't get too fluffy because there is a lot of moisture in the banana.
4. Add the egg to the sugar-nana mixture and beat until fully mixed.
5. Stir in the dry ingredients until well mixed.
6. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper and drop the dough by teaspoon full onto the sheet.
7. Pop the tray in the oven for 12 minutes and pull them out when they are domed and slightly dark on the bottom.
8. Let them cool on the tray for 5 minutes before transfering them to a wire rack to cook completely.

Makes about 22 cookies.

Get Into The Groove

Okay, before we get into the experience here, can I be frank with you?  I can't afford a stand mixer.  For this reason, when recipes say:

"Place [insert ingredients here] into the bowl of your stand mixer and mix on low for [insert number here] minutes until light and fluffy."

I respond with a little bit of envy for people who have stand mixers and... a whole lotta resentment because, if they're telling you to do it in a stand mixer, it’s going to be tricky doing it by hand.

With that out of the way, I made bread for the first time ever.  It was hard.  I cursed a lot, especially when I took my hands away from kneading and I looked like the Swamp Thing.  Multiple times.  Wash hands, re-flour hands, dive back in.  Got over the kneading with more flour (be forewarned, you might need more flour!).

With bread, the rising of the yeast is something I always found pretty fascinating.  When I was a kid, I talked my mom into making sourdough.  Turns out, at that age, I hated sourdough bread.  It was not, however, the end product that I was interested in.  I was fascinated by the starter; I had seen it on the tv on some program.

So, let's rehash about baking up some bread.  'Cause I totally took pictures during each stage.  One thing though: the initial mix before the 'resting', I took a better picture without the flash and it came out really nicely.  Then I accidentally deleted it off my camera.  I cursed, I cried and then I felt incredibly silly about the whole thing.



Baking 101 with 'Sur La Table'
Chatper 1: Yeast Breads and Rolls
Nine-Grain Whole Wheat Harvest Bread

I was attracted to this one first because my parents are trying to eat healthier and I wanted to see if I could make them better bread than the stuff that they can buy in the store.  Don't get me wrong; I love my Dempster's rye bread just as much as the next guy, but sometimes a switch up is nice too.

Fascinating detail about this recipe is the use of 9-grain hot cereal mix to get that grainy goodness.  When I went to bulk foods, I could only get 6- or 12-grains.  So I flipped a coin and it came out 12-grains.  So, while this is called 9-grains, it actually should technically have 12-grains.  Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say 12-grains-and-seeds mix.

Activating the yeast with warm water and a bit of sugar
Throw these three together and let the mixture sit for a bit and you get something foamy and bubbly.  It smelled a little bit like when my dad used to make wine in our cellar.  I'm not sure if that's right, but it was certainly bubbly and foamy.

It's alive!  *Insert maniacal laughter here*

Swamp-Thing fingers, the first time 
Yeah, this is the photo that I accidentally deleted so you can only have the flash version.  Sorry, my bad.  Color is a little bit washed out, but it was incredibly sticky and you can see that in the picture.

Yeah, this doesn't make bread look too appealing, but don't lose heart!  It gets better. ^_^

Return of the Swamp-Thing fingers
Kneading by hand the first time was even more frustrating than the first amount of kneading.  What is one to do?  It leads to first rise, however, which is incredibly sweet.  Shown below are before and after photos, just like a dough makeover!

For some reason, the rising of dough like this is something that I find absolutely fascinating.  I am an adult and every time that I watch bread rise I feel like a child seeing something for the first time.  It is sort of an amazing feeling.

Abusing the dough
Turning it out onto a well-floured (and naked) countertop, you smack it down into a disk.  Working carefully (or, in my case, with a little bit of an edge after kneading sticking dough), you bring the edges to the centre and pinch.  You then pick the ball up, turning it over so that the tuck-side is away from you, and continue to tuck under.  Cindy says this is 'creating tension' because, if you don't do it, the shape will be wonky when it rises.  If you like classic movies, you can skip this and you get a blob.  I did not know this.  See, mum, I'm learning!
After that you let it rise again so that it puffs out.

See previous caption.  Needless to say, I really had to resist the temptation to touch it and poke at it!

Bake the bread, baby!
Okay, so the dough takes a breath and then it gets baked.  Below is my loaf that came out as a result of everything.  I was wigging out (in the "I can't believe THIS is what I get for trying SO hard!" kind of way) because my loaf came out a few shades darker than 'golden brown'.  I swear, it’s my oven’ fault for the dark colour.  As further proof of my innocence in the matter, note that the loaf is darker at the back end despite being in the middle.  Anyway, rest assured, it came out okay!  The dark stuff you see is a layer smaller than half of a millimetre (sorry, I don't know the inch conversion! x_x;; ).  My mum described it best as being like the shell of an egg; the darkness that you see is like a very, very thin shell and then the inside emerges evenly and the bread has a nice taste.

This experience has taught me that baking bread doesn't smell quite as awesome as say Banana Quick Bread when it bakes.  The awesome smells come afterwards as it cools on a wire rack in your kitchen!

All in all, props for a great recipe!  It was definitely a great learning experience.  I think one more lesson in bread might be instructive before moving on to the next chapter.  All considerations aside, I'm terrified of layered pastry!

Dear Canadian buddies, I'm sorry its Monday already, but hopefully your long weekend allowed you to bake some awesome or catch some zzz's.  Both are equally awesome activities.

To my American friends, Happy Independence Day!

p.s. I definitely was rocking out to the Madonna song while typing this up.  I figured if I was going to make the reference, I might as well go the whole nine yards about it.  And not in the Bruce Willis and Matthew Perry way. ^_~