Banana Bread, Revised

I have tried the gluten-free & sugar-free recipe from Babycakes' cookbook; wasn't too impressed with the results. The bread was semi-dry, and had a bit of an off-taste. Although it required 6 bananas, the taste was lost somewhere among the other ingredients.

So, yesterday, when I noticed that I had some bananas entering their mature phase, I thought I'd bake them into a bread. Instead of following the Babycakes Banana Bread directions, I took my all-time fave banana bread recipe, and inspired by the Babycakes ingredients, revised it a bit. And the results... one of the most delicious banana breads I've ever made!

Here's my all gluten-free, sugar-free, vegan Banana Bread:

Ingredients:
6 ripe bananas
4 ounces of coconut oil
4 ounces of canola oil
1/2 cup of brown rice sugar
1/2 cup of agave nectar
1 tsp of baking soda
1 tbs of vanilla
pinch of salt
2.5 cups of gluten-free flour
1 tsp of xantam gum
optional- nuts or vegan chocolate chips, about 1/2 cup

Directions:
Mix all the ingredients together, and put into a loaf pan for 1 hour at 350 degrees. Test it with a toothpick or a knife until it comes out clean.

It's that simple!

Mastic, Mastiha,... It's about Childhood Memories...

I have already professed my love to Korres, an all-natural brand that promotes the whole goodness of many things that I grew up with... The yogurt my Grandmother smeared on me after a sunburn, Korres has it in its moisturizers, body lotions, face masks,... You name it! Now, they've entered another territory, one that whooshes back so many memories, my mind is running faster than my fingers can type...

Spending time with my Grandparents in the summertime, we would make a summer pilgrimage to Cesme, a seaside resort that's now so huge, I don't even recognize my antiquated version. In Cesme, two things entered my life to remain forever: Kumru (buttery bread, often served with a slice of cheese, tomato and a green pepper for breakfast), and Mastiha or Mastic Pudding.

In the mornings, we would run over to the bakery and buy a few of the kumru's and then impatiently wait until I could bite into it with some Kashkaval cheese (feta cheese was not a "friend" until about my late-teens) and a tall glass of Coke. Sitting on the balcony, enjoying the salty breeze, and stream of "hello" and "good morning"s with walking-by neighbors were all part of the daily ritual. People asked about you and you wondered about the people who, one day, did not show up at their expected locations. I like to believe that Cesme retained some part of its charm today. In the mornings, we'd look over at the water, wax and wane about the direction of the wind and the tides as we planned for the day.

One of those summer days, I was introduced to Mastiha Pudding- a gum-my tasting pudding, sweet and pungent all at the same time. See, with the region's long history, the Greek and Turkish cultures intermingled, almost to a point that it was worthless to argue over which belonged to which tradition. It was (and I think it still is) commonly accepted that we had many crossovers, and may do the same things but with a slight twist in how we do them. Same went for food- a slightly different herb was used in stuffed grapes, or the size was altered a little- the bottom line was that both cultures enjoyed the bounty of the region.

Back to the Mastiha Pudding. I loved it so much that I asked for the recipe, and went ahead playing with it for many years to come. No one complained about my burning the bottom of the pan or adding too much mastiha, or making it too dense, or too soft- my family enjoyed my puddings in all shapes and forms.

So, when I was online ordering my favorite Korres yogurt face mask, I saw their line of Mastiha products, and like Emeril would say: Bam!, it flooded my nostrils with the smells of my childhood. I thought what a better way to start my morning but share my favorite recipe with you!

So, here it goes- it's so easy, so simple, yet the taste remains with you for a long time. I hope you enjoy it just the same. Play around with the ingredients, add a little more, a little less:

Ingredients
1 cup flour
6 cups 2% milk
2 tablespoons margarine or butter
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon gum mastic, crushed (Check out Mastihashop to purchase)
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Preparation
1. Heat the margarine/butter in a medium/large pot, making sure the heat is low so that you're not burning it.
2. Slowly add the flour with a whisk (similar to making of the Béchamel sauce), mixing it constantly.
3. Add the milk in small quantities and gradually so the flour does not get lumpy.
4. Add the sugar and mastic, and continue stirring until the gum has melted.
5. Stir all until the mixture, as my grandmother would say, gets the consistency of an earlobe.
6. Take away from heat, add the vanilla extract, and stir to make sure all is mixed in well.
7. Pour into a large rectangular serving dish or individual custard cups.
8. Let it cool completely outside, and then place in the refrigerator for some additional cooling time.

If you decide to use a large rectangular serving dish, you can cut the pudding into small squares/ rectangles when serving. Otherwise, single serving dishes are just fine.

