Banana Scones

Banana Scones

8 oz whole grain pastry flour

½ tsp salt

½ tsp baking powder

2 oz vegetable shortening

2 oz turbinado sugar

1 med to large banana, peeled, sliced in half and then in bits

2 oz egg (1 large egg)

2-3 oz plain yogurt


set oven to 425.

Combine dry ingredients. Rub in shortening, then add banana to coat. Whisk together egg & yogurt, then combine with dry mix until just combined. Knead lightly.

I use a cast iron skillet lined with parchment paper. Bake for approx 20 min. cut into triangles. Should yield 6-8 scones depending on how you cut them. For a little extra sweetness, you can sprinkle with some extra sugar.

Brown Sugar Cake

There is something infinitely soothing about making a cake. My favorite make to make one that requires no actual thought on my part and can be done so quickly that it boggles the mind to think so many people find it hard.

For me it is not about the end result. Sure everyone loves cake. Since my personal favorite end result is pie, cake is another matter entirely. Measuring, weighing, creaming, folding. The act itself is so satisfying that I could and apparently have, do it in my sleep.

For this recipe, you want the butter and eggs to be at room temperature. It requires a scale and I think it is worth getting the scale out for this one. Once the cake is baked and filling your house with that wonderful scent, you will see it was worth the extra bit of effort.

Luna’s ¼ lb Brown Sugar Cake

Ready?

Weigh out a quarter pound each of butter, brown sugar, flour and eggs.

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Cream butter and brown sugar until light and fluffy. It takes about 2-3 minutes.

Add eggs. Make sure eggs are fully absorbed. This means that the butter looks uniform.

Slowly add flour with the mixer running. Once the flour is incorporated you can stop mixing. Pull out the bowl and combine whatever is on the sides into the mix. Pour or scoop into prepared pans. This recipe yields one 6” square pan or 2 medium small loaf pans.

Bake for approx 30 min. Check them at this point because ovens vary. Mine tends to run rather hot.

Serve with berries, stone fruit, chocolate sauce, whipped cream or whatever gorgeous thing takes your fancy!

Epicurious, 15 years and counting

"In some ways it's trying to be ahead of the curve a little bit and figure out what people want and don't have yet." Tanya Steel on what's next for Epicurious.

Long before I went to culinary school, I loved to cook and bake. Like many people I hunted around for the best recipes to test out my skills on. Epicurious has been a go to me for a long time for many reasons. It is convenient, easy to navigate and always has recipes that translate to 'yum!'

It was also a fantastic resource in school for when you needed something last minute and didn't have time to go through a ton of books to find what was needed.

When I heard that Tanya Steel was going to be in San Francisco and that Bay Area food bloggers were being offered the chance to sit down with her, I jumped at it. Who wouldn't want to sit down with the Editor in Chief of one of the most well recognized online recipe sites in the world?

Epicurious is 15 years old, and for the last five years has been led by Tanya Steel. They've won 62 awards and they are an amazing daily online publication for food and drinks. The growth they have shown since their inception shows that the passion for good food gets stronger everyday.

Tanya herself is warm, friendly and open, so it made me infinitely more comfortable to sit down with her and talk about what's new, what's good and what's next. Also, two days after I met her, I got to see her on Hell's Kitchen which was pretty awesome.

Oh and in case you don't know, Tanya wrote Real Food for Healthy Kids with Tracey Seaman and during our chat expressed a desire try and help tackle childhood obesity and food insecurity. Here are some kid friendly recipes from the book.

So now, what's new and good? Well how about Epicurious being the #1 lifestyle IPAD app? They were one of only 9 apps actually launched with the IPAD, which shows good sense on the part of Apple!

As for what's next, Tanya would love to see new growth with cooking for and with kids, healthy eating and entertaining becoming more a part of the Epicurious community, possibly even a spin off site or two. The great part of Epicurious is that they listen to what their readers want and try to be ahead of the curve in providing it.

Where else can you go global with around the world in 80 dishes, discover classic drinks, learn to make fudge, get seasonal recipes, and travel dining all in one site?!

