Blue Cayenne

Oh glorious banana bread! How do I love thee? Let me count the ways. 

I’ve certainly baked my share of banana breads over the years and I’ve posted several very good recipes here on Blue Cayenne. Just type “banana bread” into the search box on this page and take a culinary journey through various approaches to the beloved dessert. 

This recipe for Miso Pecan Banana Bread takes banana bread in a whole new (surprising and wonderful)  direction. It incorporates white miso paste into the batter.

No. I’m not kidding.

It turns out that miso is a great addition to banana bread. The miso enhances the flavor of the bread giving it a carameley (is that a word?) flavor and texture.  (Miso is a fermented soybean product available in the refrigerated case in most supermarkets. You can use it in all sorts of Asian marinades and it gives a delicious umami to soups and broths. It won’t go to waste. If you want to become a miso expert, here is a link to Japan’s Miso Board:Japan Miso Promotion Board.  )

This is a recipe from The New York Times. You can find the original recipe here.  The recipe’s author, Bryan Washington, also wrote a lovely feature piece about banana bread in the New York Times Magazine here. If  you have a moment, you would, I think, enjoy reading his essay. It is a very nice piece of food writing weaving a personal experience with an ode to banana bread.

Here is the recipe for this delicious bread as I prepared it in my kitchen.

This creamy Cauliflower and Zucchini Soup is just the mug of soup you need to warm your body and spirit during this winter’s chill. It’s definitely soup weather–even here in relatively warm southern California. 

Cauliflower, of course, is good for you, too, as you move yourself past those holiday binges. It is low in calories and high in nutrients.

The origin story for cauliflower is pretty interesting. According to Oz Telem, the author of the cookbook Cauliflower (a whole cookbook devoted to cauliflower!), cauliflower, is a member of the Brassicaceae family. Vegetables in this family have been cultivated for around 4000 years with their common ancestor being the wild cabbage. According to Telem, as wild cabbage came under cultivation, varieties of the plant developed into cabbage as we know it, kohlrabi, and broccoli. At some point cauliflower emerged as a desirable mutation and the rest is history. (Thanks to my good friend Debbie, I’m fortunate to have a copy of Telem’s book on my bookshelf. )

This is an Eating Well Magazine recipe. You can find the original recipe here.

Here is the recipe as I prepared it in my kitchen. 

You know that little piece of gorgonzola sitting in the back of the cheese drawer in your refrigerator? Take it out along with that piece of lonely cheddar you’ve been putting off using? Add in other bits and pieces of leftover cheese from your cheese stash, blitz the whole thing in your food processor and voilà, you’ve made a delicious cheese spread in no time.  

This is a genius “recipe” from Jacques Pepin–a recipe he attributes to his father who used to combine leftover bits of Camembert, Brie, Swiss, blue cheese and goat cheese into a tasty spread. You can combine whatever cheeses you have on hand. In this case, I had some gorgonzola, a bit of provolone and a chunk of leftover cheddar. Delicious!

This recipe is adapted from one that appeared in Food and Wine Magazine here.