If only life could be this simple again...

Those Pecan-Honey Buns...

The Secret Life of Bees by Sue Monk Kidd has a special place in my life: its publishing loosely coincided with our move to the 'burbs. I'd sit on our patio and get lost in the old South, and think of the tastes of honey buns, peach cobblers, banana cream pies,.. I was so inspired by the book that I dragged one of my friends with me on a quest to locate "honey buns" in my neighborhood. Well, we found them at a bakery at the Golden Horseshoe Mall nearby, and I have to be honest, they were very small and disappointing...

Recently, in honor of all the Honeybees out there, several publications included honey recipes in the past months. Recharged by my interest in honey buns, I've been tempted to bake them all- but I have to admit baking requires accuracy in measurement, preciseness in following directions, and most of all, abundance of time. I came very close to baking Martha Stewart's Honey-Glazed Beehive Cake, but couldn't justify buying the $39 (plus s+h) Beehive Pan from Nordicware. Where else would I use it???

Then I stumbled upon the Pecan-Honey Buns recipe in Food & Wine's August '08 issue. It screamed oozy-gooey deliciousness with crunchy pecans, and I could not resist. So, I set to gather the necessary ingredients from my local sources.

For the dough, you need:
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast
2 tablespoons granulated sugar (I substituted Rapadura Whole Organic sugar)
1 cup milk, warmed
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted, plus more for buttering
3 large egg yolks
2 tablespoons honey, preferably orange blossom or clover (use local honey here)
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract (I added an extra teaspoon or two)
3 1/2 cups plus 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting (I used a combination of whole wheat and all-purpose)
1 teaspoon kosher salt

For the topping, you need:
1/2 cup honey, preferably orange blossom or clover
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
4 tablespoons unsalted butter, plus more for brushing
1 1/2 cups pecans (6 ounces), coarsely chopped (Buy them whole- you may want to store them in the freezer, place in a sandwich bag, beat with a meat tenderized or anything that delivers some punch!)

For the filling, you need:
3/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon (I added another 2 tablespoons)
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened

Here are the steps:
1. Make the dough: In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle, combine the yeast with a pinch of granulated sugar and the milk and let stand until foamy, 5 minutes. Add the remaining sugar, the 4 tablespoons of melted butter and the egg yolks, honey and vanilla; mix until blended. Mix in the flour and salt. Switch to the dough hook and knead at medium speed until the dough forms a smooth ball, 4 minutes.

2. Brush a large bowl with butter. Add the dough and brush the top with butter. Cover and let stand in a warm place until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

3. Meanwhile, make the topping: Butter a 9-by-13-inch glass baking dish. In a medium saucepan, melt the honey with the brown sugar and 4 tablespoons of butter over moderate heat until the sugar is dissolved, about 1 minute. Pour the hot honey mixture into the prepared baking dish and sprinkle with the pecans.

4. Make the filling: In a bowl, mix the sugar with the cinnamon. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out the dough to a 12-by-18-inch rectangle. Spread the butter over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border all around. Sprinkle the dough with the cinnamon sugar. Starting at a long side, roll the dough into a log and turn it seam side down. Cut the dough into 12 slices. Arrange the slices, cut side up, in the baking dish. Cover and let stand in a warm place until the buns double in volume, about 1 hour.

5. Preheat the oven to 350°. Bake the honey buns for about 35 minutes, until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let stand for 5 minutes. Invert the buns onto a baking sheet and let cool slightly. Serve warm.

The pecan-honey buns, with my changes, came out pretty much how I hoped they would. There were altogether twelve of them- I ate one immediately and froze the remaining eleven (Ok, ok- I ate two!!) and then froze the remaining ten buns in an air-tight heavy freezer bag.

To reheat, I've been pre-heating my oven to 325° and keeping the buns in for about 25 minutes, you can adjust this time depending on the size and/or the number of buns. After the re-heating, the pecans come out a little crunchier, and have a more pronounced caramelized taste, which I love. If you don't like caramelized pecans, then you may consider covering the tops losely with an aluminum foil. Just make sure that there's enough room between the foil and the bun so nothing gets stuck.

For a little twist, you may want to add some raisins, blond or dark, or currants, which would provide a similar taste. Instead of pecans, you can also substitute walnuts. You might also want to add some nuts (pecans in this case) to the filling for that extra crunch.

As a 'nice' side, you may want to make some homemade lemonade (sun-brewed ones are the BEST), and for a naughtier side, you may think of some Bourbon on the rocks, or a little mint julep, made with reduced sugar so you are not bouncing off the walls!!

A little Janis Joplin on the side does not hurt...