Tanya would also love to provide more content where people can tackle more difficult and unusual dishes. She recognizes that the readers cooking level is growing and wants to be a part of the newest food revolutions. Having more complicated, technique driven dishes on the site is just one exciting idea we discussed.

I can't wait to see what Epicurious does next and I am glad I had the opportunity to tell the Editor in Chief how much I love the site and hear what excites her about working with Epicurious and helping people to learn more about cooking at home.

"The way for us to do that is to show how easy it is to pull these things together." Tanya Steel on making real food and cooking accessible to everyone.

Witch in the Kitchen: "Damper" Bread

When I made this recipe a few years ago, it was a total disaster. Our oven broke in the midst of me making Thanksgiving dinner for two. The nice part is that we had such a small cut of meat, that it was cooked, and the potatoes were on the stove.

Keeping the door closed and allowed the heat to stay in long enough to let the bread finish, but it was a rather irritating experience. I think I am much more prone now to say, oh well, there's always skillet bread!

4 tablespoons butter (you'll need extra for greasing pots)
1 3/4 c self rising flour*
1 1/2 teaspoons salt (do not use cheap table salt!)
2 tablespoons chopped fresh herbs, IE rosemary, chives, sage etc
2/3 c milk
2/3 c water

4 small, clean flowerpots

Preheat oven to 400 F and lightly butter the inside of the flowerpots, dust with flower and set aside.

Sift or whisk together flour and salt. Rub in butter (mixture should look like crumbs) and add herbs. Punch a well into the center of the mixture, then add milk and water. Stir lightly using a fork. Once the mixture is fairly cohesive, turn out onto lightly floured board or counter.

Knead, thinking of all the love you want to go into the bread. Divide the dough into four pieces and roll into balls, one for each pot. Bake in hot oven for 15 minutes. This bread is perfect warm, served with soup, stew or even a really lovely salad!

*Luna's Note: Self Rising Flour is 1 c flour + 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder + 1/4 tsp salt

Love Potion #9 Cake

I tried out this cake on my friends and it ended up paired with figs & goat cheese that had been baked & drizzled in balsamic. The cake is light and moist, the liqueur flavor unique. I know it was a hit because the Cheese Princess kept drifting over for more! The only addition we would have liked might have been little Love Potion #9 laced Chantilly cream.

2 c flour
2 tsp b powder
¼ tsp salt
½ c milk
½ c Love Potion #9
½ c sugar
¾ vegetable shortening
3 eggs

Preheat oven to 350.

Combine dry ingredients, set aside. Combine milk and Love Potion #9, set aside.
Cream shortening & sugar, add eggs. Starting & ending with flour mixture, alternately add flour mix with milk mix. Do not over mix! If you have some flour that doesn’t blend in, use a spatula.
I used four 6 x 3½ loaf pans, baked for approx 25 minutes.

Flour: Types and Percentages

I thought today would be a good day to talk flour. Stroring flour properly is very important: I keep my flours in sealed containers in the fridge. This protects from becoming rancid and infestation possiblities. What type of flour are you using and does it contain gluten?

What is gluten? It is a source of protein most often found in wheat and grain products.

The standard type of flour that most people use is called All Purpose or AP Flour It is made from wheat and has 12-13% gluten. It can be bleached or unbleached. Personally, I feel if you are using AP Flour, you should always stick with the unbleached version. One, its not bleached and two, it has a nicer consistancy.

Self Rising Flour, which is used a lot in baking, is 9-11% gluten. In his book Biscuit Bliss, James Villas recommends making your own as baking powder can lose its power if stored too long.

Durham or Semolina is used for pasta and contains 13%.

Whole Wheat Flour, also used as a general purpose flour most commonly in conjunction with AP, contains 14%.

Cake or Pastry Flour, is mostly used for anything of a more delicate nature that is required to be flaky. 7.5-9% gluten.

