Banana Date Bread

[adrian_turtle]

This is a recipe from Quick Vegetarian Pleasures, by Jeanne Lemlin. I've had the cookbook for 29 years, but not gotten around to making this recipe. "Applesauce Oatmeal Bread," is on page 56, and that's very good, easy to make, and doesn't require a person to shop for bananas. Somehow I never got around to the Banana Date Bread on page 58, as I'm not that fond of dates, and they're a pain to work with. But I had some left over in the pantry, and some mashed banana in the freezer, so here we go.

Lemlin's recipe, as written
( Read more... )

Changes to original recipe
I used 2 cups of all-purpose flour, as I haven't had whole wheat since well before the pandemic. And I used 1 teaspoon cinnamon instead of the mixed spice. After starting, I realized I only had 0.75 cup of chopped dates. Rather than scaling the recipe down and trying to measure out half an egg, I filled the rest of the measuring cup with raisins. I was also a bit short on walnuts, and filled the rest of the measuring cup with hazelnuts (which I toasted, because raw hazelnuts are boring. Then I toasted the walnuts while I had the pan out.)
I baked it for 90 minutes at 375F,* covering with foil for the last 45 minutes to protect the top from burning. The center was still not quite done, so 100 minutes would probably have been better, but I was supposed to be on a zoom call and not checking the oven every 5 minutes.

Results
This was pretty bad. The ends were cooked through, and slices from the middle would improve with toasting, but the flavor isn't good enough to bother. Maybe it would work better with whole wheat flour. Or with all dates instead of a mix of dates and raisins. Or all walnuts, and leaving them raw. Some of it probably comes down to the fact that it's based on an ingredient I don't like. If I have leftover dates next spring, I should give them away or swap them for something I'm more likely to enjoy.


*This oven runs about 10 degrees low, and Lemlin's suggested temperatures were a bit low with my previous ovens. (Yikes. I've used the cookbook in 6 kitchens, not counting visits to my girlfriend.) So I set the dial for 375 and was probably cooking at 360-365.

Pear and Blue Cheese -Easy

[colls]

My theme lately appears to be "Easy" as that's what I've been cooking. Heh.

For Christmas, my father got me the fruit-of-the-month from Harry & David. December was pears, so I bookmarked a lot of pear-related recipes that I never wound up making (I just ate a lot of pears - LOL). January was pears, too!

I used this pear and blue cheese flatbread recipe as my base and followed it closer than I do most recipes.

Changes I made:
1) Instead of flatbread, I used a bistro thin crust from Wewalka that my local store carries (and that I love!) that I parbaked for 5 minutes before loading it up with toppings.
2) I used an Anjou pear that I peeled
3) I omitted onion because I think onions are gross (YMMV) - this had the benefit of eliminating the step sauté anything. Win-win
4) I forgot to drizzle it with honey, even though the recipe CLEARLY STATES "don't skip this step!". After I ate it I thought "this would be good with some honey on it" -- Doh!

I would definitely make it again, it was easy and yummy! But I'd either use a different crust or completely pre-bake the crust as the pears can make things a bit moist (the version of pear I have on hand especially so). And I wouldn't forget the honey!


P.S. It was still really tasty even without the honey

( pic! )