Bread Flour is 13-14%

Amaranth, Cornmeal, Rice, Soy, Chickpea, Nut flours and Teff have no gluten, while Oat, Rye, and Spelt have low percentages. Always be sure to check that your flour has been processed in a gluten free facility if you have gluten issues. The packages should be clearly marked for your safety.

Soy has a very strong aftertaste, as does Chickpea flour, which is delicious with herbs and made into crackers.
In European recipes you will hear about 0 or 00 flour. The numbers indicate how find the grind is with 00 being the finest. Both of these are easily used in pastry, bread and pasta making.

And here is another unusual flour featured in Supernatural Cooking by Heidi Swanson. Can't wait to try Mesquite flour!

Feeling Sated

Sunday after I got homei went into a bit of a cooking/baking frenzy.

This came on top of making soup, bread and potato tacos over the holiday, so I was still in the mode for it I guess.

So I made a leek & apple tart and cupcakes.

Yesterday, I brought my friends at work each a chocolate cupcake with rosewater frosting.

For myself, my lunch consisted of a few pieces of crunchy bacon and a slice of leek tart with a few beets on the side.

My revelation was that I eat everyday at work, yet am never sated.

After I ate, I felt pleased. I made such a lovely crust, the leeks were so flavorful and the apple was still a bit crisp.

This then is what has been missing.

I just finished MFK Fisher's 'Gastromical Me' and I think that is part of it: the feelings produced by good, honest food.

In the wrong company, wonderful food can taste like sawdust.

The act of creating your own food is worthwhile and may be what finally leaves you feeling relaxed, happy & sated.

Cinnamon Rolls

I really wanted to do cinnamon rolls, and I didn’t want to work too hard for them. So I decided that tackling Paula Deen’s recipe would be perfect. I love Chef Paula and I feel her recipes are straightforward and easy to use whether a chef or a home cook.


For the dough:
1 tbsp yeast
½ c warm water (my trick, if it’s too warm for your finger, it’s too hot!)
¼ c coconut milk + ¼ c regular milk, scalded (Paula uses regular milk only)
¼ c sugar
1/3 c butter
1 tsp salt
1 egg
3 ½-4 c flour (I used half AP flour and ½ Whole Grain pastry flour)
And I added ¼ tsp Nutmeg for an extra spice layer.

Heat oven to 350 F. Dissolve yeast in a bowl with water. In a large bowl combine milk, sugar, butter, salt & egg. Add 2 cups of flour and mix smooth. Add yeast. Mix in remaining dough and knead 5-10 minutes. Place in well greased bowl and cover to let rise.



For the filling:
½ c melted butter
¾ c sugar + 2 tbsp ground cinnamon (or more if you really love cinnamon ;)P )
¾ raisins, walnuts or pecans (I used pecans)

Once doubled in size, punch down and roll out on a floured surface into a 15 by 9 inch rectangle. Spread ½ c melted butter onto the dough. Sprinkle cinnamon & sugar mixed together over dough. Sprinkle with fruit or nuts that you desire. Roll up dough and pinch together at edge to seal. Cut into 12-15 slices.
Coat the bottom of your pan with butter & then sprinkle with sugar. Place rolls close together and let rise (half hour to 45 min.) Bake about 30 minutes. My oven runs hot so it was about 24 minutes.

While baking, combine:
4 tbsp butter
2 c powdered sugar
1 tsp vanilla
3-6 tbsp hot water



Once your cinnamon rolls come out of the oven, combine all the ingredients for your glaze, minus the water. Add the hot water 1 tbsp at a time, until the glaze reaches your preferred consistency. We like it kind of thick and gooey, so I didn’t use a lot of water.

Allow your rolls to cool slightly, spread on frosting and enjoy!

Is baking really that hard?

Yes. and no. Everything & anything is hard if you think that way. On today's show, I share some on how to make baking less fearful & more fun + plus an easy recipe for sugar cookies!

Luna's Kitchen Magic airs @ 7 p.m. EST, 4 p.m. PST:
www.radiodentata.com/RDplayer/lunaraven/